The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Understanding the Their First and Foremost Duty is to Fear God and Keep His Commandments!

21 Aug 2026 Leave a comment

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   21 August 2026   Ecclesiastes 12:13.

Ecclesiastes 12:13.        Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

And I can just imagine the joyful shouts of our Friday Mantra that went up to heaven this beautiful Friday morning: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and the weekend is here at long last!’ Yes, the weekend is one of the few promising things we have to look forward to throughout our long years of labouring under the sun. As Cousin Sol, writing as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes puts it: ‘What profit hath a man of (from) all his labour which he taketh (toils or labours) under the sun?’ (Eccl. 1:3) And that’s a very good question, which he proceeded to find an answer to by using his wealth and wisdom to build and plant and have all the nicest things possible.

As he says later on: ‘So I was great, and increased (excelled) more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy (pleasure); for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of (reward from) all my labour.’ (Eccl. 2:9-10) Wow! Can you imagine the things Cousin Sol did in search of enjoyment and pleasure and finding out the destiny of man!

And what did all of that seeking prove? Cousin Sol says in great disappointment: ‘Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured (toiled) to do: and behold all was vanity (futility) and vexation of spirit (a grasping for the wind), and there was no profit under the sun.’ (Eccl. 2:11) Ah friends how sorrowful that must be, doing all those things and in the end finding no real satisfaction. It’s as the scholars say: ‘Solomon pursued fulfillment through pleasure, wine, great works, wealth, aesthetic and artistic pleasures and fame. (Eccl. 2:1-9) All of these failed to bring lasting satisfaction to the wisest man of all time, yet people three thousand years later are still trying them in search of enduring fulfillment.’

And so we foolishly are! But the important word in it all my brethren is ‘enduring.’ No pleasure of this world can satisfy us forever. The only thing that can bring true and lasting satisfaction is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ because that lasts forever and provides salvation and eternal life! Now those are the two most important things our human soul requires, because when our bodies die, we leave everything of the world behind, except Jesus Christ. And that’s guaranteed in this promise Jesus made to John in Revelation.

‘And he (Jesus) said unto me, It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst (thirsty) of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.’ (Rev. 21:6-7) And what does all of the mean? Per the scholars: ‘It is done: The eternal purpose of God to gather a holy, devoted people for Himself has now been accomplished.’

And as per Alpha and Omega, this overview explains it thus: ‘The phrase “alpha and omega” means the beginning and the end. Alpha is the first letter and omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Used together, they describe the whole of something, meaning the complete package, the entirety, or “from A to Z”. Therefore the Lord is the Beginning and End of everything.

As the scholars declare: ‘Beginning means God is the origin and source of all things (cf. Is. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12). End means He is also the goal or aim of all things (cf. Rom. 10:4) The water of life represents eternal sustenance and provision (cf. Rev. 22:1; Ps. 36:9; Is. 55:1; Jer. 2:13; John 4:14) available freely by faith (Rev. 22:17). He that overcometh is the one who has genuine, saving, persevering faith (cf. Rev. 2:11; 3:5; 1 John 5:4-5) He will inherit all that belongs to the him as a son of God (cf. John 1:12; Rom. 8:16-17; Gal. 3:29; 4:7).’

Now that’s certainly a lot of scriptures to look up, but if you truly want to understand what we’ve read, then I strongly advise you take the time and look them up. I just did, making the Bit even later than it already was, (smile) and I was surprised at how they dovetailed nicely with what is said in Revelation. But getting back to Cousin Sol and his search for fulfillment in earthly pleasures, we find him showing why he was considered the wisest man ever, that is before he turned away from the God of his forefathers, married numerous foreign wives and began worshipping their foreign gods.

His wise and poignant testimony still stands, as he says; ‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’ (Eccl. 12:13-14) No wiser words can be spoken than those my people! And for our information, Deuteronomy 6:2; 10:12, and Micah 6:8, also detail that our bounden duty is to serve the Lord. So in our somewhat unsuccessful efforts to do our duty, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, seeking divine aid to help us do better..

Altogether: ‘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. You know our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving, and we desperately need your help to fix them. 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. So please give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. 

And despite the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times, help us to be responsible, and get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that we can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out next week and further your glorious kingdom by the good 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!’

Now my fellow believers, let’s not get too carried away with our supposed holiness and righteousness, because we also need to wake up and smell the coffee, since our witness for Christ is not as good as it ought to be! Much LOVE!

