The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Understanding the Perfectness of God’s Law and how Beneficial It is to Them!

29 Jun 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today’s Scrip-Bit   29 June 2026   Psalm 19:7.

Psalm 19:7.         The law of the Lord is perfect, converting (restoring) the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 

And one more twenty-four-hour spin of the clock brings us back to that wonderful day called Monday! Some people will take umbrage at calling Monday wonderful, but if we look at it realistically, we’ll discover that we’re alive and kicking, we have a job to go to, a fine family with a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs and food on the table, and we’re going back out to work on this Monday so we can keep all of that good stuff happening…and even possibly improving. 

Now, we’d be surprised to know how many people don’t have that opportunity to work, or the amenities we have, but don’t truly appreciate, and they would give their eye teeth to have them. So please let’s stop looking at Monday, or any other day for that matter, with distaste, because it disturbs and disrupts our poor work ethic. (smile) And are we ever so blessed here in Canada, that this will only be a four-day work week since we are celebrating Canada Day on the first of July. Wow! The week’s not only short, but we get a big celebration right in the middle of it! What more can we ask for eh? Not much. 

Today, we’ll look at a few verses from Psalm 19, titled, ‘The Heavens Declare God’s Glory.’ In the first six verses, Bruh David talks about how the heavens continually show us God’s power. It’s like the scholars explain: ‘The point of the first six verses is that the heavenly bodies are objective proof that a powerful, creative God exists. The heavens are God’s preachers in the sky who proclaim 24 hours a day the truth that God exists, and furthermore, they speak a universal language.’

Those six verses, you can read for yourself, but today we’re concerned with the next few, which tell us about God’s special revelation, His law, which Bruh David describes thus: ‘The law of the Lord is perfect, converting (restoring) the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb (the drippings of the honeycomb). Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.’ (Ps. 19:7-11)

Oh my people, you see how wonderful and valuable the law of our God is for living this earthly life! And Bruh David uses five different synonyms to describe it: law, testimony, statutes, commandment and judgement. But however you term it, in its perfection; it has the awesome power to convert or restore our souls. It’s sure, no dispute whatsoever over it’s authenticity, plus it’s able to add wisdom to the simple and unenlightened. Then it’s so right that it causes our hearts to rejoice when we contemplate it. The Lord’s law is also pure, so pure that it can enlighten the eyes, that’s open the eyes of those consumed by darkness and lack of knowledge.  

And don’t’ talk about the fear or reverence of our great God; that is clean and endures forever! Meanwhile His judgements, or justice are always true and righteous. Furthermore, God’s law also warns us when we’re doing wrong, better still, keeping God’s law, offers plenty rewards. Oh friends, the law of our God is so precious and desirable that it’s more desirable than gold, and it’s even sweeter than honey, or the drippings of the honeycomb! Wow! Can you imagine that? Most likely not, otherwise we would be obeying His law much more than we’re currently doing, and our world would not be in such a state of chaos and uncertainty.

That’s why Bruh David continues: ‘Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from my secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great (much) transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength (rock), and my redeemer).’ (Ps. 19:12-14) That’s all a sinful man can ask.

And the scholars explain those last verses thus. ‘The man of faith can respond only with a prayer that he be kept from both hidden sins (vs. 12) and willful sins (vs.13); and that even what he thinks may be pleasing to the Lord.’ And that’s the truth; we can’t keep the law without God’s help, and in His awesome generosity, He’s invited us to approach the throne of grace in confidence and humility to seek His divine aid in troubled times. And we are in troubled times right now, so let’s take Him up on His offer through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.

Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise and thank You this Monday morning for our jobs; jobs we sometimes don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose; keeping lives and families together. We also thank You Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm You’ve wrought in our weary souls over the weekend. It’s that rejuvenation of spirit which now allows us to sally forth with confidence into the evil and ungodly world, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s evil schemes.

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing Your powerful, protective spiritual armour! We surrender our all to You, and humbly ask that You allow Your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit to lead and guide all Your servants, as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, thereby furthering Your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And if our prayer was sincere, God will keep His promise and do what we asked. Then it’s up to us to keep our promise by going out and successfully engaging the enemy in battle! Much LOVE!

…if we only took the Lord’s law seriously…our lives and our world…would not be in such a disastrous state… 

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

The Overwhelming Importance of OBEDIENCE in a Believer’s Life!

04 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 John 5:3.       For this is the LOVE of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (burdensome).

Well friends, it’s a sunshiny, chilly, windy and white lazy-day Saturday! The snow’s not an awful lot, but enough to make life difficult if you choose to venture out. So, it’s as good a time as any to stay home…unless you really have to go out. Stay home, look out your window, and admire the bright sunshine reflecting off of the beautiful snow. And snow is definitely beautiful… that’s before it comes into contact with man. But that’s no surprise, since man spoils and destroys everything he touches. 

