17 Apr 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fool's wisdom, a global madhouse, a high priest, a lot of leeway, a serious breakthrough, and their children for ever, appearance, as a joke, be devoured by the sword, be willing and obedient, being made perfect, compassion, confident, confusion, constant boredom, contrite, Covid-19, Covid-19 Friday Chant, death on the cross, deceptions of the enemy, disobedience, disobedient, eat the good of the land, embrace your love, faithful believers, found in fashion, get deh act together, grating on people's nerves, havoc, he learned obdience, hope and pray, humble, it might be well with them, keep all my commandments, lies, magnified him, money and food problems, nothing's been changing, nothing's ben happening, obedience, obedient, obedient uto death, oninous declarations, overrule the Creator, pandemic, rebel, rebelled against God, refuse, Satan's story, sincere, stark raving mad, the author of eternal salvation, the heart of the matter, the highest name, the order of Melchizedek, the raging fires of hell, the things he suffered, the workingman's song, there were such a heart, they would fear me, though he were a Son, too much free time, wise guidance
Deuteronomy 5:29. O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever.
And then it was Friday – late on Friday! Due to certain circumstances beyond my control I could not get an earlier start. And yes mih young daughter, you contributed to it, so please don’t tell me that I’m always making excuses for the lateness of the Bit. (smile) Anyway, the ordinary workingman is bugging me to sing his song, so let’s hear what he has to say this week nuh.
‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui! But to what avail really eh, since I haven’t been working for so long now. Steups! Don’t even remember what the work was all about! And since nothing’s been happening, nothing’s been changing – everyday is like the one before. That means the weekend is no longer that important. I don’t have a break from the slave master work…
Chuh! What I blooming-well need is a break from this constant boredom of doing nothing! Too much free time on mih hands! Don’t know how much longer I can handle it without going crazy nuh! This Covid-19 thing grating on people’s nerves now, and if it continue much longer, going to cause even more mad people in the world than we had before it began! And after all this time, all they still telling we is how much people still catching it and how many still dying from it! And the sad part is that everybody telling yuh something different, so yuh doh really know what to believe!
Brother! Ah wish they could get deh act together yes! But leh we hope and pray that they soon find a cure yes, a vaccine or something to stop it spreading, so people could go back out to work and play, else the world might just implode on itself and cause even more problems. Right now ah simply thanking the Lord for getting me through each and everyday without going stark raving mad!’
And that’s quite true friends, if something solid isn’t found soon, we might just have a global madhouse to contend with, because people are going stir crazy, and we already having a hard time keeping them from gathering and practicing social distancing. But as the workingman quite wisely said, we need to hope and pray that we have a serious breakthrough soon, because things are getting a tad controversial, with money and food problems, as well as some people wanting things to open up and others wanting them to stay closed.
So let’s get to the heart of the matter and do the first and most important thing in situations like these nuh, that is pray. And I’m chuckling here when I think that we now have special Covid-19 prayers for Mondays and Fridays. Hn! What next eh? So as one sincere, humble and contrite but confident group, lets call on our heavenly Father for help by declaring (ah ha!) our Covid-19 Friday Chant.
In strong voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. It’s been pretty rough…though not from work, but from all the confusion and havoc that the Covid -19 virus causing. We not accustomed to that Lord, and it really telling on us. But with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat this virus. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the sure and wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible.
And please use this situation to also bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, and also introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion because of the way we, your faithful believers, handle the situation. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic as a means of restoring faith in You and Your Word, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And now that we’ve prayed; done the first and most important thing, let’s do the second with as much confidence nuh; obey the rules and regulations set up to help stop the spread of the deadly virus! Now yuh know what’s got us into this dreadful situation in the first place is lack of obedience – lack of obedience to God’s Word! From the very beginning man was disobedient – Adam and Eve did not listen to God and thus suffered expulsion from the Garden of Eden and a rough life of sin and sorrow and hard work, that’s been with us ever since.
The Israelites promised to be obedient to God, but how many times did they turn away from Him to worship idols and other non-gods eh? Several times. But when the heifer dust hit the fan, they quickly repented and came back rejoicing! The Lord even grieved and felt despair for them: ‘O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever.’ (Deut. 5:29) And so it has been on down through the ages – insolent disobedience to God by man. Until it’s our turn now.
And we’re so bold-faced and have gotten so big for our britches that we are endeavouring to kick God completely out of society forever. Hn! What a joke, what ‘uppitiness’ on our part, to want to kick the Creator and Controller of the universe out of His creation! Don’t we remember Satan, Lucifer’s story? He was an Archangel, but wanted to be God and rebelled against the Almighty! And where is he now eh? In the raging fires of hell with all the foolish angels who sided with him.
And friends, our current problem is nothing more than a test to see if we have our heads screwed on right, and are wise enough to pick sense from nonsense, and to stop believing the lies and deceptions of the enemy, and also our own press, but to turn back to the ONLY ONE who can save us in this time of great need, the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of this universe and all therein! Isaiah also said it a long time ago: ‘If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured by the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.’ (Is.1:19-20)
I don’t know why we seem to take the Lord’s ominous declarations as a joke nuh, since there are numerous occasions in His Word where they have been manifested. Oh friends, obedience is the number ONE thing in God’s playbook! You can’t claim to believe and be disobedient! Listen to this telling scripture: ‘And (Jesus) being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil. 2:8)
Yes my brethren, even Jesus as a man, was obedient to His heavenly Father. He said it over and over that He only did what the Father told Him to do. And yuh see how the Father magnified Him by giving Him the highest name and having everyone bow to Him!
And hear this last scripture: ‘Though he (Jesus) were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered: And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that OBEY him. Called of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.’ (Heb. 5:8-10) That is obedience at the highest level. And He was again rewarded for His obedience!
