The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Totally Trusting and Obeying God despite the Circumstances!

20 Aug 2026 Leave a comment

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   20 August 2026   Jeremiah 7:23.

Jeremiah 7:23.        Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

And it’s another beautiful summer’s day, thus we cry out: ‘Thank You Lord!’ For we’re almost staring into the face of that unpredictable month of September, which can unexpectedly bring very variable types of weather. And though we can handle anything that comes against us because we’re children of the Most High God Jehovah, it’s desirable to have good weather as much as possible. (smile)

But instead of worrying about the weather, here’s something more important for us to be concerned about. It’s this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. Just for the fun of it, I checked out the August 20 poem and found it ever so true and worthwhile for sharing today. (smile) And it’s the first time I can remember doing a poem on the day on which it was listed. So it must be a good sign. (smile)

Anyway, the poem’s titled, ‘I Stake My Life.’ So please read with me: ‘I stake my life totally Completely Permanently On the Integrity of Jesus. Lord, Your integrity means You will do all You promised. You will see me through Every fiery furnace Every tempestuous storm. If not, dear God Then nothing in life Makes any sense whatever. Your part is to perform What You promised. My part is to trust and obey.’

And isn’t that the gospel truth! We’re to leave all the big concerns to God and simply trust and obey His will and commands. But what has me chuckling in the poem is our audacity to question the integrity of Jesus, to tell Him what it means, as though He isn’t the person who had, has, and will always have the most integrity in this universe. Instead of being concerned with Christ’s integrity we should be more concerned with our own, for integrity is not something that’s cherished by this evil and ungodly world.

In fact, the lack of integrity seems to find more favour today than the possession of it, because we’ve become such a lying, fraudulent and deceitful society that anyone who possesses any integrity is frowned upon, even laughed at as an oddity or even a fool. But there should never be any question of Jesus’ integrity, for He is the epitome of the word. and He will see us through the fiery furnace and tempestuous storm as He’s promised. Our concern ought to be believing and trusting Him, that means listening to and following this command that serves as the Bible verse for today’s poem.

Talking about the disobedience and rebellion of the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness towards the Promised Land, through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord says, He didn’t tell them anything about burnt offerings and sacrifices. ‘But this one thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.’ (Jer. 7:23)

Yes my fellow believers, that’s what we ought to be about in these trying and uncertain times; obeying the Lord’s commands so that life will be good with us! But are we doing it? Unfortunately not as much as we ought to, because we’re allowing the evil and ungodly world to seep into our consciousness and lead us astray. We’re doing exactly like the Lord said of the Israelites back then. ‘But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and the imagination (stubbornness) of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.’ (Jer. 7:24)

Now anyone with an iota of sense can see that our world is headed backward towards Satan and his evil doings, rather than forward, towards God and His good and compassionate ways. Unsurprisingly then, that word ‘compassion’ is not one that’s bandied about much in today’s society, much less having its attributes displayed on a large scale.

And what does compassion mean? This overview explains it thus: ‘Compassion is a deep awareness of the suffering of others combined with a strong wish to help them. It goes beyond simple sympathy by moving a person to take action to ease pain.’ But sadly, how many of us today, even when we see someone suffering, will go out of our way to help them? Not very many. We behave like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan; we pass by on the other side, too busy and selfish, completely absorbed only in our own affairs.

And we all know the great number of people that are currently suffering in our wealthy but evil and ungodly world, badly needing compassion, but because of the selfishness, greed and lack of Christlikeness in so many of us, they continue to suffer when they should not. And do you think the Lord will look down on us kindly if we hold those selfish and ungodly attitudes? Obviously not! Just like those Israelites who came out of Egypt, saw all the wonders God did on their behalf and yet rebelled against Him, never made it to the Promised Land, but wandered for forty years in the wilderness and then died there, likewise we will pay the price for disobedience and rebellion against Almighty God.

