16 May 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: an ambassador, assurance, breastplate of righteousness, chains, compassionate heart, corporate matter, curse, destiny, divine aid, eagerness, eternal glory, falling short, fiery darts, first person singular, flourish in our society, for all saints, galvanize us into action, God's Word, greedy motives, hope, in bodns, in christ's gospel, in the name of Jesus, in the Spirit, LOVE, men ought always to pray, negative word, never fulfilled, no giving up, not faint, not lose heart, of christ's heart, open my mouth boldly, prayer, praying always, preparation of peace, prosper, self-control, self-discipline, selfish, shield of faith, spiritual armour, spiritual combat, stressful, strife-filled times, success, supernatural wisdom, supplication, the flesh is weak, the gospel of christ, the helmet of salvation, the parable of the unjust judge, the spirit is willing, the Spirit of God, the Truth, the truth of God, Thursday Blessings, two edged sword, utterance, warm the cockles, watch and pray, watching, with all perseverance, with all prayer
Ephesians 6:18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
Oh yes, it’s bright and sunshiny and even warm too! Glory to God! Yeh friends, the day’s begun the way a day is supposed to begin; with the light of Jesus shining brightly in and through our lives! (smile) Oh, is it ever good to wake up to sunshine after all that watery precipitation.
And would you believe that yesterday afternoon with sunshine flowing, the rain still made its way down! But I guess that shower was just to wash away the remaining clouds, because after that the sun came out even brighter! Thanks be to God!
And I want to apologize for not giving us the whole story a couple of days ago when we dealt with the spiritual armour of God. Yuh know we’re fully protected once we have our loins girded with the truth of God, and the breastplate of righteousness is secured fast against our chests, and our feet are properly shod in the preparation of peace, the eagerness provided by the gospel of Christ.
Not to mention having that all important shield of faith to protect us from the fiery darts of the enemy, our heads protected by the helmet of salvation, the hope and assurance of eternal glory in God, while wielding that terrible two edged sword of the Spirit, God’s immortal, powerful and life changing Word!
Yes friends, it all looks good, but there is one necessary part, one thing is needed to get it all going, to galvanize us into action; and that’s prayer! Without prayer, our armour is not worth a whole lot. That’s why Bruh Paul warned after telling us all about the spiritual armour: ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.’
Oh my people, prayer is always the most important item in any earthly situation! And the scholars’ explain that verse thus: ‘6:18. Praying is grammatically linked to ‘stand” in verse 14. Without prayer God’s armour is inadequate to achieve victory. Prayer is indispensable. Always means “on every occasion,” that is, when Satan attacks.
In the Spirit signifies that with the Spirit’s help such prayer for divine aid is to be made. Watching thereunto means “being vigilant in this very matter” of prayer. They are to pray not just for themselves but also for all saints; spiritual combat is both and individual and corporate matter.’
Oh my fellow believers that last part is especially important; we’re required not only to pray for ourselves but also for the rest of God’s church, all His saints, because we all need the Spirit of God to work productively in us, and prayer is the catalyst that gets it all going! And Bruh Paul made that abundantly clear when he continued after our Bit:
‘And (pray) for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery (the hidden truth) of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds (chains): that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.’ (Eph.6:19-20)
Yuh see friends, even though Bruh Paul was blessed with so much revelation from God, he still needed human prayer to help him do the job; speak boldly and openly about the truth in Christ’s gospel. Now tell me how much more do we, in these sad, stressful and strife-filled times need the prayer of our fellow believers eh? But sadly, because of the selfish, greedy and first person singular motives that currently flourish in our society, we don’t pray for our fellow believers as much as we ought to.
Too many of us supposed believers are focused only on our own selves, our own needs, wants and problems. But there is a lot of truth in the saying, that somebody out there is always suffering more than us, and need God’s help worse than we do! Let’s just remember that, especially we believers in this wealthy and prosperous, but ever so wasteful and selfish Western society! End of Sermon! (smile)
Oh, I forgot I wanted to add these two warnings of Jesus on the subject of prayer. First off: To His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane who should have been praying with Him, but instead fell asleep. ‘Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ (Matt.26:41) And isn’t that the awful truth!
The second warning is this: ‘And he spake a parable unto them (the disciples) to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (lose heart).’ (Luke 18:1) And the scholars give a nice, precise explanation of that verse. ’18:1. To faint means “to lose heart.” Precisely when tempted to give up, men ought to be strong in their resolve to pray.’ And that’s for certain sure friends, because there’s NO giving up in Jesus’ vocabulary!
