Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 February 2020 Proverbs 27:4.

21 Feb 2020 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 27:4.    ​Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous (a torrent); but who is able to stand before envy (jealousy)?
 

So at last it’s Friday, and everybody sighing a sigh of relief…as though we work so hard this week, (smile) when so many of us don’t know the real meaning of hard work! Our parents, and their parents knew the meaning of hard work because they didn’t have all the amenities and accoutrements that we have nowadays, and yet many of them did a nine to five like us and didn’t complain half as much as we do. 

I guess the problem is that we’ve become too accustomed to the easy life and lost all the spine our parents had. And it’s not that some of us don’t have it hard in these modern times, but it’s just a different kind of hard. However, is Friday, and work soon done, so enough of the philosophizing. I’m in paradise, or a part of paradise, and I do feel sorry for those of you who are enshrined in the cold. (smile) 

But it seems like I’m not even in the best part, because a breddren wrote in response to yesterday’s Bit, that I should not boast because he’s in heaven, sweet Tobago. (smile) Yes Antonius, who showing off now eh? Right now I only have a slice of heaven, but one of these good days I’ll be in heaven too! And yes Miss Althea, I’ll look after my diet. I’m only having breakfast and dinner. In any case, I’m not much into food since that tumour operation a couple of years ago. 

So what’s happening today? Same as yesterday…nothing! The duchess just went out, like yesterday, don’t know when she’ll be back either. But that’s okay by me, she’s home, and I’m happy just to go and soak in the salt, eat some jerk something or a burger, and drink a yellow bird or some other such exotic cocktail over by the beach hut, then come back and rest before dinner and some decent entertainment they have tonight. 

Last night when we wanted to go out nobody took us out, and we ended up listening to a karaoke show, then went to check out the disco which was too loud and too young, (smile) but I’m sure tonight when I want to stay in and hear the live band, somebody’s going to show up. Anyway, the sun’s shining and the cool sea breeze is blowing, although it’s somewhat cloudy and the planes are still coming and going. Mo Bay seems to be real popular this winter season. Don’t even know the temperature, and I don’t care, once I can go outside in shirtsleeves or even barebacked. (smile) 

And the ordinary workingman is just dying to let his voice be heard, so let’s bring him up nuh: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui! The weekend…the weekend! That is all I can look forward to yes! But brother, some people real lucky though, they get to go away for the winter! 

Chuh! Wish I could do that too, but with the li’l pittance the slave master pay me, and with mih big family like I’ll never be able to afford a foreign vacation, not even in the summer, much less in the winter. But is okay. I born and grow here in the cold, and the cold is all I really know, except for the short summer months.

And I’ve learned to never jealous people for what they have because yuh never know how they get it, possibly even sell their soul, and unless you willing to do the same, then it doh make sense to jealous them. So let me just enjoy my weekend yes, do my thing, watch mih tv, drink mih drinks, play with mih children, LOVE mih wife and thank God for Fridays and weekends and that I still alive to enjoy them!’ 

Of a truth friends! The workingman sure has innate wisdom and common sense. Some people might be a tad jealous that I’m here holidaying in sunny Jamaica, but they don’t know what I did to be able to get here. I might have even sold my soul. (smile) And like is not me alone selling we soul, because since I began writing the workingman speech, some five planes passed in to land at the nearby airport. 

And since we not jealous and envious because we’re Christian breddren, (smile) let’s chant our Friday Chant nuh, letting the whole world know how we going to spend our weekend. As one in strong voice with sincere hearts: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. 

Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen!’ 

Yes friends, we always have to be cognizant of our ambassadorial position for Jesus, and we can’t go about vikey-vie and wishy-washy when we doing His business, meaning we always have to be on our p’s and q’s, whatever we doing, since we’re always representing Him. And I wasn’t planning to get into envy and jealousy nuh, but the thought just kept nagging at me, and some good envy scripture is always useful in this troubled and evil world. (smile) 

So here goes, from the wisest of the wise, Cousin Sol. ‘Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous (a torrent); but who is able to stand before envy (jealousy)?’ Nobody friends, nobody! Envy and jealousy are two of the enemy’s mightiest weapons. No wonder Cousin Sol warned earlier on: ‘Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious of the wicked.’ (Prov.24:19) And again: ‘Let not thine heart envy sinners; but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.’ (Prov. 23:17) 

