Today’s Scrip-Bit   9 July 2022 Matthew 19:26.

09 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

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

Greetings my Scrip-Bit friends and family on this cool but sunshiny Saturday in early July. It’s our lazy day at last. And believe me, was I ever tempted to be lazy. (smile) Could have gotten up long ago because I went to bed at a rather early hour last night, an early hour for me that is, and stayed in bed all night. Consequently, it wasn’t easy getting out of bed because with that long amount of rest the ole back was obviously acting up. As they say, you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t! If I don’t lie down long enough, I don’t get sufficient rest, but if I lie down too long, my back acts up. 

Anyway, the Lord’s work had to be done, so here I am, obediently doing it, aching back and all. (smile) And, as always, on a Saturday we look at the quotes that our friend Anselm sent us in the week past, as he aspires to inspires us for a better tomorrow, and see how they interact with our Christian agenda. 

And the first one says: ‘There are far better things ahead than anything we leave behind.’ And that’s a wonderful truth friends, if you are a true believer in Christ, because with Him, your best days are always out ahead of you. Yes, when we come to Christ, we become new creations, are reconciled to God, and all the old sinful and ungodly things of our previous life are left behind, everything becomes new in Christ and we have a much better day to look forward to. (2 Cor. 5:17-18) 

Now that doesn’t mean that all our problems will just vanish into thin air, it’s possible that we might have even more and greater problems, because with greater responsibility comes greater problems, but we will be able to handle it all better through the help of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Before we come to Christ there is no true help, just Satan trying to drag us down with him, but when Christ enters our lives… oh my people, there is help everlasting! Remember God’s promise through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope). (Jer. 29:11) 

The next quote tells us: ‘Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.’ And that’s very good advice, but we have to put it into our Christian context. That means first of all, as Bruh Paul said to Timothy: ‘For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound (disciplined) mind.’ (2 Tim. 5:7) So, with Christ in your life, fears don’t bog you down like they did before. 

However, those dreams must now also become aligned with the will for Christ in your new life. Here’s how Bruh David puts it in Psalm 37. ‘Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.’ (Ps. 37:4-5) Unfortunately, when we come to Christ, we must wait on His timing, which isn’t always easy to do, and also do the things that He desires of us. 

Now, I can tell you from personal experience that He will bring many of your heart’s desires to pass, once they align with His will for your life. I’ve wanted to do a lot of things in this life and faithfully, many times unexpectedly, He has allowed me to do them, though not always to the extent that I’ve desired. But my greatest desires are still out ahead of me, and I do hope that they will align with God’s will for my life, because I would be truly disappointed if some of those never came to fruition. 

But He’s the Boss, and I can only do what He allows. And the good thing is that I’m not worried, a tad concerned yes, (smile) because most of what I want to do is for His greater glory, so why wouldn’t He allow me to do them eh? That’s why you need plenty trust and faith. However, that kind of blind faith and trust don’t come overnight, but only with experience in God’s wonderful grace and mercy. 

Meanwhile, the next quote declares: ‘The only place where your dreams become impossible is in your own thinking.’ Now that might sound sort of contrary because we usually consider our minds to be the only place that all our dreams are possible. But I believe the quote is saying we are the ones who limit our dreams by our limited thinking. And if you are a true believer in Christ, you’ll know that nothing is impossible with Him. As He said to the disciples when they were amazed at His statement that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’ (Matt. 19:26) 

And, unfortunately, when we limit our thinking, we also limit the power of God in our lives. For remember what Jesus said earlier on to the disciples. ‘If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove (move); and nothing shall be impossible to you.’ (Matt. 17:20) So, once we are in Christ, it’s essential to believe that all things are possible through Him who strengthens us. 

But then too, like the following quote advises: ‘You have to train your brain to be positive just like you work out your body.’ And that’s the gospel truth! We don’t get powerful and positive minds by simply believing in Christ. No, we have to train our minds, just like we train our bodies. And how do we do that? As believers we need to read and meditate on God’s Word, His Guidebook for Life, the Bible. Then talk to God through prayer, while listening to and obeying the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit that indwells all believers to lead and guide us in the right way, and also fellowshipping with other believers. 

Like everything else, we only grow through practice and experience…and it all takes time. So, please don’t be discouraged if you find yourself floundering, keep keeping on, because there is no giving up when you are in Christ. That brings us to our last quote: ‘You need to be able to manage stress because hard times will come, and a positive outlook is what gets you through.’ The first part is true, trials and tribulation will come, but a positive outlook ALONE, will not get you through. A positive outlook with Christ in your life is what will get you through! 

Please note the many people with only positive outlooks who didn’t get through the recent pandemic – sorry, it’s not done yet – the current pandemic, because it takes more than just a positive outlook. It takes strong belief, faith, trust and surrender to the power that’s greater than us, the power that created and controls the universe and all therein, and that’s Almighty God! That’s the backdrop, the foundation you need for your positive outlook! Much LOVE!

…only in Christ Jesus…will you find all that you need for living this life…as well as the next… 

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 July 2021 Matthew 24:36.

