07 Dec 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: accolade, be gracious to me, believe god's Word, bread was buttered, burden, Christmas Season, come unto me, compassionate heart, confidence in princes, courage, curse, devastation, difficult situations, disbelief, distress, faith, find rest, foolishness, fragile, friend, gentle, get on our knees, God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, God of my righteousness, grace, have mercy on me, hear my prayer, heartbreaking pictures, heavy laden. give you rest, humble, I am meek, I called upon the Lord, in distress, labour, learn from me, loss of life, LOVE, lowly in heart, man after his own heart, mar the joy, mercy, momentary, my burden light, my yoke is easy, negative word, number one, offer prayers, prayer, prosper, self-control, self-discipline, set me in a large place, Southern California, succeed, take my yoke, talent, the great invitation, the greatest power on earth, the Lord answered me, the Lord God Jehovah, Thursday Blessings, time of need, trust, trust in man, trust in the Lord, wildfires, wisdom, yoke
Psalm 118:5. I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large (broad) place.
Oh my people, what else is going to mar the joy of this 2017 Christmas season eh? I’m talking about the rampant wildfires that are currently raging through Southern California with a renewed vengeance. As the old people would, say, when it’s not one thing, it’s another. And that’s the truth.
The heartbreaking pictures of the sprawling devastation show us just how fragile and momentary our lives are. Can you imagine the terrible Christmas those people affected by those fires will spend? Ah Lord eh! Thankfully though, the loss of life doesn’t seem to be a major problem, for which we are very grateful.
Friends, please, let’s do what we can to physically help them, but most importantly, let’s get on our knees and sincerely offer prayers on their behalf, as prayer is the greatest power on earth.
And you know I wasn’t planning on using the Bit from the past few days today, but after writing that stuff above, I found that it was just so appropriate, that I had no choice. ‘I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large (broad) place.’
That’s the best, in fact it’s the first thing those people should do; call on the Lord God Jehovah seeking His grace, LOVE and mercy in their devastating time of need. It’s first thing WE ALL should do when we find ourselves facing difficult situations, but oftimes it’s the last thing we do. I don’t know why it’s so difficult for us to turn to the Lord first nuh; if it’s a matter of trust or simple disbelief, but that’s what His word says.
Listen to His Great Invitation: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (gentle and humble): and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt.11:28-30)
Oh my people, who else has offered such a magnificent and welcoming invitation eh? NO ONE ELSE! But yet we have problems in accepting it, and I really can’t understand why. All I can surmise is that we don’t truly believe God’s word, our faith isn’t strong enough, and we prefer to first put our trust in man, and leave God as a last resort.
But that’s utter foolishness my brethren! For as the psalmist so strenuously warns and reminds us in Psalm 118, a few verses after our Bit: ‘It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.’ (Ps.118:8-9)
How much clearer can that be eh friends? Not much. But what’s our usual first response when trouble comes? We run to the phone or text a friend, or google the problem on the Internet. And if none of that works, then we cry out to God for help and expect it to come immediately. But unfortunately friends, our great God doesn’t work like that.
He expects to be FIRST and FOREMOST in our lives, at ALL times, and in ALL situations! Anything other than that is unacceptable! Our first reaction should ALWAYS be to call on God, like Bruh David did in the opening of Psalm 4 – An evening prayer of trust in God.
‘Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged (relieved) me when I was in distress: have mercy on me (be gracious to me), and hear my prayer.’ (Ps.4:1)
Oh my fellow believers, as I keep reminding us, despite all his sinfulness and troubles, Bruh David knew on which side his bread was buttered, thus he continually called on the God of his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And please note how he opens his prayer by acknowledging the righteousness of God, and then remembering all the times that the Lord had previously helped him, and then on those bases, pleading for help in his current calamitous situation.
We should be doing likewise in our time of adversity, but all too conveniently and foolishly we forget the times when the Lord helped us, and get angry when His help is not immediately forthcoming.
Friends, we can’t want a better example than Bruh David in terms of prayer and praise. He was a man just like us with a sinful nature, but he kept crying out to God in ALL situations, and wonder of wonders, the Lord called him a friend and a man after His own heart.
If we sincerely trust and rely on the Lord God Jehovah in ALL that we do, we too can look forward to being called a friend of God, and a man or woman after His own heart. To me, that is the greatest accolade we can ever receive in this life, and is something I’m trying to work toward.
But in the meantime I’m also going to enjoy the blessings He’s so generously bestowed on us, as listed in our Thursday Blessings. And since there is power in our words, let’s declare them with much enthusiasm, sincerity and truth nuh.
Loud and proud now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Oh friends, what a magnanimous and magnificent God we serve! Give Him the thanks and praise He so rightly deserves, and follow His desires, as we go out and share those wonderful blessings with others today. Much LOVE!
…who is Number ONE in our lives…and who are we going to call on FIRST…the GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…
09 Nov 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a comapssionate heart, a pillar of fire, a sun, abundance, bad, courage, creativity, curse, divine protection, everlasting light, foolish drivers, give grace, give light, glory, glory of Zion, glory to God, glows in the darkness, godly light, good, goodwill to men, halls of heaven, heavenly Father, holy presence, ice, indisputable words, Isaiah, Job, John, led by your dreams, light by day, LOVE, magnanimous god, manifestations, monologue, Moses, negative word, no good thing will he withhold, no temple, no way Jose, out of the mouth of babes, peace on earth, perfected praise, prosper, pushed by your problems, reassurance, revelations, rush hour, saints in Christ, self-control, self-discipline, shekinah glory, shield, sleet, slush, snow, Spirit of the Lord, spiritual sun, spoken word, succeed, supernatural wisdom, talent, Ten Commandments, the Lamb, the light thereof, the Lord God, the moon, the Sun, thy god thy glory, troubled souls, unscathed, veil his face, walk uprightly, weather forecasters
Psalm 84:11. For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Ah friends, can you believe that this early in the game, the weather forecasters are calling for that beautiful, innocent-looking but oh so dangerous thing called snow? Steups!
