Today’s Scrip-Bit   21 August 2022   1 John 4:18.

21 Aug 2022 Leave a comment

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

1 John 4:18.        There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casteth out fear: because fear hath (involves) torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in LOVE.

It’s Sunday once again my people! That means it’s gathering time. Gathering time to celebrate the Lord’s Day with praise and worship, with thanksgiving and joy in the fellowshipping of His people. Sunday is always such a great day, because it’s the day we get serious and come together to sing and dance before the Lord, with spiritual joy, like Bruh David did when he brought the ark of the Covenant home to Jerusalem. (smile) Yes friends, the Good Book tells us: ‘And David danced before the Lord with all his might, and David was girded with a linen ephod (an apron worn by the high priest in sacred Hebrew rites).’  (2 Sam. 6:14-22) 

And we’re going to open that singing and dancing today with a fairly new worship song, one written in this 21st century, and made popular by the American Gospel Artist, Tasha Cobbs. It’s aptly titled ‘ No longer a Slave to Fear.’  And that’s how we should definitely be thinking of and seeing ourselves. No longer enslaved by the enemy’s hold of sin and fear, but now, thankfully servants and children of God. So let’s raise our voices in sacrificial praise, in a soulful, mid-tempo version of the song. And please, please, let’s sing it like we really mean it nuh. 

In loud, harmonious voice, let’s open with the chorus a couple of times. ‘(Chorus: I’m no longer a slave to fear, For I am a child of God (2) You unravel me, with a melody, You surround me with a song, Of deliverance, from my enemies, Till all my fears are gone. (Chorus: I’m no longer, a slave to fear, For I am a child of God (2) From my mother’s womb, You have chosen me, Your LOVE has called my name, I’ve been born again, Into your family, Your blood flows through my veins. (Chorus: I’m no longer, a slave to fear, For I am, a child of God (2) 

Oh oh, oh oh oh. Oh oh, oh oh oh! You split the sea, So I could walk right through, My fears are drowned, In perfect LOVE, You rescued me, so I could stand and sing, I am a child of God …You split the sea, So I could walk right through it, My fears are drowned, In perfect LOVE, You rescued me, so I could stand and sing, I am a child of God, I am a child of God, I am a child of God…. I know who I am, I know who I am, I am a child of God! He calls me the head and not the tail, Above and not beneath, a lender and not a borrower. So I no longer walk in fear, but in faith. For I am a child of God. If you are a child of God, sing Hallelujah to His glorious name!’  

Oh my fellow believers, if in these perilous and fearful times we don’t know who we are, then we’re in real bad shape! For it’s only if you’re a child of God that you have any hope of a glorious future. As we’ve been saying the last couple of days, the essence of fear is raging all through our world. The powers that be are using fear to bring us to our knees so we can do their evil work. They are using every tactic associated with fear to try and trap us. But they don’t know that we are smarter than them, and we have a High Priest and Advocate named Jesus, who has given us a spirit of power, of LOVE and of a sound (disciplined) mind to counteract their spirit of fear. (2 Tim, 1:7) 

And Jesus clearly promised that in Acts 1:8, when He told the disciples: ‘But ye shall receive power, after that (when) the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.’ And we know that the Holy Ghost first came upon the believers on the Day of Pentecost, some fifty days after Jesus ascended to heaven, when they turned Jerusalem upside down with their message and acts of faith. Read all about it in Acts chapter 2. And since then, the Holy Spirit has been indwelling every believer with His power and drive and discipleship for Jesus, drastically cutting into the enemy’s hold over our lives! 

And throughout the song we see references to moments when fear was heavy upon God’s people, but He delivered them through His omnipotent power; with ‘songs of deliverance from their enemies.’ There are several psalms which attest to that, like in Psalm 125, where it’s declared: ‘As the mountains are round about (surround) Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about (surrounds) his people from henceforth even for ever. For the rod of the wicked (sceptre of wickedness) shall not rest upon the lot of (land allotted to) the righteous; lest the righteous put (reach) forth their hands into iniquity.’ (Ps. 125:2-3) 

And Psalm 126 faithfully declares: ‘The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity (bring back our captives), O Lord, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.’ (Ps. 126:3-5) Then the song alludes to one of the times of greatest fear of God’s people: ‘You split the sea, So I could walk right through, My fears are drowned…’ 

Yes friends that’s when the Israelites in their Exodus from Egypt were on the brink of the Red Sea with Pharaoh and His mighty Egyptian army right behind them. There seemed no way for them to escape, but in God’s might and faithfulness, He made a way, by splitting the sea so they could walk through on dry land, then drowned Pharoah and his army when they came after them. And you can read all about that in Exodus 14. 

But this is my favourite part: ‘In perfect LOVE, You rescued me, so I could stand and sing, I am a child of God…’ And what does the Good Book say about perfect LOVE? John says in his first epistle: ‘There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casteth out fear: because fear hath (involves) torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in LOVE.’ (1 John 4:18) 

Now, the scholars explain ‘Fear hath torment,’ by saying: ‘Abject fear of God is based on dread of punishment. But God’s LOVE for us renders such dread obsolete. Fear is still a part of the Christian walk in the sense of profound reverence, the unwillingness to violate God’s trust in us. Believers need not fear eternal rejection as a result of God’s judgement (John 5:24), but this does not mean a Christian’s approach to God is to be flippant and casual.’ 

