29 Dec 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a discerner of thoughts, a Saviour who is christ the Lord, beyond our understanding, Bible, bless thy name for ever, breath of life, call us to rejoice in thee, celebration of Christ's birth, centre of unbroken praise, Christ our brother, christianity, compassion, condemnation, death, destroy religion, dividing asunder of soul and spirit, drive the dark of doubt away, expressions of common Christian feelings, faith, fellowship, fill us with the light of day, flowing fountain, full of compassion, giver of immortal gladness, giving and forgiving, God of glory, God of Love, God's Unsearchable Greatness, great is the Lord, greatly to be praised, hearts unfold like flowers before thee, Henry van Dyke, his greatness is unsearchable, holy spirit, hope, Hymn of Joy, I will extol thee my God, immeasurable love, in the midst of strife, Jesus Christ, joy, joy is still flooding the land, Joyful joyful we adore thee, light, LOVE, melt the clouds of sin and darkness, mercy, no creature is hidden from God's sight, not afraid, ode to joy, of great mercy, one generation shall praise thy works to another, opening to the sun above, overthrow the kingdom of God, raise our praise level, raise the roof, restoration, revolution on earth, salvation, selfless sacrifices, sharper than any twoedged sword, singing bird, slow to anger, stars and angels sing around thee, Sunday after Christmas, sweet sacrifices of song, teach us, the inner recesses of man's mind, the Lord is good to all, the Lord is gracious, the prince of darkness, the truth of science, the Word of God is quick, they saints shall bless thee, to love each other, trust, truth, unable to hide from God, ungodly times, victors, wellspring of the joy of living, wisdom, you bring us joy
Psalm 145:3. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding).
And it’s the Sunday after Christmas, but the joy is still flooding the land in glorious celebration of our Lord and Saviour’s miraculous and wonderful birth! And all God’s people said a joyful and most grateful; ‘Thank You Lord for the gift of Jesus at that Christmas so long ago! It’s really been the beginning of the best gift you’ve given us, after our initial breath of life; the birth of a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord! And consequently, from Him and His sinless, selfless sacrifices flows the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the wonderful option of salvation and eternal life!
And we’re oh so sorry for those who refuse to accept that marvellous option of Light and LOVE that you have provided and foolishly prefer to hob knob with the prince of darkness, and thus endure eventual separation from you, our most wonderful Creator and God. And the amazing point is that you did not have to give us that option of escaping from our sinless lives and the eventual death it causes, but you simply did it out of your immeasurable, unconditional LOVE for us, your most important creation. And for that we sincerely thank you each and every day…in Jesus’ name. Amen!’
And now, having offered up a prayer of praise and thanksgiving, let’s raise the roof of heaven with sweet sacrifices of song, singing that marvellous ‘Hymn of Joy’ – better known as ‘Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.’ It’s based on a poem written by Henry van Dyke in 1907 with the intention of musically setting it to the famous “Ode to Joy” melody of the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s final symphony, Symphony No. 9. And is it ever a most appropriate song of worship for this particular Christmas season when our lives are flooded with joy at Christ’s birth.
So, in a sweet, scintillating up-tempo version of the Hymn of Joy…let’s sing: ‘Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of LOVE; Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee, Op’ning to the sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away; Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee, Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays, Stars and angels sing around Thee, Center of unbroken praise. Field and forest, vale and mountain, Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea, Singing bird and flowing fountain Call us to rejoice in Thee. Thou art giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest, Wellspring of the joy of living, Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, All who live in LOVE are Thine; Teach us how to LOVE each other, Lift us to the joy divine. Mortals, join the happy chorus, Which the morning stars began; Father LOVE is reigning o’er us; Brother LOVE binds man to man. Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife, Joyful music leads us Sunward In the triumph song of life. You bring us joy, joy, joy, We adore thee…You bring us joy, joy, joy!’
Oh friends, does the Lord our God and Saviour, ever bring us joy! The greatest joy that there is to offer, salvation and eternal life! And did we ever light up heaven with our heartfelt sincerity and joy as we sang that wonderful hymn! And this commentary gives the song its rightful pips: ‘This hymn is generally considered by hymnologists to be one of the most joyous expressions of hymn lyrics in the English language.’ And we certainly cannot argue with that.
But now, on a different note, let’s consider what the song is really about? As another commentary tells us, the author Van Dyke wrote thus of this hymn. ‘These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time—hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy religion, or any revolution on earth overthrow the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, this is a hymn of trust and joy and hope.’
Wow! And that it certainly is! I like how the author expresses that we Christians will not be afraid that scientific knowledge will destroy religious beliefs, neither will earthly revolutions overthrow the kingdom of God! Because they are both indestructible! Remember what the Bible says about God and His Word?
‘For the word of God is quick (living, alive), and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts (able to judge) and intents (intentions) of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in (hidden from) his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do (must give account to).’ (Heb. 4:12-13)
Yes friends, the Bible, the Word of God is not an ordinary book, it is alive and kicking, so powerful that it reaches into the inner recesses of man’s mind to discern his thoughts and intentions. Or, as this commentary so aptly puts it: ‘God’s Word can penetrate through all the layers of impurity and get to the true central issues of life. In line with this conception, we can see that the Bible truly has two edges: condemnation and restoration.’ And I certainly could not have declared that truth any better.
What we must also remember is that God’s eyes see us as though we’re naked, thus we’re unable to hide from Him behind any foolish excuse or pretence. But getting back to our hymn, it’s basically a song of praise to our great God, to His LOVING-KINDNESS towards us, who don’t deserve one iota of it. And there are so many scriptures on praising God, especially in the Psalms, that we can spend the whole day researching them and still not be done. (smile) However, we’ll close with some verses of this psalm of praise from Bruh David, titled, ‘God’s Unsearchable Greatness.’
Please offer praise with me: ‘I will extoll (praise) thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding). One generation shall praise thy works to another, and declare thy mighty acts… The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee.’ (Ps. 145: 1-4; 8-10)
Yes my fellow saints, that is only a little of the great and constant praise our God deserves, and what we are required to give to Him, if we are true believers. So, without further ado, let’s ramp up our praise level nuh, like we so badly need to do in these evil and ungodly times. Much LOVE!
