15 May 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a finger hold in our souls, a modicum of circumspection, a needle hole, a Saviour, advice, ambassadors for Christ, areas of weakness, authority of the Scriptures, be not conformed to this world, be ye transformed, bear fruit, by the renewing of your mind, celebrations, challenging, Christ's Church, christian brotherhood, Christians, comsideration, desires, devotion, downfall, earthly living, enemy of God, enmity with God friend of the world, feeling, fellowship, Friday chant, friends, friendship of the world, fun, generous help, glorious kingdom, glory hallelujah, glory to God, God's Holy word, good witness, Guide, hard labour, holy spirit, hypocrites, in Jesus' name, invoke help, Jesus Christ, lacking, LOVE, love God first and foremost, love not the world, Lucifer, lust of the eyes, lustful desire, mash it up, modern day family, party time, patting ourselves on the back, personal loyalty, pride of life, purpose of our existence, rebuke, refute, relaxation, release, rest, rush of excitement, Satan, shortchanged, sincerity, stop fooling ourselves, stop loving the world, take root, temptation, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the evil one, the love of the Father, the lust of the flesh, the right balance, the tenets of jesus, the things of God, the weekend, the will of God, the world passeth away, things of the world, to follow Christ, transform, trying times, ungodly behaviour, Victoria Day, wisdom, worldly thinking
Romans 12:2. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Well Friends, a hearty Friday morning to all and sundry!
And the boisterous and exuberant working crowd shouts back: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! The weekend’s here and it’s party time…party time…! Thank God is Friday yes, and the hard labour done for two days…no, not for two, but for three days, this long weekend of Victoria Day! Glory Hallelujah! We going to mash it up!’
Ah Friends, I know the feeling, the release and rush of excitement that a long weekend brings, especially in the northern climes. But as usual, we have to be very careful about our doings and not let our celebrations cause Lucifer to get a finger hold in our souls.
That means we have to exercise careful consideration in all that we do, do them with a modicum of circumspection, for the evil one only needs a little needle hole to find his way into our hearts, minds and souls. So to help us not give him that needle hole, let’s chant our Friday Chant with much sincerity and feeling.
As one now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Ah mih people, these weekends can be quite challenging to find the right balance between rest, partying, fellowship and the many other activities connected to the modern day family. But if anybody can do it successfully, it’s us, the Christian brotherhood, for we have a Saviour called Jesus Christ who enables us to do any and everything in His name. Glory to God!
But there are some things we first need to do, before we can invoke His help. Things like the sentiments in our Bit: ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’
Yeh Friends, when we consciously make up our minds to follow Christ, we have to transform our worldly thinking and worldly ways, and bring them into line with the tenets of Jesus, otherwise His Holy Spirit will not take root within us and bear good outward fruit.
And that is the whole purpose of our existence here on earth; to be a good witness and ambassador for Christ, and to bear much good fruit in His name.
So let’s stop fooling ourselves, stop patting ourselves on the backs for being such real good Christians, when in fact we’re more like a bunch of hypocrites with the selfish, ungodly behaviour we’re showing in these trying and difficult times.
For as James so wisely and staunchly puts it: ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of (with) the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy (makes himself an enemy) of God.’ (James 4:5)
And that right there is the cause for the downfall of Christ’s church; too many supposed Christians are still being led by the things of the world, rather than by the things of God. And until we curtail that lustful desire my brethren, our Christianity will always be shortchanged and lacking.
Hear what John says on the subject. ‘LOVE not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man LOVES the world, the LOVE of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.’ (1 John 2:15-17)
There it is Friends, quite plain and simple; if we embrace the things of the world, then God’s LOVE is not in us.
And the scholars duly note: 2:15. LOVE not the world is a command implying that action now in progress must cease: “Stop LOVING the world!” There is, of course, one sense in which Christians should LOVE the world, since God Himself did and does (John 3:16). But in the sense of pledging personal loyalty and devotion of one’s whole being and means, Christians are to “LOVE” God first and foremost. (Deut.6:5; Mark 12:30).’
And here is another interesting note from the scholars, re Temptation. ‘2:16. Though all people are tempted differently according to their individual weaknesses, temptations follow patterns. They appeal to three fundamental areas of life: (1) the lust of the flesh (physical desires); the lust of the eyes (personal desires); and (3) the pride of life (self-interests).
Illustrations: When Satan caused the fall of the race, he appealed to each of these areas of weakness (Gen.3:6). He also appealed to them when he tempted Christ (Matt.4:1-11), who defied Satan’s temptations by relying on the authority of the Scriptures.
Application: The Christian today should also depend on the Scriptures to defeat temptation: (first Ref. Gen 3:1-6; Primary ref. 1 John 2:15-17; cf. Rom. 5:12).’
And we’ll conclude with that most worthy bit of advice my people. Let’s use the scriptures to rebuke and refute temptation, like we ought to, for it is the wisdom of Jesus. Much LOVE!
…God’s Holy Word…is the BEST guide for earthly living…
06 Aug 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a command, as we forgive our debtors, August, believers, body of Christ, Church of Christ, church wardens, clothing, comfort, conditional statement, crapaud smoke we pipe, divesting, elementary priciple, fellow believers, finances, food, for Christ's sake, forgive, forgive our debts, forgiveness, generosity, generous gifts, give voice to, good work, green foliage, grow, harsh reality, harvest, help, holy spirit, if you don't forgive, impartiality, Jesus, Jesus' earthly body, Jesus' kingdom, judgement, July, justice, kind to each other, law of liberty, levels of giving, LOVE, mercy, missions, nakedness, needy, nourishment, orphan, out of luck, outreach, poor, rebuke, repent, special place in God's heart, stranger, succour, summer's almost over, support of parishoners, survive, talent, tenderhearted, the church, the forgiveness hard, the hurt is great, the life of a believer, the Lord's prayer, time, tithes, toe the line, triumph, up the stream, widow, winter, wisdom, without a lifeline, written indelibly in our consciousness, you reap what you sow, your Father won't forgive you
Matthew 6:15. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Oh Friends, do you realize that we’re already in the middle of August, and that just last week it was July? (smile) Yes mih people, the days are certainly rushing ahead fast and furious. The summer’s almost over! Where did it go to eh?
In another few weeks the trees will begin divesting themselves of all their beautiful green foliage, getting ready to face the harsh reality that’s winter in their total nakedness, when food and nourishment become scarce.
