Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 September 2014 Hosea 7:13

29 Sep 2014 Leave a comment

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

 Hosea 7:13.   Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
 
Oh Friends, these Tobago days are surely wonderful yes! (smile) And another one seems to be in the offing this blessed Monday morning. I don’t know if it’s my brother who brought them when he came, but he’s been dreading the cold even before he arrived. Hn, hn! However, so far, I don’t think he’s experienced one really cold day yet, for they have been mostly Tobago days.
 
Anyway, whatever the reason that God’s blessing us with such lovely weather at the end of September, let’s just enjoy it, be thankful and say, ‘Praise the Lord! Glory Hallelujah!’  Yes, let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. The only thing I’m missing now is the salt water, that great therapeutic remedy!
 
Chuh! But them’s the breaks, we can’t have everything we desire. And I know that someday soon, I’ll have both the sunshine and saltwater to cleanse and heal my aching body and bones. We got to have faith Friends! (smile)
 
So with all these good things we have going for us, let’s now raise our passion in, and for Jesus  by bursting out in song, by sending up a marvellous rendition of our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, one that will raise the roof of heaven and also have Beelzebub shaking and shuddering with fear in his evil, muddy boots.
 
All together now, in loud harmonious voice! ‘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 here on earth; 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 and bombarded 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 Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
 
That was wonderful, my fellow believers! We didn’t quite raise heaven’s roof, but we did get a standing ‘O’ from heaven’s host, and had the evil one quaking in his boots.  Now let’s go out into the ungodly world that surrounds us and keep on pushing, pushing for Jesus!
 
Let us not allow our Creator and our God to truthfully say about us: ‘Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.’
 
Oh my brethren, I use to wonder how the Israelites could rebel against God after He had done so much for them. But having watched our once godly society change over the last thirty or so years, I can now understand it. Prosperity certainly breeds pride and self-centredness!
 
And that’s exactly what happened to both the Israelite and our societies: we got prosperous by obeying God, but then, foolishly, like Adam and Eve, we listened to the lies and deceits of the enemy which suggested that the prosperity was all our own doing and began dismantling Jehovah God from our society.
 
But Friends, that couldn’t be any further from the truth than disobedience won’t bring serious reprisals! The Israelites experienced it, several times too, and we’re now experiencing it too. The difference though, is that the Israelites were smart enough to eventually recognize from whence their largesse had truly come.
 
Right now though, I’m not sure that we have even begun to understand the reality, to fathom the gravity of our situation, much less to consider and find a way to change it.
 
Oh Friends, I keep telling us that the history books are full of societies who made it big on God’s back, but then got too big for their breeches and were then unceremoniously consigned to the trash heap of history by their omnipotent Creator.
 
And just as the Lord contended with Israel back then, unable to understand their disobedience, I believe He’s also contending with us today, asking the question: ‘O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants (bondage); and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.’ (Mic.6:3-4)
 
And yuh know what Friends, just like Israel was unable to testify against God with any serious slights, likewise we have no real grounds for rebellion and disobedience against Him besides a sinful stubborn nature and foolish pride.
 
So today my brethren, for the sake of our descendants, let’s cast off that unwise behaviour nuh, which is only leading us closer to death and destruction, and begin flaunting a new wisdom, like the Israelites did, return to sincerely serving and worshipping the One and Only Living God: He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! Now that’s truly wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!
 
…But thou shalt remember  the Lord thy God…for it is he that giveth thee the power to get wealth… (Deut.8:18a)

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 November 2013 Matthew 5:14

10 Nov 2013 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 5:14.    Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

Ah Friends, our world is in such a sad state of disrepair and confusion, it hurts to the very core. There are so many more negative than positive happenings, that when you look around all you can see is man’s terrible and ever increasing inhumanity to his fellow man. Not too long ago, it was reckoned in millions, but now it’s counted in billions.

Ah Lord eh! And the atrocities taking place in our supposed civilized world are innumerable and real, real… Hn! I can’t seem to find a word worse than atrocious nuh, so I guess atrocious it is. And the sad part is that many of these atrocities are being committed in the name of some god or the other. And wonder of wonders, all these gods are supposed to be deities which exude peace and LOVE as their main platforms!

Chuh! I guess that’s what I get for reading the newspapers, because they’re simply littered with all the negative aspects of our world, since that’s what is considered worthwhile news today. Very few of the relatively few good things happening in our world are ever reported.

I have to stop here and chuckle yes Friends, because when I was growing up, I could never understand about the constant warfare reported in the Bible and the History Books. And, fortunately or unfortunately, I still don’t understand them, or those happening today. I don’t see what real or useful purpose they serve, for it’s all death and destruction.

