The Importance of Christians Believing in the Amazing and Awesome Greatness of Their God!

05 Sep 2025 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 25:4.         Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.

And it’s a cool, windy, cloudy Friday in my neck of the woods, but that doesn’t make a difference when it comes to shouting out ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ Yes friends, the way our work system is set up, the couple of days off at the weekend is sanctified, (smile) and we avidly seek it, regardless of the weather or what’s happening around our strife-filled world. 

And today, we will look at an interesting poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, titled ‘Your Child, God.’ And once we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, we all become the adopted children of God, joint heirs with Christ, with a right to our divine heritage, entitled to all our heavenly Father has. (Rom. 8:17) But, sadly, oftentimes we don’t behave like children of God, or even know what He is truly like. 

So please read with me: ‘O God With deep contrition I shamefully confess My small concept of You My puny faith My limited comprehension. Forgive me, O God And enlarge my narrow vision. Stimulate my trust As I concentrate on Your greatness. Give me even now A true perspective Of Your majestic power To totally transform the child On whom You have set Your LOVE – The child whose name is engraved On the palm of Your hand The child who claims You As her Maker and Master. Your child, God! Me!’ 

Oh my fellow believers, that poem is simple but it says a lot, and is very relevant to our uncertain and difficult times, for as the poem says, many of us don’t see or know the true greatness of the wonderful God we claim to serve. Many of us think that He’s either a doting grandfather, or a tough nut to crack, who’s somewhere out there in the wild blue yonder, with little power, not paying much attention to what’s happening down here on Planet Earth. But all of that is totally untrue. Our God is neither a doting grandfather, a hard man to please, or not paying attention to our problems. 

In fact He’s the exact opposite of all that! He’s the Creator and Controller of this universe, that means He must have a lot of power to do such an awesome job. And He does care for us, so much so that instead of letting us all go to hellfire and damnation with Satan for our persistent disobedience and rebellion, He sacrificed His only begotten Son to give us another option; that’s salvation and eternal life with Him. So tell me how could anyone who does all those things not be great and majestic, LOVING and compassionate? 

Our God is so great that He’s described as Omnipotent, that’s having lots of power; Omniscient, that’s all knowing, all seeing and wise; and Omnipresent, that’s all pervading, being everywhere, universal. And it’s oh so important for believers to know the true scope and greatness of our God, to enlarge our narrow vision, because if we don’t, we’re liable to seek small stuff from Him, offer up small prayers, not understanding the full reach of His awesome might and power. 

And in these hate filled and angry times, we desperately need His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence, to help us fight the evil that’s controlling our world. It’s time for us to open our eyes and begin thinking of our God as the de facto, or in reality, the great and awesome God that He is! And we can only accomplish that feat by concentrating on God, on His Word and the leading of His Holy Spirit. 

Now the Bible Promise given for this poem comes from Psalm 25 titled ‘Trust in the Lord.’ The New Living Bible Translation puts it thus: ‘Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.’ (Ps. 25:4-5)  And to believe that, your God must be big and mighty, fearsome and fearless, LOVING, compassionate, kind and merciful! And that’s exactly what our God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is! So, thinking small doesn’t’ do our God any favours or give Him any accolades at all. 

And for our enlightenment, (smile) here’s how the good ole King James Version puts the verses from our Bible Promise. ‘Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.’ (Ps. 25:4-5) 

Yes my brethren, in these perilous times, we do need to turn to the God of our salvation and sincerely ask Him to show us His ways, teach us what He desires us to know, and lead us in His truth. And as we said earlier on, all of that begins with reading and meditating on God’s Word, then with the help of the Holy Spirit, putting it into action in our lives. As Psalm 119 wisely advises: ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’ (Ps. 119:105) 

Now, to help us get our act together, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, seeking grace in desperate time of need. As one voice: ‘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!’ 

And divine aid is certainly in the offing, but not until we improve our poor witness for Christ, which has given the evil enemy undue hegemony or dominance over our world. Much LOVE!

…until Christians truly believe and act like our God is a great God…we will never overcome the enemy…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 January 2014 1 John 4:4

30 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

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

1 John 4:4.   Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.  

And sadly my people, it’s Thursday. Steups! That means I only have one more week of this wonderful vacation left. Chuh! I can’t believe that two weeks in Paradise have already gone by. But it seems that even in Paradise, time passes quickly. (smile)

So what good memories did we make yesterday eh? Not many really nuh. I had my constitutional at Store Bay… and even that wasn’t so hot, because the water was a little choppy and I wasn’t feeling up to scratch. On the way home, we stopped for a brief chat with the Duchess’ old pen-pal at her business place.
 
