22 Mar 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abundance, actions, alive and kicking, behaviour, blessings, blind, brand of Christianity, broken, Christ's Church, Christian attributes, church at Laodicea, compassionate heart, compromise, creativity, curse, diligence, divine protection, excellence, faith, favour, fence sitting, God's great earth, help, I know thy works, in the name of Jesus, kicking butt for Jesus, lack of genuine faith, lackadaisical, lacklustre, lazy, legalistic approach, LOVE Revolution, lukewarm, medicinal qualities, miserable, naked, nausea, need nothing, negative word, neither cold nor hot, no passion, obits, poor, positive outlook, pray, promotion, Revelation, rich, scared, self-control, share our blessings, spew thee out, steadfast, success, talk a good talk, thanks and praise, the things of God, the things of the world, Thursday's Blessings, volunteer, walk a good walk, wealthy, worthless, wretched, zeal
Revelation 3:15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert (wish you were) cold or hot.
Awright mih breddren, another wonderful day on God’s great earth is upon us! Give Him thanks and praise! And you know what? I just checked the obits and none of our names or pictures are listed there! Wow! That must mean that we’re alive, alive and kicking, alive and kicking butt for Christ! (smile) I like that.
It sounds like something we were meant to do. But are we doing it? To a certain extent yes, but definitely not as much as we ought to. The problem with our brand of Christianity these days seems to be that we are doing a lot of right things, but we are not doing them sufficiently.
You know, you can give, volunteer, help, pray, whatever, show Christian attributes, but with a lacklustre attitude, no real passion for what you’re doing. It doesn’t seem to come from the heart, but from the mind. Like I’m supposed to do so and so, so I’ll do it, but not with any real zeal; a more legalistic approach than a heart-felt one.
But Jesus calls for excellence, passion, and diligence in His followers. That reminds me of what He said to the church in Laodicea, through John’s vision in Revelation, our Bit for today. ‘I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert (wish you were) cold or hot.’
Ah friends, that’s exactly how Christ’s church is today. The zeal and passion for growing it, for enhancing Christ’s LOVE Revolution doesn’t’ seem to be present in sufficient quantity amongst its believers. We still seem to be too taken up with the matters of the world and not enough with those of heaven.
And as Jesus continues after our Bit: ‘So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew (spit, vomit) thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods (have become wealthy), and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.’ (Rev.3:16-17)
Yes my people, if we look at ourselves in truth, we will see that we are still too taken up with the things of the world and not those of God, thus Jesus’ reproach.
Listen to these explanations from the scholars. ‘3:15-16. The church is likened to lukewarm water, or as being virtually worthless. Christ says He will “spew them out,” or eject them from His company. The hot waters of nearby Hierapolis were known for their medicinal qualities, whereas Colossae was known for its cold, pure water.
But Laodicea was forced to receive water by aqueduct from other areas. By the time it arrived at Laodicea it was lukewarm and provoked nausea. The works of the Laodicean church were as worthless as the city’s lukewarm water. The description does not refer to a backslidden condition, but rather to their lack of genuine faith.’
Ah friends, although I don’t think our contributions to Christ’s church are totally useless, I do believe that they are not worthwhile enough because our faith is not strong enough. Too many of us are too scared, lazy and lackadaisical about our faith. We don’t stand up steadfast and strong enough for what we believe in.
There is too much fence sitting and compromise in our behaviour and actions. And both those things lessen the strength of anything. We talk a good talk, but we don’t walk a good enough walk.
That’s why Jesus commanded the church at Laodicea: ‘I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried (refined) in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment (garments), that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear (may not be revealed); and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.’ (Rev.3:18)
I have to chuckle there friends, because nobody can turn a phrase like Jesus, can admonish you the way He does. And the scholars have this to say about that scripture. ‘3:17-19. Laodicea was famous for its wealth, its bankers, its medical school, its popular eyesalve, and its textile industry.
Christ says that spiritually the people of the church are poor, blind, and naked. True wealth is found only in God’s grace. This church had no spiritual value (gold), virtue (white raiment), or vision (eyesalve). He urges the Laodiceans to repent of their lack of genuine faith and of spiritual understanding.’
Fellow believers in Christ, I believe that admonition of Jesus will also stand us in good stead today. Please, I implore us to stop running after the things and wealth of the world, because they will avail us nothing in the time to come. It’s time we raise the level of our faith and actions and concentrate on sincerely growing Christ’s church as personified by His LOVE Revolution. Why do you think He blessed us with our Thursday Blessings eh? So that we can lift Him up.
Now let’s declare those blessings with a sincere heart and strong belief. ‘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 if we truly believe, it, then let’s go out and share it with others as Christ desires, for a blessing is not a blessing until it’s declared. Much LOVE!
…Christ wants His followers to be either hot or cold…not in between…
01 Mar 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a serious toll, abundance, acknowledge, adamant people, adversity, ashamed, be known, bombarding our world, bounden duty, calamity, can't kill the soul, Christ's body, Christian faith, communicating the gospel, compassionate heart, confess me, confrontation, courage, curse, deny me before men, destroy both soul and body, discipleship, drift away, earthly fortunes, eternal life, fear, fear them not, fight the good fight, first of March, foolish, Gentiles, hard work, hear, hid, I will deny before my Father, in darkness speak in the light, in heaven, in the name of Jesus, individuals, Jews, kill the body, lackadaisical, lifelong resitance, like a whirlwind, magnanimous god, missing out on salvation, necessity, negative word, nothing covered, open confession, persecutors, pilgrim's journey, preach from the housetops, proselytize, prosper, public confession, reap benefits, reap peas, refuse to believe n Jesus, rejection, salvation, scared, shall be revealed, shame, sit on the fence, soldiers in Christ's army, sow rice, stubborn, success, the church, the gospel of christ, the One and Only Living God, the power of God, Thursday's Blessings, tragedy, two edged sword, ungodliness, wisdom, wishy-washy
Matthew 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
And then it was the first of March… Can you believe it? January and February have passed us by like a whirlwind! It’s now an old year! (smile) Unfortunately though, not much has changed over the past two months, there is still an overwhelming amount of adversity, calamity and tragedy bombarding our world.