Let us hope though, that no human brethren are doing, or planning to put that same strategy into effect, for there is always nourishment and succour available in the body of Christ.
Let me put that in more practical terms; there should always be food, clothing and comfort available to those in need, from Jesus’ earthly body, the church.
That’s one of the basic reasons the Lord instituted tithes; so that His personal storehouse would always have supplies for the poor and needy, for the stranger, the widow and the orphan. Note that God has a very special place in His heart for those people, and has provided for them thus.
Oh my fellow believers, are we tithing to our local church? We should be, for without our generous gifts, Jesus’ church would not be able to function as it ought.
Remember that the church is not merely the building, but even more so the believers who occupy it. And we can’t maintain the buildings, or do the outreach and missions desired by Christ without the generous help of the congregation in terms of talent, time and finances.
Everybody wants to see their church buildings looking spiffy and fine, and want to hear about all the good work that body of Christ is doing in their community and around the world, and that’s a very worthwhile dream and wish, but we also need to be practical and realize that none of it can happen without the generous support of the parishioners.
So I urge us today, to check our individual generosity to our local church, and seriously consider raising our levels of giving, in terms of time, talent and money, for that’s the only way the church, as Christ’s body here on earth, will survive and grow the way He desires it to.
Hn, hn, hn! Yes Friends, I’m here chuckling because I don’t know where all of that came from. I certainly wasn’t intending to write about it. I guess it must have come from the church warden’s meeting I attended last evening, where one of the topics we discussed was finances, and the need to improve, to upgrade ours. And I guess that would be the situation in many other churches too, hence the Holy Spirit’s leading to give voice to it.
Anyway mih breddren, let’s see if we can finish up the message on forgiveness with this Bit today. ‘But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you.’
Oh my people, my people, we can never overestimate the importance of forgiveness in the life of a believer! And it’s simply because we won’t be forgiven, if we don’t forgive. Jesus made that quite clear in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’ (Matt.6:12)
Please note that it’s a conditional statement; forgive us, AS we forgive. Yes my brethren, only as we forgive, will our heavenly Father forgive us. So we had better get that written indelibly in our consciousness and practice it, otherwise we’re simply out of luck. Well not really luck, but you know what I mean; crapaud smoke we pipe, we up the stream without a lifeline. (smile)
Now let’s look at some scriptures that emphasize forgiveness. In this first passage, Luke has Jesus saying these most meaningful words when He teaches forgiveness.
‘Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent; forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.’ (Luke 17:3-4)
Oh Friends, that means that every time we’re asked for forgiveness, we MUST give it! ‘Thou shalt forgive him,’ is a command, meaning that no flexibility is allowed in our behaviour, even though the hurt is great and the forgiveness hard!
I know that sounds sort of rough and unfair my fellow believers, but that’s just the way it is in Jesus’ kingdom, and if you desire to be His follower, then you need to toe the line. It’s as simple as that.
Every organization has rules, and if you want to be a continual member, then you must abide by their rules. The same goes for the church of Christ!
Now listen to James as he talks about impartiality to all. ‘So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgement without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against (triumphs over) judgement.’ (James 2:12-13)
Yes Friends, it all comes right back to the elementary principle in God’s handling of the universe; you reap what you sow. So if you sow things like mercy, forgiveness, justice and LOVE, those are the things you will eventually reap, in greater amount than what you sowed too.
So please my people, let’s faithfully go out and sow the good things of Jesus today nuh, so that tomorrow, when our harvest comes in, we will reap the wonderful abundance that’s granted to those who sow in LOVE, forgiveness, justice and mercy.
As Cousin Sol would say, ‘that’s the wisdom for each and every age!’ (smile) Much, much LOVE my fellow believers!
…and be ye kind one to another…tenderhearted…forgiving one another…even as God…for Christ’s sake…hath forgiven you… (Eph.4:32)
23 Jul 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 3 Canal, be assured, boss, busyness, can't wait for God's timing, come to fruition, communing with God, compassion, Creator, desires of my heart, don't worry, doubting, enjoy the summer, envy, expectant faith, fall down, feed my sheep, fellow believers, follow thou me, forgiveness, from the heart, frustrated, God keeps all His promises, God will never lead us astray, God's mysterious moving, God's plan unfurls, God's timetable, God's will, God's word shall not return void, God's word shall prosper, godly wisdom, gossip, Guide, John, just one of those days, laziness, lethargy, lightning flashing, LOVE, loving kindness, mercy, mind your own business, miracles, miserable, not worrying, now for now, our plans fail or falter, peace in my soul, personal experience, Peter, power of jealousy, Praise the Lord, promised, provider, rain, rebuke, repudiated, resentment, resist temptation, rest on your fanny, smile, song ot the summer siren, strong tower, struggling with your faith, sweet song of the rain, tarry, testify, the Good Book, the world's folly, thunder rolling, trusting the Lord, uneducated, waiting with hungry hope, watermelon, weather, what is that to thee, wisdom, worrying makes matters worse, yuh too darm farse
John 21:22. ‘Jesus saith unto him, If I will (desire) that he tarry (remain) till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.’
‘Just one of those days, just one of those days…’
Yes Friends, it was just one of those days, or rather nights, when impulsively, and some may say foolishly, I was lured by the sweet song of the summer siren on to my front porch late last night, until after 1 a.m. And what was I doing out there at that late hour?
Why, simply enjoying the cool, fresh morning air, eating watermelon and playing games on the Duchess’ I-pad, watching the lightning flash around me, listening to the thunder roll ominously, communing with my wonderful God, until the rain finally began falling. Mama Mia! And I might have been out there even later if the rain hadn’t begun blowing in on me. (smile)
And when I did get to bed, this time lulled by the sweet song of the falling rain, I obviously didn’t have the parts to resist the temptation to sleep in until after six o’clock this morning. And that’s my story…and I’m sticking to it! (smile)
Yeh mih people, I’ve promised myself to enjoy this summer, come hell or high water, for who knows how many more I’ll see eh? And as far as I’m concerned the weather’s been most excellent; not too hot, with a cool breeze blowing most of the time, thus making the need for air conditioning unnecessary.
Although I’m not doing anything terribly exciting, simply enjoying the days as they pass by, with a deep peace in my soul, doing what I can and not worrying about what doesn’t get done, waiting with hungry hope and expectant faith, trusting the Lord to work everything out in His own time and in His own way.
