02 Aug 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future with Jesus, a reasonable time, adversity, and if ye seek him, anger, Asa, Azariah, before our very eyes, benjamin, bickering, calamities, choose the best, Christ's Church, christianity, commitment to excellence, communication with Almighty God, computers, contaminating our world, disasters, dr robert h schuller, enthusaism, excellence, extraordinary, failings, fat lot of good, fellow believers, forsake him, get into our souls, hate, he will be found of you, he will forsake you, heal the divisions, hear ye me, Hotmail, Hour of Power Devotional, injection of ramped up effort, Judah, lack lustre, lack of excellence, let not your hands be weak, LOVE Revolution, lukewarm, mediocre, mediocrity, more trouble than they're worth, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, obey God's will, only true and living God, peace, power base, quell the storms, resentment, return to our god, shrivelling up enthusiasm, solution for our problem, spiritual battle, strength in numbers, strife, taking a holiday, the breath of life, the enemy, the flow of divine enthusiasm, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the Good Book, the Lord is with you, the Old Testamnet, the price tag, the Spirit of God, the victory, turmoil, turn unto the Lord God of Israel, vexations, Wednesday Wail, while ye be with him, without any bite, words of wisdom
2 Chronicles 2:15. Hear ye me Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
Ah friends, when it’s not one thing it’s another yes! Chuh! The enemy surely knows how to get into our souls. I’ve been down here now for about fifteen minutes trying to get into my E-mail account. It works well until it comes to opening the mailbox, then it stops with about 2% to go.
Everything else seems to be working perfectly, except for the Hotmail nonsense. I’ve refreshed it at least three times, but each time it simply stalls right before the end of the line. Steups! Computers eh! They are often more trouble than they’re worth, and generally cause problems when you need them the most…
Whoopee de! I just got a message about something going wrong which they can’t figure out as yet, so to try later. Fat lot of good it did me then to try and get up at a reasonable time to write the Bit.
But since I write the Bit in Word before transferring it to Hotmail, because of earlier problems with writing it in Hotmail, we can continue doing our thing while they try to figure out what’s wrong.
So, rather appropriately, we have a few words from Gramps Schuller (Dr.Robert H. Schuller) from his Hour of Power Devotional, on being an extraordinary person. Listen up: ‘The capacity to be extraordinary – a little more or a little better than the last time – is a quality that fosters and causes the flow of divine enthusiasm.
Choose the best: shun mediocrity. Mediocrity has a way of shrivelling up enthusiasm. But commitment to excellence taps an incredible source of energy. Elect the best, no matter what the price tag.’
True words of wisdom my brethren! If you are a follower of Jesus, then the best, excellence is what He expects of you. Just checked Hotmail…Wonder of wonders! It’s finally open! But we’ll continue here.
And I believe one of our major failings in Christianity today is our lack of excellence. We seem to be too afraid of what the world will say and or/do, and we also compromise too much, consequently our efforts on behalf of Christ are only lukewarm and mediocre.
But friends, in this spiritual battle in which we’re currently engaged, we can’t afford to be lack-lustre and without any real bite, because the enemy is coming at us full force. He is not taking a holiday or easing up in his efforts to subdue us. So why are we doing our best to give him the victory that Christ won for us through such painstaking effort eh?
I think our current Christian movement needs a serious injection of ramped up effort, which can only come through healthier and more plentiful communication with Almighty God. It brings to mind the warning of the prophet Azariah in the Old Testament.
The Good Book tells us: ‘And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded. And he went out to meet (before) Asa, and said unto him. Hear ye me Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.’ (2 Chr.15:1-2)
My fellow believers, the battle is heating up right before our very eyes, please note all the disasters and calamities in our world, both manmade and natural; check out the widespread strife and anger, resentment and hate that’s contaminating our world.
Nations are fighting nations without any apparent hope for peace. Leaders are full of political rhetoric, busily trying to build their power base, but doing nothing to quell the storms. The only thing that can help us is a true return to God, for our world is just like Israel was in Azariah’s time.
Hear the Good Book tell it. ‘Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. (2 Chr.15:3) That surely sounds like the current state of our world!
‘But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.’ (2 Chr.15:4) The exact solution for our problem my fellow believers!
‘And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations (turmoil) were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. And nation was destroyed of (by) nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.’ (2 Chr.15:5-6)
What a mirror image of our present world my people! I don’t believe our world has ever seen a period of time where so much anger and strife and disasters have enveloped it all at once.
And the ONLY sensible solution is to repent and turn back to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the ONLY TRUE AND LIVING GOD who has the power to make our world better.
But friends, for that to happen, we believers must ramp up our efforts on Christ behalf, focus on excellence not compromise and mediocrity, so that we can get His LOVE Revolution hopping, with people coming to Him in droves, rather than moving away from Him.
We need to take the sincere warning of Azariah seriously. ‘Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak; for your work will be rewarded.’ (2 Chr.15:7)
I therefore implore us to come together in LOVE and peace, for there is strength in numbers. Let’s stop the silly and petty bickering and heal the divisions that are currently entrenched in Christ’s church, so that we can do His work and bring some peace and stability to our world, especially to our children.
And all God’s children declared a loud and sincere ‘Amen!’
And having decided to do all that, we can now go home declaring our Wednesday Wail without hypocrisy. ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home.
My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Oh friends, those objectives will only be accomplished if we stand strong and steadfast in Christ, brimming over with enthusiasm and excellence. Much LOVE!
…true strength comes only from sincerely seeking God…then walking purposely in His will…
20 May 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, a person of success, a person of value, Abraham, affectionate, angels, Anselm, Beelzebub, blood siblings, brotherly LOVE, chasing money, chasing passion, Christians, conceits, convertible cars, disunity, enjoy, entertain strangers, evil, fallen on deaf ears, for brethren to dwell in unity, fraudulent behaviour, friends, go the extra mile, how good and how pleasant it is, illness, in the eyes of the world, Jesus, jobs in jeopardy, lazy hazy day, left hand, live peaceably, Lot, low estate, more than you are paid to do, negative vibes, outsmarted, peace, put our best foot forward, quotes, resentment, right hand, running down money, shirt-sleeves, spring time, strain, stress, strife, the same mind, tough times, true value breeds success, unity, we be brethren, wealth of the world, whatever we sow we shall reap, worry
Psalm 133:1. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
And then it was Saturday; beautiful spring time in the northern climes! Wow! We just can’t wait for summer to come, after experiencing those two days of summer weather this past week.
