The Foolishness of Turning Away from God, and the Harsh Consequences of Disobedience!

Isaiah 30:9.        That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:

Wow! Another sparkling, warm, beautiful summer-like day in early October. And it’s our lazy-day Saturday to boot! What bliss! (smile) We can even laze around outside at this time of year, if we so desire. And I do hope we give much thanks for this wonderful, but certainly abnormal weather, we are currently enjoying, for it’s eventually going to end. Anyhow, to aid in our lazing around, (smile) let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with heartfelt sincerity and truth. 

As one strong 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!’ 

Ah friends, there’s nothing like attaining greater intimacy with our LOVING God, for it not only boosts our souls and spirits, but it also warms the cockles of God’s heart, since a desire for sincere intimacy with us is one of the reasons He created us. And in these rebellious times, when so many of His human creations are turning, and have turned against Him, it just breaks His poor heart all to smithereens, because it means we have chosen to embrace His enemy, Satan’s  evil ways, rather than His righteous and godly desires. 

It’s just like how we end up with broken hearts when our children don’t follow our guidelines and end up in unwise situations totally opposite to what we desire for them. And I’m sure that when the Lord looks around and sees so many of His human creation following Beelzebub, wallowing in his evil mire, that it not only breaks His heart, but it keeps Him from sending Jesus back to earth, for He just cannot stand to lose so many of His creation to hell fire and damnation, and eternal separation from Himself. 

It’s like Peter says: ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ (2 Pet.3:9) Yes my people, the Lord certainly doesn’t want any of His human creation to perish, but that all of them should trust in Him and thus receive salvation and eternal life in His glorious company. 

And there are several scriptures that attest to the sentiments in that verse, like these from Psalm 86 God’s Readiness to Forgive – where Bruh David writes: ‘For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest (depths of) hell (Sheol)…But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.’ (Ps. 86:13, 15) And those have been the wonderful attributes of our marvellous God from the beginning of time, and will continue unchanged right to the very end! 

Now listen to Isaiah, as he talks about God’s graciousness and mercy towards a rebellious Israel. ‘And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you, for the Lord is a God of judgement (justice): blessed are all they that wait for him.’ (Is. 30:18) And that’s no lie friends! Our God is indeed filled with patience, as so many of us know from personal experience, because He waited so long for us to wake up and turn to Him for healing, salvation and eternal life. (smile) 

Then there’s this interesting scripture from the prophet Ezekiel, as he talks to his people about turning from their evil ways. The Lord commands him: ‘Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine (waste) away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezek. 33:10-11) 

And my brethren, that’s the very question the Lord’s asking us today…why will we die, why won’t we turn from our evil ways and live? Dying in our evil ways is simply a waste of life! It’s like Moses said to the Israelites so long ago. ‘I call heaven and earth to record (witness) this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deut. 30:19) 

It’s all so simple friends; God offers us two paths; life or death, blessings or curses. And he urges us to choose life with blessings, which entails obedience and faithfulness to God. And it was such an important moment, such a life-saving choice that Moses called both heaven and earth to witness it and the resulting consequences from that choice. Now what we have to remember is that choice did not only impact that generation, but also their descendants and those who choose to follow God, which also includes us in this twenty-first century. 

Ah my fellow believers, there’s not much more to say on the subject, except these words from the Lord to the prophet Isaiah, re the rebellious people of Israel, words that resonate very well and very loudly in these evil and ungodly times. ‘Now go, write it before them in a table (on a tablet), and note it in a book (on a scroll), that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.’ (Is. 30:8-11) 

The Lord knew why he had Isaiah write those words, as an example, a serious warning for us. But just like Israel, we’re content to ignore them and go our merry way rejoicing, living our evil and ungodly lifestyles. But just like Israel paid harsh consequences for their disobedience, so will we also pay harsh consequences for our rebellious choices. The only way to reconcile the situation is by doing as Uncle Charles (the late Dr. Charles Stanley) liked to say; ‘Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.’ And that’s the ONLY way we will ever get out of our current, life challenging predicament. Much LOVE!

… a word to the wise is sufficient…

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

Obeying God’s Commandments brings Life and Many Other Good Benefits!

Matthew 22:37.       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.

