04 Apr 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a child of the Most High God, aura of love, be likened unto the Lord, care, Christian, compassion, confidence, Creator of the universe, enthusiasm, eternal life, eternal separation from God, Ethan the Ezrahite, friends, from the rising of the sun, fun, glorious kingdom, God is to be feared, gospel truth, greater toronto area, holy spirit, humble servants, icy, inroads into the enemy's ranks, invincible, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, lies, lifts the needy out of the dunghill, Lord and Master of all, LOVE, meet the enemy in battle, mercy, might and glory, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, pay me now or pay me later, peace, Praise the Lord, purpose of life, Rahab, raises up the poor, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, rest, salvation, slippery, snowy, spiritual armour, spring, steadfast faith, the assembly of saints, the heathen, the Lamb's Book of Life, the Maytag man, the sons of the mighty, thy strong arm, trust, truth, ungodly world, wake up call, weary souls, wet, who can be compared to God, wisdom
Psalm 89:6. For who in heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?
Oh precious people living in the Greater Toronto area, please be careful as you go out to work this Monday Morning because it’s wet, snowy, icy and slippery! Ah Lord eh! I thought now was supposed to be spring. But I guess since we did not get much snow during the official winter season we’re getting some now.
As the Maytag man used to say in his advertisement; ‘Pay me now, or pay me later,’ intimating that one way or another you’re going to pay. It looks like the same thing with the snow; you might get away for a while, but eventually that white stuff will come back to haunt you when you least expect it.
So friends, please leave home even earlier than normal, and please take your time, look out for the other drivers, because ofttimes they are the ones causing the problems. End of sermon! (smile)
Now let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with much verve and chutzpah. I know that the crappy weather will dampen your spirits, but we’ve got to rise above it and offer the sacrifice of praise with a fair measure of passion.
All together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Ah friends, that wasn’t the greatest nuh. It wasn’t really bad, but it did not come up to the level of our recent renditions. Our choir master, Jesus wasn’t really displeased either, because He knows our frailties and our weaknesses and knows firsthand how we can wax hot and cold in relatively short periods of time. (smile)
Now let’s turn to our wonderful Bit. ‘For who in heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?’
Yes my fellow believer, we might not be able to sing well this morning, but we do know that the answer to that question is ‘ABSOLUTELY NOBODY!’
Ah friends, when will the rest of the world wake up and realize that eh? When Jesus comes back in His full might and glory? Unfortunately it will be too late then, so we have to issue them a serious wake-up call right now my people. Let the heathen know that Jesus Christ is Lord and Master of ALL, and only through Him will true salvation and eternal life be accessed.
Anyone not found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will face eternal separation from God, and that is certainly the worse fate than can ever befall a human being. Now hear how the psalmist, Ethan the Ezrahite continues after our Bit.
‘God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had (held) in reverence of all them that are about him. 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.’ (Ps.89: 7-11)
And we all know that as gospel truth, so how can any other being be greater than our God eh? No way Jose!
And furthermore, from Psalm 113 – God’s mercies are many – the psalmist proudly proclaims: ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth! He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill (ash heap); That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. He maketh (causes) the barren (childless) woman to keep house (dwell in a home), and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.’ (Ps.113:2-9)
My sentiments exactly my brethren! A God who has mercy and looks down favourably on the poor and needy is definitely my kind of God!
Ah mih people, we’re going to end here today; make the message short and sweet. (smile) In any case, we know that our God is great, rather THE GREATEST, and greatly to be praised. We don’t have to prove that to anybody.
Nonetheless, let’s go out today, and by our words and conduct, let’s show the heathen how a child of the Most High, the One and Only God Jehovah operates out of LOVE, care and compassion, for it’s what our Lord and Saviour Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…to be a Christian…a servant of the Most High God…is the very essence and purpose of life and living…
28 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: achieve victory, alive and kicking, aura of love, battered and bruised, children of God, cleansed, confidence, corruptible, Creator of the universe, Drunk or sober mind yuh business, Easter Monday, enthusiasm, eternal life, eternity, every knee bow, every tongue confess, evil, footstool, friends, funeral, futile, glorious kingdom, glory to God, godless, groaning, Hades, hissing of teeth, holy spirit, immortality, in Christ's precious blood, incorruptible, invincible, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, Jesus is Lord, joy, lies, LOVE, Lucifer, moaning, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, mortality, Mustang sports car, o death where is thy sting, o grave where is thy victory, our labour is not in vain, Praise the Lord, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, the cross at Calvary, the last trump, to the glory of God, trust, ungodly world, ungrateful sinners, useful purpose, washed, wisdom, world of darkness
1 Corinthians 15:57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Well mih people, it’s the big day, Monday! And ah hear a lot of moaning and groaning and hissing of teeth in the background. But that’s only coming from those unlucky ones who have to go to work this Easter Monday. (smile)
Many of us though have the day off, which we’ll most likely spend in celebration with friends and family, giving thanks and praise to Almighty God for burying our sins with Jesus in hell, then raising Him from the dead, clean and whole, alive and kicking, ready to rule the world till eternity, bringing all His enemies under His footstool, having every knee bow to Him, and every tongues confess that He is Lord indeed to the glory of God! (Phil.2:9-11) Praise the Lord!
And the good news is that once we become associated with Jesus, we’ll become children of God and will also embrace eternal life as heirs and joint heirs with Him! Mama Mia! What could be sweeter eh? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Me, I won’t be able to do any celebrating until in the afternoon though, when I return from the funeral of a friend’s son. Last year he bought his seventeen year old son a vintage Mustang sports car with a ridiculous amount of horse power, and apparently a week ago, the lad ran into a guard rail and met his unfortunate demise.
Ah Lord eh! There’s nothing worse than a parent losing a child, especially one just on the verge of adulthood. So you can imagine the heartache Jehovah God must have felt seeing His beautiful Son all battered and bruised on that wooden cross on Calvary Hill, all on behalf of a bunch of ungrateful sinners.
