07 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adjustments, attributes of a leader, blessed, Blessed be the name of God, blessing of God's Name, Bruh David, chant up a storm, commuinion with God, contemplation, Cousin Sol, Daniel, Daniel 2:20. Daniel, discernment, echo Daniel's sentiments, energy, exalted, Friday chant, further your glorious kingdom, generous help, give strength, glorious name, glory, God's mercies, God's wisdom and might, greatness, harmony, head above all, holy spirit, importance of prayer, indisputable fact, intercession, Jesus Christ, Lent, Lenten season, look at life, majesty, man of prayer, moderation, modicum of circumspection, Nebuchadnezzar, path to heaven, peace, people of god, power, praise, Praise the Lord, prayer, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, right perspective, rising of the sun, serious approach, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, thanks, thanksgiving, the things on earth, things in heaven, unbreakable passion, victory, walking and talking with God, week of work, wisdom, zest
Daniel 2:20. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.
Well Friends, it’s that day again – Friday… And strangely the shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’ are not as loud as usual. (smile) I guess we’re too tired from all the partying we did earlier on in the week, and then the Lenten Season’s seriousness added it’s own li’l bit of moderation and ‘modicum of circumspection,’ as Jeeves would say.
And that’s definitely not a bad thing my people, because every so often we do need to tone down our boisterous selves and take a more serious approach to, and look at life, meaning the things and people that surround us. And as we’ve been saying all week, Lent is the best time to do that, since it’s a season for contemplation and adjustments.
And as always, our Friday Chant will help us get the right perspective on handling the weekend. So let’s chant up a storm. Hn, hn! Sorry, I forgot that we’re too tired to chant up a storm, but let’s just do the best we can. (smile)
As one voice 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.’
Hopefully Friends, that prayer will restore some of our energy and zest, and allow us to go out and do a good job for Jesus. Don’t worry about it though, just talk to Jesus as you go along, and He will enable you to do whatever you need to do.
Now let’s turn to our Bit. ‘Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.’
Yesterday, we saw where the Lord blessed Daniel with supernatural discernment, re the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation. Today, I want to look at a few scriptures where other people of God echo Daniel’s sentiments.
Sadly, I could only find one scripture pertaining to the blessing of God’s Name, and that comes from Psalm 113, God’s mercies are many.
After opening the psalm with praise, the psalmist continues: ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!’ (Ps.113:2-6)
Yeh mih people, who is like unto our God eh? And all God’s people joyfully trilled: ‘NOBODY!’ And that my brethren is an indisputable fact!
However, concerning God’s wisdom and might, there are numerous scriptures that shout it out. Let’s take in a couple, beginning with Bruh David’s thanksgiving and prayer when he was preparing to hand over the throne of Israel to Cousin Sol.
Oh, oh fellow believers, the Holy Spirit just guided me to another scripture where the Lord’s name is blessed. Thank You Lord! I sincerely bless Your Holy Name! And lo and behold it comes right before the passage I intended to quote.
So here it is all together. ‘Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.’ (1 Chr.29:10-13)
What beautiful words of prayer and praise to our wonderful God, my brethren!
And we’ll close with an interesting note from the scholars’: ’29:10. David again shows himself to be a man of prayer (cf. 16:2, 7-36; 17:26-27). Those who stand before God’s people should likewise be capable of leading them in genuine intercession and communion with God.’
Oh Friends, we can never overestimate or overstate the importance of prayer in our daily lives, neither the importance of our leaders being able to lead us in genuine communication with God, for it’s one of the necessary attributes, a necessary ability of a leader.
Now may the Lord of heaven and earth bless and keep us safely, and cause His countenance to shine brightly upon us this day, as we journey on our path to heaven, to be with Him forever in LOVE, Peace and Harmony! Much LOVE!
…walking and talking with God…ought to be the believer’s unbreakable passion…
P.S. Oh my people, please note how short and sweet the Bit is today, and say a grateful, ‘Thank You Lord!’ (smile) Much LOVE!
28 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: apostasy, Asherah, associating with the heathen, Azariah, Baalim, bacchanal, brown girl in the bottle, Caleb's brother, Canaanite, Canaanite Gods, Carnival, Carnival Friday, carnival time, children of Israel, coming of Jesus, commandments, conviction, dark and dangerous paths, deafening, deliverer, DETERMINATION, did evil in the Lord's sight, disobedience, drunk or sober mind your business, ear plugs, empowered, exasperation, fellowship, fertility goddess, Friday, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generous help, godly grateful, godly peace and rest, Granny's warning, groves, hearsay, idolatrous, imbibe, intermarrying, irresponsibility, irresponsible, irresponsible tendencies, Israel, joyful and raucous shouts, life changing effects, Mesopotamia, mistakes, mouthed platitudes, New Orleans, one true God, Othniel, pagan nations, paganism, particular purpose, Pentecost, personal experience, pleasure traps, pray in Jesus' Name, proven formula, redress, relaxation, renewed and refreshed, repentance, rest, Rio, serving and worshipping Jehovah God, sincerity, sinful and ungodly times, sinful pleasures, son of Oded, strife, T&T, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the anger of the Lord, the enemy, the land had rest, the Lord's Spirit, the Spirit of God, their own devices, time of need, ungodly, week of work, wisdom of heaven
2 Chronicles 15:1. And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.
And then it was Friday… Carnival Friday to boot! So you can imagine the huge amount of joyful and raucous shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’ that are going up to heaven. It’s getting so deafening that the Lord has to put in earplugs to safeguard His hearing. (smile)
And if most of those shouts were truly godly grateful, it wouldn’t be so bad, but the fact of the matter is that most of them are simply mouthed platitudes for us to go and enjoy the earthly and sinful pleasures involved in the carnival bacchanal. You can imagine the highly ‘partyfied’ state of Rio, New Orleans and T&T!
But Friends, at no other time is Granny’s warning more important than at Carnival time, because we know it’s so easy to fall into the pleasurable traps of the enemy. So please, I beg of you all, this weekend especially, to remember that drunk or sober, you are expected to mind your business.
And be exceedingly careful of that brown girl in the bottle… or whatever colour girl she might be, for all of them are very capable and very likely to lead us down dark and dangerous paths, if we imbibe too much. We tend to get very loose and irresponsible then, and can suffer serious, life changing effects and situations through that irresponsibility.
