09 May 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a very present help, agonizing repentance, allow trouble to lift you, backbone, be of good cheer, behold the beauty, belly, cast down, compassionate heart, courage, curse, desired of the Lord, distressed, dr robert h schuller, dwell in the house of the Lord, endure pain, endure suffering, face danger, faith, false friends forsake us, favour, glory to God, God is our refuge and strength, grow in Christ, hide me in his pavilion, i have overcome the world, illness strikes, in me ye might have peace, in trouble, inquire in his temple, learn courage, learn patience, learn tenderness, matured as christians, negative word, no progress without pain, no salvation, not destroyed, not forsaken, not in despair, one thing, perplexed, persecuted, prize freedom, prize true friends, seek after, Selah, self-control, self-siscipline, set me upon a rock, sons of Korah, stretch forth thine hand, success, the victory is ours, Thursday Blessings, treasure health, trouble, unwavering confidence, vanquished the devil, walk in the midst of trouble, will not we fear, your greatest opportunity
Psalm 46:1. God is our refuge and strength, a very present (an abundantly available) help in trouble.
Allow Trouble to Lift You: ‘Truly we learn courage when we face danger; we learn patience when we endure suffering; we learn tenderness when we face pain; we learn to prize true friends when false ones forsake us; we treasure health when illness strikes and we learn to prize freedom when we are in danger of losing it!
Without trouble we would be like plants that have sprouted, grown, and been nurtured in the overprotected shelter of a hothouse, too tender ever to live in the open.’ Oh what words of gospel truth those are!
And furthermore: ‘We have matured as Christians when we learn that there is no progress without pain; there is no conversation without crises; there is no birth without painful travail; there is no salvation without agonizing repentance and no Easter without a Good Friday! There is no service without suffering…’
Yes friends, I couldn’t put it any better than that! Unfortunately those are not my words, but Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) from His Hour of Power Devotional. And yes, until we supposed Christians realize that a Christian life is not a sweet and fairytale life devoid of pain and hardship, but one fraught with periods of suffering, just like Christ’s, we’ll never mature, never grow in Christ as we ought to.
Because as Gramps Schuller so rightly points out, if our lives are just easy and smooth, we won’t be able to face the rough and tumble trials that are truly life in this evil and ungodly world! In good, smooth, comfortable times we don’t grow, we just float along without a care in the world. But when adversity hits, that’s when we separate the goats from the sheep, that’s when we see what we’re truly made of, how strong is our backbone and belly!
And in so doing, if we have the necessary faith and courage to stand strong in Christ, that’s when we grow! As Gramps Schuller also says later on: ‘Your trouble may be your greatest opportunity!’ And that’s no lie, because then you have to stir yourself and get yourself moving to solve your problems, in tandem with Almighty God if you’re wise!
Remember Jesus didn’t promise that His followers would have clear and uneventful sailing in this topsy-turvy world, but exactly the opposite: ‘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 if you’re a true believer, then you’ll know that Jesus doesn’t lie. Neither does He make idle promises. So if He says that life will contain rough times, then it will, but on the other hand, if He promises His peace during those times, then that will also come to pass.
And remember He’s already vanquished the devil in his own territory; hell, death and the grave, by rising triumphantly on Easter Sunday, so we should not be overwhelmed by all the nonsense the enemy tries to tell us, for the victory is already ours! Glory to God!
So now, let’s check out some scriptures that can help us handle trouble when it comes against us. And if anybody knew trouble, though he was certainly blessed, it was Bruh David. But he stoically declares (steups, wrong again) ‘One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty (delightfulness) of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me upon a rock.’ (Ps.27:4-5)
That means friends we just can’t run to God when times become rough, but must be in good communication with Him during the good times too. Now listen to the Sons of Korah: ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present (an abundantly available) help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst (the heart) of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.’ (Ps.46:1-3)
Yes my brethren, let’s take a moment and contemplate on that nuh! Is our faith that strong? It ought to be, if we are truly walking in righteous and godly paths. And listen to Bruh David once again: ‘Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.’ (Ps.138:7)
Oh my people, that’s the kind of unwavering confidence we ought to have in our omnipotent God, for with Him ALL things are possible! And no treatise on trouble would be complete without these famous words of Bruh Paul to the church at Corinth. ‘We are troubled (hard pressed) on every side, yet not distressed (crushed); we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast (struck) down, but not destroyed;’ (2 Cor.4:8-9)
And why is that my faithful brethren? Because we’re ‘Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.’ (2 Cor.4:10) And now that we’ve conquered trouble, (smile) let’s go home declaring (right ho!) all the wonderful things contained in our Thursday Blessings.
As one 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!’
And as always, I have to remind us that those blessings are not for us to selfishly hoard, but to generously share with others less fortunate than us! Much LOVE!
…if we are in Christ…and Christ is in us…then we can overcome ANYTHING that comes against us…
02 May 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a good foundation, abides forever, all or nothing at all, be loyal to one, be obedient to His word, compassionate heart, curse, despise the other, do good, do his bidding, earthly riches, Emmanuel, enmity with God, eternal life, Everlasting Father, faith, favour, friendship with the world, gave us His freedom, generously shared, good works, gospel truth, grace, halfway measures, hate the one, haughty, highminded, immaculate conception, King of Kings, lay hold on eternal life, laying up for themselves, Lily of the valley, Lord of Lords, LOVE, love not the world, love of the Father, love the other, lovers of God and the world, lust of the eyes, majesty, negative word, no man can serve two masters, positive outlook, pride of life, revere, Rose of Sharon, sacrificed His sinless life, self-control, self-discipline, selfishly hoarded, Sermon on the Mount, sinless character, success, surrender our lives to Jesus, the mighty God, the things in the world, the time to come, the will of God, the world passes away, Thursday Blessings, took our sins, virgin birth, Wonderful, you cannot serve God and mammon
Matthew 6:24. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and LOVE the other; or else he will hold (be loyal) to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (earthly riches).
And yes, it’s a cloudy, foggy Thursday morning in my li’l part of the world, but hopefully the sun will push through and decimate all the fog and cloud in a short while. But even if it doesn’t, if the sun doesn’t shine, we must remember that we have a friend, a Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ who controls the calm and the storm alike and He can decimate whatever ills, or storms that are blowing through our lives with one single, simple touch of His favour, mercy, grace and/or LOVING-kindness! Give Him the thanks and praise He so well deserves my faithful brethren!