So if Jesus was obedient when He was God in man’s form, who are we to do otherwise eh? We’re foolishly following Satan and attempting to let the created rule the Creator. Friends, though the Lord might give us a lot of leeway, that will NEVER happen in the His universe! Much LOVE!
…to think that the created can overrule the Creator…that’s a fool’s wisdom…
02 May 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future, Adam, advanced civilization, adversity, all voices cry Lord, asap, be ye holy, blessed, boost his ego, by one man's disobedience, by the obedience of one, celebration for mMay, conforming to former lusts, dance the maypole, devoured with the sword, disobedience, drowning in, eat the good of the land, eternal life, example of obedience, found in appearance, Garden of Gethsemane, God is awesome, gospel truth, grace, greed, halfway home, hodgepodge, hope to the end, humbled himself, I am holy, Israelites, keep his word, looking straight ahead, many shall be made righteous, many were made sinners, Matt Chandler, midway point, mire, my hands are on the plough, not my will, obedience, obedient, obedient children, obedient unto death, pestilence, poor relationships, poverty, prepare your mind for action, quicksand, rebel, refuse, salvation, sickness, sin flooded the world, sky high, smarten up, sober, suffering, the bondage of sin, the breath of life, the cross at Calvary, the death of Jesus, the fat of rams, the Garden of Eden, the highest position, the mouth of the Lord, the revelation of Jesus, to hearken, to obey is better than sacrifice, to whom all knees will bow, too macho, total obedience, trials, Village chruch, Wednesday Wail, willing
Isaiah 1:19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.
And then it was Wednesday; the midway point of the work week… And we’re getting a li’l bit earlier everyday with the Bit. (smile) Hope within the next few days we’ll be back to an early morning Bit. And when are we going to dance the Maypole eh people? Wonder if some of the young people even know what that is.
It’s a celebration for the month of May. You have a tall decorated flagpole with long ribbon streamers attached at the top, and then everybody takes a ribbon and dances around it to form an intricate pattern all the way down the pole. I remember going to May fairs as a boy in High School, but usually thinking myself too macho to dance the maypole. That was something for girls.
Now here is a li’l something from Matt Chandler, lead Pastor of the Village Church, a Southern Baptist Church in Texas. He tells us that ‘God is awesome. He doesn’t need us to be awesome. He needs us to be obedient.’ And isn’t that the gospel truth friends?
All our magnanimous and magnificent God really wants from us is obedience to His law. If we’d only practice greater obedience, we’d be surprised at how blessed we’d truly be. But we insist on choosing our own areas of obedience. However my brethren, our God wants total obedience from His people. Not some obedience here, and some obedience there, like a hodgepodge of obedience and disobedience.
And friends, the Lord made His intentions clear a long time ago to the Israelites through the prophet Isaiah in our Bit. ‘If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.’ That’s fairly simple and straightforward eh my fellow believers.
And the corollary to that is the next verse: ‘But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.’ (Is.1:20) And it’s not like the Israelites, who were found to be disobedient several times did not suffer by the sword and all kinds of pestilence.
I don’t know why we think that the Lord isn’t going to keep His word. He kept it with the Israelites and He’s going to keep it with us too, as our disobedience level is riding sky high. Can’t we see all the unusual things that are happening in our society? And even though we’re the most advanced civilization ever, we’re still flailing along in a mire of poverty, sickness, greed and poor relationships.
A lot of our trouble stems from our disobedience. The Lord is not going to allow us to continue the way we’re currently going forever, so we need to smarten up as soon as possible, if we want to get out of the quicksand that we’re slowly drowning in.
Now let’s look at some important scriptures that tell us about obedience. And we’ll begin at the beginning, with the words of Bruh Paul to the Roman church. ‘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, by Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, sin flooded the world, likewise by the sacrificial death of Jesus, on the cross at Calvary, grace, salvation, and eternal life were provided by our Lord to overcome the bondage of sin.
And more words from Bruh Paul, this time to the Philippian church, pertaining to Jesus. ‘And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil.2:9)
Oh my people, there’s no better example of obedience than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Though He was God Himself, once He took the form of man, He didn’t try to boost His ego or importance here on earth, but gave total obedience to His heavenly father. Even when He tried to get out of going to the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane, He finally gave in and said, ‘not my will, but thine,’ acknowledging the Father’s supremacy.
As Hebrews tells us: ‘Though he (Jesus) were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author of salvation unto all them that obey him.’ (Heb.5:8-10) Yeh people, Jesus learned obedience just like all of us do, through suffering, through adversity and trials. That’s the only way to learn it. And that’s why the Father elevated him to the highest position there is; the one to whom all knees will bow, and all voices will cry Lord to the glory of the Father.
Now listen to this last scripture from Peter in his call to Christian dedication. ‘Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind (prepare your mind for action), be sober, and hope to the end for the grace (rest your hope fully upon the grace) that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
As obedient children, not fashioning (conforming) yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (conduct). Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.’’ (1 Pet.2:13-16)
I can’t say anything more friends, except to lead us in our declaration of our Wednesday Wail, which tells the world our strong and obedient position in Christ.
As one now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this 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 can’t even imagine how glorious that future will be, because our minds are too small and finite! Much LOVE!
