Today’s Scrip-Bit   7 December 2023 Psalm 18:1.

07 Dec 2023 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 18:1.       I will LOVE thee O Lord, my strength.

And, due to a somewhat snowy Wednesday night, we have ended up with a snow tinged Thursday morning. (smile) Yes, some snow, not a whole lot, just enough to cover everything, fell during the night hours, but by the time the day opened the roads were mostly clear and the white intruder had begun melting. But we still need to be careful as we go out today, because it’s still wet and possibly slippery. In other words, welcome to a damp and cloudy day! And as always, possibly a li’l more so today because of the wet, gloomy weather, before we step out of the house, we have to ask our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for His protection and guidance as we go about our business. 

For He is the ONLY sure thing we have in this evil and ungodly world! And we have these strong and sure sentiments of Bruh David from Psalm 18, to prove it. He uttered these words in song when the Lord delivered him from all his enemies, especially King Saul. ‘I will LOVE thee O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength (rock), in whom I will trust; my buckler (shield), and the horn (strength) of my salvation, and my high tower (stronghold). I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.’ (Ps. 18:1-3) 

We can’t get any stronger or more faithful sentiments than those my brethren! And let’s hope that those are words we all believe, that we have written indelibly in our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, for without that strong trust in Almighty God, who knows what will happen to us at any given time, on any given day! Only when we have surrendered our all, placed our complete trust in Christ Jesus can we walk in comparative safety. For Jesus is the able pilot of our good ship Life, and He, and He alone can pilot us safely through the storms that most certainly will come upon each of us. 

Remember these word of His: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) And yes, I know that’s easier said than done, for when the unexpected troubles and tribulations suddenly come upon us, sometimes we don’t even have time to think before we need to respond to them. But if we walk faithfully with that peace that comes from a strong and intimate relationship with Christ, then He will ensure that we have whatever time we need to think, before responding to our unfortunate situation. 

Yes my people, it’s all about building the kind of faith in Jesus that will allow us to go about our business and His, with a type of peace that only comes from Him. as He says in the gospel of John: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) And it’s ever so important to note that Jesus’ peace is way different to what the world touts as peace. His peace is that peace which passes all human understanding. It’s so far above our understanding, so powerful and refreshing, that we who posses it don’t understand it either, but we know that it’s there, indwelling us through the awesome power of the Holy Spirit! 

Wow! And it doesn’t mean that we won’t feel fear, anxiety or any of the other negative emotions when tough times invade our souls, but that we will have the peace of Jesus to handle them without them taking us under. However, in those rough times, we need to stand strong in faith, by remembering all that Jesus has already done for us, and His promise never to leave nor forsake us, (Heb. 13:5) otherwise, all our talk will be in vain. He’s also promised that we won’t ever be faced with spirit-crunching fear because as Bruh Paul told Timothy: ‘God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound (disciplined) mind.’ (2 Tim. 1:7) 

So you see, we have all the tools to handle the world’s attempts to drive us into the evil arms of Satan. That’s the peace of God which passes all human understanding; the promise of God never to leave nor forsake us, and God’s indomitable, invincible Spirit of power, LOVE and a sound mind! But unfortunately they don’t work unless and until we put them together in that big ball of strong faith required to defeat the enemy and his many attempts to overcome us. That brings to mind this added scripture of promise; the encouraging words of Bruh Paul to the church at Rome. 

He writes: ‘Who will separate us from the LOVE of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Rom. 8:39) 

Mama Mia! What powerful words my fellow saints! Words that we should all be able to truly espouse in our hearts, bodies and souls, if we want to live the abundant life that Christ died for us to have. Jesus said it thus: ‘The thief cometh not, but for (except) to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10) There we have it friends, Jesus died so that we can have an abundant life down here as well as in heaven, but unfortunately it doesn’t happen automatically, we have an important part to play in the process: that’s putting all the tools we’ve been granted together to make the whole come right. 

But yuh know what, in addition to those tools, our God is so generous and forthcoming, that He’s also bestowed a number of undeserved blessings on us to use in our advancement of His kingdom. We call them our Thursday Blessings. So let’s declare (yesss!!!) them now that they can be activated in our lives. As one voice: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! 

I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And having activated those blessings, we’re now responsible to go out and share them with others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us! Much LOVE!

…God’s given us all we need to succeed in life…it’s up to us how we use His gifts… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 June 2019 Psalm 108:5.

13 Jun 2019 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 108:5.    ​Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.
 