But that was the only way to pay for the sins of humanity, and He LOVED us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His only Son, Jesus Christ. Oh glory to God my people! And I don’t think we truly appreciate the Lord’s magnanimous gesture nuh, else we wouldn’t be behaving as sinfully and godless as we are.
Anyway, since it’s Monday, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to encourage those who have to go out and labour today. And friends, please, please let this be a wonderful, wonderful rendition, because it’s Easter Monday, and our Lord and Saviour has just defeated Lucifer and his world of darkness, all for our sake, rising triumphantly from the grave, so that we could be set free, be washed an cleansed in His precious blood.
So as one, glorious choir of angels now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Oh my fellow believers, that was magnificent! It was truly a glorious choir of angels because all heaven sang along with us! And you could see the proud fire in Jesus’ eyes and the bright smile that lit His handsome face as He energetically swung His choir director’s baton. The Father even gave us a standing ‘O’! Wow!
So now, having pleased heaven with our song, let’s go out and please them with our actions in the evil and ungodly world that surrounds us. Now friends, let’s get into some serious scripture, detailing our victory in Christ.
Listen to Bruh Paul lay it down. ‘Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump (trumpet): for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave (Hades), where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain (futile) in the Lord.’ (1 Cor.15:50-58)
Yes friends, that’s how it’s going to be! Our mortal and corruptible bodies will be changed into immortal, incorruptible ones and then Isaiah’s prophecy will be fulfilled. (Is.25:8) The world of darkness will be defeated, and victory will be ours through Christ Jesus.
And all God’s people sang out a joyful and grateful: ‘Thank You Jesus! Thank You Father God! Thank You Holy Spirit! Thank You for giving us victory, over, hell, death and the grave! We LOVE You, and will faithfully serve and worship you till eternity…and even after!’ (smile)
Now let’s close with some info from the scholars. ‘15:52. At the last trump: This is not the last trumpet of Revelation 11:15, but the last trumpet of 1 Thessalonians 4:16. It is so designated because it signals the end of the present age. Two groups are distinguished. The dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed: The term dead refers to those who have died in Christ. The term we refers to those who are still living at the time of the Rapture.’
So my people, this Easter Monday let’s go out and celebrate the Risen Christ in whatever we do, not forgetting though, Granny’s sage advice: ‘Sonny boy, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business.’ Now that is wisdom of the ages! Much LOVE!
…in the battle for the world…Christ is the runaway victor…bless His holy name…
21 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: almighty god, anxieties, aura of love, best interests, blessings, Christ-like, christianity, come hell or high water, conduct, confidence, conquerors, destruction, disunity, dormant state, enthusiasm, eternal life, evil, faith, fellowship, friends, furtherance of the gospel, generous help, glorious kingdom, glory hallelujah, godlessness, godly example, godly living, good things, grievances, holy spirit, Holy Week, hope, humble servants, in behalf of Christ, invincible, jealousies, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, lies, living for Jesus, LOVE, mercy, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, Mother Nature, new week of work, no guarantees, one spirit, perdition, Philippians, rejuvenation of spirit, rest, run this earthly race of life, sacrifice, salvation, short attention spans, spiritual armour, spring has sprung, steadfast faith, steadfastness, striving together, surrender, take the bull by the horns, talking the talk, taunts, to believe on him, to suffer for him, trust, truth, ungodly world, unto you it is given, walking the walk, watershed year, we can do all thing through Jesus, wiles, wisdom, work everything out for our good, working, working together, worthless gesture, zest
Philippians 1:29. For unto you it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.
Oh friends, spring has finally sprung in this watershed year of 2016! Yes, Mother Nature is on the verge of refreshing and renewing herself with new bulbs, leaves, flowers etc!
And on this Monday morning of Holy Week, I believe that it will be in our best interests if we all did likewise. Let’s spring up today and get back in the fray of godly living with excitement and joy and faith in the good things that God has promised to bless us with.
Let’s do like Mother Nature, who has no guarantees, but at this time of the year she arises from her dormant state refreshed and reinvigorated, and decides to take the bull by the horns and grow, spring forth in all her greenery, come what may.
Now that is the attitude we Christians need to adopt; come hell or high water, enthusiastically moving forward with Jesus as He desires of us. Remember, He has promised never to leave or forsake us, to always be with us, and to work everything out for our good, meaning that we have more guarantees than Mother Nature.
So let’s run this earthly race then without fear and doubts nuh, but with the supreme confidence instilled in us by the Holy Spirit, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us each and every day of our lives. And to help us do that today, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with that confidence and zest derived from the Holy Spirit.
All together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Now that was good friends, though not as spectacular as last week’s rendition, but it did bring a smile to Jesus’ face, and that’s the number one criteria for judging. (smile)
That brings us to our Bit, which I believe many of you might not like, but it is an integral part of working and living for Jesus. Before we get to it though, let’s try to put it in its proper context. Here Bruh Paul is exhorting the Philippians to steadfastness.
‘Only let your conversation be as it becometh (conduct be worthy of) the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.
And in nothing (no way) terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token (proof) of perdition (destruction), but to you of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.’ (Phil.1:27-30)
Ah my people, it’s not an easy life being a sincere Christian, but as I keep on saying it’s worth it. Nothing is as rewarding as living and working for Jesus!
And all God’s children shouted a loud and a proud ‘Glory Hallelujah! All praise and glory be to Jesus!’
Now let’s see if we can simplify some of that scripture with this info from the scholars. ‘1:27. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel means “only conduct yourselves worthily of the gospel” That ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind: That is, the church was to look and act as though she possessed but “one mind” and one way of thinking. To achieve this the assembly must put away their many petty grievances, jealousies, and disunity.
