25 Dec 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a curtailing of strife, a feed trough, a multitude of heavenly host, a part of the Prince of Peace's peaceful army, a Saviour, abide by the rules, an angel descended from heaven, appeared to shepherds in the fields, begin a slow march back to peace, Bible, break Satan's bondage, Christ the Lord, christianity, Counsellor, double minded people, draw near to God, endure to the end, eyes fixed straight ahead, faith, fear not, glad to be alive, Glory to god in the highest, halfway home, hands on the plough, Happy New Year, his name shall be called, holy spirit, humble and peaceful, humble yourselves in the sight of God, I bring you good tidings of great joy, in the city of David, Jesus Christ, Jesus' birth, joyful Christmas season, judgement, justice, LOVE, lying in a manger, mercy, Merry Christmas, not looking back, on earth, peace and good will to men, personified by Christ, praising God, princely and proud, ramp up our situation with God, resist the devil, resist the devil and he will flee from you, rumours of wars, salvation, sitting on the fence, submit yourselves to God, the everlasting Father, the glory of the Lord shone around them, the government shall be upon his shoulder, the mighty God, the One True God, the Prince of Peace, the winds of change, the zeal of the Lord of hosts, this Christmas day Wednesday, this day is born, to a glorious future with Jesus, truth, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, wars, Wednesday Wail, wisdom, Wonderful, wrapped in swaddling clothes
Isaiah 9:6a. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
Ho, Ho, Ho! A Merry Christmas to all; and to all a Happy New Year! Yes friends, we wish you and yours all the best for this joyful Christmas season. For as Isaiah prophesied so long ago: ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of his father David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ (Is. 9:6-7)
And my fellow believers, the zeal of the Lord of hosts did perform that miracle some two thousand years ago, when in the fields of Israel, one starry, starry night, an angel descended from heaven on high and appeared to shepherds watching over their flocks. And the shepherds were terribly afraid, because as the angel appeared, so too all around them the glory of the Lord began shining.
‘And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David (Bethlehem) a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes (cloths), lying in a manger.’ (Luke 2:10-12)
Yes friends, our great God does whatever He promises. And on this day some two thousand years ago, the Prince of Peace was born of lowly parents in a lowly stable and laid in a manger (feed trough) for a cradle. And please note whom the Lord decided to first inform of His Son’s birth, lowly shepherds. That must say something about the Lord’s purpose for His Son; that His earthly life would not be princely and proud, like so many expected, but humble and peaceful as befitted the prince of peace.
And the Lord wasn’t satisfied with just letting the shepherds know that Jesus Christ was born, no, He instigated a ceremony worthy of His Son. As the Bible tells us: ‘And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will toward men.’ (Luke 2:13-14) And that is exactly what we hope will manifest itself as we celebrate Jesus’ birthday; that there will be a curtailing of the strife and all the negative emotions that’s oppressing our world, and we will begin a slow march back to the peace that Jesus desires of us.
It’s the perfect day and time to end all the nonsense, all the wars, and rumours of wars that are burdening our world and sadly dragging it under. It’s time to repudiate Beelzebub and all his foolishness and turn back to the One True God, as personified by Jesus Christ, who sacrificed His sinless life on the cross of Calvary, so that our sins could be forgiven, and we receive salvation and eternal life!
What good has Satan ever done for us eh? Absolutely nothing! He’s simply trying his best to drag us down to the depths of hell with him, because he was once foolish enough to try to overthrow his Creator, and is now paying dearly for that foolishness. In other words friends, Satan is just looking for company, he doesn’t have our good at heart at all. So please, let’s try and break the bondage he holds so many of us in nuh. As believers in Christ Jesus, along with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we have all the tools to resist him, but we must be prepared to make a serious effort, because he doesn’t ever give up trying to belittle us in the eyes of the Lord.
But to accomplish that we need to do as James, the brother of Jesus says in his epistle: ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh (near) to God, and he will draw nigh (near) to you… Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.’ (James 4:7-8, 10)
Oh my fellow saints, if we want to get away from the devil, that is exactly what many of us need to do in these oh so trying and troubled times; draw closer to God, for you cannot resist Satan without God’s help. However, there are many of us who are trying the ole sitting on the fence trick, trying to play one side against the other, but that won’t work, because neither God not Satan accepts double minded people, or those who try to outsmart them. So, it’s absolutely necessary to ramp up our situation with God, if we want to be a part of the Prince of Peace’s peaceful army. (smile) And there’s no better time to do it than on this the celebration of His birthday.
And before I forget, let me apologize for the lateness of the Bit, but I went to church this morning, then came home and found a big breakfast waiting for me, which I heartily enjoyed. But that then meant I had to go and get a nap and allow the food to digest, because there’s another, even bigger meal in the offing this evening. Brother! I don’t see the need for so much food, with so few people! But I don’t make the rules, the ladies of my household do, and I’m just expected to abide by them. And in my own fashion, I’m trying to be obedient. (smile)
Oh, I also wanted to sing a hymn today yes, ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing,’ but it seems like I got sidetracked, so let’s go home declaring our Wednesday Wail, it’s very applicable and appropriate for today, showing our trust and faith in Christ. As one strong and sincere voice:
‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Christmas Day Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And we know that the Lord has sincerely promised that whoever endures with Jesus to the very end, will enjoy a future that will be more glorious than they can ever ask or imagine. So please, let’s make a solemn date to meet there at the very end nuh, and enjoy that future together! Much LOVE!
