Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 June 2017 Psalm 119:34.

30 Jun 2017 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 119:34.   Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

Awright mih people, one of the biggest, if not the biggest weekend of the year is upon us! Wow! We’re talking about the one hundred and fiftieth birthday of this great country called Canada! Glory to God my people! For it’s only with God’s help that we’ve come so far! 

Yeh friends, tomorrow, the first of July, the BEST BIG COUNTRY in the world will be 150 years old! Oh, I know that in terms of age, it’s very young compared to many others, but its spirit is overwhelming! 

So you can just imagine how the ordinary workingman is carrying on this weekend. ‘Oh, Mama Yo! TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui! But this is an extra special weekend, because we big country Canada, is a hundred and a half! 

Oh brother, the partying will be big…an beautiful…an loud…mas like crazy…with everybody ramajaying deh body…just jumping and shouting…Happy Birthday Canada! Ah just can’t wait to get started nuh! Oh thank God for Fridays and them kinda weekends like this one yes!’ 

Yes mih breddren, my sentiments exactly, but unfortunately we can’t afford to let down our hair too much and cater to the carnal lust of the flesh that comes out in these joyful situations. 

And I would certainly be amiss if I didn’t remind us of Granny’s wise warning: ‘Sonny boy, drunk or sober, please, ah beg yuh, please mind yuh business this weekend!’ 

And we couldn’t get any better advice for this national party weekend friends, because when we let it all hang out, the enemy can easily get a toehold, even a foothold, in our lives. And we definitely don’t want that to happen. 

So here’s how the average Christian ought to play it out. Please join me as we declare our Friday Chant. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. 

Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ 

Yeh, I know it sounds staid and stuffy in comparison to the workingman’s song, but it’s the safe and right attitude to adopt if we want to keep our righteousness intact. Nobody’s saying we can’t party, but we just have to do so within certain boundaries, since getting outside of them can cause serious heartache and numerous problems with everlasting consequences. 

So now that all the warning is done (smile), let’s turn to our Bit, which helps us handle the warnings, as we sincerely ask the Lord: ‘Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.’ 

Now that’s a very good request, but please note that it’s a big and often times tough one to handle, for it comes with the serious promise at the end. We’re promising to sincerely observe God’s law if He helps us to understand it. 

Remember the wise words of Cousin Sol in Ecclesiastes. ‘When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.’ (Eccl.5:4-5) 

And that goes for not only vows to God, but promises to each other in this lying, fraudulent and selfish world. However, if we are sincerely looking for understanding of God’s law, He will graciously grant it to us. 

As Cousin Sol so wisely expatiates early on in Proverbs. ‘Yea, if thou criest out after knowledge (discernment), and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear (reverential awe) of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. 

For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up (stores up) sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler (shield) to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgement (guards the paths of justice), and preserveth the way of the saints.’ (Prov.2:3-8) 

Oh my people, yuh see how willing our great God is to grant us wisdom and understanding if we come asking for it in all sincerity and truth! 

And don’t worry, don’t be afraid, for the Lord expects us to make mistakes along the way. We just have to ensure that our motives and our hearts are right when He searches them. 

So let’s be brave and courageous today nuh, and ask for whatever we know is right, whatever we need, to help us live a truly godly life. Our God will NEVER turn us down, once it is in accordance with His will. Much LOVE!

…without God’s help…we can never truly understand His law…

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 July 2014 Isaiah 61:3

01 Jul 2014 Leave a comment

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

Isaiah 61:3.       To appoint unto (console) them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. 

                                      HAPPY  BIRTHDAY  CANADA !’

Yes Friends, today is our Birthday in this fair and blessed land! One hundred and forty seven years young are we! Young by the standards of many other counties… And we still looking good too! Glory Hallelujah!

Yes my people, as I keep on saying, Canada is the BEST BIG COUNTRY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD! Wow! So let’s try and keep it that way nuh Friends. And please note that it didn’t get to be that way by chance, but by choice! By the rule of common sense, law, diligence, hard work and trust and faith in Almighty God!

And it will only stay that way if we continue to do what’s right in the eyes of the Lord. Unfortunately though my brethren, we’re falling behind some, because we’re lowering our standards, and that’s never a good thing, because the best of anybody or anything is usually the one with the highest all-round standards.

