09 Mar 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a close relationship with God, a merciful forgiving and gracious God, a very difficult working life, after you have suffered a while, all sinned and disobeyed your word, allow the devil to disrupt your spirit, as a roaring lion, be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, be clothed with humility, be sober be vigilant, be subject one to another, be ye angry and sin not, bereft of your joy, called us into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, casting all your care upon him, Christians, divine aid, don't give an opportunity to the devil, draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you, ease the pain of the many, faith, faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers, get with the programme, gets us discouraged, God gives grace to the humble, God resists the proud, he may exalt you in due time, he shall lift you up, he that humbleth himself shall be exalted, holy spirit, humble ourselves, humble servants, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, in our best interest, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus Christ, keep your promise to prosper us, learned the lesson of humility, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, LOVE, make you perfect, mercy, neither give place to the devil, one more Monday, praise Your Holy Name, pray, put on the whole armour of God, resist steadfast in the faith, resist the devil and he will flee from you, salvation, sincere repentance, sincerely seek God's face, stablish strengthen settle you, steal your joy, struggle with our faith, submit yourselves to God, suffering from negative situations, thank you for life and strong faith in Christ, the BIBLE, the devil focuses on stealing our joy, the God of all grace, the God who heals, the joy of the Lord is your strength, the mass confusion in our world, the only way to resist the devil is by keeping close to God, the power to solve our many problems, the same afflictions are accomplished by your brethren, the throne of grace, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, truth, turn from our evil ways, walketh about seeking whom he may devour, whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, wisdom, wise guidance, your adversary the devil
1 Peter 5:8. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
One more Monday morning; one more week of work! So, we had better get accustomed to them sooner rather than later because there will indeed be many of them in our lifetimes, possibly too many to count, and if you allow the devil to disrupt your spirit every Monday and thus steal your joy, then you will be in for a very difficult working life.
Yes, the devil focuses on stealing our joy, for when he accomplishes that, we get down and discouraged, and we struggle with our faith in God. That’s why the Bible tells us that ‘the joy of the Lord is our strength.’ (Neh. 8:10) For when our faith is strong and our joy is bubbling over, then Satan cannot get to us. And remember he’s always on the lookout for somebody he can inveigle to become down and discouraged and therefore lose their joy.
No wonder Bruh Paul told the Ephesians: ‘Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place (an opportunity) to the devil.’ (Eph. 4:26-27) When you get angry, if you don’t control your anger, you’re liable to sin, and that makes it so much easier for the devil to get an opportunity to steal your joy. Going to bed angry doesn’t help matters either, it will disturb your restful sleep, and most likely you’ll wake up still angry and bereft of your joy in the morning.
Bruh Paul also strongly recommended that they, as well as us, ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (evil schemes) of the devil.’ (Eph. 6:11) That’s the basic way to stop the devil from stealing your joy and thus your strength. Meanwhile, James, Jesus’ brother, tells us to ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh (near) to God, and he will draw nigh (near) to you… Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.’ (James 4:7-8a, 10)
There again, to resist the devil, we must be in a close relationship with the Lord, and that can only happen when we humble ourselves before Him. Then Peter also gets into the act with this warning. ‘…all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore 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. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after 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. 5b-11)
And the story we get from all of that my people, is that God LOVES us and will fight for us, as well as strengthen and perfect us, but our underlying attribute must always be one of humility, for as Peter tells us, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. And Jesus highlighted the spirit and attitude of humility both in His own walk here on earth, but also with His words. Listen as He tells a parable to the people around him at a wedding, as He watches them choose out the best rooms and places to sit.
He warns them about going to the best or highest places, lest the host comes and tells them to move lower so he can give that spot to someone more honourable or important than them, causing them shame and humiliation. Instead, they should seek out the lowest places, so that the host can come and invite them to sit in a higher position, and then they’ll be more esteemed. (Luke 14:7-10) And Jesus reasons: ‘For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased (humbled), and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.’ (Luke 14:11)
Then, later on, while pointing out the difference in behaviour of the pompous, self-righteous Pharisee and the humble tax collector as they were praying in the temple, Jesus repeated the same warning about exalting oneself, of being proud and arrogant, especially in the eyes of God. (Luke 18:9-14) Let’s hope today friends, we’ve driven home that lesson of humility in all our hearts, so that it will no longer be numbered amongst our shortcomings. (smile) Now, let’s go to the throne of grace through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid in these evil and ungodly times.
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!’
Oh friends, we are very blessed, but we don’t truly know it, or else we would not carry on with the foolishness we carry on with in these troubled times, when we are supposed to be ever so focused on Almighty God. And until we learn to do that, all our pleas for divine aid will most likely go unanswered. So, let’s wake up and get with the programme nuh! Remember, it’s all in our best interest! Much LOVE!
…the only way to resist the devil…is by keeping close to God…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
23 Feb 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a constant merry-go-round, a merciful forgiving and gracious God, accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, all these things shall be added unto you, and again I say rejoice, backbone and belly, be anxious for nothing, be careful for nothing, but are busybodies, clothes on our backs, diligent in reading the Bible, divine aid, ease the pain, especially in the tough times, faith, fellowshipping with other believers, food on our tables, God must be first and foremost in our lives, God's opinion is what truly matters, holy spirit, humble ourselves, humble servants, humdrum existence, if any man will come after me, if any would not work neither should he eat, in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, in the name of Jesus, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus Christ, keep a roof over our heads, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, labouring diligently, let him deny himself, let your moderation be known unto all men, let your requests be made known unto God, listening to the Holy Spirit, living for Jesus is a lifestyle, LOVE, make a living, mass confusion in our world, material wealth, mercy, one more time around the block, our Father who art in heaven, pray, praying, promised to hear and answer our prayers, Rejoice in the Lord always, salvation, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, sincere repentance, sincerely seek God's face, sinned and seriously disobeyed your word, strong faith in Christ, take up his cross daily and follow me, thanky you for life, the BIBLE, the God who heals, the Lord is at hand, the many suffering from negative situations, the peace of God which passeth all understading, the peace that passes all human understanding, the power to solve our problems, the resilience to go out to work every week, the throne of grace, Thou shalt have no other Gods before me, trials and tribulations, true faith in Jesus, trusting Jesus to take care of us, truth, turn from our evil ways, upgrade our Christian witness, usurping God's spot, walk among you disorderely, willing to sacrifice for Jesus, wisdom, wise guidance, working not at all
Luke 9:23. If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
One more time around the block this Monday morning friends! Yes, we’ve got to get out there and make a living, so we can keep a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and food on our tables. Remember what Bruh Paul said to the Thessalonians? ‘For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.’ (2 Thess 3:10-11)
Now that situation still prevails in modern society, possibly even more now with the wealth we’ve achieved, but that ought not to stop most of us from going out and labouring diligently, all in the name of Jesus. And yes, it does seem like a constant merry go-round, the same thing from week to another, but that’s how our society is structured, and there’s not much we can do about it, except win the lottery or marry a rich spouse. (smile)
But yuh know what, when you have a lot of money and material wealth, you sometimes have to work even harder than normal to keep it, for someone else is always trying to take it away from you. And besides, plenty rich people are unhappy, so having material wealth is not necessarily the answer to our humdrum existence. So what is the answer then, you ask? It’s to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and therefore receive the peace that passes all human understanding so that we can handle all the same old same old things we need to deal with in this life.
