Today’s Scrip-Bit   17 March 2023 Job 14:1.

17 Mar 2023 Leave a comment

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

Job 14:1. Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

And though it’s a wet, cloudy day, we all still shouted ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday and the work week done!’ Yes, the work week is finally finished, but for some reason or other the lasts few Fridays have all seen bad weather, although the previous days in the week have been fine, bright and sunshiny. I guess because we are so into Friday, the weather mavens are playing the devil’s advocate with us, trying to put a spoke into our wheel on one of the days we look forward to. (smile) 

But little do they know that we can handle anything they throw at us because were the siblings of Jesus Christ, children of the Most High God Jehovah; Creator of heaven, earth and all therein! Yes friends, the devil and his evil cronies might try to make life difficult for us but when we’re imbued with the Holy Spirit of Christ, our Lord and Saviour, as well as our Big Brother, our High Priest, Advocate, Intercessor and whatever else we need, then we can handle ANYTHING that comes against us in His mighty name! 

How did the prophet Isaiah put it so long ago? ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of (from) me, saith the Lord.’ (Is. 54:17) Ah my people, what a strong, stalwart, ever-faithful and LOVING God we serve! If He says it, then we can be assured that we will be protected and come out the victor in the end! 

Now, this doesn’t mean we won’t be attacked or be struck by a weapon, for we will have trials and tribulations, tests and sufferings of many kinds, for as Job so rightly says a couple times: ‘Yet man is born unto trouble (toil), as the sparks fly upward.’ (Job 5:7) And again: ‘Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.’ (Job 14:1) Then Jesus said it very clearly: ‘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) 

So friends, it’s not that we won’t be attacked or suffer unjustly, but the promise is that NONE of the negative stuff that we encounter will PROSPER against us!  In the end we will certainly be victorious! And that’s a very useful promise to hold on to, especially in these very rough and trying times, where our world suddenly seems to have gone crazy with all sorts of negative things happening all at once. Yes, some days it is difficult to stay faithful, but with each day that you do so, your faith in Christ grows, and life becomes a li’l easier for you to handle. 

And that’s what we need to concentrate on; growing our faith, becoming more mature Christians, and thus better able to handle the vicissitudes, that’s the changes, variations and vagaries of this evil and ungodly world. To do that successfully though, means we must know the scriptures; know the Lord’s Word, which is the ONLY thing that will keep us strong and willing to stay on that straight and narrow path that leads to Jesus, salvation and eternal life. And you can only know the word by spending serious and sincere time in it; meditating on it, allowing it to caress your heart, mind, body and soul so that it forms a shield around you. 

And if you don’t believe me, then listen to a few of the may scriptures that describe our God and His word as a shield. Beginning with Samuel’s declaration (oh yeah!!!): ‘As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried (proven): he is a buckler (shield) to all them that trust him.’ (2 Sam. 22:31) Then Bruh David adds his two cents worth from Psalm 3, as he states: ‘Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. But thou, O Lord art a shield for (around) me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head (the one who lifts up my head).’ (Ps. 3:2-3) 

Then listen to this verse from Psalm 91: ‘He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust (take refuge): his truth shall be thy shield and buckler (small shield).’ (Ps. 91:4) And we all know that Cousin Sol had something to say on almost everything…if not everything. (smile) Listen as he tells it. ‘Every word of God is pure (tried, found pure): he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.’ (Prov. 30:5) So, my fellow saints, you don’t have to take my word for it, you have the true and faithful testimony of several great men of God, who did exactly as I am asking us to do, put our sincere and deep trust in Almighty God, for He will not let you down. No, NEVER! 

Now, let’s go to Him prayer, through our Friday Chant asking for His divine help to keep us strong and sincere. As one voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the confusion and anxiety caused by the pandemic and our many other serious problems. We can’t fix them on our own Lord, so we desperately need 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. 

So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, without further serious setbacks. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe. And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to 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. 

Yes Lord, please use this pandemic, the bubbling discontent and dissatisfaction in our land, as a means of restoring faith in You, 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 if we want to see positive results from our petitions, then we have to make positive, godly changes to our lives. Much LOVE!

…if you can’t trust God…then whom can you trust eh… 

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

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 February 2021Colossians 3:23.