Ah mih people, our Jesus is so wonderful that there are no words in any language that can truly describe Him! We try, but all our man-made descriptions fall far short of the ideal, of the magnificent Deity that He is! Only Deity like Himself might be able to find language to truly describe Him.
But until we get to heaven and hear the Father and the Holy Spirit describe Him, we’ll have to settle for insufficient terms like: ‘Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Rose of Sharon, Lily of the Valley, Emmanuel, A name above every other Name, to whom ALL knees must bow, Heavenly Advocate, High Priest, Son of God, Saviour of the World, ‘Uniter’ of Jews and Gentiles, He of the Immaculate Conception and of Virgin Birth…etc. etc.’
Yes friends, those are only some of the many names we use to describe Jesus, but the great thing about it is that ALL of them are true and reflect some aspect of Jesus’ great and godly character and the extensive list of jobs that He performs with such grace and majesty! How can we not LOVE and revere Him eh? And if we LOVE and revere Him, then we ought to be delighted to do His bidding, be obedient to His Word and His dictates!
But unfortunately that’s where too many of us draw the line! Yes, we all claim to LOVE Jesus and spout a good talk, but when it comes right down to the nitty gritty, doing as he says, that’s an entirely different subject. We hem and haw about giving up our independence, about surrendering completely to the One who LOVES us so much that He sacrificed His sinless life for our sinful ones. He took our sin and gave us His freedom, His sinless character.
But friends, there can only be one driver of a vehicle or ship or plane at any one time, and it’s either we surrender our lives completely to Jesus and let Him run them as He sees fit, or we don’t. There’s no halfway or in-between measure! You can’t sit on the fence and hope one side or the other will work out. With Jesus, it’s either ALL or NOTHING AT ALL!
As He says so vividly in the Sermon on the Mount: ‘No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and LOVE the other; or else he will hold (be loyal) to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (earthly riches).’
Yes my people, that’s gospel truth! In this world you have to serve somebody, but you can only truly serve ONE somebody at a time, and the choices we have are simply Jesus Christ or the riches of this world controlled by the evil Satan himself. And today I just want to look at a few scriptures that promote serving Jesus as opposed to the evil one and his lure of earthly wealth and power.
First up is Bruh Paul in his first missive to Timothy, where he warns. ‘Charge (command) them that are rich in this world (present age), that they be not highminded (haughty), nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute (to give), willing to communicate (share). Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.’ (1 Tim.6:17-19)
Yes friends, nothing is basically wrong with being rich, God gives earthly riches to many of us, but we need to be generous and godly with those blessings. As the scholars explain: ‘6:19. When wealthy believers generously share (v.18), they secure an assurance (laying up in store for themselves a good foundation) that in the future (against the time to come) they will indeed enter heaven (lay hold on eternal life).
Salvation is not purchased by the giving of money, but generosity demonstrates the reality of one’s faith. Since the believer trusts God and not money, he gives. This giving shows where his heart is and that he views his wealth in light of eternity.’
Now James says it thus: ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of (with) the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be (makes himself) a friend of the world is (makes himself) the enemy of God.’ (James 4:4) Yes my people, we cannot be both LOVERS of God and the world at the same time, as John says so clearly in his epistle.
‘LOVE not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man LOVE the world, the LOVE of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.’ (1 John 2:15-17)
Ah friends, please pay particular attention to the part that says the things of the world pass away, but he who does the will of God abides forever, because it’s gospel truth. End of sermon! (smile) Now let’s go home declaring (right ho!) our Thursday Blessings, which the Lord has rained down on us to assist us in doing his earthly work.
All together now with sincere hearts, in loud voice: ‘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 true believers in Christ, how blessed we are! Now let’s go out and share those wonderful blessings as Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…all that we’ve been given…is meant to be generously shared…not selfishly hoarded…
25 Apr 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a name above all names, a no no, a pardoning judge, a stickler for justice, abundance, appearance, as a man, became obedient, believe in Christ, best way to live, by one man's disobedience, courage, creativity, curse, disobedient creation, displeasing the Father, Dr. Charles Stanley, Easter celebrations, empathy, eternal life, every knee must bow, faithful obedience, found in fashion, frailties, God of Numerous Chances, God's Word, gracious, he humbled himself, lack of obedience, leave all the consequences to Him, LOVE, many made righteous, many made sinners, merciful, negative word, obedience of one, obey God, once and for all time, our benefit, painful death, prosper, rebellious, righteous, sacrificed his son, salvation, self-control, self-discipline, selfishly hoard, share the blessings, sinless blood, so much to gain, so much to lose, success, take up the baton, talent, tests, the death of the cross, the Good Book, Thursday Blessings, to pay for our sins, Triune God, unto death, weaknesses, wisdom
Philippians 2:8. And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Well a blessed Thursday to you my faithful Scrip-Bit brethren! I do hope that the day has and or will bring you substantive joy and peace as you walk the strait and narrow path that our Lord and Saviour Jesus desires of you. Oh, we all know that this earthly life is not an easy one to hoe, but with Jesus on our side, right beside us all the time as He sincerely promised, we do have a better chance than the unbelievers to live a life blessed with joy and peace.
But it just won’t fall into our laps, as some of us seem to think. We need to get up and do our part in this partnership, this everlasting covenant with Almighty God. If we do our part, He will certainly do His, but if we don’t, He won’t. It as simple as that my people!
And what’s our part you ask? Again, it’s pretty simple: believe in His Son Jesus Christ and walk in faithful obedience to His Word! Granted, it’s much harder than it sounds, but then again the Lord has promised to help us in any area in which we are deficient or lacking. We just have to come to Him in sincere prayer and ask for his help.
And He’s also promised not to give us more than we can handle. He’s God, and merciful, gracious and forgiving, plus He knows all our frailties and weaknesses, so why will He give us more than we can handle eh? No reason whatsoever! Oh, He will test us occasionally to see if we really believe the stuff we talk. And I can personally tell you about that, because some days before I’m even finished writing the Bit, I’m bombarded with tests about what I’ve written.
But then again, if we fail, He always gives us more chances to come back and take them. That’s why He’s known as the God of Numerous Chances! And that’s all to our benefit! Praise His holy name my people! For though He’s righteous, a stickler for justice, He’s also a pardoning judge. Because He created us, and thus knows what we’re all about, He has great empathy and LOVE for us.