…Jesus birth…began the winds of change…in our evil and ungodly world…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
08 Dec 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a multitude of heavenly host, Adeste Fidelis, Advent, begotten, begotten not created, Bethlehem, Bible, born of a virgin, born this happy morning, candle of hope, Christ the Lord, christianity, Christmas time, confident expectancy, curiosity, eager anticipation, faith, fear not, feed trough, fellowship, for all that they had heard and seen, glorifying and praising God, Glory to god in the highest, God of God, good tidings of great joy, Herpd, holy spirit, humility - the trademark of Jesus, is born a Saviour, Jesus Christ, Jesus is the reason for the season, Jesus sacrificed himself for our salvation, joyful, laid him in a manger, light of light, LOVE, mercy, nothing's impossible for God, now in flesh appearing, O come all ye faithful, O come let us adore Him, of the line of David, on earth, peace good will to men, praising God, registered for a census, salvation, shall be a sign unto you, the Birth of Christ, the blessing of Jesus, the days were accomplished, the glory of the Lord shone around them, the true god, the very essence of humility, the Word of the Father, triumphant, truth, unto you this day, we greet thee, while shepherds watched their flocks, wisdom, word of the Father, wrapped him in swaddling clothes
Luke 2:14. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And the days are running fast ahead. Can you imagine it’s already the 8th of December, a month that began just a few days ago? (smile) It’s also the Second Sunday of Advent, our season of waiting for the birth of Christ, and His eventual Second coming in all His glory. And today we light a second purple candle that signifies our hope in Christ. And as this commentary tells us: ‘Hope has two meanings in the Bible: First, Tikvah, depicts the sense of eager anticipation or waiting. The second, Elpis, is used when explaining a sense of confident expectation based on certainty.’
And are we ever waiting with a sense of eager anticipation, with a sense of confident expectation, based on the certainty that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is coming back, because He promised it, and He never reneges on His promises. So, today, we’ll open our session of fellowship in the Lord’s sanctuary with this popular Christmas Hymn, ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful,’ an adaptation of a Latin hymn ‘Adeste Fidelis,’ written sometime in the eighteenth century by author(s) unknown.
The song deals with the biblical story of the birth of Christ and the shepherds to whom the angels made the first announcement of His miraculous birth, and then their going to Bethlehem to adore their new-born, Saviour. However, in these current tremulous and turbulent times, the hymn signifies and celebrates our coming together in worship to adore the LOVING blessing of Jesus, as He sacrificed Himself for our salvation. So, knowing all that, let’s raise up our sweet sacrifices of praise in a rich, scintillating, heartfelt, up-tempo version of the song.
Singing: ‘O come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, Born the King of Angels! (Chorus: O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.) God of God, light of light, Lo, he abhors not the Virgin’s womb; True God, begotten, not created: (Chorus)
O Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation O sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above. Give to our Father, Glory in the highest! (Chorus) Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning; Jesus, to Thee be the glory giv’n; Word of the Father, Now in the flesh appearing, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.’
Wonderful friends, wonderful! Heaven certainly knows that we appreciate Jesus’ birth way back then, as He came to provide forgiveness and salvation for us, something that no one else could do! And at that time, because of a decree from Herod that all the world should be taxed or registered for a census, it meant all the men going to their hometowns. Consequently, Joseph and a very pregnant Mary, Jesus’ parents, were forced to travel to Bethlehem because he was of the line of David.
The Bible tells the story thus: ‘And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished (completed) that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger (feed trough); because there was no room for them at the inn.’ (Luke 2:6-7) Can you imagine that, the Lord allowing His Son to be born in a stable and placed in a feed trough as His cradle? That was the very essence of humility, which came to be Jesus’ trademark.
And the scholars tell us that swaddling clothes were bandage-like strips of cloth wrapped around an infant to ensure that the limbs would grow straight. Not to swaddle a child would be a form of abuse (Ezek. 16:2-4) This wrapping would aid the shepherds in identifying Jesus.
‘The Bible then continues: ‘And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon (stood before) them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore (greatly) afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David (Bethlehem) a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger (feed trough).’ Luke 2:8-12)
Now, that sudden appearance of an angel with such news would have been enough to frighten even the most courageous of men, but to mix it up even further, the Bible continues: ‘And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ (Luke 2:13-14) There again, can you imagine a host of heavenly angels coming down to earth and singing before you? But remember, nothing’s impossible for out great God! But the Lord’s birth and the praise of the angelic host signified that peace and goodwill were being brought to earth for all men to enjoy…if they desired it.
The Bible then says: ‘And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which the Lord hath made known to us.” (Luke 2:15) Obviously their inquisitiveness or curiosity was greater than their fear. ‘And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all that heard it wondered (marvelled) at those things which were told by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.’ (Luke 2:16-20)
Yes friends, from the very beginning the Lord intended His Son to be a lowly born human being, although He was indeed great and mighty in His own right. And yuh see whom He chose to be the first to receive the news; lowly shepherds watching their flocks in the night. That again speaks of the low-level introduction that the Lord desired of Jesus and His birth. And for all the things that He has done for us, appearing in the flesh as a man, we certainly ought to be joyful and triumphant, adoring Him with all of our hearts, souls, bodies and minds!
Yes! For He’s the True God, born of a virgin, begotten, not created, the Word of the Father, God of God, light of light and so many other things, that it would take us all day to name them! (smile) But friends, let’s enjoy this Christmas season, as we remember that Jesus is the reason for it, not the festivities surrounding it! Much LOVE!
… at Christmas time…it is essential that we remember Jesus…and what His birth signified…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
13 Mar 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: amongst the heathen, bad luck, Be thou exalted, breaking a mirror, creeps into our souls, crossing paths with a black cat, diffuse the enemy's power, diligence, do Jesus' work, excellence, fellowship, Friday 13th, Friday chant, front and centre, fun, have his way with us, hold people in grip, I will sing and give praise, Jesus, Keep Jesus' name, let the chips fall, magnificent and magnanimous God, my heart is fixed, praising God, problems surmounted, relaxation, rest, slave labour, steadfast, superstitions, TGIF!, Thank God is Friday, the enemy, the joy of the Lord is our strength, the real McCoy, thy mercy is great, thy truth unto the clouds, uplifting scripture, walking under a ladder
Psalm 57:7. ‘My heart is fixed (steadfast), O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
Welcome to a wild and windy Friday 13th in my neighbourhood. At least it’s stopped raining now, but the wind is still kicking up an almighty fuss, been doing it since last night, for what reason he alone knows. And yes, it is Friday the 13th, that means all sorts of foolish superstitions are being trotted out today; like don’t walk under a ladder, or let a black cat cross your path, or break a mirror. Hn, Hn! It’s a wonder how supposedly sensible people still have and believe in all kinds of superstitious stuff.
This Friday the 13th nonsense is even attributed to the fact that Jesus on Maundy Thursday, the night of the Last Supper, had 13 people at the table, and one was the traitor Judas and He was crucified on the Friday. So thus the number 13 and Friday have become forever intertwined with bad luck. But today though a lot of people are glad it’s Friday, be it the 13th or not, because Friday heralds the start of their time off from work, and most don’t care about the date, like the ordinary workingman who utters this spiel.
‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui! Just the thought of the weekend, and no slave labour to attend, lifts my soul and spirit to great heights. I don’t care what anybody else says, but the weekend is always the best time for me, because I can do whatever I want to do and nobody can say me nay! And please doh tell me nothing about this Friday the 13th superstitious nonsense nuh. Steups! What a shame that big, sensible people still hold all these superstitions eh, when time and time again they’ve proven to be merely fairy tales.
But the evil people amongst us just like to have these evil things around so that they can hold some stupid people in grip. But yuh know what? Today, or any Friday 13th, I’m not going to purposely walk under a ladder, or cross paths with a black cat, or break a mirror just to prove it’s all nonsense. I’m way way smarter than that! I’m just going to keep thanking God for Fridays and weekends and let the chips fall where they may!’
Hn! I don’t think that any of us are going to go out of our way to try and prove those superstitions wrong either. (smile) I guess though, that it takes all kinds of things to make up a world like ours, including evil superstitions. But since we have the One and Only, the REAL McCOY: Jesus, as our Lord and Saviour, that kind of stuff doesn’t bother us at all eh… and I hear some low murmurs, as though that isn’t completely true. (smile) Anyway, we won’t go there this morning, let’s just chant our Friday Chant and show the world how we’re purposely different on the weekends.
As one, strong, sincere voice: ‘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!’
Yeh mih people, we can’t bother with all the world’s foolishness, because we have a serious job to do; to keep Jesus’ name front and centre amongst the heathen and unbelieving world. But we must rest and have entertainment, though we can’t afford to let it all hang out, cause that’s when the enemy creeps into our souls and spirits and causes us to be less than who we truly are, or who we want to be. And we do want to be good examples – salt and light, good ambassadors for our Leader.
And I just discovered some very useful and uplifting scripture to help us do that; these immortal words of Bruh David from Psalm 57, on one of the many occasions he hid in a cave from Saul and his other enemies. He declares: ‘Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, in the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.’ (Ps. 57:5-6)
Yeh friends, the enemy is laying all kinds of snares and pits for us to fall into, so that we can cause disrespect to the name of our Lord and Saviour. But if we’re strong and steadfast, stay solidly under His umbrella, the enemy themselves will be caught in their own traps. Now listen to Bruh David as he shows us how to neutralize the attacks of the enemy.
‘My heart is fixed (steadfast), O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake psaltery (lute) and harp: I myself will awake early (awaken the dawn). I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations (gentiles). For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.’ (Ps. 57:7-11)
Yes my fellow believers, praising our magnificent and magnanimous God is the best way to diffuse the enemy’s power in our lives. He can’t intrude when we are praying and praising! And you’ll notice that Bruh David, though he was fleeing for his life, after lamenting his situation to God in the first part of the psalm, turned to prayer and worship to lift his spirits and keep him strong. That’s how we ought also to operate.
There’s nothing wrong with telling God our fears and problems, in fact he desires us to come to Him with them, but then we can’t stay in the doldrums forever, we have to use His Word and His awesome promises, and remember the things that He has already done for us to raise our spirits, so that the enemy won’t be able to keep us down, because he knows that the joy of our Lord is our strength. (Neh. 8:10)
Once we aren’t joyful, he can easily have his way with us. So today my brethren, let’s start praising and glorifying and exalting our great God nuh, despite the many tough situations we face, because that’s the only way we will ever come out of them successfully and do Jesus’ work with diligence and excellence! Much LOVE!
…our problems can be surmounted…by sincerely praising God…
22 Aug 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a positive outlook, bow down, comapssionate heart, come with psalms, curse, day of temptation, divine guidance, don't leave, err in their heart, ever-faithful, food for man's soul, forty years, geneously share, go astray, grieved, harden not your heart, he is our god, hear his voice, hoarding, Jay Douglas, Ken Boothe, kneel before the Lord, let us sing unto the Lord, like people do, LOVE, make a joyful noise, memories, Moving Away, negative word, only true and living God, our Maker, out of bodage, praising God, promises, prosper, provocation, salvation, self-disciple, shout joyfully, Silver Words, songs, succeed, sware in my wrath, thanksgiging, the deep places of the earth, the God of Abraham Issac and Jacob, the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand, the strength of the hilss, Thursday Blessings, to all who love Him, to the rock of our salvation, will not enter my rest, work it out for good, worship
Psalm 95:1. O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) to the rock of our salvation.
A blessed Thursday to you my Scrip-Bit friends and family! Let’s hope that all is well in your world! And even if it isn’t, my prayer is that you will have the wisdom, the faith and trust, to surrender all your problems to Almighty God who has sincerely promised to work them all out for the good of those who LOVE and serve Him with sincere hearts and minds!
And we know that He keeps all His promises faithfully, because one of His many names is Ever-Faithful! Glory to our great God, my precious people!
And you wouldn’t believe how the ole fella partied yesterday evening down in the Ex, down by the Bandshell! Brother! And why wouldn’t he when he was listening to some excellent live reggae music eh? Opening the proceedings was local star, Jay Douglas and his band, who sounded good, as they always do!
And the headline artist was none other than the sweetest voice to ever come out of J.A, Mr. Ken Boothe himself! Wow mih people! You can imagine how the Lakefront mash up when Mr. Boothe come out in his red suit and burst out in song with that same suave, sweet voice that made him one of J.A’s most LOVED performers. And though he’s a li’l older and stouter, the voice is still as sweet and still brings back glorious memories.
I always remember the first Ken Boothe song I ever heard, something called the ‘Song of the Swallow.’ I can still remember to this day, going to a party, some fifty two years ago, in the early days of CAST, then just a technical school, up in my favourite village of Papine, and hearing the sweet, mellow voice singing out: ‘If the song of the swallow, Could reveal all my sorrow, Then that’s the song I’d sing. And tonight you’d hear, the saddest song of the year, and you’d be mine once again, Come tomorrow.’
