The Necessity for Believers to Know Jesus and Become Like Him!

14 Apr 2025 Leave a comment

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

Philippians 3:10.          That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.

One more Monday, one more day of life! And those of us who are fortunate enough to have jobs to go to in these distressing and depressing times have better say ‘Praise the Lord!’ instead of complaining about the dreariness and frustration that the job might cause, for there are many who would take your jobs in a jiffy, as they have recently lost theirs in the current unnecessary purge that’s so unashamedly taking place.  And it’s only going to get worse if the powers that be don’t smarten up and make things right. 

That’s why we always have to give thanks to Jesus and stay close to Him, for He’s the ONLY ONE who can provide solace and comfort when the stormy winds of life howl around us. Yes, we ought to be saying like Bruh Paul did to the Philippians: ‘That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.’ (Phil.3:10) 

And the scholars give this explanation of that verse. ‘This verse may also be paraphrased : “In order that I may personally know Him, that I might both experience His resurrection power and share in His sufferings, and thus I will be more conformed to His death.”  Paul wants “the righteousness … of God (vs. 9) so that he can obtain a personal relationship with Jesus in actual day-to-day experience. This knowledge of Christ is obtained by experiencing in daily problems, needs, ministry, and so forth, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. 

Knowing Christ also entails participating in His sufferings. Paul desires to share in the Lord’s sufferings because they bring him into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Him; companionship in sorrow establishes the most intimate and lasting of ties, as afflicted hearts cling to each other. 

The result of participating in Christ’s suffering is that Paul is being made like Him in death. This word “death” has double meaning here, including inward and outward, ethical and physical death. As Jesus died in regard to sin on the cross, so Paul is doing more and more in his daily life. As Jesus was bodily slain, so the apostle, should Caesar’s verdict go against him, is prepared to be slain.’ 

Now, that is truly wanting to know Jesus! And thankfully, not all of us will be called to suffer on His behalf as Bruh Paul was. However, we all will have to endure some tough times if we are serious about living for Jesus. That’s just the way it is! There’s no other name in the world that can cause as much commotion and arguments than the name of Jesus. 

So, if you intend to be a true believer, then you’d better prepare yourself to go through some stuff you won’t like. But the good thing about standing up for Jesus, is that the rewards are wonderful and certainly worth the pain and discomfort we might have to endure. Remember walking with Jesus is no Sunday evening stroll in the park, but a serious battle between the forces of evil and those of good. 

Thus Peter wrote to the Jewish diaspora: ‘Beloved , think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as (to the extent that) ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached (insulted) for the name of Christ, happy (blessed) are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of (blasphemed), but on your part he is glorified.’ (1 Pet. 4:12-14) 

Yes friends, we will all suffer insults and injustices for Christ’s sake, and it’s not always easy to overlook them, but we have to, with the thought that we are suffering for His sake, and therefore glorifying Him. Consequently we need to do as Bruh Paul later said to the Philippians: ‘I press toward the mark (goal) for the prize of the high (upward) calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 3:14) That means we have to keep pressing forward, getting to know Christ better with each passing day, by meditating on the scriptures, being constant in prayer and Christian fellowship. 

So that at the end we can say like Bruh Paul said to Timothy. ‘For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure (death) is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course (race), I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that LOVE his appearing.’ (2 Tim. 4:6-8) 

Yes my faithful brethren, being a good and true disciple of Jesus is a tough nut to crack, but we can certainly do it, especially when we have the help of His Holy Spirit that indwells us. So, let’s do as we are commanded to in times of need; confidently but humbly go to the throne of grace in prayer. And we’ll do that through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. 

Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And we can see from our prayer itself, that there are some things we need to do to receive divine aid, like humbling ourselves, praying and sincerely seeking God’s face. So please, let’s be wise and get to doing them nuh, so that we will be blessed with God’s awesome grace and mercy and forgiveness! Much LOVE!

…only as we sincerely seek to be more like Jesus…will we ever become more like Him…

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

God’s Grace (Power) is More Than Enough For ALL Of Our Problems!

11 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

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

2 Corinthians 12: 9a.        And he (the Lord) said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength (power) is made perfect in weakness.

Oh friends, it’s been a weird kind of Tuesday with the ole fella; feeling good, then not feeling so good, with pains, and then without much pain. But I’ve finally figured out that I’m the source of the problem. I think I’m healthier than I really am, so I try to do too much. Now I came down here earlier on in the afternoon, prospectively to write the Bit, but after looking at the mountain of paperwork that had piled up on my desk for a couple of weeks, I decided to tackle that first. And by the time I had brought some sort of normalcy to that situation, I was in no condition to write the Bit. 

But here we are finally, better late than never, on this somewhat cloudy and chilly Tuesday afternoon. And one thing’s for sure, Mother or Father Winter is undoubtedly letting us know, that we are in the winter season with all the snow we’ve been receiving this year. They haven’t been overly big snowfalls, but we’re indeed getting snow more often than usual. We had a decent amount last Saturday night, and we’re expecting some more tomorrow and Thursday. And it’s not melting away either, like it’s done in the past few seasons. 