And He proved it by the celebrations we just had this past Easter weekend, where He sacrificed His Son for us, to pay for our sins once and for all time. There could be no greater LOVE than that! The Creator of the universe, and all therein, sacrificing His sinless Son to appease the need for sinless blood to cleanse the sins of His disobedient, rebellious creation. He LOVED and cared for us so much that He went to such drastic lengths to provide a means of redemption for us.
How wonderful He is my brethren! There is NONE other like Him in the world! All the others are mere pretenders, jokers and fools! So since He’s provided ALL that we need to live a godly and righteous life, and come to salvation through His resurrected Son, then technically speaking, the problem(s) we face nowadays stem mainly from our lack of obedience to His Word. And if you claim that you don’t know His Word, then that’s still disobedience, because He’s admonished us many times to read, study and meditate on it.
And since we’re talking about obedience, I believe it’s only right to mention two of the most profound statements on the subject in the Good Book, both not surprisingly made by Bruh Paul. The first one is found in his missive to the church at Rome: ‘For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.’ (Rom.5:19)
Yeh friends, we all fell into sin by Adam’s disobedience. Although, come to think of it, I don’t know why Adam get’s blamed for the dastardly deed nuh, when it’s Eve who supposedly first took a bite of the apple, and Adam foolishly followed? But be that as it may, our forefathers weighed us down with sin by their disobedience, and it was only with the coming of Jesus Christ that we were granted a way to get out from under that deathly and damning sin.
And as Bruh Paul says to the church at Philippi: ‘And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’
Oh friends, do you think Jesus wanted to die, and even more, such a murderous, unfair and painful death! Obviously not! But He knew that the Father wanted to save us more than anything else, and that He was the ONLY ONE who had the parts to accomplish the Father’s plan. So He obediently went along, even to that disturbing and horrible death on the cross because displeasing the Father was a no no in His mind.
And all I’m trying to point out here, by saying so much (smile) is that if Jesus, God’s Son was obedient to the point of giving His life for us, we, mere mortals, mere puny and flimsy creations of God, should also be very obedient to God’s Word because we have so much to gain and so much to lose. Please remember that ALL the Father and the Son did, was purely for OUR benefit not theirs.
And Jesus has already been exalted for His sacrifice with a name above all names and to whom each knee must eventually bow, and sits comfortably at the right hand of the Father, so we are the ones who now need to take up the baton and lead a righteous and obedient life, if we want to enjoy salvation and eternal life with our Triune God. Sermon done! (smile)
Now for those of us who are sincerely attempting to do as Jesus asks, let’s go home declaring (right ho!) our Thursday Blessings, those wonderful aspects of life that He’s showered down on us to help us do the job.
So altogether now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment!
I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
And the corollary to all that is that we must now go out and share them with others, not selfishly hoard them for ourselves, because that’s why we were given so much! Much LOVE!
…the best way to live…obey God…and leave all the consequences to Him… (Uncle Charles – Charles Stanley)
20 Apr 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a second time, almighty god, Anselm's quotes, any change, be born again, believe christ died for us, blood sweat and tears, born of flesh, born of Spirit, born of water, builds the bridge to success, complete annihilation, discomforts, do it, drawbacks, drive us to action, drive you, driving force, Easter Sunday, emotional time, eternal spiritual life, evil world, except a man, Good Friday, he cannot see, help, holy spirit, human, I say unto thee, infallible, innate power, intent paired with action, intimate relationship, knowledge, live change, live it, mistakes, Mother's womb, new beginning, New Birth, Nicodemus, of the spirit, passion, patience, persevarance, perseverance, power in our words, problems, rain rain go away, rose triumphantly from the dead, sons of abraham, speak change, spiritual rebirth, strong purpose in life, success, success is something you do, the kingdom of God, to shape your life, verily verily, wisdom
John 3:3. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again (or from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Rain, rain go away, come again some other day! Chuh! I like rain, but after experiencing it for my last three days in Tobago then coming back home to it, it’s become a tad much. And the warnings of extensive flooding don’t help. But how to keep us happy eh?
When we have a lot of sunshine, and it’s hot, we complain. A lot of cold and snow also cause bitter mutterings. And we don’t like it much when it rains on our parade either. (smile) And when you’re sick and feeling lousy, like I am, that state of affairs doesn’t help matters either. So I guess there’s just no pleasing us and we just have to learn to live with whatever Mother Nature supplies. End of story! (smile)
And since it’s Saturday, let’s see what quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. But first let me apologize for a typo in yesterday’s Bit. I talked about Peter cutting off the high priest’s ear; it was actually the servant of the high priest’s ear he cut off.
I knew that very well and it was what I intended to write, but somehow or the other didn’t write that. And you can imagine my disgust when a friend wrote and pointed it out to me because I don’t like to make mistakes in the Bit. But I guess that only shows I’m human and thus not infallible. (smile)
And the first quote says: ‘If you have a strong purpose in life, you don’t have to be pushed. Your passion will drive you there.’ I guess there is much truth to that statement as passion is usually a driving force in our lives.
However, passion alone will not bring us to our destiny, we need other things like wisdom, knowledge, help and perseverance. In other words, blood, sweat and tears must be combined with our passion to provide success! (smile)
And that segues in nicely to this other quote: ‘You’ve been given the innate power to shape your life…but you cannot just speak change, you have to LIVE change. Intent paired with action builds the bridge to success. You can’t just want it; you have to do it, live it…BE it! Success isn’t something you have; it’s something you DO!’
Ah friends, we see there it’s all about the doing, the living, the action! We just can’t sit on our fannies and expect things to change or our lives to be good because we wish it or talk about it. Yes, there is power in our words, but that power needs to drive us to action, to actually doing something to bring about the changes we desire!
But then we come to this quote that appears to throw a spanner in our wheel: ‘Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.’ So true, so true my people! Whatever we try to do, be it good, bad, or indifferent, things rarely run as smoothly as they should, or as we expect them to.
But that’s just life! Life that seems to take pleasure in mucking up our best efforts! But that’s where things like patience, perseverance, ‘stick-to-it tiveness,’ and don’t give up come in! And as true believers in Christ, we all know that giving up is not in our vocabulary.
Remember Jesus said that we’d have problems in this evil and ungodly world, but we can handle them with grace and a smile, because He’s already overcome the world. (John 16:33)
Now here is the last quote: ‘We all have two lives. The second one starts when we realize we only have one.’ And isn’t that the awesome truth my fellow believers? We have one life when we’re born of our mother’s womb, and then a second when we’re born of the Holy Spirit which brings us into serious communication and an intimate relationship with Almighty God!
