Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 December 2019 Luke 24:49.

21 Dec 2019 Leave a comment

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

Luke 24:49.    And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye (wait) in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
 
Well it’s Christmas Saturday…Thank the Lord! We down to four days now before the Big Day! And plenty people still shopping and baking and cooking and preparing the treats for the festivities, not the ole fella though. (smile) Yes, I’m just taking it easy, going along my normal slow, practical way. Oh I might lend a hand here or there, but the frustrations and busyness of the season won’t affect your humble servant. Thankfully, I’ve left all of that behind. What did Bruh Paul say about not looking back at the past, but looking forward to the future where we don’t have all the hustle and bustle! Yeh friends, that’s become my style now. I don’t get involved in all the confusion. I just relax and try to enjoy Christ in His season. (smile) 

But since it’s Saturday, let’s see what quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week nuh, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Hear this first one: ‘You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.’ And that’s oh so true friends! We don’t necessarily need to see the ending of a thing, just the beginning. And there’s the inherent physical problem that if you don’t start out, you will never get to the end. Like the Chinese Proverb says: ‘The longest journey begins with the first step.’ 

Yeh. You do have to step out, hopefully in faith to make any journey, be it long or short. And if you’re a true and faithful believer, then you have the wonderful promise that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. (Phil. 4:13) Mama Yo! How can you ever beat being a true believer with promises such as those eh? That’s why Christians ought to be the happiest and most effective people in the universe! We don’t have to be afraid of the future, but can embrace it with joy, because of all that our Lord and Saviour Jesus has done for us, beginning with His awesome incarnate birth at this Christmas season! 

Now listen to this next quote: ‘I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.’ And that should be the motto of ALL believers: be true to oneself and to one’s faith! We can certainly notice the ridicule and disdain that the world holds many of us believers in, simply because we believe and profess a lifestyle different to theirs. But if you truly believe, then you ought to stand up for your beliefs. But sadly too many of us supposed believers are scared and afraid to stand up to the world bullies for their faith in Jesus. 

That’s obviously not right my brethren, because all that does is tarnish Jesus’ name even more than it’s already tarnished. The world already considers Christians to be compromising and cowardly. It’s time we stand up strong for Jesus, and there’s no better time to do it than right now in this time of celebration, when His name is on the tongue of so many people, and they might be most receptive to Him. Remember friends, if you don’t stand strong for something, you can fall oh so easily for anything! 

Then there’s this: ‘The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.’ Now I don’t agree with the semantics of that statement, because God has destined all of us to be some kind of body, but that’s not necessarily the person we become, since so many of us don’t follow God’s will. But generally speaking, we become the person we decide to become. And if it’s within God’s will, then so much the better. But if it is outside His will,  then your life won’t ever be right. 

And I can use my own life as a testimony. Now writing the Bit never appeared in even my wildest dreams. But obviously it featured in God’s. (smile) And if I had utterly refused to do His bidding and write it, then I’m sure my life would never have been as blessed as it is now. That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on the dreams He’s placed in my heart. No, absolutely not! I still hold on to them and sincerely believe that He will bring them to pass…just in His own time and fashion. (smile) Otherwise, what’s the point in having dreams at all eh? 

That brings us to this last quote: ‘Some people have power but are powerless.’ And that is so true, especially of supposed believers in Jesus Christ! Friends, we have so much power through Christ that it’s astounding, to say the least. We can do so much because of our faith and trust in Him, but yet we remain powerless and allow the foolish Beelzebub to steal our power. Remember the quote we heard Jesus say yesterday? ‘All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.’ (Matt. 28:18) Those were the words He spoke to the disciples just before He gave them the Great Commission to go out and proselytize the world, then He ascended back into heaven. 

And Mark wrote it down thus: ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned (condemned).’ (Mark 16:15-16) And I’ll pause here to interject the scholars’ note. ‘16:16. Only faith, not baptism, is essential for salvation, as the omission of baptism from the last clause above.’ And sadly, that is indeed a rather contentious point amongst believers today, and one that unfortunately keeps the church from truly being one body in Christ. Different denominations hold different views, and it seems that never the two shall meet. But that’s a discussion for another day, just thought I’d point it out. (smile) 

Mark continues: ‘And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils (demons); they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not (never) hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.’ (Mark 16:17-18) Oh friends, we have so much power in us that we don’t use! Hear Jesus: ‘And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye (wait) in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.’ 

And the scholars’ importantly note: ‘24:49. Here is the source of strength for effective evangelism. The promise of my Father stresses that the Spirit’s coming is not an afterthought, but an integral part of God’s eternal will. Endued conveys the picture of one being clothed with God’s enablement. Waiting is part of the necessary preparation for reception of God’s guidance and sanction.’ Yes my people, that’s all so true! And it all began when the Holy Ghost came at the time of Pentecost and filled all believers with the Spirit of Christ! (Acts 2) And that all leads to the facts that there is power in the Word of God, there is power in the name and blood of Christ! 