And to help us guard against our natural irresponsible tendencies, let’s chant our Friday Chant in all seriousness. As one loud voice 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 mih people, this weekend, more than ever, we need to take our Friday Chant very seriously because it can prevent us from making some silly but very serious mistakes. And the ole fella’s talking from personal experience here, not hear say! (smile)
Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded’
Yeh Friends, in olden times the Lord’s Spirit wasn’t dwelling in every believer as it is now, after the coming of Jesus and Pentecost. Back then the Lord empowered certain individuals for a particular purpose when He needed them.
And yesterday we saw a time when Israel was real idolatrous and ungodly and the Lord, in exasperation, left them to their own devices. (Judg. 2:16-23) Just as He’s currently leaving us to our own ungodly and disobedient devices, and we’re suffering the pangs of rebellion in a very catastrophic world.
So the Lord left the pagan nations around Israel to test their determination and sincerity to walk in obedience to His commandments. (Judg. 3:1-4)
The Good Book describes it thus: ‘And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim (Baals, name or symbol of Canaanite gods) and the groves (Asherahs, names and symbols of Canaanite goddesses.’ (Judg.3:5-7)
The scholars tell us that ‘the groves were the detestable sacred trees or poles used in Canaanite worship centres as symbols of life and fertility. These were sacred to the worship of the Canaanite fertility goddess Asherah. Moses had warned against their use and given instructions to Israel to destroy them when they entered the land of Canaan (cf. Ex.34:13; Deut.7:5; 12:3; 16:21-22).
Unfortunately the use of such poles would prove to be a continuing fascination for Israel and a source of deepening apostasy. (cf. 2 Kin.17:9-11).’
Oh mih breddren, that’s exactly what we are doing today; intermarrying and associating with the heathen in a big way. But even worse, instead of bringing them to belief in the ONE, TRUE GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we’re embracing their paganism.
Don’t you think that will anger our God now, just as it angered Him back in the disobedient days of Israel? It surely will! And here’s how he dealt with Israel.
‘Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years.’ (Judg.3:8)
What else did they expect eh? And that warning goes for us today too Friends! But fortunately for the Israelites and us, our God is very merciful and forgiving.
‘And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
And the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim. And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.’ (Judg.3:9-11)
Oh my fellow believes, how I hope and pray that the Lord would raise up someone like Othniel today in out dire time of need, so that he or she could defeat the pagan powers that are controlling us, albeit through our disobedience, and give our land some godly peace and rest from the continuous struggles and strife that’s been plaguing it for oh too long. Please pray for God to positively address the situation very soon.
Remember though, that godly assistance WILL NOT COME WITHOUT SINCERE CONVICTION AND REPENTANCE! So if we want to see godly improvement in our world any time soon, then we need to start working RIGHT NOW, to seriously bring conviction and repentance to it.
With those two things permeating our society, we CAN NEVER GO WRONG! Why? Because that’s the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!
…in sinful and ungodly times…the proven formula for redress…is sincerely turning back to serving and worshipping Jehovah God…
21 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: achieving reconciliation, Adam, alienated, angelic beings, ascension, atonement, bacchanal, blessings, borders, boundaries, bounden duty, Bruh Paul, celebrations, Christ's contention, clothed in righteousness, Colossians, come to seek and save, death, deceitful one, dilgently address, disobedience, divine means, Drunk or sober mind yuh business, enemy, erect strongholds, evil, false step, fellowship, follow Jesus, free gift, Friday chant, generous help, glorious kingdom, God's holy throne, good news, gospel truth, Granny's advice, great commission, heavenly presence of God, heavenly rewards, heavenly wisdom, heretics, holy, holy spirit, humanity, implementation, in the future, inferiority, Jesus Christ, jesus name, Jesus' gospel, joyful shouting, judgement, justification, leggo-beast, let our hair down, lost, LOVE, made peace, malicious, Mardi gras, Mas in T&T, mythological figure, never go wrong, New Orleans, obedience, perfectly holy, poisonous fangs, proper relationship with Christ, protection, put a spoke in your wheel, reconciliation, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, resurrection, righteous, righteousness., Rio carnival, roaring lion, sacrificial death, salvation, sinners, sly, Son of man, standard warning, superiority, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the blood of his cross, things in heaven, things on earth, to live by, ultimate purpose, unaccepteable, wicked works, wisdom, words of caution
Luke 19:10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
And then it was Friday…! That’s obvious with all the joyful shouting of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! Work soon over, and the partying start…! Thank God is Friday yes!’
And nowhere right now are the shouts louder and more joyous than in Rio for their carnival, New Orleans for their Mardi gras, and T&T for Mas… Bacchanal fuh so! As those bacchanalian celebrations are only another week away.
However Friends, despite your not liking to hear Granny’s words of caution, because you think it puts a spoke in your wheel, stops you from doing certain things, it is indeed necessary for your protection.
That’s because it’s at these kinds of ‘leggo-beast’ celebrations, where the evil, deceitful one is ever present, like a roaring lion, constantly on the lookout for someone to get his poisonous fangs into, and thus erect strongholds in our minds, souls and bodies. (1 Pet.5:8)
But since this is unacceptable in a believer’s life, we need to ensure that certain boundaries, certain borders are not crossed, are not invaded by the sly and malicious enemy. Thus Granny’s warning ought to be taken very seriously. ‘Sonny boy, please, ah beg yuh, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business!’
And that’s really a standard warning we should all live by, my people, especially in big celebratory times, when we let go and let our hair down.
And as always, to help us get the right perspective for using the weekend, let’s chant our Friday Chant with all sincerity. ‘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, the weekend’s not only for partying, but also for rest and fellowship. Now let’s turn to our Bit. ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’ And this is definitely the last day for it. (smile)
So what scriptures do we have to share that support Christ’s contention that He came to save us? Let’s begin with Bruh Paul talking to the Colossians, re reconciliation in and through Christ.
‘And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in (on) earth, or things in heaven. And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight.’ (Col.1:20-22)
Now here are some thoughts from the scholars on those verses. ‘1:21. Reconciliation is the act whereby God, through Christ’s atonement, brings men who are at odds with Him back into a peaceful, proper relationship with Himself.’
‘1:22. In the body of his flesh through death (or, “by His fleshly body through death”). The Colossian heretics may have argued that Jesus’ humanity and death indicate His inferiority to the angelic beings in the universe. Paul turns the argument against them, showing that His death points to His superiority; for His death is the divine means of achieving reconciliation to God.
To present you holy… in his sight (or, “to bring you holy… into His presence”). This expresses the ultimate purpose of reconciliation: it is to eventually usher the believer, made perfectly holy, into the heavenly presence of God.’