And my fellow believers that is exactly where a lot of us fall down; we’re eager to do stuff, but we can’t wait for God’s timing. Unfortunately we fall for the world’s now for now folly, its need for constant busyness, and therefore rush to do whatever it is, outside of God’s timetable. Obviously our plans fail or falter, and then we get frustrated and miserable.
Trust me Friends, for I certainly know of wherewith I speak from loads of personal experience. (smile) There are all sorts of things that I’ve wanted to do, and thinking it was God’s will, set out to do them, only to realize that it wasn’t yet on His schedule. Now there are some that I’m still hoping to do, but am playing it, or trying to play it cool right now, expectantly watching and eagerly waiting to see how God’s plan for my life unfurls.
Oh Friends, there are too many good things He’s put in my heart, that never to allow them to come to fruition would be a total repudiation of His Word, re to give me the desires of my heart. And I know that our wonderful God will NEVER allow His word to be repudiated.
As He says in Isaiah: ‘So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void (without fruit), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.’ (Is.55:11)
And all God’s children sang out with a loud, lusty and joyful, ‘Praise the Lord for His LOVING-kindness to the children of men!’
So my brethren, if today you find yourself in a similar spot, just rearing to go on some project that God’s placed in your heart, please be careful, talk to Him and make sure that it’s His time for it, because if it isn’t, you’ll only end up disappointed, and even begin doubting or struggling with your faith.
Now that doesn’t mean you have to go to the other extreme and rest on your fanny, conveniently using the excuse that it’s not God’s time. (smile) Don’t worry, I struggle with that too. Everyday I ask Him whether what I sometimes consider laziness or lethargy in not doing certain things is His will?
For whenever I plan to do some things which to me need doing, other things just seem to crop up and overshadow them, and I’m left wondering whether it was my fault, or simply God’s mysterious moving.
The important thing though my people, is not to worry. Be obviously concerned, and keep talking to God about whatever is happening, but never, never worry, for worrying won’t help, but often makes matters worse.
Ah mih breddren, regardless of what some may say, please be assured that our God is a great and wonderful God; most excellent in compassion, mercy, forgiveness and LOVE! He’ll never lead us astray, and above all, He keeps His promises!
So whatever He’s sincerely promised, He WILL deliver, He WILL fulfill, but we need to work in consort with Him, not He with us, for remember, He is the Boss, our Creator, Provider, Guide and Strong Tower.
And now that I’ve written all of that from the heart, guided by the Holy Spirit, let me go and find a Bit that will fit it. (smile) Soon come.
Oh Friends, I’m back in less than five minutes, with a Bit that fits. Now listen up closely. ‘Jesus saith unto him, If I will (desire) that he tarry (remain) till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.’
In other words, mind your own business. Don’t look too closely at what I’m doing in the lives of others, simply concentrate on what I’m trying to do through you.
That was just one of the many times that Jesus rebuked Peter. It occurred after He’d asked Peter three times, if he LOVED Him, got an affirmative reply each time, then each time told Peter to feed his sheep. (John 21:15-19)
The Good Book then informs us: ‘Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus LOVED, (John) following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do (what about this man)? Jesus saith unto him, If I will (desire) that he tarry (remain) till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.’ (John 21:20-22)
But as is often the case, though we hear the same words, we often interpret them differently, for the Good Book continues: ‘Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will (desire) that he tarry (remain) till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. (John 21:23-24)
Yuh see Friends, the amazing power of jealousy and envy and gossip? Apparently John was one of the few, if not the only one not to consider Jesus’ statement as meaning that He wouldn’t die.
And we’ll end with an interesting explanation from the scholars. ’21:20-23. Perhaps John added this account to counteract a commonly believed notion that Jesus had predicted that John would not die. He did outlive all of the other disciples. In fact, all of the others were probably dead by the time John wrote this beloved gospel in about A.D. 85’
Ah my fellow believers, it’s obvious to us today that Jesus never meant that John should never die, but in the simple, uneducated minds of those early disciples, especially after seeing all the miracles Jesus performed, that was certainly a possibility.
All Jesus was saying to Peter, and to us, is what 3 Canal so wisely and to the point say in their song: ‘Mind yuh business, mind yuh own business, seek your own interest, stop minding (other) people’s business… And if you ent have no business, well yuh better find a business, seek yuh own interest and stop minding people’s business, mind yuh own business…. Yuh too darm farse…’
Ah Friends, Jesus could not have put it any better. (smile) And if we’d only follow that wise formula, all our lives would be so much better; less frustrating, and not fraught with the envy, jealousy and resentment that now cloud them.
Those words, my people, slang-like though they may be, are indeed full of godly wisdom. Let’s follow them nuh… provided we want to live better lives. Much LOVE!
…the Lord has different plans for different lives…it’s not our job or purpose to question them…just to follow His plan for OUR LIFE…
15 Jul 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: admit our wrongs, all things are possible, be not afraid only believe, be right with Jesus, belief in Jesus, believe, believe and you're halfway there, bounden duty, Chinese Proverb, early to bed early to rise, exhibiting belief and faith, expectant faith, faith, fall on our knees, fearful, glorifying Jesus, go in peace, hungry hope, issue of blood, Jairus, Jesus Christ, Jewish law, late to bed late to rise, LOVE, rebuke, Red Letter Day, riddim of the falling rain, strong belief, the longest journey begins with the first step, Theodore Roosevelt, thy faith hath made thee whole, tools in man's arsenal, truth
Mark 5:36b. Be not afraid, only believe.
Oh Friends, it was one of those nights when the early to bed, early to rise situation was replaced by the late to bed, therefore late to rise tactic. And believe me, the rising wasn’t made any easier by the gentle riddim of the falling rain. (smile) But we all know that once there’s hungry hope and expectant faith, all things are possible.
And that’s worthily enhanced by our word from my almanac for today: ‘BELIEVE!’
Now that’s one of the strongest tools in man’s arsenal, my people! So much so that Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th U.S. President, is reputed to have declared: ‘Believe and you’re halfway there.’
And there’s certainly a lot of truth in that statement, my brethren. The first action in any thing is usually one of belief; believing you can do it, or that the action is possible. As the Chinese Proverb also declares: ‘The longest journey begins with the first step.’
But Friends, we cannot take that first step until we believe that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is worth journeying for, is worth sacrificing whatever is necessary to achieve it. And believe me Friends – yes it’s a day of belief – anything that’s worthwhile striving for, will include a fair amount of sacrifice.
But the elementary position in it all must first be belief. As we said earlier, belief that the thing is possible, and also belief that you can carry it out to a successful ending. That’s why our wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ placed so much emphasis in His teaching on belief.
