Waiting faithfully on God is a most Essential aspect of the the Christian Faith!

04 Dec 2024 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 27:14.       Wait (wait in faith) on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say on the Lord.

At last we’re getting our first real blast of winter weather with a decent snow storm dropping it’s payload on us this morning. And it’s scheduled to go on for most of the day. However, thankfully, it’s not as bad as what the residents of some parts of cottage country endured this past weekend; something like around eighty cm. of snow overall. Now that is indeed a lot of snow, and they are still without power and still digging out from under the avalanche of snow. Hopefully, we will not get even half as much today, as we need to be broken back in gently to snow and its eccentric peculiarities; remembering how to drive and walk in it, as well to shovel it and dress properly for it. (smile) 

It’s strange, but regardless of how often we experience winter and snow, the first snow fall always has us shaking our heads and wondering how best to handle it. And you know, as believers in Jesus Christ we’re thought that when in doubt, or when trouble arises, the first thing one should do is pray. So since this our first snowfall of the season, and we’re still a tad under the weather about it, let’s offer up this prayer from the Prayers Through the Ages Pamphlet recently put out by the Anglican Diocese of Toronto. This prayer is attributed to a lady by the name of Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941). 

So please pray with me: ‘Teach us, O God, that silent language which says all things. Teach our souls to remain silent in Your presence; that we may adore You in the depths of our being, and await all things from You, while asking of You nothing but the accomplishment of Your will. Teach us to remain quiet under Your action and produce in our souls that deep and simple prayer which says nothing and experiences everything, which specifies nothing and includes everything. Do pray in us, that our prayer may even tend to Your glory, and our desires and intentions may not be fixed on ourselves, but wholly directed to You.’ 

Ah friends, I like that prayer because it says so much about us, about when we go to God in prayer, because it’s so often to ask and plead for something our flesh desires and very seldom to just enjoy His presence, sitting in silence and letting our souls and spirits interact with our heavenly Father, without expressing a desire for anything at all. Yes, sometimes we just need to sit in the Lord’s presence and enjoy silent communion with Him, as the prayer says; ‘produce in our souls that deep and simple prayer which says nothing and experiences everything, which specifies nothing and includes everything.’ 

As the old adage says, sometimes silence speaks louder than words. But don’t worry, the Lord knows what we need and what we want by looking at our heart, and if our motives are right and in accordance with His will, He will eventually grant them to us. But please note the important word in that sentence is ‘eventually.’ We seem to want everything right now, possibly yesterday, but the Lord doesn’t operate like that, He moves at His own pace, in His own time, and if we don’t learn how to wait on Him, then we’ll lose out on a whole lot of good blessings. 

And there are many verses of scripture that advise and admonish us to wait on the Lord, because it is such and important feature of the Christian faith. And this commentary gives us a brief look at what it is. It asks ‘What does it mean to wait on the Lord? Then answers: ‘To some, that means spending time in prayer, seeking God. To others, it means standing firm on what God has already spoken to you. To wait on God’s answer, voice, or promise in prayer is an essential part of our walk with God.’ 

And is that ever so true! So let’s look at a few bible verses on the subject, beginning with this great one from Isaiah that we all know and quote but very seldom put into action. (smile) ‘He (God) giveth power to the faint (weak); and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’ (Is. 40:29-31) 

It could not get any clearer than that my faithful brethren! But we’ve gotten so accustomed to the ways of the world, it’s busyness, impatience and wanting everything now for now, that we lose sight of what it takes to live for Christ, and thus get impatient, unnecessarily panicking, suffering doubts, fears and anxieties. Meanwhile, Bruh David says it thus in Psalm 27: ‘I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord, in the land of the living. Wait (wait in faith) on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say on the Lord.’ (Ps. 27: 13-14) 

Oh my people, Bruh David knew what he was talking about from hard experience. Remember he was anointed to be the next king of Israel as a teenager, but never received that promise until many years later, and in between those two occasions, he spent much of that time running for his life from the jealous king Saul who openly and unashamedly tried to kill Him. But Bruh David remained faithful and waited on God’s timing, even refusing to kill Saul when the opportunity presented itself. And eventually he did get all the Lord promised him. 