…life’s earthly pleasures leave us unfulfilled…but those of heaven endure forever…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

The Lack of Unity Brought about by the Numerous Divisions in Christianity, Stymies the Development of Christ’s Church!

26 Jun 2026 Leave a comment

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   26 June 2026   Romans 16:17.

Romans 16:17.        Now I beseech you, brethren, mark (note) them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

And after the big midnight storm, Friday opened up somewhat cloudy, but by midday has turned into a hot, sunshiny day. That did not stop our Friday Mantra from rising up to heaven: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the weekend is here at last!’ We can’t seem to get away from that once the weekend looms near, neither can I seem to get away from these late buses in the last little while.

Today, I had some errands to run, and because I was up and about fairly early, I decided to do them sooner rather than later, however they took much longer than I expected. And brother, by 12 pm. the highways and byways were already clogged with traffic. I don’t know if that happened because it was Friday, but if it didn’t, I’m sorry for those of us who have to drive in the Greater Metro Area in the next few years, if they don’t first fix the current roads and then build some new ones, for everyday more cars and truck are coming on line, and the trucks are being driven like if they are cars.

But enough talk, let’s get to our topic for today. And it’s an interesting directive from Bruh Paul to the church at Rome, to avoid those who cause divisions. He writes: ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, mark (note) them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by good (smooth) words and fair (flattering) speeches deceive the hearts of the simple (innocent).’ (Rom. 16:17-18)

Ah mih people, right down through the years they have been people who set out purposely to cause divisions in the church, for their own benefit. Just look at the amount of different denominations we have in Christianity. It’s estimated that the number of Christian denominations globally range from around 200 distinct organized groups to over 45,000. And why is there such a great discrepancy in numbers? It depends on whether you count broad global traditions or individual, independent churches categorized by nation.

The fragmentation of the Christian faith is largely rooted in historical, cultural, and theological differences over time. However, demographers and encyclopedists categorize these thousands of groups into a few major branches: Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Restorationism.  They each preach their own version of Christianity, and within those major groups, there are still many smaller divisions, each having some difference or differences to the overall teaching of the larger group.

So Christianity must be divided, which means it’s virtually impossible to mount a united army for Christ. For as Jesus tells us when the Pharisees claimed: ‘This fellow doth not cast out devils (demons), but by Beelzebub, (Philistine deity) the prince (ruler) of the devils (demons). And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?’ (Matt. 12:24-26)

It’s impossible when one section or sector is eroding whatever the other tries to build. That’s why Christianity with so many divisions cannot work together to bring Christ to the masses, as it ought to. Too many little fragments are trying to do their own thing, instead of having one great overall movement. Consequently, Satan does not even have to divide us, for we’re already divided, he only has to conquer, which makes it ever so easy for Him and His evil cronies.

And that’s why the Lord instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to destroy all the people in the Promised Land: ‘make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.’ (Deut. 7:2b-4)  

It’s like what happened to the people of Samaria, who were overrun by the Assyrians, and eventual intermarried with them and thus turned away from Jehovah God and worshipped all sorts of false gods. And another set of dividers in the early church were the ones called the Judaizers, who preached that according to the law of Moses, it was still necessary to be physically circumcised to receive salvation through Christ. But when they all got together in Jerusalem, Peter reasoned that because Jesus spoke of no difference between Jews and Gentiles, purifying the hearts of the Gentiles by faith, and through the grace of God all shall be saved.  (Acts 15:1:11)

Under the New Covenant of Christ circumcision is no longer physical but spiritual, with the heart being metaphorically circumcised. It’s like the Lord said through the prophet Ezekiel: ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.’ (Zek. 36:26) That is also why John warned of the Antichrist; those who deny that Jesus is Christ, or that denieth the Father and the Son. (1John 2:18-22)

In closing, I don’t know what to say, to make Christians come together so we can fight the enemy as one. All I can offer is that we go to the throne of grace through our Friday Chant seeking divine help to make it come true. Altogether: ‘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. You know our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving, and we desperately need your help to fix them. 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. 

So please give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And despite the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times, help us to be responsible, and get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that we can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out next week and further your glorious kingdom by the good 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!’ 

And as we keep saying, believers also need to wake up and smell the coffee, because out witness for Christ is not good enough! Much LOVE!

…as Christianity proves…divisions don’t help to put forward a unified story…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien