27 Apr 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: absolute truth, affliction, All praise to God, always goes before us, aura of love, bedrock, belief, boost our spirits, Bruh Paul, caused me to trust, confidence, elixir, enthusiasm, foundation stone, friends, gall, General Jesus Christ, glorious kingdom, God's mercy, gospel truth, great is thy faithfulness, gusto, harmony, he that took me out of the womb, holy spirit, hope, hope that is seen is not hope, humble servants, I have hope, innate instinct, invincible, Jeremiah, Jesus Christ, joy, Lamentations, leader, lies, living colour, logic, LOVE, mercy, misery, Monday Morniing Battle Hymn, Oh Lord God Almighty, omnipotent, patience, peace, perseverance, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, resonating, rest, reverberating, rocket science, salvation, sincerity, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, the Good Book, the Lord is my portion, the Lord's compassions, the salvation of the Lord, thou didst make me hope, trust, truth, ungodly world, wait eagerly, we are saved by hope, when I was upon my mother's breast, wicked taunts, wisdom, wormwood
Psalm 22:9. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope (caused me to trust) when I was upon my mother’s breast.
Ah Friends, it’s Monday morning once again and the soaring sound of the trumpet is calling us to the battle lines, where our fearless and omnipotent General Jesus Christ is there waiting for us. And I must reiterate that our wonderful Leader always goes before us! He takes His role as a leader to heart and leads. He doesn’t follow, as so many other inferior generals do.
And all God’s people loudly declared: ‘All praise to God for our marvellous Leader Jesus Christ! He is indeed the finest and fairest Leader in all the universe!’
And having said that Friends, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with much gusto, harmony and sincerity to boost our spirits before we hit the road.
Like one heavenly choir now, let’s sing: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
That was pretty good Friends because we paid attention to the direction of the wonderful choirmaster, Jesus. Now let’s see if we can pay the same attention to Him out on the battlefield that’s the workday world and thus do as good a job in His name.
But yuh know what Friends? It all begins with that marvellous, magical, miraculous emotion termed HOPE; which, when mixed with belief, becomes the elixir called faith, which just grows and grows and grows, regardless of the circumstances or situations. Ah mih people HOPE is an innate instinct that we’re born with; our Creator provides us with it from birth.
That’s why Bruh David could justify his hope, faith and everlasting trust in the God of his fathers with the words of our Bit. ‘But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope (caused me to trust) when I was upon my mother’s breast.’
Yesterday we looked at some scripture passages that dealt with HOPE, today we’re going to do the same. And my people God’s word is so chocked full of passages on HOPE, in all different kinds of situations, that it might just take me a couple of weeks to go through them all. Hn, Hn! Doh worry Friends, I’m only joking, but the Good Book does have a lot to say on the subject.
And we’ll begin with this rather interesting passage from Bruh Paul to the church at Rome. ‘For we are saved by HOPE: but HOPE that is seen is not HOPE: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet HOPE for? But if we HOPE for that we see not, then do we with patience (perseverance) wait (eagerly) for it.’ (Rom.8:24-25)
And that is not rocket science my brethren, but simple common sense! For if we see something in living colour, why would we still HOPE for it eh? But if we don’t see it in living colour, only through the eyes of faith, then we should HOPE for it, and wait with eager patience for it to appear in living colour.
And that’s where HOPE is tied into faith; it is the bedrock, the foundation stone of faith. (Heb.11:1) Without HOPE you cannot have faith, which is the next step in the process.
Now hear these words from Jeremiah’s Lamentations that tie in so nicely with what we’ve been talking about. Jeremiah is here talking about HOPE and relief through God’s mercy.
‘Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall (bitterness). My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled (bowed down) in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I HOPE. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I HOPE in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both HOPE and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lam.3:19-26)
Oh Friends, those are indeed beautiful words of absolute truth! Words for all true believers to live by!
Therefore my people, logic dictates that we end here, with them resonating and reverberating through our hearts, minds and souls, to buoy and boost us up, as we go out to do the Lord’s work today. Go in the LOVE, peace and wisdom of God, my brethren. Much LOVE!
…without HOPE…what’s a man living for eh…he might as well be dead…
11 Apr 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a brother is born for adversity, a friend loveth at all times, a hot potato, a man of many friends comes to ruin, affliction, almighty god, confess, deceit, die spiritually, Elijah, enemies, forgiven, foundation, friends, good things come and go, gospel truth, I may think aloud, Job, multi-purpose, patience, pray without ceasing, prayer of faith, prayer should be like breathing, Ralph Waldo Emerson, selfishness, sing psalms, sins, spring, the closer the friendship the greater the trust, the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man, there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, trust, watch unto prayer, when it's not one thing it's another, will and desire of God, winter, wisdom, wolves in sheep's clothing
1 Thessalonians 5:17. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!
Ah Friends, the rain finally stopped yesterday, and the sun peeped out from behind the clouds, but then the wind began causing havoc; it played a rough, villainous mas all day. (smile)
Ah Lord eh! When it’s not one thing it’s certainly another! But that’s life my people; good things come and go, and so do bad things. The bad thing, winter, has gone, and the good thing, spring, is a coming, though it’s also bringing with it much rain and strong winds. But as Job said, we can’t expect to get good without bad. (Job 2:10) And one of the good things we can get, and also be, in this crazy, evil world is a Friend.
Yes my fellow believers, Friends are important in this life. But we have to be careful that we don’t have too many supposed ones, or those who are just wolves in sheep’s clothing, meaning they are really our enemies masquerading as our Friends.
And what caused me to follow this line of thought today, is a quote I read by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), the famous American essayist, lecturer and poet. He describes a Friend thus: ‘A Friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud.’
And that’s very true my brethren. That definition of a Friend, and any other implies a certain amount of trust. The closer the friendship the greater the trust. What did Cousin Sol say in Proverbs: ‘A friend LOVETH at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.’ (Prov.17:17)
And according to the scholars: ’17:17. A true friend has unquenchable LOVE that is not diminished be adversity.’
That’s much better than this Proverb: ‘A man that hath friends must show himself friendly (may come to ruin): and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.’ (Prov.18:24)
And the scholars explain that thus: ’18:24. A man that hath many friends must show himself friendly, may also be translated, “A man of many friends comes to ruin.” In other words, a man must not spread himself too thin among many superficial relationships. Far better is it to have genuine friends who become like family and LOVE at all times.’
