True Discipleship carries a High Price of Total Surrender and Obedience!

20 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

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

Romans 12:2a.        And be not conformed to this world: but he ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,

And as the world turns, we’ve come to Sunday, the day the Lord rested after creating the universe and all therein.  And He also expects us to rest, as well as gather in worship on that day, remembering all that He’s done for us, with voices of praise and thanksgiving, while renewing our faith, our strength and confidence in Him and His awesome promises.

So, here we are, gathered as required, and we’ll open today’s celebrations with a most appropriate hymn, titled, ‘All to Jesus I Surrender.’ Yes my fellow believers, that’s something we need to do, before we can truly appreciate and experience God’s goodness, grace and mercy. For above all else the Lord desires obedience in His followers, and you can’t be truly obedient until you let all of yourself go to Him.

The author of the hymn is an American Hymnwriter, one Judson W. Van DeVenter, (1855-1939) and it’s believed he wrote it around 1896. This commentary tells us that ‘The song is about consecration, which literally means ‘association,’  but for religious purposes, it signifies a transfer from a secular or profane state to a sacred one, for a special purpose or service. It involves a dedication that is intended to be permanent and can’t be easily revoked or repeated. It often involves rituals, prayers, and ceremonies specific to the religion or tradition.’

And today we’re going to reconsecrate ourselves to Christ as we sing and praise and worship and give thanks. So, let’s raise our sacrifices of praise in a soulful, heartfelt, sincere, mid-tempo version, leaving no doubt whatsoever about our intentions. Singing: ‘All to Jesus I surrender. All to Him I freely give; I will ever LOVE and trust Him, In His presence daily live. (Refrain: I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.)

All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken. Take me, Jesus, take me now. (Refrain:) All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Saviour, wholly Thine; Let me feel the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine. (Refrain:) All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee; Fill me with Thy LOVE and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me. (Refrain:)

All to Jesus I surrender, Now I feel the sacred flame; Oh, the joy of full salvation! Glory, glory, to His name! (Refrain: I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all…I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all… All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all…’  

That was wonderful friends! And as always, heaven was singing along with us, for they just LOVE any opportunity to sing of and celebrate Jesus.  And it’s ever so good to rededicate ourselves to Christ every week that we gather in His sanctuary, as it renews our spirits, reignites our faith, and uplifts our souls, for He’s all that we ever need in this world. And all God’s children said a loud and grateful, ‘Thank You Jesus!’

And when we wonder why we need to surrender all to Jesus, we must remember that it’s the cost of discipleship, you cannot be a disciple of Jesus unless you are willing to give it all up for His sake. And Jesus laid it out very clearly to the disciples, and to us. ‘If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ (Luke 9:23) And my brethren, the most important word in that sentence is ‘daily.’

Yes, because being a sincere disciple of Jesus means being on the job every day, not just when the feeling takes us. And that’s why a lot of us don’t do such a good job at discipleship, we talk a good talk, but refuse to walk the walk DAILY. Furthermore, too many of us dislike the very idea of denying ourselves, but please remember what Jesus did for us. He selflessly denied His heavenly life to come to earth as a man and give His life so that we could be saved from our sins and receive eternal life instead of eternal death!

Now that most definitely means we owe Christ a debt we can never repay! And what could be more important than doing the little in our power eh? Nothing! But we so LOVE the bright lights, the corruptible material possessions and the good, comfortable life, that we cringe, both physically and mentally, at giving up any of it, even to save our own souls.  

And I believe this verse from Bruh Paul to the Romans gives us good enlightenment as to what our behaviour should be. He writes: ‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable (rational) service.’ (Rom. 12:1)

And what does all of that mean? The scholars tell us: ‘By the mercies of God summarizes all that God has accomplished for the believer in Romans chapters 1-11. In justifying the believer (chs. 1-5), enabling him to live a righteous life (chs. 6-8), and being faithful to Israel (chs. 9-11). That ye present refers to a definite act of presentation. The verb is used of offering a sacrifice that became “holy” under the Levitical system (cf. Ex. 29:37).

This shows that the Christian life begins with total commitment and irrevocable presentation. And as per Your bodies: The body has been an instrument of sin (chs. 6). Now it is to be presented to God as a channel through which the righteousness of God is manifested.’

So you see my fellow believers, our body is a temple of the Lord, as Bruh Paul writes 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) It could not be said any plainer or more straightforward than that my people! We do not belong to ourselves, but to God, therefore we must behave as such, in body, mind and spirit.

