26 Oct 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a forgotten word, after the image of God, and the lust thereof, anger. greed, bandied about, Bible, blessed are the meek, cease from anger, Christian, deepen my breath, evildoers shall be cut off, faith, fight the good fight, filthy communication, forsake wrath, god, hang all the law and the prophets, he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever, holy spirit, increase my awareness of you, intimacy with god, jealousy, Jesus Christ, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, lie not one to another, LOVE, Love the Lord thy God, Love thy neighbour as thyself, negative attirudes, negative sentiments, not of the Father, of the world, on these two commandments, personal desires, physical desires, put off the old man, put on the new man, quiet my soul, relax my muscles, renewed in knowledge, resntment, salvation, sanctify them through thy truth, seek those things which are above, self-interest, sincerity, slow my thoughts, thank you for this tenderness, the corruptible things of earth, the first and great commandment, the incorruptible things of heaven, the Lord's presence, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, the second is like unto it, the things of the world, the world passeth away, they are not of the world, they shall inherit the earth, those that wait upon the Lord, thy word is truth, truth, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, wisdom, with all thy heart soul and mind, your love both surrounds and fills me, your peace and love are present, your unceasing nearness
Matthew 22:37. Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Oh, it’s another sunshiny day in my area, though somewhat blustery, with seasonal temperatures, and the leaves are now truly beginning to fall. But that’s what fall is all about; blowing wind and falling colourful leaves with some rain. And though it’s all good when the sun shines, we haven’t seen the other part of the equation, that’s rain, for almost a couple of weeks now, although it’s been promised several times by the weather people.
And until such time as the rain decides to bless us, we’ll just have to grin and painfully bear the sunshine. (smile) And I did have a nice li’l lazy day Saturday reprieve, as I went to bed rather late this morning. But enough with the unimportant stuff, let’s get 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!’
Ah friends, there’s’ nothing better than achieving more intimacy with God, of going deeper and deeper into His presence! And that’s only possible when we sincerely seek Him, as Jesus explains. ‘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)
Yes my fellow believers, the abiding principle in the law of God, is LOVE! That’s His greatest attribute, and what should be the prevailing sentiments and emotions on His earth. But it certainly is not. For hate, anger, resentment, strife, greed, jealousy and all the other negative sentiments and emotions are currently ruling the world. LOVE is a forgotten word, and even when remembered, it’s merely bandied about trivially, with no real respect for it’s true meaning.
And with the negative emotions in prominence, there’s no wonder that our world is in a state of chaos, and fading fast away as the negatives become even more prevalent, and LOVE recedes even further into the background. And the scriptures warn us about the very bad effects of those negative attitudes.
Listen to this one from that famous Psalm 37 – Trust in the Lord. Bruh David spells it out loud and clear. ‘Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil (for it only causes harm). For evildoers shall be cut off (destroyed): but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.’ (Ps. 37:8-9)
And Jesus said it thus in the Sermon on the Mount, as He taught the Beatitudes: ‘Blessed are the meek, for thy shall inherit the earth.’ (Matt. 5:5) Yes, my brethren, the meek are those that have humbled themselves before God, have strength and power, but don’t abuse it, they can control their sinful urges, and instead wait on God’s direction to use His gifts for the good purposes He desires.
Meanwhile, Bruh Paul had this to say to the Colossians. ‘If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection (mind) on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore (put to death) your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection (passion), evil concupiscence (desire), and covetousness, which is idolatry:
For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:’ (Col. 3:1-10)
And that’s how it ought to be when we receive Christ as Saviour! We put away the sinful things of our old life and take up the new and LOVING things of God! Looking more unto the incorruptible things of heaven, than the corruptible things of the earth. Unfortunately though, too many supposed Christians are still indulging too much in the things of the world and not enough in the things of heaven. We are allowing the things of the world to influence us too much.
Remember what Jesus said in His prayer for the disciples? ‘They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them (set them apart) through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.’ (John 17:16-19)
Yes my fellow believers, Jesus sent us into the world to continue His task of bringing sinners to repentance, and like Him, we are NOT supposed to allow the world to instill their worldly thoughts into us, because we know the truth, which is God’s Word. We do have to dwell IN the world to be able to do His work, but we don’t have to be OF the world. And that’s where many of us are falling down in our Christian walk. We’re allowing the ungodly and sinful things of the world to seep into our souls and spirits, thus negating the work we should be doing for Christ.
Thus Satan is winning the battle over us, as John says in his first epistle. ‘For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (physical desires), and the lust of the eyes (personal desires), and the pride of life (self-interests), 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 forever.’ (1 John 2:16-17)
Oh my fellow saints, our world is going through a very rough time right now, and consequently we are suffering more than is necessary, but we only have ourselves to blame for the terrible state of God’s great earth. For, if all the supposed Christians would get up and live more of the true Christian life, we would not be in such a dire state of tremendous trials and tribulations. And, only as we seriously stand up and fight the good fight for Christ, will things ever improve. Let’s go home considering that today nuh, in light of what it will mean for our children’s children and their children. Much LOVE!
…only as true LOVE comes back into our world…will it ever improve…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
12 Oct 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a false witness, a heart that devises wicked schemes, a lying tongue, a proud look, a warning from God, abominations in the Lord's sight, Bible, christianity, deepen my breath, disaster-prone earth, dying at the cross of Calvary, eterna separation, eternal death, eternal life, faith, fearful times, forgiveness of sins, getting back into God's good graces, god, godly light, hands that shed innocent blood, hardhearted creatures, haughty eyes, he that sows discord amongst brethren, I am the way the truth and the life, I may know you all the more, increase my awareness of you today, intimacy with god, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, LOVE, no man comes to the Father but by me, nothing to lose in turning back to God, obedience, quiet my soul, relax my muscles, salvation, seven are an abomination unto him, share love, sincerely seek Christ, sinful, sinful bondage, sinful darkness, sinners set free, six things the Lord hates, slow my thoughts, struggling, sweet swift to run to mischief, tenderness, Thanksgiving Saturday, the gift of God is eternal life, the One True God, the wages of sin is death, truth, ungodly, waiting with wide open arms, welcome us back to His fold, wisdom, your unceasing nearness
Proverbs 6:16. These six things doth the Lord hate: yea seven are an abomination unto him (his soul).
Oh, it’s a beautiful lazy-day Thanksgiving Saturday in my neighbourhood; bright and sunshiny, though somewhat windy and cool. But it’s the middle of October in the northern climes, so what do we expect eh? We’re blessed that it’s not colder at this time of year, and temps are still getting up into the teens.