That’s why Bruh Paul wrote thus to the Philippians: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let you moderation (graciousness) be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep (guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 4:4-7)
And that’s how we attain and maintain the peace of mind and resilience to go out to work every week! It’s all about true faith in Jesus, trusting Him to take care of us, even, or especially in the tough times, when we don’t know what to do. Yes, friends, living for Jesus is a lifestyle; the only one that will allow you to handle this world with the energy, faith and confidence that you need to do it successfully. However, that means knowing what it takes to live a life for Christ; what He desires and dislikes in our earthly walk.
It means being very diligent in reading His Word – the Bible, praying, listening to the advice of His Holy Spirit, as well as fellowshipping with other believers on a regular basis. It’s not an easy life to live, if we want to live it right, as you can see from how Jesus describes what He desires of His followers. ‘If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ (Luke 9:23) In a nutshell, He’s looking for those willing to sacrifice themselves and their possessions on His behalf.
But the wonderful thing about Jesus is that He’s given us all the tools we need to do what He desires, and if we do our best to adhere to His will, then, despite the trials and tribulations we will face, we will do well in this evil and ungodly world. That’s why Jesus warned us: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt; 6:33) That’s right my people, God must be first and foremost in our hearts, thoughts and actions!
No wonder He said it loud and clear in the Ten Commandments: ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ (Ex. 20:3) Now that could either mean, no other gods beside Him, or put no other gods in front of Him. But in the long run, it simply means that Almighty God must be first in our lives, and anything or anyone we put before Him is usurping His spot, and that’s a no-no in His opinion. And believe me, God’s opinion is what truly matters in this earthly life!
So, hopefully from these few words (smile) we’ve gained some new insight into how best to live this life, and if you already knew it, then we’ve refreshed your memory. (smile) It’s a smiley kind of day although the weather is not so good. Now let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid to put it all together.
As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 though our prayer says the right things, our actions don’t show them in real life. And until they do, divine aid will not be forthcoming. It’s as simple as that! We need to upgrade our Christian witness. Much LOVE!
…it takes knowledge…faith…backbone and belly…to truly live for Christ…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
20 Feb 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a means of restoring faith in you, amidst all the anxiety and confusion, be responisble, bow to none other than Almighty God, by the example that we faithful believers set, can wake up and smell the coffee, christianity, Christians, crying out for God's help, defeat the simmering unrest in our land, divine aid, embrace your love and compassion, enjoy the weekend, faith, fear not, four men walking loose in the fire, Friday chant, god moves in mysterious ways, God's omnipotent help, heated seven time more than normal, help to navigate this crazy world, holy spirit, I am the Lord thy God, I have called thee by name, I have redeemed thee, I will be with thee, I will give men for thee, if God spares life, introduce a new flock of believers, Jesus Christ, LOVE, mercy, Nebuchadnezzar, our Christian witness is not good enough, our sinful world can wake up, people for thy life, problems are escalating, reach our destination safely, redeemed by Jesus Christ, refused to bow to a golden calf, return backsliders to your fold, salvation, Shadrach Meshach Abednego, show them the error of their ways, stand strong and steadfast, stay safe, strong in faith, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the BIBLE, the evening commute, the fourth is like the son of God, the Holy One of Israel, the Lord keeps all his promises, the real power of faith is shown in the positive action of faith, the throne of grace, the weather conditions, these ungodly times, they have no hurt, they shall not overflow thee, thou art mine, thou hast been honoured, thou wast precious in my sight, through the rivers, thrown into a furnace of fire, thy Saviour, trusting faith, truth, use the discontent and dissatisfaction, when thou passest through the waters, wisdom, wise guidance and direction, with God's help
Isaiah 43:1b. O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
And it’s Friday friends; the day we’ve all been looking forward to. And we’ve offered up our Friday Mantra: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and the weekend is here at last!’ However, I don’t think we’ll be happy with the weather conditions, for they are forecasting rain and snow for today. Well, the rain has already begun, which means it’s wet and cloudy, now we’re only waiting for it to change to snow.
And if that happens before the evening commute, it will be a long and dangerous time for many getting home to enjoy the weekend. But there’s not much we can do about the weather conditions except grin and bear it, and take our time moving through it, and with God’s help, eventually get to our destination safely.
And who says our God isn’t great and moves in mysterious ways eh? After talking about the weather, I didn’t know what to write on, so, as always, in those situations, I simply opened the Bible, and the Lord be praised, it fell open to this most appropriate scripture from the prophet Isaiah, talking about being redeemed by the Lord.
Please read with me: ‘But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned: neither shall the flame kindle upon (scorch) thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee (in thy place). Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable (honoured), and I have LOVED thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.’ (Is. 43:1-4)
What a marvellous promise my people! And we know the Lord keeps all His promises. He did indeed redeem Israel from all the terrible consequences of her rebellion, by bringing her back to her former land and making her great again. And the same way God reassured them: ‘Fear not: for I have redeemed thee,’ it’s the same thing He’s saying to us today, and we know that it’s true, because we have been redeemed by His Son Jesus Christ! So there’s nothing to fear!
And if you think our great God cannot protect us from the floods and fires, just check out the scripture in Daniel chapter 3, where his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who refused to bow down to a golden calf made by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, were thrown into a furnace of fire heated seven times hotter than normal. And what was the result? Because the fire was so hot, it slew the men who took the three Hebrew men up to the mouth of the furnace and cast them in.