Ah Lord eh! But that’s what you get for all the good weather we’ve enjoyed so far this late in the year. As Job, says, you can’t expect to always receive good and no bad.
Can you imagine the mess the place will be in this evening, especially if it begins during the rush hour? And the sad part is that you not only have to look out for yourself, but even more for the many foolish drivers on the road!
But yuh know what, I’ve promised myself that from hereon in, I’m not going out in no setta snow to go anywhere. If somebody wants to drive me, then I’ll consider it. But once I’ve got to drive myself, ‘NO WAY JOSE!’
I can handle the cold, but driving through the slush and sleet and snow and ice and otherwise… too much unnecessary pressure. I think I’ve had enough of that. I’ve come through the last forty something years of it fairly unscathed, no need to go and get my ole bod damaged at this stage of life. End of monologue! (smile)
That’s why I’m going to do as Pastor Bobby (Bobby Schuller – Hour of Power) says: ‘Do not be pushed by your problems, but be led by your dreams.’ Words of wisdom, even from one so young.
For as Jesus rebuked the Israelite leaders when the children praised Him in the temple, using some of Bruh David’s words from Ps.8:2. ‘Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings (nursing infants) thou hast perfected praise?’ (Matt.21:16) Yeh friends, age doesn’t matter all that much if the Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
And our Bit explains why: ‘For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.’
Ah precious people of God, what indisputable words of reassurance from our great God! He has not only set the sun in its physical place, but He also wants to be our spiritual SUN; the bright light that glows in the darkness of our troubled souls.
Hear how Isaiah puts it when he talks about the future glory of Zion. ‘The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.’ (Is.60:9)
Just imagine it nuh friends, at some stage of life, we won’t need the sun nor that moon to provide light for us, because we’ll be dwelling in the holy presence of our awesome God, who Himself will be our light, provide all the light we need.
‘And all God’s people declared a mighty shout: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and goodwill to men!’ Oh my fellow saints in Christ, what a glorious day that will be, when we reside in the halls of heaven in the presence of our heavenly Father, who will be just exuding godly light!
Listen to how John describes it in his Revelations. ‘And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten (illuminate) it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.’ (Rev. 21:22-23)
Wow! I can’t get my head around not needing a sun or moon to see around me. But the Lord has promised it, therefore it will be so.
And the scholars offer these explanations on those verses. ’21:22-23. There is no temple in the city, since both the Father and the Son will be present in their fullest manifestations. Its light will be provided by the Shekinah glory of God and of Christ (cf. Ex.3:3-4; 24:15-17; 33:14-16; Luke 2:9; 9:29; Heb.1:3).’
The Shekinah glory of God is basically where He reveals the full majesty of His light and power. Like when He went before the Israelites in the wilderness in a cloud and a pillar of fire, when He passed before Moses, but only allowed him to see His backside, otherwise Moses would have been annihilated, even the radiant look on Moses face when He came down from the Mount after receiving the Ten Commandments and had to veil his face.
So just imagine the treat we’re in for my fellow believers, when we see God face to face, shining in all His might and glory! Now we haven’t come to that point as yet, but in the meanwhile our most magnanimous God has given us enough blessings here on earth to make our mark in His name. So let’s declare them nuh, since the power of our God lies in His spoken word.
Altogether now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
And having declared that with sincerity of heart and strength of purpose, let’s now go out and share those blessings with others, as Jesus requires of us. Much LOVE!
…a blessing isn’t really a true blessing…until it’s been shared…
02 Nov 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a child of God, a compassionate heart, a heart full of Jesus, a physical death, able, above all that we ask, according to the power, attitudes, awesome God, awesome power, backbone, be glory in the church, blessed day of life, blessings, christ jesus, Christians, Comforter, compulsion, Controller, Creator, crux of the matter, curse, do god's work, doxology, earthly work, eternal life, ever-faithful, ever-Loving, everlasting God, exceeding abundantly, excellent work, faith, generous nature, get paid, God's assignments, God's great earth, guides, gumption, happenstance, holy partnership, holy spirit, in Christ's name, Jesus Christ, keep promises, kept secret, leads, made known, made manifest, Maker, motives, negative word, not to question why, our Lord and Saviour, plans, pledge, ponder, prosper, provider, ready, relationship with god, revelation of the mystery, rewards, salvation, self-control, self-discipline, serve, share our blessings, sincerity, state of our hearts, succeed, the best of our ability, the church at Rome, the fire, the flood, the prophets, the Scriptures, think, throughout all ages, Thursday Blessings, truth, unto him that is able, willing, with pleasure, works in us, world without end, worship
Ephesians 3:20-21. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Another day friends, another day! Wow! We’ve been granted another blessed day of life on God’s great earth! Isn’t that just wonderful? It surely is! That means God has great plans in store for us; plans to do His earthly work through the help of His Holy Spirit! Otherwise, why keep us alive eh? (smile)
But are we ready, willing and able to do our part in that holy partnership? That’s the million dollar question. We might be ready, and even able, but the crux of the matter is, are we willing? Yeh mih people, do we really WANT to do God’s work?
That is what God is interested in; the state of our hearts, our motives, our true attitudes. That’s because, like we all know, when you want to do something, you usually do it better than if you are merely doing it through compulsion or happenstance.
We see that everyday in the way people do their jobs; some do it with pleasure, some because they just want to get paid, and some don’t do it at all. So what’s out attitude towards God’s will and work eh? Let’s take a brief moment to ponder that question nuh…. Selah.