Everybody was out in their shorts and shirtsleeves, walking, riding, the tops of the convertible cars down, with their hair blowing in the wind. I don’t think we’ll see as much of that today though, because it won’t be so warm. Today is shaping up to be a somewhat lazy, hazy day, at least hopefully for me, although I need to go and get some undecipherable noise on my chariot fixed.
But however it turns out, since it’s Saturday, let’s look at some of our friend Anselm’s recent quotes, which are always aimed at inspiring us for a better tomorrow. And this week they were short and pithy – to the point – forceful, clever – like: ‘Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.’
And there’s great truth in that simple statement, for success comes in many different forms, and not all of them add value to us or our society. So you can be a successful person, in the eyes of the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are valuable, especially in the eyes of Jesus. All the successful but evil people in this evil world aren’t valuable to Jesus or most of us, for in His realm, true value breeds success, not the other way around.
And I like this quote. ‘Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.’ Oh friends, if more of us supposed Christians would only stop running down the money and the non-lasting wealth of the world, we’d not only be happier, but much more useful in service to Jesus. We run down the world’s riches, but we don’t have time to enjoy them. What we need more in these tough times is sincere passion; a desire to do good and not evil, to work diligently for Jesus rather than for Beelzebub!
And this last quote is awesome. ‘If you are willing to do more than you are paid to do, eventually you will be paid to do more than you do.’ Words of biblical content my people! Jesus always inspired us to go the extra mile, to put our best foot forward, give more than we are asked, because in due time whatever we sow, we will reap in greater abundance.
Unfortunately though, that idea of doing more than we’re paid to do has fallen on deaf ears. The treat today, is to do ever less than we’re paid to do, then smirk and think we’ve outsmarted our employer. Oh, we just might do that, but constantly robbing our employer of our paid time will certainly put our jobs in jeopardy. And remember, God is watching our every move, and if we Christians succumb to such fraudulent behaviour, we’ll definitely hear about it later from Him.
So friends, it’s all to our betterment, if we live a useful, valuable and passionate Christian life. Not foolishly running down the things of the world, which don’t last anyway, and only cause us all kinds of worry and illness from the stress and strain of trying to acquire them.
And all of that just leads to our wonderful Bit. ‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!’ And that’s the living truth my people!
I don’t know, but something must be wrong with me yes, because I see others living in disunity and resentment and so much negative vibes around them and they seem to enjoy it, to flourish in it. Steups! I could never live so nuh. And as I’ve told my children many a time, if they ever live in such a sad state, I will come back and haunt them! (smile) That’s because there’s NO good reason for brethren, especially blood siblings, to live in continual disunity.
Now let’s look at an instance in the Good Book pertaining to brethren not living in unity. And it has to do with Lot and Abraham, when their cattle herders were not getting along, because there was not enough land for all the cattle to feed equitably.
‘And Abraham said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.’ (Gen.13:8-9)
Now doesn’t that make sense friends? It surely does! Why fight amongst each other, when there is ALWAYS some way to mitigate the negativity. We just have to want to badly enough.
Now hear these words from Bruh Paul to the Romans. ‘Be kindly affectioned (affectionate) one to another with brotherly LOVE; in honour preferring one another (giving preference to another)… Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not (do not set your mind on) high things, but condescend to men (associate with men) of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits (estimation)… If it be possible, as much as lieth in (depends on) you, live peaceably with all men.’ (Rom.12:10, 16, 18) Such words of wisdom my brethren!
And we’ll close with these famous words from the author of Hebrews. ‘Let brotherly LOVE continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.’ (Heb.13:1-2)
Yes friends, it’s all about living in unity…What else can it be about eh? Much LOVE!
…only in unity can our world ever hope to find peace…
04 May 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, accumulation, anger, blessings, choice, cold spells, contribution, curse, divine protection, earthly wealth, freely give, freely you have received, give and it shall be given to you, good measure, greed, greedy, hatred, it is more blessed to give than to receive, it shall be measured to you, lends to the Lord, Lucifer, men give into your bosom, negative repercussions., negative word, pressed down, promotion, Province of Ontario, resentment, running over, self-control, shaken together, shortsighted, shortsightedness, strife, success, the Arctic, the same measure you use, treasure in heaven, war
John 6:38. Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom (pocket). For with the same measure ye mete (use) withal (with that) it shall be measured to you again.
Welcome friends to a somewhat cloudy and chilly Thursday morning in my area; no brilliant sunshine like yesterday. And if that isn’t bad enough, we’re supposed to be having a sizeable amount of rain today and over the next few spring days.
Hn! Spring days you say? Well in the next few days of May, our friendly province of Ontario is forecasted to be hit with cold spells that haven’t been seen around this time for decades. The temps are not even forecasted to reach double digits. Yeh!
And some northern parts of the province might also see a few fluttering flakes of the white stuff. (smile) Yes friends, snow in May! These days anything is possible yes! Meanwhile, they are having problems up in the Arctic with stuff up there melting too fast.
And yet, there are still people who adamantly refuse to believe that something is seriously wrong with our weather patterns. But until the big boys, those in government and industry, stop being greedy and shortsighted, and truly decide to look into the problem, it will just continue to get worse.
The sad part is that it might not affect us in this generation, but our children and their children will surely inherit another problem caused by our shortsightedness and greed.
Ah mih people, unfortunately there’s not much most of us can do about the big aspects of the problem, but we can all make a contribution by doing the little we can, diligently and sincerely. That’s all Jesus asks of us.
Now let’s turn to our Bit; immortal words of Jesus that ought to be making a big positive splash in our world, but unfortunately are not.