So there is no need to fear if we are sincere believers in Christ Jesus, but we must have sincere reverence for the Lord’s power, position and sovereignty over our lives and the entire universe He created. And since we now know who we are, children of God, above and not beneath, lenders and not borrowers, no longer walking in fear but in faith, let’s go home very appropriately singing ‘Hallelujah to God’s glorious name!’  Yes, shout it out my people: ‘Hallelujah to God’s glorious name!’ Much LOVE!

…nothing but faith in Christ Jesus…casts out fear… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​    

Today’s Scrip-Bit   28 September 2021   1 Corinthians 1:9.

28 Sep 2021 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 1:9.      God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

What’s happening this new day filled with new compassions and mercies eh friends? And I know that most of us would say: same old, same old stuff. And to a certain extent that might be true, but just think that we are still alive and kicking, the marvellous breath of God is still flowing through us! Glory be! That means there are still lots of things for us to do down here on earth, otherwise the Lord would have taken us home. 

And you know that living and working for God is not easy, but it sure is chocked full of excitement and adventure, because we never know what He will do next, where He will send us or what He will allow to come upon us. The only thing we are sure of is that He won’t allow anything untoward to happen to us, and that He will bring us safely through any storms He allows us to go through. 

Remember His awesome promise in First Corinthians… ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtakes) 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 to bear; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13). Now that promises a lot my brethren, but it also does not promise what some of us believe and/or expect. 

What we ought to learn from that is not that the Lord will always help us to escape the temptation, but rather He will give us a way to bear up under or endure it. Too many of us just want to escape from anything that’s difficult, but that’s not the way our God operates. Yuh don’t think that Jesus wanted to escape from all the horrific sufferation he went through? He certainly did! 

But the Father asked Him to suffer on our behalf and gave Him the grace, strength and power to bear up and endure the inhumane treatment He underwent for us. The Holy Spirit imbued Him with the power to handle it, and the same Holy Spirit imbues us with power to handle our problems. So, let’s stop thinking about ways to escape problems and instead forge ahead and come up over them through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

As one commentator, Vern Nicolette, puts it in an article on the subject found on the Active Christianity website. ‘In 1 Corinthians 10:13 it speaks about the time of temptation and that God makes a way of escape so we can bear it. How hopeful it is that we have a God who measures each temptation so we can bear it! God has a way of escape for us in every single temptation. The way of escape is to go before the throne of grace and pray for grace in time of need; in other words, before we fall. Then we have God’s promise that we shall receive the grace, which is strength and help at the right time, so we can stand after we have overcome all things.’ 

And the author references two scriptures there; Hebrews 4:16, and Ephesians 6:13. And since I like to spoon feed us, (smile) here are those two scriptures. The first one says: ‘Let us therefore come boldly (confidently) unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’ (Heb. 4:16) And the second comforting and strengthening verse of scripture in times of need is this: ‘Wherefore take unto you (take up, put on) the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.’ (Eph. 6:13) 

Yes friends, those are the two basic things we need to withstand the demonic onslaughts that occasionally come against us: the grace and armour of God! And with those working on our behalf, through the empowering Holy Spirit, Satan doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating us! Now here are some more scriptures that will help us in our fight against temptation. Up first is this beautiful scripture: ‘God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (1 Cor. 1:9) I like that verse because it tells me of God’s faithfulness, and that’s something I’ve totally experienced in my own life, so it boosts my spirit. 

And the next scripture comes from Psalm 125 – God surrounds his people. It confidently declares: ‘They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed (moved), but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about (surround) Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. For the rod of the wicked (the sceptre of wickedness) shall not rest upon the lot (land) of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth (reach out ) their hands unto iniquity.’ (Ps. 125:1-3) 

And here are two more scriptures to sustain those last two. (smile) Isaiah tells us in no uncertain terms: ‘The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.’ (Is. 14:5) And Cousin Sol confidently proclaims from the wisdom of Proverbs: ‘He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity (trouble): and the rod of his anger shall fail (wrath shall perish).’ (Prov. 22:8) 

Now that further recalls the rebuke of Eliphaz to his friend Job, where he says: ‘Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils (anger) are they consumed.’ (Job 4:7-9) 

And though Eliphaz didn’t know about Job’s unique situation, he knew from personal experience that we reap what we sow., which is the living truth, just not in Job’s case. So though there may seem to be a lot of problems, temptations and enemy attacks in our lives, let us not forget that the Lord God Almighty has placed within us the power of His Holy Spirit to enable us to fight our earthly battles and be victorious in all of them. But we must get His grace and put on His spiritual armour if we want to win the spiritual battles that take place in our lives. End of sermon! (smile) 

Now for those of us who are sincerely trying to live for God, let’s go home declaring (yeah!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know who we belong to. In strong 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 the world. Amen!’ 

And having said that, we must now go out and share that amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know Him. For that’s His greatest desire. Much LOVE!

…I have been young…and now I am old…yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken…nor his seed begging bread… (Ps. 37:5)                                                                                                                             

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8