Oh friends, there are so many stories in the Good Book about envy and the trouble it causes, but we don’t have time to visit but a couple. Remember why Cain killed Abel? Because he was jealous that the Lord accepted his brother’s sacrifice and not his own. (1 John 3:12) And look at the mighty psalmist, Asaph. He says plainly: ‘But as for me, my feet were almost gone (I had almost stumbled); my steps had well-nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish (boastful), when I saw the prosperity of the wicked…. Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.’ (Ps.73:2-3, 17) 

Oh my people, if such a man of God could be envious of the prosperity of the wicked, you can imagine how it’s also easy for us to fall prey to the enemy’s temptations where envy and jealousy are concerned. So please let’s not be caught up in the envy game nuh, because it’s the most dangerous and cruel game on earth. The Lord will provide all that we NEED, though not necessarily all that we WANT! 

So let’s be truly Christian-like and be satisfied with what we have nuh! Much LOVE!

…our motto ought to be…the Lord is my shepherd…I shall not want…so I won’t have cause to envy…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 October 2018 Matthew 22:39.

20 Oct 2018 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 22:39.​    And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself.

Sorry that the Bit is so late mih breddren, but the circumstances were all out of my control. It started right after breakfast, about nine something, I didn’t even have time to get my after-breakfast nap when I was told to get ready, for a family member was coming to pick us up to go to his place where his wife was preparing goat head and goat belly soup especially for me. Hn! 

Glory be! How could I refuse that eh, when one of the major reasons I’m in J.A is to eat healthy local food to try and reinvigorate my old bod. And this is family I haven’t seen for about ten years? Then after downing a big bowl of goat head soup, they took me down to Doctor’s Cave beach, where I enjoyed a good swim in beautiful deep salt water, drank a Guinness, then was taken through the heart of Mo Bay at rush hour time. 

And if you think the big cities are bad, well downtown Mo Bay at rush hour is something else! What with the narrow street and narrow sidewalks, but numerous cars and people, all hustling in different directions at the same time. And the driving…Bubba! As crazy as ever, with people cutting in and out, taxis picking up and dropping off. It’s a good thing that the family member who was driving us through town was a tour bus driver himself, so he was familiar with it all and behaved just like them. 

I didn’t get back home to the hotel until minutes to six. I obviously had to rest some from all that exerting activity… Oh, I just heard that somebody was coming to pick us up to take us out again later. Brother! Don’t they know that I came here to rest and not gallivant all over the place? (smile) But that’s what happens when you have a lot of good and LOVING family around. Oh how I hope that most families could live more LOVING than they normally do. It would warm the cockles of the Lord’s heart so much and put such a broad smile on His face. 

But we going to get back to that just now, first let me apologize for forgetting to declare Thursday’s Blessings yesterday. I was too busy trying to get the Bit written before it was too late. Wonder if anybody noticed eh? And though we’re going to forego the workingman’s song this evening, we not going to leave out our Friday Chant though. 

So please chant along with me in enthusiastic manner and strong voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen!’ 

Now remember our Bit from yesterday, where the Pharisee lawyer was trying to trap Jesus by asking which was the greatest commandment, and Jesus’ replied: ‘Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.’ (Matt.22:37-38) But Jesus wasn’t done with the upstart Pharisee, He added His own addendum or corollary. ‘And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself.’ 

Yes friends, there are two basic requirements asked of believers in Jesus Christ: LOVE the Lord thy God, and LOVE thy neighbour as thyself! And once we do those two things, everything else will flow smoothly from them. Unfortunately though, we’re not doing either commandment as fully as we should. And even when we do, it’s mostly a halfhearted excuse for LOVING God and our neighbour. Plenty of us claim to LOVE God, but we treat our neighbours like garbage. 

And John strongly refutes that claim when he declares: ‘If a man say I LOVE God, and hateth his brother (neighbour), he is a liar: for he that LOVETH not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he LOVE God whom he hath not seen?’ (1 John 4:20) Good question that my fellow believers. How can we LOVE somebody we’ve never seen, but hate someone we’ve seen? That just doesn’t sound very logical. 