…to obey is better than sacrifice…and to hearken than the fat of rams… (1 Sam.15:22b)
01 Feb 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a beautiful place, a brand new day, a compassionate heart, a dime a dozen, a low ebb, advances in technology, amenities, an ugly place, as white as snow, Ash Wednesday, Auld Lang Syne, bask in the sunshine, be as scarlet, began from scratch, blessings, blood guiltiness, bounden duty, building, called according to His purpose, Carnival, children, close harmony, come now, communicate with Him, crying out, curse, destroying, destruction, devoured by the sword, dissension, disunity, everlasting goodness, evil world, evildoers, faith, favour, forgive, future generations, gives the world hope, God's invitation, goodies, hate, health, heavenly Father, hope, in good faith, Isaiah, left overs, let us reason together, LOVE, Love the Lord, made specially for today, magnificent and magnanimous God, negative word, new mercies, New Year's resolution, one thing, personal relations, positive outlook, prosper, ready to cleanse, reasoning together, rebel, red like crimson, refuse, repentance, repenting, see a better world, shall be as wool, share our blessings, sins, standard of life, strife, strong conviction, succeed, talking to each other, the future, the good of the land, the mouth of the Lord, those who love him, Thursday's Blessings, turning to god, turns the world, Valentine's day, walking closer with Christ, war, willy-nilly, wisdom, worm
Isaiah 1:18. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Welcome, welcome, one and all to a brand new day in God’s great universe! And it’s not only a new day, but also one filled with new mercies and blessings from our heavenly Father, stuff he made specially for today.
He threw out all the left overs from yesterday and began from scratch this morning, so those who LOVE Him and are called according to His purpose can bask in the sunshine of His everlasting goodness.
Wow! What a magnificent and magnanimous Deity we serve and worship my brethren! But remember YOU have to communicate with HIM, to get those goodies! He doesn’t just hand them out willy-nilly. (smile)
And would you also believe that today is the 1st of February? Brother! We were just singing Auld Lang Syne a few days ago, welcoming the New Year, now we’re already hot into the bacchanalian bash called Carnival, with Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day falling the same time in two weeks. Is the year flying by or what?
Let’s hope that we all are keeping our New Year’s resolution, that of walking ever closer with Christ this year, strong and in good order, because that’s the only way we will be successful in this crazy, troubled, war-like, evil world.
And you know friends, the ‘One thing that turns the world from an ugly place to a beautiful place is LOVE. LOVE gives the world hope!’ And is that ever so true my people. Without LOVE permeating our hearts and souls, we simply have no hope, since hate is all about destroying, but LOVE is about building; building together in close harmony.
But sadly, if we look around our world right now, there is very little, if any building, everywhere is simply destruction, both manmade and natural. How does that augur for the future of our planet eh? It’s not very encouraging. If we keep on destroying everything in our path, the future generations will be left with nothing.
Is that what we want for our children, and our children’s children? Even the evildoers will answer no to that question, but none of us are doing anything substantial to stop if from coming to pass. That’s why we’re crying out now, in our Bit, like the prophet Isaiah did on the Lord’s behalf, many centuries ago to the Israelites.
‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’
Yeh friends, it’s all about mankind sitting down and reasoning together if we want to see a better world. And the two verses after our Bit clearly spell out the consequences of not doing so. ‘If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured by the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.’ (Is.1:19-20)
Oh my people, we don’t have to wait for the Lord to tell us that. It’s written ever so plainly in our behaviour, where there’s so much dissension and disunity, even amongst family, much less between countries. Consequently, strife is all-pervasive, and wars are a dime a dozen. It’s easier to pick out where there is no strife than where there is strife, because there are so much fewer of the former. That’s to tell you how bad it is.
But turning back to our Bit. Let’s get some explanations from the scholars. ‘1:18-20. The prophet’s appeal to come and reason together reveals God’s gracious invitation to all men. It literally means to be “reasonable” by repenting and turning to God. Their sin is described as scarlet and red like crimson, referring to their blood guiltiness before God.
The term ‘crimson’ also means “worm,” referring to the colourfast red dye of the scarlet worm. The eradication of this stain turns it snowy white and is symbolic of the life-changing grace of God, which delivers men from guilt and condemnation of sin. Thus the prophet reminds his readers that God stands ready to cleanse and forgive all who will turn to Him.’
Oh mih breddren, from way back then, our wonderful God was prepared to forgive sins to those who turned in repentance to Him, and today He is still in the forgiving business. All we have to do is turn to Him in true repentance. Are we willing to do that so our world and our children can enjoy a better standard of life in the future?
I do hope so, because with all the amenities and advances in technology we now have, the most important aspect of our society, personal relations between humans is at a low ebb, and until we fix that, nothing else will make life any better.
Now, for those of us who choose to LOVE the Lord and obey Him, let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings. In full voice and strong conviction: ‘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 do our bounden duty; share those blessings with others, as Jesus desires. Much LOVE!
…only by talking to each other…in good faith…will our world ever improve…
17 May 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future with Jesus, all-pervasive God, assurance, be as wool, bright sunshine, calamity, Christ's Church, Christian doings, cleanse me, clenched fist, colourful abundance, condemnation, contradiction, courteous words, disaster, disobedience, escape, forgiving, generous approaches, get rid of God, glad to be alive, God's gracious invitation, God's Searchlight, grace shattered, guilt, hypocrisy, I'm not turning back, individual decision, let us reason together, light of revelation, LOVE, loving, masked motive, my hands are on the plough, obedient, One Year Book of Bible promises, out in full force, penetrating gaze, penitent heart, purify me, race of life, rebel, rebellion, red like crimson, refuse, remorse, repent, run and hide, Ruth Harms Calkin, selfish act, spring blossoms, strife, the beauty of nature, the breath of life, the Holy Spirit, the wonders of Jesus, war, Wednesday Wail, white as snow, wicked ways, willing, wisdom, your sins be as scarlet
Isaiah 1:18. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Well a fine Wednesday morning to you and yours my Scrip-Bit friends and family! Today has begun in brilliant fashion; bright sunshine, birds singing sweetly as they go about God’s work, and the new spring blossoms are also out in colourful abundance!