That’s gospel truth my people! A lot of times too, friends are more trustworthy and reliable than our family members. And we’ll end this li’l preamble on Friends by saying, that literally speaking, if you want to have friends, you also have to behave like a friend; be pleasant, kind and show yourself to be trustworthy.
Unfortunately though, the corrosive and corrupt state of our world doesn’t lend itself to too much trustworthiness, especially when a premium is placed on selfishness and deceit. So please, let’s all be very careful whom we let into our inner circle, if we want our lives to not get worse than they should.
And as for everything in our lives, when coming to friends, we must also pray about them; pray that the Lord will either make them work out or show us their insincerity very early in the proceedings, so that we can drop them like a hot potato. (smile)
That’s why our Bit tells us to ‘PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.’ Having a prayerful attitude is all for our benefit, not God’s.
And to end this series of messages on the importance of prayer, let’s listen to James as he discusses patience in affliction. ‘Is any among you afflicted (suffering)? let him pray. Is any merry (cheerful)? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess you faults (trespasses) one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual (effective) fervent prayer (supplication) of a righteous man availeth much.
Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are (with a nature like ours), and he prayed earnestly that I might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by (the land for) the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.’ (James 5:13-18)
Oh mih people, yuh see the multi-purpose function that prayer plays in the believer’s life! As we said in an earlier message, prayer is our lifeline to our Creator, Almighty God, and that communication should never be broken, if we want to have a godly and fruitful life.
And we’ll go cruising home with Peter, the rock, this Saturday morning in the spring of 2015. Hear this wonderful verse from his passage on being good stewards of God’s grace. ‘But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.’ (1 Pet.4:7)
Yes Friends, it’s of the utmost importance that believers make prayer a strong and steadfast foundation in their lives, for that is the will and desire of God! It is also wisdom of the heavenly kind! Much LOVE!
…we’ve said it before…but we’ll say it again…prayer should be like breathing…constant and regular…otherwise we die spiritually…
04 Apr 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a cold heart, a God afar off, Am I a God at hand, ascend up into heaven, believing in God, Christ Cathedral, christianity, climb over, common sense, Crystal Cathedral, do not let me quit, dr robert h schuller, dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Easter Saturday, esophageal cancer, faithful, fill heaven and earth, fruitful service, give up easy mentality, godly wisdom, gospel truth, Gramps Schuller, hands on, harvest season, hiding from God is impossible, Hour of Power, Hour of Power Devotional, I've been born again, if I take the wings of the morning, it will not tarry, Jeremiah, Jesus, lackadaisical, Lord when I face a mountain, LOVE, make my bed in hell, Mountain Mover's Prayer, Norman Vincent Peale, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, pass through, patience, perception, positive faith, positive thinking, Possibility Thinker's Creed, possibilties, season of the soul, shall thy hand lead me, Shepherd's Grove, spiritual life, spring time experience, strength to keep on striving, tunnel underneath, wait pateintly, where shall I flee from thy presence, whither shall I go from thy spirit, winter time, Winter's Cold, with eager expectation
Psalm 139:7. Whither shall (where can) I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall (where can) I flee from thy presence?
Ah Friends, two very important people in my life have died in the last two days. Yesterday it was Jesus, the day before it was Gramps Schuller – Robert H Schuller (1926-2015), the visionary who melded Christianity with the Positive Thinking of Norman Vincent Peale.
Gramps Schuller was the man who began a church in Orange County in California in a drive in theatre, where he would preach from the rooftop of the snack bar, while his wife Arvella played the organ. Then he went on to build a drive in church, and then the fabulous glass based Crystal Cathedral. How could you build a glass cathedral in California, with all it’s eartquakes and seismic faults, unless you had great vision and strong, positive faith in Almighty God?
I was introduced to him some years ago by my mother, via the Hour of Power programme on television, and I believe of all the ministers I’ve listened to He impressed me the most, both by what he said and how he said it. He was always enthusiastic and positive, and I know some people criticized him for that. But what’s wrong with having a positive outlook in Christianity eh?
What did Jesus preach about? Believing in God, but you can’t truly believe in anything with a negative mind set. Jesus never went around sour and miserable and negative as a lot of Christians think they should.
And here is Gramps Schuller’s ‘Possibility Thinker’s Creed,’ or what some refer to as ‘The Mountain Mover’s Prayer.’ ‘Lord, when I face a mountain, do not let me quit. Give me the strength to keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, or tunnel underneath. And if my best efforts fail, give me the patience to stay and the perception to see the possibilities of turning my mountain into a gold mine with your help. Amen.’
Now tell me what’s wrong with that eh Friends? Not a single thing! It’s certainly the attitude we supposed Christians ought to adopt, instead of the lackadaisical, give up easily mentality that so many of us have. And I can still remember Gramps Schuller some years ago reading these verses from Psalm 139, including our Bit. The way he delivered them was very expressive, and oh so powerful:
‘Whither shall (where can) I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall (where can) I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there, If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.’ (Ps.139:7-10)
Oh Friends, that’s obviously gospel truth, but Gramps Schuller made you feel it. I don’t know about anybody else nuh, but as far as I am concerned the Hour of Power was the BEST programme on the tube when it originated from the Crystal cathedral! I say that because it was a beautiful visual production, and you got a wonderful blend of everything; religion and church, interviews with interesting people, and by far the BEST music. The Hour of Power Choir is still my favourite.
It’s sad though that in 2011 the Crystal Cathedral had to be sold into bankruptcy because of a large debt, family feuds and other internal wrangling. It just goes to show that even in the best, or most religious families, there can be serious problems. And who do you think bought the Crystal Cathedral and renamed it Christ Cathedral? The Catholic Church of Orange County California.
Anyway, the Hour of Power Programme is still on the tube, but comes from a smaller, ex-Catholic church, called Shepherd’s Grove. It is run by Gramps Schuller’s grandson, Bobby. It doesn’t make such a big splash, as it did in the Crystal Cathedral, but it’s still amongst the best and most wholesome viewing on the tube.
Dr. Schuller was also a prodigious writer, penning some 50 books, with at least five of them best-sellers on the New York Times list. He apparently passed away in a nursing home from esophageal cancer that struck him in 2013. Regular readers of the Bit know that I hold him in high esteem and often feature some of his stuff from the Hour of Power Devotional.
Here is a passage from yesterday’s journal. It’s titled ‘Winter’s Cold,’ and it says: ‘I never fail to remind new Christians who join our church that there are seasons in the spiritual life. For most people the beginning of the Christian life is a spring time experience. The icy sea of doubt is broken; a new life springs from a cold heart. No wonder people describe it by saying, “I’ve been born again!” This is the springtime season of the soul.
