08 Jul 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: affliction, anything is possible, appreciation, bail out, bears all things, beautiful summer, behave like leggo-beasts, believes all things, Bruh Paul, Christian faith, Christian walk, christianity, Church of Christ, complain, conquer, cooped up, cross, discouraged, do good, dreadful winter months, dreary nights, endurance, endurance is a must, endure, endure to conquer, endure to the end, endures all things, ensnares us, enthusiasm, expectant faith, express need, faint not, faith, fear of winter, Galatians, gladness, go crazy, hallmark, Hebrews, hopes in all things, hostility, household of faith, hungry hope, in due season, indisputable truth, Jesus, joy, laughter, lay aside every weight, light, lightheartedness, long-suffering, looking unto Jesus, lose heart, LOVE, LOVE is of God, muggy, no root, offended, opportunity, optimism, parable of the sower, paramount, passion, patience, persecution, perseverance, persist, pilgrimage, power, practice what you preach, praise and honour God's glorious name, prevailing circumstances, reap, run with patience, shall be saved, shame, sin, souls, sprout forth, steadfast, steadfastness, stir crazy, stony ground, stumble, summer, summer weather, Thank You Lord, the race, the word's sake, thrilling rays of the sun, trials, tribulation, true believer, truth, venerable emotion, weary, welldoing, Winston Churchill, wisdom, witnesses, year round treat
Matthew 24:13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Summer, oh beautiful summer! What would we do without you eh? Hn! Possibly go more than stir crazy from being cooped up inside for so long. And I hear a lot of laughter coming from down south.
Yes you southerners, you can laugh because summer is a year round treat for you all. But we northerners do appreciate our summer, after those long, cold, winter days and nights cosseted in close quarters.
That’s why we go crazy, behave like leggo-beasts, when the summer time comes around and we experience the thrilling rays of a sun that shines not only bright, but also hot and heavy, and we can get outside in the heat, half naked – sometimes totally naked – (smile) and let loose all the passion and enthusiasm we’ve stored up during the dreadful winter months.
And so far we’ve had beautiful summer weather; not too hot, but hot enough, with decent winds to keep us comfortable, so that the days and nights aren’t too muggy and sweaty.
And all God’s people declared a loud and hearty cheer of ‘Thank you Lord for this delightful summer weather! We hope that it continues like this all summer long! And in grateful appreciation, we praise and honour your glorious name! Amen!’
But Friends, please remember that the summer has just begun, so everything and anything is still possible. But we’ve just got to hold on to our optimism with hungry hope and expectant faith, without thinking about what lies ahead after summer – winter, with its cold, lonely days and dark, dreary nights.
And now that I’ve put the fear of winter into us, (smile) let’s turn to the word from our almanac today that shouts at us: ‘ENDURE!’
Yes Friends, we need to endure those long, dark, lonely days and nights of winter, be they physical or emotional, so that we can eventually come into the light and lightheartedness of summer. Whatever we’re going through my people, whenever we go though it, ENDURANCE is a MUST!
For as the ensuing quote from the war days British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (1874-1965) declares: ‘Sure I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer.’
And that’s indisputable truth my brethren! You may not always conquer when you endure, but you’ll NEVER CONQUER, UNLESS YOU ENDURE!
And that goes for our Christian faith more than anything else in this whole wide world! Jesus clearly states the need for endurance in our Bit: ‘But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.’
Oh Friends, there are so many Scripture passages that call for the express need of endurance on our earthly pilgrimage, that I’m just going to quote a few of them. Let’s begin with something from the gospel of Mark, where Jesus is relating the parable of the sower.
‘And these (seeds) are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in them selves; and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction (tribulation) or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended (caused to stumble).’ (Mark 4:16-17)
Yes my people, in God’s great universe, even seeds need to endure in the darkness of the earth for a time, until they are ready to sprout forth. And unfortunately, too many of us today are like those seeds that are sown on stony ground. As soon as any difficulties arise, we are quick to complain and bail out.
But my brethren, the hallmark of a true believer in Christ is in our strong power of endurance, our perseverance and steadfastness, regardless of our prevailing circumstances! That’s why Jesus also told the disciples: ‘In your patience (perseverance, long-suffering) possess ye your souls.’ (Luke 21:19)
Patience and perseverance are paramount in Christianity my people!
Meanwhile, in Bruh Paul’s famous chapter on LOVE, he boldly declares of that most venerable emotion: ‘(LOVE) Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.’ (1 Cor.13:7)
Yeh Friends, true LOVE is of God, and it endures everything that’s thrown against it, and in doing so, also lasts forever!
We also know Bruh Paul’s memorable words to the Galatians on the subject: ‘And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (do not lose heart). As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.’ (Gal.6:9-10)
And we’ll end with some more memorable words from Hebrews, re running our earthly race. ‘Wherefore seeing (since) we also are compassed about with (surrounded by) so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset (ensnare) us, and let us run with patience (endurance, perseverance) the race that is set before us.
Looking unto Jesus the author (originator) and finisher (perfector) of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction (hostility) of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint (discouraged) in your minds (souls).’ (Heb.12:1-3)
Ah mih people, standing strong and steadfast in faith, with patience, perseverance and endurance is of the utmost importance in our Christian walk!
So let’s take all we’ve heard this morning to heart and let it re-energize us nuh, help us to stand strong, bear all things, in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and thus persist, endure, and see our race of life through to the very end. That’s wisdom of and for the ages! Much LOVE!
…only as believers steadfastly endure their trials and tribulations…will the church of Christ grow…and more importantly…endure…
P.S. Oh Friends, the ole fella’s shaking it somewhat rough this morning, due to a pretty late night and the untimely acting up of my allergies. But I’m practicing what I preach…I’m enduring. (smile) Much LOVE!
27 Jun 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adversary, afflictions, almighty god, be subject to each other, Beelzebub, Bruh Paul, cast all your care on Him, Christ's Church, Christian, christianity, cliques, clothed with humility, conceited, crucified the flesh, daylight at the end of the tunnel, denomination, divided, dominion, dysfunctional, envy, envying each other, eternal glory, evil desires, exalt, faith, fear of God, fellowship, fractured, Friday, Friday chant, fruit of the Spirit, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, Galatians, generous help, gentleness, glory, goals, God gives grace to the humble, God of all grace, God resists the proud, goodness, governed by the Spirit, grace, harmonious, harmony, holy spirit, humility, in Jesus' name, in the reverence of God, inherit the kingdom of God, Jesus Christ, joy, kindness, leasure, led of the Spirit, like-mindedness, live in the Spirit, long-suffering, LOVE, lusts, meekness, moral life, not under the law, passions, peace, provoking each other, relaxation, religion, renewed and refreshed in soul body and mind, resentful, resentment, resist, rest, restraints of the law, reverent, roaring lion, self-control, shame, sober, spitefulness, steadfast, submitting to each other, temperance, Thank God it's Friday, the devil, the fear of God, the lust of the flesh, the mighty hand of God, the weekend, united, unity, uplifting, vainglory, values that please god, vanity, vigilant, vulture, walk in the Spirit, warring, works of the flesh
Ephesians 5:21. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
‘Friday, oh Friday! How I LOVE that day! Friday, oh Friday! The weekend’s coming my way! Oh thank God it’s Friday! And I’m feeling okay! Friday, oh Friday! How I LOVE that day…’
Ah Friends, the amount of little ditties we can make up to celebrate Fridays eh. And rightly so, because Friday is a day when we finally see some daylight at the end of the work-week tunnel and envision a wonderful weekend of pleasure.