Oh I know that some of us will complain that God’s work is not easy or attractive, or whatever excuse you have. But friends, let’s remember that ours is not to question why, but simply, as a child of God, a follower of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to accept God’s assignments and hopefully not to die, while carrying them out to the best of our ability.
And even if perchance we do die a physical death while doing His will, remember the great rewards He has promised, both here on earth and in heaven, for those who serve Him faithfully. There is nothing more rewarding than salvation and eternal life with the Holy Trinity!
And our God is faithful; one of His many names is EVER-FAITHFUL! So there is no need to worry if He will keep His promises like never to leave or forsake us, or to help us bear our burdens, or to walk with us through the flood and the fire. And even more importantly, unlike other supposed gods, He IS ABLE, has the power and might to keep those promises!
Just listen to Bruh Paul expatiate on His awesome power in our Bit. ‘Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.’
Yeh friends, the Lord God Almighty is our Maker, our Creator, our Controller and Provider! Consequently He can direct our lives in any which way that suits His plans, but in His ever-LOVING and generous nature, He desires us to WANT to work with Him, and not just be like a fearful and/or obedient slave.
It’s no different than how we desire others to work for us. And in these tremulous and troublesome times, it becomes even more important that we Christians acquire more gumption, more desire, more backbone, more faith and strength to fight the battles that our world requires us to fight.
And we can only acquire those things by working faithfully and sincerely with the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, that leads and guides us, that shows us the true path to glory in Jesus Christ.
So let’s sincerely pledge today to improve our relationship with our great God nuh, through listening to and following the dictates of our Comforter and Guide, His Holy Spirit. That’s the only way life will ever improve here on earth.
Now listen to Bruh Paul as he concludes with this doxology (praise to God), to the church at Rome, very reminiscent of our Bit. ‘Now to him that is of power (able) to stablish (establish) you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began,
But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.’ (Rom.16:25-27)
Oh friends, what powerful scripture. Please lets take it all to heart, and let it enable us to do excellent work in Christ’s name. And as we do every Thursday, let’s go home declaring our wonderful blessings from our most wonderful God.
All together now, in sincerity and truth: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance!
I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Mama Mia! What an awesome God we serve and worship! The next step is to now go out and generously share those blessings with the less fortunate, as Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…the best way to serve Jesus…is to have a heart truly full of Jesus…
26 Oct 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a coward about pain, a painful process, abundance, alive and kicking, amenities, anger, anguish, atone, baffling, barely alive, blessings, broken relationship, chasten, Christ's body, Christians, comfort, consequences of sin, courage, creativity, cruel cutting words, crushing, curse, deep cutting pain, desire, divine protection, emotional trauma, energy, entire body screams, evil deeds, faith, favour, fear of the world, financial ruin, frightens me, Garden of Eden, get excited, get moving, get up, going through the motions, growth, hast afflicted me, he corrects, heartache, I AM, I know, I may live, in faithfulness, it is true, Jesus, laws, laziness, loneliness, LOVE, luxuriating, matures, merciful kindness, misunderstood, negative word, no pain no gain, O Lord, on Christ's behalf, One Year Book of Bible promises, overwhelming, physical pain, pray for it, problems, procrastination, prosper, rejection, resist it, righteous, Ruth Harms Calkin, self-control, self-discipline, serious butt, shed light, soft, spiritual growth, spite, stir up the populace, succeed, suffering, talent, tender mercies, tests, the chastening of the Lord, the fall of our forefathers, the good life, the Lord loves, the Pain of Growth, the unbeliever, the very thought of pain, Thursday Blessings, thy judgements are right, thy law is my delight, trials, tribulation, truth, unnerves me, walk of faith, weary of his correction, weather the storm, wimpy, wisdom, work out for our good
Psalm 119:75. I know, O Lord, that thy judgements (laws) are right (righteous), and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
Alive and kicking, alive and kicking serious butt my friends! That’s the way we should be as Christians. But unfortunately, most Christians seem to be barely alive, just going through the motions. For whatever reason, we don’t have the necessary energy or desire to kick butt for Jesus!
That’s wrong though my fellow believers. How then will Christ be known all over the world if we don’t get up and get moving eh? Remember, we are His body here on earth; His hands, His feet, His mouth. He depends on us to stir up the populace on His behalf.
And I don’t know if it’s simply fear of the world, or just laziness and procrastination that’s holding us back, but it’s obvious that we’re not doing such a great job on Jesus’ behalf, while the unbeliever is luxuriating in his wicked and evil deeds.
Anyway, here is something called ‘The Pain of Growth,’ from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin that I think will shed some light on our problems. (smile)
It says: ‘O God Growth is a painful process. I frankly confess I am a coward about pain. I don’t like it, Lord. I never pray for it Or get excited over it. In fact, I often resist it: The pain of emotional trauma So overwhelming So baffling and crushing.
The deep-cutting pain Of a broken relationship. Physical pain that goes on and on Until my entire body screams. The pain of cruel cutting words. The pain of loneliness, rejection Or financial ruin. The pain of being misunderstood. Lord, the very thought of pain Frightens and unnerves me.
Yet it is true – Again and again it is true: My greatest spiritual growth Has come through pain. Through heartache And anguish. And very often in my suffering When I sadly thought You were doing absolutely nothing At that very moment You were doing more within me Than I ever dreamed or hoped.’
What words of truth and wisdom my people! None of us like pain or suffering, but it is inevitable in the fallen nature of our lives. And that is simply how we grow in any and everything. As the ole mantra goes, ‘no pain, no gain.’
