The Overwhelming Importance of Believers truly Understanding and Living like Almighty God is Greater than Satan!

10 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   10 August 2026   1 John 4:4b.

1 John 4:4b.       greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

And we’re out and about again on a sunshiny but somewhat cloud-covered Monday, as ambassadors of Jesus Christ, anxious to spread our salt and light before the unbelievers of this evil and ungodly world, so that they can come to know and understand the valuable options of salvation and eternal life that the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus made available to all mankind.

That they would no longer have to live under the heavy yoke of Satan, the evil one, whose only desire is to turn us away from Jehovah God, to keep us in bondage to sin and darkness, to be rebellious and disobedient to God’s holy will, thus destroying our souls and ending up in eternal separation from our Creator, the worst thing that can happen to a human soul.

That’s why Jesus in His talk about being the good shepherd warns us: ‘The thief cometh not but for (except) to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10) The long and short of the story friends is that Satan is looking for company to face all the negative consequences that He will eventually face, like hell fire and damnation for a thousand years, then after being released for a short while to continue his destructive behaviour, finally being tossed into the great lake of fire and brimstone to be tormented day and night for ever. (Rev. 20: 1-10)

Oh my people, is that the way we desire to spend eternity? Obviously not, that’s why we must embrace Jesus and His salvation while resisting Satan and all his destructive schemes, or as Peter puts it: ‘Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in (experienced by) your brethren that are in the world. (1 Pet. 5:6-9)

Yes mih bredrin, all of us will face temptation, but when we trust Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we receive a built-in barrier, the Holy Spirit, that helps us to resist said temptation. But it doesn’t occur automatically; we also need to talk to and listen to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to guide us. Please note that the devil has no real power against us unless we give it to him, for the Holy Spirit has sealed us until the day of redemption, (Eph. 4:30) which means that believers are marked, owned, and secured by God through the Holy Spirit until their final salvation.  (Eph. 1:13-14)

And the wonderful thing about all of that is as John says in his first epistle: ‘Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them (false prophets): because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.’ (1 John 4:4) And that’s one thing we must never forget; Jesus, in the form of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, is greater than Satan or any of his evil cohorts in this dark world. And Satan knows that too, since He’s been defeated by Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection, and now possesses the keys to hell death and the grave.

But the evil one is optimistic if nothing else, plus he knows our penchant for the lustful things of the world and thus keeps coming back to us every so often to try to inveigle us to fall for his temptations. But here are a couple of scriptures that ought to strengthen us in the face of Satan’s attacks. Bruh Paul writes thus in his first letter to the Corinthians: ‘There has no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13)

In other words, the Lord might not allow us to escape the temptation, for whatever reason(s) He has, like testing our faith, but He will certainly give us the strength to endure said temptation. And Peter ends his talk about resisting the devil thus: ‘But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish (confirm), strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (1 Pet. 5:10-11)

So you see once we’ve accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour, we are never alone, so there’s no reason to fear the evil doers and evil schemes of this evil world, because we have the strongest trio in the universe in our corner; that’s God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. And they are so wonderful that they have invited us to come to the throne of grace at any time to find help. So, let’s do that right now through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn nuh.

Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise and thank You this Monday morning for our jobs; jobs we sometimes don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose; keeping lives and families together. We also thank You Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm You’ve wrought in our weary souls over the weekend. It’s that rejuvenation of spirit which now allows us to sally forth with confidence into the evil and ungodly world, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s evil schemes.

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing Your powerful, protective spiritual armour! We surrender our all to You, and humbly ask that You allow Your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit to lead and guide all Your servants, as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, thereby furthering Your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Amen!’

And having had that resuscitation of spirit and confidence, (smile) let’s go out and work diligently for Christ, like we ought to! Much LOVE!

…if God be for us…who can be against us eh… (Rom. 8:31)

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   26 March 2022 Matthew 4:19.

26 Mar 2022 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 4:19.      And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him.

So, finally we come to Saturday, that in-between day where you can either do plenty or nothing at all! (smile) And though many of us choose to do the latter, a lot of folks are busy doing their household chores like laundry, house cleaning and grocery shopping, things they could not do during the work week. 

That means the malls and other business places are pretty busy on a Saturday. It’s probably the worst day to go shopping, since all those who can’t do it during the week are out shopping today. And with some of the mask restrictions lifted and the weather warming up, though it’s cloudy right now, a lot of us who have been shut in for so long, will just be out there spreading our wings and learning how to fly again. (smile) 

But before you go out and spread those wings, let’s note some good information on the subject, through the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And the first one tells us that ‘Vision without a task is only a dream. A task without a vision is but drudgery. But vision with a task is a dream fulfilled.’ 