When the Christian matures through the disciplines, there is growth, sometimes painful, in exposure to the summer sun and wind, and finally the ripening of the fruit. The harvest season arrives and you offer to God the fruit of a life of service. And, strangely, it is after a period of fruitful service that the winter time comes.’
Ah Friends, how true that is, especially in Dr. Schuller’s life. After a long life of service to God and many successful seasons of harvesting good fruit, the winter of his discontent set in, through illness, family and financial problems. May he rest in peace with his God.
And we’ll end today with a scripture from Jeremiah that certainly validates our Bit and the verses that accompany it. The Lord’s talking about false prophets, and asks these questions? ‘Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.’ (Jer.23:23-24)
Oh Friends, our God is certainly a faithful, hands on, always right here by our sides God, not some fly-by-night, never present deity. And if we believe that He’s omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, then there’s no place in His universe that we can ever successfully hide from him.
Some of us foolishly try to do that though, but eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later, they will find that hiding from our God is simply impossible, and will instead run to His outstretched arms and enjoy the comfort and LOVE that’s waiting there for whosoever wants to embrace it.
That’s basic common sense and a touch of godly wisdom thrown in for good measure! (smile) Much LOVE my brethren on this Easter Saturday morning!
…just one more day…just one more day…so please wait patiently for it…with eager expectation…for it will come…the promise will come…it will not tarry…
28 Mar 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abounding in mercy, Adam and Eve, as far as the east is from the west, as the heaven is high above the earth, be in the world, brainwash, but not of the world, Christians, confession is good for the soul, credit cards, debt, eager expectation, enmity with God, fast food drive ins, fix our brokeness, fleshly lusts, forgiveness, friendship with the world, harbinger, haste, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, heart attacks, holy and just God, if we confess our sins, in God's time, iniquities, Jesus, judgement, learn to wait, like night follows day, loving kindness, lunatic rush, mercy, Moses, negative toll, no end in sight, now for now, obnoxious, oppressed, patience, Patience is the best remedy for every trouble, perseverance, Plautus, quick-fix, rat-race society, reality of the situation, righteousness., salvation, slow to anger, spring, spring follows winter, stress, taketh away the sin of the world, taking its own sweet time, thanksgiving for god's mercy, the BIBLE, the Garden of Eden, the Lamb of God, the Lord is merciful and gracious, the Love of the Father is not in us, the passing of time, time change, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, Tobago, transgression, vortex, wisdom
1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Well Friends, it’s a Saturday morning at the end of March and that encouraging and uplifting season of spring has been touted as being in the air. Technically it’s now spring, being that for over a week now. But the reality of the situation is entirely different. It’s minus plenty outside right now, and the high for later on is only about a big fat ZERO, with the wind chill factor of the strong and cold March winds making it even worse.
Oh for the warm, tranquil, scenic and idyllic climes of Tobago! (smile) But I do believe that the weather is taking a negative toll on the populace. It’s been a pretty bad winter and it just keeps dragging on with no seeming end in sight.
And then the time change hasn’t helped matters either. However my people, our world wasn’t designed and set up haphazardly. Our God put plenty thought into it, and just like night follows day, and vice versa, spring always follows winter, this one is just taking its own sweet time. (smile)
And you can guess that the word for today is ‘PATIENCE!’ It’s a word though that’s fast fading from our vocabulary. But like the Roman dramatist, Plautus (254-184 B.C) is reputed to have said, way back then: ‘Patience is the best remedy for every trouble.’
And he does have a point, especially in this rat-race society of ours, where we’re accustomed to the quick- fix, the now for now stuff; like fast food drive ins, credit cards to spend cash we don’t have, etc. etc. We even expect to be healed quickly of all and any sickness that befalls us. But that unfortunately is not always the case. More often than not we need to execute patience and allow the passing of time to fix our brokenness.
It would do our society a whole lot of good if we would learn to wait. There’d be less stress, and thus less heart attacks in relatively young people, less debt, and less of a whole lot of other negative things. And unfortunately many of us Christians are being pulled into the crazy vortex of the world’s lunatic rush for everything.
Remember, we are supposed to be in the world, but not of it. (Rom.12:2) James also tells us that friendship with this world means enmity with God. (James (4:4) And John in his first epistle clearly tells us not to LOVE this world nor the things in it, for if we do, then the LOVE of the Father is not in us.’ (1 John 2:15)
So Friends, please let us cut down on the haste and the inability to wait, for it will only cause us bigger problems in the long run. And Bruh Paul reminds us, that as Christians, if we hope for something that we can’t see, then we ought to wait with patience, perseverance and eager expectation for it, it will come, all in God’s good time. (Rom.8:25)
That brings us to our Bit. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
Oh Friends, that’s one of the most important verses in the entire Bible, that’s why we’re spending so much time on it. Sin, as we know, has been man’s Achilles heel ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Now sin is very obnoxious to our holy and just God, and that is why He sent Jesus down from heaven to save us from them. And the Good Book has a lot to say about it, from the earliest days right down to the last ones.
So let’s look at a couple of scriptures that deal with sin nuh. We’ll begin with a most appropriate passage, one that nicely describes what we were just talking about. It comes from John, when he was baptizing in the Jordan. ‘The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29)
And Friends, if anybody should know about that, it was John, for he was sent as the harbinger to proclaim Jesus’ coming and His message of salvation!
Now listen to this passage from Psalm 103; Bruh David’s song of Thanksgiving for God’s mercy. ‘The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous (abounding) in mercy (LOVING-kindness).
He will not always chide (strive): neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy (LOVING-kindness) toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgression from us. Like a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.’ (Ps.103:6-14)
Again my people, if anybody ought to know about sins and their forgiveness, it is Bruh David, for he passed through his fair share of sinfulness, but the Lord forgave him whenever he cried out in confession and begged for mercy. And yuh see what he says, ‘as far as the east is from the west,’ the Lord has removed our sins from us.
Oh what a mighty and merciful God we serve my people! No other deity does anything like that. So I don’t see why it’s so difficult for us to come to the Lord and confess our sins, when we re guaranteed forgiveness and LOVING –kindness!