So let’s celebrate, but at the same time take stock of what we’re doing nuh, and try to come up higher, in both civic and godly responsibility. That’s the only way we will remain at the top of the heap!

And please, please, as we celebrate this bountiful day, let’s remember Granny’s wonderful words of wisdom: ‘Sonny boy, drunk or sober, mind yuh business!’ (smile) I know it sounds clichéd, but that’s because it’s the awesome truth!

Anyway, enough preaching, (smile), here is the chorus of one of my favourite reggae, no just favourite songs, ‘Beauty for Ashes’ by Jermain Cowan. I heard it yesterday, and it so touched my heart – it does every time I hear it – I just had to share it, because the words and sentiments are so beautiful and true.

It says: ‘Beauty for ashes, In a shower of grace. Hope for tomorrow, It’s a bright and brand new day! He took away my sorrow, Put a smile on my face; Beauty for ashes, In a shower of grace.’

Oh mih breddren, mih breddren, how true that is of our great God; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

And it’s only appropriate that we should use that wonderful promise of our wonderful Deity as our Bit on this birthday of Canada. Listen to the prophet Isaiah as he declares the good tidings of salvation to Zion, prophesying of the coming of Jesus.

‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek (poor); he hath sent me to bind up (heal) the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn;

To appoint unto (console) them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.’ (Is.61:1-3)

Yes my people, it’s all for the Lord’s glorification! Let’s never forget that. In all we do, we ought to be thinking about glorifying our heavenly Father, for that’s one of the purposes He made us to fulfill. And if we are obedient to Him, we will enjoy innumerable blessings!

But Friends, the operative word here is ‘obedient.’ Our God is generous, LOVING, kind, merciful and all those other wonderful things, but he desires obedience of His people in return. And that sadly is why we are now experiencing our current state of ashes.

In the last couple of generations, obedience to Almighty God has simply gone by the wayside, but yet, foolishly, we still expect Him to bless us abundantly and be oh so merciful to us. Steups! That’s a fool’s wisdom my people!

Yuh see what He did to Sodom and Gomorrah, in whose footsteps our current world order is now marching? So what else but destruction can we expect if we continue along that pathway of disobedience eh? Too many of us take the serious pronouncements of the Bible as a joke, or old time stuff that no longer applies.

But Friends, I’m here to tell us that God doesn’t joke with, or in His Word, neither does He ever change. What He says stays the same forever. He is a God of justice and righteousness first and foremost!

And there is no better example of that than His sending His only son Jesus to die as a sacrifice for our abominable sins. He could just as easily have pardoned our sins, but because of His just and righteous nature, a price had to be actually paid for it, otherwise He would have forfeited that just and righteous acclamation.

So Friends, please don’t listen to all the crap the world’s throwing at us, for our continual disobedience to God will cause a hefty and significant price to be paid at some time or other. The Good Book doesn’t lie, and there are oodles of examples of nations and societies that rose to glory on the shoulders of God, then conveniently forgot Him when they became strong, but subsequently perished as a result of their disobedience.

Now let’s go home with some pleasant and thankful words from Bruh David, from Psalm 30 – A thanksgiving for deliverance from death. ‘Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. I cried to thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication.

What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit (grave)? Shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth (the sackcloth of my mourning), and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory (soul) may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.’ (Ps.30:7-12)

Yes Friends, let’s go forth and stop being silent! Instead, let’s sing the Lord’s continuous praise, as we walk in continual obedience to His everlasting will. There can be no higher wisdom than that! Much LOVE!

…as Uncle Charles (Charles Stanley) likes to say…the best way to live this earthly life…is to simply obey God…and leave all the consequences to Him…and that’s gospel truth my people…

P.S. Friends, it’s long and late, but what else can you expect on this Canada Day eh? (smile). It’s good though!

 

                                                          

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 December 2012 2 Timothy 2:1

07 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2 Timothy 2:1.     Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.’