But be that as it may, I certainly enjoyed the largesse of our lazy-day Saturday, by lolling around in bed quite late. That was only made possible though by my going to bed at a rather late hour this morning, consequently, the Bit is even later than usual. But it’s a lazy-day Saturday…and what’s a lazy-day Saturday for if not to loll around and do very little …or even nothing? (smile)
Anyhow, enough of my excuses, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with all sincerity. 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!’
And, oh, how our lives and our world would benefit enormously if many more of us would turn to God and sincerely seek greater intimacy with Him! Remember, that’s one of the major reasons for which He created us; to have strong communion with Him, and share LOVE back and forth! But sadly, our world and many in our Christian faith don’t seem to see it that way, thus, comparatively speaking, there’s a big void, very little intimacy between our Creator and the millions of His creation who walk this ungodly and disaster-prone earth.
And that could never be a good or pleasant situation my fellow believers. How could it be when we have little true and sincere communication between ourselves and the One who created us and still controls our lives eh? And it doesn’t make any sense when we’re down here struggling in these fearful times, having tried all of man’s solutions without success, that we simply refuse to turn to God, which is the best option there is.
The one good thing about the Israelites of old is that when they strayed from God and He punished them for it, they had the good sense to run back to Him as quickly as possible in repentance and soul searching. But we, we have grown so big for our britches, so sinful and ungodly, with all our wonderful technology and modern inventions, that we don’t even give turning back to God a thought, a possible solution, when our world is falling apart around us. Hn! What foolish, arrogant, stubborn and hardhearted creatures we’ve become.
Please my people, let’s remember these wise words of Cousin Sol in Proverbs. ‘These six things doth the Lord hate: yea seven are an abomination unto him (his soul). A proud look (haughty eyes), a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations (devises wicked plans), feet that are swift in running to mischief (evil), A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren.’ (Prov. 6:16-19) And unless you’re living on some other planet, you will know that all those things that are abominations in the Lord’s sight are the very things that are currently very prevalent on this planet Earth!
Now, if the Lord so strongly dislikes those practices, it’s obvious that He will also dislike and reject the people who practice them. And right there we have ample reason to contemplate the sad state of our world and all the disasters that are suddenly befalling it with greater frequency than usual. I don’t know why, but with every new disaster, natural or man-made, I keep thinking that this is a warning from God.
And even if I am wrong, what do we have to lose by sincerely turning back to God, giving up our evil ways, renewing our communion with Him, and thus getting back into His good graces. It’s foolish to be wanting to stay in Satan’s good graces when he can do nothing but negative stuff for us, when the One True God, Jehovah who created the word and all therein, is waiting with wide open arms to welcome us back to His magnificent fold.
That’s the wise position we ought to pursue, but unfortunately Satan has so many of us so wrapped up in his evil doings, so caught in sinful bondage, while keeping us in total darkness, that it’s become rather difficult for us to break through the darkness and the bondage of sin.
But friends, if we truly desire to do that, all we have to do is call on the name of Jesus and He will come and save us from both the bondage of sin and the oppressing darkness that Satan has us wrapped up in. He will break those bonds of sin and take us into the bright and powerful light that He represents, while offering forgiveness of sins, salvation and eternal life, instead of the eternal death and separation from God that followers of the enemy will suffer.
As the Bible so wisely and truly tells us: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom. 6:23) And the very important thing to notice there my brethren is the last phrase; ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ Yes, eternal life or any serious communication with God can only be accomplished through Jesus Christ, for, as the Son of God during His short tenure here on earth He outrightly declared (chuh!!!) ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’ (John 14:6)
And that’s the gospel truth friends! If you want to see or associate with the Father, you have to go through the Son Jesus! Why? Because the Father has promoted Him to the highest name ever for His obedience and LOVE in taking the sins of the world on His sinless shoulders and dying on the cross at Calvary so that we sad and sorrowful sinners could be set free.
So please, on this Thanksgiving Saturday, let’s contemplate all that we’ve said, and make a wise decision to sincerely seek Christ with all of our hearts, souls, bodies and minds, for it’s what He truly desires! Much LOVE!
…man was made to live in godly light…not sinful darkness…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
05 Oct 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a new commandment I give unto you, as I have loved you, Christ's Church, deepen my breath, eternal life, every one that loveth is born of God, found wanting, getting on in age, God is LOVE, herein is love, I praise you for your unceasing nearness, I praise you Lord, I want to be with you now, intimacy with god, it's all about love, Jesus Christ, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, lip service, LOVE, many religions but only one devil, quiet my soul, relax my muscles, salvation, slow my thoughts, stony hearts, thank you for this tenderness, that ye love one another, the Christian rel, the last days, the message ye heard from the beginning, the propitiation for our sins, their heart is far from me, they draw nigh unto me with their mouth, wisdom, ye also love one another
John 13:34. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another.
Oh friends, it’s another beautiful sunshiny summer-like day in my neck of the woods. And I’ve been taking full advantage of the lazy-day Saturday laziness. (smile) I’ve just come back from out on my front porch enjoying the heat of the sun pulsing through my aging bones. You know, you never truly appreciate the heat of the sun until you’re getting on in age, and your bones keep needing more heat to keep them warm. Hope you understand the parable in that. (smile) And since we’re thankful for the breath of life that’s still flowing through us, through the new mercies and compassions of our great God, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer in 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!’
And there’s no feeling our God enjoys more than when His children come to Him sincerely seeking His presence, seeking more intimacy with Him. And why is that you ask? Oh, it’s a simple but ever so beautiful answer. It’s because one of His major reasons for creating us was to have close intimacy with Him. That’s why He’s always so pleased and cannot refuse any sincere request to draw closer to Him. So, on this lazy-day Saturday let’s bask in the sunshine of God’s awesome presence, as He pours out His amazing LOVE and compassion on us.
And although I don’t want to spoil the quiet, peaceful moments in God’s presence, we do have to face the reality of our earthly situation. For the last few days we’ve been considering the state of our world as concerning the signs of the last days of the church age, and we’ve been sadly found wanting. Now to top it all off, here’s a most depressing and discouraging statement I received via e-mail today. It says: ‘4,200 religions in the world and 1 devil, yet they are still not winning.’