And yuh can imagine how the ole fella carry on when he sang that song last evening. As well as tunes like ‘Silver Words, Moving Away, Freedom Street, I’m going to tell you goodbye babe,’ and a host of others! Mr. Boothe’s hits are so numerous that I didn’t even remember some of them until he sang them.
Yes friends, the ole fella had a wonderful time drifting down memory lane with Mr. Boothe. And as he so wisely reminded us, ‘memories don’t leave like people do, they always stay with you.’ And they certainly do! That’s why it’s ever so important to make good memories, especially when you’re young.
And consequently, considering all the aforementioned, it was a no brainer then, when I opened the Good Book a short while ago and my eyes fell on these wonderful words of praise written many moons ago by the psalmist, that it was meant to be Today’s Bit. (smile)
Rejoice with me people! ‘O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) unto him with psalms (joyful songs). For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.’ (Ps.95:1-3) And so He is indeed my fellow believers! In fact he is the ONLY True and Living God in existence!
And how do we know that? Well for a start: ‘In his hand (his possession) are the deep places of the earth: the strength (heights) of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.’ (Ps.95:4-5) And that’s gospel truth my brethren! So it’s only wise that we bow down and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who created this great universe and all therein, including us, mankind, arguably, His greatest creation! (smile)
Yeh friends, sometimes I do wonder about man being God’s greatest creation, although the physical reality says so. But the mental aspect, the behaviour, the foolish and unwise desire to run from God, to wipe Him out from our society; that certainly doesn’t warrant us being amongst the greatest!
Our attitude and great desire should instead be like the psalmist decrees: ‘O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand (under His care).’ (Ps.95:6-7a) Now that’s how a grateful creation behaves towards its Creator!
Not as the psalmist continues: ‘Today if ye will hear His voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation (rebellion at Meribah), and as in the day of temptation (trial, testing) in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted (tried, tested) me, proved me, and saw my work.’ (Ps.95:7b-9) Imagine that nuh; after all the wonders and goodness the Lord did for the Israelites, taking them out of bondage in Egypt, providing water and manna for them, they still doubted and tried to test Him.
That’s why they languished for so long in the wilderness. ‘Forty years long was I grieved (disgusted) with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err (go astray) in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.’ (Ps.95:10-11)
Unfortunately my people, that’s the same way our world is behaving today! And yuh know what? It’s the same solution God has to the problem: we will not enter into His rest if we are disobedient and distrustful and worship other false gods and idols, which so many of us are doing! So let’s come to our senses nuh, wise up and start behaving the way we ought to, that is if we truly want to enter into His rest.
But for those of us who are sincerely trying to do as He desires, let’s go home now declaring (bravo!) our Thursday Blessings which the Lord has so generously rained down on us, so that we can do His work. All together in loud voice, with sincere hearts and minds: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance!
I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Now let’s go out and use those wonderful blessings to help others, as Jesus so greatly desires of us nuh. Remember too, that they’re not for selfishly hoarding, but for generously sharing! Much LOVE!
…worshipping and praising God…is the best food for man’s soul…
25 Dec 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Bethlehem, birth of Christ, burst with love, came with haste, Christian heart, Christmas, come to the Father, Emmanuel, eternal life, feed trough, friend of Jesus, glorifying God, God with us, good will to men, heaven and nature sing, her first-born son, in god's eyes, isaac watts, Joy to the world, laid him in a manger, let earth receive her king, LOVE, Merry Christmas, mighty King, no room at the inn, peace on earth, praise, praising God, righteousness, royalty, salvation, saving grace, share His love, she brought forth, shepherds, swaddling clothes, the Lord is come, the way the truth and the life, Tuesday Mantra, without fanfare, wonders of his love
Luke 2:7. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger (feed trough); because there was no room for them in the inn.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
‘Drink ah rum and ah punchacrema, drink ah rum! It’s Christmas morning!’ Ah mih people, in my area it might be a tad early to drink a rum and a punchacrema, although some of you on the other side of the world most likely have tibbled some already. (smile) I have a brand new bottle of the rich, creamy stuff to check out later. A friend sends me one every year, that’s his Christmas present to me.
However, let’s get to the important stuff: It’s Christmas morning! Glory be my friends and Scrip-Bit family! We’ve lived to see another one of these monumental days that ushered in the beginnings of our faith! That miraculous immaculate conception of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which ended up in His humble birth on this day some two thousand years ago in a lowly stable.
But that was just the planting of the seed, one of the four most important days in the annals of man, where God finally put His exemplary plan of salvation, free saving grace and eternal life for all and sundry into production, having promised it for numerous years before! Yes, it all began in a dirty animal stable with the birth of a baby boy called Jesus, our Emmanuel, our God with us! And there was such a racket around the fields of that little town of Bethlehem on this momentous night, that the world has never forgotten it.
Now let’s remember it in praise and worshipful song as we sing the much adored song, ‘Joy to the world,’ written by that prolific writer Isaac Watts way back in the 18th century. Let’s raise the rafters with the joy that emanates from our hearts and souls this Christmas morning of 2018 as we joyously, joyfully, ‘joyeuxly’ (smile) declare: ‘Joy to the World; the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing. (Repeat line twice)
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; While fields & floods, rocks, hills & plains Repeat the sounding joy. (Repeat line twice) No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make his blessings flow Far as the curse is found. (Repeat line twice) He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love. (Repeat line twice) Joy to the World; the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing. (Repeat line twice).’
Yeh friends on this Christmas Day there should be such explosive joy in EVERY Christian heart that we should just want to burst with LOVE for Christ! For He is indeed the Way, the Truth and the Light! The awesome means by which we are saved! For NO ONE comes to the Father BUT through Him!
Now let’s take a look at some of the miraculous action that happened around Bethlehem on that most auspicious night. Now Joseph and the pregnant Mary had gone up to Bethlehem to be registered per Roman edict. And it so happens that while up there Mary’s time came upon her: ‘And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger (feed trough); because there was no room for them in the inn.’
Now one would think that the omnipotent Lord God Jehovah, His heavenly Father, could have made room for them at the inn, but He was out to prove a point by showing that humble and lowly beginnings don’t mean a thing! If His Son could be born in a loud, foul smelling barn of animals and do great things, so could any one else!