But what of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? The Bible tells us: ‘Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was atonied (astonished), and rose up in haste, and spake, and said to his counsellors (high officials), did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt (are not hurt); and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God (like a son of the gods).’ (Dan. 3:24-25)
Yes friends, anything is possible when your faith in Jehovah God is strong. They knew that the Lord could save them, but were not sure of it, yet, they still refused to bow to an idol. And that’s how we ought to be in these terrible times of ungodliness and evil. So strong in faith that whatever comes against us, we will not bow to anyone but God Almighty!
But here’s some interesting info from the scholars, who say, re The fourth is like the Son of God: (lit., a son of the gods”): Neb had no knowledge of Christ and was probably saying nothing more than that a divine being was protecting the three men. The fourth person may have been the preincarnate Christ, who often appears in the Old Testament as “the angel of the Lord,” or may have been an angel sent by God to protect them.’
Unfortunately though friends, we’ll have to stop there for today, because the story although it has a wonderful ending, will make the Bit much too long, and we’re already on a late bus. (smile) So if God spares life tomorrow, we’ll continue with the awesome story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. Now let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant to find divine aid to help us successfully navigate this stormy and crazy world.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And friends, although our prayers might be sincere, our Christian witness is not good enough, and until it improves, we will not see much divine aid! So let’s up the ante on our witness nuh! Much LOVE!
…the real power of faith…is not shown merely in talk of faith…but in the positive action of faith…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
13 Feb 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a leadership method that foments hate and strife, a means of restoring faith in you, a modicum of circumspection, according to their own personal beliefs, anxiety, as flesh within the cauldron, as for my people, as for the pot, be resposnible, been evil in their deeds, behaved themselves ill in the doings, both shall fall into the ditch, break their bones, calamity, cause thee to err, children are their oppressors, chop them in little pieces, christianity, Christians, confusion, corruption is rampant, crying out for God's help, deceitfulness, declare their sin as Sodom, defeat the simmering unrest in our land, destroy the way of thy paths, disaster, don't go overboard with the celebrations, eat the fruit of their doings, egotism, faith, Family day, fellowship, followers, for personal gain, Friday chant, greed, hate the good and love the evil, he will not hear them, heads of Jacob, hide his face from them, holy spirit, if the blind lead the blind, in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, introduce a new flock of believers, is it not for you to know justice, it shall be ill with him, Jesus Christ, keep on our blinkers, lead you astray, LOVE, make sacrifices, male dominance, mercy, misleading the people, no respect for the law, omnipotent help, our only hope, our sinful world, power struggles, princes of the house of Israel, problems are escalating, real change only comes through real sacrifices, return backsliders to your fold, rewarded evil unto themselves, rising up and making godly changes, salvation, say to the righteous it is well with him, show them the error of their ways, smell it sweet and strong, stand strong and steadfast, stay safe, strip the skin from my people, TGIF!, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the BIBLE, the church of Jesus getting together, the current situation in our world, the failure of male leadership, the leaders of this people cause them to err, the look on their faces, the reward of his hands, the throne of grace, the worst set of leaders, their flesh from their bones, their guilty faces reveal their sinful hearts, they be blind leaders of the blind, they do not hide their sin, they shall cry unto the Lord, they that are led of them are destroyed, they which lead thee, trusting faith, truth, use the discontent and dissatisfaction, Valentine's day, wake up and smell the coffee, we are followers like sheep, we are like sheep, wisdom, wise guidance, witness against them, woe unto the wicked, woe unto their soul, women rule over them, your faithful believers set
Isaiah 9:16. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
So friends, we’ve finally come to Friday, the day we’ve all been looking forward to! And it’s sunny though cold…but who cares…it’s Friday! (smile) And obviously our Friday Mantra was offered up early and loud: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the weekend is here at long last! And is this ever a big weekend in Canada. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and Monday is Family Day, a civic not federal holiday in most provinces, apparently created on the third Monday in February to provide a mid-winter break for families to spend time together.
So, you know the partying will be in full swing from today. But let’s all remember those important cautionary words of Jeeves: ‘a modicum of circumspection please.’ Yes, we don’t need to go overboard with all the celebrations, for our world is already overboard with all the strife and power struggles it faces. And let’s remember too, in the middle of all the celebrations, to fellowship with other believers on Sunday, so that we can be refreshed and renewed to face a new work week on Tuesday. End of Sermon! (smile)
And today we’ll look at an interesting passage of scripture from the prophet Isaiah that very much resembles the situation in our current world. Isaiah was talking to the people about their sins and refusal to repent and turn back to the God of their forefathers, and commented thus: ‘For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.’ (Is. 9:16) Oh friends, it’s the very same crime that can be thrown at today’s world leadership! Why? They are misleading the people according to their own personal beliefs and for their own personal gain.
Now that’s a method of leadership that does nothing but foment hate and strife, deceitfulness and power struggles. There’s no respect for the law, thus corruption is both rampant and flagrant. No one even considers hiding their corrupt souls any longer. It’s something to boast about. And right now I believe we have the worst set of leaders our world has seen in a very long time. Greed and egotism are their forte; not proper leadership. And remember, most of us are like sheep, mere followers, not given to do anything but what the corrupt, power hungry leaders do. So what can we expect then but a world filled with evil and ungodliness.
And it’s not the first time that Isaiah made that claim of misleading management. In chapter 3 where he talks about the Lord Pleads and Judges, he writes: ‘The shew of their countenance (the look on their faces) doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded (brought) evil unto themselves.
Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands given him (done to him). As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err (lead thee astray), and destroy the way of thy paths.’ (Is. 3:9-12)
Yes friends, their guilty faces clearly reveal their sinful hearts. And that last verse basically means the utter failure of male leadership over the society. Sadly, the same thing can be said for today’s leadership. The male dominance has driven the world to war and hate and corruption way too often in the last couple of centuries. Unfortunately though, it looks like that male dominance will continue amongst our leaders, so there’s very little change to expect.