Wow! What a day it is when both the Sun and the SON are out in full force! There’s nothing to beat it! So please, let’s grab a hold of the beauty of nature and the wonders of Jesus and run with them nuh, run this glorious race of life in which we’re entered!
Now I’m going to spoil the mood some, (smile) by sharing this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. When I read it recently, I couldn’t help but think how appropriate it is to so many of us believers. It’s titled ‘God ‘s Searchlight.’
Please pray with me. ‘O God If suddenly You were to reveal To my family, my friends, my neighbours Every real thought behind my courteous words If you were to point to my clenched fist While my other hand is openly extended
If you were to bring to light Every masked motive, every selfish act I would cringe with remorse And beg You to remove Your light of revelation. Yet, Lord, when the searchlight of the Holy Spirit Begins to reveal me to myself I so often close my eyes and turn my back In a frantic but impossible effort To escape Your penetrating gaze.
What a staggering contradiction, Lord What appalling hypocrisy. Apart from Your grace I am utterly shattered. I ask You to sweep through me Purify me, cleanse me completely. From the depth of my penitent heart I thank You for Your continual assurance
As I turn toward Your splintered cross: Because of Your LOVE I became Your child Because of Your grace I remain Your child.’
Ah friends, how genuinely that reflects so many of us a lot of the time! Our smiles and generous approaches aren’t always what they seem to be, neither are our outward motives.
And when the Lord deals with us on the matter, we try to run and hide. But remember, we can run, but we can NEVER hide from our all-pervasive God.
Yeh mih people, there is way too much hypocrisy in our Christian doings today. That’s one of the reasons why Christ’s church is having so many problems reaching and retaining members.
But our God is so wonderful, forgiving and LOVING, that this is what He says in answer to our cry. ‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’
Yes friends, that’s the Bible Promise for our ‘God’s Searchlight’ poem, as well as our Bit for today. How reassuring it is eh. It doesn’t condemn us, but offers us a chance to repent and change from our wicked ways.
And listen to how the Lord continues through Isaiah. ‘If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.’ (Is.1:19-20)
Simple and straight forward words of our God! You repent and become obedient, you prosper; you refuse and rebel, you suffer calamity.
And the sad part is that these are times of much rebellion and refusal to accept and be obedient to Almighty God! Instead of drawing closer to Him, we’re trying our very best to get rid of Him from our society.
Hn! No wonder there is so much calamity and disaster, so much war and strife in our world! Everybody seems to be up in arms against his or her fellow man. Now could that be because of our disobedience and rebellion?
You can bet your bottom dollar some of it is! God is trying to get our attention, but we’re too busy doing our own thing and going our own way to notice. However, listen to this explanation from the scholars re the verses above.
‘1:18-20. The prophet’s appeal to come and reason together reveals God’s gracious invitation to all men. It literally means to be “reasonable” by repenting and turning to God. Their sin is described as scarlet and red like crimson, referring to their bloodguiltiness before God.
The term ‘crimson’ also means “worm,” referring to the colourfast red dye of the scarlet worm. The eradication of this stain turns it snowy white and is symbolic of the life-changing grace of God, which delivers men from guilt and condemnation of sin. Thus the prophet reminds his readers that God stands ready to cleanse and forgive all who will turn to Him.’
Oh friends, I am also trying to remind us of God’s grace and mercy to all who will come to Him in repentance and obedience! But all I can do is put it before us, everyone has to make the decision individually whether to accept or reject it. I implore us though, to please accept it, because that is eternal wisdom.
Now for all of us who have accepted Jesus, let’s go home declaring with joy and contentment our Wednesday Wail. In unison now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this 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!’
Oh doesn’t that just work wonders in our souls, my believing brethren! It certainly ought to. Much LOVE!
…only as one is surrounded by and ensconced in God’s LOVE…can one feel safe and secure…
30 Apr 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a pardon receives, atonement for our sins, bacteria, benefits, bitter waters, bless the Lord oh my soul, bondage, borne our griefs, breath of life, by his stripes, chastisement, Christian lives, commandments, confidence, diseases, Easter, Egypt, exodus, Fanny Crosby, forget not his benefits, give ear, give him the glory, God's will, grateful people, gratitude, great things he hath done, hearken to God's voice, iniquities, Israelites, Jesus the Son, let the earth hear his voice, Marah, medical science, Moses, pains, Pharaoh, plagues, Praise the Lord, rebel, redemption, renewal, resurrection, right in his sight, sacrifice of praise, sacrificial offering, saints in Christ, sicknesses, sincerity, sins, smitten, sorrows, statutes, stricken, suffering servant, sweeten the waters, the Great healer, the Great Physician, the life-gate, the people rejoice, the promise of God, the purchase of blood, the suffering of Jesus, the vilest offender, To God be the glory, trust, weather forecasters, who healeth all thy diseases
Psalm 103:2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
Aye friends, it’s a wet morning, as promised by the weather forecasters, so please get your hats, brollies and raincoats out for your trip to church today.
And to open our section on praise and worship, we couldn’t do any better than this old Fanny Crosby hymn; ‘To God be the Glory.’ So let’s belt it out with sure confidence and trust, offering up the sacrifice of praise to heaven with our earthly voices.
‘To God be the glory, great things He hath done, So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life our redemption to win, And opened the life-gate that all may go in.
(Refrain: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice; Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice; Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory; great things He hath done.)
Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, To every believer the promise of God; The vilest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus a pardon receives. (Refrain)
Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done, And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son; But purer, and higher, and greater will be Our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see.
(Refrain: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice; Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice; Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory; great things He hath done.’
Oh my beautiful saints in Christ, our great God has certainly done great things, both in our individual lives and in the world! None greater though than the sacrificial offering of His sinless Son, Jesus Christ for the atonement of our abominable sins!