‘Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom (pocket). For with the same measure ye mete (use) withal (with that) it shall be measured to you again.’
Oh friends, if we’d only follow those simple but true principles, our world would be such a wonderful place!
But instead we concentrate on greed and accumulation of earthly wealth, which only breed strife, anger, hatred, resentment, war and a host of negative repercussions. Steups! But that’s how mankind uses the choice that the Lord his Maker has given him.
Anyway, let’s look at some scriptures that highlight the act of giving, beginning with the words of Bruh David from Psalm 37 – The true state of the wicked. ‘The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again (does not repay): but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth.’ (Ps.37:21)
Yeh friends, that’s just the way the righteous operate; according to the principles of Jesus! Now hear Cousin Sol. ‘He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.’ (Prov.19:27)
Remember my faithful followers, that Jesus came to save the lost, the sick, the poor, the prisoners and those in bondage, so anytime you help any of those lost souls, you are helping the Saviour, and He will always repay your help.
And then there are these fateful words of Jesus, as He sends out the disciples on a missionary journey. ‘Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils (demons): freely ye have received, freely give.’
Ah mih breddren, please let us pay serious attention to those last two instructions, for many of us receive free stuff, but refuse to give freely, instead wanting to hoard it all for ourselves. That’s not Jesus’ way my people, that’s Lucifer and the greedy world’s way!
And we have a most vivid example of how difficult it is to give of our earthly wealth. Listen to Jesus’ reply to the young, rich ruler who wanted to know what he had to do to enter heaven.
‘Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be (want to be) perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.’ (Matt.19:21-22)
Yeh friends, we all want to have much treasure stored up in heaven, but right now we’d much prefer to have it here on earth. We can’t have it both ways people. Now hear this last scripture, one from Bruh Paul, as he addresses the Ephesian elders.
‘I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than receive.’ (Acts 20:35) Gospel truth friends!
And with that quote of our Saviour Jesus Christ, we can now go home sincerely declaring our Thursday Blessings. All together 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!’
And since a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone or something, let’s go out and bless others, as we have been blessed nuh! Much LOVE!
…sincere giving…brings generous blessings…
22 Apr 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, a false start, a smile, a special gift from God, abhor that which is evil, aspires, bad blood, being obedient, believe, born to fail, Christ's Church, christianity, conduct, denominations, despair, dissimulation, disunity, ego, errands, eternal life, evil, faith, fear, floating through the day, follower of Jesus, free gift of salvation, genuine, grow successfully, habits, harmony, hate evil, he delivers them, hope, housework, hypocrisy, inspires, looking back, LOVE, much of nothing, positive action, positivity, reconciled, resentment, saints, Saturday, selfishness, success, surrendering, sync, the belief, the hand of the wicked, the Lord preserves the souls of his saints, the new day, trusting, truth, unfeigned love, unity, volitional caring, welcome every morning, ye that love the Lord, ying and yang
Psalm 97:10. Ye that LOVE the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
So friends, what have you got planned for your Saturday eh; housework and errands, or just lazily floating through the day, doing much of nothing, trying to get your ying and yang back into some kind of sync, after a hard week at work?
To be honest, I believe the last option is the preferable one, although the first might be the smarter and wiser of the two, since you’ll most likely have to do that housework and run those errands at some later date. But not to worry, rest and relaxation are absolutely necessary to renew your energy, so that you are able to do those household tasks and run the many errands without any problems. (smile)
Anyway, since it’s Saturday, let’s see if we can’t provoke some thought in our lazy minds by turning to a few quotes from our friend Anselm, who always aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow.
Listen to this beauty nuh: ‘Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday. Be a self-starter. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don’t waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.’
Oh friends, I couldn’t give any better advice than that! And the sad part is that a lot of us know that advice quite well, but we simply don’t implement it. That leads to this quote: ‘Being positive or negative, are habits of thoughts that strongly affect your actions and your life.’ More indisputable truth my brethren!
And that brings up this gem: ‘Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.’
That is the positive aspect of life speaking there again, which brings us to this last quote. ‘Positive and negative are directions that lead to different outcomes. Which direction do you choose?’
And that’s the all-important question we must ask ourselves this Saturday morning: will we spend our lives being positive or negative, looking ahead with hope and faith, or with fear and despair? Unfortunately friends, no one can answer that question for us, we have to make a conscious decision for ourselves.
And I’d just like to add my two cents worth here: choosing the positive aspect of life is much better, especially if you are a believer in, and a follower of Jesus because that’s what His whole ministry is based on; positivity!
Not fearing, not looking back, trusting and surrendering, being obedient to one’s Creator, having faith in Jesus Himself, since He sacrificed His life on the cross so that you might have the option to be reconciled with the Father and receive the free gift of salvation and eternal life. Glory Be! And all you have to do is get positive and BELIEVE!
Now let’s look at our Bit, although I’m not sure how much time and space we have to devote to it. But here goes: ‘Ye that LOVE the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.’
Now that’s positivity in spades my brethren! One can’t be more positive than surrendering one’s life to the Lord and putting all one’s trust in Him, based on those words of immortal truth!
Yesterday we looked at some corroborating scripture for the first section; ‘Ye that LOVE the Lord, hate evil:’ Now I have one more significant scripture to add to those, this from Bruh Paul as he talks to the Romans about the service of LOVE to all. ‘Let LOVE be without dissimulation (hypocrisy). Abhor that which is evil; cleave (cling) to that which is good.’ (Rom.12:9) And that’s exactly how a true Christian ought to behave!
Hear this explanation from the scholars. ‘12:9. Without dissimulation (lit. “without hypocrisy”). The Christian’s conduct in the local church toward fellow believers is to be a volitional caring for others (making a purposeful decision to do so), LOVING faithfully in spite of the response received. The LOVE is to be genuine and unfeigned.’
Hn! I wonder how much genuine and unfeigned LOVE there is in the church today eh? Definitely not as much as there ought to be, otherwise there wouldn’t be so much disunity, resentment and bad blood amongst Christ’s supposed saints.