Now, if the amazing number of religions is anywhere close to true, and we’re still not winning the war against the 1 devil, then things are really bad with us. What I do know is that there are many denominations within the Christian religion, but they are so divided and alienated on a lot of petty circumstances and doctrines, that the enemy has little or no problem in making our work for Jesus of no account. That’s why Jesus said to the disciples, and consequently to all believers: ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another.’ (John 13:34)
And it couldn’t get any plainer or clearer than that. If we truly want to work for Jesus then true togetherness is required, otherwise we’d just be working at odds with each other and making no headway whatsoever. Yes my fellow believers, the first thing Christ’s church needs before it can make any real inroads on the enemy, is togetherness! For without it, the enemy simply divides and conquers us. In fact he doesn’t even have to do any division, because we do it ourselves. He just sits and waits for us to spoil each other’s testimony and witness.
That’s why Jesus also told the disciples and all future believers: ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:35) And that is certainly something the many denominations of Christ’s church don’t have for each other. There is so much petty bickering among the denominations, and even within the denominations that we spend more time fighting amongst ourselves than doing Christ’s work. No wonder the devil is winning!
And the sad part is that Jesus kept pounding into our heads the great necessity for LOVE amongst the brethren. He said it twice more to them in John 15. ‘This is my commandment, That ye LOVE one another, as I have LOVED you.’ (John 15:12) Then again a few verses later. ‘These things I command you, that ye LOVE one another.’ (John 15:17)
Oh my fellow saints, why would Jesus say the same thing so often if it wasn’t very important eh? And it’s not like we don’t know the importance of LOVE and working together to make a dream or a purpose come true. But for some reason or other, we can’t seem to put it all together to do the work Jesus commissioned us to do. And John even reminds us of it in his first epistle, where he writes: ‘For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should LOVE one other.’ (1 John 3:11)
Then John takes it a step further in his treatise on LOVE. He exhorts: ‘Beloved, let us LOVE one another: for LOVE is of God; and every one that LOVETH is born of God, and knoweth God. He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE.’ (1 John 4:7-8) Ah friends, John hits the nail right on the head there. So many of us talk glibly about LOVE, but it’s only lip service, for we don’t practice it, that means we don’t truly know God, for God is LOVE. And if we truly knew God, we’d be practicing LOVE like He demands of us.
It’s as Jesus said of the religious leaders in His time. ‘This people draweth nigh (near) unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.’ (Matt. 15:8) That’s the very same thing that exists on a rather large scale today, that’s why Christ’s church is not more effective in spreading His gospel and thus bringing more people to Him seeking salvation and eternal life.
And we’ll end with one more quote on the subject from John’s first epistle. He quite clearly explains: ‘Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:10-11)
And if all this talk on LOVING God and each other, doesn’t make a dent in our hard , stony hearts and bring some improvement to our behaviour, then I truly don’t know what else to say! Much LOVE!
…with our great God…it’s all about LOVE…everything begins and ends with LOVE…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
21 Sep 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a celebration of life, a spirit of power love and a sound mind, and now abideth faith hope love, anger, carefree boys, deepen my breath, faith, fight the good fight of faith, For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, for the purpose of sharing love, God creates people out of love, hate, I may know you all the more, increase my awareness of you today, intimacy, Jesus Christ, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, LOVE, love the Lord with all thy heart soul and mind, Love thy neighbour as thyself, of love, power, quiet my soul, relax my muscles, resentment, slow my thoughts, St. Francis 50th Anniversary, strife, the great commandment, the greatest of these three is love, the joyful presence of the Lord, the light of the world, the salt of the earth, truth, warms the cockles of God's heart, wisdom, your unceasing nearness
1 Corinthians 13:13. And now abideth faith, hope, charity (LOVE), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (LOVE).
And it’s a somewhat cool and cloudy lazy-day Saturday morning. But I’m probably noticing it because I’m up and about my Father’s business much earlier than usual. (smile)Yes friends, after a wonderful dinner and dance celebration of our Parish’s 50th Anniversary, where everyone had a wonderful time – and that’s one thing about St. Francis, whenever we gather together, we always have a good time, because that’s just the kind of believers we are, famously led by our august priest and party leader, Fr. Jeff Brown. (smile)
But on a more serious note, I’m up this early because we now have to gather in church for a celebration of life (funeral) for one of our parishioners, Bob Wilson, who recently passed away from that evil scourge of our time, cancer. Our condolences go out to his wife, Angela, their paraplegic son, Luke and the rest of his family. I can’t sing the praises of those parents enough for the way I saw them take care of Luke over the years with such devotion and LOVE, bringing him to church continually when he was able to come.
Now, Luke is not always easy to take care of with his mischievous and joyful self, despite his physical limitations. And whenever I do see him, whether it’s at church or some other function, we joyfully disrupt the proceedings, like two, young, carefree boys. I’m looking forward to seeing him this morning, because I haven’t seen him for a while, although, under the prevailing circumstances, we might just be on our best behaviour today. (smile)
So, with that grieving family in mind, and the comfort that we hope the Lord provides them, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer 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!’
Just wait for it friends, it’ll be there in a moment; that increased joyful presence of the Lord that we just prayed for, because the Lord always answers prayers for an increase of His presence in our souls, minds, spirits and bodies. He just cannot refuse such a request because it so warms the cockles of His heart when His most wonderful creation, mankind, seeks more of Him. It’s His greatest joy, because great intimacy is what He created us for.
And I like how this commentary succinctly but very nicely explains why God made us. ‘He created people out of LOVE for the purpose of sharing LOVE. People were created to LOVE God and each other. Additionally, when God created people, He gave them good work to do so that they might experience God’s goodness and reflect his image in the way they care for the world and for each other.’
And that’s it in a nutshell my fellow believers; God made us out of the deep LOVE of His magnificent and awesome Being, to share LOVE with Him and with others! Yes, LOVE is our number ONE purpose on this earth. That’s why the Greatest Commandment is as Jesus says: 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)
Yes friends, everything in this world is supposed to hang on God’s greatest attribute – LOVE! That’s why Bruh Paul could so assuredly write thus to the church at Corinth: ‘And now abideth faith, hope, charity (LOVE), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (LOVE).’ (1 Cor. 13:13) And there’s no doubting that statement my brethren, LOVE is indeed the greatest of all emotions.
However, that then brings this rather disturbing question to the forefront. Why is our world so filled with hate, anger and self-loathing instead of the LOVE that God made us to enjoy and share with Him and with our fellow man? If you were a new visitor to our planet, you would certainly believe that things like hate and anger, resentment and strife are the most important things. LOVE would never cross your mind as being important, since it’s not very significant in our current society.
No wonder our society is quickly falling apart, because those negative emotions and sentiments are rampant all over our world, and they tear things apart, while LOVE draws us together. God made us to live together through LOVE, but Satan’s ensuring that we fall apart through his hate, deceit, lies and ungodly attitudes.