And that’s especially true in our Christian walk of faith, for God matures us through tests and trials which often involve some serious pain. Yuh see the pain and suffering Jesus had to bear to atone for and absolve our sins?
Likewise we need to go through some tribulation, else we’ll never grow in our Christian walk. Unfortunately though, in these modern times, Christians are a soft, wimpy bunch of people who just want to enjoy the good life without any problems whatsoever.
In fact our whole society has become soft and wimpy through all the ‘make life easy’ amenities that we now possess. But since the fall of our forefathers in the Garden of Eden, life has never been easy; the consequences of sin have made it tough and as Christians we are expected to weather whatever storm comes against us.
However, the wonderful news is that we have our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to help us weather it! Glory Hallelujah! Unbelievers don’t have that luxury, so they have to weather it all on their own.
So please let’s stop complaining as much as we do, and instead plead the wise and truthful words of our Bit: ‘I know, O Lord, that thy judgements (laws) are right (righteous), and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.’
Yes friends, whatever our ever-faithful and righteous God allows to come against us has a perfect reason behind it. He is the great I AM, who knows the beginning from the end and has everything in His universe under control.
And we should rightly be saying like the psalmist does after our Bit: ‘Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.’ (Ps.119:76-77)
Oh my people, our God has promised that though He chastens us, He will not do it out of spite or anger, but out of LOVE. Now listen to these words of Cousin Sol which seal the deal.
‘My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of (detest) his correction. For whom the Lord LOVETH he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.’ (Prov.3:11-12)
There it is in black and white friends! So please not get too antsy about the pain and suffering that comes against us, because it will all work out for our good eventually. Our faithful God has promised that. With all of that in mind then, let’s go home declaring our wonderful blessings, knowing that they will wash away whatever pain we have now, or are yet to face.
In strong and sincere voice now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Oh what a wonderful God we serve and worship my believing brethren! Much Much LOVE!
…whatever comes from God…comes in LOVE…
19 Oct 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, abrogated, action, active, against the evildoers, beacons, cannot be hid, Christ's body, Christ-like, Christian faith, Christians, comfortable, compromising, courage, creativity, curse, desire, distinction, divided, do for christ, do God's will, dreams, dwelt in silence, eliminated, Enjoying Everyday Life Magazine, evil cohorts, evil stuff, flavour, fractured, glorify God, glory to God, good for nothing, good works, have life, held me up, hypocrites, imagination, in our hearts and souls, in the name of Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joyce Meyer, let your light so shine, light houses, light of the world, living the good life, lost his savour, Lucifer, make disciples, mercy, more abundantly, moving God out, negative word, our Lord and Saviour, passive, prosper, prosperity of the wicked, protection, raise a hue and cry, reality, repelling, rights, rise up, self-control, self-discipline, set on a hill, share blessings, shining brilliantly, sit passively by, stand up, succeed, success, taking away our rights, talk a lot, the church, the Holy Spirit, the Lord my help, the penultimate day, the salt of the earth, the workers of iniquity, the workweek, Thursday Blessings, trampled upon, trodden underfoot, under a bushel, up in arms, uphold what jesus stands for, vision, wisdom
Psalm 94:16. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
And then it was Thursday, the penultimate day of our workweek! And some people shout ‘Glory to God!’ thankful that the week is almost over. Hn, hn! It’s amusing that we don’t give God glory when the week begins, but are quick to do so when it ends.
Anyway, though the day has dawned somewhat cloudy, chilly and windy, it’s always nice to know that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is still out there shining as brilliantly as ever, both in our hearts and souls, so that we can be safely guided to do His will and accomplish whatever plans He has for our lives.
Now that is something for which we should all be shouting ‘Glory to God!’ The wise believers will undoubtedly do so. But let me share a li’l something from Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) that I found in one of her articles in a recent Enjoying Everyday Life Magazine.
She succinctly states: ‘The distinction between dreams and reality is called action.’ And that’s ever so true friends! Dreams will never turn into reality until we DO something with them. Otherwise, they will simply remain dreams; a glorious vision in our imagination.
Unfortunately that seems to be something that’s happening a lot in our Christian faith today. We all have dreams, some placed in our hearts by God, and we talk a lot about what we’re going to do for Christ, but nothing much ever happens, because we don’t get behind the talk and action our dreams and desires.
It’s one reason why the enemy is slowly pushing us back, and moving God out of our society. We’re not being active enough in repelling the evil stuff that’s coming against us. Everybody’s talking about their rights but Christians. And it seems that our rights are the ones that are constantly being trampled upon, and even abrogated or eliminated.
But we’re not up in arms about it. We talk some, but sit passively by, while others raise a hue and cry and eventually get what they desire. Then we claim they are taking away our rights. Steups!
That brings us to our Bit, an interesting verse from Psalm 94 – How long shall the wicked triumph? ‘Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?’
The psalmist was there bewailing the rise and prosperity of the wicked, but he did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, as we now do, so he had to look to the Lord totally for help.
Thus he continues: ‘Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost (would soon have) dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.’ (Ps.94:17-18)
And of course friends, when the going gets too rough for us, the Lord’s mercy will hold us up. But until then we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us so that we can do God’s will, make disciples of others, which also means fighting against the workers of iniquity. Otherwise why have the Holy Spirit indwelling us eh?
The church is Christ’s body, His organization here on earth, and we’re supposed to uphold all that He stands for! Are we doing that? Definitely not as much as we should!
In the first place we’re too fractured, too divided. Then overall we’re too passive, too compromising, too comfortable living the good life of the world. And remember the Lord did die that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, (John 10:10) but not the way Lucifer and his evil cohorts envision it.