Ungodliness is also taking a serious toll on our earthly fortunes, as lots of people, for whatever reason, unfortunately drift away from the ONE and ONLY TRUE LIVING GOD. How sad that is friends, knowing that so many of our fellow man stand the very good likelihood of missing out on salvation and eternal life with Christ. And there’s nothing more important that that, in this entire world!
But as individuals, and as Christ’s body, the church, we can only do so much. However, I do believe that we’re not doing as much as we can. It’s doubtful that we’ll ever proselytize EVERYBODY on the planet, because there are just some stubborn, foolish, adamant people who will just flatly refuse to ever believe in Jesus, but we can surely give it a greater effort than we’re currently doing.
Too many of us are too lackadaisical about communicating the gospel to others, and some simply refuse to do it for fear of confrontation, rejection or shame. But please remember the momentous words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in our Bit: ‘But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.’ Ah mih people, it couldn’t get any plainer than that nuh.
And earlier on He said to the disciples: ‘Fear them not therefore (persecutors): for there is nothing covered (veiled), that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what hear ye in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ (Matt.10:26-28)
Yes friends, there is no need to fear what man can do to us, because he can only kill the body, but we need to fear God, who can kill both body and soul. Thus, once we embark upon the pilgrim’s journey with Christ, we cannot afford to let fear of man put us off, but we have to keep on fighting the good fight to spread the gospel to ALL the world, because that’s our bounden duty.
And as good soldiers in Christ’s army, we need to do our duty sincerely and proudly and with lots of courage. Please note what Jesus said right before our Bit. ‘Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.10:32)
And the scholars enlighten us as to the meaning of our Bit and that verse. ‘10:32-37. Confess me means “Acknowledge that you belong to Me.” In reality, secret discipleship is a practical impossibility. Jesus constantly called for an open confession of Himself by His followers. That our confession is to be before men clearly indicates that a public confession of true Christian faith is a virtual necessity.
The warning whosoever shall deny me is a comprehensive historical aorist tense, (hn!) referring not to one moment of denial (such as Peter’s), but to an entire lifelong resistance to Christ. Therefore, a single act of denial does not make one unworthy of being a disciple, but a refusal to confess Christ at all eliminates one from being a true follower of Jesus Christ.’
What more can I say eh mih breddren. The scholars hit the nail on the head. We either acknowledge Jesus in public, or we don’t. We can’t sit on the fence, scared and wishy-washy. That doesn’t work in Jesus’ organization. A lot of us want to reap the benefits of knowing Jesus but don’t want to put in the hard work those benefits require before they can become reality.
Remember friends, in God’s economy, whatever you sow, that is what you’re going to reap. So don’t think you can deny Jesus and still get to heaven. As true believers in Jesus, we ought to proudly and courageously say and act like Bruh Paul: ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Gentiles).’ (Rom.1:16)
Yes my people, that’s how we ought to think of the gospel of Christ, because it is indeed powerful, remember, it’s like a two edged sword. That means we have to be very careful with it, not play around with it like some ordinary knife, else we’re liable to get cut very badly with it. (smile) So please, let’s sit and ponder today, how we are treating the gospel of Christ, and if we’re denying or confessing Him, because that’s the key to our eternal salvation.
Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings in strong voice and heartfelt sincerity. ‘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 magnanimous God we serve my people! Now let’s go out and share those blessings with others, as He intends for us to do. Much LOVE!
…you can’t sow rice and expect to reap peas…likewise…you can’t deny Christ…and expect Him to confess you before His Father…
24 Feb 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all things are possible, alone, anger, Anselm, baptized, bond, bone-chilling cold, Christians, Church of Christ, cliches, cliques, come together, defeated, dissension, disunity, diversion, duties, enjoyed with others, evil, evil cohorts, fighting, find God's purpose, finish line, flooding, free, functions, Gentiles, get the good, giving up, glorious truth, God's calling, individuals, Jews, looking at the past, Lucifer, mere words, need to do now, new interpretations, no man is an island, not one member, One Body, one spirit, original gospel, philosophy, ponder, power struggles, rain, receive Christ, resentment, reward, rule the world, significant aspect, slave, snow, solidarity, spring-like break, stranglehold, success, success is empty, surrounded by winners, the believer, the body, truth, U.S. Midwest, U.S. South, unity, walk with god, without the bad, you can't go it alone
1 Corinthians 12:14. For the body is not one member, but many.
Ah friends, how nice it is to get a spring-like break amidst the bone-chilling cold of winter that’s been dogging us for some time now! And this past week has certainly been like that in my area. The temps have mainly been above freezing and it might even continue like that for the next couple of days.
But I guess you can’t get the good without the bad, for though it’s been warm, it’s been rainy and cloudy, with flooding in several areas. More rain and flooding are expected this weekend across the U.S. South and Midwest. But I’ll take the rain and whatever, over the snow any day. (smile) That’s possibly because I’m not personally experiencing any flooding. Let’s pray for those who are undergoing that kind of disaster right now my brethren.
And since today is Saturday, it’s time to look at some of the quotes our friend, Anselm, sent us this week, in his heartfelt attempt to inspire us for a better tomorrow. The first one says: ‘You can’t knock on opportunity’s door and not be ready.’ That should be obvious. Why would you be seeking an opportunity if you were not ready and able to undertake it eh? But unfortunately, a lot of us misguidedly do it.
And the second tells us: ‘Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.’ What glorious truth that is my people! You’re never really defeated until YOU decide to give up! How can you be defeated if you keep on fighting, keep coming back again and again eh?
And that philosophy applies ever so much to Christians, because in our Lord and Saviour’s vocabulary there is NO GIVING UP! Why should there be, when ALL THINGS are possible through Christ? That’s a very significant aspect of the believer’s walk with God, and his ability to grow in Christ’s image. If you don’t believe that, then you’re lost from the very start.