But yuh know what my fellow saints, we have the antidote for all that Satan’s choses or desires to bring against us; the LOVE and wonderful promises of Almighty God. However, like all antidotes, they won’t work unless we apply them to the negative situations. That means gaining more LOVE for God, ourselves and our fellow man, through prayer, and meditation on God’s Word, then spreading it far and wide, putting it into practice just like Satan put’s his evil works into practice.
And we can certainly do it, because Christ has given us the necessary tools to do so. But first, we have to let go of our fear of what man can do to us, and instead pump up our courage that comes from God. Remember these reassuring words from Bruh Paul to Timothy: ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound (disciplined) mind.’ (2 Tim. 1:7)
That means by being the salt of the earth and the light of the world like Jesus desires of us, we can turn this world around. It might take some time because it’s so far gone, but remember too, that nothing’s impossible to God and those who sincerely believe in Him! So let’s go home now with those powerful thoughts in mind, and let’s ponder them long and hard, and hopefully come to the conclusion that we will get up and fight the good fight of faith and turn things around, all in Jesus’ strong and mighty name! Much LOVE!
…only as there is an excess of godly LOVE over hate…will our world ever prosper and succeed…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
14 Sep 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: after that ye have suffered a while, all that glistens is not gold, and forget not all his benefits, as a roaring lion, as far as the east is from the west, baubles and bangles, be sober, be vigilant, Bible, bless the LOrd o my soul, blessing, both thou and thy seed may live, called us unto his eternal glory, callous and cruel world, casting all your care upon him, choose life, christianity, crowns thee with loving-kindness, cursing, death, deepen my breath, don't save earthly treasures, faith, forget not all his benefits, forgives thine iniquities, God's awesome presence, God's benefits, heals all thy diseases, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, I may know you all the more, increase my awareness of you today, Jesus Christ, keep God first place in our lives, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, life, LOVE, make you perfect, mercy, moth and rust doth corrupt, quiet my soul, redeems thy life from destruction, relax my muscles, relax my musclesslow my thoughts, satisfies thy mouth with good things, save up treasures in heaven, seeking whom he may devour, showers us with undeserved blessings, so far has God removed our transgressions, steadfast resit in the faith, tender mercies, thank you for this tenderness, the God of all grace, the real McCoy, the sinful pleasures of Satan, thieves break through and steal, thy youth is renewed like the eagle's, to him be glory and dominion, trust, truth, walking on air, walks about, wisdom, wisdom in spades, your adversary the devil, your love both surrounds and fills me, your unceasing nearness
Psalm 103:2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
At last it’s our lazy-day Saturday, where we can do as we please; laze about or work hard about the house… Hn! Work hard… Not likely! It’s a day to just take things easy; to contemplate life; to consider our future in terms of our present. Although even that sounds too difficult to do today. (smile) One thing we’re going to do for sure though, is to send up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer to heaven.
So, as one sincere 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!’
And what more can you ask on a lazy-day than the Lord’s awesome presence in abundance eh? Nothing! Because it makes us feel light and refreshed, like we’re walking on air, we can’t do any wrong! (smile) But how can we with the Lord’s presence so strong in us eh? No way! And it’s sad that more of us don’t seek the Lord and a greater showing of His presence in our lives. Oh, how that would alleviate much of the pain and suffering that so many of us experience in this cold, callous and cruel world. But for whatever reason, too many of God’s creation shy away from Him, and thus lose the many benefits of His LOVING presence.
And we see a handful of those benefits from Bruh David’s writings in Psalm 103: ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgives all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with LOVING-kindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.’ (Ps. 103:1-5)
Oh my people, just look at the many benefits we get from associating with, from staying close to Almighty God! Why then would we ever want to go astray from His wonderful fold eh, when there’s no one, or nothing else that can offer us those marvellous and miraculous benefits? Let’s look a li’l closer at those wonderful benefits nuh. And the first one is indeed a major benefit, one that no one else can provide: ‘Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;’
Yes friends, can you imagine any other supposed God, even Satan doing that? No way! But the Lord Jehovah sent His One Son down to earth to die on our behalf, so that our sins could be forgiven. And furthermore, as Bruh David says later on in the psalm: ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.’ (Ps. 103:12)
And for that mighty deliverance, done from an heart of everlasting, unconditional LOVE, all the world should be shouting a loud and grateful ‘Praise God for His undeserving goodness to the sinful children of men!’ But, unfortunately, only a small portion of us are doing that wise and godly thing.
Then there’s this other marvellous benefit from knowing and being in close contact with God; ‘who healeth all thy diseases;’ Wow! What more can we ask eh my brethren; a kind, LOVING and compassionate God who forgives our sins, heals us and showers down undeserved blessings on us? And don’t forget that He satisfies our mouths and stomachs with good things that renew our strength like the eagles do!
Why then are we so stupid and foolish to fall for the deceptive, sinful pleasures of the evil one eh? Pleasures that only last a short while and which gets us into trouble with God. Satan does NOTHING good for us, because his total purpose is to keep us on the outs with Almighty God. And the sad part is that the stuff he offers is not even good stuff, not even the real thing, but ofttimes faked. Remember, all that glistens is not gold, and that’s where Satan exceeds; in the glittering gold-like or gold plated stuff. But with Jehovah God, we get the real stuff.
And remember what Jesus said about laying up earthly treasures; because moth and rust doth corrupt (ruin) them, and where thieves break through and steal:’ (Matt. 6:19) But the wise plan is to lay up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt (ruin), and where thieves do not break through and steal.’ (Matt. 6:20) And we do that by keeping God first place in our lives and ignoring Satan and his evil deeds and pleasures as much as possible.
But it’s not easy, however, as Peter so wisely instructs us, we ought to: ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt thee in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom steadfast resist in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in (experienced by) your brethren that are in the world.’ (2 Pet. 5:6-9)
Yes my people, Satan likes to play games with our lives, but if we hold steadfast to our faith in Christ Jesus, we will defeat him most of the time. And as Peter assures us: ‘But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish (confirm), strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (2 Pet. 5:10-11)
Oh my fellow saints, being a true Christian in this corrupt and evil world was never, and will never be easy, but if we put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ, then we will have all the tools necessary to defeat the devil and his evil cronies and live the good and abundant life down here on God’s great earth, that Jesus died for us to have. It’s all up to us, whether we take Almighty God seriously or not. However, please let’s be wise and do as Moses asked the Israelites long ago, when he placed life and death before them, as well as blessing and cursing, and then advised them ‘therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deut. 30:19)
Yes my brethren….that’s wisdom in spades! Please, let’s follow it for the sake of our children’s children! Much LOVE!