And the prophet Micah reveals the same evil doing of the leaders when He declares: ‘And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes (rulers) of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgement (justice)? Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck (strip) off their skin from off them (my people), and their flesh from off their bones; Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and break their bones, and chop them to pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron. Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill (been evil) in their doings (deeds).’ (Mic. 3:1-4)
Now that’s not a pretty picture of leadership, but unfortunately it also correlates to the kind of leadership we have today. And sadly, we Christians who are supposed to improve the situation, too many of us are following the crowd; being OF the world instead of simply being IN it. And the remainder either are afraid or simply don’t care. So how is the world to improve eh? It’s like when the Pharisees complained about Jesus saying that what goes into the mouth doesn’t defile a man, but only what comes out. (Matt. 15:11) Jesus said to the disciples: ‘Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.’ (Matt. 15:14)
And that’s exactly what’s happening today. Our blind leaders are leading us astray, and if we keep our blinkers on, the eventual outcome will only be more disaster and calamity than we already have. And our only hope is the church of Christ, getting together, rising up and making godly changes. That’s it friends. The evil doers will not willingly destroy their evil empire, so we have to do it for them. And to help us do that, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, seeking divine aid in these most crucial and critical times.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And friends, things won’t turn around unless we are willing to make the sacrifices for them to happen. So, this long weekend, let’s ponder how willing we are to do that nuh. Much LOVE!
…real change only comes about through real sacrifices…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
09 Feb 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a new week of work, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth, all should come to repentance, apropos for our current situation, as it is written, baptizing them, believers in Christ Jesus, bring glad tidings of good things, buffeted by the enemy's wicked taunts, christianity, Christians, Comforter, Creator of the universe, drawing others to Jesus, eternal separation from Almighty God, even to the end of the world, faith, faith cometh by hearing, faithfully reverence Christ as Lord and Saviour, fierce encounters, further your glorious kingdom, give it our best shot, go ye therefore and teach all nations, God sent not his Son into the world to condemn it, godly example, Guide, hearing by the word of God, Helper, hold up our end of the bargain, holy spirit, how beautiful are the feet, how shall they believe, how shall they hear without a preacher, how shall they preach except they be sent, how then shall they call on him, how wonderful it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ, humble servants, I am with you always, in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost, in whom they have not believed, in whom they have not heard, incredible aura of LOVE, inroads into the enemy's ranks, Isaiah saith Lord who hath believed our report, Jesus Christ, jobs, keeping lives and families together, live sincerely for Jesus, longsuffering, LOVE, make disciples of all nations, make the godly effort, make worthwhile inroads, many successes, meet the enemy in battle, mercy, now willing that any should perish, of them that preach the gospel of peace, once more unto the breach, our duty, partnerships, pateintly waiting for the right time, repentance is a change of heart, sally forth with confidence, salvation, serves a useful purpose, sharing our rime talent and treasure, show unbelievers, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, suits our purposes, sure conquerors, surrender our all to you, teaching them, Thank you Father, the appointed time, the battleground of the work world, the BIBLE, the evil ungodly world that surrounds us, the Great Commission, the Lord is longsuffering to us-ward, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, the rejuvenation of Spirit, the renewed vitality and enthusiasm, the second coming of Christ, the throne of grace, the umpteenth time, the world through him might be saved, they have not all obeyed the gospel, to ensure the gospel is preached all over the world, to mix and mingle, to observe all things I commanded you, truth, we are invincible, we're not afraid, wearing your protective spiritual armour, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, wisdom, wrought in our weary souls
Romans 10:15b. as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!’ Oh my faithful brethren, those words of King Henry V from the Shakespearian play of the same name, do ring like a familiar battle cry this very cold winter Monday morning, as we return for the umpteenth time, (smile) to the battleground of the work world for another week of fierce encounters, and hopefully many successes.
Yes, my fellow believers in Christ Jesus, my fellow Christians, we must keep on keeping on with the difficult, but very rewarding task of living for Christ, and thus drawing others to Him by the godly example that we set in our everyday lives. That’s the ONLY way others will get to know, believe, and trust in Him for salvation and eternal life. It’s the job, the Great Commission, that Jesus gave the disciples and subsequently all believers to do, when He ascended back to heaven.
Listen to Him declare it. ‘All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:18:20)
Oh my people, that’s as clear as it could be! And why did Jesus want us to do that eh? Because it was a part of His major purpose for coming to earth as He told the Jewish leader Nicodemus. ‘For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:17) But since He could not stay on earth forever as a human being, He recruited us, His followers to assist Him, giving us the Holy Spirit as Guide, Helper and Comforter.
Remember what Peter says: ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ (2 Pet. 3:9) Yes, the Lord did promise the Second Coming of Jesus, but He also desires that all who trust in Him should come to salvation, so He’s patiently waiting for the right time.
Remember though, He can only wait for so long, and when the appointed time comes, all who don’t believe in Christ Jesus will suffer eternal separation from the Lord; the worse fate than can ever befall a human soul. That means we have to get going while the going is good, especially amongst our friends and family members, because we obviously don’t want to be separated from them for eternity. And there are also many others all around the world who have never heard of Jesus and His good news. Therefore, we also must help as many of those people through sharing our time, talent and treasure.
It’s like Bruh Paul says in his letter to the Roman church. ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias (Isaiah) saith, Lord who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ (Rom. 10:13-15)
Yes my people, we cannot make others believe in Christ, but it’s our duty to ensure that His gospel is preached to all parts of the world. So, although the Monday morning is somewhat chilly (smile) we need to make the godly effort to get out there and mix and mingle and show the unbelievers how wonderful it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And to help us do that, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn seeking divine aid.
And here’s a big surprise; something for our new Scrip-Bit family members; this is the old version of our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. I recently found it amongst a pile of papers, and did not even remember it, because it’s been so long ago since we used it. And yuh know what? I like it. (smile) So, since it also admirably suits our purposes, is very apropos for our current situation, let’s use it.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday Morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we 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 last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. 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 let Your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, 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, and thereby further Your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen!’
Wow! Doesn’t it sound like it was made for today? It surely does! But like in all partnerships, both sides have to do their parts. Christ has already done His, it’s now our turn to hold up our end of the bargain. So, let’s get out there and give it our best shot nuh! Much LOVE!