Now listen to this quote. ‘Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.’ Now I don’t know if you need to look so far ahead – possibly take it in smaller increments – but you do need to decide what you’re going to be all about later on in life, so that you can do the stuff that’s necessary to get you there.
However, with the believer, it’s a li’l different. We need to discover God’s calling for our lives, so that we can walk successfully in His will. Yuh see, what we might like to do in the world, is not always what the Lord wants us to do. And as a faithful believer and follower, it behooves us to find God’s purpose and follow it as closely as possible.
And the last quote says: ‘Success is empty if you arrive at the finish line alone. The best reward is to get there surrounded by winners.’ And that’s oh so true! You can’t really enjoy success if you’ve achieved it all by yourself. Success is meant to be enjoyed with others.
In the first place, you will very seldom achieve success if you don’t surround yourself with positive, successful thinking people. That’s why there are clichés like ‘no man is an island’ and ‘you can’t go it alone.’
And Bruh Paul took pains to point out that the church of Christ is one body, though it’s made up of individuals, hence his writing to the church at Corinth that includes our Bit. ‘For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond (slave) or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.’ (1 Cor.12:12-14)
Yeh friends, believers are all a part of ONE BODY; that of Christ; of His Church! Regardless of colour, creed or race, once you receive Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you are baptized with His Spirit that immediately comes to dwell in you, and you become a part of that big body called Christ’s Church.
As Bruh Paul philosophizes to the church at Rome. ‘For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office (function): So we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another.’ (Rom.12:4-5)
Ah mih people, in every organization the members have different functions and duties, which holds that organization together. If those members don’t perform their functions in a serious and positive manner, then the organization won’t last long. It’s the same way with Christ’s church. If we, as members, don’t play our individual parts, then the body won’t function as it should.
And that’s exactly what’s happening in Christ’s church right now. There is too much anger and resentment, too many power struggles and cliques, too much dissension and disunity, too much diversion from the original gospel, with people preaching all sorts of different things and filtering in new interpretations as dictated by the world. How can Christ’s church be successful under those conditions eh? NEVER!
That’s why Lucifer and his evil cohorts currently have the world in a stranglehold; they are united, but Christ’s people are not. Yes my fellow believers, until we stop talking and fighting against each other and come together as one, evil will rule the world. Now let’s sit down and ponder that. Is that what we truly want? Much LOVE!
…unity and solidarity should not be mere words in Christ’s church…
P.S. Sorry for the lateness of the Bit. It’s Saturday, so I slept in. (smile) Much LOVE!
22 Feb 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a Christian, a journey, a piece of gnarled barked, a positive outlook, a process, abides for ever, abundance, acceptable, aimless, apostle Paul, as a man thinks, awesome light of the Son, be born again, being obedient, blessing, christianity, clear direction, compassionate heart, conformed to the image of Christ, conformed to this world, courage, crashing breakers, cultivate us, curse, drifting back and forth, enemy of God, enmity, favour, fence sitting, follow God's direction, friendship with the world, from glory to glory, get to know Christ, glory to God, going to school, good, grow in Christ, grow spiritually, Grow Up, heresy, hold back, immature Christian, jump from church to church, let go, life journey with Jesus, love not the world, lust, made no effort, more than sufficient, negative word, no set purpose, one goal, One Year Book of Bible promises, only one way, perfect, play second fiddle, praying, put in the effort, root us, Ruth Harms Calkin, share blessings, shining brightly, single minded, soaring, spiritual puttering, spoken over someone, studying God's Word, success, talent, the battle is in our minds, the renewing of your mind, the will of God, things of the world, Thursday's Blessings, to meet our needs, tossed to and fro, total commitment, transformed, trust, undisciplined, unsteady, wading in self-pity, water us, wet weather, will of God, willingness, wisdom, wishy-washy Christians, ye may prove, yearn for change
Romans 12:2. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Good news friends; after about three days of wet weather, it’s cloudy but dry in my neighbourhood! Wow! Let’s hope the sun comes out later to make it an even more pleasant day. But even if it doesn’t, we still have the awesome light of the SON shining brightly in our lives, and He is more than sufficient to meet ALL of our needs! Glory to God!
And without further ado, let me share something from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. I don’t know if I’ve ever shared it before, but is it ever so appropriate for our currently trying and troublesome times. It’s simply titled ‘Grow Up.’
Please read with me. ‘Picture it with me: a piece of gnarled bark tossed to and fro over the crashing breakers. First one direction, then another, back and forth, over and under. Aimless. No set purpose. Drifting…always drifting. What an accurate picture of an immature Christian. Nothing but spiritual puttering. Up and down, in and out.
One study group for a few weeks, then another. One church for a while, then another. Undisciplined, unsteady, one day soaring, the next day wading in self-pity. No consistency. The apostle Paul tells us to grow up! Not grow older, but grow up into Christ.
What we are today is more important to God than what we were yesterday. Our life journey with Jesus is now – this very day, this very hour. Why yearn for change if we’ve made no effort to follow the direction God has already given us?
To grow spiritually we must be single-minded. Our one goal? To be conformed to the image of Christ. He longs for our willingness to let Him root us, cultivate us, water us. Above all else, God wants our total commitment. He will take anything we give Him except second place.’
And isn’t all that the gospel truth friends? It surely is! God wants our total commitment, but we’re not prepared to give it. We want to hold back stuff from Him. But that won’t work. As I said yesterday, God doesn’t play second fiddle to anyone! Only one fiddler in His band; that’s Him!
And what we don’t seem to realize is that being a Christian is a process, a journey, like going to school; you begin in ABC (kindergarten) and work your way up through elementary, secondary and tertiary levels. But you must put in the effort required at each level if you wish to be successful and proceed to the next.