Friends, we’re allowing the wicked world in which we live to brainwash us with its fleshly lusts and bright, shiny but unworthy stuff, and that’s not wise. So please let’s wake up from our foolishness, and attain unto wisdom nuh; let’s confess our sins to Almighty God and be forgiven. Now that is heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
…confession is always good for the soul…especially when it brings forgiveness and mercy…
22 Feb 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: aimless, be not conformed to this world, by the renewing of your mind, children of God, Christian, Christians, closer to God, commitment, communicate with God, conforming, diligence, divisive, drifting, endurance, evil and ungodly world, faith, friends, furthering God's glorious kingdom, gnarled bark, grow, grow up into Christ, hypocrites, intorspection, Israel, Jesus Christ, journey with Jesus, Lent, Lenten season, LOVE, loving kindness, mature, misgiving, mores, patience, perfect will of God, perseverance, Pharisees, prayer, righteous lives, righteousness., sacrifice, scorn, set purpose, St. Francis, Sunday, testimony, the Lord's Day, the One Year Book of Bible Promises, the things of the world, two-faced, values
Romans 12:2. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Well Friends and fellow believers in Jesus Christ, once again the cycle of 7 days morphing into a week has begun. This is the day of the Lord, the first day of the week, and to show proper respect and our grateful appreciation for His goodness and LOVING-kindness last week, and this coming week, we ought to go to His sanctuary and offer up praise, worship and thanksgiving with other believers and receive the strength, encouragement and confidence to face another week in this mish-mash, predominantly ungodly world.
I already had my churching for today. And Friends, the ole fella read the scripture in church and shook my tambourine with much pleasure. Mama Mia! I like this church. It doesn’t seem to have a choir or organ, but they have an African drum and tambourines and the voices really are loud and proud, filling up the whole church with prayers, praises, songs of worship and thanksgiving!
And the female lay reader preached a mighty powerful sermon this morning on the meaning of Lent; a time for introspection, for growing, for giving up things of the world, so that we can get closer to God. And as usual, I saw people from my youth, people I have not seen in many a day. I guess there’s no place I can go in Tobago without meeting someone who knows me, my, mother, my father or my grandfather.
Unfortunately it will be my last visit on this trip. Next Sunday I’ll be back in my cold St. Francis church back in the North Country, but it’s only the surroundings that are cold, the people are warm and lovely and friendly! Hi there my people back at St. Francis! I missed you all, but not the cold weather. (smile)
And since Lent is a time for us to grow in the nature and image of Christ, this morning when I read this most appropriate passage from The One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, I obviously couldn’t pass it up. It’s titled ‘Grow Up.’
And it says: ‘Picture with me: a piece of gnarled bark tossed to and fro over the crashing breakers. First one direction, then another, back and forth, over and under. Aimless. No set purpose. Drifting… always drifting. What an accurate picture of an immature Christian. Nothing but spiritual puttering. Up and down, in and out. One study group for a few weeks, then another. One church for a while, then another.
Undisciplined, unsteady, one day soaring, the next day wading in self-pity. No consistency. The apostle Paul tells us to grow up! Not grow older, but grow up into Christ. What we are today is more important to God than what we were yesterday. Our life journey with Jesus is now – this very day, this very hour. Why yearn for change if we’ve made no effort to follow the direction God has already given us?
To grow spiritually we must be single-minded. Our one goal? To be conformed to the image of Christ. He longs for our willingness to let Him root us, cultivate us, water us. Above all, God wants our total commitment. He will take anything we give Him, except second place.’
Oh my people, those are such moving words of truth that I don’t see how we can ignore them if we truly want to be a mature Christian. Like everything else in this world, it takes, diligence, patience, perseverance, endurance, faith, prayer and the sweat of our brow to grow, to come up higher in Christ too. That means we can’t be wishy-washy and wavering, sitting on the fence, jumping down to one side or the other as the fancy takes us, or where the grass seems greenest.
And the promise for that passage is our inimitable Bit, memorable words from Bruh Paul to the Corinthians. And we’ll start with the first verse of the chapter. ‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable (rational) service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ (Rom.12:1-2)
Oh Friends, that is the perfect recipe for the wandering, wavering, wishy-washy Christian! In fact for any Christian at all, because that’s how we become true children of God, reflecting the true image and character of Jesus Christ, which is God’s eternal plan. And the scholars have some very good explanations on those verses, so let’s check them out.
’12:1. By the mercies of God summarizes all that God has accomplished for the believer in Romans 1-11 in justifying the believer (chs. 1-5), enabling the believer to live a righteous life (chs 6-8), and being faithful to Israel (chs 9-11). That ye present refers to a definite act of presentation. The verb is used of offering a sacrifice that became “holy” under the Levitical system (cf. Ex.29:37).
This shows that the Christian life begins with total commitment and irrevocable presentation. Your bodies: The body has been an instrument of sin (ch 6). Now it is to be presented to God as a channel through which the righteousness of God is manifested.’
12:2. Be not conformed (lit. “stop conforming yourselves”). They are to resist being poured into the mould of the present thinking, value systems, and conduct of this world. This term is used only here and in 1 Peter 1:14.’
Oh my brethren, that last sentence says it all! We supposed Christians, followers of Christ are being too influenced by the mores, vales and conduct of this evil and ungodly world. So how can we expect to be true Christians when we’re not following the will and work of Jesus Christ eh?
That’s why so many unbelievers look down on us with scorn and serious misgiving, comparing us to the hypocrite Pharisees of Jesus’ time and thus refuse to attend church or commit their lives to Jesus. And they’re quite right too! How can we expect people to join something that’s so conflicted, divisive and two-faced?
In other words Friends, we’re not helping God’s cause with that kind of behavior, but driving it into the ground. And there’s no better time than this Lenten Season to check ourselves and see where we may be coming up short for Jesus, and seriously communicate with Him to help us change, grow, mature, and thus do better in furthering His glorious kingdom.
So let’s concentrate on that today nuh my people, for all of us can use God’s help to improve our earthly witness. Much LOVE!
…the best testimony for Jesus…is through our true and righteous lives…anything less is not good enough…
22 Jan 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fight to the death, a fresh cold, a high priest, after the order of Melchizedek, an intense longing for god, ascended into heaven, atone for our sins, breakthrough, Bruh David, Bruh Paul, cast not away your confidence, courage, cure a simple cold, disregard the darkness, don't give up, done the will of god, endurance, eternal life, eternal separation from God, faith, feel miserable, feeling, fight against them that fight against me, fighting tooth and nail, future, God's plans for us are all for good, God's promises, God's promises stand firm, God's ways are higher than ours, going down to the wire, gospel truth, hang in there, hope, hope thou in God, I am thy salvation, I shall yet praise him, jehovah god, Jesus is the answer, joy, keep hoping in God, lie down and rest, lost, malaise in my spirit, Mars, negative circumstances, obedience, omnipotence, One Year Book of Bible promises, patience, perseverance, Plead my cause, put a man on the moon, receive the promise, recompense of reward, rely on God's immutable Word, reward, run its course, salvation, Salvation belongeth unto the Lord, salvation comes from God, Selah, selfless acts, shed blood, sinful souls, stand in faith, stand up for mine help, stop those who pursue me, Thank you Jesus, the author of eternal salvation, the darkest hour is the one before the dawn, the help of his countenance, the right medication, the sons of Korah, them's the breaks, thursday morning, thy blessing is upon thy people, times of questioning, trial, trust, trust God, ungodly world, unsaved, Venus, Why art thou cast down o my soul, why art thou disquieted within me
Psalm 3:8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.