Anyway, enough with man’s negative touch, let’s get positive and offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with all sincerity and truth. As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And as always, if we’re sincere in our prayer, then the peace and calmness of God soon begins filling our hearts, minds, bodies and souls. That’s the awesome power of sincere prayer! And hopefully, in this new year of 2025, we will all rise to a new level of sincerity in our prayer, since we’ve made it our New Year’s resolution to grow in spiritual maturity and gain a greater intimacy with our most wonderful God! And it all begins with sincerity of prayer and a faithful, willing and obedient heart. 

Yes friends, living for Christ is all about obedience! And what’s obedience eh? It’s basically compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority. Or, as another definition puts it: ‘Obedience is behavior that’s respectful and mindful of rules and laws.’ And that’s it; obedience is doing the appropriate thing in the appropriate manner, at the appropriate time. (smile) 

And according to one commentary, there are four basic kinds of obedience: ‘Obedience done out of fear of punishment. Learned obedience, formed out of habit taught by parents or society. Transactional obedience for the blessings, benefits, and rewards. Obedience performed as a responsibility of duty, obligation, and faith.’ And I guess our obedience to God can be a combination of the last three, because we are taught it by our parents, we do it to receive rewards and blessings, and it’s a responsibility of our faith. 

But enough with definitions, let’s see what the Lord’s Word says about obedience. And brother, there are indeed so many scriptures that speak about the subject, that we can only consider a few. However, let’s first note this important point; obedience is the key to unlocking the promises of God. Let’s never forget that! Unless we are obedient to God’s will, we will never unlock the promises and blessings He has in store for us. 

And it all begins very early on, as the children of Israel journeyed through the wilderness to the Promised land, with Moses informing them thus: ‘And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.’ (Deut. 28:1-2) 

Oh my people, it could not be any clearer than that! And Moses goes on to list blessings from verse 3 to verse 14. However, he listed curses and misfortunes for disobedience from verse 15 to verse 68. Now that surely tells us how important obedience is in the Lord’s sight. And the basic commandments were given to them at the foot of Mt. Sinai when Moses came down with the two tablets of stone written on by the Lord, containing what we call The Ten Commandments, which we can find in Exodus 20:1-17. 

And if you look at them, they are not really hard to obey, as John tells us in his first epistle: ‘For this is the LOVE of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (burdensome).’ (1 John 5:3) But with our sinful and prideful nature, we take umbrage at obeying some of them. But that’s only to our own detriment. And if our society were to follow those same Ten Commandments today, it would be such a wonderful place. 

And please note that every time the Israelites veered from those commandments, they suffered terrible misfortune; wars, captivity, plagues, etc. etc. And when they came to their senses, repented and turned back to God, He blessed them again. This is just to say, that maybe, if we repent and turn back to God, He will bless us, and our world would not be as strife and disaster filled as it is. For there is absolutely no doubt that we have turned away from God, so far away, that we are attempting to totally remove Him for our society. Which anyone of faith knows is impossible! 

And Jesus also said it loud and clear to the disciples, and consequently to us: ‘If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments.’ (John 14:15) It’s as simple as that! And it’s obvious by our lack of obedience that we don’t LOVE Him! Meanwhile, Bruh Paul admonishes us in Romans 6, when he writes: ‘Know ye not, that to whom ye yield (present) yourselves servants to obey, his servants (slaves) ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.’ (Rom. 6:16) Yes, we’re either slaves to Satan which leads to eternal death, or obedient to the Lord, which leads to eternal life. 

And remember when Peter and the other apostles were imprisoned and beaten by the Jewish leaders and severely warned to stop preaching Christ crucified, what was their answer? ‘Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.’ (Acts 5:29) Now that would be such a welcome sight in this society, if more of us would begin obeying God more than men. 

And there’s no better example of obedience that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Listen to Bruh Paul as he writes to the Philippians. ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made of himself no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (emptied himself of all his privileges): 

And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) things in heaven, and (those) things in earth, and (those) things under the earth;  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil. 2:5-11) 

Oh my fellow saints, Christ was the very example of obedience! Do you think He really wanted to go to the cross and experience that terrible ‘sufferation’ for our abominable sins? No! But because the Father desired it, He became obedient and did it. And yuh see the rewards He received for that obedience? A name higher than any other name, at which every knee must someday bow! In light of all that, why can’t we sacrifice a little more and be obedient to God’s commands eh? Remember, it’s all for our benefit, not His! Much LOVE!

…though he were a son…yet learned he obedience…by the things he suffered… (Heb. 5:8)  

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today​’s Scrip-Bit 31 March 2019 Isaiah 53:7.

31 Mar 2019 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Isaiah 53:7.   ‘He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.’  
 