And this statistic is going to floor you, it certainly did when I heard Sister Joyce, (Joyce Meyer) recently declare that she looked up the number of denominations in Christianity and found some 33 thousand. Yes friends, thirty three thousand, broken down in all forms and fashions, and with various doctrines too! And then we wonder why Lucifer and his evil buddies are ruling the world.
Ah mih breddren, the long and short of the story is that until supposed believers learn to live together in harmony and unity, leaving all selfishness and ego behind, Christ’s church will not be as successful as it needs to be.
So please, let’s ponder that situation this morning nuh, and let’s all make a serious and binding decision to improve it in whatever way we can. That is, if we truly desire our children’s children to have a half decent life here on earth. Much LOVE!
…no organization can grow successfully and last for any length of time…unless there is unity and harmony amongst its members…
12 Mar 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Abraham, amicably, anger, behold how good and pleasant it is, churches, communities, confidence, conquer strife, crucified, died to save us all, dissatisfaction, disunity, divide and conquer, enthusiasm, faiths, families, for brethren to dwell together in unity, glorify, God's Word, good enough, goodness, grazing grounds, hell, hospitality, hung and suffered there, Jesus, left hand, Lot, LOVE, Lucifer, mosque, Muslim community, pains, politicians, powers of evil, praise, Praise the Lord, Quebec, reciprocate, redeeming blood, resentment, rewards, right hand, sabotaged, sacrificially, selflessly, sinful souls, strengthen, strife, Sunday, the Lord's House, There is a green hill far away, to pay the price of sin, to the children of men, trust, try his works to do., unified, unlock the gate of heaven, walk a mile in my shoes, warmed the cockles of my heart, without a city wall, without complaining, worship
Psalm 133:1. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Well friends, it’s that most wonderful day of Sunday again, where we gather in the Lord’s house to sing and praise and worship and glorify His holy name, to listen to His word, and receive His strength, confidence and enthusiasm to face the upcoming week!
And all God’s people gave out a delirious shout of ‘Praise the Lord for His goodness to the children of men!’ And that we most certainly ought to do at every opportunity we get my brethren. But right now, let’s begin with some sacrifice of our lips, singing the old hymn, ‘There is a Green Hill far away.’
As a young boy growing up in Tobago it was always one of my favourites. So let’s raise our voices on high and give the Lamb of God the praise He so assuredly deserves. ‘There is a green Hill far away, Without a city wall, Where the dear Lord was crucified, Who died to save us all. We may not know, we cannot tell, What pains he had to bear, But we believe it was for us He hung and suffered there.
There was no other good enough To pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gate Of heav’n and let us in. Oh, dearly, dearly has he LOVED! And we must LOVE him too, And trust in his redeeming blood, And try his works to do.’
Oh friends, there is so much truth in those few simple words. No one else was good enough to pay the price necessary to wash away our sins, but Jesus. And He did it so selflessly and sacrificially without complaining, because He LOVED us so much and could not stand seeing our sinful souls going to waste in Hell with Lucifer.
And you know, all He asks in return is that we LOVE Him and each other the way He first LOVED us. Now that should not be too hard to do, but in this evil and ungodly world, for whatever reason, it is very difficult for many of us to reciprocate that awesome LOVE of God. But it’s something we have to do, if we desire to see His wonderful face come the time we leave this earth.
Now here is some interesting and mysterious doings of our great and wonderful God. Yesterday afternoon, just before I left home for my church for an occasion we called ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes,’ I heard about a family that had been reunited and it warmed the cockles of my heart.
This family had been living with resentment and anger towards each other for a while, and as I was driving to church and thinking about the goodness of God, our Bit just flashed in to my mind as being rather appropriate. ‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!’
Then at the church, our Pastor, Father Jeff also made reference to it, because the occasion was a show of solidarity with the Muslim community, regarding the attack on the mosque in Quebec a few weeks ago. All the politicians were there, politicking as usual (smile) as well as people from other faiths and churches.
Our Bit was certainly appropriate in both situations. First for the individual family that had gotten back together, as well as for the different families of faith who all live in the same community, and who all desire to live in LOVE and peace.
But unfortunately these days, in both families and communities, that desire is being sabotaged by a few diehards, a few fools, who are following a different agenda; one of anger, hate, disunity and dissatisfaction. Consequently more families are falling apart, and more communities are now living in fear of these ignoramuses nicely called terrorists, when they are just out and out murderers.
But that seems to be the fare of the day. However we don’t have to let it keep us cowed my people. We have the great God Jehovah as our leader, and with Him in control of our destiny, there’s no need to fear what man can do to us. We’ve got to stand up strong and fight back against these powers of evil that want to destroy our peaceful and LOVING way of life.
And we can only do that if and when we become unified, both as families and communities and fight the enemy together, not allow them to divide and thus conquer us. Strife is the number one weapon of the enemy, but we must conquer it with LOVE!
Now here’s a good example of how to dissipate strife. It comes from way back in the Old Testament, when Abraham and Lot’s herdmen got into strife about grazing grounds for their cattle. ‘And Abraham said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.’ (Gen.13:8-9)
Now friends, there isn’t always such an easy way to fix strife, especially in these rather tumultuous times, but if all parties are willing and able, then they can find a way to live amicably together.
And we’ll close with these poignant words from Hebrews. ‘Let brotherly LOVE continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.’ (Heb.13:1-2)
So friends, let us never forget to show hospitality to all and sundry, for it will benefit them down here on earth, put away rewards for us in heaven, and above all, glorify our great God. Much LOVE!