But please remember that the weekend is not only for pleasure, but should also include rest and fellowship with other believers. So let’s chant our Friday Chant, which gives us a better perspective on how to handle the weekend.
As one now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Now that’s more like it! (smile) And today we’ll continue looking at our simple sounding, but oh so important Bit: ‘Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.’
And why is it so important? Because it deals with harmony, unity, like-mindedness, goals and values that please God, in His church. And right now there’s certainly not enough of that in the body of Christ.
Christianity is way too fractured, and thus dysfunctional to the serious work it’s called upon to do. In too many churches, regardless of religion or denomination, the congregations are divided in to cliques resentful of, and sometimes outright warring against each other.
Bruh Paul saw it happening even in the young churches he founded and strenuously pointed out the error to them. Here is what he said to the Galatians on the matter. ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.’ (Gal.5:16-18)
Basically, he’s saying that ‘the flesh seeks to thwart the Spirit, who in turn attempts to frustrate the flesh’s evil desires…. The Spirit-led person is not under the law. The Christian does not need the restraints of the law because his moral life is governed by the Spirit.’
And then Bruh Paul goes on to list the works of the flesh (Gal.5:19-21)…’and they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance (self-control): against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections (its passions) and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory (conceited), provoking one another, envying one another.’ (Gal.5:21b-26)
Yes Friends, as true believers, the Holy Spirit ought to lead us to produce fruit that is harmonious, united and uplifting to God’s church. But unfortunately too many of us have not sufficiently crucified our flesh, and thus worldly lusts like vanity, envy, resentment and spitefulness still characterize Christ’s church today. What an awful shame!
Meanwhile, Peter, who also recognizes the problem, puts it this way. ‘Likewise ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in (experienced by) your brethren that are in the world.
But the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish (confirm), strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (1 Pet.5:5-11)
Oh Friends, I couldn’t say it any better! And my wish for all of us today, is that we walk carefully, recognizing that Beelzebub is constantly circling, like the vulture that he is, that we stand strong and steadfast, yet humble and reverent before Almighty God, living in harmony and unity, thus bringing untold glory to His Holy Name. Much LOVE!
…unity and harmony between God’s people…will not come simply by wishing it…but by diligently working together to make it happen…
20 Jun 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a rudderless ship on a stormy sea, almighty god, another week of work, as per how the Spirit moves me, blessings, blood, civil disobedience, command you not to teach in Jesus' name, contrary to te explicit commands of God, courage, decadence, direct connection to Jesus, direction, doctrine, earthly dominion, enabling faith, everlasting love, evil, exalted, exciting, faith, feared the people, fellowship, floundering, forgiveness of sins, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generous help, God will not leave us in the lurch, God's direction, God's Word, gospel truth, guidance, Holy Ghost, holy spirit, Holy Trinity, honouring God's word, in Jesus' name, in prison, Jerusalem, Jewish Council, lest they stoned them, life threatening, LOVE, most important aspect of our earthly lives, moving of the Holy Spirit, new mercies, not waiver, obey civil government, obey God, obey god rather than men, one day at a time, plan for our lives, power and purpose, power of the holy spirit, Praise the Lord, Prince, purpose, raised up Jesus, relaxation, renewed and refreshed in soul body and mind, repentance, responsibility to man and God, rest, right perspective, righteousness., saviour, set us free, sloth, slumber, steadfast, strength, strong, suffer the consequences, teaching in the temple, thank god for every day we draw breath, Thank God it's Friday, the apostle, the god of our fathers, the Holy Spirit, the how and why, truth, truth of Jesus, unconditional LOVE, understanding God's spirit, ungodly world, uplifting, weekend, wisdom, without violence, witnesses, worldly trait, wrong and right
Acts 5:29. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
‘Friday, oh Friday, beautiful and blessed Friday! Thank God for it yes! Thank God it’s Friday, and the work week is drawing to a close! Thank God for Fridays!’
Yes my people, we ought to thank God for Fridays as our work week winds down. But even more importantly, we are to thank Him for every day that we draw breath, every day we open our bleary eyes to a new, exciting and uplifting day filled with His faithful promises of new mercies, blessings and the same old, same old but beautiful, unconditional and everlasting LOVE!
And all God’s children said ‘Praise the Lord!’
Now let’s chant our Friday Chant to give us the right perspective for handling the big two days off over the weekend. As one, holy chanting voice now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Now that should give us a little better guidance on how to spend the weekend; not merely in sloth, slumber and/or decadence, but in rest, relaxation and fellowship. (smile)
And we’ll continue looking at the mighty moving of the Holy Spirit in Acts… And please don’t ask me when we’ll be done with that, because I truly don’t know. I’m just taking it one day at a time, as per how the Spirit moves me. (smile)
Oh Friends, I know that too many of us have the worldly trait in us, where we don’t want to hear about anything on a consistent basis. Everyday we want it new, even though we haven’t understood what we’ve heard before. But my Brethren, the Holy Spirit is the MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF OUR EARTHLY LIVES!
Why? Because it is our DIRECT CONNECTION TO JESUS; TO ALMIGHTY GOD! It is the arm of the Holy Trinity that’s supposed to lead and guide us into all truth and righteousness!
And without our serious knowledge of its awesome power and purpose, how it worked before, and how it can still work in us, we’re lost, floundering like a rudderless ship on a stormy sea, for it’s the Holy Spirit that imparts God’s direction, strength, purpose and plan for our lives.
And having tried to convince us of the necessity of knowing about and fully understanding God’s magnificent Spirit, let’s hear what happens after the confounded Jewish council heard that the apostles weren’t in prison, where they had placed them the day before, but were teaching in the temple.
‘Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
Saying, did not we straitly (strictly) command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.’ (Acts 5:26-29)
And those words of our Bit my brethren are gospel truth! God’s word is way way more important than man’s!