…Satan’s baubles and bangles are all fake…but God’s are the real thing…the real McCoy…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
31 Aug 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a greater presence of God in our lives, a man after God's heart, a modicum of circumspection, a new yearning for God, all these things shall be added unto you, as the hart panteth after the water brooks, Bible, Christian witness, christianity, deepen my breath, early will I seek thee, entitled life, eternal life, faith, for the living God, god, goodness, hate, I may know you all the more, I praise you for your unceasing nearness, in a dry and thirsty land, increase my awareness of you, Jesus Christ, labour day weekend, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, light of the world, LOVE, made for a time such as this, mercy, my lips shall praise thee, my soul shall be satisfied, my soul thirsteth for god, O God thou art my God, praise thee with joyful lips, proliferating darkness of the world, quiet my soul, relax my muscles, ruling the roost, salt of the earth, salvation, seek ye the kingdom of God, selfless sacrifice, slow my thoguhts, so panteth my soul after thee O God, spiritual renewal, thanksgiving, the believer's thirst for God, thy loving-kindness is better than life, thy right hand upholdeth me, trust, truth, warms the cockles of God's heart, wisdom, with marrow and fatness, your love surrounds and fills me
Psalm 42:1. As the hart panteth after (the deer longs for) the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Well, it’s the last day of August 2024! Just imagine that nuh; the summer holidays done and over with…but we still have the whole long Labour Day weekend to cavort about and get in some last minute flings. (smile) But remember, a modicum of circumspection is always the best advice in those rushed circumstances. And this lazy-day Saturday seems to be tailor-made for laziness. (smile) It’s damp and cloudy, after a big thunderstorm last night, and there might even be some more rain later in the day. But right now the sun is making a valiant effort to overcome the dark clouds that insist on holding it up.
In the meanwhile, while we enjoy a lazy Saturday morning, there’s nothing better than offering up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer. So as one sincere 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!’
Now that’s the best kind of prayer we can ever pray; asking for a greater presence of the Lord in our lives and desiring to know Him better than we already do. Because there’s nothing the Lord appreciates more than His people wanting to have a closer association with, and knowledge of Him. That kind of prayer warms the cockles of His heart and He immediately answers it. That’s why we’re now feeling the increased warmth, the LOVE, the glowing presence of our God moving in our souls and spirits.
And that mind frame just reminded me of these yearning words of the Sons of Korah from Psalm 42. ‘As the hart panteth after (the deer longs for) the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?’ (Ps. 42:1-2) Yes friends, that’s the kind of hunger and thirst we ought to have for our God, the One True Living God, Jehovah! For all that we are, everything we have, comes from, is derived from Him.
Obviously Bruh David was of the same mind, for although He was running from Saul in the wilderness of Judah, he nonetheless longed for the Lord; for spiritual renewal with thanksgiving and trust. Listen to how he puts in in Psalm 63. ‘O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen (looked for) thee in the sanctuary. Because thy LOVING-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.’ (Ps. 63:1-4)
Now that’s how we ought to feel about our great and LOVING God, my people! And some might say that Bruh David was laying it on somewhat thick because He was out in the wilderness suffering, but we all know that from a youth, out in the fields as a shepherd, he was always entranced by and calling out to God. As these other verses testify. ‘My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow (the best) and fatness (abundance); and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after (close behind) thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.’ (Ps. 63.5-8)
Yuh see what happens when we keep God first place in our hearts and souls. He helps us, and when further tough times come, we can remember that earlier help and not be afraid, but rejoice that the Lord will help us again. And that’s why Bruh David enjoyed so much of God’s goodness in his life. He never strayed far from Him, always kept Him at the forefront of his mind. And that’s how we supposed believers in Christ Jesus ought to behave. As Jesus so wisely advised: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33)
And we see that in Bruh David’s life. He kept God first place and the Lord made him the greatest king that Israel ever had. His life was not easy, but the rewards were certainly worth it. And anyway, after he became king, most of his trouble came from his own doing. The Lord could have certainly demoted him to a lowly servant for his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, but He knew that Bruh David’s heart was right, that’s why He could call him a friend, and a man after His own heart. (1 Sam. 13:14)
And that basically means Bruh David valued the things of God, and generally walked with a heart filled with faith, LOVE and repentance. Now that’s what we ought also to be doing in these very troubled and critical times, because that’s why God has us here at this particular time. We were made for a time such as this; to show forth God’s praise and glory, His goodness and mercy, and challenge others to come to Him in faith and receive salvation and eternal life! We’re not here just to live the good, comfortable, entitled life, as so many of us insist on doing.
No, we need to be sacrificing some for Jesus and those who don’t know Him, and will thus lose out on His selfless sacrifice on their behalf. That’s what Jesus expects of those who call themselves, Christians, or His followers. But unfortunately we’re not doing enough good Christian witness, otherwise the world would not be in as sorry a state as it currently is. Hate, and not LOVE, is ruling the roost.
We’re not being the true salt of the earth and the light of the world as Jesus desires. Sadly, our salt has lost its flavour, and our light has been dimmed by the proliferating darkness of this ungodly world. That means we’re not seeking God and His presence in our lives as much as we ought to. But please, let’s try and turn that around with a new yearning for our Creator, so that we can do a better job, and thus leave our children’s children a better world. Much LOVE!
…the believer’s thirst for God…is not as dire as it ought to be…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
17 Aug 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fool's wisdom, a genuine desire for the well being of another, Bible, christianity, closer to God, deepen my breath, drift away from God, every one that loveth is born of God, faith, fellowship, god, God sent His only begotten Son, great is thy faithfulness, greedy, hang all the law and the prophets, he that loveth not knoweth not God, herein is love, his compassions fail not, hold your head and bawl, hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord, howl like a hyena, I may know you all the more, if God so loved us, increase my awareness of you today, it is good that a man, It is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lazy, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, let us love one another, LOVE, love is God's greatest attribute, LOVE is of God, love is the greatest emotion, Love thy neighbour as thyself, mercy, negative news, not that we loved God but that he loved us, on these two commandments, power hungry, quiet my soul, reciprocated love, relax my muscles, run to God, s wisdom, sacrifice, sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins, slow my thoughts, strife-filled, Thank you Jesus, that we might live through Jesus, the Lord is good unto them that wait for him, the Lord is my portion saith my soul, the love of god manifested toward us, the sinsful pleasures of Satan, therefore will I hope in him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God, to the soul that seeketh him, True LOVE, truth, we ought also to love one another, wisdom, with all thy heart soul and mind, you're the Best
1 John 4:7a. Beloved, let us LOVE one another: for LOVE is of God;
And what a perfect lazy-day Saturday this is turning out to be; wet and cloudy, though somewhat humid, an excellent chance to just laze around and do nothing but laze around. (smile) I was able to enjoy some of it by staying in bed a li’l longer, only because I went to bed at a fairly late hour of the morning, so the ole bones didn’t have a chance to get creaky and cranky.