…true joy…which is of the soul…can only be attained…when Jesus Christ is your Lord and Saviour…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
27 Sep 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a major crisis in our faith, a sad time, a stubborn and rebellious generation, ambassadors of Jesus, better examples of Christian living, chaos, death cannot celebrate thee, declare thy might acts, faith, for children to be growing up, forget the things you have seen, Friday chant, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, hate is paramount, his greatness is unsearchable, hope for thy truth, Hurricane Helene, incline your ears, indeterminate behaviour, indoctrinated, Jesus Christ, keep his commandments, keep thy soul diligently, learn to fear me, listen to my law, lose this generation, LOVE, love can hardly be found, make known the truth, man-made disasters, mercy, natural disasters, not forget the works of God, omnipotent help, one generation shall praise thy works to another, open my mouth in a parable, pray for them, set not their heart aright, set thei hope in God, simmering unrest, spreading the gospel, stand strong and steadfast, step up to the plate, teach them to thy sons, teaching the good news of Jesus, Thanks be to God, the evil one, the father to the children, the grave can not praise thee, the living shall praise thee, the throne of grace, the words of my mouth, they may teach their children, thy sons' sons, time of dire need, trusting faith, truth, unexpected storms, ungodly sentiments, utter dark sayings of old, wake up and smell the coffee, wars and rumours of wars, whose spirit was not steadfast with God, wisdom, wise guidance
Psalm 145:4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
And it’s another sunshiny day in my neck of the woods! Thanks be to God! Unfortunately though, our fellow human beings in Southern Florida are not so enthused this Friday morning, as Hurricane Helene has dealt them a disastrous blow coming ashore and creating mayhem in their area! I’m sure they didn’t send up loud and grateful shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the weekend is here at long last!’ Definitely not! Let’s pray for them in their time of dire need, and hope that Helene will not cause any more damage, but head out to sea and spiral down to nothing.
But it’s certainly been a fierce hurricane season. Before one can be quite done, another has taken its place. Brother! Can we lay all of that at the feet of climate change? Our world has become such a disastrous place recently; what with numerous natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, and a whole lot of man-made ones too, like wars and rumours of wars. It’s a sad time for children to be growing up amongst all this chaos and indeterminate behaviour, for they can only be indoctrinated with all the negative and ungodly sentiments that are currently filling our world.
That’s why it’s so important that we believers are busy doing God’s work, spreading the gospel, the good news of Jesus’ work on our behalf. For if we don’t, who will teach the young ones the truth, who will lead them on the straight and narrow path? Definitely not Satan and his evil cronies! Right now my fellow believers we’re facing a major crisis in our faith and in our world, and if we don’t step up to the plate and do better than we’re currently doing, all will be lost. It’s as simple as that!
As ambassadors and disciples of Jesus, He is expecting us to make a substantial, positive difference in the world, being the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, which we’re certainly not doing, otherwise our world would not be in such a chaotic state, where hate is paramount, and LOVE can hardly be found. It’s a time when all Christians ought to start behaving like true Christians, for if we lose this generation to the evil one then things will get even worse. Let’s remember these words of the psalmist Asaph from Psalm 78 – titled ‘Teach Children God’s laws.’
Please read with me: ‘Give ear (listen), O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old (speak obscure sayings or riddles). Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make known to their children:
That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: And might not be as their fathers; a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright (did not prepare their heart), and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.’ (Ps. 78:1-8)
Ah friends, teaching the next generation about God has been the responsibility of the parents from time immemorial. That’s how we learned about God. Unfortunately though, we have not done a good job in teaching our children about God, but have allowed the schools and other places to teach them all the other foolishness that now fills their heads.
And I don’t know if it’s a misdeed we can ever live down, because if this generation doesn’t know God, then who is going to teach the next one about Him? We had better get busy teaching our grandchildren what we unwisely didn’t teach our children, otherwise Satan will be laughing all the way to hell and damnation, since His avowed purpose is to take as many of us with him as possible down to Hades.
And there are so many scriptures that tell about one generation teaching the next one about God and His awesome works. Like this one from Psalm 145; Bruh David’s Psalm of praise to God’s Unsearchable Greatness, where he writes: ‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding). One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.’ (Ps. 145:3-4)
And then there are these words from Isaiah. ‘For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.’ (Is. 38:18-19) Yes friends, when we’re in the grave we cannot tell the children about God, it’s only when we alive and kicking.
And Moses gave the same instructions to the Israelites way back when. ‘Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul (yourself) diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them to thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.’ (Deut. 4:9-10)
Yes my fellow saints, the Lord’s instructions and desires for us to teach our children about Him could not be any clearer! And it’s to our sad record and history that we have not done a better job. However, it’s never too late, so let’s begin right now by going to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant asking for help to restore ourselves in God’s good grace.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly.
And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
But please note, that divine aid won’t be forthcoming until we begin setting better examples of Christian living! Much LOVE!
…how can the young learn about Jesus…if the elders don’t teach them…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
06 Jul 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: cast their crowns before the throne, eternal death, eternal life, faith, find our true selves, god, God is worthy because of What he is, God is worthy because of Who He is, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, He is worthy to be praised, he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, his greatness is unsearchable, his tender mercies are over all his works, I will extol thee, increase my awareness of you today, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus is valuable, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, LOVE, mercy, of great mercy, one generation shall praise thy works to another, Praise the Lord, psalms, sincerity and truth, slow my thoughts, the glorious splendour of thy majesty, the Lord is good to all, The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, the most valuable thing life has to offer, the straight and narrow path that leads to heaven, the wide and destructive path that leads to hell, thou art worthy to receive honour and glory, thou hast created all things, tickles his fancy, warms the cockles of God's heart, when we give glory to the living God, wisdom, worship, worship worthless idols, your unceasing nearness
Psalm 145:3. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
Ah friends, it’s a beautiful lazy-day Saturday in my neighborhood! And yuh better believe I made the most of it…not so much because I was lazily inclined, (smile) but because the ole body was crying out for more rest, since, even by my standards, I went to bed at a fairly late hour this morning. And it was certainly worth it, for I’m now feeling much refreshed in soul, body and mind, ready to face whatever the day and the cray, ungodly world has to offer. So let’s get the ball rolling by offering up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, with all sincerity and truth.
As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’
Oh my people, of all of our Scrip-Bit Prayers, I think that’s certainly my favourite, because we’re not asking God for anything material, which can sometimes feel sort of selfish, but asking for His personal presence deeper and richer in our lives. And we all know He never fails to answer that kind of prayer because it just tickles His fancy and warms the cockles of His heart when we ask for Him to be a major figure in our broken earthly existence.