And by the way, the parable mentioned above was about the woman seeking justice from the unjust judge. (Luke 18:2-8) And she only received it because she kept on badgering him, until in disgust, he finally relented. That’s how we ought to pray my fellow saints; always…and with confidence and humility!
Now let’s go home declaring (right ho!) those wonderful attributes bestowed on us believers in our Thursday Blessings. We’ve got to declare them for them to take effect. So as one sincere body of faith: ‘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 remember, those blessings are not granted for us to selfishly hoard, but to generously share with the less fortunate. So let’s go out and do just that nuh, and thus warm the cockles of Christ’s heart! Much LOVE!
…without sincere and constant prayer…a believer’s life is never fulfilled…thus falling short of his destiny…
25 Apr 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a name above all names, a no no, a pardoning judge, a stickler for justice, abundance, appearance, as a man, became obedient, believe in Christ, best way to live, by one man's disobedience, courage, creativity, curse, disobedient creation, displeasing the Father, Dr. Charles Stanley, Easter celebrations, empathy, eternal life, every knee must bow, faithful obedience, found in fashion, frailties, God of Numerous Chances, God's Word, gracious, he humbled himself, lack of obedience, leave all the consequences to Him, LOVE, many made righteous, many made sinners, merciful, negative word, obedience of one, obey God, once and for all time, our benefit, painful death, prosper, rebellious, righteous, sacrificed his son, salvation, self-control, self-discipline, selfishly hoard, share the blessings, sinless blood, so much to gain, so much to lose, success, take up the baton, talent, tests, the death of the cross, the Good Book, Thursday Blessings, to pay for our sins, Triune God, unto death, weaknesses, wisdom
Philippians 2:8. And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Well a blessed Thursday to you my faithful Scrip-Bit brethren! I do hope that the day has and or will bring you substantive joy and peace as you walk the strait and narrow path that our Lord and Saviour Jesus desires of you. Oh, we all know that this earthly life is not an easy one to hoe, but with Jesus on our side, right beside us all the time as He sincerely promised, we do have a better chance than the unbelievers to live a life blessed with joy and peace.
But it just won’t fall into our laps, as some of us seem to think. We need to get up and do our part in this partnership, this everlasting covenant with Almighty God. If we do our part, He will certainly do His, but if we don’t, He won’t. It as simple as that my people!
And what’s our part you ask? Again, it’s pretty simple: believe in His Son Jesus Christ and walk in faithful obedience to His Word! Granted, it’s much harder than it sounds, but then again the Lord has promised to help us in any area in which we are deficient or lacking. We just have to come to Him in sincere prayer and ask for his help.
And He’s also promised not to give us more than we can handle. He’s God, and merciful, gracious and forgiving, plus He knows all our frailties and weaknesses, so why will He give us more than we can handle eh? No reason whatsoever! Oh, He will test us occasionally to see if we really believe the stuff we talk. And I can personally tell you about that, because some days before I’m even finished writing the Bit, I’m bombarded with tests about what I’ve written.
But then again, if we fail, He always gives us more chances to come back and take them. That’s why He’s known as the God of Numerous Chances! And that’s all to our benefit! Praise His holy name my people! For though He’s righteous, a stickler for justice, He’s also a pardoning judge. Because He created us, and thus knows what we’re all about, He has great empathy and LOVE for us.
And He proved it by the celebrations we just had this past Easter weekend, where He sacrificed His Son for us, to pay for our sins once and for all time. There could be no greater LOVE than that! The Creator of the universe, and all therein, sacrificing His sinless Son to appease the need for sinless blood to cleanse the sins of His disobedient, rebellious creation. He LOVED and cared for us so much that He went to such drastic lengths to provide a means of redemption for us.
How wonderful He is my brethren! There is NONE other like Him in the world! All the others are mere pretenders, jokers and fools! So since He’s provided ALL that we need to live a godly and righteous life, and come to salvation through His resurrected Son, then technically speaking, the problem(s) we face nowadays stem mainly from our lack of obedience to His Word. And if you claim that you don’t know His Word, then that’s still disobedience, because He’s admonished us many times to read, study and meditate on it.