Aye friends, just a gentle reminder that this is vacation time so the Bit will not always be early or even at the same time every day. (smile) It all depends on where I have to go or what needs to be done. So please don’t feel badly, or take umbrage, if it shows up at all weird sorts of times. 

Anyhow, we done late already this Sunday morning, or rather afternoon; had to go to church and then fellowship afterwards, then come home and eat some of the breakfast stuff I bought at church, bake and saltfish, then rest. Yuh know the rest is essential for the ole fella these days. (smile) 

So let’s go directly to our song of praise and worship. It’s one of my favourite hymns from my boyhood days, and as I was resting there a while ago contemplating what song we’d sing today, the Lord reminded me of that one and requested it. And it’s obvious I could not refuse His request. (smile) 

It’s titled ‘There is a green hill far away.’ It was written many moons ago by Cecil Frances Alexander (nee Humphreys) (1818-1895), the Anglo-Irish hymnodist and poet. And just for your info, she apparently also wrote that other popular hymn ‘All things bright and beautiful,’ and the Christmas Carol, ‘Once in Royal David’s City.’ 

So let’s now sing those fateful and true words of ‘There is a green Hill far away,’ like if we really mean them nuh, because in another few weeks, on Good Friday, we ‘re going to be truly celebrating the sad and sorrowful but oh so necessary and important demise of Christ on that cross in a far away land! 

All together in strong, sweet, harmonious voices: ‘There is a green hill far away, Without a city wall, Where the dear Lord was crucified, Who died to save us all. We may not know, we cannot tell, What pains he had to bear, But we believe it was for us He hung and suffered there. He died that we might be forgiven, He died to make us good, That we might go at last to Him, saved by His precious blood. 

There was no other good enough To pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gate Of heav’n and let us in. Oh, dearly, dearly has he LOVED! And we must LOVE him too, And trust in his redeeming blood, And try his works to do.’ 

Yes my faithful brethren, we cannot doubt those truth bearing words of Cecil Frances Alexander, because without the redeeming deeds of Jesus we’d still be living in darkness and headed for Hades at the end of this miserable earthly life. But all thanks and praise be to God the Father, who sent Him, and to Jesus, God the Son, who obediently went to the cross to die for our abominable sins which had kept us very removed from the holy and righteous Jehovah God! 

Ah mih people, I don’t know about these words of Frances nuh: ‘We may not know, we cannot tell, What pains he had to bear,’ because the Good book plainly states them; lashes with a cruel whip, taunting and jeering and spitting, a crown of thorns pressed down upon his head, then made to carry His cross through Jerusalem like a common thief, then to make matters even worse, nailed to that cross between two common criminals after being speared in the side and His clothes auction off by casting lots! 

So don’t tell me we don’t know what pain He had to bear, because it was immense and inhumane! But it definitely was for us that He underwent that horrific ‘sufferation!’ No doubt about it! As Isaiah had foretold eons before that terrible day at Golgotha: ‘He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.’  

Yes friends, Jesus did it all for us on the basis of LOVE which personifies the Father, and also to bring to reality, the magnificent and ever-faithful promise of the Father, as Isaiah also prophesied when talking about the Lord’s servant. ‘Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect (my chosen one), in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgement (justice) to the Gentiles. 

He shall not cry (cry out), nor lift up (raise his voice), nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking (dimly burning) flax shall he not quench (extinguish): he shall bring forth judgement (justice) unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgement (justice) in the earth: and the isles (coastlands) shall wait for his law.’ (Is.42:1-4) 

And so said so done, my people! In fact it’s not quite done as yet, because Jesus has to return to clean up the mess that’s the earth today. As the scholars explain: ‘The ministry of the Servant of the Lord will be to bring forth judgement or justice to the Gentiles and in the earth. His kingdom knows no barriers of nationality or race. Of all the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah saw this fact most clearly. While Jesus’ early ministry was to the house of Israel, His ultimate commission extended to the Gentiles as well.’ 

And just for our info, the New Testament quotes this prophecy as being fulfilled in Jesus in Matt.12:18-21. Please check it out. (smile) So what’s the long and short of the story my people? Christ died that our sins might be forgiven, He paid the price that ONLY He could pay with His precious, sinless blood, so that we could be reconciled to the Father and thus have the wonderful option of enjoying eternal life in the company of the Triune God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! 

Ah friends, it was not an easy row that the Father gave Jesus to hoe, but He did it obediently because He LOVED both the Father and us. Consequently, our response to all of that should be exactly what we sung in the hymn above: ‘Oh, dearly, dearly has he LOVED! And we must LOVE him too, And trust in his redeeming blood, And try his works to do.’ Nuff said! Much LOVE!

…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…otherwise the consequences will be…extremely disastrous…