Christianity is exactly the same; you get to know Christ and become more like Him by first putting your entire trust in Him, then studying His word, being obedient, sincerely and constantly praying (communicating) and thus gradually growing in His image; slowly – from glory to glory.
But unfortunately today we have a whole lot of wishy-washy Christians, who talk a great talk, but don’t know the real Christ. We jump from church to church, apparently seeking what we want to hear, and not what the word really says. And the sad part is that plenty churches seem to preach that heresy.
But friends, there is ONLY ONE WAY to truly grow in Christ, and that’s the one advised by Bruh Paul to the church at Rome, our Bit for today. ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’
Yes my brethren, it all begins and ends in our minds. The battle between a true relationship with Christ and one with the world is fought primarily in our minds. That’s why they say, as a man thinks so is he. Therefore, if we want to be born again and grow in Christ, we have to let go of the things of the world, we have to stop conforming to what the world wants us to be.
As James so blatantly puts it: ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of (with) the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be (wants to make himself) a friend of the world is the enemy (makes himself the enemy) of God.’ (James 4:4)
John though puts it a little nicer: ‘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 for ever.’ (1 John 2:15-17)
That’s it in a nutshell friends; we can’t be friendly with world and be friendly with God at the same time! So let’s stop trying to do it nuh. Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings, that the Lord has so graciously bestowed on us who truly believe and are obedient to His will.
In sincerity and truth 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!’
Remember, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s spoken over someone. So let’s go out and generously speak those blessings over others nuh, for that’s why God gave them to us. Much LOVE!
…sitting on the fence is not an option…you’re either FOR God…or AGAINST Him…
15 Feb 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a small grip, abundance, acquire a firearm, all the way to the bank, alleviate the situation, angels, arms dealers, Ash Wednesday, assault rifle, attribute of God, Beelzebub, believes all things, bounden duty, charity, children of God, clanging symbal, courage, creativity, curse, envies not, evil sentiments, exposed firearm, faith, favour, feed the poor, Florida, gift of prophecy, good ole West, guiding light, gun laws getting looser, gun-lobby, hope, I am nothing, in a barrel, in deed and truth, in tongue, kind, laughing, little children, locked up tight, LOVE, Love chapter, love in word, manufacturers, mess with them, move mountains, negative word, nobody complained, not rude, NRA, personal armoury, plead for love, politician, prevalent, profits nothing, promoting love, prosperity, self-control, self-discipline, share blessings, shooting rampage, shooting spree, social media, soften our hearts, sounding brass, spiritual cleansing, strangling our world, success, suffers long, talent, the death toll, the Good Book, the greatest is love, the Way of LOVE, thinks no evil, Thursday Blessings, tongues of men, too easy, truth, turning to god, understand mysteries, Valentine's day, violence, walk around legally, wisdom
1 John 3:18. My little children, let us not LOVE in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
Ah Lord, when is it going to stop eh? When are we going to learn eh friends? By now most of you would have heard of the deadly shooting spree at a Florida High School yesterday afternoon by a 19 year old ex-student. He mowed down 17 people and put another dozen or so in the hospital, some with life threatening injuries. So this morning the death toll might even be higher.
Sadly, it’s not the first, and most likely will not be the last shooting rampage, but what amazes me is why it’s being done so often in schools, and by students too? I won’t even bother to talk about the various government agencies, both State and Federal, doing nothing to alleviate the situation. That’s because the NRA, the Gun Lobby has it all locked up tight in a barrel. Steups!
Now no one is saying that a whole set of laws will stop the shooting, but in the U.S. it’s definitely too easy to acquire a firearm, and of the most dangerous varieties too. And overall, instead of gun laws becoming tighter, they are becoming looser. There are a whole lot of places where you can now walk around legally with an exposed firearm, like the days of the good ole West.
Well then, it stands to logic that if firearms are as prevalent and open as in the West, then you can expect to have many shootings like they supposedly had back then. Meanwhile, the firearms manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank, because they are not only making a killing in the U.S, but they are also the world’s biggest arms dealers. So which politician is going to want to mess with them eh?
Apparently the shooter bought the assault rifle legally some months ago, and furthermore, it’s been alleged that he had a social media page where he boasted about and showed off his personal armoury. And nobody complained to the police about it. Hn! What does that say about our society eh?
And unfortunately it also happened when Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day fell on the same day. Ash Wednesday, a day for turning to God to begin seeking spiritual cleansing, and Valentine’s Day, a day when LOVE is supposed to have a small grip on our normally hateful world. It obviously didn’t have that grip on one young man yesterday.
I really don’t know what to say nuh friends, except to keep promoting LOVE, because that’s the ONLY thing that will truly bring an end to the pandemic violence that’s currently strangling our world. That’s why I turned again to our Bit of the last two days: ‘My little children, let us not LOVE in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.’
What else can I do, but plead for LOVE, that wonderful attribute of our great God to be our guiding light and not the evil sentiments and actions of Beelzebub. Consequently, today I’m just going to quote some of the attributes of LOVE, from the LOVE Chapter of the Good Book, 1 Corinthians 13, in the hope that it will soften our hearts and bring us back to our true selves.
Listen as Bruh Paul expounds on the way of LOVE. ‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (LOVE), I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling (clanging) cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (LOVE), I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity (LOVE), it profiteth me nothing. Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (LOVE) envieth not; charity (LOVE) vaunteth not (does not brag on) itself, is not puffed up (arrogant),
Doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no account of evil); Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth: Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.’ (1 Cor.13:1-7)
Yeh friends and fellow believers, that’s just a brief synopsis (smile) of what LOVE is all about. And regardless of what else you have, if you don’t have LOVE, you are NOTHING!
Oh, I know that some of it is very difficult to practice in real life, but as children of God, it is our bounden duty to put LOVE into action as best we can. And with God’s help, doing a good job is very possible. So let’s take a moment today and ponder all those things that LOVE embodies and embraces nuh, see where we are lacking and ask the Lord to help us in those places. It will be of such benefit to all of us.