So what am I saying? Listen to Jesus’ words, for He says it much better than I can. ‘Ye are the salt of the earth” but if the salt have lost his savour (flavour), wherewith (by what) shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle (lamp), and put it under a bushel (basket), but on a candlestick (lampstand); and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.5:13-16)
There you have it my fellow believers, the words, the instructions, the desire of our Lord and Saviour, our Leader Jesus Christ. He wants us to be the salt of the earth, add His Christian, Christ-like flavour to the earth. And also shine like bright beacons; like the lighthouses that were once set on hills to guide the passing ships.
People won’t come to Him unless they see good and favourable examples in us. And sadly, I must say that right now we’re not being either salt or light because too many unbelievers are looking at us and instead of declaring us Christians, they are crying out ‘Hypocrites!’ And I doubt that that sits very well with Christ.
So let’s try and do better nuh mih people. Remember we have the Lord’s help, and with that we can do ANYTHING, if we so desire. But we must first have the desire. Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings… And friends, with such wonderful blessings being bestowed on us, how can we not have a great desire to serve and worship the Lord eh?
‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
And the corollary to that is to go out and share our blessings with others. Much LOVE!
…we have ALL we need…to be the salt of the earth…and the light of the world…except possibly the desire…
05 Oct 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a flower, a good thing, a psalm of praise, affliction, all flesh is grass, big for our britches, blessings, blind, calamity, Caleb, corruption, curse, disasters, disgusted, downward journey, earth, enter into my rest, err in their heart, evil, food, foolish, forty years, full of ourselves, go astray, God's word shall stand for ever, grieved, Hades, harden not your heart, hardhearted, have not known my ways, hear his voice, heaven, hockey season, hurricane season, Isaiah, Israel, Israelites, jehovah god, Jesus, Jews, John the Baptist, Joshua, like the post, miraculous means, Moses, my words, Nate, negative word, one of those days, prosper, proved me, rebelled, saw my work, see the light, self-control, self-discipline, sensible alternative, shall not pass away, shall pass away, share blessings, speak the word, stubborn, succeed, tempted, testing, the day of temptation, the flower fades, the glory of the Lord, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the grass withers, the Lord hath spoken it, the Promised Land, the Word, the Word of god, this generation, Thursday Blessings, time of calamity, trial, turning back, ungodliness, wandered in the wilderness, water, wrath
Matthew 24:35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Ah friends, as the man says, ‘It’s just one of those days!’ (smile) The ole fella pulled a late one this morning. Hockey season has started, meaning more of those are likely now. So though we might be late, like the post, we’ll always be there!
And if you think that because summer was over, the hurricane season was also over, then think again. Apparently a tropical storm named Nate is fomenting in the Caribbean and Central America area and can possible become a hurricane in the next few days afflicting someplace that needs no more affliction.
Oh my brethren, how much affliction do we need before we can see the light eh? Before we realize that turning back to Jehovah God is the only wise and sensible alternative we have in light of all the disasters, evil, corruption and ungodliness in our world?
But mankind has always been a stubborn and hardhearted people. And we have the best example of that in the Jews whom the Lord brought out of Israel through miraculous means, who nonetheless rebelled against Him on several occasions. Hear what the psalmist says about it in Psalm 95 – A psalm of praise to the great God.
‘Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation (rebellion), and as in the day of temptation (trial, testing) in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted (tried) me, proved me, and saw my work.
Forty years long was I grieved (disgusted) with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart (go astray), and they have not known my ways. Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.’ (Ps.95:7-11)
Yeh friends, the Lord is possibly saying the same thing about us. And it’s about forty years now since we seriously began our downward journey to Hades.
We had such a good thing going when He was our Leader, but we’ve gotten so big for our britches, so full of our ourselves now, that we have no more time or use for Him and are blatantly trying to oust Him from our lives.
But please note those stubborn and hardhearted Israelites, who wandered round in the wilderness for forty years, whining and complaining. None of those who came out of Egypt, besides Joshua and Caleb, ever made it into the Promised Land, not even the great Moses.
And they were even too foolish to realize that in the wilderness they had food and water, plus their clothing and footwear never wore our. How did they think those things happened eh? Only through the mighty hand of the God of their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
Oh my people, please let’s not be stubborn, blind, foolish and hardhearted like those Israelites. In the time of calamity, there is ONLY ONE place for us to turn; to the God who created us and the universe in which we dwell.
Please remember His awesome promise that’s conveyed in our Bit. ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.’
Yes my fellow believers, Jesus is the WORD, the world was begotten through words, which means that the Word of the Lord has awesome power. How then can we escape it eh? Hear what the prophet Isaiah said about it, a long, long time ago, as he prophesied about the coming of John the Baptist.
‘And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry (cry out). And he said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness (loveliness) thereof is as a flower of the field:
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit (breath) of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.’ (Is.40:5-8)
Oh friends, we certainly can’t dispute that we are like the grass and flower that fades and dies with only a short period of blooming. And just look at how long the Word of God has been around; through thousands of generations of mankind. So how can we doubt the Word eh? Not if we’re wise.
Anyway, I’ll leave that for us to ponder today, now let’s go home declaring the wonderful blessings that our magnanimous and magnificent God has so generously bestowed on us this day.
In loud voice and sincerity of heart: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
And since blessings are meant to be shared, let’s go out and share them with all we meet nuh, as Jesus so desperately desires of us. Much LOVE!