Now that seems very logical, because visions and tasks go together, one without the other is like a ship without a rudder or a sail. One guides and informs the other. As the man says, if you don’t have a practical point to your vision, then it’s only a dream, a figment of your imagination. And if you’re just doing practical stuff without a purpose or have a positive focus, then all you’re doing is mindless, uninspiring, fatiguing hard labour. 

That brings us to the next quote, which says: ‘A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done. A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.’ 

And it is the gospel truth my brethren! That’s why leaders are so important in all walks of life. They ought to possess the vision and conviction in making a dream happen, as well as the necessary ability to encourage others, to help them aspire to higher levels, and to walk with them sincerely and faithfully through the challenges, through the fire that any worthwhile dream will present before it’s successfully accomplished. 

Now that’s why there have been few real leaders down through the ages. Some have the vision and conviction, but not the leadership skills to encourage others to walk their path. Meanwhile, others have the charisma, the innate power through their speaking ability to draw followers to them, but their causes are not worthwhile and eventually go up in flames. 

But down through the ages, there’s been ONE man who stood out as a leader, who had ALL that was necessary to lead. We know Him as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The One who came down from heaven to die on the cross to atone for the sins of man, to give us the options of salvation and eternal life. He was truly a man with a vison and strong conviction on the kingdom of heaven, as well as the unerring sense to draw people to Him, to encourage them to follow in His footsteps. 

Yuh see how easy He got Peter and Andrew, two busy fishermen to follow Him. While walking by the sea of Galilee, Jesus saw them fishing, ‘And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him.’ (Matt. 4:19-20) Now that’s what you call the ability to inspire others! But a short while later, it got even better. Jesus saw James and John sitting in their boat mending nets with their father Zebedee and called them. And in response to that call, the Good Book says: ‘And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.’ (Matt. 4:22) 

Mama Yo! Without even a ‘by your leave,’ they just left their poor father and followed a man whom they didn’t know from Adam. But that’s what Jesus does to you. He inspires you to reach higher, to get better, to attain to excellence through diligence and faith in Him. And that’s why this next quote is so valuable. It says: ‘Sometimes it’s worth risking it all for a dream only you can see.’ Especially if it’s a dream that Jesus has put in your heart! 

Yes friends, many of us have dreams that others can’t see or don’t agree with, but oftentimes that dream is worth risking it all to try and accomplish. Just look at the numerous inventors, like Henry Ford with the combustible engine in a car, and Thomas Edison with electricity and his many other inventions. They thought their dreams worthwhile and risked it all. Now not everyone who does that is successful, for one reason or another, but I’m here to tell you that if it’s something Jesus puts in your heart, then He will see that it’s successful. 

And I’m talking here from personal experience. This Scrip-Bit was not my idea. Never in a million years did I ever dream that I would be writing on scripture. But the Lord broached the idea and I laughed, just like Sarah did when told she would produce a boy child in her old age. But despite my pleas that I couldn’t write on scripture because I didn’t know it, the Lord refused to take ‘No’ for an answer. Just like He didn’t take Moses’ excuse saying he stuttered and couldn’t be expected to talk to Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world at the time. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m nowhere near Moses’ class, and so the Lord didn’t get as annoyed with me as He did with Moses (smile), but He certainly kept prodding me until I agreed. Now, fifteen years later, through His awesome faithfulness, I’m writing on scripture, although I still don’t know as much as I think I ought to. But the Lord isn’t complaining, because He knows that I’m sincerely trying, and that through His encouragement, grace and mercy, I’ve come a long way since that first Bit of one scripture verse in 2007. 

And the next quote is a perfect segue: ‘Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, LOVE of what you are doing or learning to do.’ And there again, I can vouch for the truth of that quote, because it’s only through those things that I’ve reached the level I’m now at, and to grow, I must continue doing them. 

Now, in our current society, we all see a lot of people enjoying the benefits of their success and we envy them, and want to be like them, but few of us are willing to go through the hardship and pain that it takes to be successful. We like the end results but not what it takes to get there. But my people, it’s only through perseverance and hard work will we ever become successful. So, if you’re planning on being a success in anything, you’d better prepare yourself for plenty hard knocks. 

And this last quote nicely closes today’s session. ‘Raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed.’ Yes my people, each time we have success, we need to set our cap a li’l higher and climb to the next level, because staying the same place, sitting on your laurels only breeds laziness, inertia and lethargy which kill your spirit and eventually set you on the road to decline and destruction. You can see examples in the fall of all the great nations and organizations that became successful then just sat on their laurels, making no efforts to keep their standards high. 

That’s why Cousin Sol’s advice is ever so important: ‘The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.’ (Prov. 18:15) And if you don’t understand that, (smile) here is the MSG (Message version). ‘Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights.’ Yes friends, we must never stop learning, striving to be better, for when we do, we die. Much LOVE!

…the standards of a person, organization or society…say a lot about them…whether they are growing…or in decline… 

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