And how do we do that? Hear this practical advice from Bruh Paul to the Romans. ‘And be not conformed to this world: but he ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ (Rom. 12:2) Yes friends, all changes begin in the mind. That’s why we talk about the battlefield of the mind, for there the battle between good and evil, God and Satan continually rages, and the winner is shown through our outward behaviour.

Therefore we need to keep very good and close control of our thoughts, and keep recycling, refreshing and renewing godly ones to keep the enemy out. It’s as Bruh Paul advices the Philippians: ‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest (noble), whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise (anything praiseworthy), think (meditate) on these things.’ (Phil. 4:8)

So my fellow saints, let’s do our best to renew our minds by thinking on the right things, and keeping ourselves busy with the right activities, that we can do our duty to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Much LOVE!

…it’s a crying shame…that so many supposed believers…knowingly shirk their duty to Christ…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   16 January 2022 Hebrews 4:16.

16 Jan 2022 Leave a comment

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

Hebrews 4:16.     Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Another Sunday, another day of worship friends! That ever so important time every week, when we praise and glorify our most wonderful God corporately, even if it’s by technological means and not actual physical gathering. That’s because worship is worship whether you are in a sanctuary together or a million miles apart, connected only by TV or computer.

And worship isn’t only to give God His much deserved thanks and glory, but also a time of restoring and renewing our faith in Christ Jesus, where we receive His strength and renewal of our spirit, so that we can go back out again in the new work week and raise up His name to all the world. Like Jesus said to the disciples: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:19-20)

Yes friends, that’s one of our major earthly purposes, and worshipping together every Sunday, helps to give us the wherewithal to do our bounden duty. So let’s begin our worship with a song of praise that’s rather appropriate for these turbulent times in which we are currently living. It’s aptly titled: ‘Lord I Need You!’ And do we ever need Him, my faithful brethren! So let’s offer up our sacrifices of praise through the contemporary Christian song, as sung by one of its writers, Matt Maher.

In a soulful, scintillating, heartfelt manner, let’s sing! ‘Lord I come, I confess Bowing here, I find my rest Without You, I fall apart You’re the one that guides my heart (Chorus) Lord, I need You, oh I need You Every hour, I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You) Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more Where grace is found is where You are And where You are, Lord I am free Holiness is Christ in me (Chorus)

So teach my song to rise to You When temptation comes my way And when I cannot stand, I’ll fall on You Jesus, You’re my hope and stay (Chorus. Lord, I need You, oh I need You Every hour, I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You You’re my one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You.’

Oh my fellow saints, Jesus is indeed ALL of those things to us! That’s why we so desperately need Him, every minute, every hour of every day! And what’s a need you ask? One explanation goes like this: ‘A need is something that is necessary for an organism to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants in that, in the case of a need, a deficiency causes a clear adverse outcome: a dysfunction or death. In other words, a need is something required for a safe, stable and healthy life (e.g. food, water, shelter) while a want is a desire, wish or aspiration.’

And that’s the thing about needing Jesus; without Him we can’t live, safe, healthy, stable lives, in fact we can’t live at all, we’d die spiritually, with no hope of eternal life! And that, as we all know, is the saddest thing that can ever happen to a human soul and sprit. Now the website, Godtube, tells us: ‘This song confesses our need for the Lord every hour as our “one defense, my righteousness.” And that’s the indisputable truth! Christ is the first line of defense for believers and also the author of all our righteousness. It’s only through Hm that we are made righteous in the eyes of the Lord God Jehovah.

Then, they invite us to discover some of the scriptural influences in the song, pointing out that verse one: ‘Lord, I come, I confess Bowing here I find my rest Without You I fall apart You’re the One that guides my heart,’ reflects the Great Invitation of Jesus. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) And you can’t find fault with that reasoning.

And per  the Chorus: ‘Lord, I need You, oh, I need You Every hour I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You,’ they say that points to these two magnificent and encouraging scriptures. First, one from Hebrews: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

And isn’t that the awesome truth! Once Jesus broke the curtain of the veil that separated us from God by His magnificent resurrection, we can now freely go to the Father for help in each and every situation. The problem here though, is that too many of us don’t make use of this awesome provision, still retaining the old thinking that God is too holy and far away for us lowly, sinful minions to go to Him on what we consider trivial matters.

But the truth is my people, our God wants to get involved in EVERYTHING we do, in EVERY aspect of our lives. That’s why He gave His only Son Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins. Thus reconciling us to Himself, bringing us back to His fold as His beloved children. And what child doesn’t admire His father and go to Him in times of need eh? And since Jesus is our Advocate, High Priest, Defender, Provider, our ALL in ALL, it means we can go to Him without fear, but with confidence to meet our needs.