Our Bit says it quite clearly: ‘Be not afraid, only believe.’
And a very important aspect of any situation is that once we believe, we need to keep on believing, for belief is not a one time, one and done thing, but a continuous process, especially where Jesus Christ is concerned!
Now let’s look at the situation under which Jesus spoke the words of our Bit. And it was indeed a red-letter day, one of the many in Jesus’ earthly sojourn. For on that day, as He was on His way to heal a ruler of the synagogue’s (Jairus) daughter, a woman in the huge crowd who had suffered from an unusual blood flow for 12 years, BELIEVED!
She had spent all her money on medical treatment, but instead of getting better, she just got worse. But that day, when she heard that Jesus was in town, she hurried down to see him. ‘For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.’ (Mark 5:28)
What belief, what faith my people! So she surged through the crowd and touched His clothing. ‘And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague (affliction).’ (Mark 5:29)
Yes Friends, the power of belief is a helluva thing, especially if that belief is in Jesus Christ!
And the scholars explain the woman’s possible reasoning. ‘5:28. Popular belief had it that a person’s dignity and power extend to what he wears.’
And in that light, her actions make complete sense. But what’s also interesting is that with all the crowd milling around Him, and everybody pushing and shoving to get a better position, Jesus knew immediately that something was amiss; ‘knowing in himself that virtue (power) had gone out of him, turned him about in the press (crowd), and said, Who touched my clothes?’ (Mark 5:30)
The disciples were obviously astounded by His question, as there were so many people around Him. ‘And he (Jesus) looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague (affliction).’ (Mark 5:32-34).
Yes my people, faith can only come from belief! In fact, simply put, faith is strong belief!
And the scholars give us this interesting explanation of the woman’s behaviour. ‘5:33. The woman would be fearful of a rebuke, since her bleeding rendered her “unclean” according to Jewish law. She ought not to have been mixing in the crowd, nor reaching out purposely to touch a man. That she owned up indicates that her interest lay not only in physical health: she wanted to be right with Jesus Himself. Her faith, not the grasp of her hand, brought restoration to her.’
That brings up an interesting and oh so important question my brethren; how many of us sincerely want to be right with Jesus eh? So right that we fall on our knees and admit our wrongs?
Hopefully all believers, since it’s a rite of our faith, of our belief in Jesus! For now though, we’ll just leave that question and its answer to circulate in our souls, (smile) and continue with the story of that red-letter day.
The Good Book describes it thus: ‘While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master (Teacher) any further?’ (Mark 5:35)
And to that statement, the scholars declare: ‘5:35. Obviously, Jesus has intentionally let the time pass in which He might have preserved the girl’s life.’
And the Good Book continues: ‘As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.’ (Mark 5:36)
Yes Friends, all we have to do is BELIEVE!
So today, let’s get the ball rolling on belief nuh; particularly in strong belief in Jesus! And for those of us who already have that strong belief in Him, let’s go out and teach and show others by our words and actions how that belief plays such a great and wonderful part in our lives. For that’s what Jesus expects of His followers, of His true believers. In fact it’s our bounden duty as a true believer!
So let’s go out and do our duty, make Jesus proud of us by exhibiting belief and faith as strong as, if not stronger than the woman in the story with the issue of blood, thereby glorifying Him to all with whom we come into contact. Much LOVE!
…one can’t truly believe in Jesus…without it being showed in one’s actions and words…
P.S. Oh my people, the lateness of the Bit was even further aggravated by my security company wanting to do an important update in the middle of my writing, then needing me to shut down the computer so that the update could take effect. It certainly was aggravating. But I guess that’s a part of the whole computer scene, and we just have to grin and bear it. Again, my humblest apologies. (smile) Much LOVE!
28 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Abraham, Adam, almighty god, antidote, Boxing Day, calamitious state, celebrations, Christian music, Christmas, circumcision, consideration, covenant, destroy, disastrous mess, disobedience, doer, evil, exalted, foreskin, generation, God's Word, good, Holy Trinity, house of god, ice, inspiration, Isaiah, Israelites, Jerusalem, Jesus Christ, joyous spirit, judge, king, Law, lawgiver, LOVE, Love the Lord, love thy neighbour, Lucifer, mind games, mountain of the Lord, negativity, ploughshares, Promised Land, pruninghooks, rebellious, rebuke, reproach, restore, righteousness., salvation, saviour, scriptures, sinful nature, snow, spears, spiritual armour, swords, Ten Commandments, the day of the Lord, the last days, tree of knowledge, unfavourable weather, uplift, wake up call, war, word of the Lord
Isaiah 33:22. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he shall save us.
Ah Friends, it’s Saturday and the ole fella is tired. I don’t know why, because I didn’t do much over the Christmas and Boxing Day celebrations. I didn’t over eat or over drink. In fact I rested quite a lot; perhaps too much. (smile). Where was I to go though, with all the ice and snow and unfavourable weather?
I guess the tricky Lucifer must be playing some mind games with me. But I have the perfect antidote for that, my spiritual armour. Yes my people, I’m going to put it on right now, and I know that as soon as I do, then begin writing about God’s Word, His joyous Spirit will pick me up and restore a bright and sparkling outlook to my weary spirit. Yes Friends, one of the great things our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ does for us is to uplift and restore our tired and sagging spirits.
And contrary to my hope yesterday, I didn’t finish sharing all the scripture on the ‘lawgiver’ aspect of our Bit, so today we’ll forgo a lot of preamble and get right to it. ‘For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he shall save us.’
And I’m chuckling here Friends, because I’m listening to the radio while writing, which I don’t usually do because it tends to distract me. But for some reason I tuned into Radio Trinidad, 730 AM, where they’re playing some nice Christian music and the writing just seemed to flow. So who am I to deny God’s inspiration eh? (smile)
Anyway, turning to the ‘lawgiver’ aspect of our Bit, let’s continue with some appropriate scriptures. Isaiah, that faithful and much inspired prophet, boldly proclaims, re the day of the Lord: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
And many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks (pruning knives): nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.’ (Is.2:2-4)
Oh, what a beautiful day that will be, my brethren! But long before that the Lord was handing down laws to His chosen creation. The first basic law was given to our forefather Adam. ‘And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest eat freely: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’ (Gen.2:16-17)
But as we all know, Adam didn’t obey, and thus we’ve all been possessed of a sinful, rebellious nature since then. Then the Lord made circumcision the law for those of Abraham’s lineage, who wanted to covenant with him. ‘This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child (male) among you shall be circumcised.