Aye mih people, is Thursday morning, another chilly one, and the ole fella fighting this cold tooth and nail! (smile) We going down to the wire with it, we not giving up! It’s a fight to the death!
Oh I know that it has to run its course, but while it’s doing its thing, I’m also doing my own, trying not to let it make me feel too terrible, because you know that nothing in this world makes you feel as miserable as a simple fresh cold.
Ah Lord eh! We can put man on the moon and voyage out to Venus and Mars, but we can’t cure a simple cold! Steups! But I guess them’s the breaks! And believe me, it was difficult to get up this morning, although I wasn’t sleeping. But a certain malaise in my spirit just said lie down and rest. (smile)
And I did for a short while. But knowing that the Bit had to go out, I eventually forced myself out of the bed. And I believe I have the right medication for whatever is ailing us this morning, in the words of The One Year Book of Promises, with writings from Ruth Harms Calkin.
This passage is titled ‘God’s Promises,’ and it says: ‘With increasing joy I am discovering that God’s promises do not suddenly disappear when our courage fails and our fears become overwhelming. Feeling or no feeling, when God gives a promise that speaks directly to our need, it stands firm regardless of negative circumstances.
There may be times of questioning, and we may not understand God’s timing, but His promise remains certain during our deepest trial. If we consistently rely on His immutable Word, we can disregard the darkness.
Oswald Chambers says, “Are you in the dark right now regarding your circumstances? Then listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you are in the light.” God waits for us to trust Him when trusting seems the most difficult thing to do.’
Ah Friends, the cruel, evil and ungodly world that we’re currently living in, is certainly making it hard for us to trust God and rely on His promises. But if we want to succeed, we have to truly stand in faith on His word, even though we may seem completely surrounded by darkness.
And as the Bible promise for that passage so truthfully declares: ‘Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience (endurance, perseverance), that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.’ (Heb.10:35-36)
Yes mih breddren, the one thing we CAN’T DO, is GIVE UP! And it’s when life seems the darkest that we need to hold on to God’s promises the strongest. For as the saying goes; the darkest hour is the one just before the dawn. And that’s no lie! We experience the roughest times just before we experience our breakthrough.
So please, let’s hang in there with Jehovah God, for He knows what He’s doing. His thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours that we don’t, and can’t always understand what He’s about. In His omnipotence He created us, and still controls the universe, and sincerely promised that all His plans for us were all for good, for peace, with hope for a bright future. (Jer.29:11)
And as our Bit so wisely and rightly declares: ‘Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.’ And of that my people, there is absolutely no doubt! That’s why so many people of great faith in the Bible declared it.
Now let’s look at a few more of those scripture passages that declare salvation comes from God, as we’ve been doing for the last few days. And we’ll begin with words of Bruh David, who called out to God so often and so seriously in his writings. Listen to how he begins Psalm 35 – A prayer for rescue from enemies.
‘Plead my cause (contend for me), O Lord, with them that strive (contend) with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler (a small shield), and stand up for mine help.
Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me (stop those who pursue me): say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.’ (Ps.35:1-3)
And we all know the turbulent and tumultuous life that Bruh David lived, but he never forgot or gave up on the God of his fathers, who faithfully saved him from his enemies whenever he cried out for help.
Now hear the author of Hebrews, whom I can’t help but think is Bruh Paul, with all the similarities of speech and mannerisms.
‘Though he (Jesus) were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. Called of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.’ (Heb.5:8-10)
And isn’t that the gospel truth Friends! Jesus died, rose from the grave and ascended into heaven so that we could have eternal salvation! Without those wonderful, selfless acts of His, there would be no general salvation. Many of us would stay lost and unsaved.
So let’s give Him a big shout of praise and thanks for saving our sinful souls from eternal separation from Almighty God, the worst fate that can befall a human being.
And all God’s people declared a loud and heartfelt: ‘Thank You Jesus! Thank You ever so much for sacrificing Your holy, sinless life on the cross, so that Your shed blood, precious as it was, could pay for, atone for our abominable sins. We praise You, bless and glorify Your holy name! Amen.’
And now Friends, we’ll end with this well known verse from Psalm 42 – An intense longing for God – a contemplation from the sons of Korah.
And it simply says: ‘Why art thou cast (bowed) down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of his countenance (presence).’ (Ps.42:5)
Yes my people, I implore us to keep hoping in God, though our souls might not feel like doing it, for regardless of what anyone else says, only from Him is true salvation and eternal life possible. Much LOVE!
…to EVERY problem in our lives…Jesus IS the answer…
15 Jan 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a closer walk with Jesus, almighty god, anger, best year of our lives, blasphemy, blessings, brand new day, Bruh Paul, Christ is all, Christ is n all, Christ-like character, circumcision, cloud of witnesses, Colossians, despising the shame, endured the cross, evil ungodly world, excellence at all times, faith, falsehood, filthy communication, Greek, heroes of faith, high ideals of Jesus, I am the truth, I make all things new, impediment, January, Jesus Christ, Jesus is Number One, Jew, just a closer walk with thee, let us lay aside every weight, lie not, lighten our load, living our christian faith, lofty goals, looking unto Jesus, LOVE, malice, mercies, new life in christ, New Year's resolutions, One Year Book of Bible promises, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, patience, pay the bills, perseverance, positive examples, put off the old man, put on the new man, put sin to death, realign our priorities, rejoice and be glad in it, renewed in knowledge, run the race that's set before us, run with patience, saviour jesus christ, set down at the right hand of the throne of God, slave, so great a cloud of witnesses, steadfast, the author and finisher of our faith, the busyness of life, the gift of life, the grace of Almighty God, the joy that was set before Him, the redeemed, the sin which doth beset us, uncircumcision, vices, wrath
Hebrews 12:1. Wherefore seeing (since) we also are compassed about with (surrounded by) so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset (ensnare) us, and let us run with patience (perseverance) the race that is set before us.