…the Christian’s duty is to sincerely live for Jesus…and faithfully reverence Him as Lord and Saviour…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
02 Feb 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a confession of sins, a conversation with God, a direct line to the triune God, a personal expression of thoughts, a snow-filled Monday, abide in me and I in you, according to God's will, acknowledging God's sovereignty, all sinned and disobeyed your word, all that are in authority, alter circumstances, an intimate connection between a person and the divine, at the core of every Christian journey, be not conformed to this world, be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, become better Christian witnesses, building a relationship with God, changes hearts, confession, desires, direction to alleviate our problems, divine aid, ease the pain, emotions, except it abide in the vine, except ye abide in me, faith, fellowship, first of all, fosters a deepr understanding of God's nature, godlier in our daily lives, grow in grace, holy spirit, humble ourselves, humble servants, I am the vine ye are the branches, in all godliness and honesty, in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour, influences attitudes, intercession, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus Christ, keep your promise to prosper us, lead a quiet and peaceable life, lies a deep and personal element, LOVE, mercy, no more can ye, not returned to normal, pray, prayer, prayer empowers comforts and guides us, prayer has the power to transform, prayer is absolutely necessary for Christians, prayer is the most powerful method of communication, prove what is that good and acceptable perfect will of God, regular prayer is essential for spiritual growth, salvation, sincere repentance, sincerely seek your face, spiritual growth, strong faith in Christ, supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, thank you for life, thanksgiving, the BIBLE, the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, the chief method of communicating with God, the God who heals, the many suffering from negative situations, the power to solve our many problems, the same bringeth forth much fruit, the throne of grace, to him be glory both now and forever, transformation, truth, turn from our evil ways, unexpected storms, used for adoration, wisdom, wise guidance, without me you can do nothing
John 15:4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Another Monday my people, and we’re back out to work, but thankfully it’s only cold and not snow-filled like last Monday, when some 40 to 50 centimeters of snow fell in the Greater Toronto Area. In fact, some people and neighbourhoods still have not returned to normal, as there is still lots of snow to be scraped up and removed. And work has been continuing round the clock, but there’s so much snow, and only so many people and so much machinery to deal with it. Let’s hope and pray that in the next few days, there will be a significant drop in the temperature to below freezing, so that most of the snow now lining our road banks and roofs will melt before any more snow falls. (smile)
And our topic for today is that great privilege believers have called ‘PRAYER.’ Yes friends, prayer is our chief method of communicating with our heavenly Father. That’s how He designed it. And before we do anything else, I think it’s best to have a basic definition of prayer. And the overview of this commentary explains it thus. ‘Prayer is the act of communicating with a higher power, deity, or the sacred, serving as a fundamental, intimate connection between a person and the divine. It is a deliberate, often personal, expression of thoughts, emotions, and desires, used for adoration, confession, thanksgiving, or supplication (requesting help).’
Now that gives us a good basis for a discussion on the subject. And the first point we need to make is that prayer is absolutely necessary for Christians, because, as we said earlier, that’s our main method of communicating with Jehovah God, our Creator and Controller. And I like how this excerpt from the article The Power and Purpose of Christian Prayer by Heather Okuda on the anglicanfrontiers.com website puts it. ‘At the core of every Christian journey lies a deep and personal element: prayer.
It’s a practice as old as the faith itself, a direct line to the triune God that empowers, comforts, and guides us as believers…. Christian prayer is a conversation with God. It’s a way for us to express our LOVE, gratitude, fears, and desires, acknowledging God’s sovereignty in our lives. Prayer can take many forms: it can be a thanksgiving for blessings received, a request for guidance or help, a confession of sins, or a simple conversation expressing our thoughts and feelings to God.’
Then she breaks down the Purpose of Prayer into sub-groups, explaining them thus. (1) ‘Communion with God: Prayer is primarily about building and maintaining a relationship with God. It’s a practice that fosters a deeper understanding of His nature and will.’ And for that she references John 15:4-5, where Jesus talks about our inability to do anything much without Him. ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me, ye can do nothing.’
Now that’s truly telling it like it is. And the next sub-group of prayer Ms. Okuda lists is (2) ‘Spiritual Growth: Regular prayer is essential for spiritual growth. It is in these quiet moments that we often find strength, wisdom, and peace that guide our actions and decisions.’ And the reference for that is 2 Peter 3:18, which states: ‘But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.’
Then we come to sub-group (3) titled ‘Intercession: Prayer is also an act of intercession. We pray not only for our needs but also for others, lifting up friends, family, leaders, and even enemies to God’s care.’ And the reference for that is 1 Timothy 2:1-2. And that says: ‘I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty (reverence).’
And sub-group (4) is ‘Transformation: Prayer has the power to transform. It changes hearts, influences attitudes, and can even alter circumstances according to God’s will.’ And Romans 12:2, a scripture we all know quite well, serves as the reference for that sub-group. It wisely advises: ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.’
Wow mih bredrin! Who would ever have thought that prayer could be broken down into so many different aspects eh? (smile) But now that we have a deeper knowledge of prayer and its basic purposes, let’s go to the throne of grace through our Monday Morning Battle hymn, seeking divine aid to help us with all those aspects of prayer in these turbulent and confusing times.
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 friends, all the prayer in the world won’t help us get divine aid, until and unless we become better Chrisitan witnesses, by becoming godlier in our daily lives! Much LOVE!
…the oldest…the greatest…and the most powerful method of communication…PRAYER…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
26 Jan 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a merciful forgiving and gracious God, all sinned and disobeyed your word, all the trees of the field shall clap their hands, at thy right hand, be led forth with peace, break forth before you in singing, bringing his sheaves with him, come again with rejoicing, divine aid, faith, faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers, found only in communion with Christ, full of glory, go out with joy, he will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest (quiet you) in his love, holy spirit, humble ourselves, humble servants, I experience true joy, I will see you again, in thy presence is fullness of joy, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus Christ, joy and happiness are not necessarily synonymous, joy comes from Jesus, joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, joy over thee with singing, joy- a deep sense of comfort and calm, LOVE, major snowstorm, mass confusion in our world, mercy, negative situations, neither be ye sorry, pleasures for evermore, pray, reap a joyful harvest, receiving the end of your faith, rejoice over thee with joy, salvation, shew me the path of life, shouts of joy, sincere repentance in our hearts, sincerely seek God's face, sow good seed for God, strong faith in Christ, the deepest layer of satisfaction possible, the God who heals, the Lord God in the midst of thee is mighty, the Lord thy God, the mountains and hills shall break forth with singing, the power of faith in Jesus, the power to solve our many problems, the salvation of your souls, the throne of grace, the trial of our faith, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy, though now ye see him not, though now you see him not yet believing, truth, turn from our evil ways, wherever the Lord's word prospers there is joy, whom having not seen ye love, wisdom, wise guidance, ye now therefore have sorrow, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, your heart shall rejoice, your joy no man taketh from you
Nehemiah 8:10b. …neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Well it’s Monday, the day after the big snowstorm, and almost everything is closed for the big clean up, but the sun is shining brightly. (smile) And it was indeed a mighty storm, falling steadily from around eight in the morning to six in the evening. And yes, it does take time and energy to clean up the large amounts of snow that fell, but my beef is that they cleaned the main street and the sidewalks in my area, but then banked up the snow in the entrance to the lanes. That prevented my snow maintenance person from getting into my lane to clean my driveway. Now if you block up the entrances to a community of lanes, how are the people who live there expected to get out eh?