…words were meant to be spoken…and there’s none as powerful as the Lord’s…so be wise…and speak them…
30 Sep 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, abhor, acknowledge God, advice, Anselm, as bad as, buckle down, calm.feeling fine, Canadian weather, chasten, consistently, correction, cover all bases, depart from evil, diligently, earthly living, fail, failure is never final, fear the Lord, giving up, God's plan for you, gold, Good Book, grace, have a vision, he shall direct thy paths, health to thy navel, heavenly Father, house work, in all thy ways, intimate fellowship, Jesus Christ, laze around, lean not, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, manual, marrow to thy bones, nothing of any consequence, one-liners, peaceful, possessions, precious jewels, profit, purpose for living, put God's plan into action, run errands, Saturday, scripture 101, silver, stop trying, strength, succeed, success, that's life, thine own understanding, trust in the Lord, truth, understanding, vagaries of our climate, vats, what is your why, windstorm, wine, wisdom, with all thine heart, woke up freezing, work on your gift, you want to breathe
Proverbs 3:5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.
Welcome to a fairly bright Saturday friends! It’s a day some of us like because we can just laze around and do nothing of any consequence, while others abhor it, because they have to do house work and run errands outside.
And who knows what’s going to happen today eh? Just to give you an example of the vagaries of our current climate. Yesterday morning after the little rain fell, at least in my area, because others complained of a good downpour, it was bright and sunny, then by mid afternoon a wicked windstorm blew up and continued for most of the night.
Right now though, it’s so peaceful and calm, you’d never believe the crazy way the trees were dancing yesterday. And if that wasn’t enough, last night I went to bed at an early hour, around 11 – that’s real early by my standards – feeling fine, but a couple of hours later I woke up freezing.
I wasn’t sure whether I was just hungry, or the house was indeed cold, but to cover all bases, I came downstairs, had something to eat and turned on the heat. And now I’m thinking that it must have been both, because at minutes to eight in the morning the temperature is only 6 degrees Celsius in my area.
But that’s our Canadian weather! A few days ago I was blasting chilly wind through the house, today it’s the hot stuff! (smile) Anyway as the song says, ‘That’s life!’ And since it’s Saturday, let’s look at what words of wisdom our friend Anselm graced us with this past week, as he endeavoured to inspire us for a better tomorrow.
And it was even a shorter set of one-liners than last week. So let’s see if I can arrange them in some sort of sequence that makes sense. First off is ‘What is your “Why?” I guess that means what is your purpose for living? What is the plan God has for your life? And He does have a plan for each and every life He creates. But do you know yours?
And then with that gift in mind, you should ‘Have a vision.’ Have a vision of how you are going to put God’s plan into action. And one of the most important aspects of it all is to ‘Work on your gift.’ Yeh friends, we can only get better at anything if we work consistently and diligently at it.
So whatever gift God has given us we have to just buckle down and work on it. With that comes the option to ‘Succeed as bad as you want to breathe.’ That means we must have this awesome desire to do God’s work. Consequently, we’ll ‘Fail our way to success.’
Just keep on doing and doing and doing…until we succeed. For failure is never final, until we stop trying. And we all know that the words ‘giving up’ don’t exist in the vocabulary of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
But the most important part of all that stuff above is to include our heavenly Father in EACH and EVERY aspect of our lives, for He IS interested in ALL THAT WE DO! And furthermore, we won’t be able to do all that we have or want to do without His help. So it only makes sense to involve Him in our everyday lives.
This brings us to our Bit, and some of the best advice in the Good Book, that invaluable manual for earthly living. Listen to Cousin Sol as he declares: ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.’
Oh my brethren, truer words were never spoken! And Cousin Sol just goes on to lay it down with grace and truth. ‘Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones.
Honour the Lord with thy substance (possessions), and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses (vats) shall burst out with new wine.
My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary (detest) his correction: for whom the Lord LOVETH he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise (gain) of it is better than the merchandise (profit) of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.’ (Prov.37:14)
Oh friends, that’s the condensed version of right living right there in those few verses! If we have to read anything at all in the Good Book, those verses should be a priority, because they teach us everything we need to know to live a godly life.
Trust in God and not in our finite, fallible and small minds. Have intimate fellowship with Him. Honour Him in all we do and share what He allows us to have with Him and with others. And don’t get upset when He corrects or punishes us, because He’s only doing so because of His great and awesome LOVE for us.
And therein lies wisdom and understanding, which are more precious and valuable than silver, gold and other precious jewels! And that my brethren, is the lesson for today.
Please, please, let’s learn it and write it deep in our hearts, minds and souls, so that we can observe it each and every day. Much LOVE!
…Scripture 101…look to the Lord for EVERYTHING…in EVERY circumstance…
28 Sep 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a liar, a parable, and not faint, blessings, bring us close together, calamitous circumstances, commandments, compassionate heart, courage, creativity, curse, devastation, disaster, enter not into temptation, fall has finally fallen, feuding, foolish people, forgiving, Garden of Gethsemane, God is our only true help, greed, heavenly advocate, help, hurricane Maria, keepeth not his commandments, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, loving-kindness, lust for power, men ought always to pray, merciful, negative word, North Carolina, our Lord and Saviour, power of prayer, pray, preoccupations, prosper, purge the evil, rebuild, recover, Redeemer, religious intolerance, righteous lives, rumours of wars, sacrificed His sinless life, safe not sorry, self-control, self-discipline, sensible headway, share blessings, Sovereign ruler, strife, succeed, talent, temptation, the flesh is weak, the spirit is willing, Thursday Blessings, to this end, topsy turvy world, trust in jesus, truth, ungodliness, warmongering, wars, watch and pray, wild fires, wisdom, wise advice of Jesus
Luke 18:1. And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
So friends, like fall has finally fallen! (smile) Yes, it’s still dark out at 7 a.m, it’s somewhat chilly, only 13 degrees, and yesterday I finally saw a set of fallen dry leaves merrily dancing in my driveway! That alone indicates to me that the weather has changed, or is changing.
