Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 September 2017 Luke 18:1.

29 Sep 2017 Leave a comment

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

Luke 18:1.   And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. 

Ah friends, at long last a somewhat cloudy day in my area! And with it seems to be coming some heavenly precipitation. So far it’s only a slight sprinkle, but it’s better than nothing, for we haven’t seen rain around here in ages. 

And although it’s nice to have sunny days, we also need some showers of blessing to balance out the situation. The ground around here is parched and thirsty, let’s hope it gets some much needed relief today. 

But yuh see how life can be contrary? Places down south have been having oodles of rain and little sunshine, while we up here have been having lots of sunshine and no rain. The only redeeming factor is that our great and wonderful God is still in control of the universe He created! 

Glory to God! So we know that there is a purpose, a plan to every move that happens within it, because our God does not move ‘vikey vie’ (without purpose). 

And with all that being said, the workingman has already declared his Friday anthem: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui…even though it look cloudy! But come rain or come shine, we still going to have a good time this weekend! 

Partying fuh so mih breddren! Who going to stop we eh? Nobody! Not even God in His high heaven! So we thank Him for Fridays and the weekends!’ 

Yeh mih people, the workingman, as usual, has gone a tad too far in planning his weekend reverie. All he’s doing there is opening up himself for the always-lurking enemy, Lucifer, to come in and lay siege to his life. 

We Christian brethren cannot afford to be so lax and boundary less, since we don’t want the enemy to get even a toehold in our lives. And though our Friday Chant is not as effusive as the workingman’s anthem, it surely serves our purposes better. 

So let’s chant it now with supreme enthusiasm nuh. ‘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.’ 

Yuh see friends, we’re still open to having fun and partying, but just not to the extreme degree that the workingman goes to. It’s also important that we prepare for the upcoming week, so that come Monday, we can go back out into the evil and ungodly world and diligently do the Lord’s work. 

And to do that successfully, our Christian lives need to have boundaries set by our Lord and Saviour, our Leader and High Priest Jesus Christ! And if we don’t have them, then we can’t function properly in His economy. 

Now please don’t think that we’re missing out on anything because we don’t behave like leggo- beast, (smile) lecherous and decadent, for we still have lots of good, clean fun within Jesus’ parameters. 

And one of the main ways we stay within those parameters is by taking His sage advice in our Bit. ‘And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.’ 

Yes my fellow believers, let’s not forget that prayer is our ultimate form of communication with our heavenly Father. And if we don’t pray, don’t communicate with Him, then we won’t know what plans and purposes He has for our lives. 

And He DOES have a plan and a purpose for every life He creates, as He says in 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) 

My brethren, our merciful and ever-LOVING God ALWAYS has good thoughts and plans for us. There’s no sense in Him creating us in His own image, then thinking evil towards us. Anyway, we’ll end this series of messages on prayer with the classic example of prayer that Jesus gave us.

The Good Book tells us: ‘And it came to pass, that as he (Jesus) was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. (Luke 11:1) 

And Jesus responded: ‘After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (the evil one): For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.’ (Matt.6:9-13) 

Oh my fellow believers, we all know that simple but all-encompassing prayer, but do we pray it, or some version of it? Not enough I believe. On the whole, I don’t think we communicate with our great and wonderful God enough, and that’s only to our detriment. For our sakes, as well as our children’s, let’s try and improve it nuh. Much LOVE!

…wisdom dictates…that a believer prays…always…and forever…

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 31 May 2015 Romans 8:1

31 May 2015 Leave a comment

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

Romans:8:1.     There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

At last Friends, at last we’ve been blessed with the long-promised showers of blessing from heaven! It began in mid-afternoon yesterday, and has been falling on and off since then. There was some of Thor’s hammer pounding away on his drum and some strong winds which earlier blew away the small rain clouds like a man’s hand. Hn!

But when the big, dark, ominous clouds finally loomed, the wind was helpless to blow them away, and those clouds emptied their watery blessings on the parched and thirsty land. Glory to God!