Oh, listen to this explanation from the scholars: ‘2:7. Swaddling clothes were bandage-like strips of cloth wrapped around an infant to ensure that the limbs would grow straight. Not to swaddle a child would be a form of abuse (Ezek. 16:2-4). This wrapping would aid the shepherds in identifying Jesus.’
Now here’s the action! ‘And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon (stood before) them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore (greatly) afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David (Bethlehem) a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes (cloths), lying in a manger (feed trough). And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ (Luke 2:8-14)
Wow friends! Can you imagine that quiet, silent night in the fields around Bethlehem, with shepherds sleepily guarding their animals, when an angel suddenly appears and tells them about the birth of this heavenly child, then a host of other angels arrive and begin singing, glorifying God, and exuding peace on earth and good will to all mankind! The shepherds were probably expecting another quiet, uneventful night, when to their amazement, it suddenly turned into a rather raucous affair of praise and thanksgiving and good news!
Oh my people, those shepherds were so excited by the news that the Good Book says: ‘And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered (marvelled) at those things which were told them by the shepherd. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.’ (Luke 2:16-20)
Ah my people, as we celebrate this most auspicious occasion, please let’s remember why it all happened, for our benefit, and let’s do like those shepherds did so long ago, when they heard the good news, praise and glorify God for the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
And let’s not forget to declare our Tuesday Mantra which says who and whose we are; Christ’s! So as always, in strong voice with sincere hearts: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’ And today is definitely the day to share that awesome LOVE OF JESUS! Much LOVE!
…the first time He came humbly and without much fanfare…the next time though…the heavens will burst forth…and He’ll come as the royalty…the mighty King He truly is…
28 Aug 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a cloud of witnesses, a fool's wisdom, A Prayer for Success, acclamation, an unchangeable priesthood, author, be open be humble, beloved of God, breaking of bread, continued steadfastly, correctable, despising the shame, done like dinner, dr robert h schuller, educable, endured the cross, eternal life, evil forebodings, evil ungodly world, faith stimulates success, finisher, forgiveness of sins, friend of Jesus, friendship in Jesus Christ, give it all you've got, give up too easily, gospel truth, have God removed, he contiueth ever, hear God's voice, hope sustains success, Hour of Power Devotional, hurry, indisputable truth, inherit the earth, interceding for us, intercession, joy, LOVE, love sanctifies success, mercy, peace, perseverance, persistent in all we do, praising God, prayers, reconciliation, right hand of God, run with patience, salvation, see God's plan, share His love, the joy, the saints in heaven, the throne of God, this is the day the Lord has made, this man Jesus, Tuesday Mantra, ungodliness, we will rejoice and be glad in it, working on our behalf, worry
Hebrews 7:24. But this man (Jesus), because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Aw shucks friends, Monday’s done – like dinner! (smile) And you’ll notice that we weren’t plagued by any of the evil forebodings we had conjured up in our minds for the first day of the workweek. Glory to God! It was all just peace and quiet, LOVE, joy and friendship in Jesus Christ! Mama Yo!
So let’s just keep it like that today too nuh. And the best way to start out is by declaring this mind-setting acclamation: ‘This is the day the Lord has made. We WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ And having set our minds on that, we can now go out and bring it to pass. And to help us do that, here is this ‘Prayer for Success,’ from Gramps Schuller’s (Robert H. Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional.
Please pray with me. ‘As I become a success with your help, Lord, let me never forget that what I am is more important than what I do. Faith stimulates success. Hope sustains success. LOVE sanctifies success. So I cannot and I dare not succeed without your power, peace, and pressure in my life, Jesus Christ. Amen!’ That’s all gospel truth my brethren! Without those wonderful and powerful attributes of Jesus we cannot succeed in this evil and ungodly world!
And Gramps Schuller continues: ‘Be open. Be humble. Correctable. Educable. Then you will hear God’s voice. You will see God’s plan. Grab onto it, give it all you’ve got, and you will inherit the earth!’ More words of indisputable truth friends!
And you know what hold us back more than anything else, is not that we don’t believe etc. etc. but we don’t give it all we’ve got for a sufficient length of time. Yes my people, we give up way too easily. Just think if Jesus had given up on us, what would have happened eh?
It’s sure scary to think about no forgiveness of sins, no mercy or grace, no salvation, no eternal life. Hn! But He persisted, even though He knew the severe trials He would have to face. And because of His persistence, He overcame them. Likewise my brethren, we, His faithful followers ought to be persistent in all that we do in His name.
And our Bit shows just how persistent and persevering is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ‘But this man (Jesus), because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.’ Yeh friends, all the other important priests died, and so did Jesus, but He rose from the dead and continues living and working on our behalf.
‘Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.’ (Heb.7:25) Ah mih brethren, how blessed we are when we follow Jesus! He not only died to pay for our sins and help us be reconciled to the Father, but even now, He is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us.
He never stops pleading on our behalf! Glory to His Holy Name; the one that’s higher than any other, and the one that all must bow to! So are we as persevering and persistent in our work on His behalf? I don’t think so, otherwise the world would not be as evil and ungodly as it is, neither would there be so many people willing and pushing, even clamouring to have God removed from our society.
And the reason for that ungodliness lie heavily both on the church as an organization and we individuals within it. And here I’ll just recall a couple scriptures on the persistence of the early church. ‘And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.’ (Acts 2:42)
‘And they continuing daily with one accord (mind) in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat (food) with gladness and singleness of heart (simplicity). Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be (were being) saved.’ (Acts 2:46-47)
Friends, that just shows how fervent and persistent the early church was about living for Christ. Unfortunately though, in today’s feckless and spineless society, we seem to be more enamoured of the things of the world, than those of God. But that’s a fool’s wisdom my people. Now here is a passage of scripture I hope will encourage us to keep on keeping on regardless of what comes against us.
‘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, 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. For consider him that endured such contradiction (hostility) of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint (discouraged) in your minds (souls).’ (Heb.12:1-3)
Yeh friends, the times are evil and ungodly, and only as we believers are persistent and true in following Jesus, will, or can they ever change. So let’s think about all Jesus did for us, and is still doing, and make that extra effort to run our race for Him nuh, for His glory.
And for those of us who have decided to do just that, let’s go home declaring our Tuesday Mantra, letting the world know who and whose we are. In strong voice, with sincere hearts now: ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’
Now let’s go out and do exactly that, so we can effect, bring about, some badly needed godly change in our world. Much LOVE!