What a life! But it’s a good life, despite the many problems that do crop up, because we have our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to help us deal with them. And all God’s people said a loud and grateful: ‘Thank You Jesus! You’re the BEST! We LOVE You and praise your Holy Name!’ And that’s exactly how it ought to be! Therefore, in conjunction with that statement, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, in a sincere and heartfelt manner.
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!’
Yes friends, that’s a prayer the Lord cannot refuse, simply because He LOVES it when we desire close communion with Him. It’s the reciprocated LOVE that He desires of us, of which we spoke yesterday. And it’s one of the major reasons He created us; to want to know Him as deeply as possible, and have His awesome presence constantly present in an overwhelming manner in our hearts, souls, bodies and minds. That’s why right now we’re feeling an increase of His godly presence moving in our receptive spirits. And thus, we ought to continue looking at scriptures that show the LOVE of Jesus, as well as LOVE for Him. (smile)
And I like this commentary that asks ‘What is true LOVE in Jesus?’ Then gives this reply: ‘True LOVE is a genuine desire for the well-being of another. It is holy, sacrificial, and other-oriented. A LOVE that we can only know through the One who is LOVE Himself. God commands His people to LOVE Him with all their heart, soul, and strength.’
So when the pretentious lawyer asked Jesus what was the great commandment, He obviously replied thus: ‘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. 22:36-40)
Yuh see people, God’s plan is all about LOVE; LOVE for Him, for ourselves and each other! That’s all He asks of us. That’s because LOVE is the greatest emotion there is, and God’s greatest attribute is LOVE! As John so wisely and rightly declares in his first epistle. ‘Beloved, let us LOVE one another: for LOVE is of God; and every one that LOVETH is born of God, and knoweth God. He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE!’ (1 John 4:7-8) And you simply cannot get away from the indisputable truth of that statement: God is LOVE; and LOVE is of God!!!
Then John continues: ‘In this was manifested the LOVE of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:9-11)
Now that’s perfect logic my brethren! God showed His amazing LOVE for us by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross at Calvary to pay for our sins. You simply cannot get any deeper or greater LOVE than that! So why is it so difficult for us to reciprocate that LOVE to God, and to also show it to our fellow humans eh?
It should not be that difficult if we take into account the great sacrifice that both the Father and Jesus made on our behalf. But being the whole set of negative adjectives we’ve become; lazy, greedy, sinful, entitled, ungodly, strife-filled, power-hungry, etc. etc. it’s no wonder we find it difficult to give LOVE to God, ourselves, and other humans. The sinful pleasures of Satan have become more important than the everlasting goodness of God.
And then we wonder why our world is in such a terrible state. The answer is very simple: there’s no real LOVE in our hearts, so how can there be any in our world? And it’s interesting, but also heart-rending, that we all watch the great amount of negative news with which we are bombarded every day, and we decry it, but do we do anything about it, even in our little sphere of the world, of our family, of our neighbourhood?
No! Because that would take too much energy and sacrifice on our part, and disrupt our comfortable, cozy, amenity-filled lives. But friends, the first thing to know about LOVE is that it calls for sacrifice! You cannot truly show LOVE until and unless you’re willing to sacrifice something for someone, which includes, God, yourself and your neighbours.
And please don’t think that you’re LOVING yourself when you buy up on credit all the bright and fancy baubles and bangles that the world offers, but which you cannot really afford. No, because when the time comes to pay for them, then you’ll hold your head and bawl, howl like a hyena, especially if they come and repossess the stuff. You LOVE yourself by taking your time, doing and buying what you can afford.
And these words on the amazing LOVE of God by the prophet Jeremiah in his Lamentations, are most excellent words for us to go home to. Please read with me: ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lam. 3:22-26)
Please my fellow saints, let’s spend a few moments on this lazy-day Saturday pondering those words of awesome truth, so that they can bring us where we ought to be; closer to God! Much LOVE!
…it’s a fool’s wisdom…to drift away from God…rather than run to Him…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
10 Aug 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: apostasy, Bible, blasphemers, boasters, building up yourselves, calm, christianity, covetous, deepen my breath, denying he power thereof, engage in the works of Satan, enjoy the laziness, eternal life for those willing to believe, faith, from such turn away, god, holy spirit, I praise you for your unceasing nearness, in the last days, increase my awareness of you today, inequity, inequity is driving much of the strife in our world, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jude, know you all the more, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, looking for the mercy of Christ, LOVE, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, men shall be lovers of their own selves, mockers in the last time, perilous times shall come, praying inthe Holy Spirit, presence of god, quiet my soul, relax my muscles, religion without spiritual life, reserved unto fire, scoffers will come, separate themselves, slavery, slow my thoughts, strife-filled world, thank you for this tenderness, the church age, the promise of his coming, traitors, truth, trying times, until the day of judgement, walk after their own ungodly lusts, walking after their own lusts, we desperately need God's calm and peace, who cause divisions, wisdom, without self-control
2 Peter 3:3. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers (mockers), walking after (according to) their own lusts,
And it’s a somewhat cool and windy but sunshiny lazy-day Saturday in my neck of the woods. And I did try to stay abed a little longer, to enjoy the laziness of the day, but my old bones would have none of it. They argued that they’d had enough lying down, were getting stiff, and therefore needed to get up and move around. And, sadly, one cannot contend with those arguments, especially when there’s pain to back them up. (smile) So here we are, trying to find other ways to enjoy the laziness. And there’s’ no better way to do that than to look to heaven and offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer.
So, as one sincere and heartfelt 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!’
Now, having offered up that prayer, let’s take a few moments to enjoy the overwhelming calm and wonderful presence of God that’s beginning to flow through our souls, spirits, bodies and minds, because as we say every week, sincerely seeking more of God is the kind of prayer He cannot refuse, and therefore He answers it right away. And do we ever desperately need the calm and peace of God’s presence in these trying times, when it seems that Bruh Paul’s words to Timothy are ringing true. We’re referring to his words pertaining to perilous times.
