Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 September 2020 Jeremiah 13:15.

29 Sep 2020 Leave a comment

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

Jeremiah 13:15.    ​Hear ye, and give ear, be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.

Welcome to Tuesday friends! Last night the rain washed away all the muck from Monday, so we’re starting off with a nice, clean, fresh, sunny Tuesday morning. Wow! Isn’t it great to be alive, despite all the problems we have in our world? It surely is, because we believers don’t have to worry too much about changing the world, since we can’t. And anyway, we have the Lord God Jehovah, the Creator and Controller of ALL things sitting on His heavenly throne holding the reins and manoeuvring everything to suit His holy purpose and working them out for the good of those who LOVE and obey Him. Glory be! 

And the Good Book opened this morning on an interesting scripture, and I believe a very appropriate one for our time. Hear the prophet Jeremiah to his people Israel, in the third of a trio of warnings he gave them. ‘Hear ye, and give ear, be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive.’ (Jer. 13:15-17) 

And carried away captive they were, because of their stubborn pride! Now friends, if we are truthful with ourselves, we will admit that we have been very disobedient and blasphemous and derogatory towards the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whom we claimed to be our God in earlier times. But with the supposed advancement of knowledge and science and the great trove of modern inventions, we’ve gotten proud, like the Israelites did in their good times, and have thus believed our own lies; that it’s through our own strength and great wisdom that our society has improved so mightily. 

But my people, that’s nothing but a lie and the wisdom of fools, for unless the Lord gives us the increase, we won’t get any. And that false and foolish pride has driven us away from worshipping and depending on Almighty God, and are more focussed on removing Him from our society than embracing Him. But then we all know that one of the things the Lord hates the most is pride, because it means we don’t need Him, and our God hates not being needed by His supposedly greatest creation. 

So what else can we expect but the series of problems, sickness and strife that we’re currently experiencing eh? Oh yes, the Lord is LOVING and long-suffering and all that, but He won’t let us get away with indolent and wilful disobedience for ever. Unfortunately my brethren, there is very little, or no light whatsoever in us these days, that’s why we’re currently stumbling upon the hills of darkness with all the cataclysmic stuff that’s concurrently happening in our world. 

Don’t know if there’s ever been a time when so much disaster and misfortune has happened all at once, on so many different fronts. And the sad part is that we don’t seem to be fixing or correcting any of them. In fact, with each passing day, the disasters seem to be getting worse, the strife increasing, the divisions and dissension widening, while the hate, anger, resentment, fear and panic increase. And Isaiah also shouts out an interesting and appropriate warning for these times. ‘Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion.’ (Is. 8:18) 

Yes, we and our children are supposed to be bright lights and signs to the heathen. But listen to this next verse. ‘And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits (are mediums), and unto wizards that peep (whisper), and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead (should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?’ (Is. 8:19) And sadly that’s what a lot of us are doing these days; seeking evil spirits and mediums, witches and wizards, obeahmen and the like, instead of seeking the ONE and ONLY True Living God! 

Does it make sense to seek wisdom and guidance from the dead, from man-made idols and other foolish stuff? It certainly doesn’t! But ‘in times of distress people often turn to witchcraft instead of God. And Isaiah warns Israel not to turn spiritism, but to the law and testimony of God.’ But nonetheless, in this supposed age of enlightenment, it’s surprising how much evil and spiritual worship is still taking place. 

And Isaiah continues: ‘To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them (they have no dawn). And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead (hard pressed) and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves (be enraged), and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish (gloom); and they shall be driven to darkness.’ (Is. 8:20-22) 

Oh my people, isn’t that exactly what’s happening to us in these ungodly times? There’s gloom and famine, natural and man-made disasters, sickness and every evil thing proliferating over and through our world. And sadly, the ONE thing we need more than anything else: God; filled with His godliness, is getting scarcer and scarcer in our godless, idol worshipping society. So what else can we expect but darkness eh? But as Jesus liked to say: ‘He who hath ears to hear, let him hear.’ (Matt. 11:15; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35) 

Oh precious saints of Christ, this life is only about ONE thing; believing in, and faithfully serving the ONE and ONLY True God; Yahweh, Jehovah, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! And if wilfully refuse to do that, then we will suffer serious consequences. It’s as simple as that! 