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token (sign) of the covenant betwixt me and thou. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.’ (Gen.17:10-12)
And we can’t talk about laws without talking about the Big Ten, the Lord gave to the Israelites on leaving Egypt bound for the Promised Land, (Ex.20: 1-17) with the biggest being the first: ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ (Ex.20:3)
Unfortunately though, neither the Israelites, nor many of us who came after them, have sufficiently heeded those Ten Commandments. And that foolish action, that disobedience sadly bears a direct link to why our world is in such a calamitous state today. And if you don’t believe me, then read those Ten Commandments and take out all the negativity that disobeying each one brings to our world, and see how beautiful the remnant is!
Now let’s turn to Isaiah again with some more interesting words from our Maker. ‘Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.’ (Is.51:7-8)
Then Jesus came and broke it all down to just two laws. ‘Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt.22:37-40)
But you think we could even keep those two? Obviously not! Therefore we’re surrounded by a negativity filled world!
And we’ll end with some provocative words from James on that last commandment; consideration for a brother. ‘Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?’ (James 4:11-12)
And that Friends, say it all! Until we stop judging and truly start LOVING, our lives and our world will continue to be one, big, disastrous mess. Let this be a wake up call for us nuh. Much LOVE!
…there is only ONE Lawgiver…ONE Judge…ONE King…ONE able to save us…Almighty God…the Holy Trinity…
26 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: admonition, afraid, allergies, authtoritative statement, bastards, believe in Jesus, bet yuh bottom dollar, chasten, chastening, chastisement, children, chosen people, Christian story, commands, common cold, compilation, complimentary, consequences, contrite, corporal punishment, correction, death, deliverance of Israel, depth of learning, despise, Deuteronomy, discipline, discouraged, disobedience, displeasure, divine dispensation, divine wisdom, ever-faithful promise, exhortation, exodus, face of the earth, faint, fair share, faithful, fear not, fruit of righteousness, god, God's principle, gospel truth, habakkuk, healing, healing powers, heartfelt pleas, Hebrews, holiness, I am with you, illegitimate, Israel, Jesus, joyous, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, machinations, medication, merciful, mercy, miserable, mortal, obliterated, pleasure, Praise the Lord, profit, proven fact, Proverbs, punishment, rebuke, respect, Revelation, reverence, scourge, sons, spare the rod, spoil the child, spoiled brats, subjection, training, trustworthy, unpunished, victory ode, wages of sin, weak, wrath, wrongdoings
Psalm 38:1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s shaking it a tad rough thus cold Tuesday morning. My allergies seem to be acting up. Let’s hope it’s just that and not a full-blown cold. Thankfully, I haven’t had one of those in a long time. However, between the man-made medicine and the enabling powers of our healing God, I’m bringing whatever it might be under control. ‘Praise the Lord!’
But isn’t it strange how a simple thing like the common cold, or allergic sniffling, sneezing and blowing can make a body feel so weak and miserable, while supposedly greater illnesses don’t have us feeling so lousy all over? Anyway, the important thing is that we try to rise above whatever ails us through God’s helpful healing powers and whatever man-made medication He directs us to.
Now let’s turn to our Bit, which through the Lord’s mysterious machinations (smile) has turned into a three day affair, when it was originally planned for only one. But that’s how the Lord operates, because of His higher thoughts and ways. And if that’s how He wants his Word to be exposed, who am I, a puny mortal, to say Him nay eh? I’d eventually be crying out like the psalmist: ‘O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.’
And today, we’ll continue looking at some scriptures that deal with heartfelt pleas, healing and chastening, that we didn’t finish yesterday. First off, for the benefit of all those who didn’t take the time to check it, I’ll quote the Habakkuk verse from the scholar’s reference yesterday.
‘O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.’ (Hab.3:2)
That prayer precedes a victory ode recounting God’s deliverance of Israel during the Exodus from Egypt. But again my people, we’re reminded of the mercy the Lord needs to show us, otherwise we’d just be obliterated from the face of the earth in His anger over our numerous wrongdoings.
However, here is the Lord’s ever-faithful promise to His chosen people Israel, and to all those who subsequently believe in His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus. This is also from the scholar’s reference yesterday.
‘Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure (as is right); yet I will not leave thee wholly unpunished.’ (Jer.46:28)
Ah mih breddren, thankfully we will not be obliterated, but bet yuh bottom dollar, we will receive our fair share of punishment. Now originally I was going to quote Jer.30:11, which basically says the same thing, but I preferred the ‘Fear thou not,’ start of the quoted scripture. (smile)
And please remember Friends, that the Lord, our great, faithful and trustworthy God is ALWAYS with His people! That’s not only gospel truth, but also a proven fact!
And we’ll end with a scripture we all know, but foolishly try to run from. It is the brilliant compilation of words from Proverbs, Revelation and Deuteronomy, plus some of his own, that the author of Hebrews gives us on the subject of chastening.
And having read Hebrews, I truly don’t see how the author could be any other than Bruh Paul, for the depth of learning and huge amount of divine dispensation that it entails, and even more the language used therein, he is the only one in the Christian story that seems to have had them all.
Anyway, let’s check out this most important bit of scripture my fellow believers. Please note that wherever the passage says ‘son’ it can be also read ‘daughter’ if you’re female.
‘And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as children (sons), My son, despise not thou the chastening (discipline) of the Lord, nor faint (be discouraged) when thou art rebuked of Him: For whom the Lord LOVETH He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then ye are bastards (illegitimate), and not sons.
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence (respect): shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us, after their own pleasure (as seemed best to them); but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Now no chastening (discipline) for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised (trained) thereby.’ (Heb.12:5-11)
Oh mih people, that says it all! It’s the authoritative statement on the subject! However, I want to add some important explanations from the scholars. (smile)
’12:6. Whom the Lord LOVETH he chasteneth: God’s principle of disciplining His own people is completely congruous (in accordance with) human practices. This quotation from Proverbs 3:12, stating God’s practice, corresponds to the commands gave to fathers:
“He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that LOVETH him chasteneth him betimes (promptly)” (Prov.13:24; cf. 22:15; 23:13). LOVE and corporal punishment are not incongruous (incompatible); they are two complimentary and necessary aspects of training.’
Sadly though Friends, we as fleshly parents have seriously disregarded that godly admonition, and thus have reaped the consequences, poorly trained, disobedient children.
