Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 May 2015 James 4:8‏‏

30 May 2015 Leave a comment

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

James 4:8.     Draw nigh (near) to God, and he will draw nigh (near) to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded. 

And then it was Saturday; a supposedly rainy day. But who knows eh? We’ve been promised some showers of blessing for the longest while, but we haven’t seen hide nor hair of heavenly water for at least two, possibly three weeks in my area. It’s been cloudy at times, but not even rain-clouding dark, and the strong winds we’ve recently been having have blown those wispy rain clouds away. (smile)

They remind me of the story of Elijah when he prayed for rain in Israel. On the seventh time Elijah’s servant went to see if any rain was in the offing per Elijah’s prayers, he came back and reported: ‘Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.’ (1 Kin.18:44)

That was the beginning of an abundance of rain for Israel, but no such luck for us. Anyway, it’s still pretty early in the morning to despair, for with our God’s omnipotent powers anything can happen at any time,  in the blink of an eye.

But here’s an interesting general prayer that we can say every morning when we arise. It’s attributed to Norman Grubb (1895-1993), a British Christian missionary, writer and theological teacher. Please pray with me. ‘Good morning, Christ. I LOVE you! What are you up to today? I want to be a part of it! Thank you, God. Amen!’

Now my people, isn’t that simple and straight to the point? It certainly is. And it does help to get you connected with the Father as soon as you get up, before any evil and negative thoughts can enter your still fragile and not wide awake mind and spoil your day. And that’s all it takes Friends, something short and to the point to get us running on the correct spiritual track.

But before we can get to that, we first have to put into operation the words of our Bit, where we’re born again and can have that kind of ongoing relationship with Almighty God. ‘Draw nigh (near) to God, and he will draw nigh (near) to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded.’

Yes my people, it’s of the utmost importance that we have a close personal relationship with the Father, through the Son, Jesus Christ, while being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And we can only do that by repenting of our sins, cleansing our hearts and turning over a new leaf, becoming a new creation in Christ.

Now listen to how Peter deals with the matter. ‘Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned (sincere) LOVE of the brethren, see that ye LOVE one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible (perishable) seed, but of incorruptible (imperishable), by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

For all flesh is as grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the (spoken) word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.’ (1 Pet.1:22-25)

Yes Friends, Peter is there repeating the words of Isaiah 40:6-8, where  mankind is likened to the grass that sprouts up bright and fresh in the morning, but soon withers and dies, especially when the hot sun beats down on it. And that’s the absolute truth!

But unlike that short-lived grass, the word of our Creator lives for ever, through the gospel being preached throughout the earth; the good news of his Son Jesus Christ, who was sacrificed for us on Calvary’s cross, then rose again in glory and ascended to heaven, where He now sits on the right hand of the Father, advocating for us.

Wow! What an omnipotent, but magnanimous God we serve and worship my brethren! It just can’t get any better than that, though a lot of us seem to think otherwise. But as I keep saying Friends, refusing to accept God’s grace and mercy and His free offer of salvation through Jesus Christ, which ultimately leads to eternal life, is the wisdom of a fool. And there surely are a lot of fools in this evil and ungodly world.

Anyway, enough of my carping, or proselytizing (smile), whichever one catches your fancy, and listen instead to an explanation by the scholars on the topic at hand. ‘1:23. Being born again (lit., “having been born again”) refers to all believers having been regenerated by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, which communicates His offer of salvation to mankind. Thus our salvation rests, from the human perspective, upon OUR willing reception of that offer.’

Yuh see Friends, it all depends on us willingly receiving God’s wonderful offer, that’s why I capitalized and highlighted ‘our’ above. The Lord has done His part by putting the offer of salvation through Jesus Christ on the table, so like any contract that is worthless unless there’s offer and acceptance, we now have the opportunity to accept or reject God’s offer.

However Friends, in this case, rejection of the Lord’s offer will bring disastrous and calamitous consequences, namely eternal separation from Him, and eventual death and damnation. So as far as I can see, with my limited human reasoning powers, accepting God’s offer is the wise thing to do.

I’m therefore urging us to do so as quickly as possible, if possible right now, because the time for Jesus’ return is imminent, and once He returns in majestic splendour and awesome might, that offer will be taken off the table…forever. So please take my wise advice and seriously get involved with Jesus. It will be the best decision you’ve ever made. I guarantee it! Much LOVE!

…to be separated from Christ…for all eternity…is the biggest mistake  a man can make…

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 January 2014 Psalm 5:3

18 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 5:3.    My voice shalt thou hear in the morning , O Lord; In the morning I will direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Well Friends, the good news is that we’re somewhat earlier than we were yesterday, but we’re still not as early as I would like. Hopefully though, we’ll get better every day, and though I’m not making any promises because I’m on vacation – va-ca-tion – as the old pop song said, (smile) which I believe was sung by Connie Francis.