Now for those of us who understand that and are trying to live up to it, let’s go home declaring (steups!) our Tuesday Mantra, (didn’t forget it this week) (smile) letting the whole world know who and whose we are. In strong voice with sincere hearts. ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’ 

Now we need to go out and share that strong and true friendship and LOVE of Jesus with those who don’t know or pay sufficient attention to Him. Much LOVE!

…the best way to live life…obey God…and leave all the consequences to Him… (Uncle Charles: Dr. Charles Stanley) 

Today​’s Scrip-Bit 4 April 2019 Isaiah 57:21.

04 Apr 2019 Leave a comment

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

Isaiah 57:21.     There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
 
No rain today! Glory to God! Just blue skies and cool breezes in Paradise…until the sun comes up hot and stinging around the noonday hour! But we can handle it better than the cold, for God didn’t make us to live in the cold climates. Yuh see the wonderful climate the Garden of Eden had? (smile) But mankind so hard ears and stubborn and own way, they decide that they going to live in the cold countries anyway, and do their own thing there. 

Ah Lord eh, it is the bane of mankind – always wanting to do their own thing! Jehovah God made us to do His thing, but from the very beginning we rebelled and did our own thing instead. And so it continued down throughout the ages. Listen to this scripture nuh from Isaiah, where through him, the Lord condemns Israel’s idolatry. After castigating them for having the righteous suffer and no one taking up their cause, He declares (steups – wrong again): 

‘But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore (harlot). Against whom do ye sport (ridicule) yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw (stick) out the tongue? Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood. Enflaming (inflaming) yourselves with idols (gods) under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts (clefts) of the rocks?’ (Is.57:3-5) 

Yeh friends, the Israelites forgot the God of their forefathers and made idols of all sorts of stuff and worshipped them as gods, they even practiced child sacrifice like some of the other pagan tribes around them! And I like how the Lord continues a few verses later: ‘And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.’ (Is.57:9) 

Oh friends we are doing the same things as the Israelites did; turning away from God, following pagan rites, debasing ourselves and worshipping the things of the world, rather than Almighty God! The things of the world are now idols, and we are even figuratively sacrificing our children on the worthless altars of these idols! How foolish is that eh? 

And as the Lord continues: ‘Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way (length of thy road); yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life (strength) of thine hand; therefore thou was not grieved.’ (Is. 57:10) 

Yeh, we found our strength as we developed all our technological stuff and got bigger and bigger and supposedly better, thinking that it was all our own doing and didn’t look back or even consider if what we were doing was right, just plowed right on in our idolatrous ways, until now we’ve become all-powerful in our own eyes and are hell bent on removing God from our society! As far as too many of us are concerned Jehovah God is an old-fashioned, outdated entity, who has no rightful place in our modern day lives! Ah Lord eh!  

And just as the Lord asked of the Israelites back then, He’s also asking of us today: ‘And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace (remained silent) even of old, and thou fearest me not?’ (Is.57:11) 

Ah mih breddren, in this godless and satanic age we neither fear God with a real fear, like the attack of a dangerous wild animal, nor fear Him in terms of reverence and awe! So many people in the universe still don’t know Him, and too many are turning away from Him to worship the worthless idols and false gods of other faiths! 

But please be warned, God’s eyes are upon us all the time! He knows our every move and every thought be it evil or good that we think and plan and when He’s ready, He will take matters into His own hands, and trust, me, we won’t like it when He does. 

As He said to Israel: ‘I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee. When thou criest (cry out), let thy companies (collection of idols) deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity (a breath) shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.’ (Is.57:12-13) 

Oh my people, please believe the Lord our God nuh for He doesn’t make idle promises; if He says He’ll destroy, then He will, and will likewise prosper when He says so. Hear this last piece of that chapter. ‘I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.’ (Is.57:19-21) 

That’s gospel truth my brethren! Wickedness might pay in the short run in this world, but in the long run it definitely won’t! So please be wise and refute evil and wickedness and sin and the ungodly ways of the world nuh! And when you believe and sincerely try to follow the One True God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, look what happens: He showers down blessings on us like manna from heaven. So let’s declare (right ho) our Thursday Blessings with enthusiasm and heartfelt assurance nuh! 

As one now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! 

I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’ 

Which other faith or supposed God promises and also delivers that kind of stuff eh? None but Jesus Christ! And those blessings are offered so that we can go out and share them with the less fortunate, so let’s do that now nuh and warm the cockles of Jesus’ heart! Much LOVE!

…abhor that which is evil…cling to that which is good… (Rom.12:9b)