So you won the war, big deal! Numerous amounts of your citizens are dead, including your friends and family, your once proud and prosperous land is laid waste… But you won the war, so that makes you a mighty conqueror!

Steups! Pure foolishness Friends! I think I’ll just remain in my lack of understanding and naivety yes. (smile) The Lord might have been wiser though to let all of mankind perish in the flood, because even with that new beginning through Noah and his family, it didn’t take us long to revert to our truly evil ways, and it seems that since then, each generation has gotten progressively worse.

We claim that the Lord made us to have a good personal relationship with Him, but how much of humanity is doing that eh, even amongst the ones that do know about Him? The corrupting things of the world are having a much greater impact on mankind than the things of God, which do not corrupt.

So where does that leave us, eh mih breddren? It leaves the proportionate few who sincerely believe in the ONE TRUE GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of LOVE, mercy, grace, forgiveness, salvation and eternal life, to work harder at spreading the good news of Christ and His redeeming work.

Oh Friends, we definitely and desperately need to outwork and outshine Lucifer and his evil hordes, if we truly desire to bring success to Jesus’ LOVE Revolution. To do that though, we need to develop an extraordinary amount of unbelievable faith to be able to put up with all the abuse, persecution and negativity thrown at us by the numerous evil doers of this world.

We need a faith as talked about by Martin Luther (1483-1546) the German minister who played a large part in bringing about the Protestant Reformation a few centuries ago. Now when I went on the Net to check out the dates of his birth and death, I happened to come across the same quote that I planned to share, but in a slightly different form. I considered trying to put them together, but couldn’t get it to work properly, so I’ll just give us both versions.

Version 1, from my Devotional. ‘Faith is a living and unshakeable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.’

And version 2, from the Net. ‘Faith is a living, bold trust in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favour that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it.’

Wow! Oh my fellow believers, which ever version you choose, it sure calls for a lot of faith! And right now it’s also obvious that our faith is still too small to successfully conquer the heathen. Without great faith, Martin Luther would not have had the ability to fight the Catholic Church, to stand strong and bring about the Protestant Reformation, which was, and still is, possibly the biggest change in religious attitudes since Christ birthed Christianity.

And Friends, with the great power that evil doers currently possess in our world, it will take a great upheaval, something akin to the Reformation, to bring the heathen to Christ. That’s where the LOVE Revolution comes in my people. We have to put on the greatest show of LOVE the world has seen, since Jesus sacrificed His sinless live on Calvary’s cross, for us to get the world’s attention and cause them to want what we so joyfully possess, to come to Christ to gain salvation and eternal life.

And I’m sorry, but the truth be told, we’re definitely not doing such a good job at it right now. There are too many divisions, too many petty grievances, too much hypocrisy, and simply not enough unity for unbelievers to take us seriously.

So what’s the answer eh mih breddren? We just have to get serious about doing Jesus’ work, to dig down deeper in our souls, find ways to strengthen out faith and trust in Almighty God, so that we’re willing to die a thousand deaths on His behalf.

That means Friends, we need to be two things. The first is to be a bright and genuine reflection of our Bit. ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.’ For as Jesus explains: ‘Neither do men light a candle (lamp), and put it under a bushel (basket), but on a candlestick (lamp stand); and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.’ (Matt.5:15)

And secondly, we truly have to be the salt of the earth! Why is that, you ask?

Listen to Jesus, and all of this comes from the Sermon on the Mount. ‘Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour (flavour), wherewith (by what) shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.’ (Matt.5:13)

Yes Friends, salt adds flavour to our food, acts as a preservative, heals wounds and salt water is the best therapeutic remedy in the world. That means we have to be bright and flavourful, compassionate, comforting, healing wounds, whether physically or psychologically, add taste, flavour and light to our bland, tasteless, dark world.

Yes my people, unless we are the true salt and light of this God-forsaken world, then things will just keep going downhill, which we certainly cannot afford to let happen.

So therefore we need to take Jesus’ advice very seriously. ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.5:16)

And that my fellow believers is divine wisdom straight from our Leader, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. So please let’s put it into action as soon as possible nuh. It’s our bounden duty. Much LOVE!