And it’s going to be another beautiful summer’s day, with high temps and a cool breeze to nullify the heat. So what more can we ask eh? Nothing really, except that we step up to the plate and truly do as Jesus tells us in reply to the uppity, arrogant lawyer’s question. ‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, 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. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt. 22:37-40) 

Yes mih friends, those two commandments are the basic foundation of God’s law…LOVE God – dedicate your life to Him, and LOVE your neighbour as you LOVE yourself – treat others with the same care and compassion that we give ourselves. It’s all about LOVE! The greatest emotion and attribute of God and mankind! Hopefully we’ll LOVE ourselves with a good LOVE, not a narcissistic, arrogant, selfish and demanding kind, and we can then transfer that wholesome LOVE to our neighbours. Wow! What a wonderful world this would be if we could only live that way! 

And this commentary explains the purpose of the Great Commandment thus. ‘The “Great Commandment,” as cited by Jesus in the New Testament, refers to two fundamental principles: LOVING God with all your being and LOVING your neighbor as yourself. It’s not a single commandment but two intertwined ones, representing the essence of God’s law and the basis for a fulfilling life. These two commandments are presented as the foundation upon which the entire law and the prophets rest. They are not a replacement for the Ten Commandments but a distillation of their meaning, emphasizing the importance of a heart-felt LOVE for God and for others.’ 

And that’s nothing new, for Moses reiterated the Great Commandment at least three times for the children of Israel in the book of Deuteronomy. So, let’s check them out nuh. In chapter 6, Moses declares: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.’ (Deut. 6:4-5) 

Then in chapter 10, he says: ‘And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to LOVE him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good (benefit or welfare).’ (Deut. 10:12-13) And please note that last verse specifies that keeping the Lord’s commandments are not for His good but for ours! 

When are we going to wake up and realize that everlasting truth eh my people? So that our world can become a much better place for our children’s children, because what we’re currently bequeathing to them is nothing less that a hell hole, a tragically hell bound world!  

Then in chapter 30, Moses again tells the Israelites about their basic duty to God. ‘And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to LOVE the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.’ (Deut. 30:6) Please note that last phrase ‘that thou mayest live.’ Again, LOVING God and obeying His commandments will give us life, and by inference, doing the opposite will surely cut it short. How long is it going to take us to learn eh friends, that all the Lord says and does and expects of us is for our good? 

And as per LOVING and respecting our neighbour, hear these instructions from the Book of Leviticus. Moses writes: ‘Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer (gossip) among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood (life) of thy neighbour: I am the Lord. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise (surely reprove, criticize, rebuke) thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him (bear sin because of him). Thou shalt not avenge (take vengeance), nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.’ (Lev. 19:16-18) 

Unfortunately though, all those things that the Lord said we should not do, are exactly what we’re doing today. For, gossip, taking our neighbour’s lives, or putting them in jeopardy, rebuking, criticizing, bearing sin against our neighbours, hating our brothers, both biological and figurative, taking vengeance on others, and bearing unnecessary, even life-long grudges are the things that are most prominent in our current society.  What it does it say about out LOVE for God eh, about the reverence and obedience we have for Him! Nada!  We don’t consider Him important, else our behaviour would be entirely different. 

And then we wonder why our world is in such chaos and disaster, with strife, anger, hatred, resentment amongst the major ingredients of our lives. It’s simple friends: disobedience to God’s Word, and a strong desire to live the carnal and evil way that Satan promotes. But let’s remember that when the chips fall, Satan can’t help us, not even one iota, for all those who live like him will be headed straight to hellfire and damnation, with eternal separation from God. Therefore, this is a serious warning for us to clean up our act if we ever wish to see the pearly gates of heaven. 

Now, for those of us who are sincerely trying to live for Christ, let’s go home declaring our Wednesday Wail (chuh!!!) and let me apologize for a mindless blunder yesterday, calling our Tuesday Mantra, the Tuesday Wail. Don’t know where my head was. (smile) 

So with strong and sincere voice, let’s offer up our Wednesday Wail. ‘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!’ 

And our puny, finite minds cannot picture the glorious future that awaits those who stick with Jesus right to the very end. Hope and pray to see you there! Much LOVE!

…God did not want His most marvellous creation to be robots…so He gave us free will…hoping that we would use it to live for Him…

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

The Lord’s Never Promised That Life would Be Easy, But He’s Given Us Enough Guarantees that We Can Be Successful!

Psalm 118:24.        This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

So, Wednesday, our second wind day has rolled in, but most of us don’t really need to catch any second wind, because so far, we’ve only worked one day for the week. Or maybe I’m wrong, all the partying over the long Family Day weekend, or the shovelling of all that snow still has a hold on us. (smile) But however we are, today is a new day, and we can expect new things to happen from our great God. That’s why we can joyfully declare: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps. 118:24) 

And there’s no better way to greet a new day my faithful brethren, because we never know what joy and goodness it may contain, and we’re always expecting something good from our God; that’s the everlasting hope we have in Him! He’s promised to make all things right eventually, for those who LOVE Him and are called to do His work, (Rom. 8:28) so if we are His children and believe His Word, then we ought to always have more joy than sorrow in our hearts. 