Then the second verse they say the chorus reflects is this one from Peter. “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15) Yes friends, we must always be ready, willing and able to tell others why we believe so wholeheartedly in Christ, but in a gentle and respectful manner, like Jesus would.

So with the sun shining brightly in my area this very cold Sunday, it is indeed a good day to be alive, and to worship our omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and ever-faithful, ever-LOVING God, who, through His marvellous Son, Jesus Christ, satisfies all our needs. Please give Him much thanks and praise today my people for His marvellous grace, goodness and mercy to us underserving folks! Much LOVE!

…once you have Christ in your life…you don’t need anybody else…Glory Be!

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8

Today’s Scrip-Bit   10 January 2022 Deuteronomy 30:19b.

10 Jan 2022 Leave a comment

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

Deuteronomy 30:19b.      I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.

Monday has come down again friends, that means the weekend is over! And let me tell you a li’l ‘secrat’ as my young daughter would say in her early years. Monday is going to keep coming down every week or eight days, however you choose to count it. (smile) It is going to keep coming after every Sunday, for all the days of our lives, so we might as well get used to it and properly prepare for it by worshipping with other believers on Sundays, and thus renewing our faith in Christ, the One who strengthens us to do His will.

And though it’s the beginning of the work week, many of us won’t be going to work because of the tighter lockdown caused by the quick spreading of the latest Covid-19 variant, Omicron. Ah mih people, when is this pandemic going to end eh? Only the Lord alone knows yes! For every time we seem to be making some headway, a new variant suddenly pops up its ugly head and triggers more problems again.

It’s not only causing sickness and death but religious, economic and political discomfort with loss of jobs, bankruptcy and violent protests in the streets and churches. That’s due to the large pockets of doubt that exist in the society, as to whether the virus is real, and if the vaccine and other supposed protections are truly useful in reducing the virus’ power and rapid spread.

Unfortunately though, that substantial disagreement has led to a lot of unnecessary rancour, resentment and retaliation which only enables the virus to spread more quickly. And unless we soon come to some general agreement on the entire situation, this predicament will be with us for a while yet, leaving our society in a state of perpetual uncertainty and distrust, as sickness, death, religious, political and economic unrest covers our land.

That recalls the immortal words that Moses said to the children of Israel before he died. ‘I call heaven and earth to record (as witnesses to) this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deut. 30:19)

Yes friends, it’s a simple choice, for there are only two options, blessing and life, or cursing and death, but we have to make the decision. And it seems like we have chosen cursing and death with all the disaster and calamity that’s been recently shaking our world. Now, we all like to quote that verse above, but we neglect to ruminate on what comes before and after it.

Before it, come these prophetic words. ‘See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to LOVE the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgements, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.’ (Deut. 30:15-18)

Yuh see my people, the blessings of Israel were dependent on them acknowledging the sovereignty of the Lord and obeying His will. And whenever they strayed from it, as they did several times, much disaster and calamity befell them. And there’s no doubt that in our current society we have strayed far from the Lord God Almighty, disobeying His commandments, turning to idols, even saying that there is no God, while trying to remove Him from our midst.

As I heard one preacher say recently, that atheists spend all their lives trying to remove or dispel a God they don’t believe in. And that’s the gospel truth! Why do atheists work so hard to convince us that there’s no God eh? If there’s none, then they should just leave the whole matter alone and we’ll find out for ourselves. Anyway, let’s see what comes after that seminal verse of Moses’ teaching.

The Good Book follows it with: ‘That thou mayest LOVE the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.’ (Deut. 30:20)

Oh my fellow saints in Christ, right there is our reason for living: to LOVE the Lord our God, to obey His voice and cleave unto Him, because He is our life and our length of days! We all know that without Him we have no life, for it’s His breath of life that makes us alive, not anything that we ourselves do. And He also causes us to live however long we do. He controls our lifespan.

So why are we so foolishly anti-God eh, when He controls all that we ever were, all that we are, and will ever be? It’s not wisdom my brethren? And what’s wisdom, you ask? Wisdom is to turn to Him sincerely, seek His face and His righteousness, His mercy and forgiveness so that we and our descendants shall live eternally. That’s true wisdom!

And in accordance with that, we have but one choice in these trying times, that’s to turn to God in prayer for help. Let’s do that through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn nuh. Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

Now please remember what Moses said: to receive God’s blessings we need to keep His commandments, to keep our promises to do His will. Much LOVE!

…for blessings to triumph…there must first be unity in God…disunited, ungodly people cannot prosper…

                                                                                                                                                                         Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8