The manner in which the Philippians are to stand fast in one spirit is by their striving together for the faith, that is, by their standing up for the Christian faith. Like Paul, they too are to expend their lives for the good of the gospel. But proper conduct on their part and unity in the church are essential if they are to benefit the gospel.’
And I’m sadly chuckling my brethren as I write that, and the truth of the matter is brought home to me; meaning that in these dreadful and difficult times, we are not working together as Bruh Paul deems necessary for the true furtherance of the Gospel. Instead the petty grievances, jealousies, fears, anxieties and disunity abound in today’s church, no wonder the relative godlessness in our society.
Oh friends, I don’t how else to say it so that it can make a serious impact, or how often I must say it, but until Christians begin living a true Christ-like lifestyle, show a truly godly example, the world will continue to be run by the powers of darkness, and Christ’s church will take a back seat to it.
Now that is definitely not what Christ died to make happen, and if we continue the way we’re going, we’ll just make His sacrifice a worthless gesture of LOVE!
And we’ll end there, because I don’t want to give us too much to ponder on, bearing in mind our short attention spans, especially when it has to do with God. We’ll continue this tomorrow, God in favour.
Till then, please, please my fellow believers, let’s pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and do better nuh. Remember it’s all for Jesus, whom we claim to LOVE and revere so much. Much LOVE!
…true Christianity means…walking the walk…as well as talking the talk…
14 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abhor, adrenaline, asaph, atonement, aura of love, backsliding, blessings, calamitous, calamity, Christian, confidence, conquerors, covenant, disgrace, enthusiasm, evil, expectant faith, famine, fireworks, Frank Lloyd Wright, friends, glorious kingdom, glory hallelujah, God of our salvation, grace, greatness, holy spirit, hope, hungry hope, idols, iniquity, inroads, invincible, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jesus Christ, joy, labouring, lethargy, lies, life, look at life, LOVE, mature in Christ, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, new eyes, patience, peace, pitfalls, problems, purge away, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, rise and shine, sacrificial death, salvation, sentimentality, sinned, sleep, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, substitutionary, superlative, the glory of thy name, the weekend, thy name's sake, two step jig, ungodly world, wickedness
Psalm 79:9. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away (provide atonement for) our sins. for thy name’s sake.
Awright mih people, the weekend is over, it’s time to rise and shine and get back to labouring, for Monday calls us to battle once again. Shake off the sleep and lethargy and get thee hither! (smile) There’s no time for pussyfooting and complaining, because the Lord’s work is out there waiting to be done.
So to help us get in the right spirit, the right frame of mind, let’s deliver one of our best renditions ever of our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. As one glorious, heavenly choir, let’s blow them away my brethren, put a spark in Jesus’ eyes and get the Father to dancing and thus even more eager to bless us than normal.
All together now. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Yes friends, yes! That was superlative! You could see the pride in Jesus eyes as He realized that we were poised for greatness today. And you better believe, we were so sweet that the Father had to come down of his throne and do a li’l two step jig. Glory to God!
Yes mih breddren, it’s the right beginning to a new day, especially a Monday. So let’s keep that spiritual fire burning nuh as we go out into the evil and ungodly world, with expectant faith and hungry hope and do the will and work of Jesus!
And today I have a quote to share, attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) the famous American architect, interior designer, writer and educator. And it says: ‘The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.’
And I definitely agree with that, simply because the longer you live the more you know and learn about life, especially if you are a Christian, for as you mature in Christ, you find life much more rewarding and interesting, despite its many problems and pitfalls.
So for all of us who are getting older, entering the winter of our years, please let’s look at life with new eyes nuh, let’s expect that we will achieve the best each day has to offer, as we journey on, in and with Christ.
Oh friends, the ole fella’s on a roll this morning. The Holy Spirit is working… no doubt about that… and our beautiful rendition of our Monday Morning Battle Hymn just has the adrenaline gushing through my veins.
That brings us to our Bit: ‘Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away (provide atonement for) our sins, for thy name’s sake.’
And that strikes me as being a rather appropriate one during this Lenten season, where the Lord did just what the psalmist Asaph asked; ‘purge away ( provide atonement for) our sins,’ through the substitutionary, sacrificial death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on Good Friday.
And you know what I particularly like about that plea? How Asaph invokes God’s sentimentality re His glory and His name: ‘for the glory of thy name… for thy name’s sake.’ We all know how touchy He is about His glory and His name, as He declares through Isaiah. ‘I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.’ (Is.42:8)
Yes friends, nothing gets our God angry as not giving Him His rightful praise and glory. But Asaph’s plea was no doubt sincere as the heathen; the Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and taken its citizens into captivity. The Lord had allowed this because of Israel’s backsliding and worshipping of idols.
And he continues in the same vein. ‘Wherefore should the heathen (nations, gentiles) say, Where is their God? Let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging (avenging) of the blood of thy servants which is shed.’ (Ps.79:10)
During a time of severe famine in Judah, the prophet Jeremiah also prayed a similar prayer to Asaph’s. ‘O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.’ (Jer.14:7)
Oh my people, I believe the very same thing can be said about our recent behaviour. We have tossed God out of our public institutions, with the worship of all sorts of man-made idols daily increasing, while parents no longer seem to instruct their children in the Word of God, which leads to their utter sinfulness.
And I like how Jeremiah continues pleading for his people, although God tells him not to. ‘We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee. Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.’ (Jer.14:21)
Oh friends, our society right now is in the same khaki pants that Israel was in back then, and only acknowledgement of our sinfulness and repentance will cause God to possibly relent from whatever calamity He has planned for us. And yuh better believe He has something big planned, if we continue our wicked ways, something that will eventually evolve out of all the relatively small stuff that’s happening now.
All I can ask is that we wake up and do our best to turn things around, a.s.a.p. otherwise the ending will be real calamitous, and our children will bear the brunt of it. Much LOVE!