So, by now, if our requests were sincere, we should all be feeling lighter and more refreshed in mind, body and soul as the Lord enlivens us with His awesome presence. And all God’s children said: ‘Praise the Lord! For He is indeed worthy to be praised!’ Now that’s an interesting angle, God’s worthiness to be praised, for us to pursue this morning…or almost early afternoon (smile)
And Bruh David’s words In Psalm 145 – God’s Unsearchable Greatness – says a lot about it. He proclaims his awesome wonder and gratitude thus: ‘I will extol (praise) thee, My God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour (splendour) of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible (awesome) acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly (eagerly) utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.’ (Ps. 145:1-9)
Oh my fellow believers, Bruh David surely sings God’s praises, and a lot of it is from personal experience with His heavenly Father. But some of us still cannot fathom God’s greatness and continue asking, why is worthy of our praise? This commentary breaks it down for us quite handily. ‘He is worthy because of WHO He is: (1) He is God; (2) He is our Maker; (3) He is our Shepherd. He is worthy because of WHAT He is: (1) He is good; (2) He is merciful; (3) He is truthful.’ And as Bruh David says in the psalm: ‘The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.’ (Ps. 145:8)
Yes friends, just for those last four attributes alone our God deserves very much praise and thanksgiving, for if He wasn’t those things, we would not be alive to tell the tale, as our sinful souls don’t truly deserve anything that He’s done, is doing or will do for us. It all stems from Hs great LOVE and compassion for His most marvellous and magnificent creation – mankind! And we’d better believe it, appreciate it, and give Him the thanks, praise and glory He so richly deserves!
And some also ask, why is Jesus worthy to be praised? This other commentary gives us a simple but oh so true answer. ‘Jesus is valuable. We worship Jesus because we have discovered Him to be the most valuable thing that life has to offer. He ransomed us from sin. He restored us to the Father. He satisfies every longing of our hearts.’ Oh my people, do we need more reason than that to worship and praise the holy name of our Lord and Saviour?
Absolutely not! For without Him we’d right now be trodding the wide and destructive path that leads directly to hellfire and damnation. But with His timely intervention, we’ve been redeemed, reconciled, justified, sanctified, and so many other things, that now we’re heaven bound on the straight and narrow path that leads there, and which not many people find and/or follow. For my money that’s more than enough for me to LOVE, praise and worship Jesus Christ!
However, throughout the Bible there are numerous passages and reasons for worshipping God and giving Him glory. Let’s check out a couple more. This one from 1 Chronicles which says in no uncertain terms: ‘For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared (held in reverential awe) above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols (worthless things): but the Lord made the heavens.’ (1 Chr. 16:25-26)
But you know what friends, we should also be physically scared of the Lord and the awesome power He has over us, His creation. As Jesus so wisely says: ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ (Matt. 10:28) And that my friends is God Almighty! So we’d better wise up and look to ourselves, if we truly desire to see eternal life in heaven and not eternal death in hell.
Then there’s this wonderful picture of praise in heaven found in the Book of Revelation. It says: ‘The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat upon the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created (by your will they exist).’ (Rev. 4:10-11)
What more is there to say eh my fellow believers? Just these wise and wonderful words of this commentary: ‘So, why give God our praise and worship? Because we only find our true selves when we give glory to the living and true God—the one who has revealed the fullness of his glory in his Son, Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:13). Now, please take a moment on this lazy-day Saturday and read that verse for yourselves and wisely acknowledge that all our praise and worship belongs to NO ONE ELSE but Almighty God! Much LOVE!
…why worship worthless idols…when there’s a worthwhile God
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
07 Mar 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, accumulation of earthly wealth, Baby Boomers, become unfruitful, choke the word, curse, eternal life, every day I will bless thee, faith, fear, forgiveness, god, God's Unsearchable Greatness, grace, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, he that heareth the word, he who hath ears to hear let him hear, I will bless thy name for ever and ever, I will extol thee my God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, LOVE, mercy, my neck of the woods, my thoughts are higher than your thoughts, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are higher than yours, my ways are not your ways, negative word, no deep roots, no deepness of earth, one generation shall praise thy works to another, persecution, praise, promulgated by satan, psalms, receives it with joy, repentance, self-control, some seed fell on stony places, stumbles, success, sunshine, supernatural strength, the breath of life, the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the parable of the sower, Thursday Blessings, tribulation, wisdom, withered away
Psalm 145:1. I will extol (praise) thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
And it’s a beautiful Thursday morning in my neck of the woods; sunshine and fairly warm temperatures! What more can one ask eh? All praise to God who looks after His people with LOVING care! (smile) And for the first time this week I don’t have anywhere to go or anything to do out the street. Glory Be! So I can just take my lazy ole time and do whatever I want to do here at home. So what shall we talk about today eh? Hang on a sec, let’s see where the Good Library opens…
Voila! It opened unto the Book of Psalms! And we will look at Psalm 145, a Psalm of Praise by Bruh David, titled – God’s Unsearchable Greatness. And is He ever great, and His greatness not understandable or appreciated by the puny minds of His most important creation. But Bruh David had some inclination of the Lord’s greatness, that’s why he writes: ‘I will extol (praise) thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day I will bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.’ (Ps. 145:1-2)
Yes mih people, that’s what we need to do each and every day that we draw breath on God’s great earth; praise Him, bless His holy name! And why is that you ask? Bruh David tells us as he continues: ‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and his greatness is unsearchable.’ (Ps. 145:3) And though we might not know exactly how great our God is, because of our finite minds, we ought to know that He’s much greater than us, because He made us, with His own hands, and breathe the breath of His life, His Spirit into our bodies, and still controls our every move down here on planet earth.
And if we cannot comprehend the Lord’s greatness on our own, then He’s told us about it in no uncertain terms through the prophet Isaiah. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Is. 55:8-9) Now that’s telling us! But some of us still foolishly refuse to believe Him and try to go our own way, but eventually fall so low that we can no longer help ourselves and have to turn to Him in frustration, fear and repentance and ask for His forgiveness, grace and mercy.
That’s why it’s so unwise to turn away from Almighty God, for when we’re flat on our faces, through disobedience and the tribulations of the world, He is the ONLY One, capable of, and ever-willing to lift us up from the mire and restore our fallen selves and broken dreams. That’s why Bruh David writes for our edification: ‘One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare (steups!!!) thy mighty acts.’ (Ps. 145:4) Now that’s how the Lord’s greatness is supposed to be passed down from one generation to another, and has finally reached us.
Unfortunately though, our generation, Baby Boomers, or whatever we’re called, is certainly not doing a good enough job in passing it down to our children, the next generation, for too many of them have become ungodly. And why is that eh? Many of us parents have turned away from God, through the many foolish beliefs and ideas that are currently permeating our world, all promulgated by his satanic majesty, and even many of us who claim to believe, are too busy with the things of the world, accumulating earthly wealth and power and whatever, so that the truth of God and His word consequently falls by the wayside.