But please listen closely to the scholars’ note on that verse. ‘5:29. Peter is not sanctioning civil disobedience, as he makes clear in his first epistle (1 Pet.2:13-17; cf. Rom.13:1-7). We are to obey civil government, but when it goes contrary to the explicit commands of God, we must obey God and be ready to suffer the consequences.’
That’s more gospel truth my people! But please take a moment and read those referenced scriptures, for they will greatly enlighten you as to what our responsibility is to both man and God.
However, as the scholars note, we must be prepared to suffer the consequences re honouring God’s word if it differs from that of man. Quite often those consequences can be very serious, even life threatening, but we must have the enabling faith to not waiver, to stand our ground, knowing that our great God WILL NOT leave us in the lurch when we stand up strong and steadfast in His Holy Name.
And that’s another reason why we so desperately need to know about and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, because He is the ONE who also enlightens us about wrong and right! It was the power of the Holy Spirit that gave the apostles the wisdom and the courage to stand up against a group of men who had earthly dominion over them.
And boldly, they continued in the power of the Spirit to inform the council: ‘The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance in Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.’ (Acts 5:30-32)
Oh Friends, more gospel truth! Wow! What a morning, where we’ve heard, been bombarded by so much indisputable, unadulterated truth! (smile)
Now let’s go out into the evil, ungodly world in which we dwell, but are NOT a part of, and let that truth of Jesus set us free, through the providential guidance and direction of His Holy Spirit. Much LOVE!
…if you don’t understand the how and why of the Holy Spirit…then you can’t use it successfully…
18 May 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a hefty price, Abraham Isaac and Jacob, apostasy, assurances, authoritarian religious regimes, awesome power of the Holy Spirit, be grateful, be of good cheer, be on our p's and qu's, belief, believe, blessings, Christian, Christian faith, conquered sin, darkness, death, don't give up, don't worry about what you'll say, Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, evil, evil powers, faith, fate, flock to god's house, for my name's sake, free society, freedoms, give thanks, Glory be, goodness, gospel truth, heartfelt prayers, hypocrisy, hypocritical, immovable, injustice, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, joyful fruition, justice, keep pressing on, largesse of faith, let down our guard, light of the world, lodge appeal, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, loving kindness, lurking, Muslim society in sudan, oppression, overcome the world, patience, patient, patriarchal societies, peace, penal code, persecute you, persevering, possess your souls, pray, principles of jesus, promises of God's Son, remain faithful, revenge, sexual relations, South Sudan, spiritual armour, spiritual war, stand strong, steadfast, Sudanese woman, suppression, testimony, the evil one, the grave, the Holy Ghost, tribulation, trust, trust in Jesus Christ, unfair fate, ungodly world, wisdom, worship
Luke 21:19. In your patience possess ye your souls.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, on this Sunday morning in the middle of May, in a season we call spring time, when nature is refreshed and rejuvenated with new life and colour, please, oh please, let’s be eternally grateful and give loads of thanks for the fairly free society in which we live!
Once upon a time it was mostly a community based on the Christian faith, but in recent times it has morphed into one of many different, diverse faiths and cultures. However, we are still free to worship and believe in whom or what we choose. Unfortunately though, this is not the case for millions of our Christian brothers and sisters in many places around the world, who live under heinous authoritarian religious regimes.
Today I want to highlight the unfortunate plight of one such sister. The newspapers recently reported the awful situation of a 26 year old, eighth months pregnant Sudanese woman, who married a Christian man, and for that she was sentenced to death. Steups! And as always, it’s the women and children who suffer the most.
As the hypocritical patriarchal Muslim society in Sudan would have it, it’s okay for a Muslim man to marry outside of his faith, and the children must by law adopt the father’s religion. Chuh! However that largesse of faith does not apply to Muslim women. This unfortunate young woman was convicted of ‘apostasy’ because she refused to renounce her Christian faith. Glory Be!
She is paying though a rather hefty price for that refusal since the Sudanese penal code declares that Muslims converting to any other faith is a crime punishable by death. But it doesn’t seem that the young woman was ever Muslim, for although her father, a Muslim, married and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian and the law states that such children must adopt the father’s faith, her mother raised her as a Christian after the father left them.
Now she languishes in some sordid jail with her 18 month old son and her unborn child, awaiting her unfair fate. To make matters even more ridiculous and hypocritical, it seems that the court also ordered the young woman to receive a hundred (100) lashes. Why? For having what they considered sexual relations with her husband, a Christian from the new country of South Sudan, which is mostly Christian.
Ah Friends, I don’t even want to consider the hypocrisy, because it just makes me so angry that I tend to forget the LOVING-kindness principles of Jesus and desire revenge, or I should say justice (smile) in my heart. Oh I know that we Christians can be very hypocritical too, but hopefully not to that extent.
Let’s hope that an appeal is successfully lodged on the young woman’s behalf in the not too distant future. And to help right that wrongful situation, let’s all offer up some heartfelt prayers for her and the millions of other Christians around the world, who are suffering oppression, suppression and loads of injustice, simply because of their sensible and right thinking belief, faith, and trust in Jesus Christ, and the One and Only True and Living Deity, Jehovah God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
My fellow believers, please believe that there is indeed a very real, a very serious and a very deadly spiritual war that’s currently taking place, and we are at the forefront of it. Thus we need to be on our p’s and q’s; ever-ready to resist and fight back against the evil powers that now control this ungodly world.
What Jesus prophesied so long ago, as we saw in yesterday’s scriptures, is now coming to pass. ‘But before all these (signs), they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you (be an occasion) for a testimony.’ (Luke 21:12-13)
Furthermore ‘And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers (authorities), take ye no thought (do not worry about) how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say. For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.’ (Luke 12:11-12)
It’s not going to be easy my people, but if we stand strong, steadfast and immovable on the promises of our wonderful Saviour, then we will eventually be victorious. Listen to this awesome promise of God’s Son. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)
And that’s the gospel truth Friends! Jesus has indeed overcome the world. He’s conquered sin, death and the grave with His Easter Resurrection. So let’s take comfort, derive lasting peace from it, and show the world that we are stronger than anything they can throw at us, because we have the awesome power of the Holy Spirit of Jesus working in, for, and through us!
Note though, that despite all our assurances, we can’t afford to let down our guard for even one moment, because the evil one is lurking around, looking for even a toehold in our spiritual armour. But we do need to be patient and persevering as Jesus advises in our Bit. ‘In your patience possess ye your souls.’
Yes Friends, if we remain faithful, don’t give up, and keep pressing on, regardless of our adversity, then we shall indeed see ALL the promises of Jesus come to joyful fruition, and His church will be victorious!
So today, my fellow believers, let’s all flock to God’s house with joyful souls nuh, to pray, worship and give thanks for our many blessings and freedoms. For that is indeed the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!