03 Feb 2021 Leave a comment

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

Colossians 3:23.     And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 

Welcome, welcome one and all to a bright new day in God’s great universe! In my part of the world it’s sunny but brrrr… cold. (smile) The snow is still frozen on the banks and yards and roof tops, and it doesn’t look like it intends to move for a while yet, but who cares eh? 

We know that with the great God Jehovah on our side, we can handle anything that comes against us. So be it flood, fire, earthquake, famine, disease, like the pandemic that has us all wrapped up now, we know that with God’s awesome and divine help we will be fine, and it will all pass eventually. 

Why? Because He’s promised that ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of (from) me, saith the Lord.’ (Is. 54:17) Wow! What a powerful promise! 

And hear this other one nuh, from Isaiah too. ‘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) 

Oh mih people, what marvellous promises from our Creator! The problem is do we believe them, and do we live like we believe them? And don’t tell me foolishness bout that is Old Testament scripture and don’t have any use today, because it’s in the New Testament that the Lord redeemed us through our Saviour Jesus Christ, His only Son, proving how much He LOVED us and wanted us to be able to spend eternity with Him. So, there are no excuses for not believing  the Lord’s promises in His holy word! 

But coming back to our earlier question about whether we believe the promises and live them out in our lives, I’d venture to say not as much as we ought to. Why? I guess our faith is just not strong enough, especially with the entitled, easy lives we’re accustomed to living in these hitherto prosperous times. 

We’ve gotten soft and flabby and weak by the entitlement and easy living, lost what little backbone we had, and can’t handle hardship like our forefathers of even one generation ago. Just look at how so many of us are fumbling, bumbling and going under with the lockdown caused by the Corona virus. 

Granted, many of us are suffering economic and emotional loss and that will surely cause concern, but plenty others are simply complaining and grumbling because they can’t go out and refuse to adhere to the few rules we have for keeping the virus in check. And it’s not like we don’t see the rebellious fools who take matters into their own hands dropping like flies. 

But we so stupid and selfish that we still want to do it our way. Ah Lord eh. Even supposed Christians refusing to comply and holding physical church services as though the virus can’t harm them, when they seeing that it harming plenty others who behaving like them. 

But what does the ole fella know eh friends? Apparently not a whole lot. (smile) I go out, when necessary, but I try and abide by the rules because I believe that the Lord will keep me safe if I abide by the rules. It’s all about obedience my people; obedience to God and to our earthly rulers, whom God has put in place over us. Obviously, we must put obedience to God first. 

As Bruh Paul said to the Colossians: Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but with singleness of heart (sincerity), fearing God: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.’ (Col. 3:22-24) 

Yes friends, whatever we do, we must do it as though we’re doing it unto the Lord, for as believers, in the overall scheme of things, it is the Lord that we’re serving. That means always doing our best work, not only when our bosses are watching, for the Lord is always watching, and He will eventually reward us with the promise of salvation if we are obedient to His commands. 

So what am I trying to say in this message eh? Simply that if we call ourselves believers in Christ, then we must believe and show ourselves thus. We can’t just talk the talk, but even more importantly we need to walk it, to be worthy examples to the unbelievers and the naysayers. Just like Jesus was a worthy example to us, we must be worthy examples for His purpose, which we claim to represent. 

Therefore, we can’t be wishy-washy and disobedient and insincere and all those other things that the unbelievers display. Oh my brethren we spout a lot of scripture, like we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, please, please let’s show that it’s for real nuh and not just idle talk nuh! 

That’s what Christ expects of those who claim to be His followers. And now is the opportune time for us to show how wonderful, powerful and LOVING He is! And we promise to do exactly that! Glory be! So let’s go home now declaring (awright!) our Wednesday Wail letting all and sundry know of our wonderful and enviable position in Christ Jesus. Wow! 

Altogether now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And as we all know, if we endure sincerely until the end, that glorious future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine! So let’s staunchly hang in there nuh mih people! Much LOVE!

…let your light so shine before men…that they may see your good works…and glorify your Father in heaven… (Matt. 5:16)

P.S. Sorry it’s a tad late, but both the computer and I had issues that ate up some valuable time. (smile) But as always, better late than never!  Much LOVE!