…the Lord’s patience endures for long…but when it snaps…then come the fireworks…
07 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a child is born, a son is given, adrenaline, asaph, ascension, awe, battle lines, birth, born of a virgin, care, christianity, compassion, confidence, copulation, Counselor, Creator of the universe, death, down in the dumps, egg, enthusiasm, evil, faith, fallen humanity, fellowship, forgiveness, friends, furthering God's glorious kingdom, glory hallelujah, holy spirit, humble servants, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, judgement, justice, keeping lives and families together, lies, LOVE, mercy, Messiah, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, payment for sins, peace, praise your holy nmae, redeemed, redemption, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, resurrection, reverence, righteousness., sacrifice, salvation, serve a useful purpose, sexual relations, sinless, sperm, steadfast faith, taunts, the everlasting Father, the Lord of hosts, the mighty God, the one and only true living God, the Prince of Peace, the sanctuary, the throne of David, thy way O God, trust, truth, unblemished, ungodly world, weary souls, who is so great a God, wiles, wisdom, Wonderful, work, zeal
Psalm 77:13. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?
Awright friends, it’s Monday, so let’s be up and at ‘em nuh! Our Field Marshall, Jesus Christ is already at the battle lines waiting patiently for us, and it’s a crime, a sure sin to keep Him waiting too long.
So for those of us who fellowshipped and worshipped yesterday, whose spirit is ready to do battle, let’s wake up those who are down in the dumps, moaning and groaning, tired and finding it difficult to get a move on, with a mighty rendition of our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
As one awesome choir now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Wonderful friends, simply wonderful! Jesus was just smiling and tapping as He swung His baton in guidance, and the Father too was smiling and tapping, as He listened to us bare our hearts and souls in awe and reverence!
Now with all that adrenaline running through our motors, let’s get us to the battlefield that’s work and show the heathen, the unbelievers, how Jesus’ followers do life here on earth nuh, with LOVE, peace, mercy, forgiveness, care and compassion!
Ah mih breddren, my days on paradise are quickly drawing to a close, but that’s life. It was a rather interesting vacation with all sorts of ups and downs, and one I will remember for as long as I live. All glory be to a great God who looks after His followers with all those wonderful attributes we mentioned above!
That’s why when we are confronted by our Bit: ‘Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?’ We can confidently declare in a loud and proud voice: ‘NOBODY is as great as our God!
And that’s the indisputable truth! That’s also why the psalmist Asaph, in the verses after our Bit could loudly, proudly and truthfully proclaim: ‘Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength amongst the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph.’ (Ps.77:14-15)
Yes my people, our great and awesome God has indeed done all of that! And since I’m going to make today the last day for this particular Bit – and I hear many voices whispering, ‘Thank God!’ (smile) I’ll get to some real powerful factors in our God’s redemption of His people; namely the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Wow! What moments of true might and power from the ONE and ONLY TRUE and LIVING God!
Let’s talk generally about those actions, because we’d be here till next never (smile) if we tried to look at them in detail.
Long before Jesus ever came, the Lord promised His people a Messiah, a Saviour. Isaiah prophesied this when he declared: ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ (Is.9:6-7) And perform it did He ever!
Now here is the clincher in the whole scenario: our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born of a virgin named Mary! Upon that lies the entire basis of Christianity. If you don’t believe that, or if it isn’t true, then Christianity is a fake.
But that’s the only way Jesus could have been born a sinless man. If He had had an earthly or human father then He would have been amongst the fallen humanity as we are. But to ensure that He was both man and God, the Father conceived Him spiritually in the womb of a virgin; a woman who had had no sexual relations with any man.
So He had an earthly mother, which made him man, but a heavenly and spiritual Father, which made Him God. That’s why He could have lived amongst us, feel all the pains and anxieties we feel, but still considered sinless.
And He had to be sinless, unblemished like all the sacrifices the Jews made, otherwise He could not have been sacrificed on the cross of Calvary, and thus paid our sin debt in full. Oh glory to God my people!
The Father in His holiness, righteousness and justice needed payment for our sins, if they were to be forgiven, and the only unblemished person beside Himself was His Son Jesus. That made the argument moot, if He intended to redeem His fallen creation.
So friends, let’s end with these two question nuh; is there any other supposed deity who LOVES His followers, more than our great God who sacrificed His Only Son for us?
The answer is obviously a resounding NO!
And lastly, is there any other supposed deity down through the ages, who could have made a human being without some sort of copulation between a male and a female of the species?
The answer is also a resounding NO!
Even in these days of high technology and great advancement in the science of human reproduction, to produce a human being, it still takes the sperm of a male to come into contact with the egg of a female, however that is accomplished. I rest my case. Much LOVE!
…only a most mighty and powerful Deity…could have created this world and all therein…
29 Feb 2016
by randyobrien50
in Daily Devotion, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a leap year., adrenalin, as for me and mine, asaph, aura of love, be ye holy, blessings, burdened, conduct, confidence, confuse, conquerors, Creator of the universe, destruction, discipline, earthly domain, enthusiasm, eternal separation from God, faith, fellowship, fool your fat, for I am holy, forsake, freedom of choice, friends, further your glorious kingdom, gird up the loins of your mind, grace, harmony, holiness, holy spirit, hope to the end, humble servants, ignorance, intoxicate, invincible, jealousy, Jesus Christ, Jesus' Second Coming, jobs, keeping lives and families together, lies, LOVE, lusts, material possessions, meet the enemy in battle, mental, mercy, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, obedient children, on the cross, praise Your Holy Name, prosperity, renewed vitality, resolutions, revelation of Jesus, righteousness., salvation, slippery places, so great a God, sober, spiritual armour, spiritual being, steadfast faith, surrender, taunts, the heathen, the kingdom of God, the sanctuary, the straight and narrow path, thy way O God, tolerate sin, trust, truth, ungodly world, useful purpose, we will follow the Lord, wealthy, weary souls, why hast thou forsaken me, wickedness, wiles, wisdom
Psalm 77:13. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?