All hail my fine Friends in Jesus Christ! It’s a brand new spanking day! Yes my brethren, we’ve been granted the fabulous gift of life on a new day through the wonderful grace of Almighty God, so please, let’s rejoice and be glad in it!
Let’s joyfully enjoy (smile) the new mercies and blessings that have been specially prepared for us for this day. Let’s also do our best to live up to the high ideals of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whose motto is excellence at all times.
And having said all of that, on this chilly Thursday morning, the 15th day of January 2015, I have this most appropriate passage for this time of year to share from the One Year Book of Promises, with writings from Ruth Harms Calkin. It’s simply titled ‘January.’
Read with me: ‘It’s January, Lord – The drab, dreary middle – And my thoughts are as drab As the miserable month. Does everybody hit a January slump Or am I the only one? The first week wasn’t too bad: There were Christmas thank-yous to write A few resolutions to store away The huddle of year-end sales.
But thank-you notes bring no returns And resolutions are quickly broken And marked-down trinkets fast lose appeal. When you said Behold, I make all things new Did you forget January, Lord? Or in January do I sometimes forget You?’
Oh my people, those sentiments are so true, for many of us feel that way at this time of year. I guess we can call them the ‘dog days’ of January, where we’re somewhat lost in the middle of it all. The celebrations are over and done with for the old year, and the new one hasn’t quite taken shape or hold as yet.
Plus we’re wondering and contemplating how we’re going to pay the bills that we’ve amassed over the Christmas season. (smile) But yuh know what my fellow believers in Christ? In this time of uncertainty, we can all hold on to the promise attached to that passage, which we’ll use as our Bit.
‘Wherefore seeing (since) we also are compassed about with (surrounded by) so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset (ensnare) us, and let us run with patience (perseverance) the race that is set before us.’
Yes Friends, there are so many heroes of faith that have gone before us that we don’t lack for good and positive examples in living our Christian faith. But we need to do certain things if we’re going to be successful.
First of all we need to throw off any weight, both literally and figuratively, any impediment at all that is holding us back from running our race. We also need to throw off any sin, large or small, that’s entangling us, that has us struggling or keeping us back from reaching the lofty goals that Christ has planned for us.
And above all, we need to do those things with patience and perseverance, keep a steadfast and true pace. Yes my people, we need to be always trying to improve as we run this race of life.
And as the author of Hebrews so wisely and rightly continues, we ought to be: ‘Looking unto Jesus the author (originator) and finisher (perfector) of our faith: who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Heb.12:2)
Oh Friends, what an encouraging and uplifting picture! Jesus is the best example of earthly living we can, and will ever have! He both began and finished the course of our faith. So we need to look to Him for proper guidance and strength to face this rat-race world that we’re currently living in.
We’ll never be perfect as Him, but the important thing is to try, to do our best to get as close to a Christ-like character as we can. That brings us to our New Year’s resolution of endeavouring to have a closer walk with Jesus.
I do hope that we haven’t already forgotten it as we get caught up again in the busyness of life. And I believe that if we’re feeling like the passage above from the Book of Promises, then we have indeed forgotten that resolution.
Please, let’s realign our priorities, with Jesus as NUMBER ONE, so that we can have a fruitful and successful 2015, for I firmly and faithfully believe that this will be the BEST YEAR in many of our lives!
Now let’s look at a scripture passage that adds weight to our Bit and empowers us in our faith. Hear Bruh Paul’s advice to the Colossians, where he’s talking about the new life in Christ. Here are some weights that we might need to throw off to lighten our load in running this race of life.
‘But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds. And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond (slave) nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.’ (Col.3:8-11)
Truly words of wisdom, my people! Now let’s close with some interesting and important notes from the scholars re those verses. ‘3:9. Seeing means “since.” The old man is all that a person was prior to salvation: his worldly thinking and sinful acts. Since all this was renounced at conversion, one should lie not. Falsehood ill becomes the person claiming to be a disciple of Him who said, “I am the…truth.”
3:10. The new man is the person one becomes after conversion: he possesses a new nature, values, aspirations, and a new life-style. This “new man” is constantly being renewed or developed until he attains a mature knowledge of the God who (re)created him. The more a believer knows and understands of God, the more he will be like God in character and conduct.’
‘3:11. Not only is the “new man” to put sin to death, he is also to put away man-made barriers that divide people and that nourish the vices of the old life. Among renewed humanity there are no national, ceremonial, cultural, or social distinctions. To the redeemed Christ is all; that is, He is everything, and He is what matters most to them. And Christ is…in all; that is, He dwells in all believers.’
Oh my people, it’s not easy trying to live a truly Christian life in this evil and ungodly world, but if we stick like glue to Christ, He will empower us to run this earthly race successfully, and that’s no lie! Much LOVE!
…just a closer walk with thee…grant it Jesus…is my plea…daily walking close to thee…let it be…dear Lord…let it be…
28 Nov 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: anguish, ask God's divine guidance, bargains, bargainse, Black Friday, business people, cannot be bought with money, common sense, crown of life, Cyber Monday, desire, discomfort, drawn away by his own lust, drive, encouragement, enthusiasm, enticed, enticing, eternal life, every gift comes from above, every man is tempted, evil, fellowship, firstfruits, fleshly lust, forgiveness, fraudulent, Friday chant, fun, gift, glorious kingdom, God is good, God is immutable, God tries the saints, God's promise, god's redemption of man, gospel truth, grace, greed, greedy, hold our heads and bawl, James, Jesus Christ, joy, LOVE, loving kindness, lust brings forth sin, mark of a true believer, material things, mercy, mistakes, patience, peace, price we have to pay, promise, psychological ploys, Red Thursday, redemption, relaxation, resentment, sales, salvation, shopping blitz, shopping day, sin, sin brings forth death, spooked deer, take it to God in prayer, temptation, tempted of god, tempted with evil, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the Father of lights, U.S Thanksgiving, ungodly attitudes and actions, variation, waith for hours, warning, what a wonderful God we serve and worship, wisdom, wise decisions, worldwide trend
James 1:14. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust (desire), and enticed.
And at last it was Friday…! And all the people joyfully shouted: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday; Black Friday!’
‘But wait nuh mih breddren, what Friday is this eh, Black Friday?’ you ask with a confused frown. ‘But it’s not the 13th…’
‘Oh no, not the old mythical Friday the 13th, but the new Black Friday; the excessive shopping day after the U.S Thanksgiving celebrations.’