Oh my brethren, we can NEVER GO WRONG, IF WE FOLLOW JESUS!
And finally, listen to Bruh Paul in his missive to the church at Rome, talking about sin through Adam, and salvation through Christ. ‘Therefore, as the offense of one (false step) judgement came upon all men to condemnation; even so be the righteousness of one (righteous act) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.’ (Rom.5:18-19)
And that’s the gospel truth of all gospel truths, my fellow believers in Jesus Christ!
And the scholars have this to say re those two verses. ‘5:18-19. Paul’s reference to Adam shows that he understood Adam to have been a real person. Adam was not a mythological figure any more than Jesus was.’
Oh Friends, our Jesus was definitely not a mythological character, for it’s only through His sacrificial death, resurrection and ascension that we are now able to come before God’s holy throne clothed in righteousness.
And that’s the GOOD NEWS OF JESUS’ GOSPEL, which He asked us to go forth and share with all mankind, to all the corners of the earth, so that all the earth would hear it and have a chance for salvation. (Matt.28:19-20)
Please my fellow believers, let’s take that commission very seriously and diligently address ourselves to its implementation. For it’s not only our bounden duty, but also heavenly wisdom, and will bring us great heavenly rewards in the future too. Much LOVE!
… he who doesn’t know the Son…unfortunately…will NEVER KNOW the Father…
18 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: accepting Jesus, aggressive, almighty god, angel of the Lord, appeased the evils, awesome truth, bad beginnings, baptizing, bring forth a son, call his name Jesus, cramp, drama, early morning horrors, earthly actions, elixir of sleep, eternal life, eternal separation, eternity, evil one, fool's wisdom, foolish spirit, foundational concept of the gospel, free and easy salvation, free gift, from their sins, full bladder, glory hallelujah, God's will, God's Word, good endings, gospel of Matthew, gospel truth, grace of God, heart-warming, heaven, hogwash, holy spirit, ignorance, indisputable, Jehovah Saves, Jesus Christ, Jesus' purpose for coming to earth, John the Baptist, Joseph, lead and guide, Lord and Saviour, lost, Loving Father, Lucifer, mention of Jesus' name, miserable, New Testament, penny section, refuse to accept, refuse to be saved, rejecting Jesus, repenting of sins, rest, River Jordan, salvation, save, save his people, saving grace, saviour, scriptures, settle in our souls, sinful condition, sinful destination, sleep, Son, spoil our day, take away the sin of the world, that which is lost, the Lamb of God, to save sinners, to seek and to save, to work with God, tossed and turned, unwise moves, war-like, wisdom, wisdom of the ages, wise and good Spirit
Luke 19:10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Oh Friends, I greet you all this snowy morning with the piece of wisdom that ignorance is a helluva thing yes! (smile) And that’s no lie, it’s the gospel truth!
Now hear the reasons for my assertion. Sometime after two o’clock this morning, I was summarily awakened by a cramp in my left thigh. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as some I have, but as I swung my legs off the bed to attend to the cramp, I also realized that my bladder was full. So I got up and hobbled to the bathroom.
Don’t laugh, because that was a good hobble, some day’s I can’t even hobble, I’m more like the hunchback of Notre Dame. Unfortunately though, by the time I had appeased the evils in my body, I found that the sleep had left my eyes.
Now this is where the ignorance comes in. In spite of being wide awake, I insisted that it was too early for me to get up, so I went back to bed, where I tossed and turned, devoid of the elixir of sleep, foolishly telling myself that though I couldn’t sleep, I was getting valuable rest.
Steups! What hogwash! And the sad part is that when I did get up, it was much later than I had planned. Chuh! And that’s why the Bit is somewhat late.
Ah Friends, the evil one will do those sorts of things to us, or rather will lead us to make those sort of unwise moves, so he can spoil our day. But with the grace of God, I’m choosing to believe the cliché that bad beginnings make for good endings. Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Hallelujah indeed! If I had listened to the wise and good Spirit instead of the foolish, evil one, I wouldn’t have put myself through those early morning horrors.
But thankfully our wonderful and LOVING Father in heaven saw how lost and miserable we were in our sinful condition and sent His beautiful Son, Jesus Christ to save us, both from ourselves and the ole crook Lucifer.
As Jesus so assuredly says in our Bit: ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’
And yuh better believe my people, that there are many of us, in fact, way too many of us who are still lost, and worse yet, refuse to be saved, even though Jesus went out of His way and provided free and easy salvation, through simply repenting of our sins and accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour.
Hn! But I’m not here to preach… Chuh! It’s amazing how that word preach likes to flow from my pen, although I insist that I’m not a preacher. (smile) Anyway, I’m not here to talk or teach about that this morning. Yeh, I’m more of a talker and teacher than preacher. Shut up my children! No noise from the penny section! (smile)
What we’ll continue doing today, in this last message on the topic of Christ coming to save us, is look at scriptures which proclaim and/or attest to that fact.
Oh my brethren, I need to retract one thing in that statement. This doesn’t seem to be the last message on Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth! Why? Because I was just checking to ensure that I had exhausted my supply of scriptures on the subject, when the Holy Spirit led me to a whole bunch more.
Yuh see Friends, when you’re sincerely trying to work with the Lord, He does lead and guide you to His Will and to His Word. Sorry for those of you who like to move on to a new Bit every day. But sometimes we need to hear certain things in the Word, again and again, for them to truly settle in our souls.
And we’ll begin our scriptures today with a most important verse from the gospel of Matthew, where the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph and tells him about the serious piece of drama that was about to be enacted in His life, and consequently the world.
‘And she shall bring forth a son, (referring to Mary, his betrothed) and thou shalt call his name JESUS (Saviour): for he shall save his people from their sins.’ (Matt.1:21)
Oh my fellow believers, nothing could be clearer and more explicit than that! Jesus was coming to earth as a SAVIOUR!
And the scholars explain that verse thus: ‘1:21, 22. Call his name JESUS: The name of the child Jesus (Heb. Yehoshua) means “Jehovah Saves.” This points to the very purpose of Christ’s coming into the world – to save sinners.
Placed early in the New Testament, this statement becomes the foundational concept of the gospel. Jesus, by His very name and nature, is the Saviour.’
Yes Friends, even Jesus’ name conveys the message of saving and salvation! So why are so many humans still so reluctant to receive and accept His saving grace eh? Even to the point of getting aggressive and war-like when they hear His name mentioned! Who knows? I guess we all have our various reasons for rejecting Christ’s free gift of salvation and eternal life.