Ah friends, isn’t it insightful and mysterious how our God made this last day of February in this leap year of 2016 to fall on the day we most LOVE to hate? (smile)
Yes precious people of God, it’s Monday, when our time of weekly labour generally begins. Are we up to it today? Have we rested and fellowshipped sufficiently yesterday so that we can go our bright and beautiful today to face the big world and all its evil? I certainly do hope so?
But just in case we have not taken the Lord’s advice and refreshed our spirits on the first day of the week, Sunday, we have our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to encourage us. So let’s declare it with much enthusiasm and harmony.
‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Oh friends, that wasn’t a bad rendition at all! And most important, it did bring a small smile from Jesus, our choir director.
Now, having our Adrenalin levels raised and our motors running smoothly, let’s go out and put all that stuff into action nuh; show the heathen the true beauty of being a believer in Jesus Christ!
That brings us to our Bit: ‘Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?’
Oh my people, my people, that’s a great statement and a wonderful question, both in the same sentence. Let’s see how we can explain and expand upon them nuh.
First of all, our God is a holy God. That means, by His very nature He is unable to tolerate sin, evil, and wickedness of any kind. Yuh see, even when His only Son Jesus was burdened down on the cross with our sins, He could have no part of Him, He had to forsake Him, although His heart was breaking in a million pieces, so that things could be made right.
Note Jesus’ plaintive cry: ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Matt.27:46) That was the ONLY time ever that the Father has ever left Him on His own. But it was necessary, if we were to be cleansed and reconciled to the Father.
And then in God’s house, His ‘sanctuary,’ is where His holiness can best be found and sometimes understood. As the psalmist Asaph say in Psalm 73, when he was being tortured by the prosperity of the wicked. ‘Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.’ (Ps.73:17-18)
Yes friends, only when Asaph entered God’s house and communed with Him, did he understand the destruction that the wicked face, despite their worldly prosperity.
Now sadly, thousands of years later many, too many, of us are still afflicted by Asaph’s jealousy of the prosperity of the wicked.
Precious people, please don’t travel that road, because it is one that only leads to destruction and eternal separation from Almighty God. It’s true that the wicked seem to prosper in this earthly domain, but in the heavenly one they will not even come near the gates.
It’s understood that our sinful human nature makes us gravitate towards material possessions, but they don’t last, and we can’t carry them with us when we return to the dust of which we were formed. So why waste our lives fighting to get them eh?
Jesus says if we seek the Father first; ‘the kingdom of God and his righteousness,’ then all the earthly stuff we need will be given to us. (Matt.6:33)
Now we all might not made be wealthy and otherwise, but we will never lack for anything. And don’t fool your fat, there are many wealthy Christians in the world, you just won’t know or see it because they don’t display their wealth like a lot of the wicked do, and they use it for purposes that glorify God and furthers His kingdom. So being a child of God doesn’t mean you can’t ever be wealthy, it’s just how you get it and how you use it.
And we’ll end with these wise and very instructive words of Peter. ‘Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind (prepare your mind for action), be sober, and hope to the end for the grace (rest your hope fully upon the grace) that is to be brought unto you at the revelation (second coming) of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, not fashioning (conforming) yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (conduct).’ (1 Pet.1:13-15)
There we have it friends, the call to be holy. It calls for serious inner resolution, accompanied by personal discipline and outward conduct. We can’t afford to let anything confuse or intoxicate our mental and spiritual beings.
Now God in His wisdom gave us freedom of choice, which means it’s up to each individual to choose his own path. Let’s hope that most, if not all of us will choose the straight and narrow path that leads to God, but as for me and mine, we WILL follow the Lord, because that is indeed the wisdom of heaven. Much LOVE!
…it is written…be ye holy…for I am holy… (1 Pet.1:16)
22 Feb 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abominable iniquity, abominable sins, affirmation, aura of love, belittles., bring us to our knees, calamity, climate change, confidence, conquerors, corrupt, Creator of the universe, deceitful, decision making, demeans, depressing, disobey God, disturbing, economic decline, Elohim, evil, faith, fallible, fear, filthy, foolish, foreshadow good things, forgives, frail, further your glorious kingdom, glory hallelujah, God's protection, gospel truth, history repeats itself, holy spirit, human nature, humble servants, inroads, invincible, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, jobs, keeping lives and families together, knowledge, lead and guide, lies, logical, LOVE, Lucifer, meet the enemy in battle, mercy, mind games, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, natural disasters, poverty, rejuvenation of spirit, remove God, renewed vitality, righteousness., ruminate, saviour jesus christ, scot free, seek God, serve a useful purpose, silly, sinfulness, slave for Massa, spiritual armour, stand strong and steadfast, steadfast faith, strife, strife-filled world, stupid, surrender, taunts, the children of men, the fool say in his heart, there is no god, troublesome times, truth, understand, understanding, ungodliness, ungodly world, weary souls, week of work, wiles, wisdom, wonder of wonders, workers of iniquity, Yahweh
Psalm 53:1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
Alas friends and neighbours, it’s Monday; the day which begins the work week…
And I hear God’s people loudly declare ‘Glory Hallelujah that it’s Monday!’
And I have to shake my head to see if I’m dreaming… God’s people happy to see Monday roll around…? Wow!
A few moments later though, I realized that Lucifer was only playing mind games on me. Chuh!
What the people had actually shouted was: ‘Oh Lord, yuh mean is Monday already! Yuh mean ah got to go back and slave for massa again! When this every week work thing going to finish eh? Steups!’
And that’s a very good question friends. The answer to which is when you retire, get fired, quit the job, or die!
Now let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn without further ado to boost our spirits as we face another worrisome week of work.
As one harmonious choir now. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Oh my brethren, that wasn’t so great nuh. You could read the displeasure in our choirmaster, Jesus’ serious eyes and face. But being the wonderful Deity that He is, He forgives us, because He knows our frail and fallible human nature. Now let’s go out there with that adrenaline perking in us and do His will despite our shortcomings.