Jesus said it quite plainly to the Pharisee Nicodemus who came by night to enquire about Jesus’ awesome power and works. ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again (or from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God.’
Yes friends, to be included in the heavenly realm we all need to be born again of the Spirit as Jesus also told Nicodemus, when, in his confusion, he asked about entering his mother’s womb a second time.
‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.’ (John 3:5-7)
And the scholars provide this interesting explanation: ‘3:3. Verily, verily (lit. “amen, amen”) occurs only in John’s gospel, and then always for emphasis. Born again may be translated either “again” or “from above.”
Perhaps both ideas should be combined here, to indicate the repetition of an act from another source. John might have said “again” had he wished to indicate repetition of an act from the same source. Only John uses this expression in the gospels.
This concept of the New Birth includes these implications: (1) It undercuts Jewish dependence on being sons of Abraham (cf. 8:39). (2) It reveals that there must be a work of God “from above” since the Jews considered children (new births) to be God’s blessing. (3) It teaches the necessity of a new beginning.’
Yes my brethren, to be able to enter God’s kingdom a spiritual rebirth is absolutely necessary. But it’s also very simple. All we have to do is to believe that Christ died for us on Good Friday, as we commemorated yesterday. And then that He rose triumphantly from the dead and the grave, as we will celebrate tomorrow on Easter Sunday!
Oh my people, there’s no better time to give our lives to Christ than RIGHT NOW! So let’s BE BORN AGAIN nuh, at this most exciting and emotional time of Easter, as we celebrate Christ’s total victory, His complete annihilation of the evil enemy Satan, ruler of hell, death and the grave! All Heaven will rejoice if we do! Much LOVE!
…eternal spiritual life…calls for spiritual rebirth today…
04 Apr 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abhor evil, Abraham Isaac and Jacob, awe, bane of mankind, believe the Lord, blue skies, castigating, children of transgression, cling to good, cold climates, compassionate heart, cool breezes, curse, debasing ourselves, did our own thing, favour, fearest me not, Garden of Eden, godless, great family, hard ears, hast not remembered me, held my peace, hell bent, holy mountain, idolatry, idols, inherit, Isaia, Israelites, Jesus' heart, laid it to thy heart, less fortunate, make a wide mouth, negative word, no peace, one true God, own way, pagan rites, prosper, rebelled, removing God from our society, reverence, ridicule yourselves, righteous suffer, righteousness., seed of falshood, share, slying children, sons of the sorceres, statnic age, stubborn, success, Thursday's Blessings, to the wicked, unto hell, vanity, warm the cockles, weary
Isaiah 57:21. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
No rain today! Glory to God! Just blue skies and cool breezes in Paradise…until the sun comes up hot and stinging around the noonday hour! But we can handle it better than the cold, for God didn’t make us to live in the cold climates. Yuh see the wonderful climate the Garden of Eden had? (smile) But mankind so hard ears and stubborn and own way, they decide that they going to live in the cold countries anyway, and do their own thing there.
Ah Lord eh, it is the bane of mankind – always wanting to do their own thing! Jehovah God made us to do His thing, but from the very beginning we rebelled and did our own thing instead. And so it continued down throughout the ages. Listen to this scripture nuh from Isaiah, where through him, the Lord condemns Israel’s idolatry. After castigating them for having the righteous suffer and no one taking up their cause, He declares (steups – wrong again):
‘But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore (harlot). Against whom do ye sport (ridicule) yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw (stick) out the tongue? Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood. Enflaming (inflaming) yourselves with idols (gods) under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts (clefts) of the rocks?’ (Is.57:3-5)
Yeh friends, the Israelites forgot the God of their forefathers and made idols of all sorts of stuff and worshipped them as gods, they even practiced child sacrifice like some of the other pagan tribes around them! And I like how the Lord continues a few verses later: ‘And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.’ (Is.57:9)
Oh friends we are doing the same things as the Israelites did; turning away from God, following pagan rites, debasing ourselves and worshipping the things of the world, rather than Almighty God! The things of the world are now idols, and we are even figuratively sacrificing our children on the worthless altars of these idols! How foolish is that eh?
And as the Lord continues: ‘Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way (length of thy road); yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life (strength) of thine hand; therefore thou was not grieved.’ (Is. 57:10)
Yeh, we found our strength as we developed all our technological stuff and got bigger and bigger and supposedly better, thinking that it was all our own doing and didn’t look back or even consider if what we were doing was right, just plowed right on in our idolatrous ways, until now we’ve become all-powerful in our own eyes and are hell bent on removing God from our society! As far as too many of us are concerned Jehovah God is an old-fashioned, outdated entity, who has no rightful place in our modern day lives! Ah Lord eh!
And just as the Lord asked of the Israelites back then, He’s also asking of us today: ‘And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace (remained silent) even of old, and thou fearest me not?’ (Is.57:11)
Ah mih breddren, in this godless and satanic age we neither fear God with a real fear, like the attack of a dangerous wild animal, nor fear Him in terms of reverence and awe! So many people in the universe still don’t know Him, and too many are turning away from Him to worship the worthless idols and false gods of other faiths!
But please be warned, God’s eyes are upon us all the time! He knows our every move and every thought be it evil or good that we think and plan and when He’s ready, He will take matters into His own hands, and trust, me, we won’t like it when He does.
As He said to Israel: ‘I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee. When thou criest (cry out), let thy companies (collection of idols) deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity (a breath) shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.’ (Is.57:12-13)
Oh my people, please believe the Lord our God nuh for He doesn’t make idle promises; if He says He’ll destroy, then He will, and will likewise prosper when He says so. Hear this last piece of that chapter. ‘I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.’ (Is.57:19-21)
That’s gospel truth my brethren! Wickedness might pay in the short run in this world, but in the long run it definitely won’t! So please be wise and refute evil and wickedness and sin and the ungodly ways of the world nuh! And when you believe and sincerely try to follow the One True God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, look what happens: He showers down blessings on us like manna from heaven. So let’s declare (right ho) our Thursday Blessings with enthusiasm and heartfelt assurance nuh!
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!’
Which other faith or supposed God promises and also delivers that kind of stuff eh? None but Jesus Christ! And those blessings are offered so that we can go out and share them with the less fortunate, so let’s do that now nuh and warm the cockles of Jesus’ heart! Much LOVE!