…only LOVE…can truly conquer strife…
09 Mar 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, all or nothing at all, allegiance, anger, anxiety, at the helm, batting an eyelash, better off, blanketing our world, bless others, blessed, bring us out safely, broken, challenge, consequences, contentment, creativity, curse, day of temptation, disgusted, divine protection, enter into my rest, err, family, favour, foolishness of men, forty years, friends, go astray, God is working for our good, grieved, halfway measures, harden not your heart, health, I was glad, if ye will hear his voice, in my wrath, in the name of Jesus, in the wilderness, Jesus Christ, joy, let us go into the house of the Lord, let us kneel before the Lord, LOVE, negative emotions, negative word, o come let us worship and bow down, our Lord and Saviour, our Maker, our souls, pain, Paradise, peace, promotion, prosper, provocation, rebellion, resentment, saw my work, self-control, self-discipline, stress, succeed, success, supernatural, surrender, the existence of God, the fool hath said in his heart, the Lord's strength, the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand, there is no god, Thursday Blessings, trials, tribulations, trust, unbelievers, wisdom
Psalm 95:6. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
Ah well mih people, it’s another beautiful day in paradise…
And some of you look at me as though I’m crazy. Paradise, you ask? Can this world ever be paradise? Why not eh? It was once before, why can’t it be so again eh?
For our information friends, with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ at the helm anywhere can be paradise! In fact wherever He is, it’s paradise! And the mere fact that He dwells within us, makes our souls paradise.
What does paradise mean eh? In this context, simply joy and peace and contentment at a level that keeps away anxiety, stress, resentment, anger and all the many other negative emotions that are currently blanketing our world.
It’s the peace that passes all understanding, the joy that comes from the Lord’s strength, and the ability to go through trials and tribulations without batting an eyelash. (smile)
Oh we do feel the pain and other negative stuff, but it does not affect us the way it does unbelievers. We know that our wonderful God will bring us out safely, and better off too, on the other side.
That’s what we have over unbelievers; the knowledge that our magnificent and magnanimous God is working everything out for out good. And once we surrender our souls to Him, place our sincere trust in Him, we can ride out any storm, for He is always there to lead and guide us.
But therein lies the rub; mankind does not easily trust and surrender, especially to an invisible, non-physical Being. And even some of those who do submit to Almighty God, don’t submit everything, they keep some stuff back for them to control.
But friends, our God does not delight in halfway or partway measures. He wants it ALL or NOTHING at all! And unfortunately too many of us refuse to give it all up to Him. Some have even gone as far as to challenge the existence of God.
As Bruh David claims in Psalms 14 and 53 – The foolishness of men. ‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God…’ (Ps.14, 53:1)
But friends, I’m here to tell us an entirely different story. I’m here to invite us to do as our Bit says: ‘O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.’
My brethren, that is one of the best invitations you can ever receive! No wonder Bruh David solemnly declared in Psalm 122: ‘I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.’ (Ps.122:1)
And why is it so great and important to bow down and worship Almighty God eh? Listen up closely: ‘For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand (under His care).’ (Ps.95:7a)
What better reason can there be eh friends? The Most High God Jehovah is our Maker, Our God, Our Controller and our Provider. So whom else should we pay allegiance to eh? NO ONE! That is if we are wise.
And the psalmist continues with these words of wisdom. ‘Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation (rebellion), and as in the day of temptation (trial, testing) in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted (tried) me, proved me, and saw my work.’ (Ps.95:7b-9)
Yeh friends, the Israelites tested and tried the Lord’s patience in the wilderness after He had so graciously and mercifully brought them out of four hundred years of bondage in Egypt.
And as the psalmist continues: ‘Forty years long was I grieved (I was disgusted) with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err (go astray) in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.’ (Ps.95:10-11)
Oh my people there is no better example of rebellion against Almighty God and the consequences that follow than the Israelites journey through the wilderness! Because they refused to obey His commandments they wandered for forty years until all those who had come out of Egypt died. None of them entered the Promised Land except Joshua and Caleb.
So friends, regardless of what mankind says, there is a God, a mighty One too! And if we don’t obey His dictates, we are going to pay some serious consequences, just like the Israelites.
So with those wise words of warning, let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings. And please remember that a blessing is not a blessing until it has been spoken over someone.
In full voice 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!’
Now if you believe it all, let’s go out and bless others! Much LOVE!
…if Jesus calls today…please answer respectfully…and listen wisely…
22 Feb 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a covenant, a matter of faith, alone, Amalekites, an ever-faithful God, anger, awesome works of God, black cloud, brotherly LOVE, but David encouraged himself in the Lord, disaster, disloyal, dismal day, dr robert h schuller, encouraged, evil, faith, fallen apart, fear not, few and far between, fixed straight ahead, foggy day, given up, glory hallelujah, gnash teeth, golden sunshine, groan, halfway home, hateful world, I'm not looking back, Jonathan, LOVE, loyal followers, medications, moan, my hands are on the plough, negative situations, no avenue of escape, precious people, raised my spirits, resentment, rough times, Saul, selfish, sincere belief, strenthened his hand in God, surprises, Thank you Father, the best laid plans of mice and men., the breath of life, the Creator of the universe, the Good Book, the hand of Saul, the most powerful Being, the needs of my body, the power of God's love, this new me, to a glorious future with Jesus, trials, tribulations, trustworthy, unbreakable relationship, untrustworthy, uplifting, walk this earth, war mongering world, Wednesday Wail, wicked, Ziklag
1 Samuel 30:6b. …but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
Ah mih people, I don’t know what to say nuh, except that the best laid plans of mice and men usually go astray. (smile) My schedule yesterday was unexpectedly busier than I foresaw, and consequently I fell behind in accomplishing all that I wanted to.
But even then, I never expected to rise this late, because I had gotten some sleep in between. It just goes to show that I’m still not accustomed to this new me, what with all the different medications I’m taking, and I can’t judge the needs of my body correctly. Apparently I’m not as strong as I seem to think I am. Ah Lord eh!
But nonetheless, we’re here now and motoring on. And we’ll do so with a positive, uplifting prayer from Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional. Many of us have prayed it before, but it’s ever so appropriate for the foggy day that’s happening in my area.
Please pray with me. ‘Thank you, Father, for the beautiful surprises you are planning for me today. So often in my life, when it looked like the day would be dismal, depressing and dark, an unexpected burst of golden sunshine exploded through a black cloud sending inspiring shafts of warm, beautiful sunshine into my life.
Father, it is happening now! I can already feel the power of your LOVE, through Christ my Lord. Amen!’
