Today’s Scrip-Bit   15 January 2022   1 Samuel 15:22b.

15 Jan 2022 Leave a comment

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

1 Samuel 15:22b.     Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Saturday, Saturday! A somewhat cloudy, but ever so cold Saturday! Yeh friends, it seems like we are moving into the serious part of the winter weather with mostly minus temperatures. Hn! But I remember saying that earlier on in the season, then we were hit with spring-like temps. I wonder if that’s going to happen again? (smile) One can only hope and pray!

But nonetheless, it’s Saturday and we can lay abed a little longer, take things easy and begin recuperating from a tiresome workweek. Unfortunately though, our usual Saturday expose of our friend Anselm’s quotes will not happen, since I have been locked out of my Microsoft e-mail account, meaning I cannot access any quotes our dear friend might have sent me. And that will most likely be the situation until I can regain use of my account.

So what shall we ponder today eh? And the Lord didn’t miss a beat! (smile) I turned a couple pages in the Good Book and there it was right before me; the wise words of Jeremiah, on the Lord’s behalf concerning the punishment of Judah for their rebellion. ‘Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put (add) your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imaginations (stubbornness) of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.’ (Jer. 7:21-24)

Now aren’t those some very interesting verses of scripture my brethren? They certainly are! And I daresay that they thoroughly reflect our situation today. But before we get into the meat of the matter, let’s listen to this explanation from the scholars re verses ‘21-23. These verses do not minimize the importance of the Old Testament sacrifices, but call attention to the necessity of the believer living a life of total obedience and devotion to God. The Scriptures consistently teach that religious observances devoid of spiritual reality are worthless (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22-23; Ps. 40:6-8; Is. 1:10-20; Mic. 6:8).’

And that’s the problem right there in a nutshell; there is way too much religiosity without the necessary obedience in our society today. As Bruh Paul told Timothy in his second letter about what would happen in his time. ‘For men shall be lovers of their own selves…lovers of pleasures more (rather) than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.’ (2 Tim. 3:2, 4-5) That’s right friends, many of us today have a lot of religion, but without the power gifted by a real spiritual life.

And yes, sacrifices were important back in olden times, but obedience has always been the NUMBER ONE requirement of our God! Remember how Israel’s first king, Saul, lost his kingdom, through disobedience to God’s directions. He chose to save the enemy’s king and their animals for sacrifices despite the Lord telling him to destroy everybody and everything. And we all know how the prophet Samuel, his mentor, draped him up over the matter, saying to him.

‘Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (divination), and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.’ (1 Sam. 15:22 -23)

Yuh see mih people, Saul lost his kingship simply because of disobedience. And I wonder if we sit down and ponder some of our own misfortunes, if we wouldn’t see a similar pattern in our lives? For remember, since our God does not change; is the same, yesterday, today and forever, it means that obedience is still His NUMBER ONE requirement for those who consider Him their God. And the good thing is that we no longer have to make burnt offerings or animal sacrifices because Jesus has fulfilled that necessity once and for all time. But yet we still refuse to obey.

And yuh know friends, the more things change, is the more they really stay the same, because listen to what the Lord told Jeremiah way back then. ‘Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction (instruction): truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.’ (Jer. 7:27-28)

And isn’t that the indisputable truth! Our society today doesn’t listen to God’s voice. Instead, a great number of us want to get rid of Him completely from our society…which by the way will never happen. And truth… what is it today eh? What we knew as truth no longer exists, for there used to be one truth, but nowadays there are any number of truths on the same subject. Everybody has their own truth, and the word of the Lord no longer prevails.

So what do we truly expect when we disobey God, even try to kick Him out from amongst us eh? Sunshine, lollipops and roses… prosperity and peace? Not on your life! But the same calamity filled, disaster prone and strife filled life that the rebellious Israelites experienced, and that we are currently experiencing. Friends, it’s not pure happenstance, chance or whatever you choose to call it, that our world is in such turmoil and dissatisfied uproar, our stubborn rebellion, our total disobedience and turning away from God has a lot to do with our current unfortunate situation.

And sadly life will not get better until we have some semblance of a serious return to walking with Almighty God in obedience and LOVE for Him and each other. I don’t know how else to put it. But let’s hope more of us will come to understand and accept it as the truth, as our lives continue to deteriorate under our own leadership. Much LOVE!

…we’ve tried all we know to solve our problems…without any success…why not try God now…we have absolutely nothing to lose…and so much to gain…

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Today​’s Scrip-Bit 25 April 2019 Philippians 2:8.