03 Jul 2021 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 24:36.     But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

So, we have finally arrived at Saturday, our lazy day. But I think we are going to have more celebrations than laziness this long holiday weekend, with Canada Day up here, and the 4th of July happening in the U.S. And hopefully we won’t see any unnecessary escalation in the Covid-19 sickness count, because contrary to what many of us believe, the pandemic is not over simply because many of us have been vaccinated. We still need to have a modicum of circumspection as to how, and with whom we gather. But as they say, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. (smile) 

Let us move on though to our Saturday business, that of checking out the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And the first one says: ‘You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.’ And that’s the living truth my people! But sadly, today, a lot of people are trying to give wrongdoing a good name, trying to turn wrong into right and truth. And unfortunately, if you hear that kind of talk enough, you can often come to believe that wrong is indeed right and truth. 

I guess the best example of that right now is the Republican political party in the U. S, who are diligently trying to prove Donald Trump’s lies about the election and His worthless regime are right and true. And they are painting it as patriotism, when it’s nothing but a downright greedy grab for power! So we have to be very careful of whom and what we listen to, using the tenets of the Good Book as our basic foundation for right and truth. 

Now, the next quote informs us that ‘Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.’ And though we prefer not to consider that defeat and heartbreak contain seeds or lessons for future behaviour, the statement is very true. If we look back at all the disappointments in our lives, we can often find things we did wrong, or moments we should have gone in another direction. 

That’s because hindsight is twenty-twenty, and we can see the right thing for the prevailing situation, much clearer when we look back at it, than when we are actually going through it. That means, after every disappointment we need to do some dissection, to learn where we went wrong, and thus learn from it for future opportunities. 

Then there’s this: ‘Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.’ Now that’s something of which we should all be aware…yet still we worry as though there was no tomorrow. Yes, precious people of God, worry gets us nowhere. It’s like Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) likes to say: ‘Worry is like rocking all day in a rocking chair, but at the end you are still the same place, haven’t moved an inch.’ But the best analogy is that of Jesus; where He compares the birds and flowers and nature in general to mankind. They are less important to God than man, but are still able to live a life of joy and beauty through God’s sustenance. 

And He reasons: ‘Wherefore, if God so clothe (clothes) the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith.’ (Matt. 6:30) Oh my fellow saints in Christ, our heavenly Father knows we need food and clothes and shelter and all those things, and will provide them if we do as Christ says: ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33) 

If we keep God first place in our lives, He will look after us, just like He looks after the birds and the bees and flowers of nature. Consequently, we should be concerned, pay attention to things, but don’t get to the worrying stage. ‘Take therefore no thought for the morrow (don’t worry about tomorrow): for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof.’ (Matt. 6:34) 

Yes friends, everyday brings its own problems, but if we worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow, and not concentrate on what is happening today, then we’re doing an injustice to today, we are shortchanging ourselves on the joy that we could possibly have today. And please remember, tomorrow never really comes nuh, because when it shows up, it’s always called today. (smile) So let’s stop with the worrying and concentrate on seeking God first nuh, for that’s the side on which our bread is buttered. 

And the next quote is a dandy. (smile) ‘‘You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.’ I don’t know about that nuh. It sounds true, but what kind of peace, and what kind of freedom are we talking about? If we are talking about the peace the world gives us, then we do need freedom of body and mind to enjoy it. However, if we’re talking about the peace that Jesus gives us, then we don’t necessarily need freedom of body to enjoy it. 

Here’s why. Jesus said it thus. ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:33) Oh my people, the peace we get from Jesus is an entirely different kind of peace than what we get from the world. It’s a peace that enables us to go through storms of life and much adversity without worrying and being downtrodden. 

Just take Bruh Paul as an example. He suffered so much for the gospel but he was never downtrodden or seriously discouraged, because he had the peace of Christ working in him. Thus, he learned to be contented in whatever state he found himself. And Christ will give us that same kind of wonderful peace, despite our world falling down around us, if we turn to Him and sincerely ask for it. 

Now let’s turn to our last quote, another dandy. (smile) ‘The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.’ Now that’s the gospel truth friends! It has always been, and will always be! Those who prepare for the future will always have a better handle on it, than those who don’t. That’s just the way life runs. Whatever you are prepared for, you will handle it better than if you were not prepared for it. And the best, or most pressing example of that in these last days is if we are prepared for the future coming of Christ Jesus? 

Yes mih breddren, that’s the question of the day; are we ready, have we received Christ as our Lord and Saviour, been sealed by the Holy Spirit as a child of God, and had our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Now that’s the most important preparation we can ever make for the future, because Jesus is coming back, and when He does, those who have not received Him as Lord and Saviour will be eternally separated from the Living God! 

And there is a big reason to get that done as soon as possible, in fact right now, because Jesus can come back at any time, even later today or tomorrow. For, as He said while here on earth. ‘But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.’ (Matt. 24:36) So you see friends, even Jesus didn’t know when He would return, only the Father has that info. But He did tell us that it would be like in the days of Noah, before the flood, when men were sinfully cavorting about the earth, without any thought to God and godliness. (Matt. 24:37-43) ‘Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.’ (Matt. 24:44) 

And I don’t need to tell you that these days are looking exactly like those of Noah, for we are doing our own thing without regard to God or godliness. That means Christ’s return can’t be that far off, and it draws nearer every day, which further means that it’s becoming more important every day, to be prepared for it. So please friends, let’s be wise and make being prepared for Christ’s return our number one priority nuh. And to also tell others about it and help them be prepared too, for that’s a very important part of our duty in Christ’s kingdom…to teach and make disciples of others! Much LOVE!

…if you are not ready…then Jesus will not take you home with Him when He returns…it’s as simple as that…                                                                                       

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