And John concludes that bit of scripture with these words that paraphrases Jesus’ two commandments. ‘And this commandment have we from him, That he who LOVETH God LOVE his brother also.’ (1 John 4:21) It couldn’t get any clearer than that nuh my people! So what I’d like to find out is why we aren’t LOVING both God and our brothers and neighbours so much more than we are currently doing? Hate seems to be the emotion that’s currently ruling the world, when LOVE should be the emotion that makes the world go around. 

And all I can do from my li’l corner is to cry out to us to try and change the situation as Jesus desires of us. Remember if we don’t do it, the evil doers won’t. They like the status quo. So please mih breddren, let’s get a move on nuh, and try to bring real LOVE into our lives, both towards our great God, who first LOVED us and gave His life for us, and also to our human brothers and sisters, our God’s greatest creation! That’s wisdom and obedience at the highest level! Much LOVE!

…when earthly LOVE is real and true…God smiles down from heaven…and bestows blessings untold…
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 June 2018 1 Samuel 30:6b.

29 Jun 2018 Leave a comment

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

1 Samuel 30:6b.   …but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

Well who would have thought it eh? That in these supposedly modern times the days of the Wild Wild West would reappear again, when killing each other was a more or less normal way of life. 

But it has resurfaced with numerous shootings all over, especially in the U.S. including the latest in Maryland where a man rampaged through a newspaper yesterday with a shotgun, killing five journalists. Apparently he had a feud with the newspaper, sued them in court and lost, so that was his way of getting even. 

Ah Lord eh! When are we going to learn eh, that if you live by the gun, you’ll most likely die by the gun? And unfortunately guns are proliferating all over the world now! No wonder there’s so much killing and mayhem. 

But as Christians we cannot afford to allow this negative state of affairs to bring us down. In fact we should be trying even harder to spread the word of God and His awesome LOVE, which mitigates such situations, bringing more togetherness, rather than the current separation we’re seeing in our turbulent world. 

And to bolster that fact, let’s remember that it’s Friday, a long weekend in Canada, where we celebrate Canada’s birthday on Monday, so celebrations are in the air everywhere, including the freed workingman’s song. ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! I don’t know if I could have made it another day nuh! And thank God especially that this is the Canada Day long weekend! 

Mama Yo! Even though ah tired, I’m going to be celebrating we country birthday in fine fashion! How could I not eh, when I live in such a fine country! And who don’t like we celebrations…. yuh know where they could go eh…straight to where Lucifer and his boys live yes! Thank God for Fridays and weekends, especially the long ones and them!’ 

Yes friends, this is the Canada Day long weekend and obviously the celebrations will be plentiful, uproarious and somewhat overboard, but please let’s remember Granny’s words of wisdom as we celebrate: ‘Sonny boy, please, ah beg you, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business.’ 

And all we believers will do well to adhere to that bit of wise advice this long weekend. For, unlike the workingman, we can’t afford to let the enemy get even one toehold in our business. So let’s chant our Friday Chant and remind ourselves of our responsibilities this weekend. 

Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ 

Yes precious people, serving Jehovah, improving His kingdom must always be at the forefront of our minds, though not in a severe and overly religious way. And I know that that is not always easy to do, what with the normal pressures of life and the constant bombardment of ungodly things and situations that the world enjoys firing at us. And it gets even more disheartening when we are alone to face the calamities coming against us. 

As Bruh Paul told Timothy: ‘At my first answer (defense) no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ (2 Tim.4:16-18) 

Ah mih breddren, we need to remember that we’re never alone, for even when no one is with us, God is always there. That brings us to another solitary situation, when Bruh David was living in Philistia, running from his enemies, and returned to his town of Ziklag and found it burned to the ground by the Amalekites, and all the women and children taken away captive, including his wives and children. 

But the Good Book says: ‘And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people were grieved (bitter), every man for his sons and daughters:’ (1 Sam.30a) Yuh see how we can be selfish and peeved when we’re suffering, and want to do others harm, even when they are suffering like us. 

Bruh David’s men apparently couldn’t care less that he had also lost his wives, his sons and daughters. They just wanted someone to blame, to take out their anger and grief on, and he was the most appropriate one at the time. They forgot all the times that they had endangered their lives for him, and how he had treated them well. But yuh know what friends, the Good Book continues: ‘…but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.’ 