Oh Friends, it’s Friday, and I’m hearing more ‘TGIF’s’ and “Thank God it’s Friday’ than I’ve heard for a little while. I guess we’re all beginning to catch ourselves and regain our joy after all the natural disasters we’ve recently suffered. It’s also the Christmas season, when we celebrate the most important birth ever, that of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and that’s always a joyful time. Today, December 7th, is also an important day in my life, because it marks the 40th anniversary of when I stepped off a plane at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, to begin life as a Canadian. But just imagine that nuh! It’s been forty, long, hard, but interesting years I’ve lived in the cold North Country. Wow! If you’d told me when I landed that cold December day in 1972, that I’d still be here after forty years, I would have laughed and said you were crazy. But here I am, after all that time, and though Canada has been somewhat rough, what with the weather and all the other inconveniences of life, it has taught me a lot, things that I might not have learned had I stayed in the West Indies. I now know, that if I can survive and prosper here, I can do the same anywhere in the world. And though Canada is slipping, like so many of the developed countries, it’s still the BEST big country in the world! Way to go Canada! And all God’s Canadian people said a loud and grateful ‘Amen!’ The major problem though is that too many of us believers are sitting on our fat, comfortable fannies, enjoying the laurels of yesteryear, expecting them to last forever, without any more hard work or sacrifice. But Friends, I’m here to tell us that only hard work and sacrifice keeps us at the forefront of anything, be it a simple game or a big country. And to help us remember that, and to write it in the depths of our souls, where we need it most, let’s chant our Friday Chant, with much gusto. As one loud, harmonious voice now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ Oh my people, hopefully that will help us be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, as Bruh Paul tells Timothy in our Bit: ‘Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.’ And my brethren, we need to do just that, if we truly desire to follow Jesus and enlarge His righteous kingdom. In part, this entails: ‘And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.’ (2 Tim.2:2) And though that’s a very worthwhile task, it’s never easy, for we’ll experience opposition once we speak the name of Jesus, as He says in John 15:20. Oh my people, especially in these most wicked and sinful end times, we badly need endurance, perseverance, fortitude, plenty belly and backbone to be able to stand strong and do Jesus’ work. As Bruh Paul tells Timothy: ‘Thou therefore endure hardness (hardship), as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.’ (2 Tim.2:3) Now that is an area in which I believe we’re seriously falling down. Christians these days are a bit too comfortable in, and preoccupied with the ways and material wealth of this ungodly world. We’re also too lethargic when coming to proselytizing, finding all sorts of mamby pamby excuses for why we’re not doing a better job for Christ. But please note Bruh Paul’s reminder to Timothy. ‘No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.’ (2 Tim.2:4) That means fellow believers, we cannot afford to get caught up in the trifling, mundane, petty, greedy, envious, ungodly, war-like affairs of this world. We need to keep our eyes of faith steadfastly focused on Jesus and the job He’s called us to do. ‘Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evildoer, even unto bonds (chains); but the word of God is not bound (chained). (2 Tim.2:8-9) Bruh Paul is here citing examples of two people, Jesus and himself, who suffered real hardship for the cause. And though most of us will never be asked to withstand the hardship and pain those two endured, we will all be required to come up better that we’re currently doing. To improve our work for Christ, means we also have to improve our knowledge and understanding of His mission. Just like in other aspects of life, believers are expected and need to grow daily in knowledge and understanding of the Word. A stagnant, non-growing believer is to all intents and purposes, a dead believer. That means we have to learn to do as Bruh Paul says in verse 10. ‘Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s (chosen ones) sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.’ (2 Tim.2:10) Yes Friends, we the saints of glory in Jesus Christ, have to bear our burdens in this evil, corrupted world with patience, endurance and perseverance, which we can only do with the help of the Holy Spirit that indwells us, plus diligently committing the Word to our hearts and minds, and glorifying God with much prayer, praise and thanksgiving. As I keep saying, walking strong with and for Jesus, is not an easy row to hoe, but when we do it with joy and gladness, it’s certainly interesting, exciting and adventurous. So today, let’s all take stock of our soldiering on Christ’s behalf, and then make whatever changes are necessary to improve it. Only then will we be walking the true and fruitful path to freedom, salvation and eternal life. Much LOVE!…working for Jesus is difficult…but the rewards are definitely worth it…