Now, for those of us who sincerely try to action LOVE, let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings, reminding ourselves that when we live with LOVE for God and others, He showers us with extraordinary blessings.
In strong 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!’
Let’s remember too that blessings are meant to be shared, so our next step is to go out and share them with the less fortunate, as Jesus so greatly desires. Much LOVE!
…And now abideth faith, hope and charity (LOVE), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (LOVE)… (1 Cor.13:13)
08 Feb 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 911 Emergency Number, a compassionate heart, a day of rest, a positive outlook, abundance, all things, angel, aspect of belief, At the cross, believing, blessed, broken, careful path, communication with God, Corville Peters, courage, creativity, curse, delivered, divine protection, dump trucks, excessive rest, expectation, faith, favour, God's willingness, hem and haw, Herod, Higher heights, hope, human arsenal, humble apologies, in a trance, in dream land, in Jesus, in Jesus' name, it is his angel, LOVE, more Christ-like, negative word, nowhere in sight, omnipotent god, on our behalf, overcome God's reluctance, Perter, power, powerful tool, pray, prayer, prayer was made, pregnant, prison, promises, prosper, seeing it, self-control, share with others, snow ploughs, strength, stressed out, succeed, success, talent, the Good Book, the Jews, Thursday Blessings, tired, trust, truth, twist God's arms, unborn child, watched the snow fall, weapon, whatsoever ye ask in prayer, wisdom, without ceasing, you shall receive
Matthew 21:22. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask for in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Ah friends, my most humble apologies for the lateness of today’s Bit. I have absolutely no idea what happened, except that when I was supposed to get up, I was still somewhere far away in dream land. (smile)
And it’s not like I did anything exhaustive yesterday, or went to bed later than normal. In fact yesterday was designated a day of rest, as I watched the snow fall, and then listened to the snow ploughs and dump trucks cart it away later in the evening. So my only conclusion is that I was simply tired from excessive rest! (smile)
But on a serious note, I’m asking us, especially our St. Francis people, to offer up sincere prayers for one of our church members, Abbi, who recently had to trek down to Indianapolis to help look after her very sick mother in the hospital. Some of you might not know her, because she usually comes to the 8.30 a.m service.
Her father doesn’t seem to be doing too well either, as he appears to be stressed out over his wife’s illness. And to complicate matters even further, Abbi is also 6.5 months pregnant, so she also has to look after herself and her unborn child. That means she has to walk a very narrow and careful path in this tremulous situation. There’s not much we can do for the family except pray. So please do that. They would very much appreciate your prayers.
Now here is something appropriate that I just found on one of the many pieces of paper that sit next to my computer. It’s a quote from Corville Peters, host of the Christian call in programme, ‘At the Cross.’ He says: ‘Prayer is not about trying to overcome God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness on your behalf.’
And isn’t that the awesome truth! Prayer is not about trying to twist God’s arms to help us, but to activate His waiting and His willingness to help. I guess it’s something like our 911 Emergency Number. When you call it, you don’t have to beg them to come and help you, because that’s exactly what they are there for.
It’s the same thing with our omnipotent God; He is there to always help us when we call, not hem and haw as to whether He should, or should not. And don’t ever forget friends, that prayer is the most powerful tool or weapon in our human arsenal! Otherwise, Jesus would not have said in our Bit: ‘And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask for in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.’
And it’s very true. But please note the most important word in that sentence: ‘believing.’ Yeh mih people, we have to believe that we will get what we pray for. You’ll notice, that with Jesus, everything is about believing, about having hope and faith, about seeing it when it’s nowhere in sight.
Look at how we believe that Jesus died for us and LOVES us and all those good things, although we never met Him in the flesh. That’s what our faith is all about: when you believe, then you’ll see! And what better example is there than when Peter was imprisoned by Herod.
The Good Book tells us: ‘Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for Him.’ (Acts 12:5) And what happened after that. An angel came and let Peter out of the prison like he was in a trance. (Acts 12:6-10)
The Good Book continues: ‘And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety (for certain), that the Lord had sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.’ (Acts 12:11)
And we all know how when he knocked at the door of Mary’s house, the mother of John Mark, even though they were praying for him, nobody would believe that he was out there, saying nonsense like, ‘It is his angel.’ He had to keep on knocking before they would let him in. (Acts 12:12-17)
So you see friends, even though we pray sincerely, we still lack that ever-important aspect of belief. As Jesus said so plainly before our Bit: ‘Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain; be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.’ (Matt.21:21)
It’s all about faith, and trust and belief in Jesus and His awesome power and promises my brethren! Please, let’s not lose or lessen our faith, but rather build it up, so that we can move to higher heights, become more Christ-like, as the Father desires. And in keeping with all that, let’s go home now, proudly and sincerely declaring out Thursday Blessings.
In strong 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 if we truly believe it all, then our next step is to go out and share it with others, as Jesus intends for us to do. Much LOVE!
…prayer…that wonderful…and oh so powerful…method of communication with our great God…
27 Jan 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a believer, a couch potatoe, a day off, afraid, alive again, amenities, Ansel, better tomorrow, busier, campassionate, child of the Most High God, Christ died for us, circumstances, come to seek and to save, daydreaming, death, decisions, define ourselves, different lights, eternal life, excellence, failure, figment of our imagination, friend, fulfillment, God demostrated his love, happiness, houshold chores, inspires, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, joy, leads to Jesus, life, lost, lost coin, lost sheep, lost son, lost souls, not to try, one true way, order on line, parables, prodigal son, product, rejoicing, salvation, Saturday, searching Herdsman, separated from Almighty God, shepherd central theme, sinners, sins, something you hate, something you love, success, take a chance, that which was lost, the presence of the angels, the Son of man, the straight and narrow road, the world's opinion, walking with Jesus, was dead, young children
Luke 19:10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Saturday, oh Saturday! What shall we say about thee eh? You relieve us from the pressures of going to a job outside the home, but then have us working harder there, with all the household chores that we could not do during the workweek. But it’s a day off, you complain! A day off from what? Not your family, or household duties. You don’t have days off from those, especially if you have young children.