And since we’re talking about obedience, I believe it’s only right to mention two of the most profound statements on the subject in the Good Book, both not surprisingly made by Bruh Paul. The first one is found in his missive to the church at Rome: ‘For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.’ (Rom.5:19)
Yeh friends, we all fell into sin by Adam’s disobedience. Although, come to think of it, I don’t know why Adam get’s blamed for the dastardly deed nuh, when it’s Eve who supposedly first took a bite of the apple, and Adam foolishly followed? But be that as it may, our forefathers weighed us down with sin by their disobedience, and it was only with the coming of Jesus Christ that we were granted a way to get out from under that deathly and damning sin.
And as Bruh Paul says to the church at Philippi: ‘And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’
Oh friends, do you think Jesus wanted to die, and even more, such a murderous, unfair and painful death! Obviously not! But He knew that the Father wanted to save us more than anything else, and that He was the ONLY ONE who had the parts to accomplish the Father’s plan. So He obediently went along, even to that disturbing and horrible death on the cross because displeasing the Father was a no no in His mind.
And all I’m trying to point out here, by saying so much (smile) is that if Jesus, God’s Son was obedient to the point of giving His life for us, we, mere mortals, mere puny and flimsy creations of God, should also be very obedient to God’s Word because we have so much to gain and so much to lose. Please remember that ALL the Father and the Son did, was purely for OUR benefit not theirs.
And Jesus has already been exalted for His sacrifice with a name above all names and to whom each knee must eventually bow, and sits comfortably at the right hand of the Father, so we are the ones who now need to take up the baton and lead a righteous and obedient life, if we want to enjoy salvation and eternal life with our Triune God. Sermon done! (smile)
Now for those of us who are sincerely attempting to do as Jesus asks, let’s go home declaring (right ho!) our Thursday Blessings, those wonderful aspects of life that He’s showered down on us to help us do the job.
So altogether 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 the corollary to all that is that we must now go out and share them with others, not selfishly hoard them for ourselves, because that’s why we were given so much! Much LOVE!
…the best way to live…obey God…and leave all the consequences to Him… (Uncle Charles – Charles Stanley)
18 Apr 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a place called Gethsemane, as thou wilt, clear direction, coconut water, corruption, courage, creativity, curse, disciples, fear of death, forgiven, fruits, God willing, Good Friday, good news, guilty mankind, hoard, Holy Thursday, humble prayer, I go and pray yonder, in high places, last day in Paradise, Lent, let this cup pass from me, level of our faith, light, LOVE, necessity of drinking the cup, negative word, northern climes, not as I will, prosper, rampant, sacrificed, self-control, self-discipline, set free, share the blessings, show appreciation, sincere hearts, sinless life, sit ye heree, sons of Zebedee, sowrrowful, spiritual wickedness, Store Bay, substitutionary death, succeed, tasted death, the will of the Father, then cometh Jesus, Thursday Blessings, triumphant Easter resurrection, ungodly fashion, unto death, watch with me, wisdom
Matthew 26:36. Then cometh Jesus with them (His disciples) unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder (over there).
Well it’s the last day in Paradise…Steups! But I guess all good things must come to an end at some time or another! And being in sweet Tobago was indeed a good thing, or rather a wonderful thing! I don’t know where all the time went nuh, because I still haven’t seen or spoken to several people I wanted to connect with. I haven’t had a coconut water since I’ve been here…Imagine that nuh!
I only bathed in my favourite beach, Store Bay once! Brother that sure is shocking! (smile) I did bathe in other beaches several times though. And the rain has continued through the night and the early morning. Think it might clear up later though.
And yes, it’s Holy Thursday too, the day before Good Friday, when believers hunker down and consider their faith in light of Jesus’ upcoming crucifixion! The night when He bared His hurting soul and spirit in the Garden of Gethsemane in a futile attempt to change the course of His destiny.
Jesus knew deep down that the Father wasn’t going to change His plans, but the human element in Him, and the upcoming separation from the Father, the first time in their long existence, plus the great weight of sin that would be placed on His shoulders forced Him to His knees in humble prayer. ‘Then cometh Jesus with them (His disciples) unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder (over there).
And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee (James & John), and began to be sorrowful (grieved) and very heavy (deeply distressed). Then said he unto them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye (stay here), and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt.’ (Matt. 26:36-39)
Ah friends, yuh see the heavy sorrow that Jesus felt! It wasn’t easy for Him, although He was the Son of God. And I like the scholars’ explanation here. ‘The prayer for the cup to pass is not due to Jesus’ fear of death. Jesus questions the will of the Father as to the necessity of drinking the cup.