…the powers of evil and darkness…are no match whatsoever…for those of LOVE and goodness…found in the brilliant light of the world…our Lord and Saviour…Jesus Christ…
24 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Spiritual Living
Tags: abominable transgressions, abounding in the work of god, appreciation, Beelzebub, believers in Jesus Christ, blessings, bounden duty, Calvary's cross, Christ defeated death and the grave, Christ triumphantly rose from the dead, cold spring wind, confident in the glory and victory of Jesus, damnation, death, death is swallowed up in victory, Easter Season, eternal death, eternal life, ever-faithul, ever-Loving, everlasting victory, faithful, first Easter Sunday, forgiveness, furthering God's glorious kingdom, futile, give thanks and praise, give you much thanks and praise, glorifying God's name, glory hallelujah, grace, grateful, Hades, heavenly Father, holy character of Jesus, holy spirit, Jesus Christ, joy, lord jesus christ, LOVE, loving, Lucifer, magnify Your Holy Name, mercy, o death where is thy sting, o grave where is thy victory, oodles of optimism, optimism, our labour is not in vain, pardon sin, praise, prince of darkness, reconciliation, repay, right standing, righteous God, sacrifice, saviour jesus, set us free, sincerely worship and adore you, sinful undeserving children, sinless soul, sins, Son Jesus, song of praise, spring has sprung, stark naked, steadfast, thankful Lord and Saviour, thanks, Thanks be to God, the birds are singing praises to God, the blood of Jesus, the gift of God is eternal life, the Good Book, the LOVE of God, the price of sin, the shedding of blood, the sinless One, the sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the law, the wages of sin is death, trials and tribulations, unconditional LOVE, unmovable, victory, wallowing in the misery of our sins, we truly Love you, wonderful news of Easter
1 Corinthians 15:57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh Friends, it seems like spring has finally decided to stay sprung! Glory Hallelujah!
And I say that because there’s finally some green colour appearing in the previously dead looking brown grass, the temps are staying fairly standard between 7 and 12 degrees Celsius, and when I got up just now I heard some birds singing their early morning praises to their Maker!
How wonderful eh! It’s so refreshing and revitalizing to hear the birds singing praises, because they are ever so faithful in it. Sometimes I think the Lord should have made us like the birds, without a mind of our own, for then we would have been much more faithful than we currently are.
Unfortunately though, the trees don’t seem to be buying into this optimism that spring is finally getting serious about coming, for there is not one single green bud on any of them. They all still dancing stark naked in the oftimes brisk and cold spring wind.
We believer in Jesus Christ however, are filled with oodles of optimism, through, and for the LOVE of God! We are so filled with it that it’s overflowing, and consequently filling others with the wonderful news of this Easter Season, where Christ so triumphantly rose from the dead – Mama Mia! – and in the process defeated the twin evils of death and the grave, and therefore the ruler of Hades, Lucifer.
Oh Friends, this Easter Thursday morning, let’s put a big smile on our faces, and release the immense joy that’s in our hearts and souls with a song of praise to our Maker nuh!
Like the birds, let’s show Him our great appreciation for designing, putting into action and successfully carrying out His incredible plan of reconciliation, which so LOVINGLY brought us back into right standing with Him.
Please pray with me now: ‘Dear heavenly Father, You are so wonderful to Your sinful, undeserving children! We continually make You sad and mad at our misdoings, but You just keep on LOVING us! You keep on granting us Your awesome forgiveness, mercy and grace, blessing us with stuff we definitely don’t deserve.
Oh Father, this morning we’re here to tell You that we truly LOVE You! We sincerely worship and adore You! We do magnify Your Holy Name and give You much thanks and praise!
Oh gracious Father in heaven, we are especially grateful and thankful for Your most wonderful Son Jesus, who became our Lord and Saviour on that first Easter Sunday two millennia ago, by sacrificing His holy life to pay for our abominable transgressions.
Oh Father, we are truly sorry that You had to put such trials and tribulations on Jesus for our sakes, but we know that You are a just and righteous God and cannot just pardon sin; a price, including death and the shedding of blood must be paid for it.
And You LOVED us so much, considered us so worthy, that You gave Your Only son, Jesus Christ, the ONLY sinless soul beside Yourself, to pay for our sins!
Oh heavenly Father, You know that we can NEVER repay You for that awesome, unconditional LOVE, but we will try our best to live lives down here on earth that will magnify You. Lives that will continue to grow in the holy character of our Saviour Jesus, thus glorifying Your great Name and furthering Your glorious kingdom. We pray this on the blood of Jesus that was shed for us on Calvary’s cross. Amen!’
Oh mih people, mih people! What the Holy Spirit can do in your soul eh! I have to chuckle here, because I never intended to even have a prayer, much less such a long one. But as usual, the Holy Spirit guided me there. In any case, it is right, and also our bounden duty to pray and give thanks and praise to our heavenly Father, especially at this Easter season, when He so faithfully caused us to be reconciled to Him!
And believe me Friends, that is no small undertaking or unimportant event! In fact it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to mankind! If our wonderful, ever-faithful and ever-LOVING Creator didn’t care so much for us, we’d still be wallowing in the misery of our dreadful sins, headed for eternal death and damnation in the foul and vile company of the prince of darkness, Beelzebub.
For remember, as the Good Book so pointedly states: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through (in) Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom.6:23)
But then Bruh Paul further clarifies the situation to the Corinthians, and consequently us: ‘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.’ (1 Cor. 15:54b-57)
Yes my fellow believers, don’t ever forget those memorable, momentous and most important words of our Bit! Let’s plant them deep, deep, deep in the inner recesses of our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, because that is indeed why we are able to laugh, sing and shout ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ this Thursday morning two thousand years after Jesus gave us that everlasting victory!
Wow! What a mighty God we serve and worship my brethren!
So as we prayed above, and Bruh Paul so timely reminds us: ‘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.15:58)
Absolutely not my fellow believers! So please, let’s stand steadfast and strong this morning, and all the remaining days of our lives, confident in the glory and victory of Jesus Christ! Much LOVE!