That brings us to our Bit: ‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.’
Oh my people, how sad are those statements eh? How can any sensible person even think that eh? Notice it’s in their hearts, the very seat of their decision making that that thought lies, is being generated.
Now some might say it out loud, while others might just think it and then act on that premise, by perverting the truth that God does exist. Consequently, they become corrupt and do abominable sins.
And we only have to look around our strife-filled world to see that that’s ever so true. Abomination and corruption are running rampant throughout our entire world, and that my friends cannot foreshadow good things for us and our descendants.
Now Psalm 53 is a slightly revised version of Psalm 14. According to the scholars: ‘Two major differences are apparent: this psalm substitutes the generic word for God, Elohim, for the personal name of God used in Psalm 14, Yahweh. This was done evidently to give the psalm a wider appeal. Second, verse 5 has been rewritten and has become an encouraging affirmation of God’s protection.’
And are we ever in need of anything that affirms and encourages us re God’s protection in these very trying and troublesome times! But above all my brethren, we are not to fear, because that just demeans and belittles our faith; faith that we need to help us stand strong and steadfast against the enemy and his deceitful declarations.
Now here how Bruh David continues the psalm nuh. ‘God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.’ (Ps.53:2)
And wonder of wonders, what did He discover? ‘Every one of them is gone back (have turned aside): they are altogether become filthy (corrupt); there is none that doeth good, no, not one.’ (Ps.53:3)
Now how do you think God felt when He saw such sinfulness and ungodliness in the world back then eh? And how does He feel now, when He performs the same exercise and gets the same basic answer eh?
Obviously not very pleased or encouraged! No wonder He asks: ‘Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.’ (Ps.53:4)
But why would that surprise Him eh, when we’re still like Jeremiah said on His behalf so long ago. ‘For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish (stupid or silly) children, and they have none (no) understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.’ (Jer.4:22)
And isn’t it amazing, but depressing and disturbing that so many truths from the Old Testament are still true today. Steups! Obviously we have not learned that we cannot continually disobey God and get away with it scot free.
The calamity which befell so many other great societies who disobeyed and turned away from Jehovah God obviously doesn’t mean anything to us. But friends, the saying that history repeats itself is very true, and we are currently in great disobeying mode, and if we continue thus, we will feel the Lord’s hand upon us, and it won’t be very good. I can guarantee us that.
Who knows if we aren’t already feeling it, through the many unusual natural disasters, that are blamed on climate change, plus the economic decline and ever increasing poverty and strife that’s now battering our world.
Hn! I have to sadly chuckle here yes friends, because in all reality the Lord doesn’t have to do anything to bring us to our knees nuh, we are already doing it to ourselves, beginning with our insistence to remove God from the very bowels of our society.
And we’ll stop there for today, because I don’t want to give us too much to ruminate upon. (smile) But please friends, do ruminate on what we have spoken about today, and let each of us see, of course with God’s help, how we can better our lives, and thus our quickly deteriorating world. For that’s wisdom of immense proportions! Much LOVE!
…if God made us and everything else that exists…how can we hope to survive without His help eh…that doesn’t sound logical at all…
15 Feb 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a happy wife leads to a happy life, a hard row to hoe, affectionate, arrogant, as I have loved you, aura of love, bears all things, brotherly LOVE, Buccoo, cling to the good, common task, confidence, conquerors, Creator of the universe, daily grind, doesn't envy, enthusiasm, envious, evil, excellent service, friends, further God's glorious kingdom, generous giving, Goat races, good food, harmony, hate his brother, holy spirit, humble servants, hypocrisy, iniquity, invincible, Jesus Christ, Jesus Love Revolution, jobs, keeping lives and families together, kind, lead and guide, Lent, liar, lies, lord god almighty, LOVE, LOVE one another, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, naive, never fails, outward show, rejoices in truth, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, right with God, rude, serve a useful purpose, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, suffers long, surrender our all, sweet Tobago, taunts, thinks no evil, this is my commandment, truth, ungodly world, Valentine's day, wiles, wisdom
John 15:12. This is my commandment, That ye LOVE one another, as I have LOVED you.
And then it was Monday friends; time for laboring again; time to continue the daily grind and common task. And I know that some of you are ‘chuhing’ and ‘steupsing’ and complaining because you have to go to work, but by now we should all realize that it’s a part of life, and the sooner we get accustomed to it and accept it, the better off we will be. End of sermon.
So to help us all, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with great enthusiasm, in perfect harmony, as our conductor Jesus leads us in song.
As one voice now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Oh my people, that was only a mediocre rendition! Jesus wasn’t really displeased, but He certainly expected more from us.
Anyway, having boosted our spirits, let’s go out this first Monday in Lent and do our bounden duty nuh as specified by our Bit. ‘This is my commandment, That ye LOVE one another, as I have LOVED you.’
Yes my brethren, it’s all about LOVE! If we live in LOVE, then all will be well!
Listen to what the Good Book says on the subject. ‘Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (LOVE) envieth not; charity (LOVE) vaunteth not itself (doesn’t boast), is not puffed up (arrogant), Does not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no account of evil);
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity (LOVE) never faileth….’ (1 Cor.13:4-8a)
Oh my fellow believers, I must admit that according to Bruh Paul’s words, real LOVE is indeed a hard row to hoe, but hoe it we must, as true followers of Christ. Christ did it for us, and we are expected to do it for each other, as our Bit directs.
Now something here amazes me; yesterday we celebrated Valentine’s Day, a day supposedly of LOVE, now why can’t we just continue that attitude eh? Why do we have to revert to our less than LOVING selves eh?
It certainly defies my understanding…unless what we show on Valentine’s Day is not real LOVE, just an outward show of gifts per the world, who treats it like just another big shopping day, a day to make money, to boost the economy.