Ah friends, I’m certainly feeling the power of God’s LOVE now! I certainly hope that you are too. And I’m not joking. Just typing that prayer raised my spirits a whole lot. And my people, do we ever need stuff to positively raise our spirits in this selfish, evil, wicked and war-mongering world!
Consider Bruh David nuh, when his previously loyal people wanted to stone him, after they discovered that the Amalekites had burned their city of Ziklag and carried away all their families and goods captive.
He was alone. No one sat with him. No one seemed concerned that he had lost his family too. How was he going to proceed? How was he going to prevent the imminent disaster that stared him straight in the face eh?
But before we answer that, let’s ask ourselves, how would we have handled that situation, and how do we handle similar situations in our lives; the ones where we seem to have no avenue of escape, and it all depends on us?
I sincerely hope that we do like Bruh David did in our Bit: ‘ …but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.’
Yes my brethren, that’s the first reaction to all our troubles! Or at least it should be the first one. And it’s all a matter of faith, of true and sincere belief my friends!
But unfortunately, before we can get to that state of maturity, before we can develop such strong faith we have to undergo many trials and tribulation, because it’s only those negative situations that build our faith.
Most likely, if Bruh David had not been dealing with the Lord on a personal basis for a long time and remembered his awesome works in his life, he would have fallen apart, even perhaps given up. But that strong trust in the God of his forefathers caused him not to fall over and be consumed by the anger and resentment of his hitherto loyal followers.
And I contend again friends, that in this disloyal, untrustworthy and hateful world, we need that kind of strong, trustworthy, unbreakable relationship with our heavenly Father, if we want to successfully walk this earth.
And many of us have it, but when the rough times come, we simply forget about all the other times when the Lord bailed us out of trouble, and instead we moan and groan and gnash our teeth, wondering how we’re going to get out.
My precious people of God, please remember we serve an ever-faithful God, and if He bailed us out before, there’s no reason He won’t bail us out again. And furthermore, if He’s the Creator of the universe, the most powerful Being therein, then whom else better to turn to in times of trouble eh? NOBODY!
Now listen to this uplifting story of strengthening and brotherly LOVE. On one of the many times Bruh David was out in the wilderness hiding from Saul, the Good Book tells us: ‘And Jonathan, Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God (encouraged him).
And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth. And the two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.’ (1 Sam.23:16-18)
Ah mih breddren, those are the kinds of relationships we should ideally have, but sadly, they are very few and far between, thus the necessity of turning to almighty God, FIRST and FOREMOST! If He wants us to turn to people, then He will direct our steps in that direction.
And since it’s Wednesday, let’s end by wailing our Wednesday Wail in all truth and sincerity. All together now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!
I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Much LOVE my precious people of God!
…remember…FIRST God…then man…
09 Feb 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a house divided cannot stand, abundance, anger, as Christ forgave you, as we forgive our debtors, blessings, bowels of mercies, broken right now, cantankerous, celebrate, choose the best, Christ's Church, Christian brother, commitment, contentment, courage, curse, dazzling light, deficiencies, divided, enthusiasm, ever-faithful, excellence, flaws, forbearance, forbearing one another, forgive us our debts, forgiveness, forgiving one another, gem of a quote, God's basic law, hate, heartfelt compassion, humbleness of mind, if any man have a quarrel against any, in Jesus' name, incredible source of energy, joy, kindness, long-suffering, meekness, negative emotions, negative word, on God's great earth, one more day of life, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, peace, persons of excellence, praise and bless your holy name, privilege, qualities, quarrel, resentment, self-control, self-discipline, shun mediocrity, so also do ye, spoken over someone, talent, tender mercies, Thank You Lord, the elect of god, the Lord's prayer, Thursday Blessings, unity, virtues, weaknesses, you reap what you sow
Colossians 3:13. Forbearing (bearing with) one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Ah friends, it’s time to celebrate one more day of life on God’s great earth! Wow! What a privilege!
Remember, a lot of others did not open their eyes this morning, so there must be a reason we opened ours to the bright and dazzling light of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Glory to God!
Let’s therefore give Him appropriate thanks and praise for all the new mercies and blessings He’s specially prepared for us for today.
And all God’s people loudly, heartily and gratefully declared: ‘Thank You Lord for all You’ve done for us, all You’re doing right now, and all You’ve promised to do in the future. We know You are an ever-faithful Deity, thus we praise and bless Your Holy Name! Amen!’
Now here is a gem of a quote, I found on my desk this morning. I don’t who or where I got it from, or if I ever shared it before, but it surely is worth sharing over and over.
Listen closely. ‘Choose the best; shun mediocrity. Mediocrity has a way of shrivelling up enthusiasm. But commitment to excellence taps an incredible source of energy. Elect the best, no matter what the price tag.’
Words of everlasting wisdom my people! And they are particularly pertinent to believers, because Jesus expects us to be persons of excellence, and you can only be excellent when you reach out for the best.
That brings us to our Bit, but let’s start with the seminal verse before it. ‘Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved bowels of mercies (tender mercies), kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering;
Forbearing (bearing with) one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.’ (Col.3:12-13)
Even greater words of wisdom my believing breddren, since it’s based on God’s basic law, of you reap what you sow. And the scholars have this to say about those verses.
‘3:12. Put on literally means to “dress oneself” (with clothes); here, used metaphorically, it means to take on or assume certain virtues and qualities. Bowels of mercies means heartfelt compassion.’
‘3:13. The fact that believers are being urged to assume the virtues of verse 12 signifies that none has yet “arrived” spiritually. As the believer is developing these virtues, he must be forbearing and forgiving toward his fellow church member.
For his Christian brother is also in the process of acquiring the virtues of verse 12 and therefore retains some flaws, deficiencies, and weaknesses. Hence the need of forbearance and forgiveness.’
Ah friends, one more reminder that as believers we must always reach for excellence in all our doings. None of us have become spiritually perfect as yet, therefore we all need to forbear and forgive if there is to be unity in Christ’s church.
And right there you have one of the reasons why Christ’s church is so divided and cantankerous; we refuse to forgive others and instead hold on to the negative emotions of anger, hate and resentment.