…the saints in heaven are watching…are cheering us on to run a good race…let’s not disappoint them nuh…
24 May 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Abraham, abundance, Amen, baptized, Behold, believers in Christ, bickering, blessings, breaking of bread, brethren in christ, brethren to dwell in unity, Christ's body, communal living, compassionate heart, confusion, continued steadfastly, courage, curse, denomination, disunity, doctrine, fear, fellowship, fire and brimstone, focal point, gladness, gorgeous days, guiding light, having favour, Hawaii, how good and how pleasant, immaterial stuff, infighting, inopportune time, life, Lot, LOVE, name of the game, negative word, no strife, one accord, one in Christ, one mind, peace and LOVE of Jesus, petty, Praise the Lord, praising God, prayers, quarrelling, regeneration of nature, religion, share, signs, singleness of heart, solf their possessions, stand fast, state of affairs, striving together, success, talent, the apostles, the church, the faith of the gospel, the Good Book, the Word of god, Thursday Blessings, volcano watch, walk the talk, we are brethren, wonders
Psalm 133:1. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.
Ah mih brethren, another glorious day is in the offing in my neighbourhood! Can’t remember when last I saw so many gorgeous days strung together. And yuh know, even when the rain falls, it doesn’t fall at an inopportune time, and then those days end up glorious too. (smile)
This springtime has really been a beautiful regeneration of nature! Glory Be! Let’s enjoy it as we thank our great and awesome God for the wonderful blessings of life and LOVE that He has given us. And all God’s people declared a loud and grateful: ‘Praise the Lord! Amen!’
And by the way, that volcano watch on Hawaii – well it seems to be getting worse every day. I believe there have been some explosions that are causing even more problems than before. Let’s remember to keep them in our prayers, and hope it doesn’t truly erupt, as volcanoes are possibly the most terrible of all destructions that can occur; it encapsulates the real fire and brimstone, which we so mythically talk about.
And today we’re going to get into our Bit very early, because it is possibly the most important problem facing Christ’s church right now. Hear these immortal words of Bruh David and give pause, let’s give thought to them in our own lives. ‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.’
Oh my people, if only that state of affairs even existed to one iota in the church of today, what a great church we’d have! But bickering and quarreling and disunity are the name of the game. Thus Christ’s body has become of little use to a major part of society. They scorn it and turn away from it because of the tremendous infighting and confusion that exists therein, not to mention that we don’t walk the talk we preach.
So how can Christ’s church ever become the focal point of our society under those conditions eh? Never! And it’s not to say that the arguments are all over major points of doctrine – No- a lot of them are over rather petty and immaterial stuff. But such is the hold of the world on us, that power and supremacy of religion or denomination keeps us from being more together.
Ah friends, can’t we see that strife is the enemy’s number one goal amongst believers? That way he keeps us warring against each other and not living in the peace and LOVE that Jesus desires of us. How unfortunate that we are allowing it to happen. Let’s look at some scripture on the subject.
We see way back when Lot and Abraham’s people were feuding over grazing land and water that Abraham wisely told him. ‘Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.’ (Gen.13:8)
Oh fellow believers in Christ, right there we have the most important aspect of our being on this earth; being brethren in Christ! That means we don’t need to be fighting each other over petty stuff. We won’t ever agree on everything, but this much we ought to agree on: that we are ONE in Christ!
And there is no better example of that than after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit began indwelling believers and the new church was born. Hear the Good Book tell it re the day of Pentecost. ‘Then they that gladly receive his (Peter’s) word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.’ (Acts 2:41-42)
Yuh see that friends, ‘they continued steadfastly.’ Those are the most important words in that sentence. And they didn’t believe the apostles’ doctrine because they preached it, but because it agreed with the Word of God, which also called for fellowship and prayers.
And the Good Book continues: ‘And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by (through) the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common. And sold their possessions and goods, and parted (distributed) them to all men, as every man (anyone) had need.
And they, continuing daily with one accord (mind) in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat (food) with gladness and singleness (simplicity) of heart. Praising God, and having favour with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be (were being) saved.’ (Acts 2:43-47)
Wow! What a moving memorial of the early church! Now we know that the communal living couldn’t happen nowadays, and didn’t last long there either. People sold their possessions because they possibly thought that Jesus was coming back real soon (smile), but look at how they communed together ‘in one accord, one mind.’
That’s how we ought to commune today friends; with Jesus as our guiding light regardless of the circumstance! Not all the other nonsense that we’ve allowed the world to intersperse into the church. Anyhow, time and space are upon us, so please ponder those things and see how we can improve our own situations.
Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings that our LOVING God has bestowed on us, even though we don’t deserve most of them. In strong and sincere voice now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
And please remember those blessings were not given for us to hoard, but to go out and share with others. Much LOVE!
…stand fast…in one spirit…with one mind…striving together…for the faith of the gospel…(Phil.2:27b)
21 Oct 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bodybuilder, a limited life, a lot of times, abundant, an easy row to hoe, Anselm's quotes, at bay, be obedient, believers in Jesus, communicate through prayer, connect the dots, consistent with intentions, deeds, destiny, earthly battles, faith walk, foundation of wisdom, full, getting enough sleep, glory to God, God's help, God's will, God's Word, gut it out, heaven-looking, human nature, hypocrites, hypocritical element, I allow not, I can do all things through Christ, I don't do, I don't understand, integrity, Jesus' philosophy, karma, keep our wits, life, looking forward, lure of sin, natural sinful nature, oncoming enemy, people don't know what they want, praising God, productive life, put your trust in Jesus, read His word, seminal verse, sinful, slept in, spiritual, spiritual armour, spirituality, stick close to Jesus, that which I do, things of the world, trust, two edged sword, two natures, unbelievers, unholy struggle, vapid pleasures, what I hate, what I want to do, wisdom, words, worldly nature, write it indelibly, wrong things, your gut
Romans 7:15. For that which I do, I allow not (I don’t understand): for what I would do (want to do), that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Ah friends, it seems like I’m one of those who slept in this October Saturday morn! But mine was not by choice though, I just had no idea of the time. And I went to bed fairly early at that too. I’m trying to go to bed at a decent hour these days… Aren’t you proud of me? (smile)
That’s because I believe one of my problems is simply not getting enough sleep. The only problem though is when I lie in bed too long, roughly over four hours, my ole back aches like mad when I do get up. But I guess we have to suffer something to gain something better.