But Friends, I’m here to tell us that whatever reason you choose for rejecting Jesus, it’s a fool’s wisdom, for ONLY Jesus, the Son of God, begotten before every and anything else in this world, can save us from our sinful destination of eternal separation from Almighty God! And that’s definitely not going to be a nice place to spend eternity!
And we’ll close with this magnificent scripture from the John the Baptist, where he was baptizing the repentant at the river Jordan. ‘The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29)
That my people, is the indisputable, most awesome and heart-warming truth! Please accept it as such, and gear all your earthly actions towards it, for in it lies the wisdom of all the ages. Much LOVE!
…just sit and contemplate for a moment…where you’ll end up if you reject Jesus…certainly no place like heaven…
14 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a great day, angry, arduous labour, badly needed, best intentions, bless, body, bounden duty, celebrate Love, Christian, condemnation, day of Love, dissolute, emotionally, exercise judgement, fellow believers, fellowship, forgiving, Friday, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generous help, genuine caring, godly act, godly wisdom, gracious, greedy, Happy Valentine's Day, help, help each other, hope, human vocabulary, in short supply, individuals, inner motives, it takes two to tango, jesus name, judge not, judgement of God, just, keep our promise, life's dark winding and lonely road, littered with, Lord God Jehovah, loving, mentally, merciful, mercy, mind, needy, no man is an island, one hand can't wash itself, oppressed, physically, prejudicial information, prosper, reach out and touch, relaxation, renewed and refreshed, replenish strength, resentful, respite, rest, right perspective, riotous living, self-supporting, selfish, shall cry himself, shall not be heard, showing some kind of Love, soul, sovereign God, standard of judgement, stop his ears, succeed, Thank God is Friday, the cry of the poor, the law and the prophets, the poor, the rich and famous, the sick, the suffering, tit for tat, True LOVE, two hands to clap, unfortunate, ungodly world, universal principle, Valentine's day, valuable weekend, week of work, workers, worthwhile followers
Proverbs 21:13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
Oh Friends, it’s Friday, it’s Friday! Thank God it’s Friday! And the lucky workers around the world, though not always with the best intentions, are thanking God that it’s Friday, and they’re going to have a brief respite from their arduous labours.
Now that is all well and good, but what we do with the brief respite from work is also important. We cannot just waste it on riotous and dissolute living, but need to use it to replenish our strength; mentally, physically and emotionally.
So let’s chant our Friday Chant, which gives us the right perspective on how to use our oh so valuable weekend. All together now, in full 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 that’s a much better and wiser way to use our days off! And on another important note Friends, today is not only Friday, but also VALENTINE’S DAY; a day on which we celebrate LOVE!
And though it’s been highly commercialized, like almost every other important day, and is more or less viewed as a day for romantic LOVE, it’s still a day when we reach out and touch others.
And any day we do that is indeed a great day! For reaching out and touching others, showing some kind of LOVE is so badly needed and in such short supply in our greedy, angry, resentful and ungodly world!
And it really doesn’t matter all that much what kind of LOVE we touch others with nuh, once it’s TRUE LOVE, it goes a long way towards bringing peace, justice and equal rights to our unjust, war-like and oppressive times.
So today my brethren, when we think of LOVE and giving, let’s not only remember those nearest and dearest to us, with flowers, chocolates and whatever else the commerce peddlers throw at us, but more importantly, let’s stop for a moment and consider our Bit.
‘Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.’
Oh Friends, that is just another angle of the universal principle on which our just, merciful, gracious, forgiving, LOVING and sovereign God built His universe; whatever you sow, the same shall you reap. That means, generally speaking, whatever we do, will be done back to us.
So if the poor cries out to us for help and mercy, and we ignore them, at some future date, when we too cry out for help and mercy, we will not be heard, but also ignored. It’s a simple principle – tit for tat.
And our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ made it quite clear to us when He declared: ‘Judge (condemn) not, that ye be not judged (condemned). For with what judgement (condemnation) ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete (use), it shall be measured to you again.’ (Matt.7:1-2)
And as the scholars explain: ‘7:1-4. Judge not refers to an unfavourable and condemnatory judgement. This does not mean that a Christian should never exercise judgement of any kind under any circumstances. The point being made here is that we are not to judge the inner motives of another.
We are not to render a verdict based on prejudicial information. Nor are we to use ourselves as the standard of judgement for with what…ye mete (measure) you shall be judged. That ye be not judged refers to the ultimate judgement of God rather than our own judgement.’
Oh mih breddren, what’s so hard to understand about all that eh? Nothing at all! It’s like we say: it takes two to tango; two hands to clap; one hand can’t wash itself.
Yes my fellow believers, one of the most important words in our human vocabulary, regardless of the language, is ‘help.’ And one of the most important phrases is ‘help each other,’ for without somebody’s help, NONE of us can ever hope to prosper and succeed. That’s why the phrase ‘no man is an island,’ has also been coined.
The Lord God Jehovah didn’t make this world merely as a bunch of selfish, self-supporting individuals, but as a group of people who are supposed to work together, to help each other along life’s dark, winding and lonely road.
Unfortunately though my fellow believers, our world is littered with the poor, needy and oppressed, and it’s our bounden duty to help them however and whenever we can.
Remember it was the poor, the needy, the lost, the sick, the suffering and the oppressed that Jesus came to save, and it was those types that He hung out with, much more than the rich and famous. And if we’re to be His true and worthwhile followers, we need to do the same things He did.
So today, on Valentine’s Day, this Day of LOVE, I’m asking us all to remember those who are not as fortunate as us. Pray for them, as well as try to help at least ONE unfortunate person. Bless them with something, or in some way that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ can interpret as genuine caring and LOVE.
Remember the rich and powerful don’t give two expletives deleted about the poor and downtrodden, so it’s up to us believers to help them out of their misery.
Please, let’s make a serious, sincere and generous effort to help someone today. That’s not only godly wisdom, as well as our bounden duty, but also a godly act, which we’ve all committed and promised to make our life’s work.
So please, let’s start keeping our promise nuh, for it’s not wise or healthy to make promises and then not keep them. Much LOVE!
