Today’s Scrip-Bit   29 July 2023 Psalm 24:1.

29 Jul 2023 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 24:1.       The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

And what a perfect way to begin a lazy-day Saturday: dark and cloudy, raining and somewhat humid! Yes friends, that fits in very well with the kind of Saturday morning we desire, where there are no pressing circumstances to attend to, and one can simply take one’s time to do anything…or nothing. (smile) Anyway, my lazy time for this morning has already been used up by lying in bed, so it now behooves me to get to the Father’s business. Therefore, let’s now offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with all sincerity of heart, mind, body and soul. 

As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

Now, that’s cutting straight to the chase. No messing about with a whole lot of unnecessary, flowery words, but getting right down the nitty gritty, letting the Lord know how much we LOVE, desire and need Him, how grateful we are for His awesome presence and nearness in our lives, the way He comforts and relaxes us, and He’s oh awesome and amazing that we just thirst and hunger to know Him more, to get ever closer to His magnificent person that just overflows with LOVING-kindness! 

Wow! There’s certainly no other God as wonderful as our God Jehovah! In fact, there’s no other God BUT our God Jehovah! All other supposed gods are fakes and failures, dead to the world! The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the One True and Living God in existence, the One who made the universe and all therein! And if you don’t believe me, then listen to these words of Bruh David from Psalm 24, which prove my declaration. (steups!!!) Read with me: ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods (rivers).’ (Ps. 24:1-2) 

Meanwhile Ethan the Ezrahite writes in Psalm 89: ‘O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab (Egypt) in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them. The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon (mountains) shall rejoice in thy name. 

Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgement (righteousness and justice) are the habitation (foundation) of thy throne: mercy (LOVING-kindness) and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed are the people who know that joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn (strength) shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defence: and the Holy One of Israel is our king.’ (Ps. 89:8-18) 

Oh my fellow saints, what a magnificent and magnanimous God we serve! A God whose foundation is based on truth, justice and LOVE! And the truth is that I wasn’t planning to include so much of the psalm, possibly just verses 11and 12, but when I read all that beautiful and powerful description about our great God, I just had to include it. (smile) 

And my people, we can never know too much about wonderful God or give Him enough glory. So please, wherever, whenever and however we encounter God’s praises, let’s take serious note of them and file them in our hearts so that later on we can bring them to remembrance and use them for His glory and our praise. That takes us to another great passage of scripture extolling God’s greatness, where Bruh David blesses the Lord, as the Israelites generously made their offerings to build God’s temple. 

Read with me: ‘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) 

Oh friends, what a powerful exaltation on our wonderful God’s behalf! And the beauty of it all is that Bruh David knew in spades what he was talking about, because all throughout his long, interesting and contrary life, he felt the power of God working in and for him. And the same thing will happen to us if we stand up strong and live for the Lord the way Bruh David did! He wasn’t perfect, but through thick and thin, He made the Lord his constant companion, always seeking His will and His favour. 

And that’s all the Lord asks of us yes: to seek His will and favour. But we’re so rebellious and so intent on doing our own thing because of our free will, that we often stumble and fall, and only then become wise and cry out to the Lord for help. But friends, a lot of those mistakes can be avoided if we wake up and walk with the Lord right from the very beginning. 

But no, we foolishly want to spread our wings and fly in our own strength, forgetting that we’re not birds, who were meant for that purpose. We were made to walk, and the only way we could ever fly, even like the lowly sparrow, much less soar like the mighty eagle, is with the help and strength of Almighty God. Please, let’s remember that when we try to get ahead of ourselves. Much LOVE!

…in the beginning…God created the heaven and the earth… (Gen. 1:1) 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   4 January 2023 Ephesians 5:2a.