‘Ah Lord eh!’ you shake your head in disbelief.
Yes my people, it’s another day of supposed sales and bargains that only breeds greed, anguish, resentment and all sorts of ungodly attitudes and actions, where we line up in the cold and dark, hours before stores open, then rush like spooked deer through the doors to buy stuff that we don’t really need, and very often cannot afford.
But the evil and greedy business people have found, or rather created, another day to lure us into their businesses to spend money we don’t have. And now, unfortunately, it’s a trend that’s going worldwide. In Canada businesses are doing their own thing too to try and stop the enormous amount of cross border shopping.
One business even had something it called ‘Red Thursday.’ Steups! And next Monday is now being called cyber Monday, where on-line shopping is the name of the game. And then they will put on the Christmas blitz. We are being constantly bombarded with advertising for all sorts of bargains, which are usually fraudulent.
Oh Friends, why don’t we rush down to God’s house like that eh, where everything is free? And instead of giving away, wasting our hard earned or non-existent money on physical stuff that rots and is easily destroyed, we receive LOVE, joy, peace, mercy, grace, forgiveness, salvation and eternal life; things that cannot be bought with money!
And sadly, even if they advertised church services like they do these supposed sales, very few of us would show up, and even fewer would have the enthusiasm, drive and patience to wait for hours in discomfort until the doors opened.
But we can only try to avoid people falling prisoner to the lure of sales and cheap bargains. And one of the tools we use is our Friday Chant. So let’s chant it nuh, with the same enthusiasm and energy we have for the sales we’ll head out to later in the day. (smile)
As one voice now: ‘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.’
Ah mih people, I can only hope and pray that we use a little common sense and wisdom and don’t get in foolishly over our heads in whatever we do today. No doubt many of us will hold our heads and bawl when we realize the mistakes we’ve made. But that’s the price we have to pay when we don’t think before we act, neither do we take everything to God in prayer and wisely ask for His divine guidance and help.
That brings us to these most appropriate words of James. ‘Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried (have been proved), he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that LOVE him.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.’ (James 1:12-13)
And all of that is gospel truth Friends, as are the words of our Bit which follows them. ‘But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust (desire), and enticed.’
And that is exactly what’s happening to us with these sales! The business people are pandering to our natural fleshly lust for material things, and through psychological ploys are enticing us to come and buy what we don’t need or can afford.
And as James continues: ‘Then when lust (desire) hath conceived, it bringeth forth (gives birth to) sin: and sin, when it is finished (full grown), bringeth forth death.’ (James 1:15) Indisputable truth my brethren!
And James ends with a solemn warning, as well as words of consolation and encouragement. ‘Do not err (be deceived) my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness (variation), neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firtsfruits of his creatures.’ (James 1:16-18)
And the scholars offer these words of explanation: ‘1:17. Three great principles are presented: (1) God is the Father, or Creator, of the heavenly bodies. (2) As their Creator, He is certainly more stable than they. With God there is not even the slightest change; He is immutable. (3) God is only good – and always good.
This third principle relates verse 17 to the preceding context. It answers the implication of verse 13 that God may sometimes tempt man to evil. Though God tries the saints (John 6:6; Heb.11:17), He never tries with evil intent so as to tempt them.’
‘1:18. All the redeemed are God’s firstfruits in that they are the first step in God’s redemption of all creation (Rom.8:18-23).’
So Friends. Let’s go out this Black Friday morning filled with the Spirit of God that will lead us to make wise decisions, even in the midst of plenty psychological bombardment and enticement. That’s the mark of a true believer! Much LOVE!
…though God doesn’t tempt us…He does allow us to undergo trials to test our mettle…but in His LOVING-kindness, He also helps us to handle them…O what a wonderful God we serve and worship…
25 Nov 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adversaries, all things are possible with Jesus, ask in faith, be ashamed, bear your burdens, breastplate of faith, Bruh Paul, charity, communicate with smiles, defining characteristic, everyone smiles in the same language, faith, helmet, hope, hope in Almighty God, hope of salvation, humility, I will hope continually, Jesus Christ, life-giving emotion, living hope, LOVE, loving kindness, manna from heaven, mercy, my flesh shall dwell securely in hope, my glory rejoices, my heart is glad, patience, physical realm, prisoners of hope, rejoicing in hope, resurrection of Jesus, reverential awe, sanctify the Lord God, Scrip-Bit land, sincerely believe, spiritual realm, steadfast in prayer, strength, suffer for righteousness sake, watch and be sober, wisdom, words corrupt smiles
Psalm 16:9. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest (dwell securely) in hope.
Well a good Tuesday morning to all you wonderful folks out there in Scrip-Bit land! Hope all is well with you, and that the Lord in His LOVING-kindness will give you the strength, patience and wisdom to enable you to bear your burdens today.
But you have to ask Him, it just won’t drop in your lap, like manna from heaven. And then you have to believe that’s He’s granted you His blessings. That’s the formula Friends, ask in faith and then sincerely believe.
Now here’s an interesting but anonymous quote. ‘Everyone in the world smiles in the same language.’
That’s indisputable truth my brethren! For though we may speak and think in different languages, when it comes to smiling, there is only one language, a universal one. It takes the same facial muscles to smile in any language or culture, and the great thing about it is that words aren’t even necessary. In fact, words usually corrupt smiles, by changing them to frowns and grimaces.
What blessing, and what a blessed day it would be if we could just communicate with smiles! Then we’d all be on the same page. One must have hope eh. (smile)
But that’s the beauty of hope my people! It can exist in our minds and souls and bring smiles of joy to our faces, even though it may be just a pipe dream in the physical realm. In the spiritual realm though, we know that ALL things are possible through Christ Jesus!
That brings us to our Bit. ‘Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest (dwell securely) in hope.’
This will be the last message in the series on hope, so let’s get right down to checking out some more scriptures on that life-giving, life enhancing emotion. And we’ll begin with something from Zechariah.
In talking about Zion’s future, the prophet declares in God’s name: ‘Turn you to the stronghold ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render (restore) double unto thee.’ (Zech.9:12)
Oh Friends, I just LOVE that phrase, ‘prisoners of hope!’ I think it’s a rather fitting description of believers, for we always ought to have hope. Hope must be a defining characteristic of our lives, because without it we are spiritually dead; in other words, hopeless. (smile)
Now listen to the psalmist in this prayer for help in old age. ‘Let them be confounded (ashamed) and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.’ (Ps.71:13-14) Even in old age, hope in Almighty God is still alive and kicking.