…abhor that which is evil…cling to that which is good… (Rom.12:9b)
28 Mar 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a battlefield, acquiesce to the Spirit's desires, by their fruit, cannot do the things ye would, Christian, compassionate heart, contrary to one another, curse, Daily Bread Devotional, depend on the Spirit, desires of our fleah, faithfulness, forget the things we say, from God the Father, fruit of the Spirit, fulfill the lust of the flesh, gentleness, gospel truth, grace, greetings, Holy Spirit of God, hypocrites, joy, kindness, live by the Spirit, LOVE, meekness, mockery, negative word, our lives, our Lord Jesus Christ, passing judgement, peace, Pharisees, practice what we preach, prosper, remember the things we do, sorry lot, speak louder than our words, spiritual confrontation, success, temperance, the flesh lusts against the Spirit, this I say then, Thursday Blessings, thwart the Spirit, tug-of-war, walk in the Spirit, whitewashed tombs, ye shall know them, yield to the Spirit
Galatians 5:16. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Ah friends, in the wonderful words of Bruh Paul: ‘Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world (age), according to the will of God and our Father; To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ (Gal.1:3-4)
Yes my faithful brethren, greetings in the name of our most amazing and magnanimous God and His awesome Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, on this dry but somewhat chilly Thursday morning! And please don’t marvel at how early the Bit is because it’s just an anomaly. I simply have to go out of town early this morning and so decided to write it before I go, rather than when I reach my destination, which could be fairly late.
So please don’t go getting any weird ideas about receiving it at this hour every morning. (smile) Tomorrow, God willing, we’ll be back at the usual time. And today, on a most practical level we’ll talk about this quote from a Daily Bread Devotional: ‘Our lives speak louder than our words!’
And isn’t that the gospel truth my people! Those around us pay more attention to how we live than what we say. They quickly forget what we say, but quite easily remember the things we do. That’s why we can’t talk one thing and then do something else in our daily walk with the Lord.
And that’s what a lot of us supposed believers do, no wonder so much of the world consider us to be such hypocrites, whitewashed tombs, like Jesus called the hypocritical and overbearing Pharisees of His day. Yes, there are still a lot of Pharisees in our midst today, and please don’t go passing too much judgement, like they did, because you never know, you might just be numbered amongst that sorry lot. (smile)
So how do we get our lives to speak louder than our words eh? As Bruh Paul says, to do that, we need to walk and live in the Spirit; the Holy Spirit of God! ‘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 that ye would.’ (Gal.5:16-17)
And the scholars offer these interesting and useful explanations. ‘5:16. Walk in the Spirit (i.e., “live by the Spirit”). Christians are to live with the Spirit’s help. How does one “live by the Spirit”? (1) The Christian must believe that the Spirit is with him, having been sent by God into his heart (4.6). (2) In every spiritual confrontation the believer must yield to the Spirit, that is, submit his own desires to those of the Spirit.
(3) One must depend on the Spirit for help, enabling him to live a God-pleasing life (v.5). (4) The believer should anticipate the effects of the Spirit’s help in his daily life. The believer who “lives by the Spirit” will not fulfill (accomplish, carry out) the lust (strong desires) of the flesh (sinful nature).’
Yes mih people, it’s all about our living this earthly life in strong association with the Holy Spirit of God, who was sent by the Father to live within us when we believed on His Son, to help us live a holy and sanctified life. But if we don’t acquiesce to the Spirit’s desires, then we make a mockery of the whole thing.
For as the scholars explain: ‘5:17. One’s sinful human nature (flesh) and the Holy Spirit lusteth against one another, that is, they have desires and yearnings that are contrary to one another. The Christian, then, is a battlefield, having desires to do good and evil. The outcome is that ye cannot do the things that ye would: the flesh seeks to thwart the Spirit, who, in turn, attempts to frustrate the flesh’s evil desires.’
Yes friends, it’s a constant tug of war between our flesh and our Spirit. And it’s only with a constant effort and the help of the Spirit, that we can overcome the evil desires our flesh. The Spirit will guide us, but we have to accept it’s guidance, otherwise it will be all for nought. And we won’t bother to list the sinful desires of the flesh because we all know them, (smile) and it’s the fruit of the Spirit that we really want to show in our lives, so that we can practice what we preach.
So here is what Bruh Paul says constitutes the fruit of the Spirit. ‘But the fruit of the spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith (faithfulness), Meekness, temperance (self-control): against such there is no law.’ (Gal.5:22-23) And that’s how we make our lives speak louder than our words my fellow believers; by letting the fruit of the Spirit proceed from us, rather than the evil desires of the flesh!
Now let’s go home declaring (right ho) our Thursday Blessings, those most generous and magnanimous blessings that our great God has poured down on us as sincere believers. In strong voice and heartfelt sense of purpose: ‘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 please don’t forget that those blessings were not given so we can hoard them, but to share them just as generously with others less fortunate than us. So let’s go out and do just that nuh! Much LOVE!
…Jesus said of His followers…by their fruit ye shall know them…
16 Mar 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, a crown of righteousness, a year from now, all them, Anselm, aspires to inspire, at that day, begins with the first step, bricks, Chinese Proverb, come back to haunt you, criticism, critics, cross at Calvary, dilemma, don't give up, don't stop trying, ever present partner, failure, faith, finished my course, for all eternity, forever and ever, fought a good fight, frailties, friend, gems of wisdom, henceforth, holy spirit, human, if you don't have a ticket, is at hand, Jesus, keep on keeping on, kept the faith, laid up for me, last testament, lay a firm foundation, light at the end of the tunnel, light of heaven, LOVE, most important race, naysayers, no giving up, putting off, race, ready to be offered, righteousness, save our sinful souls, shall give me, strong building blocks, success, that love his appearing, the bright light of Jesus, the longest journey, the Lord, the race of life, the righteous judge, the souls of believers, the time of my departure, Timothy, trust, unforeseen mishaps, weaknesses, wise person, words of wisdom, you don't have a chance
2 Timothy 4:8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that LOVE his appearing.
And then it was Saturday, and the sun seems to be fighting a losing battle against the dark clouds in my neighbourhood. But thankfully, the souls of believers in Jesus Christ never have to go through that dilemma because the bright light of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is ALWAYS shining brightly in our souls!
And all God’s children gave a loud and grateful shout of: ‘Praise the Lord! Bless His Holy Name! Give Him unending thanks for sending Jesus to save and rescue us!’