Oh yes friends, I had another first last night, or rather this morning: sitting on my porch, dressed in next to nothing  (smile) at minutes to two in the morning enjoying peaceful communion with my Maker! Wow! Is that ever peaceful and nice! What with few lights around and the stillness, except for the highway sounds in the far background! Is it ever a great time to enjoy quiet communion with our heavenly Father. 

And He likes it too, because there are fewer distractions available to come between us. Just like they say an empty church has more room for God, likewise, a quiet time offers more opportunity for serious communication with Him. I’d certainly advise trying it sometime. (smile) And since we’re talking about good, quiet times with the Father, then here is a most appropriate poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. This one’s aptly titled ‘Rare Moments of Delight!’ 

Please pray with me: ‘Because You are God And Your Word is unquestionable There are things I assuredly know Even when my heart is a brambled desert And every ounce of emotion is drained: I know Your LOVE is everlasting I know You will NEVER forsake me Nor will You leave me comfortless I know I may come to You boldly 

I know You will teach and instruct me You will guide me with Your eye I know my past is forgiven And my future is secure. But oh, dear God How I praise You for the marvel Of those rare moments When suddenly, without a flash or a sound You add to my knowing The ecstasy of feeling And I am lifted to peaks of delight!’ 

Wow mih people! Wow! What else can I say eh? It’s one of those peaks of rare and sudden delight that I experienced this morning out on my porch, just me and the Lord alone! And what’s amazing and amusing is that I wasn’t planning on going outside nuh, I just came downstairs to get something to munch on, then as I was coming down the stirs the idea to check out the porch just occurred. 

But getting back to the poem, yuh see friends, how many things we are assured of by our heavenly Father, and how many things we are supposed to know for certain? The only problem is that we might know them in our heads, but we don’t action them enough in our hearts, where it really matters! And that’s where our version of Christianity breaks down in these evil and ungodly times. We badly need to action those things in our hearts if we’re to survive and be successful in these very trying and strife-filled days. 

Oh, we claim to know that God LOVES us unconditionally, and He’ll never leave us or forsake us, and we can go to Him at any time for comfort and guidance, but most of it is just talk. How many of us actually do that in the good times eh? And even when times get tough, and we seem lost in a fog, plenty of us still refuse to turn to our Creator and Provider because of foolish pride! 

But friends, the truth is that our Father who is in heaven truly desires us to come to Him, at any time, for EVERYTHING! He wants to be our difference maker! And if we know all those things that poem says we know, why is there such lack of communication between our Creator and us eh? But enough lecturing, (smile) everybody has to make their own decisions and do what they think is best, but for me and my house, we will follow the Lord! And family, please don’t make me a liar on that point eh! (smile) 

Now the Bible verse for that poem is also our Bit for today: ‘Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.’ And that’s exactly how it ought to be my fellow saints in Christ! If God has been so good to us, then we should be exalting and praising and lifting Him up to the high heavens. And the interesting part about our Bit is that the first five verses of Psalm 108 are also the last five of Psalm 57. And Bruh David even thought it important enough that he also made it verse 5 of Psalm 57. 

So let’s hear what he has to say in the other verses nuh. ‘My heart is fixed (steadfast), O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory, awake psaltery (lute) and harp: I myself will awake early (awaken the dawn). I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.’ (Ps.57:7-11; Ps.108:1-5) 

And until we seriously begin doing what those verses say my people, our witness won’t be worth very much. But our God is so good and gracious and has so much faith in us, (smile) that despite our reluctance to exalt and glorify Him, He has still seen it fit to bless us with the ‘numerosity’ (smile) of our Thursday Blessings. And since they only come into play when we declare them, let’s do that right now nuh, with plenty gusto and confidence. 

‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! 

I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’ 

And lest we forget, or allow the greedy and selfish purposes of the world to blind us, those blessings were not given to us to selfishly hoard, but to share with the less fortunate in our suffering world! So please, let’s do just that nuh, and thus warm the cockles of Jesus’ heart! Much LOVE!