I sent an email to my City Councilor earlier on and got back an automatic reply with all the official excuses for whatever is happening. But soon thereafter I heard some noise outside and when I checked on it, there were some machines finally clearing the entrances to the lanes and actually plowing them too. God be praised! I don’t think my letter made any difference, but most likely many others in the area must have complained because this is the first time they’ve cleaned the lanes themselves so early after a major snowstorm. Let’s hope they do better next time. And that’s my gripe for today! (smile)
Now, let’s talk about something good, in fact something that’s great for the saved believer; that’s JOY! And like this extract from an article on joy says: ‘Joy doesn’t always look like giggles and smiles. Joy is not necessarily synonymous with happiness.’ That’s for sure! But joy is a deeper sense of comfort and calm in spite of our circumstances, that comes from knowing Jesus. It’s in times like this overwhelming and rather dangerous snowfall that joy rises up and keeps us strong and keeping on. And we all know that seminal scripture on the word from the Book of Nehemiah: ‘neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ (Neh. 8:10b)
And that’s where true joy comes from; the soul and spirit of our wonderful God! And as Bruh Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:22, one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is indeed JOY! So it’s correct to assume that true joy can only be had through communion and sincere interaction with Almighty God; the source and fountain of the attribute. And there are many scriptures that talk about joy and it’s association with the Lord, and not surprisingly many of them are found in the psalms.
So let’s check out a few of them, like this one from Psalm 16, where Bruh David confidently declares of his God: ‘Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.’ (Ps. 16:11) Yes friends, in God’s presence joy is indeed available, and not a li’l bit either, but in a plentiful amount. (smile) Then we have this great assurance from Psalm 126: ‘They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth (to and fro) and weepeth, bearing precious seed (a bag of seed for sowing), shall doubtless come again with rejoicing (shouts of joy), bringing his sheaves with him.’ (Ps. 126:5-6)
Of course my fellow believers, when we take time and sometimes heartache to sow good seed for God, we will always reap a joyful harvest. Now listen to this reassurance from Isaiah. ‘For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all of the trees of the field shall clap their hands.’ (Is. 55:12) What joy there is, wherever the Lord’s Word prospers!
And these words from the prophet Zephaniah only increases that joy. ‘The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest (quiet you) in his LOVE, He will joy over thee with singing.’ (Zeph. 3:17) Now how can you beat that for joy eh, my faithful brethren! And if you complain that all those verses come from the Old Testament, (smile) then listen to this one from Jesus Himself as He talks to the disciples about His ascension to heaven, and consequently to us.
‘And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.’ (John 16:22) So there’s Jesus’ promise of joy for us all in God’s good time. And if you’re a true Christian, then you have to believe it. (smile) And we’ll end with this interesting verse from Peter, as he talks about the trial of our faith and our belief in Jesus. ‘Whom having not seen, ye LOVE; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.’ (1 Pet. 1:8-9)
Yes friends, that’s the power of our faith in Jesus, that although we’ve never seen Him in the flesh, like the apostles did, we do know Him in the Spirit and that’s sufficient for us. Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid to help us in these troubled times. 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 since we know that divine aid will not be forthcoming until we turn from our evil ways, let’s get together and do that nuh, so that our joy will also be full. Remember, it’s all for our benefit…not God’s! Much LOVE!
…the deepest layer of satisfaction possible…is that of true joy…found only in communion with Christ Jesus…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
19 Jan 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a constant battle against, a spiritual battle, a Sunday walk in the park, against principalities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, all for our benefit, all-out war, an opportune time, avail ourselves of God's provision, aware Christians, be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, be able to withstand in the evil day, be strong in the Lord, brings evil schemes to pass, cessation of hostilities, demonic onslaughts, destroy our Christian witness, difficult and discouraging life, disobeyed your word, divine aid, dressed in the spiritual armour of God, eternal destiny, faith, fight the good fight for Christ, fighting for supremacy over human souls, God's impenetrable armour, having done all to stand, holy spirit, humble servants, incomparable rewards, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus Christ, living for Jesus, LOVE, mass confusion, mercy, no cease-fire, no quarter given, powers, pray, put on the whole armour of God, salvation, same ole same ole, sincerely seek God's face, spend eternity with Christ, spiritual wickedness in high places, strong faith in Christ, the enemy of darkness and evil, the fallen angel Satan, the God who heals, the power of God's might, the power to solve our many problems, the spiritual armour of God, the throne of grace, the way of life, truth, turn from our evil ways, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, wicked spiritual foes, wisdom
Ephesians 6:11. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (evil schemes) of the devil.
Here we go again friends, another cold, dreary Monday morning of a new work week. And I know some of us must be tired of them, especially if we’ve been doing the same ole, same ole for many years. But that’s just the way of life on this earth. We’re born, we live and work, and then we die, and hopefully go to spend eternity with Christ. Yes mih bredrin, what makes this life worth living, is living it for and with Christ. It’s not a Sunday walk in the park, but it’s always interesting and the rewards are marvellous and incomparable!
And our Jesus is so thoughtful and considerate He gives us all sorts of protection and equipment to live this, at times very difficult and discouraging life. And one of the things the Lord provides to help us is His protective, impenetrable armour. And you ask why we need armour? Well because we are in a constant battle against the enemy of darkness and evil, with the fallen angel Satan as it’s leader. It’s not a physical but spiritual battle, where each side is fighting for supremacy over human souls.