While this may refer to death (“he tasted death”) it is more likely that the cup represents the wrath of God against sin, the divine wrath Christ would incur on the cross as man’s sin-bearer. In the awful anguish of that moment, the sin of the world was poured on Christ and he became “sin for us” (2 Cor.5:21). Thus the Righteous One dies a substitutionary death for guilty mankind.’
So true friends, so true! He sacrificed His sinless life so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin and death, and have eternal life; the greatest gift ever given to mankind, and yet we still don’t appreciate Him the way we should! Why is that eh friends? I don’t know the answer, neither do I understand it. We should be so grateful and jumping with joy, and living so sincerely for Him, that the world would open their mouths and wonder in astonishment at our godly and righteous lifestyle.
But instead in our hypocrisy and lust for the things of the world, we make a mockery of His sacrifice with mostly a lot of talk and no real substance in our actions. Chuh! When I see how the leaders of Christ’s church, and consequently the followers behave in such ungodly fashion, it’s no wonder that the unbelievers don’t take us seriously. Christ’s church has as many scandals and unrighteousness as the evil world does. In fact, we seem to take our lead from the world and not from Christ! As they say, spiritual wickedness and corruption is rampant in high places!
Oh my people, I do hope that this season of Lent has been one of deep concern and pondering on our faith and how we live it daily, because that’s how the world and the Lord will judge us; how good were our fruits, and how bright was our light? And when we come to the tremendous conclusion in a triumphant Easter resurrection, let’s hope that we will all have raised the level of our faith and practice of it thereof, so that we can be better witnesses and disciples for Christ! For that’s what it’s all about; spreading the good news of His gospel far and wide!
Now let’s go home thankfully declaring (right ho!) our Thursday Blessings that the Lord has so generously bestowed on us. In strong voice with sincere hearts: ‘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 every day! Amen!’
And the next movement is to go out and share it all with the less fortunate as Christ intends for us to do. It’s not for us to hoard, but to share! Much LOVE!
…He died that we might be set free…forgiven…the least we can do…is show some sincere appreciation…
P.S. Tomorrow, God willing, I’ll be writing from the northern climes…good and bad… (smile) Much LOVE!
04 Apr 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abhor evil, Abraham Isaac and Jacob, awe, bane of mankind, believe the Lord, blue skies, castigating, children of transgression, cling to good, cold climates, compassionate heart, cool breezes, curse, debasing ourselves, did our own thing, favour, fearest me not, Garden of Eden, godless, great family, hard ears, hast not remembered me, held my peace, hell bent, holy mountain, idolatry, idols, inherit, Isaia, Israelites, Jesus' heart, laid it to thy heart, less fortunate, make a wide mouth, negative word, no peace, one true God, own way, pagan rites, prosper, rebelled, removing God from our society, reverence, ridicule yourselves, righteous suffer, righteousness., seed of falshood, share, slying children, sons of the sorceres, statnic age, stubborn, success, Thursday's Blessings, to the wicked, unto hell, vanity, warm the cockles, weary
Isaiah 57:21. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
No rain today! Glory to God! Just blue skies and cool breezes in Paradise…until the sun comes up hot and stinging around the noonday hour! But we can handle it better than the cold, for God didn’t make us to live in the cold climates. Yuh see the wonderful climate the Garden of Eden had? (smile) But mankind so hard ears and stubborn and own way, they decide that they going to live in the cold countries anyway, and do their own thing there.
Ah Lord eh, it is the bane of mankind – always wanting to do their own thing! Jehovah God made us to do His thing, but from the very beginning we rebelled and did our own thing instead. And so it continued down throughout the ages. Listen to this scripture nuh from Isaiah, where through him, the Lord condemns Israel’s idolatry. After castigating them for having the righteous suffer and no one taking up their cause, He declares (steups – wrong again):
‘But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore (harlot). Against whom do ye sport (ridicule) yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw (stick) out the tongue? Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood. Enflaming (inflaming) yourselves with idols (gods) under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts (clefts) of the rocks?’ (Is.57:3-5)
Yeh friends, the Israelites forgot the God of their forefathers and made idols of all sorts of stuff and worshipped them as gods, they even practiced child sacrifice like some of the other pagan tribes around them! And I like how the Lord continues a few verses later: ‘And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.’ (Is.57:9)
Oh friends we are doing the same things as the Israelites did; turning away from God, following pagan rites, debasing ourselves and worshipping the things of the world, rather than Almighty God! The things of the world are now idols, and we are even figuratively sacrificing our children on the worthless altars of these idols! How foolish is that eh?