Life will never be totally easy, especially with our human sin nature, but if we’re sincerely walking with God, then we know that He is guiding and leading us along the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. As these opening words of Psalm 119 indicate: ‘Blessed are the undefiled (blameless) in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.’ (Ps. 119:1-3) Yes friends, that’s what expected of us, as believers in Christ Jesus: to walk in His ways, now and forever. 

And if you don’t believe those words from Psalm 119, then try these from Psalm 1. ‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly (wicked), nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate (ponder) day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers (channels) of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.’ (Ps. 1:1-3) 

Oh my people, that is the kind of believers we’re called to be. And I like how the scholars explain it. ‘The key word in the psalm is the word blessed. It serves here as a pronouncement upon a man – but a certain kind of man. In essence, the psalm is teaching that the blessed or happy man is the righteous man. The happy man avoids evil influences, deeds and attitudes (vs.1); he delights in God’s Word (vs. 2), therefore, God causes him to prosper.’ 

Now the big question is why aren’t so many of us supposed believers prospering? Is it that we are allowing the evil deeds, attitudes and influences of the world to overly influence our daily lives? That could surely be a part of the answer, especially when we see the great hold that evil and all its attendant vices currently have on the world and are constantly bombarding us with the cheap and short-lived pleasures of iniquity. 

However friends, we cannot use that as an excuse, because we have the Lord’s Word and His everlasting promise that if we meditate on it day and night and put it into action in our lives, then we will prosper and have good success. (Josh. 1:8) That means, if we’re not prospering, then some, if not all of the fault lies in our not taking God’s Word seriously and doing as He says. Remember what the author of Psalm 119 also says; ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’ (Ps. 119:105) 

Now, are we making that the truth in our lives? Are we allowing the word of God to show us the way, and daily light our paths? That’s another question we ought to ask. And please don’t take this as condemnation, for remember Bruh Paul’s words to the church at Rome: ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.’ (Rom. 8:1) 

And that, as this commentary explains, basically means ‘those who have faith in Jesus are no longer under judgment for their sins, because those who believe in Jesus are justified, or declared righteous before God. This is because Jesus took on the punishment that people deserve for their sins, dying in their place. However, we turn away from sin, not because we fear punishment, but because we understand the LOVE and sacrifice that God has bestowed upon us. In conclusion, Romans 8:1, when properly understood, is a powerful declaration of God’s LOVE and mercy towards us. However, it is not a free pass to sin.’ 

Definitely not! For there are always consequences to sin. But we have to fight, to truly know, to meditate on God’s Word and put it into action so that our sinfulness will not drag us down to the depths of Hades. Oh my fellow saints, we all know that living for Christ is not as easy as it sometimes sounds, because we have taken solemn vows to be His ambassadors and agents in the world. Remember what Jesus desires of all who choose to become His disciple. ‘If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ (Luke 9:23) 

Yes friends, that’s what we signed up for, to DAILY take up our cross and follow Jesus. But let’s remember too, that He’s always with us, helping us out in each and every situation, per His promise; ‘and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:20b) And when we remember that, it gives us the wherewithal to keep on keeping on in His glorious name! Now, let’s go home declaring our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our wonderful 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!’ 

And yuh know what, it’s been promised that that future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine, if we stay the course with Jesus right to the very end. So, let’s be wise and do that nuh, so that we can enjoy that more than glorious future together! Much LOVE!

…the best way to success in this evil world…meditating on God’s Word…then putting it into action…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 January 2021 Romans 8:31.

Romans 8:31.     ​What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Oh chuh friends! Late risings and early morning chores certainly inhibit the doing of the Lord’s work yes! (smile) But what to do eh, better late than never on this snowy Tuesday morning. 

We can’t complain because we have not seen any real precipitation of any kind for a while now, so the white that’s beginning to cover the ground is a nice change from the dark, damp days we’ve recently been having, except for the few cold and sunny ones last week. 

Hope you can figure that one out. (smile) And thank the Lord I don’t have to go out in it! But whatever we have, nice or not, we still give our wonderful God much thanks because we know He’s promised to work everything out, both good and bad for our benefit if we keep LOVING, trusting and being faithful and obedient to Him! Glory to His precious name my brethren! 

