Contemplating the Awesome Benefits of Close Communion with God! Part 2.

01 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 103:2.        Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

Awright friends, it’s our lazy-day Saturday, and a bright and sunshiny though pretty cold one; something like minus 13. Nevertheless, it’s so good to see some sunshine after such a long period of damp, cloudy and dreary winter days. The sun almost blinded me when I opened the blinds a short while ago, and I said to myself, that can’t be true, sunshine after all this time? But it is true, and we thank the Lord, for His goodness to us undeserving children of men! (smile) Anyway, enough prattle, let’s turn to our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer and offer it up with all sincerity and truth. 

As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

Oh my people, that prayer is so sweet and compelling that if our voices came from a sincere heart with right motives, the Lord cannot help but answer it with a rush of peace, calm and contentment to our needy souls. Did you feel it? I certainly did. I felt that calm and peaceful feeling just washing over me, helping me to let go of any anxieties and fears that I hitherto had. Hope the same thing happened to you, for our God is a God of comfort and peace. As Bruh Paul calls Him: ‘the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.’ (2 Cor. 1:3) And so He is! 

Now, yesterday we began looking at some of the many benefits to be had in God’s kingdom, taking our cue from Bruh David’s words in Psalm 103: ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.’ (Ps. 103:2) But unfortunately, we ran out of time after talking about two of the biggest benefits, forgiveness of sins, and healing of our diseases. So, let’s continue now with the list of benefits that Bruh David identifies. ‘Who redeemeth thy life from destruction…’ 

Now what does that mean? Well, basically “Redeeming” signifies God’s act of rescuing or saving someone from a perilous situation, in this case, from destruction. And we see it all throughout the Bible where God rescues His people from destruction. It’s a sacred promise found in Psalm 5: ‘But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest (protects, covers) them: let them also that LOVE thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass (surround) him as with a shield.’ (Ps. 5:11-12) 

And nowhere do we see that better than in Psalm 107, titled ‘God’s Redemptive Power.’ It reads: ‘O Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy (LOVING-KINDNESS) endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. 

They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary (desolate) way, they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-KINDNESS), and for his wonderful works to the children of men!’ (Ps. 107:1-8) 

Oh friends, in times of distress, when we cry out to God for help, He hears and answers. Meanwhile, ‘In the New Testament, “redemption” refers to the act of being saved from sin and its consequences through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, essentially “buying back” humanity from the bondage of sin by paying the price through his blood on the cross, allowing reconciliation with God and the possibility of eternal life; this is considered the central act of salvation in Christianity.’  And Bruh Paul puts it thus to the church at Ephesus: ‘In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.’ (Eph. 1:7) 

And when we come to the next benefit; ‘who crowneth thee with (LOVING-KINDESS) and tender mercies;’ (Ps. 103:4b) it all dovetails very nicely, because when the Lord redeems us from our distresses, be they sins or physical disasters, He also crowns us with His awesome grace, favour and mercy. One is a natural part of the other. He won’t simply redeem us then leave us to our own designs. No way! Our God does everything in totality. And this next benefit tells it exactly like it is: ‘Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.’ (Ps. 103:5) 

The Lord gives us good food to eat, when we’re hungry, like He gave the Israelites manna in the wilderness for forty years, and also puts good words in our mouths, from His Word. The two of them combine to renew both our physical and spiritual selves. As Isaiah says in these well-known verses: ‘Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 

He giveth power to the faint (weak); and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.’ (Is. 40:28-31) 

Oh my fellow saints, on this lazy-day Saturday, the first day of February 2025, let’s take time to ponder all that we’ve said and allow it to renew both our faith and our physical energy, so that we can mount up with wings as eagles, and not grow weary in doing the Lord’s work! Much LOVE!

…Almighty God is a total God…in Him… EVERYTHING can be found for living life…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 October 2020 Matthew 9:37.

28 Oct 2020 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Matthew 9:37.     ​Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;

So it’s Wednesday eh? What’s new eh? Not a blooming thing! The increasing aches and pains of an ageing body are still here (smile) …and so is the pandemic…and all the other strife and hatred that’s currently filling our world…and which portends to get even worse as the U.S elections draw nearer. Every day more angry rhetoric is been spewed out and more injustice meted out to the innocent by the purveyors of evil. 

As Bob Marley so wisely predicted some years ago: ‘And everywhere will be war…ah say war…’ And it seems to be coming true as we get more disunited, distrustful, disgruntled and begin showing our real evil and sinful selves. Obviously what we need is more Jesus, but too many of us are not seeing it that way. We insist in living in the carnality of the flesh, doing it our way, although our way doesn’t seem to be working. 