Oh my people, please remember these immortal words of Jesus. ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.’ (Matt.12:25)
How do we expect Christ’s church to stand if we are so divided and refuse to forbear and forgive eh? It’s just impossible.
And hear these even more immortal words of Jesus, (smile) which occur in the ‘Lord’s Prayer,’ the sample prayer He gave us, and which most of us pray every day. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’ (Matt.6:12)
Oh friends, have we gotten so complacent in praying that prayer that we no longer consider the words we speak and what they truly mean? We ask to be forgiven as we forgive. So what does that tell us eh? Only as we forgive, will the Lord forgive us.
So why are we allowing the nonsense of the world to interfere with our Christian behaviour and beliefs, with our joy, our peace and contentment eh? Let’s wake up and become the people of excellence that the Lord expects of us nuh. That’s the only way we’ll ever defeat the forces of darkness.
Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings. Who else has such wonderful favour eh? Nobody but us! So let’s use it nuh friends, while remembering that a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone.
In all sincerity and belief 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!’
And the corollary to all that, is let’s remember to bless others like we blessed ourselves. Much LOVE!
…to forgive is heavenly…and to be forgiven is even more heavenly…
08 Feb 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a beautiful word, a definite decision, a deliberate setting of our will, a fresh beginning, a miracle is performed, a new vitality, alive and kicking, benevolent Provider, beyond our highest expectations, Christians, concentrating on God, concentrating on hurts, contentment, Creator, crying out for rest, early morning foray, emotional high, eternal kingdom, even as Christ forgave you, exhilarated, father in heaven, focus on Almighty God, following Jesus, forbearing one another, forgive, forgiveness, forgiving one another, freedom, glad to be alive, glory hallelujah, God's Word, gratitude, hands on the plough, harbouring unforgiveness, I am halfway home, if any man have a quarrel against any, Jesus Christ exalted, Jesus' philosophy, joyfully, LOVE, magic wand, makes the difference, miracle, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, negative emotional aspects, not looking back at the past, open your heart to Him, our soul is washed clean, peace, pillar to post, praise, quarrel, refreshed, resentment, rest, Ruth Harms Calkin, simplify forgiveness, so also do ye, stand praying, tangled seaweed of resentment, tests, thank God, thanks, the breath of life, the gift of forgiveness, the One Year Book of Bible Promises, the secret key to freedom, to a glorious future with Jesus, topsy-turvy, transformations, trespasses, unforgiveness, use freely, walk in dignity, Wednesday Wail
Colossians 3:13. Forbearing (bearing with) one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Well hello there mih lovelies! This is the ole fella, alive and kicking…decently! (smile) If I wasn’t, then I wouldn’t be able to run from pillar to post to all these doctors for numerous tests. And they keep telling me that my heart is weak. Steups!
Anyway the lateness for the Bit was caused by one of those early morning forays into the big city for more tests, and by the time I got home it was early afternoon and the ole bod was crying out for rest.
But we’re up and about now, and we’ll begin the proceedings with this essay from our ‘One year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin.’ It’s titled ‘Forgiveness,’ and I just could not pass up sharing it.
Please read with me. ‘Forgiveness. What does it do for us? In an amazing way it creates a fresh beginning. It lifts us out of the tangled seaweed of resentment. A miracle is performed! It may not happen in a moment or a day. We may have to forgive at six o’clock on Monday and start over again at two o’clock on Tuesday.
There is no magic wand to simplify forgiveness. Forgiveness is a deliberate setting of our will, often with no emotional high whatsoever. But once having genuinely forgiven, our soul is washed clean. We walk in dignity again. We sense a new vitality. We’re no longer concentrating on hurts; we’re concentrating on God.
If we would only forgive, our lives would undergo transformations beyond our highest expectations. Above all, Jesus Christ would be exalted, for it is His forgiveness that makes the difference.
Forgiveness is a beautiful word. It is God’s word passed to us to use freely, joyfully. When we ask for the gift of forgiveness, God always says yes. He gave His Son to make us free, and forgiveness is the secret key to freedom.’
Oh friends, isn’t that beautiful? It surely is! It’s one of, if not the best writing I’ve ever heard on forgiveness! And would you believe, I don’t remember ever seeing it before in the two or three years that we’ve been using this devotional.
Hopefully it’s just my mind is a tad foggy, and I’ve shared it before. It’s too beautiful not to be shared again and again. And what I like about it, is how it covers every aspect of forgiveness; from what it does for us, to how we came by it; through God and His Son Jesus.
So much of it is true: ‘there is no magic wand to it.’ It’s a definite decision we have to make to forgive, and then work painfully through it. ‘But once we have genuinely forgiven, our soul is washed clean.’
Oh how precious that feeling of being washed clean is, my precious people! It’s like when you take a shower after rolling around in the mud. You just feel refreshed and exhilarated; like a new you has been born.
And believe me when you truly forgive, a new you is really born, because then you stop focusing on yourself and begin to focus on Almighty God, your Creator and benevolent Provider!
And if we would only concentrate on forgiving, rather that holding anger and resentment in our hearts, our lives would truly undergo such beautiful transformations, transformations beyond all that we can ask or imagine.
But instead too many of us, (Christians included) choose to foolishly hold on the negative emotional aspects of life, that’s why our lives are so topsy-turvy and we have so little peace and contentment.
And certainly, our constant use of forgiveness exalts and glorifies our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, because that’s one of His foundation themes. As He says plainly in Mark. ‘And when you stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought (anything) against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.’ (Mark 11:25-35)
Oh friends, it couldn’t get any simpler or more straightforward than that! Forgive, and you will be forgiven! Don’t forgive, and you won’t be forgiven!
However, many of us go to God crying out for forgiveness, but are still harbouring unforgiveness in our hearts towards others. God won’t answer those prayers. God forgave us our sins against Him, by sacrificing His Son Jesus for us, therefore He expects us to forgive others of their wrongs against us. There are no ifs ands and buts about it!
And before I forget, (smile) let’s check out the promise for that writing, and also our Bit for today. ‘Forbearing (bearing with) one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.’