Consequently, as grateful people, we ought to praise and thank Him with the very deepest of gratitude and sincerity, each and every moment that we breathe His wonderful and enabling breath of life!
That’s why our Bit is ever so applicable, especially at this Easter Season of renewal and resurrection. ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.’
Now, if we are true believers, then I don’t see how we could ever do that. But unfortunately, there are many, Christians included, who do it. But I won’t get on that horse today, (smile) I’ll just continue to point out scripture that validate our Bit and the benefits proclaimed by Bruh David.
And today we’ll look at the second part of verse 3: ‘who healeth all thy diseases.’ Now isn’t that something else! For our God is known as the Great Physician, the Great Healer! And that, He has certainly proven numerous times down during the ages.
And if you don’t believe me, listen to Moses at the bitter waters of Marah, where the Israelites on their exodus from Egypt, threatened to rebel, until the Lord caused Moses to sweeten the waters.
Then Moses made this rule for the people to test them. ‘If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.’ (Ex.15:26).
Yeh mih people, remember the many plagues that the Lord brought down on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let them go out of his bondage? Well the Lord promised then, and that promise still stands to this day, that if we are obedient to His will and law, that we won’t be plagued by sickness.
But have you noticed that recently, despite our great advancements in medical science, that we are seeing the comeback of certain diseases that we thought we’d already conquered?
And that there is also a big scare that the current strains of bacteria in our society are getting so powerful that our medicines can no longer kill them?
I wonder why that is eh my people? Can it have something to do with our not following God’s will and law? Selah. Yeh friends, think on that for a moment or two nuh.
And we’ll close today with these immortal verses form Isaiah, re the suffering servant, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ‘Surely he hath borne our griefs (sicknesses), and carried our sorrows (pains): yet we did esteem (reckon) him stricken, smitten of (struck down by) God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded (pierced through) for our transgressions, he was bruised (crushed) for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes (terrible blows that cut into him) we are healed.’ (Is.53:4-5)
Yeh mih breddren, plenty of us like to rhyme of that last verse without much thought of its true meaning, but today let’s sit down and ponder what it truly means nuh. Let’s consider its real purpose in our Christian lives, and how it is especially important in this Easter Season. Much LOVE!
…ALL healing comes from Almighty God…our Maker and Healer…through the suffering of Jesus…
04 Jun 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a ploy, Abraham Isaac and Jacob, Anselm, anxious, aspires to inspire, being right, being wrong, bend over backwards, brain power, bring forth, came to my rescue, confidence, decision making, decisions, delight, dependent, dethrone, empty, every aspect of our lives, evil minions, failure, fall into the trap, fearing to be wrong, foolish society, free gift of mercy, good foundations, gospel truth, higher than the earth, holy, humble, idols, important input, in vain, incomprehensible, integral parts, lack of confidence, leave God for last, lose in the end, Lucifer, maturity, maturity in Christ, mercy, minor things, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways, never giving up, no where else to turn, omni-present, omnipotent, omniscient, over thinking, perspective, ponder, put God first, rebel, rebelling, return to Him void, right hand man, righteous, salvation, sinful, small matters, smell the roses, starting over, the Creator of the universe, the heavens, the one and only true living God, the truth of the matter, threat, unrighteous, void
Isaiah 55:8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
Oh friends, it’s one of those rare days when the ole fella doesn’t know what to say! Imagine that nuh! (smile) And strangely enough, I think it mostly happens to me on Saturdays. I guess it’s a ploy of our God to keep me humble and dependent on Him. But there’s no real threat of me being otherwise because I can’t do what I do without His tremendously important input.
So since I don’t have anything sensible and concrete to say, then I’ll just use the words of someone else who has, namely our friend Anselm, who consistently aspires to inspire us. And that’s the Lord’s doing too, in case you didn’t notice. (smile) He came to my rescue quite quickly today.
And what does our friend Anselm has to offer us today eh? First of all he advises us to: ‘Realize that failure or being wrong will not kill you. Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.’
Now there is much truth in those statements friends, though our selfish and foolish society might choose to differ. Failing and being wrong are integral parts of life. All of us endure them at some time or other, and it’s through failure, that we build confidence, by starting over again, by never giving up.
And as Anselm says, confident people know that they will not be always right, but they’re not afraid to be wrong. And that’s something we believers ought to seriously and sincerely work towards, because it brings us maturity in Christ.
And the second quote from Anselm declares: ‘Put things into a wider perspective. It is very easy to fall into the trap of over thinking minor things in life. So when you are thinking and thinking about something ask yourself: Will this matter in 5 years? Or even in 5 weeks?’
Oh friends, that’s gospel truth, for many of us fall into that trap of over thinking the small things in our lives. And a lot of that comes from our lack of confidence; confidence to make reasonably quick decisions with good foundations, especially on small matters. Too many of us ponder and ponder and become anxious about our decision making.
But fellow believers, if we’d start out with the right decision; that of taking it all to God before doing anything else, our anxiety and lack of confidence would not be a problem. But too often friends, we leave God for last.
What’s that popular saying? After exhausting all the man-made solutions we foolishly declare: ‘Well I guess I have no where else to turn but to God now.’ And we expect God to be happy with us and bend over backward to help us.
Steups! Not so at all my brethren. Our God takes delight when we put Him FIRST in EVERY aspect of our lives, not look upon Him as a last resort.
That brings us to our Bit. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.’
And that’s truth we cannot dispute my brethren! The Lord’s thoughts and ways are holy and righteous, while ours, because of our fall from grace, are basically sinful and unrighteous.
And He goes on to further explain. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Is.55:9) And so it should be, if He is indeed the Creator of the universe and all therein!