But I wonder if the young people even know what a pen-pal is or was eh? Those were the long ago days of pen, paper, ink and writing, before the internet and all the other social media nonsense.
 
Oh, I just remembered that before going to Store Bay, we passed through Pigeon Point, another popular beach close to Store Bay, but I’ve been biased against Pigeon Point from my youth (smile) and it seems that nothing has changed in that respect.
 
For though the physical surroundings are better planned and more colourful and interesting than Store Bay, the beach itself still does nothing for me. And anyway, the Duchess would never be comfortable bathing there. End of Pigeon Point Story! (smile)
 
After leaving Rosalind, we came home and crashed, because we were both tired. We read and ate. I had my first roti in Tobago, which unfortunately had more potato than goat. That caused me to remark. ‘If I’d wanted so much potato, I would have both a potato roti yes!’
 
But that was really small potatoes (smile) in the grand scheme of things. And it helped support a British sister, who runs the Curry Shop on the road to Pigeon Point. When I first heard her British accent I was amazed at the connection between a ‘Britisher’ and curry, although curry is popular in Britain.
 
Anyway, I asked how she’d gotten from Britain to Tobago? She claimed that she wanted a change, and I believe that Tobago is all the better for it, because she seems to be providing a good service.
 
Anyhow, around 8 p.m. my body and soul being out of sync, I decided to rest for a spell. Hn! That spell lasted till after midnight, that’s why I’m writing a rough draft of the Bit at minutes after three in the morning. Don’t think I’ve been up at this ungodly hour since I got here.
 
And that’s basically what I saved in my memory bank yesterday. I have to chuckle here, because I just got up and reached for a piece of pawpaw, only to find the dish empty. Like I’d eaten it all with realizing it.
 
And we have a very interesting and helpful Bit today. As if they’re not all interesting and helpful eh? (smile) Listen up. This is John talking about trying spirits. ‘Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.’
 
And that Friends, is the undeniable, indisputable, recognizable, gospel truth! And if you don’t believe it, then your life will always be a mess! That’s because you’re allowing the evil rogue, Lucifer, who is in the world, to be stronger than the Holy Spirit of Almighty God that’s supposed to dwell in you.
 
And that makes no sense whatsoever my people. For why would a staunch believer in Jesus Christ, knowingly allow that cunning, deceitful villain Lucifer, to steal, to usurp the place of Christ’s Spirit in his soul and life eh? That’s total madness and undeniable stupidity! 
 
Now hear what the scholars have to say about our Bit. ‘4:4. Christ indwells believers. Satan is likewise the lord of his own followers. But Christ is greater than he who wreaks havoc in the world. Have overcome is in the perfect tense, stressing the abiding nature of their victory. Their strength lies in the fact that they are (born) of God.’
 
Yes my brethren, unless we are spiritually born of God, we lack the strength to overcome the enemy. And how does John arrive at this position? Because at the beginning of the chapter he tells us: ‘Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.’ (1 John 4:1)
 
And that’s no lie my people! There are even more false prophets today than in John’s time. He would certainly have held his head and wept sorely, if he saw what was happening in today’s false and crazy world.
 
Now listen carefully to the scholars’ note. ‘4:1. The Spirit gives assurance (3:24). But how do believers know it is God’s Spirit, and not a lying one, who is assuring them? John acknowledges the presence of numerous spirits. Christians must be wary that they be not misled. The Greek grammar here may indicate that John is calling for a halt to belief in spirits that was already in progress. This could have been a residual effect of those who had already left (2:19).’
 
And to complete the understanding of the scholars note, here is what 2:19 says. John’s here talking about the dangers of the antichrists. ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all (none of them were) of us.’ (1 John 2:19)
 
And the scholars further explain: ‘2:19. Some in the church, but now departed, were never really part of it. Here is a clear distinction between those who merely appear to be Christians, based on outward affiliation, and those who really are, whom the Lord knows and claims as His own.(1 Cor.8:3; Gal.4:9; 2 Tim.2:19).’ 
 
Oh my fellow believers, please take a moment and read those scriptures, for they will enhance your understanding of the Word. And we’ll end there, for you have enough on your plate to ponder and rectify today.
 
So till we meet again tomorrow, God in favour, please let the peace of God rule in our hearts and minds, and let’s work diligently on behalf of Christ. Now that’s wisdom at its highest level! Much LOVE!
…where the LOVE of Christ rules…no evil spirit can ever enter there…