And though the amenities make it somewhat easier, you still have to load and unload the washer, the dryer and the dishwasher, fold the clothes and put them away. Well you don’t necessarily have to go to the grocery any longer, for you can order on line and have your stuff delivered. But for some reason we seem to be busier than we’ve ever been.
Is that just a figment of our imagination, or is it real? An interesting thought for us to ponder this Saturday morning as we sit or lay daydreaming about being a couch potato. (smile)
But now, let’s see what quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And this first quote is a gem. ’The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you LOVE to do, be the best at doing it.’
That’s oh so true my brethren. We must not be afraid to take chances, especially if we’re truly and sincerely walking with Jesus. And not trying is indeed the greatest failure you can ever have, because you’ll never know what you might have accomplished, had you tried. Then excellence is a must in whatever you like to do, otherwise you’re just wasting your time.
Now I’m not so sure about this next quote. ‘I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you LOVE than to be a success at something you hate.’ My thinking is why would you want to be a failure in anything at all?
And then there is: ‘Every day we choose who we are by how we define ourselves.’ Unfortunately many of us define ourselves in different ways, and thus show ourselves in different lights. However, there is only ONE true way to define yourself; as a believer in Jesus Christ, and a child of the Most High God Jehovah! And everything else in your life should follow from that.
So what about this quote: ‘You are not a product of your circumstances. You are a product of your decisions.’ Yes, our decisions play a great part in what we become, but I think that’s cutting the argument a bit fine, because we make so many of our decisions based on our circumstances.
And then there is this last quote. ‘People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.’
Ah mih people, that might be true in the world’s opinion, but for believers in Jesus Christ, if you’re not with me on the straight and narrow road that leads to Jesus, to salvation and eternal life, then you are indeed lost! Oh friends, that’s why Jesus had such heavy emphasis on the lost in His ministry.
As he steadfastly declares in our Bit: ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’ That was His sole purpose of coming to earth people! To save us from our abominable sins which would cause us to be eternally separated from Almighty God!
And our heavenly Father LOVED us so much that He couldn’t stand the thought of losing even one of His most precious creations. Thus Bruh Paul could truthfully declare to the Romans: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom.5:8) Imagine that nuh people; Christ died in place of our lost souls. He took our death and gave us His life instead. What a hero! One of extraordinary proportions!
Now let’s look at a couple of instances where Jesus harped on the lost idea, and the importance of saving those who are lost. But first hear these explanations from the scholars on our Bit. ’19:10. The words, seek, save, and lost all appear elsewhere in Scripture in a shepherd context. This verse may be taken as a kernel statement of the central theme of Luke: Jesus is the compassionate, searching Herdsman who seeks to save those who can by no means save themselves.’
And that is exactly who Jesus is! Just check out His parables on the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, Luke 15:3-32. If a shepherd had a hundred sheep and one got lost, he wouldn’t just forget about it, but he’d leave the ninety nine and go diligently looking for that one lost animal.
And when He found it, he’d throw it over his shoulders rejoicing, then go home and call his friends and neighbours to rejoice with him over the lost sheep that was found. ‘I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just (upright) persons. (Luke 15:7)
The same goes for the woman who has ten pieces of silver and loses one in her house. She’ll put on the brightest lights and sweep the area clean to find it. And when she finds it, she calls her friends to rejoice with her. ‘Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.’ (Luke 15:10)
And we all know the parable of the prodigal son who returns home after wasting his life and fortune in a foreign country. He comes to offer himself as a servant to the father, but the father would have none of it. And he joyfully declares: ‘For this my son was dead, and is alive again, he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.’ (Luke 15:24)
Oh my faithful brethren, that’s the exact reaction our heavenly Father has when we’re saved, and all heaven rejoices with Him. So please, let’s be wise and get on that straight and narrow road that leads to Jesus before it’s too late nuh. Much LOVE!
…he who is lost…and doesn’t want to be found by Jesus…needs his head examined…
25 Jan 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bride, a compassionate heart, a new day, a positive outlook, abundance, adorned for her husband, all will be well, are passed away, as a thief in the night, be diligent, be prepared, blamesless, created the universe, creativity, crying, curse, dire toll, don't give up, Erwin Raphael McManus, everlasting peace, every moment of the day, faith, faithful and true, fallen, favour, fear, fight the good fight, friends, god, God shall wipe away all tears, greetings, habitation of the saved, hang in there, holy spirit, home free, I make all things new, in living colour, in peace, Jesus Christ, Jesus is right there with us, John the Revelator, joy, keep on believing, limit your freedom, lose hope, Mosaic church, negative word, no more death, no more sea, not to hoard, our Lord and Saviour, pain, ploughing straight furrows, power in the Word, promises, reassuring message, redeemed people, righteousness, self-control, self-discipline, share with others, sinful world, sorrow, success, talent, tears, the bride of Christ, the day of the Lord, the effects of sin, the Father, the former things, the holy city, the Last Arrow, the Milennium, the new Jerusalem, the obstacle to our future, the pain of life, the second coming, the tabernacle of God, Thursday's Blessings, treasure trove, we will succeed, weekend break, what a joyful day, with His help, without spot, your future
Revelation 21:4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Greetings friends, from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! He wants us to know that this Thursday morning we are only one day away from our weekend break, and that we have done a good job so far this week, we’ve been ploughing straight furrows, so we should not give up or lose hope, because He is right there alongside us, every moment of the day, and with His help, we will certainly succeed.
So just hang in there, keep on fighting the good fight, and all will be well! What a reassuring message my people! And Jesus is nothing, if not a ‘reassurer.’ And His promises are ever-faithful and true. So please keep on believing.
And I have an interesting thought to share from one Erwin Raphael McManus, author, futurist, designer, filmmaker and Pastor of a Los Angeles church called Mosaic. He apparently says in his book, ‘The Last Arrow,’ that ‘The pain of life is the obstacle to our future. Do not let fear and pain limit your freedom to your future.’