Yeh mih people, when there’s no one around to encourage us, we have to find the necessary strength and energy to encourage ourselves in our God, who is always there for us. It’s not easy, but we know that when we call on Him with a sincere heart, He will answer and come to our rescue. That’s His promise, and He ALWAYS keeps them. 

So right now, if you’re in a situation somewhat like Bruh David’s, I encourage you to call out to your heavenly Father, and receive His divine encouragement, which no human’s can even approximate! Much LOVE!

…you’re NEVER alone…for the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit are ALWAYS with you…wherever you go…

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 February 2013 Psalm 121:8

08 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 121:8.     The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Oh Friends, it’s Friday – Carnival Friday to boot!. So you can imagine the joyful shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’ that are being let loose in places like Rio, New Orleans, The French West Indies, and T&T, where the party is now getting into full swing. Mama Mia! But unfortunately we in the Great White North, in particular Southern Ontario and the North  Eastern U.S. are expecting to be battered by a terrible snowstorm this Carnival Friday. It’s supposed to be a two-pronged storm; one coming from Texas and the other from Alberta, meeting and greeting in our territory. Ah Lord eh! What I wouldn’t give to be in T&T now! But I guess that’s why we have dreams. (smile) It’s already totally white outside, and they’re saying that’s just the start of something big moving through the area during the morning rush hour. So please be very careful my brethren, if you have occasion to go out. If you don’t have to, don’t go. This is one time I fervently hope that the weather forecasters are wrong. Anyway, with all that in mind, let’s chant our Friday Chant, with even more enthusiasm and prayerfulness than usual. As one vocal body now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ That should settle down those who have to drive in the stupid snow, allay their fears some, and put the assurance of God in their hearts. And for those in the party places, remember to go easy on the bacchanal, cause that’s when you tend to fall out of the frying pan and into the fire. Don’t forget our wise reminder: Drunk or sober, mind yuh business. Now turning to our Bit, which is rather appropriate for the weather we have outside: ‘The Lord shall preserve (keep) thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.’ Yes my people, that’s the unequivocal promise of our mighty and LOVING God to those who put their sincere trust in Him, to those who surrender their entire beings to His godly care! As the Psalm titled, God’s sustaining power, so emphatically declares before our Bit: ‘My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved (slip): he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper (protector): the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve (keep) thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.’ (Ps.121:2-7) Oh Friends, none of the other supposed gods can promise anything even close to that, and keep it too! So why do we still insist on doubting our Creator, Controller, LOVING Father and Provider eh? From since the days of old, when Moses told the Israelites about the blessings of obedience, these were instilled in our consciousness. ‘Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shall thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten (defeated) before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.’ (Deut.28:6-7) My oh my! What wonderful promises my people! It couldn’t get any better than that! Consequently, I just can’t understand how we ignore those amazing promises to our own hurt and demise. And Cousin Sol, in his great wisdom, enthusiastically declares: ‘He keepeth the paths of judgement (guards the paths of justice), and preserveth the way of his saints.’ (Prov.2:8) We are those saints Friends! That means the Lord looks out for us wherever we go, and in whatever we do. Meanwhile, hear how Hannah, Samuel’s mother, proclaims it in her song of praise and joy, after the Lord struck down her barrenness and opened up her womb with fruit. ‘He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn (strength) of his anointed.’ (1 Sam.2:9-10) What strong words of encouragement my brethren! Our God is so strong and purposeful to those who LOVE Him and walk in his ways! And we’ll end with one more wise saying of Cousin Sol; one that all of us should know and diligently adhere to. ‘In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct (make smooth or straight) thy paths.’ (Prov.3:6) Yes Friends, when we give our lives to Jesus, then He leads and guides us in the proper direction we should go, through His Holy Spirit that dwells within us. So please, today, let’s all consider if we have done that, and if we’re therefore walking the straight and narrow path that Jesus walks. If not, then let’s get right on it, and turn our lives over to the ONLY ONE who is able to save us from sinful death and eternal separation from Almighty God. That, my people, is the wisdom of the ages. Much LOVE!…we can only walk this earth safely…if we’re protected by the…LOVE and care of Jesus…