…therefore all things…whatsoever ye would that men should do to you…do ye even so to them…for this is the law and the prophets… (Matt.7:12)
07 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: appropriate scripture, Babylon, bad choices, blind lead the blind, burned with fire, cause them to err, consequeneces, consider, contemptible, corruption, covenant, critical position, death, decision making, destroyed, disasters, disobedience, disregard, enormous ramifications, equal rights, evil cohorts, evil path, famine, fellowship, Friday chant, friends, frivolity, fun, further your glorious kingdom, gay abandon, generous help, glorious kingdom, go with the flow, God's Law, God's principles, God's Word, gospel truth, greed, heartfelt rendition, heartrending, heavenly wisdom, hedonistic, hold my head and bawl, holiness, holy spirit, horrific price, in Jesus' name, ineptitude, insightful words, Isaiah, Israel, Jesus Christ, joy of the lord, justice, knowledge, Leaders, leading people astray, led of them, life, LOVE, Lucifer, man-made idols, messenger of God, mourning, natural laws, no place like Home, one day, one true God, partiality, peace, plagues, pleasure driven lifestyle, ponder, poor decisons, prophecies, proven fact, rat-race, refreshed in soul body and mind, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, repent, rest, retribution, Revelation, right perspective, righteousness., routine, rude awakening, seek the Lord, strong is the Lord, stumble, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the head and tail, the Lord's anger, the priest's lips, the prophet Isaiah, think on, truth, turn back to God, understanding, ungodly society, virtual reality, warnings, welcome back, wisdom
Isaiah 9:16. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
‘Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back!’ Oh Friends, the snow and cold gave me a very warm welcome back last night. Wow! But in spite of the rude awakening, it’s good to be back, because there’s just no place like home!
And like I’ve fallen right back into the early morning routine. Chuh! How nice it was the past three weeks not to have a set routine and just go with the flow of life. But that was the virtual reality, the frivolity of the situation, this is the real reality, and the two are definitely much different.
So as most workers rejoice with shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! Payday and time to party!’ let’s get the right perspective on the situation right away, with a soulful, heartfelt rendition of our Friday Chant.
As one chanter now. (smile) ‘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 my people, the wise and sensible thing to do on the weekend is to make sure you get enough rest, relaxation and fellowship with other believers, so that come Monday you’ll get out there bright, spunky and full of the joy of the Lord! That’s the only way we can successfully handle this rat race we so nicely term life.
That my Friends, brings us to today’s Bit; a very interesting and rather appropriate verse of scripture, which has enormous ramifications for our present society and way of life. ‘For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.’
And that’s gospel truth my people! This is the prophet Isaiah declaring the Lord’s anger against the Northern kingdom of Israel, for their overwhelming disobedience and turning away from Him to worship other supposed gods and man-made idols. But my fellow believers, we know that there is ONLY ONE TRUE GOD IN EXISTENCE, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
And you don’t have to look very far or dig very deep to see the gross ineptitude, corruption, greed, poor choices and decision making of today’s leaders.
But listen to what Isaiah says before our Bit. ‘For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth (strikes) them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.’ (Is.9:13)
That my Friends is so relevant to our current society, that it’s heart rending. A substantial part of our society has turned away from the ONE TRUE GOD, and refuses to repent and turn back to Him, despite the many warnings found in His Word, and the many unusual and severe disasters that are happening on a more frequent basis than that to which we are accustomed.
So what do you think will the consequences of this disobedience eh? ‘Isaiah details it: ‘Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch (palm branch) and rush (bulrush), in one day.’ (Is.9:14)
And if you don’t believe Isaiah, then listen to what Revelation says about the eventual fall of Babylon, the evil, ungodly society in which we’re presently living. ‘Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord who judgeth her.’ (Rev.18:8)
And we’ve seen all Gods’ prophecies come true, so why not that one eh? Yes my brethren, the Lord will eventually destroy our society, like He’s done to so many others before us, who proudly and foolishly refused to accept His warnings.
Then Isaiah further explains: ‘The ancient and honourable (elder) he is the head; and the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail.’ (Is.9:15)
For as the prophet Malachi said way back when, and still applies today: ‘For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial (shown partiality) in the law.’ (Mal.2:7-9)
Again Friends and fellow believers, that is gospel truth, for the priesthood nowadays is definitely not up to the level or standard of righteousness and holiness that it ought to be, people no longer look up to them as they used to, and unfortunately they are leading a lot of people astray!
Ah Lord eh! Some of the things I see and hear about, regarding our leaders and priests, it just makes me want to hold my head and bawl!
Oh my brethren, it truly amazes me, that with so many societies, shown by history to have bitten the dust because of blatant disobedience to God’s holy law, we, supposedly the wisest and most knowledgeable of all humans, are still pursuing, unabashed and unashamed, in fact with total disregard and gay abandon, to flout the natural laws of justice, peace, LOVE and equal rights!
Now that’s a Bruh Paulian sentence! (smile) But it’s irrefutable truth!
Oh Friends, we desperately need a change of mind and heart, one filled with crucial but true understanding of God’s principles, so that we can turn back to Him, repent and diffuse His holy and just anger against us. And unless you are really foolish, you’ll realize that God is indeed very angry with us for our evil, hedonistic, material and pleasure driven lifestyle.
Oh my people, I don’t know what else to say to get us to understand the critical position we’re currently in nuh. We’re behaving just like Israel did long ago, not heeding God’s warnings. And they paid a horrific price for their disobedience. And the same will eventually happen to us, if we keep going down the evil path we’re being led down by Lucifer and his evil cohorts, many of them our elders, teachers and prophets.
And we’ll end with some interesting, but oh so true words of Jesus on the topic. ‘And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?’ (Luke 6:39)
Oh Friends, please, let’s ponder, seriously think on and consider those very insightful words of our Lord, Saviour and Leader, Jesus Christ. Then with God’s help, let’s try to make any necessary corrections in our own lives. Now that’s undoubtedly heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
…disobedience to God’s holy law…will always bring painful retribution…and that’s a proven fact throughout history…
P.S. Please excuse the lateness Friends, for although I got up fairly early, I had lot of other important stuff to first rectify, and then a sudden bout of tiredness hit me and slowed me down. But it’s still an excellent Bit. (smile) Much LOVE!