Oh I’m not that naïve to believe that we all share true LOVE on days like those, but even then why stop the generous giving afterwards?
As Bruh Paul encourages us in Romans 12, when speaking about the service of LOVE to all. ‘Let LOVE be without dissimulation (hypocrisy). Abhor that which is evil; cleave (cling) to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned (affectionate) one to another with brotherly LOVE; in honour preferring (giving preference to) one another.’ (Rom.12:9-10)
And as the scholars tell us: ‘12:9. Without dissimulation (lit. “without hypocrisy”). The Christian’s conduct in the local church toward fellow believers is to be a volitional caring for others, LOVING faithfully in spite of the response received. The LOVE is to be genuine and unfeigned.’
I certainly can’t argue with that friends! And as John tells us in his first epistle: ‘If a man say, I LOVE God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that LOVETH not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he LOVE God, whom he hath not seen?’ (1 John 4:20)
Now friends, that is the million-dollar question. We all claim to LOVE God, whom we’ve never seen, but yet hate our brethren, whom we have seen. It just doesn’t sound logical, but it’s a problem that we will all have to deal with, individually and as the church of Christ, as soon as possible, if we want to remain right with God.
Now enough preaching for the day, (smile) you all will do whatever you want anyway. On a practical note, the duchess and I went to the Goat races yesterday in Buccoo. Yes you read right, ‘goat races!’
Usually it’s only held during the Easter weekend, but what with a new, good-looking facility, just built for goat racing, they need to have them more often, both to encourage the locals and to provide entertainment for the visitors.
And believe you me, it’s organized just as a horse race; an approximately hundred yard running lane, with starting gates and jockeys, who don’t ride, but run behind the goats to guide them.
The goats are equipped with numbers, the jockeys with whips, and they are divided into classes, with owners and trainers, and a commentator on the race, and no doubt betting on the sly. The only thing they lack is a camera at the finish line. Only in sweet Tobago!
After watching about four races, we came home and rested, then later in the evening I took the duchess out for dinner to an exquisite, expensive restaurant she had been wanting to go to all along. I must say though that the food was good and the service excellent, so it was not a waste of time or money.
And above all it kept the duchess happy. For remember, a happy wife, usually leads to a happy life. (smile) And on that note of wisdom, we’ll end for today.
So friends, let’s try and boost the LOVE quotient in our lives nuh, for it is indeed the desire of Jesus, and the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!
…only genuine and consistent LOVE on our part…will boost Jesus’ LOVE Revolution…and eventually bring it to fruition…
01 Feb 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: accidents, assurance, aura of love, blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, blessings, brothers and sisters in christ, confidence, congestion, conquerors, Creator, delight thyself, desire of my heart, do good, encouraging words, enthusiasm, evil, faith, fellowship, foolish pride, friends, further God's glorious kingdom, give while you're alive, glory hallelujah, gospel truth, Harvest Service, holy spirit, homework, humble servants, inroads, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, justice, keeping lives and families together, lies, LOVE, loving kindness, machinations, meet the enemy in battle, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, nor such as turn aside to lies, obey God, on which side his bread was buttered, praise Your Holy Name, promised to guide and protect, Psalm 37, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, respects not the proud, righteousness., road rage, serve a useful purpose, smiling from ear to ear, spiritual armour, St. Patrick's, steadfast faith, step up to the plate, stress levels, surrender our all, taunts, the moral of the story, to meet my Maker, Tobago, traffic jams, trust, trust in the Lord, truth, ungodly world, uplifting, wiles, wisdom, work, workers of iniquity
Psalm 40:4. Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
And then it was Monday! Hn! Work calleth my people! I do hope that you all are ready to leave home at some ungodly hour in the morning to beat the never-ending traffic jams, the numerous accidents, most of them caused by speeding and foolish driving, plus the ever-escalating road rage, a natural consequence of the road congestion and our rather high stress levels.
Mama Yo! Bruh Paul would have been proud of that rather convoluted sentence. (smile). Thankfully I don’t have to be prepared for that sort of stuff right now. The only thing I need to be prepared for is to meet my Maker, and I just hope He’s not too anxious to meet me. (smile)
However, my beautiful brothers and sisters in Christ, fear not, for our Saviour has promised to guide and protect us, and to never leave us, once we don’t leave Him. And we know He is ever-faithful. But on the other hand, if we had done our homework yesterday -going to church, resting and relaxing, we would have been much better prepared for today.
Anyway, we do have a remedy for your unpreparedness, it’s called our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. So let’s belt it out with great verve and vigour now, let’s put a dazzling, brilliant smile on our choirmaster’s face.
As one powerful and harmonious choir now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Now that was indeed a beautiful rendition my people! Jesus was smiling from ear to ear while strenuously working His conductor’s baton, as all of heaven rocked along! Glory to God!
As per yesterday’s activities: We went to the Harvest Service at St, Patrick’s in Mt. Pleasant…and was it ever a beautiful time although it lasted for three hours! It’s the first service of that length I’ve gone to and didn’t even notice the time. Glory Hallelujah!
The church was full; downstairs, upstairs and outside, with lots of inspiring singing and worship. And one thing I liked a lot is the way they involved the children in the celebration, doing readings, making offerings of first fruits etc.
The Dean of the Region preached a powerful message on giving, using several anecdotes to illustrate his point. This one about a pig and a cow touched me. Apparently the cow and pig were out in the fields talking when the pig put down the cow with a remark about how all he does is give milk, while he, the pig, was used for ham, bacon and other products.
The cow looked at the boastful pig and calmly intoned: ‘yes, you give when you’re dead, but I give while I am alive!’ Hn, hn! And the moral of the story there friends is that we ought to give while we’re alive, not wait until we die.
And how do we do that eh? Simply by obeying our Bit! ‘Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.’
Yes my brethren, when we put out complete trust in the Lord, we will automatically be led by His Holy Spirit to do what is right and good! And we will also forsake the proud and deceitful workers of iniquity who devilishly try to lead us astray! That’s the promise of our God and our faith my people!