Anyway, I’m up now, and it’s Saturday, so let’s check out some of our friend Anselm’s quotes for this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Hear this first one: ‘A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.’
Now that might be true sometimes, but we have to be very careful of what others think we might want, because it just might not jive with God’s will for us.
That leads us to this one: ‘You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.’
The first part makes sense, but the last part should definitely read ‘put your trust in the One and Only Jesus Christ!’ And if you do that, you certainly won’t do this next quote. ‘Don’t live a limited life.’
Yeh mih people, as true believers in Jesus, you will NEVER lead a limited life, because Jesus’ basic philosophy is for his followers to lead a full, abundant and productive life. Glory to God!
And here is the last quote. ‘Integrity is when our words and deeds are consistent with our intentions.’ And is that ever so true my brethren!
Unfortunately though, too many of us Christians, in these evil and godless times don’t have much integrity, because our words and deeds are not consistent with our intentions. That’s why so many unbelievers, as well as believers, see us as hypocrites!
That’s the reason a lot of people, even supposed believers, use for not going to church; they don’t want to join a bunch of hypocrites in praising God. But yuh know what friends, all of us have some hypocritical element in us – not liking someone for some foolish reason, etc. etc. – so when we go to church, all we do, is add one more hypocrite to the bunch! (smile)
But most of us won’t see it like that. And yes, it’s very possible to have good intentions and do evil deeds, as Bruh Paul declares in our Bit: ‘For that which I do, I allow not (I don’t understand): for what I would do (want to do), that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.’
Yeh mih brethren, that’s just the unholy struggle between our two natures; our sinful and worldly one, and our spiritual and heaven-looking other. And as you can see, even Bruh Paul, with all his spirituality, got caught in the battle between those two strong attitudes.
So it’s not like we are totally immune to the struggle being waged between our two natures. The lure of sin and its vapid pleasures are surely strong, but like a bodybuilder, we have to build our heavenly looking spirit so that it can stand strong and steadfast against our human nature.
As we saw yesterday, the enemy is always on the lookout to steal our joy and have us feeling guilty and miserable. However, if we do, as the Good Book says, resist the devil and draw near to God, then we’ll usually come out victorious.
Oh friends, we know that turning away from, resisting the things of the world is not easy, certainly not an easy row to hoe, but as with EVERYTHING else in this life, with God’s help, we can overcome.
Please don’t ever forget this seminal, foundational, fruit-bearing, productive verse from Bruh Paul to the Philippians. ‘I can do ALL THINGS through Christ which strengtheneth me.’ ((Phil.4:13)
Yes friends, until we truly believe that and totally incorporate it into our lives, our faith walk will not be as good as it ought to be, and we’ll be doing many more wrong things than we want to do, but not understanding why.
And sadly, there’s no easy way around the struggle of our two natures. To overcome our natural sinful nature, we just have to gut it out, stick close to Jesus; consistently read His Word, constantly communicate with Him in prayer, and do our best to be obedient to His dictates.
That means having on our spiritual armour at all times, and continually swinging the mighty, ever-sharp, two-edged sword of God’s Word in the face of the oncoming enemy to keep him at bay.
Yes friends, to win this battle, we need to keep our wits about us ALL THE TIME, but with God’s help, we can certainly do it. Let’s remember that, and write it indelibly in our hearts, souls and minds, for it’s the foundation of wisdom! Much LOVE!
…ONLY with God’s help…can we win our earthly battles…
25 Dec 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a manger, a son is given, Bethlehem, born lowly, Christ's birth, Counselor, every heart, far as the curse is found, fear not, feed trough, For unto us a child is born, glorifying, glory to God, good tidings of great joy, grace, grateful, he rules the world, heartfelt, heaven and nature sing, His name shall be called Wonderful, Immanuel, in the city of David, isaac watts, Jesus Christ, Joseph, Joy to the world, judgement, justice, keeping watch, let earth receive her king, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, loving kindness, Lucifer, make his blessings flow, Mary, Merry Christmas, of the lineage of David, passionate, peace, peace good will to men, praise and worship, praising God, prepare him room, raise the roof, repeat the sounding joy, sacrifice, selfless love, shepherds, swaddling clothes, the angel of the Lord, the everlasting Father, the glories of his righteousness, the government shall be upon his shoulder, the heavenly host, the increase of his government, the Lord is come, the mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the ravages of hell, the saviour reigns, the zeal of the Lord of hosts, there shall be no end, to establish it, to order it, truth, upon the throne of David, wonders of his love
Isaiah 9:6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!
Ah friends, at last it’s the big one – Christmas Day – when our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born! Glory to God for that act of LOVING-kindness!
Now it’s also Sunday, and we are in God’s spectacular sanctuary, or below a coconut tree, (smile) come to praise and worship Him, so let’s open with an appropriate song for the joyous occasion nuh, the old Christmas Carol, ‘Joy to the World,’ written by Isaac Watts a couple centuries ago. Let’s raise the roof of our sanctuary and that of heaven with a most passionate and heartfelt rendition, truly believing what we sing.
In unison now: ‘Joy to the World, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing. Joy to the World, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love’
Ah mih people, that was beautiful – as it should be! There could be no doubt in the Lord’s mind now that we truly appreciate and are very grateful for the birth of His Son Jesus. And all around the world the same sentiments are being sent up, or have already been sent up to heaven!
Wow! This is one of the Red Letter days of our earthly sojourn – the start of the greatest movement that ever hit the planet – Jesus’ LOVE Revolution!
Now it’s scripture time, beginning with our Bit, God’s wonderful promise many centuries before to send us a Son, a redeemer. ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.’
And our great God, also being ever-faithful, fulfilled this awesome promise some two thousand years ago. Praise His Holy Name my people! And listen to the rest of the promise: ‘Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ (Is.9:7)
Oh my fellow believers what a magnificent Being, our Immanuel was promised to be! And was… and still is… and always will be! Now let’s turn to the actual birth of our Divine, Gift-child. We know that Joseph, Mary’s husband was of the lineage of Bruh David, so when the first emperor, Caesar Augustus declared that all his subjects were to be registered in their original birth places, Joseph and Mary had to journey to Bethlehem to do so, because that was his city.