…oh how could we not LOVE Jesus…the sinless One…who made our sins His own…and LOVINGLY set us free…to some day dwell with Him in heaven…and always faithful be…
25 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adventuresome, afflictions, alive and kicking, anger, apathy, assured, awesome wisdom, bad, bless God's Holy Name, blessed, buy and eat, call upon the Lord, christ's character, come to the waters, covenant, delight in abundance, diligent, dr robert h schuller, dread, engourage, everlasting, exhilarating, faith, faithful promises, faithfulness, false dead pretenders, fear, filled, forgiveness, free gift of salvation, free offer, frutiful and faithful plans of god, Gentiles, good, goodness, gospel truth, hearsay, Hour of Power, humbly praise, immortal words, into forever, invitation, Isaiah, Israel, Jeremiah 29:11, Jesus Christ, joy, leading and guiding, life with Jehovah god, light of Jesus Christ, long-winded, LOVE, magnanimous, mercy, negative emotions, negative things, no money, omnipotent god, one and only true God, our benefit, our Lord and Saviour, pain, paths of righteousness, personal experience, planet earth, promises, reaction to circumstances, reaction to problems, reflection, refresh your minds and souls, refreshing, refreshing attitude, righteousness., Romans 8:28, salvation, scriptures, seek the Lord, self-pity, semblance of peace, Sermon on the Mount, soul, spend money, spiritually hungry and thirsty, stand strong, steadfast, strife, take them in stride, tests, thirsty, to all and sundry, unfortunate situations, universal offer, unsatisfactory labour, ups and downs, walking with God, wisdom, wisdom from heaven, wise advice, with God's help, without money, without price, wonderful adventure
Isaiah 55:1. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Oh Friends, through the great and tender mercy of our wonderful and omnipotent God, we’ve been blessed to see another beautiful day upon His exotic creation, Planet Earth!
And all God’s children declared a loud and grateful: ‘Thank You Lord for bringing us through another dark, dreary and scary night into the bright, awesome and most refreshing and secure light of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! We humbly praise You and bless Your Holy Name! Amen.’
Yes mih people, when you’re walking with God, or at least faithfully trying to do so, your life becomes a wonderful adventure, filled with ups and downs, goodness and mercy, LOVE and forgiveness, good and bad, tests and afflictions!
But please know that it all works out to our benefit in the end, according to God’s fruitful and faithful plans for our lives, as entrenched in the promises of Jeremiah 29:11, and Romans 8:28. Please read those scriptures and refresh your minds and souls, so that you can stand strong and steadfast on them.
And to further encourage us, here is some very wise advice from Gramps Schuller – Dr. Robert H. Schuller – from his Hour of Power Devotional. ‘Learn to live by this refreshing attitude: “It’s not what happens to me that matters most; it’s how I react to what happens to me.”
And that my Friends, is the gospel, gospel truth! What happens to us is indeed important, especially when it involves stuff like pain, anger, strife and other negative things. But even more important is how we react to those circumstances.
We can take them in our stride, obviously with God’s help, and maintain some semblance of peace and/or joy in our spirits. Or we can just give in to self-pity, apathy, dread, fear, and all the other negative emotions that tend to bombard us when unfortunate situations occur.
And today we have a rather appropriate Bit that addresses that problem. ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.’
Oh mih breddren, what a magnanimous and universal offer from our most marvellous God! That’s a free offer of mercy to ALL and SUNDRY!
There’s NO other supposed deity who has ever, or can ever offer such a wonderful gift to their believers, because they are not true deities, but false, dead pretenders, while the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the ONE AND ONLY TRUE GOD, IS ALIVE AND KICKING! And kicking mightily too… right into forever!
Now here are some interesting comments from the scholars on our Bit and subsequent verses: ’55:1-7. God’s free gift of salvation is offered to all who will receive it. Those who are spiritually hungry and thirsty may come and eat and drink without money (or freely).
He promises an everlasting covenant to the Gentiles like the one He established with Israel. His invitation to all men is clearly stated by the appeal, Seek ye the Lord, and call ye upon him.’
Oh Friends, it’s so sad when people deliberately choose not to follow Jehovah God, for they know not what they are missing! Doing life with Jehovah God is a most exhilarating, refreshing and adventuresome experience… and this not hearsay, but personal experience!
That’s because you never know what He’ll be up to next, but you do know, you’re completely assured that whatever happens, He’s walking with you, leading and guiding you along paths of righteousness, working you into a reflection of Christ’s character, all for His Name’s Sake. Wow!
And though the road may be rocky and rough, there’s faith in your heart, based on His faithful promises, that eventually things will be fine.
And I like how Isaiah continues after our Bit: ‘Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness (abundance).’ (Is.55:2)
Ah mih people, what a wonderful invitation! And there’s a lot more to say, but since I’m endeavouring to keep the Bit short and sweet we’ll end shortly with some immortal words from Jesus.
And please don’t ever think that I don’t try to keep it short, but sometimes that’s how the Spirit leads me, or there just isn’t enough to spread over two days, plus the fact that I’m just naturally long-winded. (smile)
Anyway, here are Jesus’ immortal words on the subject, which come from the Sermon on the Mount, one of the Beatitudes. ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.’ (Matt.5:6)
Oh my fellow believers, another faithful promise for us to stand on! So please let’s stand on it, today and everyday, and thus be filled with righteousness, every day of our lives!
That’s awesome wisdom – wisdom that can only come from heaven! Much LOVE!
…to seek…to seek… and yet to find God…in His everlasting mercy and forgiveness…
16 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: avowed purpose, awe, Bible, business dealings, central theme, Christendom, Christian programmes, come to destroy, compassionate, defiling, dwell richly in our souls, exalt, faith, faith comes by hearing, fellowship, fire and brimstone, glorify, glory hallelujah, go in faith, go in love, god will go with you, God will guide you, God's children, good morning, grace, grateful, great importance, healthy, hear the Word, Jerusalem, Jesus, kernel statement, like persuasion, little ones, lost, lost sheep, LOVE, meditate on, never be afraid, one lost sinner, parting blessing, peace, perish, Pharisees, physician, ponder, power of God unto salvation, praise, presence, publican, reach out to others, rebuked, rejoices, repentance, reverence, righteous, sacrifice of praise, salvation, Samaria, Samaritans, save, save sinners, scribes, searching, searching Herdsman, self-righteous, shepherd context, show you believe, sick, sinners, steadfast, strong, Sunday, tax collector, teach, testify, thanksgiving, the Lord's Day, the Lord's goodness, the Son of man, the will of the Father, the Word of god, to seek, true, undeserving sinners, where two or three are gathered, worship, write indelibly in our hearts
Luke 19:10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Well a good Sunday morning to all you Friends and fellow believers out there in Christendom! It is the Lord’s Day, so please let’s treat it as such; with reverence and awe, with praise and thanksgiving, with worship and fellowship.
Let’s get out and fellowship with those of like persuasion… and even with those of a different persuasion, for once Jesus is the focus of our attention, we simply cannot go wrong. Remember He specifically said that wherever two or three are gathered in His Name, that He would certainly grace us with His wonderful presence. (Matt.18:20)
And if by chance, or design, you can’t get out to fellowship with other believers and hear the Word, then turn on your television set and tune in to one of the many Christian programmes where the Word is boldly preached and listen to it attentively. Because to know the Word, you must hear it, and how can you hear it without a preacher? (Rom.10:14-15) For as Bruh Paul proudly proclaims: ‘So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ (Rom.10:17)
And just supposing you don’t have a T.V… Well then get out your Bible and read it aloud to yourself, for there’s plenty of power in the spoken Word. Note that God SPOKE the world and all therein into existence. It wasn’t any abracadabra, simi-dimi stuff. The important thing though my brethren, is that the Word of God comes into contact with your very soul, on this, His day.