And as the Lord continues: ‘Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way (length of thy road); yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life (strength) of thine hand; therefore thou was not grieved.’ (Is. 57:10)
Yeh, we found our strength as we developed all our technological stuff and got bigger and bigger and supposedly better, thinking that it was all our own doing and didn’t look back or even consider if what we were doing was right, just plowed right on in our idolatrous ways, until now we’ve become all-powerful in our own eyes and are hell bent on removing God from our society! As far as too many of us are concerned Jehovah God is an old-fashioned, outdated entity, who has no rightful place in our modern day lives! Ah Lord eh!
And just as the Lord asked of the Israelites back then, He’s also asking of us today: ‘And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace (remained silent) even of old, and thou fearest me not?’ (Is.57:11)
Ah mih breddren, in this godless and satanic age we neither fear God with a real fear, like the attack of a dangerous wild animal, nor fear Him in terms of reverence and awe! So many people in the universe still don’t know Him, and too many are turning away from Him to worship the worthless idols and false gods of other faiths!
But please be warned, God’s eyes are upon us all the time! He knows our every move and every thought be it evil or good that we think and plan and when He’s ready, He will take matters into His own hands, and trust, me, we won’t like it when He does.
As He said to Israel: ‘I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee. When thou criest (cry out), let thy companies (collection of idols) deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity (a breath) shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.’ (Is.57:12-13)
Oh my people, please believe the Lord our God nuh for He doesn’t make idle promises; if He says He’ll destroy, then He will, and will likewise prosper when He says so. Hear this last piece of that chapter. ‘I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.’ (Is.57:19-21)
That’s gospel truth my brethren! Wickedness might pay in the short run in this world, but in the long run it definitely won’t! So please be wise and refute evil and wickedness and sin and the ungodly ways of the world nuh! And when you believe and sincerely try to follow the One True God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, look what happens: He showers down blessings on us like manna from heaven. So let’s declare (right ho) our Thursday Blessings with enthusiasm and heartfelt assurance nuh!
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!’
Which other faith or supposed God promises and also delivers that kind of stuff eh? None but Jesus Christ! And those blessings are offered so that we can go out and share them with the less fortunate, so let’s do that now nuh and warm the cockles of Jesus’ heart! Much LOVE!
…abhor that which is evil…cling to that which is good… (Rom.12:9b)
28 Mar 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a battlefield, acquiesce to the Spirit's desires, by their fruit, cannot do the things ye would, Christian, compassionate heart, contrary to one another, curse, Daily Bread Devotional, depend on the Spirit, desires of our fleah, faithfulness, forget the things we say, from God the Father, fruit of the Spirit, fulfill the lust of the flesh, gentleness, gospel truth, grace, greetings, Holy Spirit of God, hypocrites, joy, kindness, live by the Spirit, LOVE, meekness, mockery, negative word, our lives, our Lord Jesus Christ, passing judgement, peace, Pharisees, practice what we preach, prosper, remember the things we do, sorry lot, speak louder than our words, spiritual confrontation, success, temperance, the flesh lusts against the Spirit, this I say then, Thursday Blessings, thwart the Spirit, tug-of-war, walk in the Spirit, whitewashed tombs, ye shall know them, yield to the Spirit
Galatians 5:16. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Ah friends, in the wonderful words of Bruh Paul: ‘Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world (age), according to the will of God and our Father; To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ (Gal.1:3-4)
Yes my faithful brethren, greetings in the name of our most amazing and magnanimous God and His awesome Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, on this dry but somewhat chilly Thursday morning! And please don’t marvel at how early the Bit is because it’s just an anomaly. I simply have to go out of town early this morning and so decided to write it before I go, rather than when I reach my destination, which could be fairly late.
So please don’t go getting any weird ideas about receiving it at this hour every morning. (smile) Tomorrow, God willing, we’ll be back at the usual time. And today, on a most practical level we’ll talk about this quote from a Daily Bread Devotional: ‘Our lives speak louder than our words!’
And isn’t that the gospel truth my people! Those around us pay more attention to how we live than what we say. They quickly forget what we say, but quite easily remember the things we do. That’s why we can’t talk one thing and then do something else in our daily walk with the Lord.