Now while they were there, Mary’s time drew nigh: ‘And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes (strips of cloth), and laid him in a manger (feed trough); because there was no room for them in the inn.’ (Luke 2:7) What a shame to think that this great king was born in a smelly, noisy animal barn eh, and slept in a feed trough! But the Lord, as always, had His reasons. His Son was to be born lowly, for the lowly ones were whom He was coming to save.
Now hear the most wonderful part of the night of Christ’s birth. ‘And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in their field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon (stood before) them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore (greatly) afraid. And the angel said unto them; Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.’ (Luke 2:8-11)
Can you imagine the topsy-turvy emotions the angel’s appearance and words must have caused the poor shepherds? Then the angel continued: ‘And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes (cloths), lying in a manger (feed trough). And suddenly was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will toward men.’ (Luke 2:12-14)
Ah mih people, the sudden appearance of the heavenly host singing and praising God, laid even more drama on the shepherds. But shepherds are a hardy stock and the Good Book tells us: ‘And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered (marvelled) at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Not the first or the last time). And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.’ (Luke 2:15-20)
Ah friends, can you imagine the magical mystery, the glorious effervescence in the air around lowly Bethlehem that momentous and most memorable night that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born?
Well we should be experiencing the same sort of overwhelming emotions today, as we celebrate Christ’s birth, for His selfless LOVE and sacrifice is the only thing that keeps, or is keeping us from the ravages of hell and Lucifer. So let’s give much thanks and praise today nuh my believing brethren, because He did it all for us. Much LOVE!
…births are joyful occasions…but none’s been as joyful as the night Christ was born…
19 May 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a grand human hope, a positive outlook, a strong will, abundance, all things in common, an opportunity, annals, apostles, blessed, breaking bread, broken right now, change, change for change sake, cheerfully, Christ-like, Christian, christianity, communal sharing, communism, confuse the situation, courage, creativity, Creator, curse, Day of Pentecost, destiny, direction for my life, distributed, divine protection, don't fear change, Dr. Robert H. Schuler, dream dreams, earthly journey, embracing change, faith, family, favour, fear, forgiveness, frame of mind, friends, fulfillment, gladness, God's universe, God's will, good stewards, granite, health, hope, Hour of Power Devotional, I will pour out my spirit, in the name of Jesus, it shall come to pass, Jesus Christ, joy, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, marble, maturity, mercy, negative word, old men, on all flesh, one accord, one idea, particular purpose, Peter, possessions, praising God, promotion, prophesy, prosper, return of Christ, rigid, see visions, self-control, self-discipline, share willingly, signs, simplicity, sincerity, singleness of heart, steel, succeed, success, supernatural strength, surrender, talent, this is the day the Lord has made, Thursday's Blessings, together, trust, walk with Christ, we will rejoice and be glad in it, welcome, wisdom, wise and sensible way, without fear, wonders, young men, your sons and daughters
Joel 2:28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
Welcome friends, welcome! Welcome to another marvellous day in the annals of God’s great universe! We have all been specifically chosen by our wonderful Creator to meet and greet this new day for a particular purpose that He has planned.
So please let’s embrace it with the faith and joy and trust and surrender that it deserves, by sincerely declaring, as the psalmist did so long ago: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps.118:24)
Yes my Christian brethren, that is the only wise and sensible way to greet any new day to which we blessedly awaken. Anything less will only darken and confuse the situation unnecessarily and make our lives even more difficult than they already are.
And today I want to share a li’l something from Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional, where he talks about embracing change.
He wisely advises: ‘Don’t fear change. Welcome it as an opportunity! If change is a great problem, it is also a grand human hope. One word, one illustration, one idea can transform the whole complexion and the destiny of our life.
I see this happening constantly. Some positive idea falls unexpectedly on the mind and changes forever the destiny of the entire family. Thank God we are not created to be rigid, nonchanging objects of marble, granite, or steel.’
Yes friends, not all change is good, neither should we just change for change sake, but we have to be able to decipher it properly and where necessary embrace it without fear. The important aspect here is being able to accept it ‘without fear.’
Now since this is Thursday, it’s only fitting and proper that we declare our Thursday’s Blessings with much verve, sincerity and faith.
As one now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment!
I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Awright mih people! Let’s go forth now in that positive and blessed frame of mind and do God’s will!
And today is the last day for this particular Bit. ‘And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.’
Yeh friends, we’ve seen over the last few days how this prophecy was partially fulfilled on that great and powerful day of Pentecost. We’ve also heard the great sermon Peter preached on that day, and the immediate reaction of repentance and baptism to some three thousand previously lost souls. Today I just want to share what happens after the dust has settled.
The Good Book tells us thus about life amongst the believers thereafter. ‘And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things in common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted (distributed, shared) them to all men, as every man (anyone) had need.
And they, continuing daily with one accord (mind) in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat (food) with gladness and singleness of heart (simplicity). Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be (were being) saved.’ (Acts 2:43-47)
Ah my fellow believers, what a simpler time that was! We certainly couldn’t live like that in this most complex and diverse society of ours. However, please pay close attention to this info from the scholars.
‘2:44-45. Communal sharing was practiced for a brief time by the early church but not throughout Acts. These believers were expecting the very soon return of Christ (as Peter demonstrates in his sermons of chs. 2 and 3), and they therefore sold their possessions. This did not last. Such communal life is not taught by the apostles.
Rather we are taught to be good stewards of that with which God has entrusted us, and to share willingly and cheerfully (2 Cor.8, 9). Further, this does not correspond to communism, because this resulted from a spiritual unity among the people and was a voluntary act. (cf.5: 4).’
And that ends today’s Bit. I do hope it is beneficial to all who read it, re maturity and understanding of true Christianity. And also that it encourages them to get into the Word more themselves, as well as live a more Christ-like life, as desired by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Now may the Lord of all mercy and forgiveness, bless and keep us safely, as we journey along this day on the path that He has chosen for our individual lives. Much LOVE!
…the only way to have a successful earthly journey…is to walk it closely with Christ…
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