Oh precious people of Christ, we have so much inherent power, that we ought to be walking and talking and believing powerhouses! And it all stems from Jesus! And the Good Book is filled with scriptures about power and healing and all the other stuff we’ve been granted in Jesus’ name. However, we don’t have time or space to get into them. But please, let’s spend sometime this Christmas season checking them out for ourselves nuh, so that we can use that abundant God-given power to do God’s will powerfully and abundantly in the coming year. That’s our homework for this week! (smile) Much LOVE!

…sing it out…oh there is power in the blood…power in the word…power in the name of Jesus…

Today​’s Scrip-Bit 23 March 2019 Joshua 1:8.

23 Mar 2019 Leave a comment

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

Joshua 1:8.   ​This book of the law shall not depart out of (shall be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
 
Well it’s a big Saturday morning in the springtime, but it’s cold as ever, like a puppy dog’s nose, (smile) something like minus 5 or 6 in my area. And before we go on, let’s make one thing perfectly clear, the idea that because a date on the calendar says that the Spring Equinox has arrived, does not mean it suddenly gets warm! That is pure foolishness and fallacy yes! (smile) It’s still so and so cold – all like yesterday when the wind lent its support to the cold, though it was a bright and sunshiny day! 

And the wind itself played havoc with my area yesterday, from late afternoon into the middle of the night, just howling like crazy every few minutes, having stuff creaking and clanking and whatever, leaving homeowners hopeful that no part of their houses or property got damaged by it. But it seems to have settled down now, and no serious damage seems to have been done in my area. Thank God for small mercies yes! 

Anyway, since it’s Saturday let’s take a gander at some of the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week, in his noble attempt to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And I laughed when I first read this one: ‘If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.’ I suppose that’s because we refer to opportunity as knocking on a door, and it only knocks once and that sort of thing. 

So it’s only logical to assume that if opportunities aren’t making themselves available, then the problem might be that there is no door for them to knock on. In that case the sensible thing to do will be to build a door for them to knock on! (smile) 

And the next one says: ‘I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that will not work.’ Now that is the way we have to view our mistakes and supposed failures! We can’t ever give up, or stop trying, because in truth, failure is not failure until we stop trying, and that idea is found nowhere in Jesus’ philosophy. 

So if you’re a believer, you can’t ever give up or stop trying; you’ve got to keep moving ahead, learning more about Christ and becoming more like Him every day, moving from glory to glory. Praise His holy name! 

And this next quote segues nicely with the others: ‘The secret of getting ahead is getting started.’ Yeh friends, we can’t get anywhere until we begin going somewhere! Likewise, we can’t make any progress in our projects and/or ambitions until we begin doing stuff related to them. Everybody wants to write the great American Novel, but no one will ever do so, until and unless they begin writing it. As the Chinese Proverb so eloquently puts it: ‘The longest journey begins with the first step.’ Matter fix! 

This upcoming quote is also quite relevant to our everyday lifestyle. It says: ‘To create more positive results in your life, replace ‘if only’ with ‘next time.’ So true my people, so true! We have a bad habit of saying, ‘if only so and so had happened,’ moaning about some past circumstance. But that only gets us in the negative stream of life. What we ought to be saying is ‘next time, I’ll do so and so.’ Try and keep it in the positive stream of the future. We’ll all be better for it. 

And the last quote declares (right ho): ‘Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.’ Gospel truth that my brethren! It’s like the saying goes, give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. But teach him how to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime! 

And I want to put that into perspective with the Lord’s Word: If I just tell you about it, most likely you’ll forget about it shortly thereafter. If I teach you about it, you’ll remember it for a longer period of time. However, if I involve you in the whole process, then you’ll probably learn more than in the two previous scenarios, because you are hands on in the situation, getting down and dirty with the subject matter. 

 Consequently friends, it is all well and good to go to church and hear sermons, but most of us, by the time we get in the parking lot have forgotten what the sermon was about, although we clapped and said numerous ‘Amen’s’ during it.’ And that’s no lie! (smile) Now, if we then go home and read up the scripture that the sermon was based on, we’ll have a better idea on what the pastor was talking about. 

But better still, if we sit down and begin to contemplate, meditate, think seriously on those scriptures, then eventually we will really know them. That’s the only way to truly learn the Word my brethren! We need to get totally involved in it, seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit, asking Him to talk to our hearts about it, show us how it affects or can be successfully made a part of our lives. 

Please remember friends that scripture is a guideline for our lives, and until we make it such, it will be of no real use to us. Knowing it and not putting it to use is a complete waste of time. We’ll never get ahead until we begin living our earthly lives by the heavenly values found in the Lord’s Word!  

And I have to chuckle here friends, because I’ve been writing all of the above with no thought of what scripture we could use to tie it all together. Then I went looking for something in the Good Book, asking the Lord to show me an appropriate one. For a couple minutes nothing happened; my flipping through the word produced nothing useable…

Then Bingo! It suddenly happened. The light went on, and I knew the perfect scripture for out Bit today! Oh, how can I ever doubt the Lord’s faithfulness eh? He doesn’t always make it easy, but He ALWAYS comes through! And the scripture we’re talking about is when the Lord spoke to Joshua, making him the leader of the Israelites after Moses’ death. 

‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (shall be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’  

Ah mih people, it couldn’t get any plainer and more straightforward than that nuh! And here it’s the Lord Himself speaking to Joshua; straight from the horse’s mouth as it were, not secondhand info.

And if the Lord thought it important enough for Him to personally tell Joshua about the importance of keeping the Law, then it’s obviously important for us to follow the same path, for therein we too shall be prosperous and have good success. What more needs to be said eh…? Much LOVE!

…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…else he’ll certainly feel…

 

 

Today​’s Scrip-Bit 16 March 2019 2 Timothy 4:8.

16 Mar 2019 Leave a comment

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

2 Timothy 4:8.   ​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.
 
And then it was Saturday, and the sun seems to be fighting a losing battle against the dark clouds in my neighbourhood. But thankfully, the souls of believers in Jesus Christ never have to go through that dilemma because the bright light of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is ALWAYS shining brightly in our souls! 

And all God’s children gave a loud and grateful shout of: ‘Praise the Lord! Bless His Holy Name! Give Him unending thanks for sending Jesus to save and rescue us!’ 

Yeh friends, what a blessed day that was when Jesus came to earth to save the lost and free those caught up in the bondage of sin! That’s why I can’t understand why so many of us still reject Him. But to each his own, we’ll have to bear the consequences of whatever decision we make, whether it’s the wise one to accept Jesus, or the foolish one to reject Him! 

But since it’s Saturday and we have several quotes from our friend Anselm, who sincerely aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow, let’s check them out nuh. And the first one says: ‘A year from now you will wish you had started today.’ And that’s certainly true! 

Any project you keep putting off, will come back to haunt you. You’ll find that time has gotten away from you and nothing’s been done on the project. It’s like the Chinese Proverb says: ‘The longest journey always begins with the first step.’ So it’s advisable to take that first step as soon as possible and don’t keep putting it off. 

And the second quote advises: ‘Lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at you.’ That certainly has some wisdom in it. Not all our critics or naysayers are wrong yuh know. Sometimes they do have valid points of criticism, and the wise person listens to those criticisms, evaluates them, and then uses whatever is pertinent to their particular situation. 

Granted, a lot of us just criticize for the sake of criticizing, and there’s no real value to what we say, but in many instances, there are some gems of wisdom which we can use as strong building blocks. So never just write off criticism as useless. 

 Now hear this next quote: ‘I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.’ Words of wisdom friends! We’re not superhuman, only human, and thus are subject to frailties and weaknesses, which mean we will occasionally fail at stuff we do. 

However, failure is not really failure until we stop trying! That’s the difference between success and failure; the act of not giving up! Look at our oh so technological society, how do you think we got to where we are? It’s because many inventors and investors did not give up when they originally failed. They tried and tried again until they succeeded! 

And that’s exactly what Jesus desires and expects of his followers: NO GIVING UP! Those words are not in His vocabulary at all, and should not be in ours either! So please, let’s keep on keeping on nuh, because we have ALLthe parts to do so. Jesus gave them to us when He died on the cross at Calvary to save our sinful souls and then sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us for all time! Wow! What an awesome Lord and Saviour we have! 

And in this last quote we’re called on to prove the greatness of Jesus in our lives. It says: ‘If you run, you stand a chance of losing, but if you don’t run, you’ve already lost.’ More truth from our friend Anselm! It’s like they say: ‘If you don’t have a ticket, you don’t stand a chance of winning!’ 

So if you want to win at anything, you’ve got to get into the race and run it. You might lose, but if you’re not in it, you certainly won’t win. Non-runners can’t win a race in which they don’t run. It’s as simple as that! (smile) And my fellow believers, the most important race we’ll ever have to run is the race of life that’s set before each and everyone of us, in bright and glowing colour, Technicolor, if you will (smile) because we are followers of Jesus! 

Yes my fellow believers, there’s a light that shines so brilliantly in our lives that at times it tends to blind us, especially when we escape from any dark times in which we find ourselves. It’s like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, but in our case it’s a true and sure light, that of heaven with Jesus at the end of our earthly lives…and not just for a short time, but for all eternity! And that means forever…and ever…and ever…until forever…whenever that might be! (smile) 

But seriously though friends, listen to these immortal words of Bruh Paul, his last testament to Timothy and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. ‘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) 

That’s the light at the end of the tunnel friends: a crown of righteousness from our heavenly Father, when we run our earthly race with steadfast faith and trust, and finish it with a fighting spirit, no matter how tired, bedraggled and abused our physical bodies might be! 

Ah friends, let me end by reminding us that the race of life is the greatest and most important race we’ll ever run, and the only way to win it is by running it with Jesus as your ever-present partner! That’s it in a nutshell! So please, let’s make the necessary arrangements to run our race of life with Jesus as our partner…RIGHT NOW! 

Why? Because we know not when our race will end; it could be shortly, or a long time from now, but wisdom dictates that we do it as soon as possibly, preferably RIGHT NOW, to avoid any unforeseen mishaps! Much LOVE!

…no Jesus in your race of life…means no winner’s crown of righteousness…at the end of your race…