What’s wrong with us eh? He’s said it numerous times in His word, and we’ve seen it happen numerous times to those who disobey, but somehow or other we think it won’t happen to us, so we keep on being rebellious and disobedient. For our sakes, may the Lord have mercy and compassion on us yes! But for those of us who sincerely believe and are trying to be obedient, let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings, undeserved blessings generously bestowed on us by the Lord to do His earthly work.

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And having made that declaration, we’re now duty bound to go out and use those blessings to help others, use them just as generously as the Lord bestowed them on us, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…ours is not question why…but to trust and obey…to have faith that will not die…

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

The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Living with the Peace of God, in the Rest of God!

08 Aug 2026 Leave a comment

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   8 August 2026   John 14:27.

John 14:27.           Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

And then it was Saturday, our lazy-day Saturday. But unfortunately this second Saturday in August did not open as bright and sunshiny as the first one last week, which we spent frolicking in the sunshine in Caribana. This one’s somewhat cloudy and dreary, with a promise of afternoon rain. But as always we’ll handle it with the grace and style of Jesus that indwells us. And furthermore, what better kind of lazy-day Saturday is there than a cloudy, rainy one where you can just relax under the covers or on the couch and let the world pass by? None!

However, before we get on with the lazing around, let’s 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 we keep saying, the Lord’s greatest desire is to have deep intimacy with His children, and if our hearts were sincere when we offered up that prayer, then we’ll soon find our souls and spirits filled with the peace of God that passes all understanding. A peace that we can in no way truly comprehend or understand, because it’s a heavenly peace not a worldly one. It’s like when Jesus was informing the disciples of His going away and the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. He said to them: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27)

Yes friends, the peace of Jesus, the peace that we get when we interact with Him is of much higher quality than what the world calls peace. It’s truly peace; peace which can set you free from all worries and fears and negative circumstances, even in the midst of your topsy-turvy life. How awesome is that eh! Being able to go though difficult times and circumstances with the assurance that God will work it all out for your good in the end.

Then Jesus went on to later tell the disciples: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) There again Jesus is specifying that in Him we can find a different kind of peace than what the world offers, and in any case we don’t need to be afraid, because He’s already conquered the world through His death and resurrection; having taken aways the keys of hell, death and the grave from Satan. (Rev. 1:18)

And another valuable aspect of our faith, like the peace of God, is what we call the rest of God. It’s like this Overview explains. ‘Entering God’s rest means ceasing from your own spiritual and physical striving. You enter it by placing active faith in Jesus Christ, surrendering the need to earn your salvation through good works, and trusting God’s daily grace instead of your own control.’

And it follows from the scripture in Hebrews. ‘There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour (be diligent) therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief (disobedience).’ (Heb. 4:9-11)

The scripture is referring to the disobedience of the Israelites in the wilderness who were troubled all through their wilderness stay and died there, while the second generation who went into the Promised Land, led by Joshua, enjoyed a rest in God. Believers must therefore actively trust God through faith rather than copying the rebellious, unbelieving mistakes of the ancient Israelites in the wilderness.

And there are three basic kinds of rest in the Bible. The weekly Sabbath Rest, where we rest from work like God did in the Creation. (Gen. 2:1-3) Then there is the Promised Land Rest that we spoke of above, which the Israelites who came out of Egypt did not enjoy, because of their disobedience in the wilderness, but which their children born in the wilderness enjoyed. They found a physical home and relief from slavery and endless wandering in the wilderness; a sort of foreshadowing of a deeper security. Then there’s the Eternal Rest, the ultimate spiritual rest. The final spiritual rest available to believers. That’s being at rest with Jesus at the end of it all.

And that rest of God is nowhere highlighted better than in Jesus’ Great Invitation, where He declares to all and sundry: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (gentle and humble): and ye shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt. 11:28-30)

Oh my people, whatever kind of peace or rest you desire, you can find it all in one source; that’s in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour; the Prince of Peace and the Giver of Rest! So there’s no need to go searching anywhere else for either peace or rest. And this lazy-day Saturday is as good a day as any to ponder what we’ve spoken about and to consider our own situations as per the peace and rest of God. Much LOVE!

…there’s nothing more important or valuable in this world…than the peace and rest of God…

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