Yeh friends, what a blessed day that was when Jesus came to earth to save the lost and free those caught up in the bondage of sin! That’s why I can’t understand why so many of us still reject Him. But to each his own, we’ll have to bear the consequences of whatever decision we make, whether it’s the wise one to accept Jesus, or the foolish one to reject Him!
But since it’s Saturday and we have several quotes from our friend Anselm, who sincerely aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow, let’s check them out nuh. And the first one says: ‘A year from now you will wish you had started today.’ And that’s certainly true!
Any project you keep putting off, will come back to haunt you. You’ll find that time has gotten away from you and nothing’s been done on the project. It’s like the Chinese Proverb says: ‘The longest journey always begins with the first step.’ So it’s advisable to take that first step as soon as possible and don’t keep putting it off.
And the second quote advises: ‘Lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at you.’ That certainly has some wisdom in it. Not all our critics or naysayers are wrong yuh know. Sometimes they do have valid points of criticism, and the wise person listens to those criticisms, evaluates them, and then uses whatever is pertinent to their particular situation.
Granted, a lot of us just criticize for the sake of criticizing, and there’s no real value to what we say, but in many instances, there are some gems of wisdom which we can use as strong building blocks. So never just write off criticism as useless.
Now hear this next quote: ‘I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.’ Words of wisdom friends! We’re not superhuman, only human, and thus are subject to frailties and weaknesses, which mean we will occasionally fail at stuff we do.
However, failure is not really failure until we stop trying! That’s the difference between success and failure; the act of not giving up! Look at our oh so technological society, how do you think we got to where we are? It’s because many inventors and investors did not give up when they originally failed. They tried and tried again until they succeeded!
And that’s exactly what Jesus desires and expects of his followers: NO GIVING UP! Those words are not in His vocabulary at all, and should not be in ours either! So please, let’s keep on keeping on nuh, because we have ALLthe parts to do so. Jesus gave them to us when He died on the cross at Calvary to save our sinful souls and then sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us for all time! Wow! What an awesome Lord and Saviour we have!
And in this last quote we’re called on to prove the greatness of Jesus in our lives. It says: ‘If you run, you stand a chance of losing, but if you don’t run, you’ve already lost.’ More truth from our friend Anselm! It’s like they say: ‘If you don’t have a ticket, you don’t stand a chance of winning!’
So if you want to win at anything, you’ve got to get into the race and run it. You might lose, but if you’re not in it, you certainly won’t win. Non-runners can’t win a race in which they don’t run. It’s as simple as that! (smile) And my fellow believers, the most important race we’ll ever have to run is the race of life that’s set before each and everyone of us, in bright and glowing colour, Technicolor, if you will (smile) because we are followers of Jesus!
Yes my fellow believers, there’s a light that shines so brilliantly in our lives that at times it tends to blind us, especially when we escape from any dark times in which we find ourselves. It’s like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, but in our case it’s a true and sure light, that of heaven with Jesus at the end of our earthly lives…and not just for a short time, but for all eternity! And that means forever…and ever…and ever…until forever…whenever that might be! (smile)
But seriously though friends, listen to these immortal words of Bruh Paul, his last testament to Timothy and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. ‘For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure (death) is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course (race), I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that LOVE his appearing.’ (2 Tim.4:6-8)
That’s the light at the end of the tunnel friends: a crown of righteousness from our heavenly Father, when we run our earthly race with steadfast faith and trust, and finish it with a fighting spirit, no matter how tired, bedraggled and abused our physical bodies might be!
Ah friends, let me end by reminding us that the race of life is the greatest and most important race we’ll ever run, and the only way to win it is by running it with Jesus as your ever-present partner! That’s it in a nutshell! So please, let’s make the necessary arrangements to run our race of life with Jesus as our partner…RIGHT NOW!
Why? Because we know not when our race will end; it could be shortly, or a long time from now, but wisdom dictates that we do it as soon as possibly, preferably RIGHT NOW, to avoid any unforeseen mishaps! Much LOVE!
…no Jesus in your race of life…means no winner’s crown of righteousness…at the end of your race…
14 Mar 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a positive outlook on life, abundant life, accept Jesus, achieving success, be of good cheer, believeth on him that sent me, condemn the world, condemnation, curse, equality, evil, evil cronies, fighting us tooth and nail, grees, guide us safely, hath everlasting life, he that heareth my word, horrors of sin, I can do all things, i have overcome the world, I say unto you, idle promises, if God be for us, inspirational author, Jesus Christ, Jesus is the only way, judgement, just as you are, justice, life after death, LOVE, lust for power, negative word, no man comes to the Father, nobody, Orison Swett Marden, our Lord and Saviour, passed from death to life, positive philosophy, prosper, rain, reign forever, reject Jesus, Satan, save the world, sees success, selfishness, share the blessings, success, Success magazine, the heavenly Triune, the hopeful man, the Life, the Truth, the Way, this is the day the Lord has made, through Christ who strengthens me, Thursday's Blessings, tribulation in the world, trying times, two options, ungodly world, verily, warm the cockles of Jesus' heart, we will be glad and rejoice in it, where others see failure, who can be against us, ye might have peace
John 5:24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (judgement); but is passed from death into life.
It’s a grey, cloudy looking kind of day in my neighbourhood, with the promise of unwanted precipitation, though thankfully the precipitation will most likely be rain and not snow since the temperature is above freezing. Not much, but enough to bring rain and not the white stuff.
However, despite all of those physical, negative possibilities, the saints of Jesus are nonetheless declaring (steups! wrong again) that ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ And moreover, ‘The Lord will provide all our needs through His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!’
And they boost their spirits even more with words like ‘I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me! And as for me and my house, we WILL follow the Lord, make no mistake about it!’ That means, ‘If God be for me who can be against me eh? NOBODY!’ Yeh friends, that’s one of the remarkable things of being a follower of Jesus Christ; we can boost our spirits with spoken words, promises that He’s declared over our lives! No other faith can do that!
And that brings us to these inspirational words attributed to Orison Swett Marden (1848-1924), ‘an American inspirational author who wrote about achieving success in life and founded Success Magazine in 1897.’ Marden claims: ‘The hopeful man sees success where others see failure, sunshine where others see shadows and storm.’
He’s talking about us there friends, believers in the positive philosophy and promises of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! All thanks and praise be to our Lord and Saviour for the wonderful and abundant life that He died to give us! We now need to hold on to His promises, and His hand tightly and let Him guide us safely and positively through these trying times in this evil and ungodly world! That’s the only way we will ever be successful my people!