Now why would we want to bow down to and worship a Deity that has less brain power than us eh? But foolishly we do it when we worship dead and inanimate idols. We have higher thoughts and ways than them, so why worship them eh?
Because we listen to Lucifer and his evil minions and refuse to acknowledge the might and power of the ONE and ONLY true and living God; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And yuh know what my people, nobody knows the truth of the matter better than Lucifer, since once upon a time He was Jehovah’s right hand man, until he foolishly chose to rebel, just like so many of us are choosing to do today. But friends, there’s no sense in rebelling against our Creator and Provider, we’ll lose in the end, because He’s the most powerful Being in the universe.
Listen to Him again. ‘For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void (empty), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.’ (Is.55:10-11)
Yuh hear the confidence in that statement my fellow believers! Our God is not some little flunky trying to act big and tough like some of our earthly rulers. But He is the real McCoy!
Listen to the scholars. ‘55:8-13. God’s sovereignty and omniscience are extolled by the statement that His thoughts (i.e. purposes or intentions) and ways (derakim, or “directions”) are higher than ours. While God may certainly be known by men, He is still incomprehensible in the totality of His person and purposes.
Therefore, He reveals Himself to men by His word, which shall not return to Him void (in vain). The word of God, therefore, accomplishes His purpose in announcing salvation to all mankind.’
Yeh friends, that is the Word of our great God; powerful and mighty in its own right! It will do whatever He sends it do, and in this particular instance, the prophet Isaiah was talking about the coming of God’s salvation, a free offer of mercy to all. Glory Hallelujah!
And as promised, it came through the sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So please people, let’s wake up and smell the roses nuh, and embrace the most wonderful gift ever – that of salvation, with all of our hearts, souls, bodies and minds, because that is the very essence of wisdom! Much LOVE!
…who or what can dethrone a God who is…omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent…no one or nothing…
P.S. It’s a good thing I didn’t have anything to say! (smile)
26 Mar 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abundance, abyss of sin, all is well, allergies, as wool, ask for guidance, atonement for sins, be acceptable in thy sight, be reasonable, believers in Jesus, bloodguiltiness, Bruh David, caffeine, cleanse, come to God, condemnation of sin, confess our sins, confession, covenants of God, devoured by the sword, do what is right, dominion, dungeon of sin, eat of the good of the land, errors, eternal damnation, forgiveeternal life, friends, glorification of God, glory hallelujah, God's gracious invitation, good for the soul, gospel truth, guilt, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, hearsay, if we confess our sins, iniquity, innocent, Isaiah, Israel, keep a sharp eye, late morning, late nights, life-changing grace of God, living colour, living truth, LOVE, love is like wildflowers, Love makes the world go round, loving kindness, magnanimous god, mercies, money, money makes the world go round, most wonderful God, obedience, obediently, our Lord and Saviour, penitent heart, personal experience, pilgrim's journey, prayer, presumptuous sins, put God first, reason together, rebel, red dye, red like crimson, Redeemer, refuse, repent, repentance, riding with Jesus, running around in the rain., Sacrifical Lamb, scarlet, secret faults, selflessly, sin, sorrow, strife, surrender your life to God, the meditation of my heart, the mouth of the Lord, the words of my mouth, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, transgression, travelling companion, truth, turn to God, watchword, white as snow, willing, wonders
1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Ah Friends, it’s just one of those late nights that naturally morphed into a late morning. And running around in the rain yesterday didn’t help matters any, as my allergies are threatening to act up. (smile) But not to worry; the caffeine is hot, strong and sweet, and we’re riding along with Jesus, which means that all is well. Glory Hallelujah!
We couldn’t want, ask for, or find a better companion to journey with through this confused, troubled and sinful world. And the word for today is ‘LOVE!’
Oh my people, for serious believers in Jesus, LOVE should be our watchword each and every day, because that’s the quality that our Lord and Saviour put forth the most when He came to earth to be the sacrificial lamb for the atonement of our sins.
If He hadn’t LOVED us dearly and deeply, He would have remained resting on His laurels in heaven. But instead, He selflessly and obediently became man, became one of us, so that we could be released from the dark and dangerous abyss of sin in which we were then floundering.
Unfortunately though, too many of us are still floundering in that dark dungeon of sin. However, in keeping with our talk on LOVE, let me share a few words from my ‘p.s. I LOVE YOU’ poster, designed to bring out the LOVE in us. It says that, ‘LOVE is like wildflowers. It’s often found in the most unlikely places.’
And isn’t that the gospel truth Friends! LOVE, the real thing that is, often crops up in places we least expect to find it. So please, in our travels today, let’s be aware, let’s keep a sharp eye out for the LOVE we might find in those unusual places.
And though some say that it’s money which makes the world go round, I believe it’s LOVE! Just look at the numerous households and places where there’s plenty money, but also lot’s of strife and little or no LOVE.
Meanwhile, in so many other households and places, where there’s little or no money, but the absence of strife is very notable, and true LOVE abounds in abundance! (smile)
Oh Friends, our God is a most wonderful God, please believe that! But you won’t really experience Him in all His glory until you truly surrender yourself to His will and wise plan for your life. That’s when He shows up in bright and living colour!
In other words, God makes His move when we do as our Bit advises: ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
And that’s the living truth, my brethren! I wouldn’t lead you astray. I’m talking from personal experience, not hearsay. When you put God first in your life and sincerely and diligently work towards obedience and His glorification, you’ll see wonders that you never dreamed of, or even imagined possible!
Yes Friends, until we come to God like Bruh David did in Psalm 38 – The prayer of a penitent heart – and earnestly declare: ‘For I am ready to halt (fall), and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin.’ (Ps.38.17-18) We won’t fully experience the mercies and LOVING-kindness of our magnanimous God.