That brings us to our Bit: ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’
And all God’s children gave out a loud and joyous shout of “Glory Hallelujah! All praise to the Lord for His goodness to us undeserving sinners.’ And well we should all be grateful and offer the sacrifice of praise my brethren, for without Jesus coming to search for and save us, we’d still be lost.
And I like how the scholars explain it. ’19:10. The words, seek, save, and lost all appear elsewhere in Scripture in a shepherd context. This verse may be taken as a kernel statement of the central theme of Luke. Jesus is the compassionate, searching Herdsman who seeks to save those who can by no means save themselves.’
We surely can’t my brethren! Now today I want to share some scriptures where Jesus states His avowed purpose in coming to earth. And He does it several times, in several different ways.
Let’s begin with when He talks about lost sheep. ‘For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.’ (Matt.18:11) Then He goes on to explain about a shepherd having an hundred sheep, but one gets lost and he leaves the ninety-nine and goes searching long and hard for the ONE LOST SHEEP, and rejoices greatly when he finds it. (Matt.18:12-13) ‘Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.’ (Matt.18:14)
Oh Friends, yuh see the great importance the Lord attaches to even ONE LOST SINNER! Consequently, if there had only been one single sinner in the entire world, the Father would still have sent Jesus to save him.
Now let’s turn to a time after Jesus had eaten with a publican (tax collector) called Levi. (Luke 5:27-29) The scribes and Pharisees are questioning Jesus as to: ‘Why do ye eat and drink with publicans (tax collectors) and sinners? (Luke 5:30) That’s because the Pharisees thought it was beneath them, defiling to have business dealings with tax collectors like Levi, much less to eat with them.
‘And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole (healthy) need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’ (Luke 5:31-32)
As the scholars explain: ‘5:32. Jesus is of course not dealing with the question of whether there are in fact righteous people who need no repentance. By ‘righteous’ He refers to the Pharisees, who thought they were righteous, and thus felt they had no need to repent. They were truly self-righteous.’
In any case, if you came to save sinners, then you obviously need to hang out with them, otherwise how would you teach and testify and bring them to repentance eh?
And we’ll close with this instance where Jesus is headed for Jerusalem, but while passing through Samaria is rejected by the people there. At this perceived slight, James and John want to call down fire and brimstone on the heads of the Samaritans. (Luke 9:51-54)
‘But he (Jesus) turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.’ (Luke 9:55-56)
Ah mih breddren, that’s enough stuff for us to ponder today, to meditate on and write indelibly in our hearts. Please, let’s allow the Word of God to dwell richly in our souls, for ‘it is the power of God unto salvation.’ (Rom.1:16)
And here’s a parting blessing I got from my church in Tobago. ‘Go now in Peace – Never be Afraid. God will go with you each hour of every day. Go now in faith steadfast and strong and true. Know He will guide you in all you do. Go now in LOVE, and show you believe. Reach out to others, so all the world can see. God will be there watching from above. Go now in Peace, in Faith and in LOVE.’ Much LOVE, my fellow believers!
…once you know Jesus…you can’t help but LOVE and glorify and exalt Him…
13 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: above the earth, above the heavens, afflictions, all-knowing God, awake early, awake my glory, believers ought to operate, bemoaning his unfortunate fate, blessed be God, Bruh David, Bruh Paul, comfort others, comforted of God, Comforter, comforts us in tribulation, concentrating on troubles, Creator, digged a pit, disease, do it twice, dreaming, epitome of a true believer, essence of the situation, ever-LOVING God, evil, exaltation, exaltation of god, exalted, faith, focus thoughts and energy on god, Galilee, Gentiles, glory, god of all comfort, God's greatest invention, great unto the heavens, Guide, Healer, healing, healing power of christ, hell and high water, human mind, innocent of any wrongdoing, Israel's king, keep our attention and focus on God, LOVE, magnificence of the mind, mercy, my heart is fixed on god, my soul is bowed down, negative circumstances, O God, omnipotent, omniscient, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, prepared a net for me, promotion, provider, Saul, see and do life like God desires, Selah, serious turmoil, sickness, sincere faith, sing and give praise, sitting at the right hand of the Father, so nice, steadfast, teaching, testing, the business of healing, the Corinthians, the Father of mercies, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, time of need, trust, truth, ungodly earth, wisdom, workings of the mind
Psalm 57:5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
Oh Friends, the human mind is a most wonderful bit of machinery yes! Possibly our God’s greatest invention, for so far man can replicate most of what happens in the human body, but he’s still completely baffled by the exquisite and exotic workings of the mind.
And I bring this up because during the night I got up a couple of times, looked at the clock and decided it was too early to get up, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. However, at some stage after the last roll over, I discovered that I had gotten up and was putting on my day clothes.
Then something struck me as being not right. I realized that I was really dreaming about getting up and putting on my clothes. Hn, Hn! But yuh know what’s so significant about that dream?
I was dreaming about putting on the very same clothes that I had actually put out to put on whenever I got up. Now does that tell us something about the magnificence of the mind or what!
The same way Friends, when we keep our attention and focus on God, we see and do life the way He desires. Like Bruh David holed up in the cave, hiding from Saul, instead of bemoaning his unfortunate fate, for he was innocent of any wrongdoing against Saul, he instead declares our Bit. ‘Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.’
And that’s how ALL believers ought to operate, my people!
Now yesterday we ended by saying that our God was and is the greatest Comforter and Healer in the universe. Today, I want to share a couple scriptures to drive home those most important points. Listen to Bruh Paul as he talks to the Corinthians re his personal afflictions.
‘Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble (tribulation), by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.’ (2 Cor.1:3-4)
Yes my brethren, our great and wonderful God comforts us in our time of need, so that we can also comfort others in need of comforting. (smile) And re the healing power of Christ, hear what Matthew says about our Lord and Saviour when He walked this evil, ungodly earth.
‘And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of (every) sickness and all manner of (every) disease among the people.’ (Matt.4:23)
Yes Friends and neighbours, Jesus went about healing all sorts of diseases and sickness when He walked this earth. And the beauty of it all is, now that He’s sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven, entreating on our behalf, He’s still in the business of healing; healing souls, bodies and minds!
So whenever we’re in need of comfort and healing, the first place to turn to is heaven and Jesus, like Bruh David did in that solitary cave in the wilderness. Remember too, that though Bruh David was anointed to be Israel’s next king at a young age, he went through a lot of hell and high water, plenty testing, before it became a reality.