Jesus warned early on: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (judgement); but is passed from death into life.’ Yes friends, Jesus is the ONLY WAY to achieve life after death! When we believe in Him and the Father who sent Him then our bodies will die, but our spirits wont. They shall reign forever with the heavenly Triune!
And Jesus confirms it all by saying: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.’ (John 14:6) And we know He does not lie! So it only makes mucho sense to hitch our carts to His superior horse! And if you want even more encouragement, then check out these fabulous, though hard to put into action words of Jesus. ‘These things have I 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)
Aren’t those wonderful words friends…and words of truth too? They certainly are! Jesus did His part, but now we have to do ours, by using our faith in Him to stand strong and steadfast when Satan and his evil cronies are fighting us tooth and nail for world control. We are the only ones who are fighting on the basis of LOVE, justice and equality, the rest are all infused with greed, lust for power and selfishness!
And from where do we get that fighting spirit for the good things? From possibly the most important words in the Good Book; Jesus’ immortal declaration: ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17)
There you have it in black and white my fellow believers; Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth…to save us, from ourselves and from the horrors of sin! So the ongoing logic and reasoning are very simple: If you want to be saved and live an everlasting life, then you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. If you don’t want to live and see life eternal, but prefer to be on the outside looking in with the evil one, then you simply continue in your evil ways and don’t accept Jesus.
Those are the only two options we have my brethren! And believe me, the last option might look good and pleasurable in the here and now, but in the hereafter it will be terrible! The Lord promised it, and we know He doesn’t make idle promises! So please, I implore us to take the first option; wisdom dictates it. It might be somewhat difficult now, but the rewards you’ll reap later will be oh so worth that difficulty!
Now for those of us who truly believe, let’s go home declaring (wrong again) our Thursday Blessings, which the Lord have poured down on us in His awesome generosity. All together now, in sincere and strong voice: ‘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!’
Yuh see what happens when you live for Jesus! But a word of caution here; those blessings are not for us to hoard but to share with the less fortunate in our unjust society. So let’s go out and do just that nuh, and thus warm the cockles of Jesus’ heart! Much LOVE!
…Jesus is the ONLY ONE…who will take you just as you are…and make you what He wants you to be…
28 Feb 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: . the pain of loneliness, a human soul, Abide in me, agent, ask what ye will, bless your Holy Name, bring forth much fruit, cannot bear fruit of itself, cast forth, cast into the fire, compassionate heart, created us, curse, DETERMINATION, disciple, divine protection, eased up on the pedal, embrace Jesus, eternal separation, evil, except it abide in the vine, fierce pride, glorify the Father, God's kingdom, hell fire and damnation, hooking up, I am the vine, I love and adore you, in His own image, intercession, Jesus, LOVE, magnificent carthorse, make a difference, negative word, New Year's resolution, our broken down wagons, our legacy, positive outlook, promotion, prosper, self-discipline, strong walk with Jesus, success, take Jesus more seriously, Thank You Lord, thankfulness, the branch, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity, the only antidote, the worst thing, Thursday Blessings, ungodliness, walking closer with Jesus, withered, without me, ye are the branches, ye can do nothing, zeppo
John 15:4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Well it’s pretty white out there still, but the snow seems to have abated…till when who knows? But thankfully, I did not have to go into the city and face the mess yesterday. Don’t get me wrong, I was all prepared to do it, but during the mid morning hours when the stuff just kept falling my resolve began to weaken, (smile) and I got the bright idea…or rather the Holy Spirit gave me a zeppo to call the clinic and find out how early I could get another appointment if I cancelled that one?
Obviously I could not find a living soul to talk to since in this age of modern communications less people are answering phones, it’s all artificial intelligence. (smile) But I left a message…then waited and waited for an answer. None came until an hour before I had to leave home. The lady offered me an appointment for next week and I gladly took it, thanking her effusively, then I gave more effusive thanks and praise to our wonderful God for His timely intercession.
Isn’t our God wonderful people? But certainly! Though His timing could be just a li’l less ‘just in time.’ (smile) The things He does for us eh, when He doesn’t have to. He could have very well said yesterday, ‘No let him go and experience the struggle out there and let it purify and strengthen him!’(smile) But instead, in His omniscience, He saw that I might not have been able to handle it, it was just too much for me to bear, so He mercifully and graciously eased up on the pedal!
But whatever the reason, believe me friends, the ole fella is exceedingly glad and thankful that I did not have to go into the city yesterday, especially after some of the horrible stories I heard. ‘Thank You Lord, Thank You! I LOVE and adore and exalt You even more today than yesterday! Bless Your holy name! I give you thanks and praise from the very depths of my being! Help me to live the life that You’ve planned for me and run a good and strong race! In Jesus’ name I pray! Amen!’
Now enough about me and my thankfulness! (smile) Let’s turn to a more important subject on this last day of February; that of how we are doing with our New Year’s Resolution two months into the year? And some of you must be wondering, ‘what New Year’s Resolution is he talking about eh?’ The one that we made, on January the first, namely to walk closer with Jesus this year! I guess if we have to shrug our shoulders and jiggle our minds to remember it, then most likely we have not been doing it?
Ah friends, what do we have to do to get us to take Jesus more seriously than we’re currently doing eh? Our world is falling apart under the tremendous evil and ungodliness that’s bearing down on it, and a strong and certain walk with Jesus is the ONLY antidote to save us from hell fire and damnation! If we continue the way we’re going, our world is going to blow up, both literally and figuratively, at some stage of the game!
And is that what we want? Is that the legacy we want to leave for our children and grandchildren? Certainly not! Well then the only option we have to prevent that disaster is to embrace Jesus and ALL He stands for with a fierce pride and determination, for He is the ONLY One who can help us make a sincere and satisfactory difference!
As He said so clearly to the disciples, and consequently to us: ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.’ Wow! What can be clearer than that eh friends? But as is Jesus’ wont, He goes on to explain in greater detail: ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:5)
Mama Mia! What a powerful statement of truth is that last clause, my fellow believers! Without Christ we can do nothing! And whoever thinks otherwise is just fooling themselves! For as Jesus explains: ‘If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.’ (John 15:6) Yeah friends, that’s what’s going to eventually happen when the Lord sets up His judgement court.