But we first have to step up to the plate and do our thing; surrendering our lives to our heavenly Father and allowing Him to put His infallible plan for us into action. Remember He is the Creator, and consequently knows what is best for us. And though we will have trials and tribulations, He has promised to see us through them and work everything out for our good.
Oh friends, it couldn’t get any better than that nuh! We have the Lord’s assurance on it! Glory Hallelujah! So why waste time and energy trying to do it on our own eh, when we have the Creator of the universe prepared to do it for us eh? No reason but foolish pride and the machinations of deceitful iniquity workers.
Now let’s go home with some awesome uplifting, encouraging and truthful words of Bruh David from Psalm 37 – The true state of the wicked. ‘Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (feed on His faithfulness).
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement (justice) as the noonday.’ (Ps.37:3-6)
Words of gospel truth my brethren! And I can personally vouch for some of it, because coming to Tobago was a big desire of my heart and the Lord granted it to me. So as true and faithful believers, I implore us to raise the level of our trust in Almighty God, because it’s only then we will see and experience the full barrage of His LOVING-kindness! Much LOVE!
…Bruh David knew on which side his bread was buttered…do we know on which side ours is…I surely hope so…
25 Jan 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: almighty god, appreciation, attributes of God, aura of love, blizzard, churlishness, compassion, complaints, confidence, conquerors, contention, Creator of the universe, Eastern coast of North America, enthusiasm, eternal life, everlasting life, evil, faith, false teaching, fellowship, foolish pride, for God so loved the world, freezing to death, glorious kingdom, God is LOVE, Gos id light, gusto, have everlasting life, he gave his only begotten son, holy spirit, hope, human response, humble servants, immortal words, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, keeping lives and families together, let us love one another, lies, life-giving words, LOVE, LOVE is of God, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, obedience to god, prayer, prayers, ravages, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, rest, right belief about Christ, running out of gas, snow, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, suspicion, taunts, thankfulness, the BIBLE, the greatest of these, truth, understanding, ungodly world, useful purpose, weary souls, whoever believeth in him should not perish, wiles
John 3:16. For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Ah friends, this Monday morning is one day many of us should be ever so thankful that we’re not living on the Eastern coast of North America, because of the terrible blizzard that passed through that area on the weekend, dropping humongous amounts of snow on the ground. Ah Lord eh!
On the news, I believe it was Saturday, I heard a woman saying that she and her family had been snowbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for 12 hours. Another woman and her family, on another highway, had been snowbound for some twenty hours. Can you imagine that – sitting in a car for so long, the windows all frosted and you being anxious about running out of gas and possibly freezing to death?
One of those two women had their diabetic father with her, on his birthday to boot. Not a very pleasant way to spend your birthday at all. I believe though, that one of those families was fairly close to a gas station, so they were able to get some food and refreshment. I don’t how much that helped though, when you couldn’t drive, and you were still a long way from home.
Please let’s remember in our prayers the millions of people along the Eastern seaboard who are still undergoing the ravages of the snowstorm. So let’s have no complaints and churlishness because you have to get up and go to work. Let’s just sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with extra gusto and thankfulness.
All together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
That was good friends, but I don’t think that our choir director, Jesus, heard enough thankfulness in our voices. (smile) But He does know that we believe His words found in our most encouraging and uplifting Bit. ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’
And how could we not believe those beautiful, eternal life-giving words eh, unless we’re real dense and full of foolish pride? And I know that some of you might be tired with the same Bit for so long, but my people, that is possibly the most important statement in the entire Bible. It was the ONLY reason that Jesus came to earth!
And if you can’t feast on those miraculous and momentous words for a few days, then I’d strongly suggest you question your faith. And I can’t guarantee that it will finish today either, for there’s still a fair amount of scripture to be studied on it. And we’ll begin with the immortal words of John’s first epistle, re God is LOVE!
‘BELOVED, let us LOVE one another: for LOVE is of God; and every one that LOVETH is born of God, and knoweth God.’ (1 John 4:7)
Now let’s stop right there and get some valuable explanations from the scholars. ‘4:7. John returns to the theme of mutual LOVE. Perhaps the false teaching he felt compelled to combat had contributed to suspicion and contention in the fellowship. In contrast, John is not saying that everyone who LOVES is a Christian, whether they trust in Christ or not.
He makes it clear elsewhere that true knowledge of God entails right belief about Christ, as well as right response to God, including LOVE of others. Mere human LOVE apart from Christ’s redeeming presence and motivation falls short of LOVE in its fullest dimension as a human response to God’s perfect and infinite compassion (cf. 1 Cor.13).’
Oh my brethren, I do hope that that helps us to better understand the precept of God’s LOVE; His LOVE for us, as well as our LOVE for Him and for others. It must be accompanied by true belief in Christ and obedience to God’s Word!
Now let’s continue with the scripture. ‘He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE.’ (1 John 4:8)
We have to stop here again my people to get a little insight on that verse from the scholars. ‘4:8. John has also recorded that “God is light” (1:5) and “Spirit” (John 4:24). LOVE is one of the many attributes of God and is to be understood in relation to the others, such as holiness and justice.’
Yes friends, our God is what in sports parlance we’d call an all-rounder – has many parts to His nature! However, He is not just a jack of all trades, but indeed a MASTER of them all! (smile)
And you know what? I think we’ll stop there for today, since I don’t want the Bit to get too involved and difficult to understand. So, the Lord willing, we’ll just have to continue it tomorrow. (smile)
Bear with me friends, it’s all for a good purpose, to our benefit. And I do hope that our understanding and appreciation of God’s LOVE has improved, has grown today, because that’s what it’s all about. Much LOVE!
…And now abideth…faith…hope…LOVE…these three…but the greatest of these is…LOVE… (1Cor.13:13)
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