The Lord tested him in many ways before He actually promoted him. And this is one of those times. Listen to his beautiful words of trust, faith and exaltation though his life was in serious turmoil.
After declaring our Bit, he continues: ‘They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah. My heart is fixed (steadfast), O God, my heart is fixed (steadfast): I will sing and give praise.
Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery (lute) and harp: I myself will awake early (awaken the dawn). I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations (Gentiles). For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.’ (Ps.57:6-11)
Oh my fellow believers, that’s how ALL believers should feel, believe, talk and act! For those words portray the epitome of a true believer.
So today, if we’re being plagued, being beset by troubles that we can’t quite get a handle on, please release them all to our omnipotent, wonderful and ever-LOVING God! Let Him deal with them, for He’s promised to do just that if we come to Him in sincere faith.
The essence of the situation is therefore, instead of concentrating on our troubles, our negative circumstances, let’s do like Bruh David did in his time of need; let’s focus our thoughts and energy instead on our omnipotent, omniscient, all-knowing God; our Creator, Comforter, Guide, Healer and Provider.
That’s wisdom at its highest level, at its very zenith. Much LOVE!
…Bruh David found his exaltation of God so nice…that he had to say it twice… (vs.5,11) (smile)
10 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: ability to choose, ability to think, advice, affectionate, anger, avenge not, believers, bless, brotherly LOVE, Bruh Paul, bundle of good, Christ's Church, Christian nation, complain, conceit, condescend, curse not, diligence, dissensions, disturbed sleep, dividing, divisions, drifitng apart, enemy, estimation, evil, evil for evil, eye teeth, feed, feel rotten, fervent, followers of Jesus christ, functions, give drink, glorify God, grow, growth, harmony, heap coals of fire, honesty, hospitality, human animal, humble, hypocrisy, in christ, in the end, Jesus Christ, live peaceably, longevity, LOVE, Love God, LOVE your neighbour, low estate, meaningful, members, message, miserable, needs, negative stuff, not always easy, One Body, option, overcome evil with good, overcome of eveil, patient, peace, perplexed, persecute, petty jealousies, petty woes, please Jesus, politice, prayer, preference, preseverance, prized creation, problems, rampant, rebels, recompense, reconciled, rejoicing in hope, repay, resentment, right decision, Romans 12, rumours of war, sacrifice, sad, saints, selfish, serving the Lord, sinless life, slothful, steadfast, talk a good talk, thirst, tired, tribulation, truth, ungodly world, unity of brethren, values of God, values of the world, vengeance hunger, walk, walk in sync, wars, weep, wisdom, work together, works out for good, wrath
Romans 12:4-5. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office (function): So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another.
Oh Friends, have you ever experienced the unparalleled joy of going to bed feeling fairly okay, but waking up a few hours later feeling terrible? Well I experienced that joy this morning.
Chuh! I went to bed at a decent hour, feeling good enough, but lo and behold when I got up… brother did I ever feel rotten, tired and miserable! I could barely get myself together. I don’t know if it’s because the phone rang during the night and disturbed my sleep, but I sure had a hard time coming around.
Enough of my petty woes though, a lot of people would give their eye-teeth (smile) to have my problems, compared to their own. And I truly don’t have that much to complain about, for the Lord’s been looking after me fairly well.
Now that doesn’t mean it’s always easy, but it always works out for good in the end. And that is basically the message Bruh Paul is trying to convey to us in our Bit, which continues from yesterday.
‘For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office (function): So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another.’
Oh my brethren, as members of Christ’s church, though we have different gifts and different functions we desperately need to work together for it to be successful! That’s the ONLY way the church will ever grow and become meaningful in this evil and ungodly world!
Look at it nuh Friends, everything else that the Lord made without brains function perfectly in His universe. However, the human animal, His most prized creation, the one thing that He made with the ability to think, constantly rebels against Him.
We cannot seem to work together in peace, LOVE and harmony, as He desires. Even those of us who proclaim to be followers of Jesus Christ, who profess to keep the two great commandments – LOVE God, and LOVE your neighbour as yourself – we’re way too often hypocritical on the matter.
And sadly, that hypocrisy seems to be rampant in Christ’s church, where it has absolutely no place. Why is that eh? Possibly because we’re still too selfish, still holding on to the foolish values of the world as our templates for life, instead of the values of God.
Now let’s continue from where we left off yesterday, with Bruh Paul’s advice to the Romans about what should be happening in their church.
‘Be kindly affectioned (affectionate) one to another with brotherly LOVE; in honour preferring (giving preference to) one another; Not slothful (lagging in diligence) in business; fervent (boiling over) in spirit; serving the Lord;
Rejoicing in hope; patient (persevering) in tribulation; continuing instant (steadfastly) in prayer; Distributing to the necessity (needs) of saints (believers); given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless (speak well of), and curse not.
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not (don’t sent your minds on) high things; but condescend to men of low estate (associate with the humble). Be not wise in your own conceits (estimation).
Recompense to (repay) no man evil for evil. Provide things honest (have regard for good things) in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in (depends on) you, live peaceably with all men.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.’ (Rom.12:10-20)
Oh my people, how much of all that can we say is truly happening in our world eh? Not a whole lot, otherwise there would not be as many wars and rumours of war.
And what about Christ’s church eh? How much of that wise advice are we showing in the church of today?
Unfortunately not a whole lot either, because if we were doing a good job the anger, resentment, petty jealousies, politics and all the other negative stuff would not be as rampant as they are, and the divisions and dissensions would thus be much less amongst our Christian nation.
But sadly, everyday we hear about more negative stuff happening in the church, and instead of coming together as we ought to, we’re dividing and drifting further and further apart.
As I said yesterday, Jesus must be sad and perplexed about how to solve our problems. But my people, He did the best He could; He did His part by sacrificing His sinless life so that we could be reconciled to the Father. Now we’re foolishly behaving as though we never needed that option, and it’s not important.
Jesus can’t come and hold everybody’s hands yuh know. It’s now up to us to make the right decision. That’s why our Creator gave us a mind and the ability to choose.
Oh my fellow believers, we talk a very good talk, but our walk surely doesn’t reflect that talk. That’s our major problem. And until we get both our talk and walk in sync, make them jive, Christ’s church will never come together as it should.
Now we’ll end our discourse today, the same way Bruh Paul ends Romans 12, with some of the best advice we can ever receive. ‘Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.’ (Rom.12:21)
Now that my brethren is all the different kinds of wisdom and truth wrapped up in one small, but very powerful package! Let’s endeavour to truly heed it nuh, to sincerely adopt it in our lives, for it will do us a bundle of good.