The Lord seldom tells us when we’ll receive what He’s promised, but if we wait in faith, with patience and undergo whatever trials come our way while waiting, then He usually blesses us with even more than we’ve asked or He’s promised. And we only have time and space for one more scripture; this from another of God’s people who suffered greatly while doing God’s work, but never gave up hope in Him. Listen to the prophet Jeremiah from his Lamentations. ‘The Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lam. 3:25-26) 

Yes my fellow saints, that’s indeed godly wisdom. So let’s try to improve our waiting on God nuh, for it will only benefit us. 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 if we endure to the very end with Jesus, it’s been promised that that future will be even more glorious than we can either ask or imagine. So let’s plan to meet there nuh! Much LOVE!

…waiting successfully on God…demands a strong combination of…hope, faith, perseverance, belief and LOVE…that’s never easy to obtain…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 February 2018 1 Corinthians 15:57.

06 Feb 2018 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 15:57.   But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ah mih people, welcome to another day on God’s great earth! Oh, I know that we will be surrounded by numerous problems and everyday we hear of more and more foolish strife, war and heated words in our society, but that’s no reason not to give thanks to Almighty God for the good things He’s done, is doing, and will do in our individual lives. Yeh friends, telling God, ‘Thank You,’ is essential for our very survival. 

Now I’m going to share something from Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional that I’m pretty sure I’ve never shared before. I don’t know why, if it was just too long and didn’t lend itself to useful paraphrasing, but to day I’m going to share the entire thing, because I believe it’s ever so important for believers in these violent and negative times to understand. 

So here goes. In the first place it is titled: ‘Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!’ So you know it’s all about thanking God. 

And Gramps Schuller says: ‘When you lose a LOVED one, there is a way to thank God. You can thank Him for the promise of eternal life. You can thank Him for the assurance that someday you will be reunited with the one you’ve lost. The worse the loss, the harder the fall, the deeper the pain – the more you need to say, “Thank You, Lord!”  

Thank You, Lord! is the force that draws back the curtains, letting tomorrow’s light pierce today’s darkness. Thank You, Lord! is the first slippery step back up from the ditch of depression. Thank You, Lord! is the seed of faith planted in the dry, cracked earth. When you least feel like doing it – say Thank You, Lord! 

You don’t say Thank You to God because you are crediting or blaming Him for your heartache. NO! Nothing could be further from the truth! God is good! He is the Father of LOVE and goodness! Most of the time we make our own heartache. Why then do we say Thank You, Lord, in the midst of the raging storm? 

We say Thank You, Lord, that you’re still there to help us! Thank You, Lord, that I’m not totally alone! Thank You, Lord for the help you will send me. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for tomorrows that are sure to come. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! It’s a vital element of positive prayer.’ 

Oh friends, I do hope that Gramps Schuller’s words on the importance of saying ‘Thank You,’ to God, have resonated and reverberated in us, and will continue to do so, because if we want to have positive thoughts and actions, we first have to use positive words, in spite of our circumstances. And there are no simpler and yet more positive words than those two: ‘Thank You!’ 

In our crazy, confused and troubled world, when said to others, they can diffuse a tremulous situation; soften a hard heart, lend healing to a broken one, and bring a smile to a sour face. And when we sincerely say them to God, we just raise the level of our faith and maturity. 

Our relationship with our heavenly Father enters a deeper phase, because we are acknowledging His goodness and LOVE, His omnipotence and ability to control circumstances, both our own and the world’s. We are saying in effect, ‘heavenly Father we trust You, regardless of what’s happening in our lives and the world. We’re standing firm on Your promises, because we know that You are faithful and will keep EVERY promise that You’ve made.’  

Now here is our Bit, which declares the thing that we ought to be most grateful for and give the most thanks for: ‘But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ 

Yes my fellow believers, we can never be too thankful or grateful for the victory over death, hell, the grave and any other negative things, that Jesus has given us through His own sacrificial death, resurrection and ascension, through the never-ending grace of our heavenly Father. 

And Bruh Paul further sates in his second letter to the Corinthians: ‘Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to (leads us in) triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour (fragrance) of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour (aroma) of Christ, in (among) them that are saved, and in (among) them that perish.’ (2 cor.2:14-15) 

Oh friends, are we ever a sweet fragrance to God when we accept His Son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and wisely accept His free offer of salvation and eternal life, and thus will not be relegated to the foolish group that will perish because of their non-acceptance of Christ. He doesn’t want anything more than that. So, with His awesome help, let’s do our best to bring others to that realization nuh. 

Now let’s go home declaring to the world who and whose we are in our Tuesday Mantra. In full voice and heartfelt sincerity: ‘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 if we are sincere, then let’s go out and share that amazing LOVE of Christ, as He so ardently desires. Much LOVE!

…LOVE unshared…is No LOVE at all…