03 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 2014, acquire, ads, advertising people, ailment, alive and kicking, blockade, bow down, Bruh Paul, Canada, carefree style, celebratory mood, chains, cheap stuff, Christmas, Christmas bills, Christmas Season, closer to Jesus, common task, concentrate on, Counselor, curtain, daily grind, dead trees, fellow believers, fellowship, fighting, financial debt, flee, frame of mind, Friday chant, friends, frigid day, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generous help, gnashing of teeth, gold and silver images, goldsmith, gospel truth, graven image, greatness, heavens, hit the ground running, Holy One, idolatry, idols, immortal, Isaiah, jesus name, kill ourselves, lord god, LOVE, majesty of the Lord, materialistic, merchants, moaning, more intimate with Jesus, nations are nothing, New Year, offering, omnipotent god, overwork, perishable, poor workers, practice what you preach, pray, race of life, relaxation, rest, sales, serious manner, sickness, silversmith, Spirit of the Lord, stress, strong in power, stupidity, tent to dwell in, TGIF!, Thank God it's Friday, things of God, things of the world, time to spend with God, touted, vanity, walk of faith, weekend, weeping, work of their own hands, work week, worship, worthless
Isaiah 2:8. Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday… And the cheering section cuts in: ‘Whoopee Dee! It’s Friday! Another short work week! Shout TGIF, brothers and sisters! Thank the Lord it’s Friday! For He’s looking down on us poor workers today!’
Ah mih people, the Lord is definitely looking down on us today, and everyday. And we have indeed been lucky to get two short work weeks in a row, because both Christmas and New Year’s Days fell in the middle of the week.
But please note that all across the goodly country of Canada, this Friday will be a frigid one, with whipping winds making it feel even colder. In my area the high is slated to be minus 12 Celsius. Imagine that nuh! Please dress very warm then, if you have to go out.
And all that good fortune of short work weeks, is over now. From henceforth we’ll have to work the full week for a while, before it’s bisected by a holiday. Hopefully, you haven’t become too accustomed to that holiday frame of mind, because this weekend is the last of the celebration period, then it’s back to the daily grind and common task.
So let’s wind down the celebratory mood by taking the weekend seriously, by getting back to basics, like chanting our Friday Chant in a serious and functional manner, rather than the carefree style that the Christmas season put in us. Therefore my fellow believers, in all seriousness, let’s chant.
‘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.’
Oh Friends, I do hope that brought us back down to earth. (smile) Because right from the start of this new year of 2014, we need to hit the ground running, running that serious race of life Bruh Paul talked about. (1 Cor.9:24-27) That means we have to get closer to and more intimate with Jesus, if we sincerely and seriously want to improve our walk of faith.
However my people, a significant blockade to that action exists in many of our lives, and it’s well put by our Bit. ‘Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.’
And that’s the gospel truth Friends! Because we do seem to be more interested in the perishable things of the world, than the imperishable ones of God. Look at all the stuff we kill ourselves, through stress, overwork and financial debt to acquire, especially in this just past Christmas season. Hn!
We fall for all the ads, the sales, the cheap stuff, even to the point of running over and fighting with our fellow humans over unimportant materialistic stuff. Yes my brethren, our world has definitely become too materialistic, and unfortunately a lot of believers get caught up in it.
Then they claim they don’t have the time to spend with God. Chuh! Just consider the great amount of weeping, moaning and gnashing of teeth that will occur at the end of the month when the Christmas bills come due. It’s like a sickness my people, we know it, but yet still we do it every year.
And I’m here to tell us that the ONLY WAY to recover from, to wipe out that dreaded ailment of wanting everything that’s touted by the merchants and the advertising people, things we certainly don’t need, and in many cases can’t afford, is by spending more time concentrating on the things of God, rather than those of man.
Remember too, the definition of an idol; ANYTHING that keeps us away from Almighty God. And the things of the world that we’re killing ourselves over, are definitely doing that!
Now here’s an interesting question. If each of us was asked what we’d prefer, the perishable things of man, or the immortal things of God, the majority of us would consider the question a no-brainer and choose the latter. However my people, our actual actions don’t correlate to that answer. So we’re obviously not practicing what we preach.
Anyway, let’s end by looking at some supportive scripture from Isaiah, as he talks of the majesty of the Lord. ‘Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hath taught him?… All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity (worthless).
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? The workman melteth (moulds) a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and (the silversmith) casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation (no such offering) chooseth a tree that will rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning (skilful) workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved (totter).
Have ye not known? have not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon (above) the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in….
To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth (is missing).’ (Is. 40:13, 17-22, 25-26)
Yes my people, our omnipotent God created the entire universe without any help, and there is none that can match Him, in anything at all. Not the gold and silver images, the dead trees, all the material stuff we hunger and thirst after, for they are merely things, dead things to boot, created by a human hand.
How can you bow down to something that you’ve made eh? That’s stupidity in the height!
And the sooner we learn and understand that the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the ONLY REAL DEITY in this world, ONE WHO IS ALIVE AND KICKING, the better off we’ll all be! Much LOVE!
…wherefore my dearly beloved…flee from idolatry… (1 Cor.10:14)
27 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adjustments, afraid, allegiance, backsliding, body, Boxing Day, celebrating, Christ's birth, Christmas, christmas day, condemnation, consider, courage, cowardly, criticism, deceiver, delight in doing evil, disobedience, divinely ordained, drunk or sober, earth, ever-faithful God, evil, evildoers, faithful, fall prey, Father's help, fellowship, foothold, Friday chant, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generous help, get priorities straight, god, Gomorrah, good, heady days, hearken, heartfelt voice, heavens, hypocritical religion, Isaiah, jesus name, Judah, judge, judgement, justice, king, law of God, lawgiver, light, listen, LOVE, Lucifer, marrow of our souls, mind your business, no real heart for God, on our p's and q's, on the lookout, one true God, picture of Jesus, ponder, price to be paid, rebellious, refreshed, relaxation, renewed, rest, right perspective, righteousness., ritual of religion, sacrifical system, salvation, Samuel, Saul, saviour, scripture, sincere, sinful, Sodom, soul, sovereign Lord, stand up, sufficient fun, superficial worship, TGIF!, Thank God is Friday, the body of Christ, the church, to obey is better than sacrifice, traps, trust, utilize time, vanish like smoke, warning, wax old, wisdom, Wonderful, worming, worship, worthless
Isaiah 33:22. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he shall save us.
And wonder of wonders – it’s Friday! ‘Yeah! TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ come the joyous shouts. It’s the shortest workweek we’ve had for a while, since most of us had both Christmas and Boxing Days off. And some of us were even lucky enough to finagle Friday off too. (smile)
In any case, I think we deserve some time off because we’ve worked so hard during the earlier part of the year. However, as always, we need to utilize our time properly, get our priorities straight, so that we don’t fall prey to the artful and deceitful traps of the arch deceiver, Lucifer, who’s always looking for a way into our lives.