Oh, the stubbornness of mankind always amazes me. If one thing isn’t working, why not try something else eh? Satan’s way certainly isn’t working, so why not try Jesus’ way eh? Those are the only two options we have. But we so blooming hard-headed and prideful and anti-God, that we refuse to try the Almighty despite our lives falling apart, being steadily washed away, like sand on the seashore. 

Oh mih people, I don’t know what to say nuh. I need wisdom and guidance, words from Almighty God that I can share with you, that will convince and encourage you to turn to Him in these desperate and troubled times. And as I was just leafing through the Good Book, I came upon these words of Jesus, back when He was talking to the disciples about few labourers for the task of discipleship. And isn’t that the living truth today too! 

Hear the Good Book: ‘But when he (Jesus) saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted (were weary), and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.’ (Matt. 9:36-38) 

And that my fellow saints in Christ is the indisputable truth! If there were more of us serious saints out in the evil, killing fields, doing our best to harvest the crop of unbelievers, diligently spreading the gospel of Christ, and truly showing it by the exemplary example of our lives, our world would certainly not be as bad as it is. The prince of darkness would definitely not have such a strangle hold on it. And the scholars agree, as they add their two cents worth. ‘Verses 37 and 38 constitute one of the great missionary passages of the New Testament. Jesus pictures the world as a great spiritual harvest in need of labourers to gather it into the storehouse.’ 

And believe me, right now, Jesus is sitting down in heaven, with an awesome amount of compassion in His heart, remembering those immortal words and thinking the same thing: there just aren’t enough labourers, enough of His saints, to harvest the multitude of unbelievers in this crazy and evil world. Oh friends, the multitudes of this current world are certainly scattered abroad, weary and tired and without hope, like sheep that have no shepherd. 

But we know the Good Shepherd, Jesus is His name, and remember He gave us that Great Commission to go out and make disciples of all the world, teaching them everything that He had taught us, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and promising that He would always be with us, right down to the very wire of life? But we’re not doing it to the best of our ability, that’s why the devil is holding most of the cards right now. The saints of Christ have forsaken their bounden duty, through fear, compromise, and simple apathy. 

And if we the labourers aren’t out there sincerely harvesting and teaching, and making disciples, who are going to do it eh? It seems that we’ve forgotten the great promise of God delivered through His prophet Isaiah. ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper (succeed); and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of (from) me, saith the Lord.’ (Is. 54:17) 

So are we servants of the Lord or not? And if so, why are we so fearful of what the world has to say or does eh? Remember the two words Jesus used so often hear on earth: ‘FEAR NOT!’ It would certainly do us good to powerfully reinstate them in our hearts, souls, bellies and backbones at this most critical juncture in the history of mankind. And like we’ve also forgotten these very important words of Bruh Paul, re the power of the gospel. ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Gentile).’ (Rom. 1:16) 

And the living truth my people is that too many of us, supposed saints are actually ashamed of Christ’s gospel, that’s why we don’t share it, and instead live these fearful lives of compromise and shame. But please remember that the gospel of Christ is the ONLY thing that will bring mankind to salvation, to reconciliation with God, and a spot in heaven for eternity! The only other option is hellfire and brimstone with Satan in the depths of hell! Is that what we desire for ourselves and those near and dear to us? I doubt it. So let’s get rid of the fear and anxiety nuh. With the backing power of Jesus we can do all things. 

Yuh know how we LOVE to quote that scripture. (smile) Well let’s put it into action instead nuh. Yeh talk is cheap but LOVE and compassion demand action and sacrifice, and Jesus gave us that example in living colour. So let’s get up off our lazy, fearful fannies and follow it nuh. The kingdom desperately needs us right now! And for those of us who are trying to make a difference, let’s go home now declaring (awrighttt!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all a

nd sundry know of our strong and sincere position in Christ Jesus. All together 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 need to be reminded that if we endure until the end, as good labourers and harvesters, our future will be even more glorious than we can ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…it’s time for the soldiers of Christ to come together…form ONE coherent army…and fight…fight the good fight…it’s the ONLY way…to obtain victory…  

Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 July 2019 Matthew 13:57.

13 Jul 2019 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Matthew 13:57.    ​A prophet is not without honour, save (except) in his own country, and in his own house.
 

Oh my people, you’ll notice that the Bit is rather early today. (smile) That’s because I went to bed fairly early last night, slept through the night and got up early this morning! Brother! No fun in that at all. (smile) Neither was there any fun in what was supposed to be my last radiation treatment yesterday…

Steups! What a fiasco! Especially since I had a whole entourage (smile) (3 people) there to witness and record the end circumstances for posterity. Chuh man! But I guess it just wasn’t in the Lord’s plan for me yesterday, possibly because I was too vociferous and boastful early on in the Bit. Who knows? 

