Bringing Light to a Darkened World: The Purpose of Jesus’ Gospel | Podcast Available

13 Jun 2024 Leave a comment

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

John 8:12.        I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

And then it was Thursday, the penultimate day of our work week. Another week of the month, of the year, of our lives behind us… And did we do anything in it that will leave a good legacy behind us for others to contemplate and possibly follow? For all our sakes, I surely hope so, (smile) otherwise it would have been just another wasted week in our wonderful, God-given lives. Ah friends, too many of us waste our lives either doing nothing or doing stuff that’s not really worthwhile, while God has a plan for us to do good work for His kingdom. And many of us shy away from doing God’s work, from putting His plan for our lives into action because we’re either sacred of failure, or find that God’s plan might be too big for us to handle. 

But remember friends, God NEVER asks us to do anything without giving us the necessary tools, the wherewithal, the anointing to do it. But we have to dredge up the conviction, the faith, the belief that we can do it, otherwise all the anointing will be of no use. We need to remember all the promises He’s made us, and all the times before when He’s helped us through whatever project He had assigned. That’s one of the most important faith builders in our Christian walk; remembering all the previous times when God saw us through whatever problems we encountered, and believing that if He could do it before, He can certainly do it again. 

Oh my people, the onus to make something of our lives is not on God, but  on us. He gives us whatever we need, shows us the way, then we have to get up and action the situation. And yes, it oftentimes takes a lot of faith to do stuff in the face of adversity, but the Lord has sincerely promised  to never leave nor forsake us, and since we full well know that He’s not a God who reneges on any of His promises, then we should have the gumption to get up and do His will. But laziness…and fear…the need for comfort…etc. etc. keep us from exercising our faith. 

Unfortunately though, when we fail to react positively to God’s will, it leaves the way completely open for the devil and his evil cronies to pile more evil into our world, enslave more of our brethren into the depths of darkness that the evil doers like to keep their captives in. And that’s against the very reason that Jesus came to earth. As He says in the gospel of John: ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’ (John 8:12) And Jesus’ coming was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: ‘The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.’ (Is. 9:2) 

Then later on in John’s gospel Christ reiterated His purpose of bringing light to a darkened world when He cried out to the unbelieving people, some of whom believed in Him, but were afraid that the Pharisees would put them out of the synagogue if they showed their faith, for they LOVED the praise of men more than the praise of God. ‘Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.’ (John 12:44-46) 

Oh friends, Jesus did not come to earth to do His own will, but that of the Father, that means when we refuse to get up and do God’s will we are thwarting the very reason Jesus came into the world; to save it from the evil powers of darkness, and bring it into the bright and shining light of God the Father. Sin has caused our world to become a dark and frightening place with nothing good to ever come out of it. However, Jesus came to change all of that, to bring light to a darkened world, and we are a part of His plan to do so. 

Consequently, He’s depending on us to get up and help Him spread the good news of His gospel and bring the many captives and slaves of darkness into the bright light of His kingdom. Remember what He said: ‘As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ (John 9:5) But once He left this world, He expects His followers; apostles, disciples or whatever you choose to call them to continue being the light and continue spreading the truth of His word. That’s why He also said in the Sermon on the Mount: ‘Ye are the salt of the earth…Ye are the light of the world… Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt. 5:13, 14,16.) 

Yes my fellow saints, that’s our basic purpose on this earth; to spread the light of Christ through His gospel, His word of truth. And when we refuse to do it, regardless of the reason, we effectively short-circuit the entire operation, for each chain is only as strong as its weakest link. So please, let’s wake up and stand up for Christ, the way He stood up for us! And as I said earlier on, God doesn’t ask us to do anything without giving us the wherewithal to do it, and He’s generously blessed us with the very tools we need to do His earthly work. We call them our Thursday Blessings. So let’s declare them (chuhhh!!!) so they can be activated. 

Altogether: ‘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!’ 

Now, with those amazing blessings under our belts, it’s our duty to go out and share them with others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us, so that they can come out of their darkness into the light of Jesus, and come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…where light shines…darkness is displaced…and it only takes a li’l light to displace much darkness…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   20 December 2023 Psalm 119:176.

20 Dec 2023 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 119:176.       I have gone astray, like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.