And that’s what a lot of us supposed believers do, no wonder so much of the world consider us to be such hypocrites, whitewashed tombs, like Jesus called the hypocritical and overbearing Pharisees of His day. Yes, there are still a lot of Pharisees in our midst today, and please don’t go passing too much judgement, like they did, because you never know, you might just be numbered amongst that sorry lot. (smile)
So how do we get our lives to speak louder than our words eh? As Bruh Paul says, to do that, we need to walk and live in the Spirit; the Holy Spirit of God! ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.’ (Gal.5:16-17)
And the scholars offer these interesting and useful explanations. ‘5:16. Walk in the Spirit (i.e., “live by the Spirit”). Christians are to live with the Spirit’s help. How does one “live by the Spirit”? (1) The Christian must believe that the Spirit is with him, having been sent by God into his heart (4.6). (2) In every spiritual confrontation the believer must yield to the Spirit, that is, submit his own desires to those of the Spirit.
(3) One must depend on the Spirit for help, enabling him to live a God-pleasing life (v.5). (4) The believer should anticipate the effects of the Spirit’s help in his daily life. The believer who “lives by the Spirit” will not fulfill (accomplish, carry out) the lust (strong desires) of the flesh (sinful nature).’
Yes mih people, it’s all about our living this earthly life in strong association with the Holy Spirit of God, who was sent by the Father to live within us when we believed on His Son, to help us live a holy and sanctified life. But if we don’t acquiesce to the Spirit’s desires, then we make a mockery of the whole thing.
For as the scholars explain: ‘5:17. One’s sinful human nature (flesh) and the Holy Spirit lusteth against one another, that is, they have desires and yearnings that are contrary to one another. The Christian, then, is a battlefield, having desires to do good and evil. The outcome is that ye cannot do the things that ye would: the flesh seeks to thwart the Spirit, who, in turn, attempts to frustrate the flesh’s evil desires.’
Yes friends, it’s a constant tug of war between our flesh and our Spirit. And it’s only with a constant effort and the help of the Spirit, that we can overcome the evil desires our flesh. The Spirit will guide us, but we have to accept it’s guidance, otherwise it will be all for nought. And we won’t bother to list the sinful desires of the flesh because we all know them, (smile) and it’s the fruit of the Spirit that we really want to show in our lives, so that we can practice what we preach.
So here is what Bruh Paul says constitutes the fruit of the Spirit. ‘But the fruit of the spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith (faithfulness), Meekness, temperance (self-control): against such there is no law.’ (Gal.5:22-23) And that’s how we make our lives speak louder than our words my fellow believers; by letting the fruit of the Spirit proceed from us, rather than the evil desires of the flesh!
Now let’s go home declaring (right ho) our Thursday Blessings, those most generous and magnanimous blessings that our great God has poured down on us as sincere believers. In strong voice and heartfelt sense of purpose: ‘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 don’t forget that those blessings were not given so we can hoard them, but to share them just as generously with others less fortunate than us. So let’s go out and do just that nuh! Much LOVE!
…Jesus said of His followers…by their fruit ye shall know them…
21 Mar 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a righteous man, appointed unto men, Beelzebub, believe in Jesus, blaspheme His holy name, broken right now, bruised and battered, Christ died for the ungodly, Christ died for us, crapaud smoke yuh pipe, cried out in anguish, curse, embodiment of evil, eternal hell fire and damnation, eternal life, eternal souls, fallen angel, favour, filled with, finite minds, for a good man, forsake his only son, free offer of grace, God commendeth his love, God so loved the world, good health, grace, guidebook, hanging helplessly, have everlasting life, he gave his only begotten son, heartbreaking deed, in the name of Jesus, LOVE, Lucifer, My God my God, my soul is still, negative word, once to die, our earthly lives, peaceful, positive outlook on life, prosper, salvation, satanic majesty, self-control, self-discipline, share the blessings, should not perish, sinful creation, sinful exploits, sins, some would dare to die, spins on only one thing, succeed, the BIBLE, the Good Book, the heart of God, the heart of his universe, the wonderful love of God, then the judgement, Thursday Blessings, ultimate destination, unconditional LOVE, ungrateful sinners, while we were yet sinners, whosoever believeth on Jesus, why hast thou forsaken me, without strength, wooden cross
Romans 5:8. But God commendeth his (demonstrates his own) LOVE towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Ah mih people, the ole fella doesn’t have a jump out at you, in your face intro for this morning! (smile) Neither does he have anything explosive to talk about today. His soul is still and peaceful, filled with the wonderful LOVE of God! So I guess that’s what we’ll talk about then…the wonderful LOVE OF GOD! (smile)
And I guess there’s nothing better to talk about in these evil and trying times than God’s amazing, awesome and unconditional LOVE for His sinful creation. Sorry Lord, you did not create anything sinful, you created mankind very holy like yourself, it’s just that the creation turned sinful when it came into contact with Beelzebub, so we can’t blame you for that.