‘This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous (money lovers), boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, trucebreakers (irreconcilable), false accusers (slanderers), incontinent (without self-control), fierce (brutal), despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady (reckless) high-minded (haughty), lovers of pleasures more than (rather) lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.’ (2 Tim. 3:1-5)
Oh my people, a greater warning we will never have, because when we look around our strife-filled, chaotic world we can see that it’s definitely over populated by the types of people Bruh Paul spoke about almost two thousand years ago! It’s certainly sad and trying times we’re living in when such a large proportion of the world’s population have chosen to engage in the works of Satan, rather than those of Jehovah God. If you look at each category that Bruh Paul talks about you’ll certainly see them flourishing in our current world.
Especially the money lovers or the greedy, who are driving the world to ruin, trying to scrape up everything for themselves, when they already have more than they can ever use. That’s why one percent of the world owns ninety something percent of it, while the remaining ninety nine percent own less than ten percent. And it’s that sad inequity that’s driving a lot of the strife and dissension on the earth.
It’s surprising to note, that at this supposedly advanced stage of our civilization, that a great percentage of our people are still fighting for some sort of equality, whether it be for race, colour, or creed, for the rights of women and children, for the right to be free, both spiritually and physically, because physical slavery is still being practiced in many parts of the earth.
And what does it all mean? The scholars explain it thus: ‘The last days began with the birth of Christ and will culminate in Christ’s return to earth to set up His kingdom. The prediction of perilous times indicates that apostasy (a turning away from God) will characterize the final days of the church age.’ And for whatever reason(s), we’re certainly seeing people turn away from God in droves, much more than are coming to Him. Meanwhile, ‘A form of godliness simply means mere religion without power or spiritual life.’ And it’s the spiritual power in our lives that really guides us through this earthly life. So if you don’t have it, then crapaud smoke yuh pipe.
Now, it’s not only Bruh Paul that warned the early Christian church about the ungodliness of the last days of the church age, both Peter and Jude also did it. Listen to Peter’s warning. ‘This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers (mockers), walking after (according to) their own lusts,
And saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the Fathers fell asleep (died), all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of (forget), that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against (until) the day of judgement and perdition (destruction) of ungodly men.’ (2 Pet. 3:1-7)
Yes friends, it’s the same type of warning that in the last days of the church age, men will turn away from God, mocking and blaspheming His holy name, using all kinds of trumped up, untrue and ungodly arguments, as the scholars tell us, ‘to ridicule the promise of Christ’s second coming. Peter further states that arguments based on supposedly unchanging processes since creation fail to recall the severity of the flood of water upon the earth. Just as God once destroyed the world by water, so it is now reserved unto fire until the day of judgement. See the descriptions of fiery judgements in Revelation 17-19)’
Yuh see my fellow believers, the devil is working in all sorts of underhanded and deceitful ways to try to turn us away from God. No depths of deceit are too low for him to turn to. And Jude, apparently Jesus’ brother, who like several other brothers, only came to faith after He died, puts his warning thus:
‘But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of (by) the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves (cause divisions), sensual (worldly), having not the Spirit. But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the LOVE of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.’ (Jude 17-21)
Yes my fellow saints, the Word of the Lord is indeed true, as we can see from the prophecies that are now being fulfilled in these last days. Therefore let’s be wise and take godly action to protect ourselves from the evil one, while also building up our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, so we shall be perfectly entrenched in His camp when He returns. Much LOVE!
…a word to the wise is sufficient…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
27 Jul 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a great King above all Gods, at they right hand are pleasures evermore, Bible, Caribana, come before his presence with thanksgiving, cultural festivities', deepen my breath, divine presence, end of the summer, even unto the end of the world, faith, found grace in thy sight, god, God's presence permeating our souls, hibernate, I know thee by name, I love them that love me, in thy presence is fullness of joy, increase my awareness of you, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, lo I am with you always, LOVE, my flesh shall rest in hope, my heart is glad, prayer, relax my muscles, search for me with all your heart, seek his face evermore, seek the Lord and his strength, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, shew me the path of life, slwo my thoughts, the last weekend in July, the Lord is a great God, those that seek me early will find me, thou goest with us, truth, where have all the flowers gone, wisdom, ye shall seek me and find me, your peace and love are present
Proverbs 8:17. I LOVE them that LOVE me; and those that seek me early (diligently) shall find me.
Oh friends, can you believe that this is already the last weekend in July? Didn’t we just celebrate Canada Day on the first day of the month? How can we be seeing the end so soon eh? Next week we’ll be talking about August… and you know what that means – the end of summer! Brother! The days are running away from us, and in a li’l while, we’ll be sadly asking, where have all the flowers gone, as the cold weather steps in and the flora and fauna hibernate for another winter.
Thankfully though, all of that’s in the future. We’ve still got time to enjoy the lazy, hazy days of summer. But we have to be quick about it. And there are lots of summer festivities still to come, like Caribana, the EX; that big Canadian Fair at the Exhibition grounds, and every weekend there’s some cultural group celebrating their old homeland with food, drink and other cultural activities. So although the summer’s moving along fast, it’s still far from over.
But before we get out there and enjoy it all, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with sincere, heartfelt emotions. 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!’
And we can now feel God’s awesome presence permeating our souls and spirits even more than before, because that’s the kind of prayer the Lord just LOVES to answer. You can’t ask for anything dearer to His heart, than more of His presence in your life. And there are numerous scriptures that advise us to do just that. So let’s look at some of those scriptures about seeking God, about seeking His face.
And this verse from Jeremiah is probably the best one to start with, where the Lord says through the prophet: ‘And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ (Jer. 29:13) That says it all my brethren! To find God, to come into His holy presence, we must seek Him with all of our heart. Nothing less will do. But that’s why many of us seek God and can’t find Him; we don’t do it sincerely, or with all of our hearts, but for selfish, lustful purposes. Obviously He won’t show up under such circumstances.
Then Psalm 105 tells us in no uncertain terms: ‘Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.’ (Ps. 105:4) Yes friends, we’re to continually seek God’s face, seek His presence continually, every day, all day! And we see it in action when Moses prays for the Lord’s presence.
‘And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people. And he (the Lord) said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
And he (Moses) said unto him (the Lord), If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.’ (Ex. 33:12-17)
Oh my fellow believers, you see how important the Lord’s presence was in the eyes of Moses. If He wasn’t with him and the Israelite people, he didn’t want to go any further, because the Lord’s presence showed that they were safe, separated and protected from other people. It’s the same with us today. If we don’t have God’s presence in our lives, we stand a greater chance of being hurt or destroyed, physically, spiritually or emotionally. And we’ll never feel truly safe while journeying though this strife-filled and evil world.