And then it was Wednesday, the second-wind day of our work week, but unlike yesterday, today has more cloud than sunshine, however it’s dry. And one out of two is never bad! (smile) We are also late,  because on most Wednesdays at ten a.m. I go to a small church service lasting about half an hour, consisting on average of around seven people. But it’s a close knit and cozy gathering, without a lot of church rhetoric, more like a discussion group, although we do pray for those who’ve asked the church for prayers, and receive communion. 

And believe me, I sometimes get more out of that small gathering than the big, church service. But that might just me, with my contrary self. (smile) And after that, I had to run around and do a couple of errands before coming home, which made me even later. But here we are at last. (smile) Anyway, enough palaver, let’s get down to brass tacks. Now,  today, we’re going to look at a rather appropriate verse of scripture for these trying and ungodly times. It comes from the longest chapter in the Good Library, Psalm 119. And the verse most expressively and wisely says: ‘I have gone astray, like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.’ (Ps. 119:176) 

And that, my fellow believers, is something that could be said about many of us in these difficult and mind boggling times. Many of us, for whatever reason(s) have gone astray like lost sheep, but deep down in our hearts the Lord’s commandments are still there. We’re just not following them. Consequently, the psalmist, because he’s recognized his mistake, is asking the Lord to search for Him, like a shepherd goes out and looks for a lost sheep, and so bring him back to His fold. 

Oh my people, many of us could surely benefit from that prayer; asking the Lord to search for us and bring us back to Him. Remember what Isaiah said on the subject. ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ (Is. 53:6) Yes, that’s a very good description of our current society. Everyone, including believers, is intent on doing his or her own thing. That’s just the way of today’s world. Rules and regulations are bypassed without even a bat of an eyelash. We seem to truly believe the saying that rules were made to be broken. No wonder our world is in such chaos, for where law and order don’t exist, or are not treated as important, then chaos will prevail, as it’s certainly doing in numerous parts of our groaning planet earth. 

Cousin Sol said it this way in Proverbs: ‘Where there is no vision (prophetic vision or revelation) the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov. 29:18) And that’s exactly what’s happening today; there’s no prophetic vision or revelation in our society; God’s Word, His moral law, is not recognized by many, and that’s what keeps a society balanced and on the right path. Consequently, if God’s moral law is being disdained and refuted, as Cousin Sol so wisely says, the people will perish. And that’s exactly what’s happening to us right now, we’re perishing, because we have cast off any restraint we had when we followed God’s moral law. 

But the good news my people, is that there’s still hope for us. That old saying, where there’s life there’s hope,’ is oh so true! And most importantly, please remember that we have a Good Shepherd, who is totally interested in us and our whereabouts. His name is Jesus Christ, and in a few days, at Christmas we’ll be celebrating His magnificent incarnate birth. However, when He became a man, He made these bold bit true and faithful statements per our safety and protection. ‘I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth is life for the sheep.’ (John 10:11) Then, He went out and did just that; died of us on the cross at Calvary. 

He also said; ‘I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of them.’ (John 10:14) Yes friends, Jesus knows who belongs to Him, and we ought to know that we belong to Him, for He bought us with the price of his precious blood which flowed on Calvary’s hill. (1 Pet. 1:18-19) 

And furthermore, Jesus acknowledged His shepherd’s duties and values towards us, when He told this parable of the lost sheep. ‘How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which was gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth the more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.’ (Matt. 18:12-14) 

How wonderful is that my fellow saints! Our heavenly Father doesn’t want any of us to perish, but we must take the proactive action and seek Him out. He’s always there, but the choice has to be ours; we must want to be a part of His fold. He will never refuse us, but neither will He force us to accept Him against our will. He’s always cognizant of our whereabouts and our state of mind, body and soul, and lurking just in the background, anxiously waiting for our cry for help, so He can quickly jump in and restore us to the beautiful relationship He’s planned for all of His children. But please remember, that although sometimes God invites us, the onus is on us to make the connection, and/or accept the invitation. That’s why He gave us free will. 

And having straightened out those matters, (smile) let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our most wonderful position in Christ Jesus. Altogether now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And it’s also been faithfully promised that those who endure with Jesus down to the very end, will enjoy an even more glorious future than they can ask or imagine! Wow! Hope to se you there! Much LOVE!

…if you’re lost and want help…please cry out to the Good Shepherd…He’ll be there in a jiffy… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