However, let’s just remember not to get too upset and carry on like spoiled brats whenever the Lord hauls us up on the carpet, because He WILL be merciful, if we are contrite and accepting of our punishment. And that’s definitely divine wisdom! Much LOVE!
…if you have problems with being chastened…hn!…then just remember the other option nuh…for the wages of sin is death…
25 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: anger, bombarded, Bruh David, buffeted, busy lives, chasten, chastisement, chosen people, death, displeasure, divine action, enthusiasm, everlasting wings, evildoers, faith, falter, friends, fury, gates of righteousness, Gentiles, glorious kingdom, heathen, heavenly hosts, hidden secrets, hinders communication, holy spirit, hope, hot displeasure, humble servants, hypocrisy, invincible, Israel, Jesus Christ, jobs, judgement, justice, lies, LOVE, mental strain, mercy, Monday Morniing Battle Hymn, motives, Oh Lord God Almighty, pleas, Praise the Lord, pretence, pretext, protection, radiant countenance, rebuke, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, righteousness., salvation, steadfast faith, surrender, taunts, thanksgiving, the works of the Lord, trust, truth, understanding, ungodly world, useful purpose, wisdom, wrath
Psalm 38:1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
And as that contentious day, Monday, dawned around the world, the rich voices of God’s people could be heard joyfully declaring: ‘TGIM! Thank God it’s Monday! Time to go back out amongst the evildoers and fight for Jesus!’
Ah mih Friends, I’m working here on the supposition that if we hear it often it enough, it will eventually sink into our souls through osmosis or some other divine action, (smile) and we’ll eventually come to believe it and act accordingly. For there’s nothing greater than hope in this life.
And now that I’ve woken up to the true reality of the situation, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with much gusto. As one great voice now: ‘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!’
Great singing Friends! It sounded so heartfelt that all the heavenly hosts joined us. Now that certainly says something positive about our singing and the state of our hearts. Anyway, as you can see, we’re back with the same Bit as yesterday: ‘O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.’
That’s because yesterday I was guided to go through the whole psalm, when I had planned to quote some scriptures dealing with heartfelt pleas, healing and chastening. Well today we’re going to do that.
And to start us of, we’ll turn to the first verse of Psalm 6, A Prayer for mercy, where Bruh David opens thus: ‘O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.’ (Ps.6:1)
You’ll notice Friends that it’s almost exactly the same as our Bit, except instead of using ‘thy wrath, he uses ‘thine anger.’ But they convey the same meaning. So it seems that there were times when Bruh David felt that he deserved rebuke and pleads with God not to make it too harsh.
And I believe that consciousness of wrong doing, as well as his forthrightness to lay all his cards on the table before the Lord, without pretext or pretence, is what so endeared him to his Creator. There wasn’t the hypocrisy and such in his crying out that’s so prevalent today. Too many of us cry out to God for help, but with the wrong motives, or with hidden secrets, foolishly submerged, as though the Lord can’t see them.
That’s why we so often don’t receive any answers to our pleas. The important thing my brethren, is that when we cry out to God for help, we must come clean with Him, don’t hold back anything, because that hinders communication with our Maker.
Now the next scripture I want to draw to our attention comes from Psalm 118; Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Salvation. The psalmist boldly proclaims: ‘The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore (severely): but he hath not given me over unto death. Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord.’ (Ps.118:16-19)
Yes Friends, let’s be extremely thankful that our Lord’s nature is to have mercy, otherwise most of us would exit this life much sooner than we planned. And note too the psalmist’s reaction to God’s mercy; a greater awareness and dedication to righteousness and praise.
And we’ll end with this quote from the prophet Jeremiah, as he soulfully declares: ‘O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. O Lord, correct me, but with judgement (justice); not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. Pour out thy fury upon the heathen (Gentiles) that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob (Israel), and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.’ (Jer.10:23-25)
Ah mih people Jeremiah was surely giving it all he had, for He knew the intensity of God’s wrath if it ever fell completely upon His chosen people Israel. As the scholar’s put it: ’10:24-25. Jeremiah surrenders to God’s program of judgement but asks that the necessary chastisement not be carried out severely (cf. 46:28; Hab.3:2).’
And so should we likewise surrender my people, with the sincere aim of coming up higher in His estimation, so there won’t be as much chastening. Till tomorrow then, when, provided the Lord’s in favour, we’ll continue this topic, because I have more scriptures to share, but in the interest of our mental strain and busy lives, I won’t share them all today. (smile)
So till we meet again, may the Lord bless us and keep us safely under the protection of His everlasting wings, cause His radiant countenance to shine upon us, give us His wonderful peace, wisdom and understanding, for therein lies our reason to be. Much LOVE!
…when we falter…we should not be surprised by God’s chastening…
24 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: accusations, accusers, actions, adversaries, anger, anguish, arrows, betray, between a rock and a hard place, bones, bowed down, broken, Bruh David, burden, Canada, chasten, chilly Sunday morning, comfort, confess, corrupt, deaf, deception, defend ourselves, depressed state, desertion, destruction, displeasure, dumb, enemies, fallible, feeble, fester, figurative speech, foolishness, friends, god, great man of God, groaned, hate, health, heartfelt, heavy, heavy laden, help, hope, hot and bothered, infallible, iniquity, Israel, labour, lay snares, light of mine eyes, loathsome disease, loins, LOVE, lowly in heart, make haste, meek, mourning, O Lord, over my head, penitent heart, personal problems, petition, physical illness, pierce, plague, ponder the situation, prayer, problems, quandary, ramifications, rebuke, reliable, render evil for good, reproofs, responses, rest, retaliate, sensible, silence is golden, sin, sinful, snow, sorrow, souls, stand aloof, stink, strength fails, succour, tender mercies, threats, troubled, truth, turmoil, turn to God, unburden our hearts, unfaithful, unreliable, warrior king, winter season, wisdom, wise, words, wounds, yoke
Psalm 38:1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, it’s a chilly Sunday morning in the last week of November and there’s snow on the ground. Chuh, Steups! (smile) Granted, it’s not much snow, but snow is snow, especially when winter is not officially due for another month. But this is also Canada, and in these times of climate change anything can happen. Let’s hope that this winter season isn’t too bad.
And strangely enough, this morning the Lord led me to Psalm 38, the prayer of a penitent heart, written by Bruh David to remind him of his troubles, how he needs to respond to them, and where he needs to go to get help.
Our Bit opens the psalm with an earnest, heartfelt petition: ‘O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.’