 
Anyway, at long last, on my third day in Paradise, I finally got the salt water that I’ve been so avidly desiring. I never rushed into it, partly because of the internet problems I was having, and also because I’ve learned my lesson from the time I went to California a few years ago.
 
That time I was real hot to trot, and though the sea was some distance away, and everybody else was too busy to accompany me, I jumped in the car and headed for the beach. Disappointingly, I ended up on a dismal patch of sand on the Pacific side, with cold, rough water, lost my wedding ring of thirty something years, then also lost my way back home.
 
But as always Friends, the Lord sent a couple of good Samaritans to help me out, and I returned home safely, having given my family some anxious moments. So now, with that lesson in mind, a rather expensive one, I’m trying my best not to fight against His will. Hn! Hn! I even ended up on two obscure beaches today since I didn’t feel like handling the crowds on the popular beaches.
 
The first, Arnos Vale beach, was a little too rocky and unpredictable underfoot for my liking. So after having a dip there, we hit Grange beach, which had better footing. And though they were both less than calm, I enjoyed Grange more because of the more sandy and predictable footing.
 
But brother, this area I’m in always seems to have a strong breeze blowing. Around 3 a.m. this morning, I was outside on the balcony and the wind was blowing so powerfully, that you would have thought a storm was blowing. It reminded be of the winds back in the North Country – only this wind was warm! (smile)
 
And as I was telling the Duchess earlier on, I feel somewhat guilty, because since I’m down here I don’t even remember the cold up in Canada. But as she so wisely said, I’d better forget the guilt and enjoy it, because we’ll soon be back in the cold. So I’m going to listen the duchess – as I always do anyway. (smile)
 
However my people, let’s cut to the chase and get into the Bit. I’m expecting some friends to come by and visit later, and today I intend to take my own advice; drunk or sober mind your business. Unfortunately I didn’t do that yesterday, so the Bit didn’t get done till very late, and I’m not going to allow it to happen again today.
 
So here goes: ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning , O Lord; In the morning I will direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
 
Yes my brethren, prayer is our lifeline, our umbilical cord, our connection to our heavenly Father! And the good thing about it is that we don’t need any man-made devices to call on Him, just a right heart and a clean spirit.
 
So what scriptures pertaining to the importance of prayer in a believer’s life are we going to look at today? Let’s start with Psalm 63, where Bruh David talks about God satisfying  the thirsty soul. That’s something he wrote while hiding out in the wilderness of Judah from his enemies.
 
And he begins it with this powerful verse: ‘O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no water.’ (Ps.63:1) 
 
Then not satisfied to stop just there, he continues to pour out his heart to his God. ‘To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary (so have I looked for thee out here). Because thy LOVING-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow (the best) and fatness (abundance); and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.’ (Ps.63:2-5)
 
Oh my fellow believers, is that the way we feel about our God? Is that the way we hunger and thirst for Him and His righteousness? And are our souls contented with His grace and mercy, so that we can praise Him with joyful lips? That is how it ought to be my brethren! And if we aren’t doing and feeling those things, then we’re foolishly missing out on a lot of God’s good blessings.
 
As the scholars say: ‘Psalm 63. The location of the writing of the psalm is described generally as in the wilderness of Judah. Unlike many of the psalms written in these dire situations, however, this psalm is overflowing with thanksgiving rather than lament and petition. David declares his longing for spiritual renewal (vv.1-2), he expresses his thankful mood (vv.3-6), he gives voice to his trust in God (vv.7-8), and he announces his hope for the future (vv.9-11). Enemies are mentioned only in passing (vv.9-10).’
 
Oh mih people, would we have been able to show such trust, desire and LOVE for God under such dire circumstances? I truly doubt it. We find it difficult to praise and thank Him when things are going well, much less when they are rough. But Friends that’s the attitude true believers ought to be able to display. In rough times we ought to have enough confidence in our omnipotent and magnanimous God not to whimper and turn turncoat.
 
And that’s the biggest problem with Christians today; we talk the good talk, but  when the rough times crop up, we don’t run to the one place and person who can truly provide refuge and sustenance; our wonderful God. Instead we quickly turn to the cheap, perishable man-made devices and seek help from powerless, fallible men like ourselves. That’s not wisdom Friends.
 
So I’m saying to us today, that the first place we must turn in ANY kind of situation, is to Almighty God, our Creator, Provider and Protector!
 
That’s what He is there for. He prides Himself on being able to help His children, and if we don’t turn to Him FIRST, He feels very disappointed and offended. If He wants us to turn to other men for help, then He will direct us to them, after we talk to Him.
 
And that my people is one of the reasons why we and our resultant world are in such bad shape, we simply don’t talk seriously and enough to Father God. I’m therefore asking us today to try and change that unwise attitude by turning to Him for help and guidance in every situation, through constant, genuine, heartfelt prayer, for that is wisdom at its finest. Much LOVE!
 
…only sincere prayer to our heavenly Father…can set the captive’s soul free…