It’s like Jesus’ parable of the Sower, where ‘Some (of the seed) fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith (immediately) they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth (no deep roots): And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had not root, they withered away. And some (of the seed) fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them. (Matt. 13:5-7)
Or as explained by Jesus: ‘But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon (immediately) with joy receiveth it. Yet hath he not root himself, but dureth (only endures) for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended (he immediately stumbles). He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care (cares) of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.’ (Matt. 13:20-22)
Yes friends, unfortunately, those two kinds of believers form a large part of our Christian brotherhood today. While what we desperately need are many more where seed fell on good ground and brought forth fruit.’ (Matt. 13:8) Please pay attention though to how Jesus ends the parable, with the warning ‘He who hath ears to hear, let him hear.’ (Matt. 13:9) And per the seed that fell on good ground, Jesus explains: ‘But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth (produces), some an hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.’ (Matt. 13:23)
Oh my my, that is exactly what these turbulent and unconventional times call for; sincere believers who are helping others to come to Christ and thus be able to enjoy the abundant life that He sacrificed His sinless life for us to have here on earth, with the eventuality of eternal life with Him. And the first step in it all my fellow saints, is to praise God’s name, then live the life that will show the unbelievers that we’re serious and sincere, not the hypocrites that many of them so rightly takes us for. Now let’s go home declaring (yes!!!) our Thursday Blessings, so we can activate the generous blessings that the Lord has bestowed on us to do His earthly work.
As one strong and sincere voice: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’
And now that we’ve activated those undeserved blessings, it’s our bounden duty to go out and use them to benefit others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us! Much LOVE!
…even if you don’t know Him personally…it’s wise to praise who ever created this awesome universe and all therein…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
18 Jan 2023
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a figment of your imagination, a mirage, abundantly utter the memory of thy goodness, beyond our understanding, declare thy mighty acts, endure to the end, God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, halfway home, hands on the plough, his greatness is unsearchable, I will extol thee my God, indisputable truth, Jesus - Saviour and Redeemer of this sinful world, Jesus is no figment of our imagination, like chickens with their heads cut off, losing their God-given privileges', LOVE, make disciples of all nations, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, not looking back at the past, one generation shall praise thy works to another, our children are not positively focused, our raison d'etre, seek first the kingdom of God, soldiers of the Lord, sophisticated war-machine, stand up for Jesus, stop being afraid, stop being lazy and lethargic, stop loving the things of the world, taking the world down to hell in a hand-basket, the breath of life is still flowing through me, the Great Commission, the rock-like foundation only found in Jesus, the wonders of Jehovah God, thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, to a glorious future with Jesus, Wednesday Wail
Psalm 145:3. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding).
And then it was Wednesday; the middle day of the work week, another damp, cloudy day, with just a hint of sunshine, like what seems to be an oasis in the desert when you are dying from thirst, but is actually a mirage, a figment of your imagination. (smile) But thankfully our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is no figment of our imagination, no mirage, but real flesh and blood when He lived here on earth.
And we know that for a fact because his sinless and holy blood was shed for all to see, so that He could pay our sin debt in full! ‘Glory be to thee O Jesus Christ: Saviour and Redeemer of this sinful world! You are great and greatly to be praised for all You’ve done so selflessly for us. We praise and worship Your Holy Name!’
And in honour of Christ’s majestic and holy name, today we’ll look at Psalm 145, Bruh David’s great Psalm of Praise, titled – God’s Unsearchable Greatness, which so beautifully and eloquently describes our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Please read with me: ‘I will extol (praise) thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding).’ (Ps. 145:1-3)
And is that ever the indisputable truth my fellow believers! Our God is great, and greatly to be praised, and we can’t truly understand Him, because as He says, His thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours. (Is. 55:8-9) But His Word does give us some insight into His marvellous character, and we do see enough of His marvelous works through the prophets and Jesus Christ to know that He is all powerful, all knowing and ever-present.
Thus, Bruh David continues: ‘One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare (steups!!!) thy mighty acts.’ (Ps. 145: 4) Now let’s just stop there for a while and consider, meditate and ponder on that verse. Do we really understand what it means? It means that it’s our bounden duty to pass on the Lord’s words, acts and all His doings to the generation that comes behind us, in other words to our children. That’s how the story of our God and His greatness will survive!
And that’s how it’s survived for the last two thousand years, by being passed down through word of mouth and positive actions from parents to children. Remember what Moses said to the children of Israel re God’s Word? ‘And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.’ (Deut. 6:6-7)
Oh my people, have we obeyed that command? Unfortunately not. Our generation has not done its job, we have not instructed our children sufficiently in the wonders, mercies and LOVING-kindness of our great God, that’s why they are running around like chickens with their heads cut off, following every ungodly theory and idea. We have failed to give them the stable, solid, rock-like foundation that’s only to be found in Christ Jesus. The wherewithal that has them positively focused, knowing exactly where they are going, and with whom.
But no, we were either too busy, afraid, or just too lazy to impart the wonders of Jehovah God to our children, so now they are easy pickings for any and every weird, evil and ungodly scheme that springs up in this satanically controlled world. We have obviously not done, or done sufficiently, what Bruh David says in the next couple of verses. ‘I will speak of (meditate on) the glorious honour (splendour) of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible (awesome) acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly (eagerly) utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.’ (Ps. 145: 5-7)
Hn! Now please tell me if those things are happening in our world today, at least to the extent they ought to be? Absolutely not! Men are not speaking of God’s goodness and greatness, instead they are blaspheming His holy name and trying to rid our society of Him, and we His supposed followers are not putting up a big and courageous enough fight to stop it! I believe that in this current hedonistic society, more people are turning away from God than are coming to Him, and that certainly does not augur well for the generations to come.
We have already allowed them to take the Bible and the Ten Commandments out of the schools and public places, and they are now inculcating a lot of nonsense, of lies and untruths in the heads of our children, what’s next eh? As supposedly true believers, ambassadors and agents of Christ Jesus, we should be putting up a more robust, determined and demanding fight for our rights and privileges as Christians. And if you think that’s a joke, just look around and see which group of people are losing their God-given privileges the most: Christians!
The next move is persecution, although we are supposed to be living in a supposedly Christian society. But that’s no longer the truth either. Please give your head a shake and wake up and see the reality around us nuh. The enemy has mounted a very large and sophisticated war-machine, and we need to stop it before it gets any further. That’s our raison d’etre, our reason for being; to spread God’s Word.