Anyway, North Carolina is still feeling the wind and water effects of hurricane Maria with plenty shoreline flooding, as she makes her way northward and out to sea. Ah Lord eh friends, it certainly has been a devastating couple of months in so many places from so many forces!
And so much disaster has befallen us in the south and east, that we have forgotten that out in the west, where the devastation first began, they are still daily battling wild fires. Please, let’s continue to pray for them and help in any way we can, as we try to recover and rebuild on this side of the continent.
And my biggest prayer is that this set of calamitous circumstances will truly bring us close together, as we help each other. Also, that it will eventually lead to us realizing that God is our ONLY true help in this uncertain world, which will further lead us to wisely embracing His LOVING-kindness once more, as the Sovereign Ruler over our society.
In other words, we will purge the evil from our midst and go back to trying to live righteous lives, under His merciful and forgiving umbrella. That’s the ONLY thing that makes sense in this topsy-turvy world my brethren!
Right now we need the biggest LOVE Revolution our planet has ever seen if we’re to make any serious and sensible headway in our society. Just look at the number of wars, rumours of wars and bitter strife that’s taking place in our world, despite the overwhelming disasters in almost every part of the planet.
One would think getting together to alleviate those disasters would be the prime target of all nations. Hn! But no, feuding, warmongering, greed, religious intolerance and lust for power still seem to be our major preoccupations!
What a foolish people we are! And yet we boast about mankind being God’s greatest and wisest creation! Steups! What a joke!
Anyway, let’s turn to our Bit, which tells us the basic thing we need to do in this life, if we’re to succeed and prosper. ‘And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.’
Yeh my fellow believers, that’s the wise advice of our Lord and Saviour, our Redeemer and heavenly Advocate, the ONE who sacrificed His sinless life for us. So if we say that we believe in Him, then we ought to do what He says.
And John tells us right up front: ‘He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:4)
Unfortunately my people, that means we have a whole lot of liars in our society since so many of us don’t keep Christ’s commandments, although we claim to be believers! But that’s another story for another day! (smile)
Today we’re concerned with prayer and praying. And in Jesus’ most strenuous and difficult moments, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before His crucifixion, what was he doing? Praying to His heavenly Father. So Jesus knew the power of prayer and consistently practiced it.
On that momentous night, He also uttered another serious warning on the subject. His inner circle of disciples were supposed to be watching and praying with Him: ‘And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ (Matt.26:40-41)
That’s oh so true friends, but not too many, or not enough of us consider those words today, and that’s a major reason why our society is so awash in evil and ungodliness. So please, let’s consider them more than we do right now nuh. It’s all for our benefit, not God’s!
And if we sincerely believe and trust in Jesus, then let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings. Remember there is power in the word, and speaking it only enhances that power.
So in unison, emphatically and enthusiastically: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Glory be mih people! Now let’s go out and share those blessings as Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…to be safe and not sorry…watch and pray…
21 Sep 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a message, a sound mind, armour, be not afraid, calamity, Christian, comfort me, complain, Controller, covenant relationship, creativity, Creator, curse, death, devastating consequences, disappointments, disasters, discouraged, disobedience, earthquakes, faith, fear, fear not, for what we still have, generously sharing, give thanks, glorify God, God will work everything out for good, going forward, haunt us, hope, hurricanes, I will fear no evil, little flock, LOVE, magnify, man-made idols, negative word, no other gods before me, not mourn over what we've lost, obedient to God's Word, overcome, pagan gods, power, prosper, remove God, repent, securely planted, stand strong, strayed away, succeed, surrendering to God, talent, terror, the Good Book, the spirit of fear, the valley of the sahdow of death, the wages of sin, the wicked, the word of jesus, Thusrday Blessings, thy confidence, thy rod and thy staff, to give you the kingdom, trust, turn back to God, whimper, Yahweh, your Father's good pleasure
Luke 12:32. Fear not little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Ah friends, though the disasters and their devastating effects continue to haunt us, we must ALWAYS remember to give thanks for what we still have, most importantly life, and not mourn too much over what we have lost.
It’s not easy going forward after the calamitous results of hurricanes and earthquakes, I can testify to that personally after experiencing hurricane Flora in 1963 in Tobago. But we have to move forward; that’s the only way that’s open to us.
And we can ONLY truly move forward my people by truly surrendering to Almighty God, our Creator and Controller, by putting our sincere faith and trust in Him, and being obedient to His word. Who knows if that is the message He’s trying to relay to us through all these disasters eh?
The wise thing to do would be to repent and turn back to Him, since we have strayed away from His fold and embraced pagan gods and man-made idols. And remember, from the very beginning, He commanded us in no uncertain manner: ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ (Ex.20:3)
So although there have been numerous arguments as to what the words ‘before me,’ actually mean, the long and short of the story is simply as the scholars put it: ‘Thus the first commandment teaches that no deity, real or imagined, is to rival the one true God, who is the only One who matters. It demands an exclusive covenant relationship with Yahweh (cf.Ps.81:9-10).
And we all know that we have not kept that covenant relationship, and the Good Book further tells us that ‘the wages of sin is death.’ (Rom.6:23) So that means all kinds of consequences are possible, up to and including both physical and spiritual death, for our blatant disobedience and intense desire to remove Him from all aspects of our society.
Now the good thing about being in true covenant with Almighty God is that in times of trouble and disaster we need not be afraid. Oh we must be concerned, but bone-chilling fear is not necessary since the Lord has made several faithful promises to believers, including that He will eventually work everything out for our good.
So, tough times and calamity are to be expected, but with the word of Jesus securely planted in our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, we can stand strong and overcome whatever comes against us.