As Bruh Paul explains it to the Ephesians: ‘For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities (rulers), against powers (authorities), against the rulers of the darkness of this world (age), against spiritual wickedness (wicked spiritual beings) in high places.’ (Eph. 6:12) That means fallen angels, demons, and Lucifer himself. So, knowing what we are fighting against, Bruh Paul then warns us: ‘Finally, my brethren be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (evil schemes) of the devil.’ (Eph. 6:10-11)
And the scholars explain that ‘Finally can be rendered “from now on.” In other words, the spiritual battle Christians are engaged in exists “from now on” until the Lord’s return: there is no quarter given, no cease-fire, no temporary truce, no cessation of hostilities. “From now on’ till the end there is all-out war. The rest of the verse may be paraphrased, “Let yourselves constantly be strengthened by the Lord, more precisely by His mighty power.”
So friends, you see how serious this war is. It’s a fight to the death, with no let up on either side. Satan’s trying to turn us around, and we ought to be trying to turn the unbelievers to Christ. And it’s only dressed in the spiritual armour of God that we can even expect to stand strong against our wicked spiritual foes, and their evil schemes and devices, much less win the battle against them. Thus, Bruh Paul continues his warning: ‘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)
And per the scholars, that verse is explained thus: ‘Wherefore means, because we face such a formidable foe, we must avail ourselves of God’s provision lest the enemy destroy our Christian witness and ministry. The evil day refers to the periodic demonic onslaughts and Satanic assaults. Having done all includes both dressing oneself in God’s armour and resisting Satan. Having done all these, be ready for the Devil to attack repeatedly.’
And that friends is one thing we can be sure of; the devil will never give up trying to turn us away from God. He will take the occasional break, but he will keep on coming back once the breath of life runs through our bodies. And we have a good example of that when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan. The Bible tells us: ‘And when the devil had ended all the temptation (testing), he departed from him (Jesus) for a season (an opportune time). (Luke 4:13)
Now that’s the very same way the devil behaves with us. When we stand up strong to him, he leaves us alone until another opportunity or moment of weakness, presents itself, and like the slithering viper he is, he will strike again. So, we must constantly be on our ps and qs, and also dressed in our full spiritual armour, otherwise he will be able to make footholds, or even strongholds in our souls and totally confuse us. Therefore, let’s hope we have all dressed in all of our spiritual armour before we left home this morning so that we can have its total protection all day long, as we fight the good fight for Christ.
And tomorrow, if God spares life, we’ll continue talking about the spiritual armour of God, but this time delving into the specifics, checking to see what it really entails, for if we did that today, the Bit would become way too long, and the information way too cumbersome and plentiful to take in in one sitting. Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid to help us in these critical times.
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 don’t need to be rocket scientists to know what will bring divine aid, just be aware Christians, and basically humble ourselves before Almighty God, pray and sincerely seek His face. So friends, let’s get with the programme nuh, because it’s all for our benefit, not God’s! Much LOVE!
…spiritual battles might not kill our bodies…but they can certainly decide our eternal destiny…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
16 Jan 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a modicum of joy, a new flock of believers, a tough nut to crack, a way to achieve spiritual growth, after that ye have suffered a while, all things work together for good to them that love God, assurance in times of misfortune, be not overcome of evil, be of good cheer, be perfect and complete, be perfect and entire, bless them that curse you, called us unto his eternal glory, count it all joy, divine aid, do good to them that hate you, don't tkae pleasure in the misfortunes of others, faith, fall into divers temptations, fall into various trials, Friday chant, God offers restoration and eternal hope, God's omnipotent help, God's Sovereignty, grow our faith, he that is glad at calamities shall not go unpunished, holy spirit, i have overcome the world, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, in me ye might have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation, it is evil in His eyes, Jesus Christ, lacking nothing, lest the Lord see it and it displease him, let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth, let patience have her perfect work, LOVE, Love your enemies, mercy, misfortune builds character, misfotune, not gloating, overcome evil with good, patience thrown in for good measure, pray for them which spitefully use you, problems escalating, purpose in suffering, rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, return backsliders to your fold, salvation, showing compassion, simmering unrest in our land, sinful world, stablish strengthen settle you, strengthen faith, suffering is temporary, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the error of their ways, the example that we faithful believers set, the God of all grace, the throne of grace, the trying of your faith worketh patience, the weekend is here, these things I have spoken unto you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, time of need, to give you a future and a hope, to give you an expected end, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, to them who are called according to his purpose, trusting faith, truth, upgrade our Christian activity, wake up and smell the coffee, wanting nothing, whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his maker, wisdom, wise guidance
Jeremiah 29:11. ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you and expected end (a future and a hope).’
Glory be! It’s Friday! And most of the snow has finally been cleaned up in my area. You could hear the equipment working through the late night and early morning hours. Most importantly they cleaned our lane so we could get to the main road, for yesterday one of my neighbours got stuck in the snow in the lane and could not go out. The idea seems to be to clean the main streets before the lanes, but when the area is strictly lanes, how will people reach the main streets if they can’t get out of the lanes eh?
That’s a question I can’t answer, (smile) but the important thing is we put this snowstorm behind us and move on with Jesus, obviously declaring: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the weekend is finally here!’ And since the Lord has spared our lives, let’s keep our promise of looking at some scripture verses that offer encouragement and assurance in times of misfortune. Yesterday we looked at scriptures that highlighted acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty (Job 1:20-22), and turning to prayer and community (Ps. 34:17-20)
Now let’s look at another interesting principle, that of finding purpose in suffering. And as this commentary tells us: ‘Misfortune is often presented as a way to achieve spiritual growth and strengthen faith.’ And we all know that’s a tough nut to crack, but it is the truth as highlighted by these verses from the epistle of James. He contends: ‘My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (various trials); Knowing this, that the trying (testing) of your faith worketh (produces) patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire (complete), wanting (lacking) nothing.’ (James 1:2-4)
But that doesn’t sound so reassuring you say. True. However, it is the best way to handle our problems without going crazy in this crazy world. It’s not easy, but with all the help we have from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we can certainly do it. And trying to put a modicum of joy into our misfortune does grow our faith with patience thrown in for good measure. (smile) And as Peter adds: ‘But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, stablish (confirm), strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (1 Pet. 5:10-11)
Then we have this big verse from Bruh Paul in Romans which covers it all: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) That promises that despite all of our heartaches and misfortune, in the long run the Lord will work it all out for our good! Wow! What a mighty promise to hold on to!
Now, let’s turn to a principle about showing compassion and avoiding gloating, for as the commentary reminds us: ‘The Bible warns against taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others, even enemies.’ And that’s ever so true, as the wisdom of Cousin Sol cautions us from Proverbs, when he writes: ‘Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.’ (Prov. 17:5) We certainly need to remember that as our society has reached a sad state of mightily rejoicing over the calamities of others.