Then Bruh Paul in his wisdom, advises the Thessalonians thus: ‘Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober (self-controlled). For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and LOVE: and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.’ (1 Thess.5:6-8)
Yes my people, that’s one of the biggest and greatest hopes we can ever have; that hoping for salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour!
And from the longest chapter in the Good Book comes these beautiful words of prayer: ‘Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.’ (Ps.119:116)
Oh my fellow believers, please, please let’s never allow the enemy to make us fell ashamed of the hope we have in Jesus!
Meanwhile Bruh Paul in his missive to the church at Rome, wisely advises them to keep on: ‘Rejoicing in hope, patient (persevering) in tribulation; continuing instant (steadfastly) in prayer.’ (1 Thess.12:12)
And I like how Peter puts it in his first epistle. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively (living) hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.’ (1 Pet.1:3)
There again Friends, hope is described as a living, breathing entity, which it is. It is hope that stirs us up to get up off our fannies to do stuff. Without hope, we won’t venture to do anything at all, much less risky stuff.
This leads us to Peter’s advice when talking about suffering and reward. ‘But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy (blessed) are ye: And be not afraid of their terror (threats), neither be troubled.
But sanctify (set apart) the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer (a defence) to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (reverential awe).’ (1 Pet.3:14-15)
Yes Friends, we ought always be ready to defend, with humility and reverential awe, our faith, our belief, the abundant and amazing hope we have in Jesus Christ! Otherwise, why have it eh?
And we’ll close with these famous words of Bruh Paul to the Corinthians. ‘And now abideth faith, hope, charity (LOVE), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (LOVE).’ (1 Cor.13:13)
That’s gospel truth my people! So please let’s allow those three things to be uppermost in our lives today nuh, because they form the best template for making it through each and every day in this troubled and evil world that surrounds us. Much LOVE!
…without hope…there is no life…
21 Nov 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: as I have loved you, balance, barren, battle the heathen, bear fruit, beautiful day, believers, blind, bring others to jesus, brotherly kindness, calling, charity, Christian living, cleansed, common sense, crazy, diligence, election, endurance, everlasting kingdom, evil, failure, faith, fall, fellow believers, Friday chant, friends, fun part, generous help, George Elliston, get carried away, glorious kingdom, God-likeness, godliness, gospel truth, grace, heaven, holy spirit, in Jesus' name, Jesus Christ, knwoledge, lifelong cycle, LOVE, LOVE one another, loving kindness, mentally retarded, moral excellence, our Lord Jesus Christ, patience, perseverance, purged, relaxation, renewed vitality, resentful, rest, rewards in heaven, righteousness., sadly lacking, salvation, self-control, selfish, shortsighted, shower with kindness, sins, slaving for massa, spiritual maturity, spiritual truth, stumble, temperance, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the weekend, touchstones, unfruitful, virtue, war mongering world, welcome us with open arms, wisdom, wonderful world
2 Peter 1:7. And to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity (LOVE).
And finally Friends, it was Friday…
And all around the world there were joyful shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui! This slaving for massa couldn’t done soon enough! The fun time, the weekend is just waiting to welcome us with open arms! Thank the Lord ever so much that it’s Friday!
My sentiments exactly Friends! But we need to be very careful that we don’t get carried away with the fun part of the weekend, that we also remember the rest part and the godly communication and fellowship aspects. And to help us do that, let’s get into our Friday Chant right off the top.
Sincerely, and as one now: ‘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.’
Yes my people, we have to find the right balance between fun, rest and time with God and other believers to refresh and rejuvenate ourselves, so that we can go back out on Monday and begin the whole workweek process all over again, take the battle to the heathen one more time.
That brings us to this quote, which I believe I might have shared before, but it’s so useful and wonderful that we need to be reminded of it every single day. It’s by George Elliston (1883-1946) a female American journalist, and it simply says: ‘How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it.’
Mama Mia! And isn’t that the gospel, gospel truth my brethren? It surely, surely is!
There’s nothing in this whole wide world that touches us as much as kindness! But unfortunately it is something that’s so sadly lacking in our busy, selfish, evil, resentful and war mongering world. People look at you as though you’re crazy, mentally retarded, when you do an act of kindness. What sort of society are we living in eh?
The best thing that could ever happen is if everybody showered everybody else with kindness. Then we’d have the wonderful world we talk about so much!
And Peter, in his discussion on growing in grace reveals to us some of the touchstones, including our Bit, which we need to add to our lives for such growth.
‘And beside this (But also for this very reason), giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance (self-control); and to temperance patience (perseverance); and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (LOVE).’ (2 Pet.1:5-7)
What a revelation my fellow believers! For a lot of us so-called believers don’t show the kindness that we ought to, even to fellow believers. Remember what Jesus tried to drive into the disciples’ heads: ‘This is my commandment; That ye LOVE one another, as I have LOVED you.’ (John 15:12)
And as Peter so wisely and rightly continues: ‘For if these things be in you (are yours), and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren (useless) nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off (is shortsighted), and hath forgotten that he was purged (cleansed) from his old sins.
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (stumble): For so an entrance shall be ministered (supplied) unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ (2 Pet. 1:8-11)
Yes Friends, we need to bear all those fruits, if we desire to bring others to Jesus, and ensure that our rewards in heaven are also as great as they can be.
Now here are some explanations from the scholars’ on all of that. ‘1:5-7. In this section Peter urges his readers to grow to spiritual maturity. Add to your faith indicates the areas of growth that follow after salvation. Virtue is moral excellence.
Knowledge is spiritual truth. Temperance is self-control. Patience is endurance. Godliness is God-likeness. Brotherly kindness (Gr. philadelphian) is brotherly LOVE. Charity (Gr. agape) is volitional (of the will)) LOVE. This process is a lifelong cycle of spiritual growth for all believers.’
And more explanations from the scholars’. ‘1:10-11. Ye shall never fall: The author is not referring to falling from salvation but to failure in Christian living.
The everlasting kingdom refers to the eternal realm of God where Jesus is the undisputed Ruler. It is synonymous with heaven. Thus, the one who acquires the virtues of verses 5-7 will have a rich inheritance in heaven.’
And Friends, since I know that all of us desire to have a very rich inheritance in heaven, please, I implore us, please let’s go out and do those things that we ought to do as true believers nuh, the things which will ensure that we have a rich heavenly reward. That’s simple common sense, as well as heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
…Jesus simply went out everyday…doing good…so should His followers…
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