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 July 2012 Acts 5:29

27 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Acts 5:29.    Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
 
Oh Friends, it’s Friday! And all God’s people released a tired but grateful sigh as they mouthed: ‘Thank God is Friday yes!’ They have been looking forward to this day and the weekend of no labour, from since Monday morning as they left home to go to work. And unfortunately the constant mental, emotional and physical pressure of going to work for those five days has taken a toll on them. But Friends, I’m here to buoy and calm our spirits so that we don’t get too lethargic or too effervescent over the next couple of days. And we’ll start doing that by chanting our Friday Chant with as much gusto as we can muster. All together now, in one loud, prayerful voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ Yes Friends, I know that some of you have it fairly rough, having young children to look after before work, then fight the traffic to work and deal with all sorts of emotional and physical situations there, then fight the traffic back home and look after your families again. Some of you work even harder at home on the weekends, cleaning up and preparing for the following week, than you do at the job that hopefully pays you a living wage. But don’t worry my people, the Lord sees all your efforts and eventually you will be well rewarded, if you don’t give up. Just remember that living for Jesus is not an easy lifestyle, but it certainly is interesting and oftimes adventurous, cause we never know what’s the next situation He’s going to throw up before us. Remember too, that whatever He brings us to, He will also bring us through it, if we allow Him to lead and guide us. This brings us to our Bit: ‘Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.’ And that my friends is gospel, gospel truth! Believers ought to obey the dictates of God if they seriously conflict with the dictates of men. And why is that? Simply because the law of God is higher than that of men. God is our Creator, Controller and Provider, while man is merely flesh and bones and cannot create or control most of the stuff around him. Our Bit gives us a perfect example of upholding God’s law over man’s. The apostles had been preaching Christ crucified and risen in the temple at Jerusalem, with great crowds gathering to listen and many being saved. This obviously did not sit well with the Jewish leaders, so they dragged the apostles off to jail, warning them to stop preaching Christ. But please remember my brethren that our God is the greatest Being in the universe, and when you’re doing His work nothing is impossible. Consequently, as the Good Book notes: ‘But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught.’ (Acts 5:19-21a) Yes mih people, our God does move in mysterious ways, His sovereignty to show and glorify! So later on, when the elders, gathered together in the council chambers, sent for the apostles, they couldn’t be found in the prison, though all the gates and other security measures, including the keepers were perfectly all right and in place. And isn’t it strange that the elders who were supposed to be such godly and righteous beings doubted the situation. It just shows how little they really knew about or trusted God. But in the midst of their disbelief, someone came into the chamber and told them: ‘Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.’ (Acts 5:25) Now can you imagine the anger, rage and disbelief that must have gone through that hypocritical bunch of council members? But good for them, they were smart enough to tread softly: ‘Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them (the apostles) without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.’ (Acts 5:26) It makes me chuckle Friends, because in the final analysis, in spite of all their big talk, the council was afraid of the people, so they made sure that the apostles were taken without any fuss. And when they’re finally brought before the council, the high priest pompously declares: ‘Did we not straitly (strictly) command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’ (Acts 5:28) That’s when the apostles put them in their place, told them where to get off. In the words of our Bit, they solemnly declared: ‘We ought to obey God rather than man.’  Oh Friends, that’s how we believers ought to act when we’re threatened or challenged by a secular power, or even a wrong, hypocritical religious one, re speaking the Word of God! And we’ll end with a brief explanation of our Bit by the scholars. ‘Peter is not sanctioning civil disobedience, as he makes clear in his first epistle (1 Pet.2:13-17; cf. Rom:13:1-7). We are to obey the civil government; but when it goes contrary to the explicit commands of God, we must obey God and be ready to suffer the consequences.’  Yes my people, if we’re to truly follow Jesus, then there will inevitably be consequences to pay, some light, but also harsh and difficult ones. However, we must always have that faith, that depth of feeling, that whatever the consequences, we will gladly pay them. In Jesus’ name. Amen. More on this tomorrow Friends, if God’s willing. Till then, please walk safely under His protective umbrella, proclaiming His holy name wherever we go, and willingly accepting whatever consequences come our way. Much LOVE!…whatever beliefs we hold…there will always be consequences to pay for holding them…