So to help us get the right perspective, let’s chant our Friday Chant. With one sincere and heartfelt voice 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 my people, especially in these heady days of celebrating Christ’s birth, we need to be continually on the lookout, to be on our p’s and q’s for anything that will give the enemy even a tiny foothold in our lives, for that’s all he needs to start worming his evil way into the marrow of our souls, and disfiguring the beautiful picture of Jesus we have painted there. So let’s enjoy ourselves, but remember that drunk or sober, we must mind our business.
And with that age-old warning, (smile) let’s turn to our Bit, hopefully the last day for it. (smile) ‘For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he shall save us.’
Oh mih breddren, I can’t get over how good and wonderful our God is to us nuh! Check this out. Earlier on in the week, I was wondering what Bit I would use for Christmas Day, since it’s the same basic stuff everybody uses and everybody knows. I wanted something different.
And lo and behold, a couple days before Christmas Day, the Lord led me to this scripture, with it lasting for several days, and most importantly having the king and saving aspect of it for His special day.
Wow! How can I not LOVE and worship Him eh? For He always meets my needs, lifts me out of any dark hole in which I’ve fallen, either literally or figuratively! Ah Friends, it’s so great to trust in the ONE TRUE GOD, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! But let’s get back to our Bit, before I get more sentimental and get carried away. (smile)
And finally, today we’re going to look at the ‘lawgiver’ aspect of our great and wonderful God. And the first scripture comes from Isaiah, re the call to repentance to the sinful, rebellious, backsliding nation of Judah. ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.’ (Is.1:10)
Yes Friends, the people of Judah were behaving like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. The notes of the scholars’ will further explain the situation.
‘1:10-15. The prophet addressed the people of Judah as if they were the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. His criticism of their hypocritical religion should not be taken as a rejection of the divinely ordained sacrificial system. Rather, it is a condemnation of their superficial worship. (See the note on 1 Sam.15:22-23) They were merely going through the ritual of religion, with no real heart for God.’
And 1 Sam.15:22:23, is where Samuel is lecturing Saul for his disobedience, and talking about ‘to obey is better than sacrifice.’ The scholars’ note says: ’15:22-23. These verses reinforce the Old Testament viewpoint that religious ritual devoid of spiritual reality and of a life of total allegiance to a sovereign Lord is worthless. (cf. Ps.40:6-8; Is.1:10-20; Mic.6:8).’
Unfortunately though Friends, we’re seeing the very same thing happening today, possibly to an even more disturbing degree. Evil has really gotten out of hand; it controls the world, with nobody, or no bodies strong and willing enough to rein it in.
But my fellow believers, that’s a big part of our job! As the church, the body of Christ here on earth, we are supposed to exemplify righteousness. But sadly, too many of us are either too afraid and/or cowardly to stand up against the evildoers, or we’re simply joining with them because we too delight in doing evil.
However my brethren, let’s remember that there’s always a price to be paid for evil doing; a substantial one too. Listen as our ever-faithful God, through His faithful prophet Isaiah, calls the faithful to courage.
‘Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed (go forth) from me, and I will make my judgement (justice) to rest for a light of the people. My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles (coastlands) shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax (grow) old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished (broken).’ (Is.51:4-6)
Oh Friends, on those indisputably true and very serious words of our Creator, we’ll end today!
Please, please, let’s ponder them, let’s consider how they fit into our individual lives, and then, with the Father’s help, let’s make whatever adjustments are necessary for us to fall in line with them. For that is wisdom of the greatest magnitude! Much LOVE!
…to whom shall we look for righteousness… but to Him who created us…and gave us the law…
20 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: actions, admonish, advice to the young, alive and kicking, awesome truth, bad, balancing act, Bruh Paul, care, cheer, childhood, choices, church at Corinth, consequences, controlling factor, dangerous day, dark days, deceitful conception, decisions, enjoyment, every work, evil, excuses, expectantly, eyes, fear of repercussions, fellowship, firmly grounded, flesh, followers, forearmed, forewarned, freezing rain, Friday chant, fun, futility, generous help, gladness, glorious kingdom, God is judge, God's judgement, good, heart, hedonistic sense, hidden things of darkness, impulses, in faith, jesus name, jobs, joy, judgement, judgement day, justified, life, lifetimes, live it out, LOVE, magnanimous god, magnificent, mighty, motives, perspective, praise of God, prayer, precipitation, prime of life, propagated by evildooers, prosper, real judgement, refreshed in soul, rejoice, relaxation, renewed, rest, reveal, righteousness., secret thing, Selah, self-indulgence, sight, snow, sorrow, sow diligently, straight and narrow, struggle, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, thanks, the Preacher, the world's our oyster, total commitment, trial, umbrella, vanity, vexation, warning, ways, week of work, weekend, words, wrong, youth
Ecclesiastes 12:14. For God shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
And then it was Friday – a wintry Friday! There’s already some precipitation on the ground in my area – not much, but precipitation nonetheless. And who knows what’s going to follow eh; snow or freezing rain, or a combination of both? Anyhow we cut it, if the weather people are right, today’s going to be a dangerous day.
So please people, let’s all take very good care as we go about our business outside, for the weather conditions will not be ideal… Hn! And we don’t want any accidents or misfortunes just before Christmas. So if you don’t HAVE to go out, then DON’T GO OUT! Words of true wisdom Friends. (smile)
I also noticed that the weather warning somewhat dampened our usually glorious shout of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ But with prayer and care, we ought to make it safely through another winter’s day.
And to top it all off, let’s chant out Friday chant, with joy and gladness, simply because we’re alive and kicking, have jobs to go to, and live under the umbrella of a mighty, magnificent and magnanimous God!
So my brethren, let’s chant: ‘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 let’s get that perspective firmly grounded in our beings, so that we can live it out over the weekend. And do we ever need stuff like that to keep us on the straight and narrow, especially when we have a Bit like today’s: ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’
Yeh mih people, all our words and actions WILL indeed be judged on the big day! But as the saying goes; to be forewarned is to be forearmed. So now that we know what’s going to eventually happen, we have no excuses for making bad, or wrong, or evil decisions and choices.
Yesterday we saw the Preacher telling us to sow diligently in the mornings, then in the evenings, hold out our hands expectantly, in faith, because we don’t know which seed that we planted will prosper. But then again, in our rejoicing, we also have to pay attention to the many dark days of trial and struggle that will surely come during our lifetimes. It’s a fine balancing act my brethren! That’s what life is.