But you were so enamoured of that creation that even though it turned against you, you couldn’t leave it to die and suffer eternal hellfire and damnation on account of it’s unholy and sinful exploits. Bless Your holy name our heavenly Father! But what’s truly amazing and incomprehensible about God’s LOVE, are the unbelievable facts noted in these immortal words of Bruh Paul to the church at Rome.
‘For when we were yet without strength, in due time (at the right time) Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure (perhaps) for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his (demonstrates his own) LOVE towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom.5:6-8)
How can you beat that show of LOVE eh friends? NO WAY! Can you imagine the size God’s heart had to be to be able to do that overreaching deed? To put the sins of the whole world on the shoulders of His wonderful Son; to commit such a heartbreaking deed to forsake His only Son!
Can you imagine the state of the Father’s heart when His Son, hanging helplessly from that wooden cross, all bruised and battered, cried out in anguish: ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Matt.27:46b) It’s the only time that Jesus ever really cried out to the Father in true despair, because it’s the ONLY time that the Father had ever turned away from Him!
My fellow believers, I don’t think our puny and finite minds can really comprehend it nuh! That’s why we don’t appreciate and don’t pay as much attention to it like we should. It must be a godlike thing to sacrifice one’s sinless Son to pay for the debts of ungrateful sinners! But He did it!
And wonder of wonders too many of His creation are not thankful or grateful for it, because they blaspheme His holy name and totally reject His salvation through His free offer of grace. And the sad part is that all it takes to receive eternal life is to believe in and on His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
And Jesus proclaimed this fact so strenuously Himself: ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 3:16) But unfortunately, a large portion of God’s creation prefers to believe on the fallen angel Lucifer; his satanic majesty, the embodiment of all evil and sin!
How sad my brethren! We take the Lord’s words for a joke when He says that those who believe on His Son will have everlasting life, while those who reject Him will be cast out into hell fire and eternal damnation! It’s amazing how foolish we can be, believing the parts of the Good Book that serve our purposes and not believing the rest!
Friends, I’m here to tell you that the Good Book is ALL TRUTH! So you either believe ALL of it, or NONE of it! You can’t be like so many of us, just sitting on the fence hoping that our number will play sometime and we can fall either which way the wind blows. Friends, our number’s been played already!
Two thousand years ago Jesus died to pay for our sins! Nothing else is needed! And furthermore, the Lord wrote the Bible for us, as a guidebook for our earthly lives, not for His benefit. He knows it all already! So those of us who choose to ignore Him, His Word, His Son and His Holy Spirit are playing a real dangerous game with the ultimate destination of their eternal souls.
For as the Good Book so rightly proclaims: ‘And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement.’ (Heb.9:27) Yes friends, mankind dies once, please note that, ONLY ONCE, and after that he will be judged by God Almighty! And even more importantly, if you don’t make your peace here on earth before you die with Jesus, then all bets are off, unfortunately crapaud smoke yuh pipe, then it’s TOO LATE!
So please, please, I implore us to be wise and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour RIGHT NOW nuh, because you never know when you’ll be called home, it can happen at anytime. And even if you don’t want to believe, then be wise and hedge your bets nuh; accept Him just in case it’s all true. And if it happens that it isn’t, then you haven’t lost anything.
However, if it all turns out to be true, then you’d have won and be on the inside looking in! Glory to God!
Now for those of us who truly believe, let’s go home declaring (steups – wrong again- going to have to stop using it yes (smile)) our Thursday Blessings, wonderful benefits that our great, merciful, forgiving, generous and ever-LOVING God has magnanimously bestowed on us.
In strong voice and full belief 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!’
Now don’t forget that those wonderful blessings weren’t given to us to hoard, but to share with the less fortunate of this sorry world, so please let’s go out and do the now nuh! Much LOVE!