…until the followers of Jesus truly become…the salt of the earth…and the light of the world…His church won’t make serious inroads into Lucifer’s camp…

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 November 2012 Genesis 9:13

21 Nov 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Genesis 9:13.   I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

Morning Friends! From the porch of my cosy cottage at Store Bay, in the cool morning air, surrounded by an abundance of colourful flora, I write these words of peace, LOVE and good health. Oh my people, you wouldn’t know what joy it is to be awakened in the early morning hours by cocks-a-crowing, birds-a-singing, and dogs-a-barking! And though at times the noise can be a bit disconcerting, especially when you’re not ready to get up, it sure is preferable to waking up in a cold, dark environment with none of God’s creations sweetly singing His praises. And since my sojourn on God’s Little Acre is short, I have to enjoy it to the fullest. Yesterday, after writing the Bit, I walked out to Store Bay, yes it’s only a five minute walk from my cosy cottage, and had a nice dip in its calm, beautiful azure blue, highly regenerative waters. Yes Friends, without a doubt, the best therapeutic remedy for any and all aches and pains is good, ole sea water! God’s considerate provision for His people! After that I went shopping for some groceries, and are they ever expensive, in terms of T&T dollars. Later in the evening I hung out with a couple of old fogeys like myself, reminiscing about some of the colourful and eccentric characters who lived in the capital, Scarborough, during our youth. And believe me, there were quite a few colourful characters hanging around our town back then. And the beauty of it all, is that though their physical appearance, emotional stability and economic situation were at the bottom of the totem pole, their brain power was amazing. Some of the wisdom that would pour out of their souls was truly astounding. It’s reputed that a couple of them had been teachers fallen on hard times, and their vocabulary certainly attested to that possibility. Ah Friends, luckily for us the Lord woke me at a reasonable time this morning, so that I can write the Bit early o’clock, because later on in the day, I have a christening to attend, and it’s very doubtful if I’ll be in any fit shape to write anything sensible after that. (smile) So here goes. Our Bit is the same as yesterday: ‘I do set my bow (rainbow) in the cloud, and it shall be for a token (sign) of a covenant between me and the earth.’ Now just before our Bit, the Lord spoke these memorable and most important words to Noah after the flood receded. ‘And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token (sign) of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations.’ (Gen. 9:11-12) And that token, that sign, as our Bit declares, was a rainbow in the sky. And the scholars say this in their footnote: ‘This covenant involved the dispensation of human government, with humanity governing itself. Man was responsible to govern the world for God. The governing covenant of this era was the Noahic covenant (v 11). Under it, man’s relationship to the earth and to the order of nature was confirmed (vv 2-11), human government was established, and God promised never again to use a universal flood to judge the world (vv 11-17). The failure of man under this dispensation culminated in the building of the tower of Babel and resulted in the judgement of the confusion of tongues. (cf. 11:1-3,7).’  So what else is new eh? Man’s failure to keep our covenants with God down through the ages has been causing us pain and discomfort from day one with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And even after God’s unfathomable grace that allowed Jesus to pay our sin debt in full, we still can’t get it through our thick skulls that obedience to Almighty God is the only way to live a good, peaceful, LOVING and prosperous life on this mish mash earth. Anyway, Friends, I’m not getting in to any haranguing about our foolish pride and rebellion today. (smile) Rather, I’m just going to share some scriptures that indicate how important a rainbow still is in our relationship with our Creator. And the first scripture comes from the prophet Ezekiel, where he declares his vision of God’s glory. ‘As the appearance of the bow (rainbow) that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.’ (Ezek.1:28) That goes to show the lack of words to really describe God’s glory, but He, in His infinite wisdom, gives us some indication of the brightness of His glory in the rainbow with its wondrous colour scheme. Then we’ll jump all the way to the end times, where John tells us about what he saw around God’s throne in the heavens. ‘And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine (sardis) stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight (appearance) like unto an emerald.’ (Rev.4:3) Oh Friends, the gems and the rainbow show God’s glory, and reminds us that it will always be an integral part of the reflection of His awesome, colour, light and beauty! And further on in Revelation, when John talks of the angel and the little book, he begins the chapter thus: ‘And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.’ (Rev.10:1) Yes my brethren, even in the painful times to come, the rainbow will still be involved in the activities of Almighty God! So please, whenever we see a rainbow, which is not too often, let’s stand and admire it, and contemplate the awesome power of our wonderful God, who created such beautiful imagery to show His amazing LOVE and care for mankind; His most precious creation. And a minute ago, the same black rooster that gave me a raucous cockadoodle-do greeting yesterday afternoon, was on the other side of the fence, pecking at the ground and clucking in a low tone. Then he came in to the yard and strutted across the lawn, as though he owned it, with his bright red plumage above his beak standing proud in the early morning sunshine. Now what can be better than that eh Friends? Only heaven! Much LOVE!…is it plane…is it a bird…NO…it’s a rainbow…