And if you don’t believe me, then listen to this mighty piece of scripture that details it all. ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) 

And according to the scholars’ explanation. ‘8:28. To them that LOVE God is the human perspective. God is working all things together for good, but those who LOVE God are best able to appreciate that fact because they LOVE Him no matter what (cf. Job 13:15). To them who are the called is the divine perspective. Scripture often refers to believers as “the called” or “the elect.” 

But we just got started with the whole contextual thing: ‘For whom He did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.’ (Rom. 8:29) Yes friends, this foreknowing is a strong sense of knowing and being known, not merely an acquaintance kind of knowing! (smile) 

And the scholars tell us: ‘8:29. Foreknowledge is God’s determination from eternity to bring certain ones into a special relationship with Himself (see also 11:2). Predestinate: See Ephesians 1:5. (To mark off or choose before. God chooses those He knows will participate in His plan of salvation and extends it to all who respond in faith). 

To be conformed to the image of his Son: The goal of predestination is not to send some to hell and some to heaven, but is the believer’s glorification, to make every Christian increasingly more like His Son.’ 

Glory be mih people! As Bruh Paul said to the Corinthians: ‘But we all, with open (unveiled) face beholding as in a glass (mirror) the glory of the Lord, are changed (being transformed) into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’

Oh fellow saints of God, unlike Moses’ who had to put a veil over his face when the Lord’s glory shone through Him (2 Cor. 3:13) but which glory eventually faded, ‘under the New Covenant the believer is changed into the same image. This transformation takes place by the abiding presence of the Spirit of God.’ That means it’s a gradual process, so we have to keep on trusting and being faithful right to the very end. 

But getting back to our original topic, Bruh Paul declares (yeah!) ‘Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.’ (Rom. 8:30)Wow! What wonderful news! ‘Predestinated, called, justified, glorified!’ Brother only our wonderful God can make those things happen! 

As the scholars explain: ‘8:30. Called: The calling of 8:28 is pretemporal; it occurred before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4). The calling here is temporal and refers to the effectual communication of the gospel, resulting in salvation. Justified: See 3:24. (And that says being justified means being declared righteous, signifies the believer’s judicial standing before God). 

Glorified: Glorification is God’s doing. While God’s foreknowledge and predestination take place in eternity, and while God’s calling and justification are realized in history, God’s glorifying is yet future. It is as certain, however, as the previous works. Hence glorified is in the past tense. From God’s point of view it is already accomplished.’ 

Oh Mama, Mama! How great is our God eh? What assurance we have, that although something, our glorifying, is not done yet, He talks of it in past tense, as though it has already been done! So how can we not LOVE and obey and trust and surrender our ALL to Him eh? I just can’t understand it. 

Consequently, as Bruh Paul continues: ‘What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (Rom. 8:31) And the loud and clear answer to that my precious people of God is ‘NOBODY! NOT A SINGLE SOUL!’ And you ask a doubting why? 

Bruh Paul also gives us the answer. ‘He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?’ (Rom. 8:32) Yes people, that makes mucho sense! If God gave up His sinless Son to save sinners, why would He then refuse to help us in time of need eh? No reason whatsoever! 

No wonder, Job in all his adversity could calmly and stoically proclaim: ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust him: but I will maintain (defend) mine own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation: for a hypocrite shall not come before him. Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.’ (Job 13:15-17) 

Powerful words of faith friends! But are we able to proclaim such words ourselves? Now that’s the ultimate question. But if we consider ourselves true and faithful believers, we should be able to declare (yesss!) them without a pause or doubt in our minds and speech. 

So let’s consider all that we’ve said today nuh…I know it’s plenty, but at this stage of our spiritual journey we should be eating meat and spuds, not still drinking milk, (smile) and thus be able to digest more scriptural technicalities and meanings than when we first came to Christ. 

Anyway, it’s all in the reading and learning and doing and persevering that we mature, and are raised from glory to glory; a lifelong process. So if you don’t get it all now, just keep on keeping on and eventually you will get it. That’s the Lord’s promise! 

And for those of us who are sincerely trying to keep on keeping on, let’s go home now declaring (oh yes! – three times I got it right today, on the first try) (big grin) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the world know WHO and WHOSE we are. 

In strong voice, as one now: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’ 

And it follows that our task is to now go out and share Christ’s LOVE and friendship with others, as He so greatly desires! Much LOVE!

…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him….no doubt about it…

P.S. Yes, it’s long and late…but sweet! (smile) Much LOVE!