Remember the Great Commission that Jesus gave us, before he departed this earth. ‘All power 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: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway(s), even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:18-20)
Now, how many of us supposed believers can truthfully say we are seriously and sincerely carrying out that godly assignment eh? Merely a handful of our supposedly great numbers! And that certainly is not good enough my fellow saints if we expect things to change for the better. Remember, we are the only group who desires to see the world improve. That means we are the ones who have to get the ball rolling and keep it rolling! There are only two sides yuh know, Jesus’ side and the other side. And the other side seems intent on taking the world down to hell in a handbasket.
Are we going to allow that to happen on our watch? I sincerely hope not! That means we have to get together, stop allowing the enemy to divide and conquer us, then mount an even bigger and more powerful campaign than the enemy to retake our world for our children and our children’s children. And we can do it with the help of Jesus, if we would only get serious, stop being afraid, stop being lazy and lethargic, stop LOVING the things of the world, and begin truly seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness! End of sermon! (smile)
Now, for those of us who are sincerely trying our best to live for Christ, let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus. As one voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Now, here’s one more bit of encouragement. If we endure to the end with Jesus, then that promised future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine! So let’s be wise and strong and endure to the end nuh! Much LOVE!
…stand up, stand up for Jesus…you soldiers of the Lord…
P.S. Would you believe I intended it to be short and sweet? But them’s the breaks! where the Spirit leads, I must follow! And it’s good though. (smile)
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04 Aug 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: and when he is old, ceaseless care, celebration, endure to the end, fly banners, God must be taught at home, halfway home, hands fixed securely on the plough, he will not depart from it, in the way he should go, irresistible love, just one of those days, LOVE, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, nerve racking, not turning back, one generation shall praise thy works to another, One Year Book of Bible promises, raise flags, Ruth Harms Calkin, shall declare thy mighty acts, shout for joy, teach them diligently unto the children, thank God, the breath of life, the sad demise of the family unit, throw a festive party for ten thousand guests, to a glorious future with Jesus, train up a child, ungodly children, Wednesday Wail, write symphonies
Psalm 145:4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
Just one of those days…just one of those days! Yes friends, it’s just been one of those days. I went to bed early, that’s by my standards, (smile) but the sleep wasn’t refreshing, the dreams though not nightmares, were nerve racking, as they always are. Then I got up late, with all sorts of aches and pains, so it took me some time to get going. Unfortunately, that’s what happens as the body ages – you never know what state of body you’re going to wake up in. (smile)
But my state of mind is excellent! Thank the Lord for that! Couldn’t handle it if both body and mind were in a state of sub-par health. And you wouldn’t like to see me now, after being up for a while – moving like an Olympic athlete! That’s the goodness of our great God. He never leaves you in the lurch for long. And that’s why this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, called out to me so powerfully this morning! It’s aptly titled ‘Celebration!’
So please pray with me: ‘’When I think of Your lavish goodness The longings You’ve satisfied The forgiveness You’ve granted The promises You’ve kept. When I think of Your irresistible LOVE Your ceaseless care Your unfailing protection… O Lord God I want to raise flags And fly banners and sound bugles. I want to run with lighted torches And praise You From the mountaintop. I want to write symphonies And shout for joy. I want to throw a festive party For ten thousand guests. I want to celebrate with streamers And bright lights And an elaborate banquet. (And the Lord excitedly replies😊) Fine dear child… I’m ready.’
Oh friends, that’s the way we should feel each and every day, joyfully worshipping and celebrating our wonderful God! And you know, nobody likes a party like Him, especially if it’s one thrown in His praise and honour. And the Bible Promise for our poem today is none other than that great psalm of praise penned by Bruh David – Psalm 145 – The Lord is gracious. So let’s declare the opening verses with the kind of sincerity and joy they deserve nuh.
‘I will extol (praise, exalt) thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding). One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.’ (Ps. 145:1-4)
Oh my people, that’s the way we ought to be worshipping our God, with much praise and thanksgiving! And yes, a minority of us are doing our best, but too many supposed believers are not even making the effort. And I especially want to point out that last verse there, which says that ‘one generation shall praise thy works to another, and declare thy mighty acts.’ Now, there’s no way we can say that we have done, or are doing that to the current generation. We have fallen down terribly in that department, no wonder this generation has produced such a high number of ungodly children.
Our parents taught us about God…even possibly forced it into our heads and behaviour too much. But we have gone the exact opposite route and not taught our children enough or as intently as we ought to. And that’s one of the major reasons that our world is currently in such an ungodly mess: the young people either don’t know about God, or their faith is very small, because we the parents haven’t taught them the way we should have.
And please remember that God is supposed to be taught and shown how He works first in the home, not in schools or churches. That’s because you don’t know what your children will be taught out in the ungodly world. If they don’t have a strong, basic foundation in God from home, they will fall for all sorts of nonsense out there in the big and evil world.
From the very beginning, God, through Moses, told the Israelites. ‘And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.’ (Deut. 6:6-7) Please note friends, the word of the Lord should be found in all walks of our lives, and should be taught ‘diligently’ to our children.
Now hear King Hezekiah when God healed him of his sickness. ‘The living, the living shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.’ (Is. 38:19) It’s indeed the job of the parents to teach the children about God! And why yuh think Cousin Sol wrote: ‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and even when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ (Prov. 22:6)
That doesn’t mean that our children will always follow the good way if we raise them right. But if they learn about God at home, like they should, then when they go out into the world, they will have a better appreciation, more options, and a greater wisdom when the things of the world come against them. Our job is to teach them about God and show them how it works in a familial situation. What they do with that knowledge when they go out on their own, is up to them, and they will pay the price for whatever decisions they make. But one of their excuses should never be, ‘I was not taught about God, at home.’
And it’s sad to think that so many of us parents in this generation, have fallen down on the job. I guess the reasons can fall amongst the sad demise of the family unit, our busyness in making a living, and our own sad lack of faith. Now, I don’t know if we can ever repair the damage done to our children, but we certainly can try in whatever time is left to us. However, we should probably concentrate our efforts now on the younger generation, our grandchildren, and give them the start that we forfeited their parents of.
Enough preaching now though. (smile) But please remember this is not for condemnation, but for conviction, so that we can see the error of our ways and do better in the little time we have left. Now let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus.
All together now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And as the Good Book reminds us, if we endure right to the very end, then that future with Jesus will be even more glorious than we can ask or imagine. Much LOVE!