Now hear this wise advice from the preacher to the young. Oh if many of us had heard it when we were young!
‘Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways (impulses) of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes (as you see to be best): but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement. Therefore remove sorrow (vexation) from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth (prime of life) are vanity.’ (Eccl.11:9-10)
And isn’t that the awesome truth my people! When we are young, we feel the world’s our oyster, and we can do whatever we want to, without fear of repercussions or consequences. But that’s a deceitful conception, propagated by evildoers, for as we are seeing, God will one day judge all that we ever did here on planet earth.
And please note the scholars’ take on the situation. ‘Once again the exhortation to enjoyment is put in the imperative mood. Here the appeal is particularly addressed to the youth to admonish him to enjoy life before the onset of the feeble years described in 12:1-7.
Verse 9 can hardly be taken in a hedonistic sense, because the controlling factor in the youth’s enjoyment is said to be God’s judgement. Rather, it is a warning against a life misspent in self-indulgence.’
Oh Friends, the sooner we learn these lessons, the better off we’ll all be! For yesterday we saw Jesus declare the truth of the judgement day. (Matt.12:35-37) Now listen to Bruh Paul in his first missive to the church at Corinth, talking about real judgement.
‘For I know nothing by (against) myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest (reveal) the counsels (motives) of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.’ (1 Cor.4:4-5)
Ah mih people, more words of divine truth, which will do us a lot of good to hear and inwardly digest!
And here’s an interesting note from the scholars’. ‘4:4. I know nothing by myself (lit. “I know nothing against myself”). This sort of total commitment gave Paul the authority to make such a statement as “be ye followers of me” (cf. 1 Cor.4:16; 11:1).’
Yes Friends, let’s be followers of Bruh Paul nuh, as he was a follower of Jesus! We certainly can’t go wrong if we follow his example. Much LOVE!
…and the heavens shall declare his righteousness…for God is JUDGE himself… Selah (Ps.50:6)
13 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: awesome majesty, bear burdens, Bruh David, called to courage, change, Christmas Season, contemplation, covenant, cry in distress, deliver us from sin, descendants, do not be afraid, eternal death, eternal life, Ethan the Ezrahite, ever-faithful God, everlasting faithfulness, faithful, faithful promise, faithfulness, fear, fellowship, Firday 13th, for ever, forgiveness, foundation of the earth, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generations, generous help, God's sure promises, gospel truth, grace, greatest gifts to man, grow old, heaven, Jesus Christ, jesus name, joyfully shouting, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, loving, loving kindness, magnanimous god, make known, merciful, no labour, omnipotent, perseverance, pilgrims, proudly, ravages, refreshed in soul, relaxation, renewed, respect, rest, right track, salvation, seed, smoke, sojourn, stand strong, steadfast faith, superstition, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the Lord's mercies, time to sing, true, true believer, ungodly earth, vanish away, veneration, weekend, wisdom, work of thy hands
Psalm 89:1. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday…Friday the 13th! Now does that raise fears in your spirit, re it being an unlucky day? I surely hope not, because there’s absolutely nothing to fear from a Friday that falls on the 13th day of the month.
It’s just a bunch of superstitions dating back to who knows when and where! They can’t even decide where it originally came from. So we’ll repeat, there’s nothing to be afraid of on this Friday 13th December 2013, or any other Friday 13th at all!
And that’s especially so if you’re a true believer in Jesus Christ, our wonderful Lord and Saviour. He’s faithfully promised to save us from any evil, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. And just in case you’re one of those who have difficulty handling a Friday 13th, then you’re probably suffering from ‘Paraskevidekatriaphobics.’
Yes Friends, it’s a big word for a fear that ought not to exist! So please keep joyfully shouting ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ because whether it’s called black, or misfortune, or unlucky Friday, it’s still the day before the weekend, and there’s no labour for two, whole, big, long days! (smile)
And to keep us on the right track, let’s chant our Friday Chant with much affirmation nuh. ‘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 that’s the right way to view the weekend my people! And in conjunction with our Bit, we shall certainly stand strong this weekend.
Our Bit comes from Psalm 89, which deals with God’s sure promises to Bruh David. It’s a contemplation written by Ethan the Ezrahite, a man of much wisdom, (1 Kin.4:31) and also one of the singers in Bruh David’s band. (1 Chr.15:19)
So he was well qualified to declare in the opening verse: ‘I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.’
And this Christmas season my brethren, is certainly a time to sing of and make known to all and sundry, the great mercies and the everlasting faithfulness of our omnipotent and magnanimous God!
Look, He promised to deliver us from sin and its ravages, death eternal, and in response sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to do it, thus giving us the two greatest gifts ever known to man; salvation and eternal life! Wow! Now how can we not jump and shout for joy at those two life saving and life giving situations eh?
And as the psalmist continues: ‘For I have said, Mercy (LOVING-kindness) shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.’ (Ps.89:2-4)
And all of that is gospel truth my Friends! And if you don’t believe me, then listen to these scriptures which declare and establish that LOVING-kindness and faithfulness of our eternal God.
Psalm 102, a cry in distress, puts it thus: ‘Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure (continue): yea, all of them shall wax (grow) old like a garment; as a vesture (cloak) shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed (descendants) shall be established before thee.’ (Ps.102:25-28)
Who says our God isn’t merciful, LOVING, faithful, omnipotent and true eh! He certainly is my people, as all of us can attest to in so many aspects of our lives!
And we’ll end today with this outstanding verse from Isaiah, where the faithful are called to courage. ‘Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax (grow) old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished (broken).’ (Is.51:6)
Oh my people, please hang on tightly to those words of our ever-faithful God, because it’s in His words, His promises, that we find courage, perseverance and steadfast faith to bear our burdens as pilgrims on this evil, ungodly earth!
And we’ll have more corroborative scripture on this topic tomorrow to boost our spirits, provided the Lord’s in favour, of course.
But till then my Friends and fellow believers, please, please, let’s stand steadfast and strong, and sing staunchly and proudly of our God; of His mercies, His LOVING-kindness, His forgiveness, His grace and all the other wonderful stuff that He’s so faithfully and LOVINGLY provided to help us on our short sojourn here on earth. Much LOVE!
…when God’s people stand strong…in faith…LOVE…and mercy…the whole world takes notice…and stands up in respect, in veneration…of His awesome majesty…
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