Bruh David must have been in a real quandary, as he penitently continues: ‘For thine arrows stick fast in me (pierce me deeply), and thy hand presseth me sore (down). There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest (health; lit. peace) in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities have gone over my head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
My wounds stink (are foul and festering) and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease (inflammation): and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore (severely) broken: I have roared (groaned) by reason of the disquietness of (turmoil in) my heart.’ (Ps.38:2-8)
Mama Mia! Bruh David must have been in a real sad state friends. But before we continue, here are some interesting notes from the scholars.
‘Psalm 38. Some debate as to whether the details of verses 1-8 should be taken literally, and thus as a reference to a physical illness, or figuratively, making them a vivid picture of psychological and moral distress. The detail and length of the description, as well as its personal nature seem to point to some serious disease from which David is suffering as he writes.’
Yeh Friends, whether Bruh David’s words were literal or figurative, there’s no doubt that he’s certainly between a rock and a hard place, as he continues his plaintive cry. ‘Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning (sighing) is not hid from thee. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it is also gone from me.’ (Ps.38:9-10)
Ah mih people, when the warrior king of Israel, that great man of God is brought to such low levels, then something must be truly wrong in his life. And we get some idea of the other ramifications in the next couple verses.
‘My lovers (loved ones) and my friends stand aloof from my sore (my plague); and my kinsmen (neighbours) stand afar off. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me; and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things (of destruction), and imagine deceits (plan deception) all the day long.’ (Ps.38:11-12)
Yeh mih breddren, desertion by friends and family, and serious threats from one’s enemies can bring us to a rather low and depressed state, especially if we already have other personal problems. However Friends, please note carefully Bruh David’s actions in these next verses.
‘But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs (responses).’ (Ps.38:13-14)
Bruh David didn’t answer his accusers, or plead with his supposed friends and family, but kept his mouth shut, so that there could be no further accusations against him. That’s one of the many times when silence is truly golden. And that’s what many of us have to learn to do when false accusers and unworthy friends and family betray us.
Too often though, we get all hot and bothered and angrily try to defend ourselves or retaliate, through words or actions. But usually the smartest thing is to keep quiet, since making important decisions when we’re angry or upset just make matters worse. First we need to ponder the situation, to see if there’s any truth in it, then follow Bruh David’s action, turn to God for succour.
‘For in thee O Lord, do I hope: thou wilt hear (answer), O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. 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 (in anguish over) my sin. But mine enemies are lively (vigorous), and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.’ (Ps.38:15-20)
Ah my fellow believers, that is the only wise and sensible way when we’re dealing with overwhelming problems, in fact with any problems at all. We need to get ourselves quiet, then go to God, FIRST, not last as we tend to do. And then we need to unburden our very hearts and souls to him, truly confessing all that we’re aware of, for In Him, there is sure hope and comfort from all our earthly problems.
As Bruh David concludes: ‘Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.’ (Ps.38:21-22)
And Jesus made that very clear when He invited us to ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek (gentle) and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt.11:28-30)
Oh my people, what a wonderful God we serve! It just boggles my mind to think how much He cares for and looks after us, despite our sinful, unfaithful nature.
So please, let’s be grateful for His tender mercies and give Him much thanks and praise, today and everyday that we’re alive, for that’s wisdom of the highest magnitude. Much LOVE!
…why do we keep turning to fallible, unreliable man for help with our problems…when we have an infallible, exceedingly reliable God to turn to eh…
12 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: almighty god, asaph, believing, Bible, Bible Study, breaks the bow, burns the chariot, Come Holy Spirit, contentions, convince, crying, cuts the spear, depths of consciousness, destruction, devastation, disaster stricken, divine truth, encouragement, end of the earth, enjoy, enjoy God's consolations, enthusiasm, ever-faithful, faith, fire of Love, former things are passed away, glorify, glorious kingdom, glory hallelujah, God's Holy word, godly truth, good morning, hearts of the faithful, help, help of others, Holy Name, holy spirit, Isaiah, Israel, Jesus Christ, Judah, judge the nations, keep on keeping on, lead and guide, loss of life, LOVE, man of God, negative things, new earth, new heaven, no more death, no more war, not learn war anymore, pain, pathways of righteousness, peace, Philippines, prayer, proclamation, promise, Psalm 76, readers, readership, rebuild, rebuke, redundant, renew the earth, Revelation, rumours of war, Scrip-Bits, scriptures, Selah, smile, sorrow, spears into pruning hooks, spirit of resilience, staying the course, strife, tabernacle of God, too old, touches your heart, troubled times, trust, trusting, turn swords into plowshares, typhoon Haiyan, unfortunate situation, victorious God, war, wars to end, wipe away all tears, wise, worthwhile reading, Zion
Psalm 46:9. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
Well a good Tuesday morning to all you beautiful and constant readers of Scrip-Bits! It shows that you do have some faith and trust in me to keep reading what I write. Or it might even be that you have sufficient faith and trust in Almighty God to cause me to write something worthwhile reading. (smile)
Whatever your reason though, I sincerely thank you for staying the course with me, since I can’t do it without your readership and encouragement.
Anyway, I thought we’d begin today with this prayer I recently got from a Bible Study Class at my church. Some of you might know it, but as always, good prayer is never redundant or too old to read and pray again.
So together let’s invoke this prayer, titled, ‘Come Holy Spirit.’ And it says: ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in us the fire of your LOVE. Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’
Yes Friends, it’s a most worthwhile prayer, since it’s God’s Holy Spirit which works in us, leading and guiding us in the pathways of righteousness!
And right now we truly need to pray that the Lord sends His Holy Spirit amongst the disaster stricken people of the Philippines, where the recent typhoon Haiyan devastated some parts of the country. The loss of life is claimed to be in the thousands, and the destruction is exceedingly great.
Like the prayer above says, the face of the earth there definitely needs renewing. So please, let’s pray that the Lord will inspire them with a spirit of resilience and renewed faith to rebuild and keep on trusting Him, for He is indeed ever-faithful to those who sincerely follow Him.
And let’s help in any other way we can; food, clothing, money etc. because you never know, one day we might also be in an unfortunate situation, needing the help of others.
Now it’s time for our Bit: ‘He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.’
Yes my people, in these troubled times of war, rumours of war and endless strife all over God’s earth, it is a good time to see what the scriptures say about war. Yesterday we were only able to define our Bit as words of divine truth, today however, we’ll look at some scripture that supports the psalmist’s contentions.