What wise and truthful words my brethren! In this fallen and sinful world of ours, it is fear and pain that take a dire toll on our freedom to enjoy this earthly life. If we didn’t have fear or pain, we’d be home free. (smile) But we know that that situation will only be rectified after the Second Coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, when Almighty God births the new heaven and earth. What a joyful day that will be my people!
And we have that on good info from John the Revelator, who writes, after seeing a vision: ‘And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.’ (Rev.21:1-5)
Wow mih breddren, what an awesome promise and time we have to look forward to; living in the New Jerusalem where there will be no night or day, no pain, sorrow, or death and Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit will dwell amongst us in living colour! Mama Mia! I can’t wait for that day when there will be no more pain! (smile)
Now let’s check out some explanations from the scholars’. ’21:1-2. Chapters 21 and 22 are a description of the eternal state (following the Millennium and the final judgement), centering in the new Jerusalem as the eternal habitation of the saved (cf. Heb.11:10; 12:22-24).
The first heaven and the first earth are replaced by a new heaven and a new earth, predicted by Isaiah (cf. Is.65:17; 66:22). The present universe will thus be cleansed from all the effects of sin (cf. 2 Pet. 3:7, 10-13). Since there will be no more sea, the increased land space will be fully capable of handling large numbers of redeemed people from all ages.
The New Jerusalem is fully described in 21:10-22:5. It is a holy city, totally separate from sin (cf. vs, 8, 27; 22:15). It is being prepared (cf. John 14:3) as the habitation of the bride of Christ (cf. v.9). From God shows its divine purpose, and out of heaven its divine origin.’
Yeh mih people, a new day is coming, we know not when, that means we have to be prepared and constantly on the lookout for it. As Peter warns: ‘But the day of the Lord will come as a thief (robber) in the night…Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.’ (2 Pet. 3:10a, 13-14)
Yeh friends, we have that awesome promise of Jesus that after He’s wrapped up, destroyed all the sin and evil in the world, He will bring us to a place of everlasting peace and joy to dwell with Him forever. But it’s imperative that we make the necessary preparations RIGHT NOW, because Jesus can come back at ANY time. Oh, and please read the references in the scholars’ explanations, for they are a treasure trove of scripture. (smile)
And having read and digested all of that, let’s go home loudly and sincerely declaring our Thursday Blessings. 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!’
And please remember that those blessings were granted to us not to keep and hoard for ourselves, but to share with others, so let’s go out and share them now nuh. Much LOVE!
…there is awesome power in the word of Jesus…because that’s what created the universe and all therein…
18 Jan 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abundance, all things are possible, baptized, believe, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in God, blessings, Christians, compassionate heart, compelling narative, complex, courage, creativity, curse, faith, family, favour, fear, follower of Christ, friends, God is with us, greetings, guidance, health, heartaches, heavenly Father, hope, insights, jailer, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, key to everything, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, mercies, miracle, Most High God, negative word, pain, privilege of calling on God, promotion, prosper, put your faith in God, ready to receive Christ, reconciled, rejoiced, respond positively, rocket science, run roughshod, sacrifice, salutations, set our sights, simple, sinners, stripes, succeed, success, take the fear out of living, talent, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the Good Book, the living God, the state of our hearts, the word of the Lord, there is hope, Thursday Blessings, too good to be true, walk sincerely, while there is life, wisdom, with God, withstand adversity
Acts 16:31, And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house (household).
Greetings and salutations friends, this Thursday morning from our heavenly father, the Most High God, Jehovah! He sends His great LOVE and new mercies so that we can handle this day successfully, if we walk sincerely with Him. That is the key to everything; walking sincerely in His will.
And I want to let us know that God is with us, the same way He was with Jesus Christ when He was here on earth, so we have the wonderful privilege of calling on Him as Jesus did. Glory be my people! And it doesn’t make sense having the privilege if we don’t use it.
So let’s set our sights to call on God, at anytime, anywhere, and for everything, because that’s what He expects of us. He wants to be involved in each and every aspect of our lives, so please don’t keep Him out of anything, even the simplest aspect of our daily living, otherwise we could be in danger of losing wonderful insights, guidance and blessings.
That’s why the Daily Bread devotional thought tells us: ‘To take the fear out of living, put your faith in the living God.’ Truth of enormous proportions my brethren! For it’s only faith that conquers fear! The world expects us to be fearful, but our God desires us to be faithful! Which are we going to chose eh?
Fear is easy, you just kowtow, give in to it and let it run roughshod over your life. Faith however calls for us to be strong, to withstand adversity, even when times look extremely bad. It calls for pain and sacrifice, even when we don’t seem to have any more breath left in our bodies. Faith says, while there is hope there is life, and with God ALL things are possible!
And that’s what we are called to as Christians; being strong and steadfast in our belief and living for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who sacrificed His only Son Jesus Christ, so that we abominable sinners could be reconciled to Him. No other faith has such a simple but moving and compelling narrative. That’s why some people think it is too good to be true. But true it is my brethren! And there’s no rocket science involved.
That’s why when Paul and Silas prayed and the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and the prison keeper went to kill himself, thinking that all the prisoners had escaped, Bruh Paul warned him. ‘Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang (ran) in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas.
And brought them out, and said, sirs. What must I do to be saved? ‘And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house (household).’ (Acts 16:28-31)
Yeh friends, that’s how simple it is. Believe, only believe in Christ and you shall be saved! It couldn’t get any simpler than that. But us complex humans think that anything so simple is of no use. Sometimes that might be right, but in this case it is definitely wrong.
And the Good Book continues after our Bit. ‘And they spoke unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat (food) before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.’ (Acts 16:31:34)
Yuh see how it easy it is to be saved friends. But it all depends on the state of our hearts; whether we’re ready to receive Christ as our Lord and Saviour or not. Obviously the jailer and his family were ready, especially after seeing the miracle that God had wrought; the jail doors being suddenly opened, and yet no one escaping. But in general, we should not look for miracles before we believe.