Let’s hope now that the blessing of rain doesn’t continue for too long and become a curse, a calamity with the opposite effect, that of flooding, for in these days of climate change there’s no telling when one aspect of the weather will change, or how long it might last.

But please remember that today is Sunday, the Lord’s Day, and whether it’s raining or not, we have a responsibility to go to church, to praise and worship Almighty God with other fellow believers, so that He might be glorified here on earth, and we might receive His largesse of mercy, grace, forgiveness and strength to keep being obedient to His will, regardless of what comes against us.

As we all know, there’s strength in numbers, and when plenty Christians get together to praise and worship God, the evildoers of the earth tremble in fear, because they know the power that we wield when we’re unified. That’s why they use the age-old technique of divide and conquer to keep us mired in contention and disunity.

But if we are truly believers in Jesus Christ, then we will recognize the ploys of the enemy, whose middle name is sin and evil, and will use the indwelling Spirit of Christ to fight against and destroy it. And our Bit certainly accentuates the benefits of walking in the Spirit of Christ.  ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.’

Oh Friends, what a joy it is to believe in Jesus, and thus live life in the Spirit and not in the sinful nature of our flesh! For as our Bit truthfully declares, then we are no longer condemned, and consequently no longer burdened by the fact that ‘the wages of sin is death.’ (Rom.6:23) We’ve been set free from the bondage of sin by the sacrifice of Jesus and our acceptance of Him as the new ruler in our lives.

As Bruh Paul continues: ‘For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for (on account of) sin, condemned sin in the flesh. That the righteousness (righteous requirement) of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind (set their minds on) the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.’ (Rom.8:2-5)

Yes my people, once we become new creatures in Christ, we need to put away our sinful lusts, and let the Holy Spirit lead and guide us in all truth, according to the dictates of God. Unfortunately though, in this wicked and godless world, too many of us supposed believers are sitting on the fence; we want to walk with God, but the lusts of our flesh and our eyes still have too much sway over us.

Remember what Jesus said: ‘No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and LOVE the other; or else he will hold (be loyal) to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (riches, wealth, material possessions.)’ (Matt.6:24) And that’s the unadulterated truth Friends! We cannot serve God and worship the things of the world at the same time.

For as James so candidly and wisely declares: ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of (with) the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be (wants to be) a friend of the world, is the enemy (makes himself an enemy) of God.’ (James 4:4)

No Friends, we can’t be both a LOVER of God and a LOVER of the world! That’s just an impossible situation! So what are we to do then, you ask? Listen to Bruh Paul explain it to the Galatians.

‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.’ (Gal.5:16-18) Sure words of wisdom Friends!

Now let’s hear some explanations from the scholars. ‘5:16. Walk in the Spirit (i.e. “live by the Spirit”). Christians are to live with the Spirit’s help. How does one “live by the Spirit”? (1) The Christian must believe that the Spirit is with him, having been sent by God into his heart (4:6) (2) In every spiritual confrontation the believer must yield to the Spirit, that is, submit his own desires to those of the Spirit.

(3) One must depend on the Spirit for help, enabling him to live a God-pleasing life (v.5) (4) The believer should anticipate the effects of the Spirit’s help in his daily life. The believer who “lives by the Spirit” will not fulfill (accomplish, carry out) the lust (strong desires) of the flesh (sinful nature).’  

Oh my people, there’s a lot of information in the Bit to consider, so we’ll conclude with those helpful hints from the scholars. Please, let’s ponder on all that we’ve read, and try to bring our personal lives into line with God’s dictates, with the Spirit’s help of course, so that it can truly be said that we’re walking in the Spirit. Now that’s wisdom everlasting! Much LOVE!

…to sincerely walk with Christ…means letting His Holy Spirit…continously lead and guide us on our earthly pilgrimage…

 

 

 

 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 12 April 2012 Psalm 41:1

12 Apr 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 41:1      Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. 
 