But everything that could go wrong went wrong; with both bowels and bladder, so we had to cancel the last treatment until Monday. But what yuh going to do eh? If that’s the Lord’s will, then you just have to grin and bear it. Anyway, it’s Saturday, so let’s turn to the quotes that our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. 

And the first one says: ‘Don’t find the fault, find the remedy.’ Now I’m going to play the devil’s advocate here (smile) by asking, if there’s no fault, then how can there be a remedy eh? But most likely he means that so many of us like to complain and find fault, that instead of always focusing on the problem, we should more often focus on the solution to the problem. 

And that’s the gospel truth, especially in this feeble and fragile world of today that’s littered with more complaints than anything else. We complain about everything, find fault with everything, and are never satisfied, even when we get what we asked for. But that’s just the world eh friends, not we believers in Christ…Hn! I wish! 

Now the next one is similar to the first: ‘The goal of an effective leader is to recondition your team, to be solution focused and not problem focused.’ The same thing applies here, except to leaders. They must be focused on finding solutions, not dwelling on problems, because as they go, so will their followers. So if a leader is always harping on the problems, more likely than not the followers will be doing the same, and no organization can grow and thrive unless they are all looking to the positive side of the ledger. 

And the third quote tells us: ‘To handle yourself, use you head; to handle others, use your heart.’ I’m not sure I understand what he means there, but I’m supposing that in looking after your own interests, you should use your head, head knowledge and wisdom, but in dealing with others, it should all come from your heart, in a godly and generous manner. 

Now if that’s what he means, then there is a fair amount of truth in it, but please friends, in this greedy, deceitful and fraudulent world, we can’t always let out godly hearts and intentions run away with us, since people are liable to take serious advantage of the goodness of our nature. 

The world’s not as trustworthy as it once was, and contracts and agreements nowadays are meant to be broken. There is always some fine writing that you never look at that let’s them off the hook. So please make sure that your head is looking out for your heart. 

And the last quote tells us: ‘Great things never came from comfort zones.’ And that’s the living truth! No one who’s ever done great things has ever done it comfortably sitting in their living rooms. They always had to go out on a limb, take a risk, face disappointment and seeming failure, as well as condemnation from friends and families. 

Just read the stories of people like Thomas Edison, who gave us the light bulb; Walt Disney, who was touted as failure in his early years, but look at what he created. And look at Henry Ford. Yuh think he had it easy building his cars. Not on your life. But the greatest example of them all is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! 

Just look at how he moved from being the God and creator of this world to being a humble, lowly man, born in a manger, not even a palace, but a smelly animal barn. Then grew up as a carpenter, and no, he didn’t have all the power tools that we have today, so it was hard, physical labour all the way. 

Then when He began His ministry, it was as an itinerant preacher, as He told the scribe who wanted to follow Him. “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.’ (Matt.8:20) Not only didn’t He have a permanent place of residence, but He was also mocked and scorned by those around Him, the very ones he had come to save. Even His family didn’t believe in Him. 

And yuh see how they treated Him in His own hometown of Nazareth after He read the scripture from Isaiah and intimated that it related to Him. They all got hot and bothered thinking that the carpenter’s son, whom they all knew growing up was getting a bit uppity, taking such airs and graces upon Himself and tried to throw him off a cliff. ‘But He passing through the midst of them went on his way.’ (Luke 4:16-30) 

And it was in His own hometown of Nazareth that Jesus mouthed these words of immortal truth. ‘A prophet is not without honour, save (except) in his own country, and in his own house.’ How true that is my fellow saints in Christ. Many a great person has been looked on with disfavour by those close to them. And strangely enough, Nazareth was one of the very few places that Jesus did no miracles or mighty works, simply because of their unbelief. 

And we don’t have time to talk about all the unfair, and unjust ‘sufferation’ that Jesus endured so that He could build the greatest body, the most powerful organization the world has ever seen, the Christian church, which has lasted for over two thousand years, and is set down to last until eternity. 

So friends, if we want to do great things, we can’t only sit down and talk about them, we have to get up off of our comfortable fannies and put in the blood, sweat and tears required of every great and or lasting achievement; just like Christ did! And please note, He did it all on our behalf. 

He didn’t have to, but the Father asked, and being the obedient Son that He was, He got up off His comfortable rear end in heaven and came down to the hellhole we call earth and selflessly and sacrificially suffered to atone for our abominable sins and bring us into reconciliation with the Father. Now that is indeed the greatest deed ever done on this earth! Please acknowledge and respect it like you ought to. Much LOVE!

…doing great and worthwhile stuff…requires…great and worthwhile effort…