Listen to Jesus’ words in our Bit, as He talks to His audience about care and anxiety. He tells them to first seek God’s kingdom and not the things of the world, because when they do, God will give them all that they need. Then He reassures them: ‘Fear not little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’
Now would Jesus lie to us? Certainly not! But we have to first believe in Him, and obey His commandments, and that is exactly what we are not doing in this ungodly society. Fear is no part of the Christian’s armour or ammunition. Our weapon is FAITH!
Listen to Bruh Paul to his protégé Timothy. ‘For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Tim.1:7) So once Jesus lives in us, we should not be overwhelmed by fear.
And all of us know and often claim this famous verse of Bruh David’s words from Psalm 23: ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.’ (Ps.23:4)
So why are we so quick to whimper and complain and fall apart when troubles befall us eh? Is it that we don’t truly believe? Who knows?
But here are a few more comforting words, this time from Cousin Sol. ‘Be not afraid of sudden fear (terror), neither of the desolation of (trouble from) the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken (caught).’ (Prov.3:25-26)
The problem is friends, that we have to learn to deal with disappointments without being discouraged, without thinking we’re failures, but to have faith and hope and get up and start all over again.
And why shouldn’t we be able to do that when our magnanimous God has been so beneficent towards us in our Thursday Blessings. Let’s declare them now, so that our spirits can be uplifted and we can magnify and glorify our great and wonderful God.
As one now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Now let’s continue by generously sharing these blessings with others, as Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…oh…how blessed are believers in Christ…especially when they generously share their blessings…
07 Sep 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a thief, accusations, adulterers, asaph, at the forefront, call upon me, calling us to account, calminty, Caribbean islands, cast my words behind thee, Christians, compassionate heart, conduct, courage, covenant, curse, deceit, depravity, devastation, disobedience, disobedient, divine promotion, evil, faith, foolish mortals, fools, forget God, glorifies God, God is the judge, gratitude, Gulf of Mexico, Harvey, hates instruction, help, hope, hurricanes, hypocrites, I kept silence, I will deliver thee, in the day of trouble, Irma, Jose, Katia, looming in the shadows, negative word, offers praise, pay thy vows, plenty rope to hang ourselves, prayer, prayer warriors, prosper, rebuke, repentance, reprove, self-control, self-discipline, self-disicpline, sinful, sinful society, sinful souls, slander, succeed, tear you in pieces, thanksgiving, the Most High, the salvation of God, the wicked, the word for today, thou shalt glorify me, Thursday Blessings, thy mother's son, time longer than twine, warning from God, wrongdoing
Psalm 50:15. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Oh my people, my people, the word for today is PRAYER: serious, sincere, heartfelt constant prayer! It’s what our world desperately needs, and we Christians need to be in the forefront of it all because we are supposed to be prayer warriors.
And why you ask, do we need so much prayer? Well it’s something we ALWAYS need, but right now with three hurricanes looming in the shadows of North America, after the recent devastation caused by Harvey on the west coast, more devastation would be just too much to bear.
Yeh friends, hurricanes Katia and Jose are already in existence; Katia somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, and Jose threatening to follow the already destructive path of the raging Irma, as she lashed islands in the Caribbean, like Guadeloupe, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Maarten and Puerto Rico, heading for the mainland.
As far as I know friends, we haven’t had three hurricanes lined up at once since 2010, so what does that mean eh? I believe the safest bet we can make is that it’s a serious warning from Almighty God. He’s tired of the dreadfully sinful society that we’ve become, and like He’s done any number of times before with other societies, is calling us to account.
And if that’s so my brethren, then the only thing that will stop the calamity is sincere repentance and prayer. As the psalmist Asaph so truthfully writes in our Bit which comes from Psalm 50 – God is the judge: ‘And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’
Ah my people, even in the depths of our depravity, the Lord has provided a way out for us: ‘Call on me when you are in trouble, He says, and I will deliver you…’ And that’s all some of us see. But what about the rest of the verse eh… ‘and thou shalt glorify me?’
Conveniently we don’t see that. Like the sinful souls we are, we just note the words of help, not the gratitude and thanksgiving that’s supposed to follow.
But friends, in this world we don’t get something for nothing, and if we’ve been disobedient and sinful, we can repent, but it will come with a price, the least being exaltation and glorification of God’s holy name.
Now let’s hear how Asaph continues the psalm after our Bit. I think it’s good to jog our memories, wake us up to our serious disobedience and wrongdoing. ‘But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee.
When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedest with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thy slanderest thine own mother’s son.’ (Ps.50:16-20)
Oh friends, Asaph is talking about the kind of society we have today. He could be alive to day and writing about us. And we’d be even bigger hypocrites and fools than we already are, if we deny the accusations. But here comes the interesting part, as Asaph continues to speak on God’s behalf.
‘These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself: but I will reprove (rebuke) thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.’ (Ps.50:21-22)
Oh my people, God’s warning couldn’t be any clearer. We sit down and think because nothing drastic is happening to punish our disobedience that God’s not noticing. But you can see we are wrong. God gives us plenty rope to hang ourselves, and as the old people would say: ‘time longer than twine.’
And if is one thing God has is plenty time…but unfortunately we foolish mortals don’t have that luxury. So let’s listen to this last verse of Psalm 50 and smarten up nuh.
‘Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation (conduct) aright will I show the salvation of God.’ (Ps.50:23) Yeh mih breddren, God said it thousands of years ago, and nothing has changed since then…except us, turning away from Him.
But there is yet hope for us. Like Asaph so rightfully says before our Bit. ‘Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High.’ (Ps.50:14) That’s wisdom at its zenith!
Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings, which God in His mercy and grace has bestowed on us. ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance!
I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
And having declared all of that, let’s go out now and share our bounty with the less fortunate nuh, for that’s what Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…prayer is our method of communication with God…but He can’t answer us…until we pray to Him…
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