Ah Friends, like spring has finally sprung; all the trees are now budding, and the winds are blowing strong and cold. But one essential element is still missing; rain. Rain had been forecasted for the last couple days, but the only indication of that life giving substance has been a few dark clouds in the sky, eerily reminiscent of Elijah praying for rain. (1 Kin.18:44) (smile) Who knows why the rain isn’t falling, be it our interference with the weather system, or God’s judgement? But we do need the heavenly blessing to fall soon because the earth is dry and thirsty, parched from the lack of moisture. If there’s not enough rain the crops will suffer and the harvest won’t be plentiful. That’s the same way it is with us Friends; if there’s no spiritual rain, no God-sent moisture in our lives, our souls will become parched and dry up. If the Word of God doesn’t dwell richly in us, then our spirit dries up and looks more like a desert than the oasis it should resemble. And when our spirits lack the Word, then we become lustful, flesh followers, turning to the worldly activities and things associated with Lucifer. We become even more selfish, greedy, resentful and self-centred than we already are, and stop doing the things of Christ, like helping those in need, having mercy and compassion on the sick and hurting, ignoring the poor, homeless and hungry. And that’s certainly not the role Jesus called us to play on this earth! At times like those, reading, contemplating and inwardly digesting our Bit helps us to return to the path that Jesus identified for His followers. ‘Blessed is he that considereth the poor (helpless, powerless): the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.’ Oh my people, that verse alone should galvanize us to help the suffering and hurting, because it’s a promise of God, and we know that He keeps all His promises. But even without that promise of compensation, our hearts ought to go out to those that are needy. Please remember where many of us came from. We weren’t all born to the prosperity we have today, and many of us were needy and suffering and helped by others to raise our level of living. So please don’t forget your roots like so many of us tend to do. And the unfortunate fact is that so many people are suffering today, in a time of supposed peace and plenty. So many are homeless; so many are forced to turn to food banks, a war time measure that’s been resurrected in these perilous times, and this in some of the world’s richest countries.  Even the food banks are now running out of food because of their steadily increasing clientele. Why is that eh? Basically because of the inequality of the distribution of wealth. And it’s only going to get worse before it gets better, with the governments crying about deficits, laying off staff and cutting back expenditure in areas that only affect the lower classes and those already bearing the brunt of serious affliction. Man’s inhumanity to man has certainly not disappeared. In fact it seems to be getting worse, for if the rich and powerful have their way, we’d all go back to feudal times. There are calls, even from some rich, for the wealthy to pay more taxes. It’s a crying shame when a billionaire’s secretary pays more taxes than he does! But hey, which government has the parts to raise taxes on the rich eh? It ‘d be like biting the hand that feeds you, for they are all supported by the lobbyists of the rich and greedy who unleash them on the government to seek their best interests. But take heart mih people, this Easter Season of 2012 is a turning point in our fortunes. The passion and zeal which Christ’s death and resurrection have renewed and/or ignited in us, will definitely carry us forth, from strength, to strength, and finally to victory! Remember the Lord’s promised that the wicked will get their comeuppance eventually – death, damnation and eternal separation. Like wise, the righteous will be rewarded, but with salvation and eternal life. So as Bruh Paul encouraged the Galatians with the following words, so let us be also encouraged by them: ‘And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (do not lose heart). As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.’ (Gal.6:9-10) Yes my brethren, although our resources may not be plentiful, we all have some that we can sacrifice and share with the less fortunate. Remember when you reach out to help someone else, particularly in a sacrificial manner, that’s the Spirit of Jesus working in you, for sacrifice is the backbone of His ministry and helping others is the whole purpose behind our faith. And as Bruh David continues after our Bit: ‘The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing (his sick-bed): thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness (restore him in his sick-bed).’ (Ps.41:2-3) Now that’s the living truth Friends! Jesus came to save the lost and helpless, and as His followers, that’s also our earthly purpose. So in these dire times, let’s not be overwhelmed by the world and all its selfish nonsense, but rather, let the true Spirit of Christ shine forth in us, by helping the less fortunate, for in due time we will be richly rewarded. ‘And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.’ (Col.3:23-24) Now that’s the gospel truth! Let us therefore go out and do it nuh! Much LOVE!…our world’s in a state of extreme ‘sufferation’…which will only be reduced by the sincere, Christ-like efforts…of sincere Christ-like believers…