Meanwhile, in Psalm 16 – God Preserves His People, Bruh David writes: ‘I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins (heart) also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest (dwell securely) in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (the abode of the dead); neither wilt thou suffer (allow) thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.’ (Ps. 16:7-11)
Yes friends, as this commentary explains: Bruh David is speaking of ‘the divine presence as the place that is most desired, that gives “fullness of joy” (verse 11). From beginning to end Psalm 16 testifies to a life that finds its ultimate rest in God’s protective presence.’ You cannot find any fault whatsoever with that statement, because it’s the gospel truth! Then Psalm 95 wisely advises: ‘Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) unto him with psalms (songs). For the Lord is a great God, and great King above all gods.’ (Ps. 95:2-3) No disputing that either!
And no scriptures will ever be complete without a word of wisdom from Cousin Sol. On this particular subject, he conclusively states: ‘I LOVE them that LOVE me; and those that seek me early (diligently) shall find me.’ (Prov. 8:17) Now that’s simply more gospel truth! And there are no better verses to end with than these two from Jesus. The first is the greatest advice going: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33) If we’re wise, we’ll do exactly that. And this last one just ramps up our level of assurance in God: ‘and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:20b)
Now there’s no better reassurance that that my fellow believers! Jesus promised to be with us right down to the very end, and since we know that He keeps all His promise, we can go home today, unafraid, totally reassured, rejoicing in His awesome holy presence. Much LOVE!
…if you’re not in God’s presence…then you’re not enjoying the fullness of life…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
20 Jul 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a concerted effort, a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, ask the Holy Spirit for help, christianity, cloven tongues like as of fire, crying out for God's presence, deepen my breath, faith, give you an heart of flesh, glorify God in your body, god, grow in spiritual maturity, guide you into all truth, holy spirit, increase my awareness of you, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, LOVE, meditate on the Word, pray, put my spirit within you, quiet my soul, relax my muscles, slow my thoughts, spiritually hungry and thirsty, talking to the Holy spirit, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, the Holy spirit leads guides and comforts us, the peaceful and calming presence of God, the Spirit of truth, truth, unites the believer with Christ, walk in the Spirit, wisdom, ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, you are bought with a price, your body is the temple of the holy Ghost
Galatians 5:16. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
So we’ve finally come to our lazy-day Saturday, but many of us cannot afford to laze around on this beautiful summer’s day, because there’s still lots of cleaning up to do and considerations to undertake to prevent this week’s tragedies from happening again. It’s a big task, both for the various levels of government as well the individual homeowners. And who knows if we’ll ever be able to stop God’s hand, but we must do something to reduce the risks. And as always, the first thing to do is pray.
So let’s do just that nuh, as we offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, in 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!’
And we know that our prayer has been heard and actioned, because it’s crying out for God’s presence, for a greater awareness of Him in our lives, and those kinds of prayers He answers right away, because it’s what He truly desires of us. So, although your life might be filled with serious concerns, please take some time to enjoy the peaceful and calming presence of God that’s flowing through you at this very moment. And it will not only calm your spirit, but also give you the energy or the resolve to handle your current concerns.
That’s the awesome power of God working in us through His Holy Spirit, who dwells within us to lead, guide, comfort and teach us what the Father desires. As this commentary tells us about the significance of the Holy Spirit in the Bible? ‘The Holy Spirit unites the believer with Christ and places him in the body of Christ, the church. He also unites the believer with Christ in His death, enabling him to live victoriously over sin. The Holy Spirit controls the believer who yields to God and submits himself to God’s Word.’
Oh friends, there’s no better system than that in all the world! The only problem is that we have to learn to listen to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit and respond positively to its guidance. And that’s not always easy to do, especially in these turbulent times, with all the noise and the many voices that are competing to get our attention. And the Bible tells us a lot about walking with the Holy Spirit, so let’s see if we can find a few scriptures that will help us in that matter.
But first, listen to this other commentary that gives us an interesting insight into walking with the Holy Spirit. It says: ‘If you want to walk in the Holy Spirit, start with talking to the Holy Spirit. Throughout the day address Him, welcome Him, thank Him and worship Him. You should not feel guilty for not spending time with the Holy Spirit but you should feel thirsty. He wants relationships, not rules.’
And that’s the very basis of our Christian lives…we ought to feel hungry and thirsty for the Lord and His Word! Otherwise there won’t be any impetus for us to truly get involved. It’s just like when our bodies hunger for food, we run to fill them, because we cannot go on living without the nourishment and energy that food provides to our bodies. And it’s the same with our spiritual needs. We cannot function on any decent spiritual level without the impetus of hunger and thirst driving us forward to grow in spiritual maturity.
And the first scripture we’ll look at is this one from Ezekiel, where the Lord long ago promised to cleanse His people. ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them.’ (Ezek. 36:26-27) Yes friends, that God’s promise, which was fulfilled after Jesus came to earth and did His thing. After that, all believers were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Then there’s this from John’s Gospel, where after Jesus tells the disciples it would be advantageous for them if He goes away, otherwise the Holy Spirit won’t come, He says: ‘I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself (on his own authority); but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine (what is mine), and shall shew it (declare) it unto you.’ (John 16:12-14)
So the Holy Spirit liaisons between Christ and His followers. And we all know that Jesus, before His ascension told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were baptized with the power of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8) And that momentous occasion occurred on the Day of Pentecost when ‘a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, filled all the house where they (the fledgling church) were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven (divided) tongues like a of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and all began to speak with other tongues (languages), as the Spirt gave them utterance.’ (Acts 2:2-4)
And that day Peter preached his big sermon and some three thousand souls were saved. Thus began the growth of Christ’s new church. Then there are these solemn words of Bruh Paul to the Corinthians: ‘What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.’ (1 Cor. 6:19-20) Yes my brethren, as believers in Christ Jesus, we do not belong to ourselves, but to God, for Christ paid a price to redeem us back to God.
And since the Holy Spirit of God dwells within each believer, then each believers body is a temple or church of God, and therefore we need to keep it holy. And to help us do that, Bruh Paul wrote these words to the Galatians. ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.’ (Gal. 5:16-17)
Oh my fellow believers, that’s much easier said than done, because the lusts or desires of our flesh are so numerous and so strong, that it takes a concerted effort to walk in the Spirit. But if we are serious about doing that, then we just have to buckle down, meditate on the Word, pray and ask the Holy Spirt for help! That’s the starting point for all of us! Much LOVE!
…one cannot live a truly Christian life…without the Holy Spirit’s guidance…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
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