…the home…that’s where children should learn first…and the most about God…
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08 Nov 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: ambassadors of Christ, cleansed from sin, compassion, disharmony, disunity, encouragement, forgiveness, gathering of believers, give thanks and praise, glory, Glory be to God, grace, great is the Lord, Greetings in the name of Jesus, honour to God, I will bless thy name for ever and ever, I will extol thee my God, in the congregation of the saints, justice, let everything that hath breath praise the Lord, live in harmony, LOVE, loving kindness, lukewarm, mercy, one generation shall praise thy works to another, our Father in heaven, peace, pride, reaching up to high heaven, resentment, reverence, righteousness., shout Hallelujah, shouts of praise, sing unto the Lord a new song, thanskgiving, the church of Christ, the cross at Calvary, the god of Jacob, the gospel of christ, the Psalms, walking with Jesus, washed clean, witness for Christ, working for Jesus
Psalm 145:1. I will extol (praise) thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
Greetings my Friends, in the holy name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who sacrificed His sinless life on the cross at Calvary so that we could be made whole, be washed clean, cleansed from our abominable sins and be reconciled to our Creator, our Father in heaven!
What a mouthful! (smile) But it’s all true. And from that selfless sacrifice came forth the best gifts ever bestowed on mankind; salvation and eternal life! Oh, glory be to the wonderful Deity that we serve and worship!
That’s why on this Sunday morning in November, we ought to be filling the Lord’s sanctuaries to give Him thanks and praise for His continued LOVING-kindness to us undeserving sinners. All over the land, shouts of praise and glory and thanksgiving ought to be reaching up to high heaven in true reverence and honour to our majestic God!
Yes my people, the gathering of believers in Jesus Christ is of the utmost importance, for that is one of the major ways in which we build and also express our faith; worshipping together, encouraging and edifying each other. As the church, the body of Christ, we are expected to be as one, to live in harmony and unity, with the gospel of Christ as our true foundation and guide.
And just like if one part of our physical body malfunctions, it causes problems for the whole body, likewise, if one part of Christ’s church doesn’t live up to expectations, the entire body will malfunction; there will be disharmony, disunity, selfish pride and resentment, amongst other things, bringing dishonour to Christ.
And that’s one thing we certainly don’t want to do! We are His ambassadors, that means we ought to be doing good things in His name, setting a good example, living true to His godly principles, not to negative or evil ones. Unfortunately, these days negative and evil principles are taking a stranglehold on our world. War, hate, anger and strife are paramount in today’s world, while peace, LOVE, justice and righteousness are running a poor second.
That’s not right Friends, that’s not how it’s supposed to be. The good ought to be overpowering the bad by a sizeable majority, not the other way around. That is why in these difficult and dangerous end times we believers have to seriously increase our witness for Jesus if we want to save our world.
We can’t afford to do like Jesus said of the people back in His time, re John the Baptist. “He was a burning and a shining light (lamp): and ye were willing for a season (time) to rejoice in his light.’ (John 5:35)
Oh my brethren, we cannot rejoice just for a season in Christ! We have to be doing it continuously, until whenever He returns to claim His throne. But sadly, that is one of the downfalls of believers; we’re not consistent in our walk with Jesus, most of the time we’re just lukewarm, no real pep in our witness. How then can we encourage others to come to Jesus eh?
Unless we’re enthusiastic and sincere about walking with and working for Jesus, we’re doing His cause more harm than good, not being very worthwhile ambassadors. That is why the Psalms are full of encouragement to praise and worship God. Let’s hear some of those scriptures so that our spirits can be boosted this Sunday morning.
We’ll begin with our Bit from Psalm 145 – The Lord is Gracious- Bruh David’s psalm of praise. He boldly proclaims: ‘I will extol (praise) thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.’ Yes my brethren, that’s the kind of stuff we have to envision then put it into action.
As Bruh David continues: ‘Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding). One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour (splendour) of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible (awesome) acts: and I will declare thy greatness.’ (Ps.145:2-6)
Oh my fellow believers are we praising God’s name as conscientiously and enthusiastically as we should? Are we passing on His greatness to the next generation? Are we continually speaking of His splendour and majesty, of His awesome works? Hn! I don’t think so really – at least not as much as we should, otherwise our world would not be in such an evil mess.
Now listen to Psalm 146 – the blessedness of trusting God: ‘Praise ye the Lord (shout Hallelujah). Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise thee Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have my being… Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.’ (Ps.146:1-2, 5)
Then Psalm 147 – Great is our God and of great power- begins: ‘Praise ye the Lord (shout Hallelujah): for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely… Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God.’ (Ps.147:1, 7)
Meanwhile Psalm 149 – The Lord taketh pleasure in his people –boldly declares: ‘Praise ye the Lord (shout Hallelujah). Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of the saints…Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek (humble) with salvation.’ (Ps.149:1,3-4).
And we’ll end appropriately with Psalm 150 –Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. ‘Praise ye the Lord (shout Hallelujah). Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in the firmament of his power (mighty firmament). Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him according to his excellent greatness… Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord (Hallelujah!)’ (Ps. 150:1-2, 6)
Oh my people, my people, I do hope that we’ve gained some measure of insight into the need for praising and glorifying our great God on a continual basis. So today, please let’s hear His praise in the congregation of His saints and in His sanctuary as we gather to worship and give thanks for His undeserved mercy, LOVE, grace, compassion forgiveness and LOVING-kindness, for that’s wisdom at its wisest! Much LOVE!
…when we sing the praises of God…our hope, faith, belief and trust are increased…
07 Aug 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a dark world, be obedient to god's will, busy, Caribana, consequences, death cannot celebrate thee, desire, diligently learn, disobedience, eagerly utter the memory of thy great goodness, expectant faith, fellowship, flavourless, forms of communication, Friday chant, friends, fun, generous help, get on our horses and ride, glorious kingdom, God's greatness is beyond our understanding, great is the Lord, hope for thy truth, hungry hope, immerse ourselves, Jesus Christ, lazy, light, LOVE, magnificent and magnanimous God, make known thy truth, make me to understand, making the effort, men shall speak of thy awesome acts, not interested, one generation shall praise thy works to another, passionate about God, praise thy works, putting up a good fight for Jesus, quicken me according to thy word, relaxation, rest, righteousness., salt, salvation, seek first the kingdom of God, sing of thy righteousness, so shall I talk of thy wondrous works, spread the good news of Jesus, spread the word, teach me thy statutes, tell others about Jesus, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the father to the children, the godless infidel, the gospel of Jesus, the grave cannot praise thee, the living shall praise thee, the Lord's greatness, the right perspective, the things of God, the things of the world, the way of thy precepts, wisdom, wisdom of the ages, wondrous works
Psalm 119:27. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of (meditate on) thy wondrous works.