And I’m chuckling here now, because there’s a scripture that’s been nagging me all day, as though it’s right up my alley. (smile) It’s this response to Bruh Paul’s three requests that the Lord take away the thorn in his flesh, given to him, so that he would not be exalted above measure for the abundant revelations entrusted to him. ‘And he (the Lord) said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength (power) is made perfect in weakness.’ (2 Cor. 12:9a) 

Now why should that scripture keep nagging at me all day eh? I haven’t been given any great revelations like Bruh Paul, but I guess at some stage of the game I did ask the Lord to take away the pain, or even make it so that I could bear it. And that’s probably the answer that was finally conceded. (smile) 

However, I don’t think I have the parts like Bruh Paul to simply say: Well then or ‘Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities (weaknesses), that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.’ (2 Cor. 12:9b-10) 

Now those are interesting ruminations, and we most certainly ought to consider them if we want to be true believers, and the Lord does show up with His strength in our weaknesses, but unfortunately while the spirit might be willing, our flesh is usually too weak to appreciate those spiritual truths. Especially that one ‘for when I am weak, then I am strong.’ 

But it’s basically the same message that Peter preached to his readers, which includes us. ‘Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as (to the extent that) ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 

If ye be reproached (insulted) for the name of Christ, happy (blessed) are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of (blasphemed), but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil doer, or as busybody (meddler) in other men’s affairs. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf (matter).’ (1 Pet. 4:12-16) 

Yes friends, I know that we’re being asked to put up with a lot of unfortunate stuff, but just look at what Jesus put up with for us nuh. And we can never repay even one iota of His sacrifice. So, the least we can do is suffer some on His account, so that when He is revealed in all His splendour and glory, we will also be revealed with Him. 

As Bruh Paul wrote to the Philippians: ‘That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.’ (Phil. 3:10) Or in other words: ‘All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death.’ And though that’s not easily manifested, it is indeed a most worthy statement for ALL believers to work towards. End of Sermon! 

Now let’s go home declaring (chuh!!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

And having said that, we are now duty bound to go out and do it, so that others can come to know and LOVE Christ like we do! Much LOVE!

…suffering for Christ is not easy…but it’s expected of us…and the Lord will help us with it…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 June 2018 1 Peter 4:12.

09 Jun 2018 Leave a comment

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

1 Peter 4:12.   Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.

Well, well, well! If it isn’t Saturday; the sleep in day! No, I did not sleep in. I was just puttering around doing a few necessary things around the house before coming down to write. (smile) 

And do you really realize friends, that out of seven days, we only have one in which we can do some sleeping in; five days most of us work, and on Sunday we go to church, and most church services are fairly early. But even then, some unfortunate ones also have to get up early on Saturday to do household chores and groceries and other things that could not be done during the workweek. 

So where are all those supposed benefits from our so advanced society eh? We seem to be working more, and harder too, simply to make ends meet, and also seeing fewer benefits. 

But don’t worry my faithful brethren, if you have Jesus as your spiritual guide, Lord and Saviour, then you have all the necessary assets at your fingertips to make this life work in your favour. More on that later. 

And since it’s Saturday, we ought to take a look at the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. The first quote is certainly interesting. It advises: ‘Whatever you do, wherever you go, there will always be someone who will be unhappy with you. They might have a valid reason for it or might not, but it’s not something that you should care about.’ 

The first part is definitely true. Wherever you go, someone will always be unhappy with you over something. However, I don’t know if you should always dismiss their concerns out of hand, because some of those concerns might actually be beneficial to you. Neither should you allow each concern to overly trouble or overwhelm you. 

The wisest path seems to be to look at each situation as it arises, and judge each one on its own merit. Just note though, that nowadays people are so selfish and self-centred that they get their knickers all tied up in a knot very easily over simple nonsense. (smile) 

And the next quote says: ‘Faking is something that causes a lot of mental pain, so avoid it as much as you can.’ And I’m here to tell you that faking causes not only mental pain but can cause great physical anguish too. And it always catches up to you. It’s like your sin; it will always find you out. So please avoid it at all costs. 

Now here is the last quote, some true words of wisdom. ‘No matter how hard you try, you can’t change the past. So its better to move on in life with the lessons learned from the past instead of wasting time and energy on past.’ 

Ah friends unfortunately too many of us still dwell in the past. We let what happened before consume our lives and thus prevent us from moving on successfully to new things and people. 

However, the past, like someone once said, should be culled like a box of fresh strawberries; keep the good ones and throw away the bad ones. In other words the past is best used to enjoy the good memories and learn life lessons from the bad ones. 

And that brings us to our Bit, some rather tough, but true words from the apostle Peter. ‘Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.’ 

Yes my people, I know that is a rather difficult pill to swallow, but as true believers in Jesus Christ, we are expected to grin and bear the fiery trial, handle it with all the belly and backbone that Jesus displayed in His fiery time. And we’ll just let Peter explain why that should be so. 

‘But rejoice, inasmuch (to the extent that) as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached (insulted) for the name of Christ, happy (blessed) are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of (blasphemed), but on your part he is glorified. 

But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody (meddler) in other men’s affairs. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf (matter). For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?’ (1 Pet.4:13-17) 

And that’s a very pertinent question friends! Judgement Day is a must, and it includes those of us who have suffered for Christ’s sake in faithfulness to His word. Now can you imagine what will be the faith of those who have refuted Him and His gospel?  

Ah mih people, being a true believer is not for the faint of heart, but as we persevere, we become stronger and stronger, we grow from glory to glory. So please don’t get all upset and scared and quit as you read Peter’s words. 

The Lord has promised to give us the wherewithal to bear every trial, and if we do so in good faith, not being ashamed of Him and His word, then we will be welcomed into heaven by none other than the Father Himself, with words like these: ‘Welcome thou good and faithful servant!’ And believe me friends, heaven is the place to spend eternity! Much LOVE!

…if you suffer with and for Christ on earth…you will surely rejoice with Him in heaven…