And He makes that abundantly clear from this passage in Isaiah, where he calls for repentance from His sinful people, Israel. ‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat of the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.’ (Is.1:18-20)
Oh my brethren, it couldn’t be put any clearer and simpler than that. And believe me, that provision still stands today. That’s one of the reasons why our world is in such a disastrous mess; we are refusing and rebelling against the Lord.
And the scholars give us some good information, re those verses. ‘1:18-20. The prophet’s appeal to come and reason together reveals God’s gracious invitation to all men. It literally means to be “reasonable” by repenting and turning to God.
Their sin is described as scarlet and red like crimson, referring to their bloodguiltiness before God. The term crimson also means “worm,” referring to the colourfast red dye of the scarlet worm.
The eradication of this stain turns it snowy white and is symbolic of the life-changing grace of God, which delivers men from the guilt and condemnation of sin. Thus the prophet reminds his readers that God stands ready to cleanse and forgive all who turn to Him.’
And Friends, today, I’m re-reminding us of all of that! So please pay serious attention, for it can mean the difference between eternal life and eternal damnation!
And we’ll end with these most appropriate words from Bruh David from Psalm 19 – The creation and covenants of God. ‘Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great (much) transgression.
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength (rock), and my redeemer.’ (Ps.19:12-14)
Yes Friends, that is what we need to do today, as we make our pilgrim’s journey through this wicked and deceitful world! Let’s confess our sins, then ask for guidance to do what is right in the sight of the Lord.
If we’re sincere in our requests and desires, then His mercy and LOVING-kindness will be showered down on us, for that’s the faithful kind of Deity He is! Much LOVE!
…confession is good for the soul…and repentance leads to eternal life…
21 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fighting chance, a foothold in our lives, a sheep in wolves' clothing, absolute truth, almighty god, anger, another week of labour, asaph, awesome words of wisdom, believers in Jesus Christ, bet your bottom dollar, but flesh, circumspect about our behaviour, compassion, Creator, cross at Calvary, destroyed them not, disobedience, earthly wealth, every hour, every minute, faith walk, fellowship, fleshly enjoyment, fleshly lusts, forgave their iniquity, forgiveness, frailties, free, Friday chant, fun, generous help, glorious kingdom, God of many chances, grieve him in the desert, hungering, in Jesus' name, infiltrate our souls, iniquity, Israel, Joshua, leaps and bounds, legacy, material things, meditate, mindset of our society, Moses, obeying the Word of God, of every day, prosperous, provoke, rebel, relaxation, remembered not his power, renewed and refeshed, renewed in body soul and mind, repent, return to worshipping Almighty God, rise from the ashes, rise from the mire, sacrificed His life, safe parameters, short memory, sin, sinfulness, sinless Son of God, tables have turned, technology, temptation, tempted God, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, thanks, the enemy, the enemy's lurking nearby, the evil one, the Good Book, the Holy One of Israel, the law, the Lord God of their fathers, thirsting, time to enjoy the weekend, turned away from God, turned his anger away, weaknesses, wine women and song, worthless things of the world, wrath
Psalm 78:38. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
Aloha Friends! Yuh know it’s Friday…? Apparently you do, because I can hear you round the corner singing loud and clear: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! Another week of labour done. And now is my time… my time to enjoy the weekend as I please… Free from massa slavery…!’
Now that’s quite true my brethren, but it’s also not the entire picture. Though we are indeed free to do whatever we so desire on the weekend, as believers in Jesus Christ, the holy and sinless Son of God, who selflessly sacrificed His life for us on the cross at Calvary, we have other things to consider besides fleshly enjoyment.
Things like not overdoing the party scene and allowing the evil one to get a foot hold in our lives, anymore than he already has. We need to control our fleshly lusts, be somewhat circumspect about our behaviour.
And it’s not only on the weekends that we need to be careful in our faith walk – the weekends just provide more freedom to do so – but each and every minute and hour of every day, because the enemy doesn’t ever take a break from trying to infiltrate our souls.
Sometimes it might seem like he’s leaving us alone, but you can bet your bottom dollar that he’s lurking somewhere nearby, possibly in disguise too, like a sheep in wolves’ clothing, just waiting to pounce when we step out of God’s will.
Anyhow, as always, let’s chant our Friday Chant to help us remember that the weekend is not all about wine, women and song, but also very much about Almighty God!
So as one, big, honey-voiced, harmonious chanteuse, (smile) let’s chant. ‘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 have to try and stay within certain safe parameters, so that we don’t need to invoke our Bit too often: ‘But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.’
And why did the Lord restrain His anger? Because as our Creator, He knows all our weaknesses and frailties. And as Asaph, the psalmist continues: ‘For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. How oft did they provoke (rebel against) him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not his hand (his delivering power), nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.’ (Ps.78:39-41)
Yes Friends, Israel’s memory was very short indeed! Once they became free and/or prosperous, they forgot the Lord God of their fathers, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their Redeemer and strong shield, and they began hungering and thirsting for the worthless things of the world.
And yuh know what my people? That is exactly what we are doing today!
During the last few decades, as our technology improved by leaps and bounds, and our lives became filled with earthly wealth and material things, we gradually turned away from the God who had made all that prosperity possible.
Oh my fellow believers, our society only prospered because we were walking more in God’s Will back then, than in disobedience. However, now the tables have turned; since we’re walking in much more disobedience and sinfulness, our prosperity has also declined – and a whole lot too.
Like Israel, we have forgotten who brought us to the dance, we have forgotten those awesome and immortal words of wisdom and absolute truth that the Lord spoke to Joshua when He appointed him the new leader of Israel, after the death of Moses.