And then it was Friday; a short workweek for many of us after the Caribana weekend. And yuh better believe many of us are truly thankful as we tiredly shout: ’TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday yes! Mama yo! Though the week’s been short, it’s been truly rough. So hard to catch yuhself after all the Caribana partying. Thank God for true that is Friday oui!! Definitely going to rest this weekend away.’ Hn, hn!
Yes Friends, when we abuse our body it does come back to haunt us. But remember the weekend is not solely for rest, but also for participation in godly fellowship, so to help us keep the right perspective, let’s chant our Friday Chant with whatever verve and gusto we can muster. (smile)
As one now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yes my people, it’s ever so important that our souls, bodies and minds be renewed and refreshed so that we can go back out with a spring in our step, hungry hope and expectant faith in our souls, to continue putting up a good fight for Jesus against the godless infidel.
Yes, because our mission is to be salt and light to a dark and flavourless world, as well as to spread the good news of Jesus all around the globe! Jesus delegated that awesome job to a handful of men before He ascended into heaven, and look at the wonderful work they’ve wrought.
Two thousand years later, it is now our turn to spread the Word, to bring Jesus and His wonderful salvation to the masses. And no generation has ever had the ability to really spread the gospel of Jesus all over the world, like we now have, with the many forms of almost immediate communication at our command.
So please let’s get a move on with it nuh. No excuses will be tolerated. (smile) Do we want to be labeled the generation who could, but didn’t? Obviously not!
Therefore let’s get on our horses and ride; tell others about Jesus, and above all, live a life that’s pleasing and obedient to Him, so that those we talk to will see the genuine LOVE and desire working and reflecting in us. That’s the only way to do it my brethren.
That brings us to our most appropriate Bit. ‘Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of (meditate on) thy wondrous works.’
Yes my people, we can’t talk sensibly about what we don’t understand, therefore we need the Lord’s help to bring us to a true understanding of His Word. Like at work, we need a supervisor to explain the instructions, the duties of the job, otherwise we’d just make a mess of things.
The psalmist says earlier in this section of Psalm 119, under the heading – Make me to understand thy way: ‘My soul cleaveth unto (clings to) the dust: quicken (revive) thou me according to thy word. I have declared my ways, and thou heardest (answered) me: teach me thy statutes.’ (Ps.119:25-26)
Ah Friends, we desperately need to know God’s Word, but unfortunately too many of us are either too lazy, too busy, or simply not interested in making the effort it requires to do so. However we are quite ready, willing and able make the effort to acquire and learn about the things of the world though!
I’m sorry Friends, but that’s not the way it ought to be. Remember Jesus said that our first requirement is to seek the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and then all the things of the world that we need would be granted to us. (Matt.6:33)
If we unwisely choose to do it the other way, then we’ll just have to suffer the consequences. For remember too that there ARE consequences for disobedience.
My people, we need to be able to talk about our God as sincerely as Bruh David does in Psalm 145 – The Lord is gracious. ‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding). One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
I will speak of (meditate on) the glorious honour (splendour) of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible (awesome) acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly (eagerly) utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.’ (Ps.145:3-7)
Oh Friends, are we that passionate about our God, about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? I don’t think so. At least not sufficient of us supposed believers. But then again, we can’t be passionate about Jesus when we don’t spend sufficient serious time in His Word.
We ought to be able to sincerely shout out like Isaiah: ‘For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit (grave) cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.’ (Is.38:18-19)
Yes Friends, we are the living, and we are the fathers to the children, so please let’s praise and make known our magnificent and magnanimous God, for therein lies the wisdom of the ages. Much LOVE!
…only as we diligently learn…and deeply immerse ourselves in the things of God…can we talk wisely and sincerely about Him…
18 Nov 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a catch 22 situation, a living Deity, a stubborn and rebellious generation, adversity, affordable housing, affordable housing in the suburbs, almighty god, baptizing them, bounden duty, burst our bubble, commute, declare thy mighty acts, disobedient to God's Word, done god a grave injustice, full of compassion, generation, glory of God's kingdom, God has a good plan for our lives, God will never leave nor forsake us, God will work it all out for our good, God's goodness, going to hell in a hand-basket, grateful shout of joy, guilty, heathen, I am with you always, in the name of the Father, jehovah god, Jesus, kill our spirits, LOVE, Moses warned the Israelites, one generation shall praise thy works to another, overpriced accomodation, passing the Olympic torch, Pharisees, praise Your Holy Name, promises of the Creator, rave, reality of modern life, saints, set their hope in god, steal our joy, teach all nations, teach them to thy sons, thank you heavenly Father, the Great Commission, the Holy Ghost, the Lord is gracious, the SON, the Ten Commandments, traffic snarls, true believers in Jesus christ, trust, wintry Canada, wisdom
Psalm 145:4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
Ah Friends, it looks like it’s going to be another day like yesterday in my area; snowy and rainy. But what yuh going to do eh? Not much, but dress for it and take your time along the wet, slick roads. That means you’ve got to leave home even earlier than normal, if you want to get to work on time.
Steups! Some of us can’t leave home much earlier than we already do, and that’s not only in wintry Canada, but all over the world, where traffic snarls are now a twice-daily occurrence. At the rate we’re going, it might just be better for us to sleep at work…Hn, Hn!
Don’t laugh, because it’s true, since the traffic going into the city is backed up before six a.m in my neighbourhood and by 3.00 p.m leaving the city. A lot of people have to leave home at 5 a.m if they want to reach to work for 8. That’s because they bought affordable housing out in the suburbs, and now that affordable housing is being decimated by the long and terrible time wasting commute.
But unfortunately that’s the new reality of modern day life. Lots of people are moving back to the city, but that’s only increasing the prices of accommodation there, so we end up with a catch 22 situation – live in the somewhat affordable suburbs and bear the traffic and commute burden, or buy exorbitant, overpriced accommodation in the city.
What ever you do though, you will pay for it, either in time or money. But Friends, as true believers in Jesus Christ, we can’t afford to let those things worry us, otherwise they’ll just drive us crazy. Oh, we must be concerned and pay close attention to them, but we can’t afford to let them burst our bubble, or kill our spirits and steal our joy.
That’s because we have the awesome promises of the Creator of the universe and all therein, that He will never leave nor forsake us, that nothing, no adversity will overpower us, for He has a wonderful plan and a great future for our lives, and if we trust Him, He will work everything out for our good eventually. Wow!