…the heart of God…and thus the heart of His universe…spins on one and only ONE thing…LOVE…
14 Mar 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a positive outlook on life, abundant life, accept Jesus, achieving success, be of good cheer, believeth on him that sent me, condemn the world, condemnation, curse, equality, evil, evil cronies, fighting us tooth and nail, grees, guide us safely, hath everlasting life, he that heareth my word, horrors of sin, I can do all things, i have overcome the world, I say unto you, idle promises, if God be for us, inspirational author, Jesus Christ, Jesus is the only way, judgement, just as you are, justice, life after death, LOVE, lust for power, negative word, no man comes to the Father, nobody, Orison Swett Marden, our Lord and Saviour, passed from death to life, positive philosophy, prosper, rain, reign forever, reject Jesus, Satan, save the world, sees success, selfishness, share the blessings, success, Success magazine, the heavenly Triune, the hopeful man, the Life, the Truth, the Way, this is the day the Lord has made, through Christ who strengthens me, Thursday's Blessings, tribulation in the world, trying times, two options, ungodly world, verily, warm the cockles of Jesus' heart, we will be glad and rejoice in it, where others see failure, who can be against us, ye might have peace
John 5:24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (judgement); but is passed from death into life.
It’s a grey, cloudy looking kind of day in my neighbourhood, with the promise of unwanted precipitation, though thankfully the precipitation will most likely be rain and not snow since the temperature is above freezing. Not much, but enough to bring rain and not the white stuff.
However, despite all of those physical, negative possibilities, the saints of Jesus are nonetheless declaring (steups! wrong again) that ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ And moreover, ‘The Lord will provide all our needs through His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!’
And they boost their spirits even more with words like ‘I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me! And as for me and my house, we WILL follow the Lord, make no mistake about it!’ That means, ‘If God be for me who can be against me eh? NOBODY!’ Yeh friends, that’s one of the remarkable things of being a follower of Jesus Christ; we can boost our spirits with spoken words, promises that He’s declared over our lives! No other faith can do that!
And that brings us to these inspirational words attributed to Orison Swett Marden (1848-1924), ‘an American inspirational author who wrote about achieving success in life and founded Success Magazine in 1897.’ Marden claims: ‘The hopeful man sees success where others see failure, sunshine where others see shadows and storm.’
He’s talking about us there friends, believers in the positive philosophy and promises of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! All thanks and praise be to our Lord and Saviour for the wonderful and abundant life that He died to give us! We now need to hold on to His promises, and His hand tightly and let Him guide us safely and positively through these trying times in this evil and ungodly world! That’s the only way we will ever be successful my people!
Jesus warned early on: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (judgement); but is passed from death into life.’ Yes friends, Jesus is the ONLY WAY to achieve life after death! When we believe in Him and the Father who sent Him then our bodies will die, but our spirits wont. They shall reign forever with the heavenly Triune!
And Jesus confirms it all by saying: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.’ (John 14:6) And we know He does not lie! So it only makes mucho sense to hitch our carts to His superior horse! And if you want even more encouragement, then check out these fabulous, though hard to put into action words of Jesus. ‘These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)
Aren’t those wonderful words friends…and words of truth too? They certainly are! Jesus did His part, but now we have to do ours, by using our faith in Him to stand strong and steadfast when Satan and his evil cronies are fighting us tooth and nail for world control. We are the only ones who are fighting on the basis of LOVE, justice and equality, the rest are all infused with greed, lust for power and selfishness!
And from where do we get that fighting spirit for the good things? From possibly the most important words in the Good Book; Jesus’ immortal declaration: ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17)
There you have it in black and white my fellow believers; Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth…to save us, from ourselves and from the horrors of sin! So the ongoing logic and reasoning are very simple: If you want to be saved and live an everlasting life, then you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. If you don’t want to live and see life eternal, but prefer to be on the outside looking in with the evil one, then you simply continue in your evil ways and don’t accept Jesus.
Those are the only two options we have my brethren! And believe me, the last option might look good and pleasurable in the here and now, but in the hereafter it will be terrible! The Lord promised it, and we know He doesn’t make idle promises! So please, I implore us to take the first option; wisdom dictates it. It might be somewhat difficult now, but the rewards you’ll reap later will be oh so worth that difficulty!
Now for those of us who truly believe, let’s go home declaring (wrong again) our Thursday Blessings, which the Lord have poured down on us in His awesome generosity. All together now, in sincere and strong voice: ‘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!’
Yuh see what happens when you live for Jesus! But a word of caution here; those blessings are not for us to hoard but to share with the less fortunate in our unjust society. So let’s go out and do just that nuh, and thus warm the cockles of Jesus’ heart! Much LOVE!
…Jesus is the ONLY ONE…who will take you just as you are…and make you what He wants you to be…
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