Then Cousin Sol bumps it up to another level when he says: ‘Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him (be evil in His eyes), and he turn away his wrath from him.’ (Prov. 24:17-18) Yes friends, when the Lord sees us rejoicing over the calamities of our enemies, He’s liable to dislike it and then not punish our enemies.
It’s also like Jesus taught: ‘But I say unto you, LOVE your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully (spitefully) use you, and persecute you.’ (Matt. 5:44) It’s as Bruh Paul also exhorts us in Romans: ‘Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.’ (Rom. 12:20) That’s basically the Christian motto.
Now here’s the last principle on our list; that of maintaining hope and an eternal perspective in our misfortune. As the commentary tells us: ‘Scriptures provide assurance that suffering is temporary and that God offers restoration and eternal hope.’ And there are no better scriptures to emphasize that than these two. The first comes from the prophet Jeremiah on the Lord’s behalf: ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you and expected end (a future and a hope).’ (Jer. 29:11).
Then here’s this most wonderful and reassuring verse of scripture, from Jesus Himself, when He faithfully reassures us: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33). Yes my fellow believers, Jesus has certainly done that, so it’s up to us now to believe it and put it into action in our lives. And to help us do just that, let’s go to the throne of grace through our Friday Chant asking for divine aid in this desperate time of need.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Now friends, that means if we want to see any divine aid, we need to truly upgrade our Christian activity, because right now it’s not good enough! Much LOVE!
…misfortune is tough…but if handled correctly…it can also build character…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
12 Jan 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all actions have consequences, be not conformed to this world, be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, bodily exercise profiteth little, carnal pleasures, Christian service, diligent in prayer, disobedyed your word, divine aid, eternally separated from God, eternity with the Godhead, even as I am not of the world, evil wiles, exercise thyself rather unto godliness, faith, fellowshipping with others, followers of Christ, given them thy word, godliness is profitable unto all things, have my joy fulfilled in themselves, holy spirit, humble ourselves and pray, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus and his righteousness, Jesus Christ, keep them from the evil one, life is moving on, live for Jesus, LOVE, mass confusion in our world, mercy, no precipitation, obedience, pray, promise of the life that is now, prove what is that good and acceptable perfect will of God, reforming our thinking, refuse profane and old wives fables, resist being poured into the mold of the world, s avowed purpose, salvation, same old same old, Satan, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, sincerely seek your face, spiritual exercise has unlimited value, spiritual life, spiritually dead, stop thinking like the world does, strong faith in Christ, take as many people as possible to eternal death, temptations, the bells of toil have tolled, the BIBLE, the God who heals, the gospel truth, the life Jesus upholds, the life of the secular world, the life that is to come, the power to solve our many problems, the throne of grace, the world hath hated them, they are not of the world, this is a faithful saying, truth, turn away from God, turn from our evil ways, what kind of life wre we moving on with, wisdom, worthy of all acceptance
John 17:16. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
And the bells of toil have tolled once more this Monday morning, to begin a new week of the same old, same old work! And it’s dark, cloudy and cold, but thankfully dry, with no kind of precipitation making it messy like last Monday. Ah friends, life’s moving on, and if we don’t move on with it we’ll get left behind. The problem though is what kind of life are we moving on with? Is it the one that the secular world proposes, or the one that Jesus desires us to participate in?
And though we’re in the same world, the two ways of life are very different. One looks to the world and all it’s carnal pleasures, while the other looks to Jesus and His righteousness. And just like our everyday actions have consequences, so too do our long term actions in terms of the type of life we live. If we live like the secular world does, we’ll end up spiritually dead and eternally separated from Almighty God, our Wonderful Creator. If you live for Jesus, then you’ll enjoy spiritual life and eternity with the Godhead.
And Jesus specified the difference He expected from His followers when He prayed for the disciples: ‘And now I come to thee (Father); and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that you shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil (one). They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.’ (John 17:13-16)
That means as followers of Jesus we must live in the world but not as the world lives. And that’s much easier said than done, but that’s why He has provided the Holy Spirit, His Word, the Bible, and whatever else we need to help us do it. And we know that once we claim to be followers of Christ that the evil one, Satan, will do his very best through all sorts of evil wiles and temptations to get us to do wrong and eventually turn away from God, thus ending up in hellfire and damnation with him. That is his avowed purpose; to carry as many as possible to eternal death with him.
But we do have some reassuring and encouraging scriptures, like the one above there from Jesus, which helps us not to fall for the temptations of the evil one. Then we have encouraging words like these from Bruh Paul to the church at Rome. ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.’ (Rom. 12:2) Yes friends, to stay out of the world’s evil clutches we must stop conforming to what the world thinks is right.
The scholars say: ‘They are to resist being poured into the mold of the present thinking, value systems and conduct of this world.’ And the only way to do that is by reforming our thinking, stop thinking like the world does, and think like Jesus would have us. Which is to ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33) Yes my people, God has faithfully promised to look after all our needs if we place Him first and foremost in our lives.
And I like how Bruh Pul puts it to Timothy when he tells him about false teachers. ‘But refuse (reject) profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.’ (1 Tim. 4:7-9)
In other words, as the scholars explain verse 7: We need to reject all the false doctrines propagated in the myths and fables, because they promote ungodliness. ‘Not only must Timothy avoid false teaching, he must spare himself no pain and effort to be pious. Godliness does not come automatically. To attain holiness he must be diligent in prayer, Bible study, obedience, fellowshipping with other believers, and Christian service.’ Now that does not only pertain to Timothy but to all believers! We have to get involved in all those activities to the extent possible if we are to attain some form of godliness down here on earth.
And per verse 8, they paraphrase it to read: ‘For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness, the result of spiritual exercise, has unlimited value, since it brings blessings for both now and eternity.’ And that’s the gospel truth my brethren! Godliness is good for both now and forever! So with that in mind let’s go to the throne of grace, though our Monday Morning Battle Hymn seeking divine aid to help us become and stay godly.
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 right there in our prayer, we see what it takes for us to get divine aid: ‘humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek God’s face.’ So please, let’s get serious about doing that nuh…if we truly desire divine aid! Much LOVE!
…the only thing truly worth seeking in this world…is GODLINESS…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
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