25 Apr 2019 Leave a comment

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

Philippians 2:8.   ​And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
 
Well a blessed Thursday to you my faithful Scrip-Bit brethren! I do hope that the day has and or will bring you substantive joy and peace as you walk the strait and narrow path that our Lord and Saviour Jesus desires of you. Oh, we all know that this earthly life is not an easy one to hoe, but with Jesus on our side, right beside us all the time as He sincerely promised, we do have a better chance than the unbelievers to live a life blessed with joy and peace. 

But it just won’t fall into our laps, as some of us seem to think. We need to get up and do our part in this partnership, this everlasting covenant with Almighty God. If we do our part, He will certainly do His, but if we don’t, He won’t. It as simple as that my people! 

And what’s our part you ask? Again, it’s pretty simple: believe in His Son Jesus Christ and walk in faithful obedience to His Word! Granted, it’s much harder than it sounds, but then again the Lord has promised to help us in any area in which we are deficient or lacking. We just have to come to Him in sincere prayer and ask for his help. 

And He’s also promised not to give us more than we can handle. He’s God, and merciful, gracious and forgiving, plus He knows all our frailties and weaknesses, so why will He give us more than we can handle eh? No reason whatsoever! Oh, He will test us occasionally to see if we really believe the stuff we talk. And I can personally tell you about that, because some days before I’m even finished writing the Bit, I’m bombarded with tests about what I’ve written. 

But then again, if we fail, He always gives us more chances to come back and take them. That’s why He’s known as the God of Numerous Chances! And that’s all to our benefit! Praise His holy name my people! For though He’s righteous, a stickler for justice, He’s also a pardoning judge. Because He created us, and thus knows what we’re all about, He has great empathy and LOVE for us. 

And He proved it by the celebrations we just had this past Easter weekend, where He sacrificed His Son for us, to pay for our sins once and for all time. There could be no greater LOVE than that! The Creator of the universe, and all therein, sacrificing His sinless Son to appease the need for sinless blood to cleanse the sins of His disobedient, rebellious creation. He LOVED and cared for us so much that He went to such drastic lengths to provide a means of redemption for us. 

How wonderful He is my brethren! There is NONE other like Him in the world! All the others are mere pretenders, jokers and fools! So since He’s provided ALL that we need to live a godly and righteous life, and come to salvation through His resurrected Son, then technically speaking, the problem(s) we face nowadays stem mainly from our lack of obedience to His Word. And if you claim that you don’t know His Word, then that’s still disobedience, because He’s admonished us many times to read, study and meditate on it. 

And since we’re talking about obedience, I believe it’s only right to mention two of the most profound statements on the subject in the Good Book, both not surprisingly made by Bruh Paul. The first one is found in his missive to the church at Rome: ‘For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.’ (Rom.5:19) 

Yeh friends, we all fell into sin by Adam’s disobedience. Although, come to think of it, I don’t know why Adam get’s blamed for the dastardly deed nuh, when it’s Eve who supposedly first took a bite of the apple, and Adam foolishly followed? But be that as it may, our forefathers weighed us down with sin by their disobedience, and it was only with the coming of Jesus Christ that we were granted a way to get out from under that deathly and damning sin. 

And as Bruh Paul says to the church at Philippi: ‘And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ 

Oh friends, do you think Jesus wanted to die, and even more, such a murderous, unfair and painful death! Obviously not! But He knew that the Father wanted to save us more than anything else, and that He was the ONLY ONE who had the parts to accomplish the Father’s plan. So He obediently went along, even to that disturbing and horrible death on the cross because displeasing the Father was a no no in His mind. 

And all I’m trying to point out here, by saying so much (smile) is that if Jesus, God’s Son was obedient to the point of giving His life for us, we, mere mortals, mere puny and flimsy creations of God, should also be very obedient to God’s Word because we have so much to gain and so much to lose. Please remember that ALL the Father and the Son did, was purely for OUR benefit not theirs. 

And Jesus has already been exalted for His sacrifice with a name above all names and to whom each knee must eventually bow, and sits comfortably at the right hand of the Father, so we are the ones who now need to take up the baton and lead a righteous and obedient life, if we want to enjoy salvation and eternal life with our Triune God. Sermon done! (smile) 

Now for those of us who are sincerely attempting to do as Jesus asks, let’s go home declaring (right ho!) our Thursday Blessings, those wonderful aspects of life that He’s showered down on us to help us do the job. 

So altogether now: ‘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 the corollary to all that is that we must now go out and share them with others, not selfishly hoard them for ourselves, because that’s why we were given so much! Much LOVE!

…the best way to live…obey God…and leave all the consequences to Him… (Uncle Charles – Charles Stanley)