‘Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper (have success or act wisely) whitherseover thou goest.
This book of the law shall not depart out of (be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh.1:7-8)
Oh my people, what’s so difficult to understand there eh? Nothing! It’s as plain as day!
And those are possibly two of the most important verses in the entire Good Book, for if we follow them conscientiously, we WILL have success and prosperity!
And if you’re wondering why our western society is floundering and quickly going down hill, just consider those two verses and our current relationship to them.
Oh my fellow believers, if we ever hope to restore our success and prosperity we need to repent and return to worshipping Almighty God, like the Israelites did!
It’s not too late, because our God is a God of many chances, but never believe that He won’t destroy us, if we don’t comply with His law. So let’s rise up today, in fact, RIGHT NOW, and try to change the foolish, disobedient mindset of our society.
That’s the ONLY WAY we’ll ever rise from the mire in which we’re now steadily sinking, and thus give those who come after us, a fighting chance to enjoy success and prosperity all the days of their lives.
Please, let’s make that our everlasting legacy nuh! Much LOVE!
…a society can only rise from its ashes…like the phoenix…when it sincerely repents…and genuinely returns to obeying the Word of God…
21 Oct 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a name above every name, alive, aura of love, author of salvation, bang for your buck, Beatitudes, blessed, call to repentance, confidence, death, death of the cross, divine wisdom, down to earth, enthusiasm, every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, evil, exalted, fellowship, G;ory Hallelujah, glory days, Glory of the Father, God's will, good of the land, haughty, high priest, holy spirit, hope, humble, humble servants, inroads, invincible, Jesus Christ, Jesus' philosophy, Jeus Christ is Lord, jobs, kingdom of heaven, lies, LOVE, Monday, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, mouth of the Lord, nothing's impossible, obedience, obedient, pagan world, poor in spirit, proud, rebel, Red Letter Day, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, rest, rock heaven and earth, rock-star status, saviour, self-control, Sermon on the Mount, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, sure conquerors, truth, ungodly, ungodly world, unwise habit, useful purpose, weary souls, weekend, wicked taunts, wiles, willing, wisdom, wisest decision
Matthew 5:3. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Ah Friends, it’s Monday once more! I hope we’re all up bright and early and rearing to go after a weekend of rest and fellowship. (smile) Oh I know that plenty of us are still mired in the weekend party-going scene and are thus suffering the Monday morning blues and the miserable side effects that unwise action entails.
But I’m alive, therefore I have hope, that eventually we’ll all kick that unwise habit and get ourselves back to the glory days, when Monday was a day we all looked forward to with excitement rather than dread.
However, in what ever state you are this Monday morning, this is the perfect opportunity for us to all join together and rock heaven and earth with a splendiferous rendition of our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. (smile)
So Friends, with one, loud, sweet, tuneful, harmonious voice, let’s rock! ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Ah mih breddren, that was indeed a rocking rendition of our Battle Hymn! Even Jesus was rocking along with us! Now let’s get out into the evil ungodly world that surrounds us, and instead of carrying that rock-star status with us, let’s follow the divine wisdom of Jesus and be like what our Bit says: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’
And that’s the exact attitude that Jesus expects ALL His followers to genuinely have and sincerely display to all and sundry!
Now some of you might not recognize our Bit, but it’s the first of the Beatitudes, part of Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, where He first sat down and taught His disciples and the people gathered round Him, His basic philosophy and expectations of those who desired to follow Him. Others of you might also be wondering what exactly does the Bit mean.
Well the scholars give us a very good explanation, so we’ll run with it. ‘5:3. Blessed means “happy.” This is a basic description of the believers’ inner condition as a result of the work of God. These Beatitudes, like Psalm 1, [please read] do not show a man how to be saved, but rather describe the characteristics of one who has been saved.
The poor in spirit are the opposite of the proud or haughty in spirit. They have been humbled by the grace of God and have acknowledged their sin and therefore their dependence on God to save them. They will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Kingdom of heaven is a general designation of the dwelling place of the saved.’
Consequently my people, even though we attain to such heights as being the most powerful person in the world, or the richest, or the wisest, or the strongest, or the most celebrated, if you desire to follow Jesus, He still expects you to have a humble, down to earth attitude, with total surrender to, and complete trust in His heavenly Father, relying on Him for all guidance and direction.
Oh Friends, it’s a simple philosophy; one of obedience and self-control, but nonetheless a difficult one to embrace and successfully cultivate, especially when you have the pagan world which surrounds us, pushing all sorts of wicked, ungodly things at you. But as we keep saying, if you’re serious about doing something that’s within God’s will, and you engage Him to work with you, then NOTHING’S IMPOSSIBLE.
And we’ll close with some scriptures that drive home the point. First off, listen to Isaiah as he calls Israel to repentance. ‘If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.’ (Is.1:19-20) That’s very simple and straightforward Friends.
Now hear the author of Hebrews: ‘Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of salvation unto all them that obey him. Called of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.’ (Heb.5:8-10)
And lastly, listen to Bruh Paul talk about Jesus to the Philippians. ‘And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) things in heaven, and (those) things in earth, and (those) things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.’ (Phil.2:8-11)
Yuh see Friends, Jesus was highly rewarded and exalted for His obedience to the Father’s will, and if we follow Jesus, we also shall be divinely reward. ‘Glory Hallelujah!’
So my fellow believers, let’s make today a Red Letter Day nuh; by seriously considering, and pondering all that we’ve said, and then deciding to work not only closely with Jesus, but also solely for Him. It’s the wisest decision any human can ever make on this earth, because that’s the only way to get into the kingdom of heaven. Much LOVE!
…unfortunately fools don’t realize it…but working for, and with Jesus…gives you the biggest bang for your buck…
SCRIP-BITS 