And all God’s people raised a grateful shout of joy to heaven: ‘Oh thank You heavenly Father for promising to look after us, even though at times we can be very disobedient to your Word. We LOVE You and praise Your Holy Name! Amen!’
And sadly my people, one enormously important area in which we have been very disobedient is not telling our children and the world about Jehovah God. We are indeed very guilty of not following our Bit: ‘One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.’
Ah mih breddren, we’ve certainly done our most merciful and gracious God a grave injustice in that respect. We have failed to do as Moses warned the Israelites: ‘Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul (yourself) diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.’ (Deut.4:9)
Oh Friends, we haven’t seen as much as the Israelites had seen, but we have indeed seen enough to know that Almighty God is real, a real and living Deity! And if we haven’t taught our sons about Him, who will teach their sons about Him eh, and how will the great message of God be passed on to future generations?
Remember Jesus’ last instructions to His disciples: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always(s), even unto the end.’ (Matt.28:19-20)
Oh my people, if those old time disciples hadn’t taken that Great Commission seriously and done as Jesus asked, we would never have heard about Him. That just shows how important passing on the message to the next generation is. It’s like the symbolic passing of the torch that we all so rave about in the Olympics. So let’s rave about passing on the wonderful Word of God too nuh!
And sadly, in our fear and lethargy we have allowed the evil powers of this world to take God out of the schools and other public places, resulting in less God in our society. The Ten Commandments, which should be the basic rules of any society that wants to flourish, are now being flouted with immunity, so why are we surprised when our society is quickly going to hell in a hand basket?
As a generation, we have a lot to answer for my people. We have not done as the psalmist Asaph so wisely said in Psalm 78 – A reminder of God’s goodness to Israel. ‘For he (God) established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children. That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright (did not prepare their hearts), and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.’ (Ps.78:5-8)
And Friends, if we’re honest, that last verse describes us to a T! We talk a whole lot about God, but like the hypocrite Pharisees that Jesus lambasted, we don’t walk the walk as well.
But it’s not too late walk it properly, to do as Bruh David declares after our Bit: ‘I will speak of (meditate on) the glorious honour (splendour) of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible (awesome) acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly (eagerly) utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.
The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.’ (Ps.145: 5-13)
Oh Friends, oh Saints, that’s what we should be doing! Please, I implore us to go out and do it, so that the Word of God will keep being passed on from generation to generation. That’s our bounden duty, as well as heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
…if we say we LOVE the Lord and don’t pass on His Word…then we lie…and are no better than the heathen…in fact we are much worse…
17 Nov 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abusive language, all is not lost, aura of love, bad habit, begin the workweek on the wrong foot, behind the eight ball, blessings, charity begins at home, confidence, Creator of the universe, discipline, enthusiasm, eternal life, evil world, free gifts, fundamentals of life, generation, glorious kingdom, gospel truth, guidance, holy spirit, hope, humble servants, instruction, invincible, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, jobs, let the heathen know about Jesus, lies, LOVE, mercy, miffed, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, Oh Lord God Almighty, on the cross at Calvary, one generation shall praise thy works to another, provoke rebellion, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, sacrificial and substituionary death, salvation, social media, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, time is of the essence, train up a child, truth, ungodly world, when he is old he will not depart from it, wisdom, work for Jesus
Psalm 145:4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
‘Monday, Monday! Oh how I LOVE you! Can’t wait for you to come around, so that I can get back into the wicked world and work for Jesus!’ And suddenly there erupts a barrage of inflammatory and abusive language. (smile)
Okay, okay. So I am laying it on a bit thick. But Friends, technically speaking, that’s how we ought to be; anxious to get out into the evil world and let the heathen know about Jesus and His awesome free gifts of salvation and eternal life, through His sacrificial and substitutionary death on the cross at Calvary.
But I guess most of us are miffed at having to get up and go out and earn a living, especially in the cold, snowy weather that’s currently permeating my area. But them’s the breaks yes Friends!
So we had better get accustomed to it, otherwise we’re only going to stress out ourselves more than is necessary, and always begin the workweek on the wrong foot, behind the eight ball. Ah Lord eh! When are going to get out of this bad habit? (smile)
Anyway, to help the situation, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, in full, sweet, heavenly tones. As one great voice 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!’
Now that wasn’t so bad, was it? At least it energized us and lifted our spirits so that we can lose our miserable, pitiful attitude and can get on victoriously with life, as we ought to. That means turning to our Bit. ‘One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
And as we saw yesterday through Moses’ command, (Deut. 6:6-9) teaching our children about Almighty God and all the great and wonderful things He has done down through the ages is essential, absolutely necessary, if we want to propagate Him and His Word to future generations.
How do you think it got to us eh, so many thousands of years later? Because one generation told the other. But we, in our proud, high-minded and busy world, considered it not important enough to spend the time teaching it to our children. And that’s one of the main reasons why we now have such disobedient, uncouth, ungrateful, ignorant children in this ungodly society!
Remember Cousin Sol’s wise words though my people. ‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and (even) when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ (Prov.22:6) And that’s indisputable, undeniable, gospel truth my brethren!
But I think we need to check out the scholars’ explanation here, so that we get it right. ’22:6. Train up a child refers to the total process of molding a child’s life. The word ‘train’ (chanak) comes from the root word meaning to “put into the mouth” and implies the idea of conditioning the palate.
Thus parental training should help children develop a taste for the things of God. The biblical pattern of effective parental training emphasizes a balance of instruction and discipline (cf. Eph.6:1-4). The ideal parent is to be neither overly authoritarian nor overly permissive. Rather, he must balance LOVE and discipline so as not to “provoke” his child to rebellion.
When he is old means simply, “when he is grown up,” or a mature adult. It does not refer to his elderly years. The verse stresses the simple principle that education in the home forms the man throughout his lifetime.’
More gospel truth my brethren! As the old people so rightfully said; charity, or LOVE begins at home! Home is where the basic fundamentals of life, including God, and decent living ought to be taught!
Sadly though, that no longer seems to be the way. The world, through radio, television and the ever invasive and pervasive social media are now our children’s teachers. So what else can we expect eh, but unruly, ungodly, worldly children… and eventually adults.
But as I said yesterday Friends, all is not lost, we still have some time to teach them about Jehovah God and His mighty and wonderful acts – don’t know how much though. So please, let’s get on with it nuh. Ask the Lord to show you how to address the matter at this late stage, and He will surely give you the necessary guidance.
We certainly don’t want to be known as the generation that allowed God to go under, do we? Absolutely not! Then let’s get a move on, for time is of the essence. Much LOVE!
…Jesus is depending on each generation to keep His name and Word alive…by passing it on to the next one…
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