…he that has ears to hear…let him hear…

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 October 2012 Psalm 39:1

16 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 39:1.     I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
 
   Ah mih people, another day is slowly dawning in our wonderful lives, thanks to our most wonderful God. And all God’s people trilled a grateful, ‘Thank You heavenly Father for showering us with Your LOVE, mercy, and forgiveness! We worship and adore You with all our hearts, bodies and souls. In Jesus’ Name. Amen!’ 
   Yes Friends, it’s only right and wise to give the Lord thanks for all He’s doing for us, even though it doesn’t seem so on the surface. Take for instance, in my area yesterday it was cold and blustery with high winds all day, meaning that leaves were blowing all over the place like crazy, especially in my driveway, which seems to have a whirlwind, current-like disposition, for all the other driveways are clear of leaves, but mine always has a couple piles spread around it. Many of the trees are already devoid of leaves, though the colourful autumn landscape is still highly visible all around, with the beautiful, eye-catching, burnished browns, golds and yellows, highlighting the amazing artistry of our very creative God. 
   That means the dreaded winter has begun its cold, dark, uncomfortable journey to our area, and many of us began singing the winter blahs from the first chilly day. (smile) But my people, that will only make our lives even more miserable than normal over the next six months, an unnecessary evil, since we are strong, staunch believers in Jesus Christ and have the assurance that He will eventually work everything out for our good. 
   Now here’s a simple prayer from the Hour of Power Devotional by Robert H. Schuller, to help us overcome the vicissitudes of life. It’s titled FAITH, and strongly proclaims: ‘Lord, I believe in the SUN, even when it is behind the clouds; in the SEED, even when it lies unsprouted under the ground; in FAITH, even when I have been betrayed; in LOVE, even when I have been rejected; in HOPE, even when I have been hurt; in GOD, even when you do not answer my prayers. Amen.’ 
   Now doesn’t that just say everything about our faith in a nutshell my brethren? It sure does! 
   And finally turning to our Bit: ‘I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep (restrain) my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.’ 
   Oh Friends, that’s the way it’s supposed to be, but sadly it isn’t in this very talkative age. Yesterday we saw that Amanda Todd’s foolish act of putting half-naked pictures of herself on the Internet, eventually caused her sad demise. And unfortunately this can happen to any of us, if we’re not very careful about what we say and/ or post in the social media, since there are tons of evildoers out there just waiting to jump on anything they can use. 
   Now I said that there were two things bugging me, but before I get to the second, let me throw in here another negative aspect of the Net. A few weeks ago, somewhere in Europe, in the Netherlands, if I remember correctly, a teenaged girl sent out a message re a party in her backwater town. End result; some three thousand hooligans descended on the poor town, causing a huge riot and untold damage. 
   Nowadays uninvited people showing up at parties and trashing the place has become a constant hazard with such easy social communication, so what’s it going to take for us to smarten up eh, and be careful how we advertise our personal functions? Apparently, the young lady above, forgot to put private or some such foolishness in her message. 
   Now crashing a party is nothing new, we did it in our time too, but we went to have a good time, and even when we were kicked out, we didn’t feel the need to cause confusion and trash the place. But now, no one seems to have respect for other people’s privacy or belongings, and half the fun appears to come from destroying stuff. What a sad commentary on our society! 
   And finally, the other bit of nonsense that’s been riding my chest. It’s about a working mother in Alberta, a western province, our oil and beef capital, who apparently went on strike and refused to clean up after her children, twelve year old twins and a ten year old.    For a week she drank wine or whatever and had the gall to start a Blog about it, even showing her picture against the despicable looking kitchen in the background. She claims that at the beginning, she told the children she was tired, or some sort of horse manure, then at the end of the week, she told them the real reason. 
   What foolishness! I would be ashamed to let anybody know that I have three big children in my house, who obviously have all the joys of today’s modern world, and if I don’t pick up behind them, my house was going to be in a terrible mess. In the first place, I blame the mother for not teaching the children responsibility. 
   Do you think at that age I could have done anything even closely resembling that in my mother’s house, especially when she was killing herself working two jobs to keep me fairly comfortable? No way Jose! But that’s the kind of parenting we seem to be doing nowadays, no wonder the children are lost and irresponsible. 
   And what irks me even more, is that they’ve made this lousy mother a celebrity, with people complimenting her on what she’s done. She was even flown to New York city to be interviewed by Kathy Couric on the Today Show or some such inane programme. 
   Chuh! Steups! 
   Okay Friends, I’ve finally got it off my chest. If you don’t agree with me, too bad, that just shows how badly your standards have fallen too. But, as they say, to each his own. 
   However, let me make one last appeal; please, please, think seriously before you talk, or put anything out there on the Web, for it’s truly worldwide, and there are many sick, evil, vindictive, criminal types out there just waiting to use your information improperly. I can’t say it any plainer than that. Much LOVE!
   …in most aspects of life…those who refuse to listen…are usually taken advantage of by the evil elements, prevalent everywhere…