04 Jan 2023 Leave a comment

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

Ephesians 5:2a.       And walk in LOVE, as Christ also hath LOVED us…

‘It’s raining, it’s raining… on this Wednesday morning in early January of this new year.’ And that’s so much better to sing than ‘It’s snowing, it’s snowing…on this Wednesday morning in early January of this new year.’ Ah mih people, I don’t know if we’re truly blessed or our time has just not arrived, but rain and wind are all we’ve been getting in my neighbourhood over the last couple of weeks, while others have been bombarded, inundated with snow and all sorts of negative happenings due to the snow fall. 

But we’ll certainly say, ‘Thank You Lord for the rain!’ As the old people would advise, never look a gift horse in the mouth. It’s bad manners. Yes, just say thanks and move on. And that’s exactly what we’ll do today, (smile) move on to more practical aspects of living the new life found in Christ. 

Now, in chapter 5 of Colossians, Bruh Paul continues his admonitions. ‘Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children: And walk in LOVE, as Christ also hath LOVED us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweetsmelling savour (aroma.)’ (Col. 5:1-2) Yes my faithful brethren, that is one of the most powerful, wise and sensible admonitions in the Bible! If we want to walk like Christ did, be a real Christian, a true disciple and ambassador of His, the first thing we need to do is to learn to walk in LOVE! 

And it can be learned, so there are no excuses about I don’t know how, I wasn’t born that way, and all the other foolish excuses we tend to dredge up when we don’t want to do something that’s somewhat difficult. No, we don’t have to like everybody, but we need to treat everybody decently, with kindness and compassion.

 Bruh Paul strongly advised the Roman church: ‘Recompense to (repay) no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men (have regard for good things). If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine: I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire (shame) on his head. Be not overcome of evil; but overcome evil with good.’ (Rom. 12: 17-21) 

And that’s basically what walking in LOVE means. Giving of ourselves without too many complaints, doing like Jesus did, going about and doing good! Do you think He really wanted to leave His comfortable position in heaven and come to earth as a human being and experience the terrible ‘sufferation’ He did on the cross of Calvary? Obviously not! But His Father desired it because of His great LOVE for us. The Scriptures say: ‘But God commendeth (showed) his LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) 

And Jesus was ever obedient and wanted to please the Father because He LOVED Him. As the scriptures recall: ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant (emptied himself of his privileges), and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil. 2:5-8) 

And that’s the way we believers in Christ also ought to be; willing to do anything for and in Jesus’ name, because we are obedient and LOVE Him very dearly! Ah friends, the mark of true LOVE is doing stuff sacrificially, doing it when you don’t want to, and even when it costs you in terms of pain, money and time. That means we are also expected to give ourselves as ‘an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour (aroma).’ 

And please remember that all these things can be learned though listening to and following the lead and guidance of the Holy Spirit which indwells us. That’s why He was ensconced there; to lead and guide us so we could become the sweet smelling aroma of sacrifice to Almighty God. And Bruh Paul, as always, breaks it right down to the nitty gritty. (smile) 

‘But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor (coarse) jesting , which are not convenient (fitting): but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain (empty) words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.’ (Eph. 5:3-7) 

Now, in conjunction with the Bits of the last two days, I believe that gives us a good grasp on how we ought to conduct our lives as children of God, as sons and daughters, and joint heirs with Christ. Remember, if we want to receive that inheritance set aside for the joint heirs with Christ, we have to live up to a certain standard of behaviour and conduct. We cannot behave like the world. Or as too many of us do, behave righteous on Sundays, then like the rest of the world during the week. 

No my fellow saints, living for Christ is a twenty-four seven programme. And though we may fall off several times, with His help we can always get back up and ride again! That’s the beauty of living for Christ…you never fail, He always helps you, if you are sincerely doing your best! And for those of us who are trying our best to live for him, let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our most excellent position in Christ Jesus. 

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

Now friends, there’s this li’l bit of encouragement: if we endure to the end, then that future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine. Wow! Living for Jesus gets better all the time. So, let’s plan to endure right down to the end nuh, so that we can experience that more than glorious future! Much LOVE!

…living for Jesus is ofttimes difficult…but it’s always wonderful and very rewarding… 

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