And if you didn’t believe that our Bit was, is, and will always be words of divine truth, then listen to these words of Asaph, from Psalm 76, the victorious God.
He opens the psalm with this powerful proclamation: ‘In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. In Salem (Jerusalem) also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah. (Ps.76:1-3)
Ah Friends, more words of glorious godly truth! But just in case you still don’t believe, then hear these words of that great man of God, Isaiah, re the day of the Lord.
‘And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks (pruning knives): nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.’ (Is.2:4)
And all God’s people declared a loud and thankful: ‘GLORY HALLELUJAH! NO MORE WAR!
Oh mih breddren, mih breddren, that must get to the very depths of your consciousness and convince you! But just in case it didn’t, please listen to John from Revelation, re the new earth and the new heaven.
‘And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’ (Rev. 21:3-4)
Oh Friends, what a mighty promise from our Mighty God! Just imagine that nuh; no more negative things in all the earth, which means no more war, just peace and LOVE! Mama Mia! I can’t wait for that day people!
Hopefully my enthusiasm is catching, (smile) but just in case you’re still not convinced of the truth of all you’ve read and heard, then Friends, all I can say is that I’m truly sorry for you, and sincerely hope that the Lord touches your heart at some stage before you go to meet Him.
And for all you who truly believe, please, let’s keep on believing and trusting in our great God, and move from strength to strength, as we keep on keeping on, building and furthering His glorious kingdom, and glorifying His Most Holy Name! Much LOVE!
…if we don’t believe the Bible…God’s Holy Word…what’s the point in believing in God at all eh…
P.S. It’s nice and short today, so smile and enjoy it. Selah.
17 Oct 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all things are possible with God, almighty god, alterations, Americans out of work, beasts of the earth, begin where you are, binds up, Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, change of circumstances, chastens, Christ's followers, comforting scripture, confidence, correction, Cousin Sol, descendants, desire of the wicked, desolation, dicouragement, diligently seek god, don't give up, don't let life discourage you, economic pressure, Eliphaz, ever-faithful God, evil tidings, exalted with honour, faith, famine, fear, full age, glorious kingdom, gnashing of teeth, God's promises, gospel truth, hard and scary times, heart is steadfast in the Lord, heavenly government, in league with, inspirational messages, Job, keep on keeping on, live by faith, make whole, makes sore, Mormon Tabernacle Radio, most powerful force in the universe, offspring, peace, perish, petty. selfish ideology, please God, positive transformation, power of the sword, prosperous, rebuke, redeem from death, remembrance, righteous, righteous servants, righteousness., scourge of the tongue, shock of corn, sin, stay tuned to god, strength, terror, the first step is the hardest, the grass of the earth, the longest journey begins with the first step, The Lord's your confidence, the tough get going, the vicissitudes of life, travesty of justice, trouble, U.S House of Representatives, war, when the going gets tough, worthwhile ambassadors of Jesus
Proverbs 3:25-26. Be not afraid of sudden fear (terror), neither of the desolation (trouble) of the wicked when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken (caught).
Oh Friends, at long last the nonsense in the U.S. House of Representatives seems to be over! Ah Lord eh! And would you believe some of them are still griping, figuring that the country should have been allowed to go even further to the dogs than it has already gone, simply because of their petty, selfish ideology! Steups!
And I’m sure most of those who are still whining can afford to put up with some economic pressure, so they were quite content to put millions of poor and needy Americans out of work for two weeks. And in any case, they, the Reps, were still getting paid. What does that say about them eh? What a travesty of justice!
However my people, as they say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And that’s gospel truth where Christ’s followers are concerned!
Now I want to share an interesting quote attributed to Richard L. Evans (1906-1971) a writer and Mormon scholar, who apparently delivered many inspirational messages over Mormon Tabernacle Radio. He solemnly and wisely advises: ‘Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.’
That’s more gospel truth, my fellow believers! For to get from one place to the next, you have to begin wherever you are. As the old Chinese proverb asserts: the longest journey begins with the first step. And that first step is usually the hardest.
So this morning I want to encourage us, not to let changes in life discourage us, for we can always start again if necessary. And remember, when you’re working in league with, in close alliance with the most potent and powerful force in the universe, Almighty God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!
So please don’t give up, or give in to the vicissitudes of life, for they are simply what life is all about; alterations to the way we live and changes of circumstances. And though our lives can be drastically altered, and our circumstances seriously changed, we have to keep hanging in, stay tuned to God, and eventually we’ll see positive transformation, because that’s what our ever-faithful God has promised.
And please remember it’s by faith we live, not by sight, and we cannot please God if we don’t believe and behave like He is whom He says He is; One who rewards those who diligently seek Him. (Heb.11:6)
Now let’s check out our Bit, where Cousin Sol confidently proclaims: ‘Be not afraid of sudden fear (terror), neither of the desolation (trouble) of the wicked when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken (caught).’
Oh my brethren, what encouraging and comforting scripture! Who else is like unto our God eh? NOBODY! That’s why we have to keep keeping on in faith during those hard and scary times.
And it’s now time to look at some other scriptures which corroborate the advice of our Bit. First up is scripture from the Book of Job, where Eliphaz, Job’s buddy is rebuking him.
‘Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: for he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power (hand) of the sword.
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. For thou shalt be in league (have a covenant) with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle (your tent) shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin (find nothing amiss). Thou shalt know also that thy seed (descendants) shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth (plentiful).
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season. Lo, this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.’ (Job 5:17-17)
Oh Friends, I never intended to use all that scripture, but after reading it, I realized that we needed it all, for it shows just how good and great is our God to us.
And we’ll end with one more passage of scripture, that from Psalm 112, superscripted, Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. And the psalmist unhesitatingly declares: ‘Surely he shall not be moved (shaken) for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed (steadfast) in the Lord.
His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. He hath dispersed (distributed abroad), he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn (strength) shall be exalted with honour. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away; the desire of the wicked shall perish.’ (Ps.112:6-10)
Oh my people, there’s no more to say, for it’s all been said right there! The righteous shall be prosperous and the wicked shall be extinguished.
So please, today, let us all go out into this evil, unfriendly world and do our best to be righteous servants and followers of Jesus Christ, so that we can be good representatives – unlike those in the U.S. House of Reps. -worthwhile ambassadors of His heavenly government, thus furthering His glorious kingdom. Much LOVE!
…the faithful promises of Almighty God…keep His followers faithful…
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