And believe me, that day will surely come, when all those who don’t believe will be cast out into eternal separation from the Holy Trinity, which I’ve often said is the very worst thing that can happen to a human soul! And the only way to avoid that rather disastrous ending is to do as Jesus says: ‘If ye abide in me (be my agent, my disciple), and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto (for) you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath LOVED me, so have I LOVED you: continue (abide) ye in my LOVE!’ (John 15:7-9)
Oh friends, remember our major job down here on earth is to let others know about God’s kingdom and thereby glorify the Father who created us in His own image. And the ONLY WAY we can accomplish that is by hooking up our broken down wagons to the magnificent and powerful carthorse that’s Jesus! So let’s wake up, let’s be wise and get with Jesus’ programme nuh. That’s our only hope!
Now let’s go home declaring (right ho) our Thursday Blessings that our Lord and God have so magnanimously bestowed on us to help us do our job, spread His Holy Word and glorify His Holy Name! All together now, in strong voice and sincere sense of purpose with thanksgiving: ‘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!’
The next step is to go out and share those blessings, while staying attached to the vine so we can bear good fruit! Much LOVE!
…please remember…that Jesus is the Way…the Truth…the Life…the Light…and the Only avenue to the Father…
P.S. Yeah, it’s sorta long, but we can’t always deal in short, since short does not always convey the full message. (smile) Much LOVE!
23 Feb 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a broken heart, a fact of life, a grain of salt, Abraham, Anselm, be well rewarded, believe, beneficial value, darkness, did not waver, double minded, face difficulties, face values, faith in God, faults, fly in the ointment, foibles, friend, giving glory to God, gospel truth, habit of pretending, Hagar, he staggered not, in the Lord's time, intimidate us, Isaac, lack, LOVE, no strength, no struggle, nomadic existence, pray, problem, prosperity, ruined by praise, sacrifice, Sarah, Saturday, saved by criticism, seeds of its own solution, sleep in, stand up to obstacles, strengthened, strong in faith, success, sunshine, the promise of God, think, trials, tribulations, unbelief, wine and roses, wishy-washy, with the help of God, work
Romans 4:20. He staggered not (did not waver) at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong (strengthened) in faith, giving glory to God.
Ah Lord eh! No rest for the righteous! (smile) A body can’t even get a chance to sleep in on a Saturday morning! That’s because I’ve got to attend an Ironmen’s Breakfast at 9.30 this morning.
The ‘Ironmen’ is a men’s group at our church. But I have to laugh when I consider that very few, if any of the group is under three score, and several are even three score and ten and over. (smile) But nonetheless, we are the Ironmen of St. Francis, committed to good works in the church and in the community we serve! Praise the Lord!
And since it’s Saturday, let’s check out some of the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week in his noble attempt to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And the first one says: ‘The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.’
And that’s fairly true! Most of us would much rather like to be heaped with undeserved praise rather than shrouded in deserved criticism. But remember friends, nobody has reached anywhere without some deserved criticism, and it shows how big a person you are when you can acknowledge your faults and foibles.
Then there’s this: ‘Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds.’ I guess there’s also some truth to that statement, because in many of our problems lie the basic solution to them. If something isn’t working our right, then I guess the best way to find out why is by going back to the beginning and checking all the steps along the way. We’ll usually find the fly somewhere there in the ointment. (smile)
Now hear this: ‘Four things for success: work and pray, think and believe.’ That’s indisputable! Success does call for at least those four things…and sometimes even more! And then we come to: ‘Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have… every DAY!!!!’ And that’s no lie my brethren!
When we stand up strong to our problems and not be wishy washy and double-minded, we’ll discover that they are not half as problematic as they first seemed. Problems have this habit of pretending that they are bigger than they really are, and when take them at face value, they tend to intimidate us and make us wary and somewhat unsure of our ability to conquer them.
But when we come up over them, with the help of God, we discover that they are much more manageable then we originally thought. So perhaps when problems overwhelm us, it might be best to take them each with a grain of salt (smile) before tackling them.
And the last quote says: ‘Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.’ And that’s gospel truth my brethren, for it’s only when we face difficulties, that we get strong! And that applies to all walks of life. If you want to build physical strength, then you have to lift weights or do something that will cause your muscles to work hard and eventually expand. The same goes for spiritual strength.
If you want to develop a greater faith in God, then you have to work hard at it, because it doesn’t just come by wishing. You have to go through trials and tribulations because we only grow when we overcome hard times. That’s just a fact of life. I’m sure you’ve noticed than when everything is nice and easy, no growth, be it physical, spiritual or emotional will really take place.
It’s only when your heart’s been broken that you can appreciate the beneficial value of things like LOVE and romance. You obviously won’t like the broken heart, but because of it, the next time around you’ll certainly be wiser and more appreciative. (smile)
And I don’t think we can find a better example of growing in faith than Abraham. Look at how at seventy-five the Lord told him to pack up and leave his family and just go, with no idea of where he was going. And every time the Lord told him to do something he did it, oftimes without a clue as to what was happening. And check out his approach to God’s promise of a child in his old age.
The Good Book says: ‘And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb.’ (Rom.4;19) Friends, for decades Abraham had been trying to have a child with no success. Can you imagine the disappointment in a society that took children as a reward of God?
Then the Lord promised him one when he was around a hundred and Sarah about ninety. Abraham must have shaken his head in amazement. But the Good Book continues: ‘He staggered not (did not waver) at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong (strengthened) in faith, giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded (convinced) that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.’ (Rom.4:20-21)
Yeh friends, it’s only because Abraham had gone through a lot of struggle, wandering all over the place and having one problem after another, but also having God bring him through them that his faith became so strong. Although he lapsed when he took his wife’s Sarah advice to go into her maid Hagar to produce the heir that didn’t seem to be coming from their own loins. (smile) And you know that caused untold problems.
But look at how he was going to sacrifice the heir Isaac, when the Lord told him to. I’m sure he didn’t know what was happening. How could the Lord ask him to sacrifice the only child whom He had promised would give him more children that the sand of the shore? But in his heart he knew that the Lord would come through in some manner because He had kept ALL of the promises He’d made him over the many years of his nomadic existence.
Friends, I assure us that the Lord will do the same for us, but I can also guarantee you that it won’t be all wine and roses, because we simply don’t grow unless we face some kind of difficulty in our lives. Remember that and keep the faith like Abraham did. It won’t be easy, but we’ll be well rewarded in the Lord’s time! Much LOVE!
…you can’t appreciate the sunshine…until you have experienced the darkness…you can’t appreciate prosperity…until you have experienced serious lack…
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