When the Lord calls us we should respond positively, don’t try to fight it. And I can tell you from personal experience, that when you try to fight God, or ignore Him, your life just gets harder and more miserable. I did that when He first suggested the writing of the Bit. But when He wants you, He doesn’t give up. So it’s to your advantage, when He first calls to answer, ‘Yes Lord. Right away!’ You’ll save your self some heartaches.
And yuh know what? When we truly believe, we are inordinately blessed. Let’s now declare our Thursday Blessings, enthusiastically letting the world know how wonderful it is to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. 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!’
Yeh mih breddren, that’s what you have to look forward to when you put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ! Much LOVE!
…put not your trust in humans…but in the One who first created the world…then saved it…
11 Jan 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a man lay down his life, abominable sins, actions, adopted family, adversity, almighty god, ambassadors of Christ, another day, appointed, ask of the Father, be asleep, bear good fruit, beat within my breast, believers in Jesus Christ, blessed, bounden duty, bring forth fruit, broken world, calamity, carnality, compassion, complicated, courage, creativity, curse, darkness, description of friends, divide and conquer, divided, dominate, downward slide, evil, evildoers, expensive, feeding the foul nature, fix what's broken, foul, friends, God's earth, good news, greater love, hath no man, heard of my father, hope, I command you, I have chosen you, in my name, in partnership with, in the grave, inappropriate, iniquity workers, insensitive, jehovah god, Jesus loves, killing, LOVE, love is so simple, LOVE one another, macabre, negative emotions, negative word, not ready for heaven, one I hate, one I love, ordained, overthrow, plan, precious people, problems, prosper, resentment, responsibility, ruling the world, sacrifice, self-discipline, servants, sharing the wealth, sin, sincere spirit, sinless life, success, successfully handling, talent, talk, talk's cheap, teach our children, the one I feed, Thursday Blessings, two natures, wisdom, ye have not chosen me, year of love
John 15:13. Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Oh precious people of Jehovah God, welcome to another wonderful day on His great earth! Oh I know some of us will complain and ask what’s so wonderful about the day when you are surrounded by numerous problems, adversity and calamity? But let me ask you this? Would you rather be asleep in the grave this morning?
Most of you would readily answer a big ‘NO!’ That’s because you know that once you’re alive and in partnership with Almighty God there’s always hope for successfully handling your problems. And besides, regardless of how bad earthly life might be, most of us are just not ready for the heavenly one yet. (smile)
That brings me to an interesting ad I saw on the television recently, it said: ‘Killing can be so complicated. Mary kills people.’ That’s an ad for a t.v show about Mary killing people. Hn! How much more macabre and insensitive can we get eh? When we advertise a show about killing people, what does that say about our society eh? What does it teach our children and those that come after us?
But yuh know, if we had an ad that says: ‘LOVE is so simple. Jesus LOVES people!’ There’d be a big hue and cry over it. We might never ever get the ad to air in the first place, because the t.v. masters would consider it inappropriate. So killing is appropriate, but LOVE is not.
Ah Lord eh! What a downward slide our society is on! I’m reminded of the quote I got from somewhere that tells us: ‘Two natures beat within my breast. The one is foul, the one is blessed. The one I LOVE, the one I hate. The one I feed will dominate.’
Obviously our society is feeding the foul nature, that of sin, darkness and carnality, because that’s the one that’s dominating our world right now. But friends, as we said earlier on, once we’re alive and in partnership with our Creator, there is hope to fix whatever is amiss or broken.
And that’s exactly what we are planning to do in this Year of LOVE: fix the things that are broken in this broken world with the help of Almighty God! But friends, we can only do that if ALL believers in Jesus Christ come together and seriously work together to overthrow the evildoers in our world.
If we stay divided and broken, as we are, we will be of little use, since the iniquity workers will just continue to divide and conquer us. We believers are supposed to be ambassadors of Christ, here on earth, but it’s obvious we’re not doing such a great job, if evil and hate and not LOVE and compassion are still ruling the world.
And the sad part is that so many of us have this great talk and plan to do something about it, but unfortunately only a precious few are actually doing something about it. Talk’s cheap friends, but actions are expensive and involve sacrifice, which few of us really want to offer.
But remember what Jesus did for us? He offered His sinless life as a sacrifice for our abominable sins! He didn’t have to do it, but He LOVED us so much, and wanted a better future for us that He gave the ultimate sacrifice; His godly life.
As He said so passionately to His disciples in our Bit: ‘Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ And what did He do? He went out and laid down His life for us, because He considered us His friends, and wanted us to become His adopted family.
Hear How He continues after our Bit. ‘Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you.’ (John 15:14-15)
That’s about the best description of friends you can get my brethren; sharing important stuff with others. Jesus told the disciples, and consequently us, all that the Father had told Him, which put them, and us, in a position to be His friends. But then what kind of friends are we, if we don’t do what our friend asks of us eh?
Hear Jesus again. ‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained (appointed) you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give to you. These things I command you, that ye LOVE one another.’ (John 15:16-17)
Oh fellow believers, we didn’t choose Jesus, He chose each one of us to go out and bear good fruit in His name. That means we have a serious responsibility here on earth, per doing what He commands. And one of the first and foremost, and basic commands is to LOVE one another.
Oh my people, let’s concentrate on just doing that nuh: just LOVING each other as Jesus desires and letting go of all the resentment and negative emotions and activity that currently resides in Christ’s body, the church. You’d be surprised at how life would change if we just did that. And why should that be so hard to do when Jesus has already been so generous to us in our Thursday Blessings?
Let’s declare them in loud voice and sincere spirit. ‘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, our bounden duty, as faithful believers, is to go out and share those blessings with others. Much LOVE!
…Christianity is not a society for hoarding…but of generously sharing the wealth and good news of Jesus…
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