Yeh mih people, forgiveness is one of the foundation blocks of Jesus’ philosophy and eternal kingdom! If you don’t practice it, then it won’t be practiced on you. Now let’s go home, energized and refreshed, burning inside with forgiveness, (smile) and gratitude and thanks and praise, as we declare our Wednesday Wail.
In all sincerity and truth now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home.
My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Oh my fellow believers, I can’t find appropriate words, words that truly reflect the wonder and glory of sincerely following Jesus nuh! You won’t believe it, until you experience it! Why don’t you open your heart to Him today, and see the wonderful difference He’ll make in your life. Much LOVE!
…forgiveness is the secret key to FREEDOM…
31 Jan 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fleeting glimpse, alive and kicking, ambassadors for Christ, anger, bitch, Christians, complain, controlling things, defeated church, disunity, divide and conquer, divisions, divisive strategy, envious, evil schemes, faith, false notion, follow Jesus, fragile life is, frail, friend of Jesus, health problems, how high, impending date, in unity is strength, insanity, jealous, jump, LOVE, Lucifer, mortal coil, petty squabbles, power hungry behaviour, put on the whole armour of God, resentment, robotic, sedative-like existence, selfish, share jesus' love, skulduggery, stand against the wiles of the devil, still on the throne, strife, supreme control, thanks and praise ot God, the beloved of God, the Lord God Jehovah, the President of the U.S., the real meaning of life, Trump, Tuesday Mantra, unity, unwise decisions, victorious body, your Maker
Ephesians 6:11. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (evil schemes) of the devil.
Oh boy, it’s Tuesday! Wow! And it’s also the last day of the first month of 2017!
Brother! Can you believe a whole month has already gone by since the inception of this new year, and we made our ONE Resolution, a very serious resolve to follow Jesus even more closely this year than ever before? Well that’s time for you!
And I believe the celebrations were enormous. I can’t say for sure, because unfortunately I didn’t participate in them because I was in the hospital. Hn! I don’t think I even knew when the new year began.
But most importantly, I am still here today, still alive, though not kicking as powerfully as I would like to. (smile) But every day I’m getting better and stronger… all thanks and praise to the wonderful God we serve and worship! And I can’t even praise and glorify Him enough for what He’s successfully brought me through.
Oh friends, it’s only when you keep hearing about your associates departing this mortal coil – oftimes suddenly and unexpectedly, that you seriously think about your own impending date with your Maker. Only then do you realize how frail and fragile this thing we term life, truly is.
And it comes home to you even stronger when you suddenly discover serious health problems of which you were totally unaware. And without the Lord’s LOVING-kindness, His drawing it to your attention, you could have made your journey home sooner than you expected.
Then and only then, do we truly realize the wonders of being alive in God’s great and beautiful universe! We might bitch and complain every day, but when we get even a fleeting glimpse of moving on, especially if we’re not truly ready, it pulls us up short and we seriously begin to contemplate the real meaning of life, of LOVE, and of faith.
Ah mih people, I’m chuckling here because I don’t know where all of this came from, or where it’s leading to. (smile) I guess though that I’m trying to say, it’s time for us to wake up and seriously smell the roses, the coffee, the dung heap, or whatever!
Our world is in a serious mess, and with the advent of the new President of the U.S. it only looks like it will get worse. Now isn’t that a scary thought? It surely is!
Since his first day in office, he’s just gone around causing more divisions, disunity, strife, anger and resentment, not only in the U.S. but all around the globe. Like we didn’t have more than enough of that already. Steups!
His unwise, unthinking decisions and actions are making others around the world even more anxious and afraid than they already were. And that’s not a good thing.
He seems to think that he is still running his own business, and all he has to do is snap his fingers and say ‘Jump!’ And everybody will respond, ‘How high Mr. President?’ But we’ve got to rid him of that false notion…and the sooner the better.
Remember though people, regardless of all the skulduggery that is currently going on in our world, at the end of the day, the Lord God Jehovah is still on His heavenly throne and still in supreme control.
So He allowed Trump to ascend to such high authority because He has a plan. And I believe that plan is to shake us from our robotic, sedative-like existence. For the only thing that can put a stop to the prevailing insanity is the LOVE Revolution of Jesus Christ!
Nothing else can stop the marauding hordes of Lucifer in their wild ride for glory. And we, as Christians, as ambassadors of Christ, as brave and battle hardened soldiers in His glorious army, are the ONLY ones who can stop the evil enemy!
But we first have to come together. Remember in unity there is strength. And above all, we can’t fight a successful battle unless and until we do what our Bit declares. ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (evil schemes) of the devil.’
Yes mih breddren, before we can do any successful fighting, we have to be dressed in God’s impenetrable armour and be unified, so we can battle the evil one’s strategy of divide and conquer. He’s already had too much success with that divisive strategy, we’ve got to stop him RIGHT NOW, else it will soon be too late!
My fellow believers in Christ, our Lord and Saviour will soon return, do we want Him to come back and find a fractured, broken down, anemic, defeated church? Or do we want Him to find a powerful, unified, LOVING, compassionate, understanding and victorious body that bears His awesome Name?
Hopefully it’s the latter. And if so my brethren, then we don’t have a moment to waste in ending all our petty squabbles and selfish, jealous, envious, power hungry behaviour, which is currently plaguing Christ’s earthly body!
For the LOVE of God my people, let’s get truly serious and begin seeking out the worthwhile and immortal things of God nuh, rather than the worthless, non-lasting things of the world.
It’s time to truly put on the full armour of God, and diligently and sincerely talk the talk, walk the walk, and fight the fight for our immortal lives! It’s the ONLY way we’ll ever win the battle.
Now let’s go home strengthened and emboldened by declaring our Tuesday Mantra with much verve and faith.
All together now: ‘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!’
Friends, in ending, all I can say is, it’s NOW or NEVER! Much LOVE!
…stand up…stand up for Jesus…ye soldiers of the cross…the trumpet call obey…till every foe is vanquished…and Christ is Lord indeed…
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