And even more importantly, it will please Jesus and glorify our heavenly Father, the main purpose for which we were originally created. Much LOVE!
…the unity of the brethren…is essential…of the utmost importance… for the longevity and growth of Christ’s church…
P.S. In yesterday’s Bit I left an empty bracketed space between ‘volitional caring’ in the scholars’ note, because I wanted to find a simpler synonym for it, but with all the technical problems I forgot to fill it.
It basically means ‘will or desire,’ a caring that we raise up from deep within our very souls for others. And that’s something we very much need to do these days my people. Much LOVE!
12 Sep 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: advances, anger, ashamed of Christ, Beelzebub, believers in Jesus, bitterness, blessed day, blessings, bounden duty, christianity, cold and rainy, conquer the nations, darkness, death, demonic gates, destruction, doctrine of justification, enduring faith, entreaties, eternal life, evil, faith in the Lord, forgiveness, God's countenance, God's essential attribute, God's revelation, God-sent day, golden arches of heaven, gospel, Great Tribulation, Habakkuk's prophecy, Hades, hate, haughty, hot and sunny, injustice, justification by faith, kneel at Christ's footstool, life, life eternal, light, live our faith, lost souls, LOVE, Love God, loving god, Lucifer, mercy, moral sphere, New Testament, obey God's commandments, Old Testament, part of the problem, part of the solution, peace, plans of mice and men, proud, religion, revenge, righteous, salvation, scholarly explanations, separation from God, sin, Spread God's Word, stand strong, steadfast, suppress the truth, thanks and praise, the enemy, the Father, the guilt of mankind, the just shall live by faith, the power of God, the power of the gospel, the righteousness of God, the SON, theology, true repentance, ultimate gifts, ungodliness, ungodly world, union with God, unrighteousness, upright, victors, weather forecasts, wrath of God
Habakkuk 2:4. Behold, his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Oh Friends, another God-sent day is on the horizon. But whether it’s going to be hot and sunny, like the past two days, or cold and rainy, I can’t tell you, because I’ve seen two different forecasts in the last few hours. Around 10 p.m. last night, it said 31 degrees and rain, but at 2.30 this morning, it’s saying 24 and sunshine, and that’s after rain, thunder and lightning last night. So you go figure nuh!
The weather forecaster’s job right now is one of the most unpredictable in the world. But my brethren, regardless of what happens with the weather, believers in Jesus will stand strong, steadfast and upright because of their enduring faith, as our Bit so wisely declares: ‘Behold, his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.’
And I guess you’re wondering why there’s no wandering preamble? Well I have plenty stuff to share, and I want to get it all in today, while keeping the Bit at a reasonable length. So right away, let’s get to some scholarly explanations re our Bit.
‘2:4. Two classes of people are contrasted (1) the proud, haughty Chaldeans who will be the victors in the forthcoming conflict; and (2) the righteous ones of Judah who will appear to be defeated in the forthcoming conflict, but in reality will be the victors because of their faith in the Lord.
The just shall live by his faith is often quoted in the New Testament in support of the doctrine of justification by faith. (See Rom.1:17; Gal.3:11; Heb.10:38) Thus, this Old Testament prophecy anticipates the New Testament gospel which shall ultimately conquer the nations and bring them to Christ.’
And that’s exactly what the New testament Gospel has been doing Friends; conquering both individuals and nations and having them kneel at Christ’s footstool in true repentance to receive His ultimate gifts of salvation and eternal life! What can be more pleasing to our heavenly Father eh? Nothing, except for the whole, entire earth to believe and receive salvation, not losing a single soul to the enemy Beelzebub!
But just remember my fellow believers, that our most important job here on earth, our bounden duty, is to help bring those lost souls to Jesus. So if we don’t do right, that’s LOVE God, LIVE our Faith, and SPREAD His Word, then we’re part of the problem and not of the solution.
Oh, and by the way, I hope you all checked out the reference from yesterday, Daniel 5:30-31, where Habakkuk’s prophecy came through in the middle of the night. Belshazzar, the Chaldean king was slain and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom.
And today’s certainly your lucky day Friends, sorry blessed day (smile) because I’ve planned to quote all the scriptures the scholars referenced above, including this one from John.
‘The Father LOVETH the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth (remains) on him.’ (John 3:35-36)
Yes my people, those who don’t believe in the light and life of the Son, darkness, death and destruction will continue to dog them forever. And as Bruh Paul said to the Roman church, when he talked about the power of the gospel and the guilt of mankind.
‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.’ (Rom.1:16-18)
Ah mih breddren, the gospel of Christ is so powerful that it can propel you from the very demonic gates of sin, death and Hades right to the golden arches of heaven, through salvation, so you can enjoy life eternal.
Wow! I say it every day: what a mighty and LOVING God we serve my people! Everyday we should just be falling all over ourselves to live for Him, to give Him the thanks and praise He so worthily deserves!
But instead we foolishly resist His entreaties and advances, push Him aside, and live with hate, bitterness, anger and revenge as the prominent emotions in our lives, rather than those of Peace, LOVE, Mercy and Forgiveness which flow from Him.
And then we wonder why life is so rough. Hn! The answer is so simple; we’ve turned away from Almighty God. We no longer obey His commandments, so how do we expect to receive His blessings and LOVING-kindness eh?
Oh Friends, I think I have to change my plans here yes, because I’ve just seen some explanations from the scholars re the last two verses above, which I believe will help us understand those scriptures better, so here goes.
‘1:17. Righteousness, God’s essential attribute is revealed. It is not man’s invention; it is God’s revelation. Left to himself, man would never have thought of it. From faith to faith: It’s source and end are the same. To those who possess God’s righteousness Paul pronounces, The just shall live by faith. What one believes does make a difference. If he believes the gospel he has life (union with God); otherwise he has death (separation from God).
1:18. The wrath is not the revelation of a future judgement of God or of the Great Tribulation, but a present revelation that parallels the present revelation of God’s righteousness (cf.1:17). This revelation comes from heaven.
Ungodliness is failure in the religious realm. Unrighteousness is failure in the moral sphere or injustice toward man. Who hold (lit. “hold down,” “suppress”) the truth in unrighteousness. They received the truth concerning the wrath of God but hindered it and prevented it from completing its work.’
Oh my fellow believers, I do hope that brings a clearer understanding of those scriptures. So we’ll end there, and if God’s willing, will continue this topic tomorrow, for we all know that the best laid plans of mice and men usually go astray, (smile) and it’s the Lord’s plan that carries the day.
Till we meet tomorrow then, may we walk in the sunshine of God’s countenance, may peace and LOVE guide our footsteps as we continue looking to Jesus for strength and faith to face this evil, ungodly world. Much LOVE!
…if you don’t believe in Jesus…then you’ll pay the price…just like Lucifer is doing…
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