Today’s Scrip-Bit   17 February 2023 John 10:11.

17 Feb 2023 Leave a comment

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

John 10:11.       I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Well, well, well, if it isn’t Friday, the last day of our work week! And a bright and sunshiny one at that, somewhat chilly though, with a small amount of white stuff covering the lawns and rooftops, but I believe it’s the result of a li’l sleet and some freezing rain, no real snow concerns. Anyway, it’s being said all over the world: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ And the best part of it all is that we’re still alive to tell the tale. Glory be! 

And what a glorious, momentous, light-bearing, soul-saving tale we have to tell: the story of Jesus and the good and exciting news of His gospel! The ONLY way to escape the damnation of hell fire and access the glory of heaven! What an enormous, ground-breaking truth He shared with us, when He proclaimed to the disciples: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’ (John 14:6) 

And we better had believe that momentous statement yes, because it’s the glorious truth! It’s only through belief and faith in Christ Jesus that any of us natural sinners can ever enter the pearly gates of heaven and behold the majestic domain of our great and wonderful God! And if you don’t believe that, then try this scripture, when Jesus puts it in the allegoric form of being a shepherd. 

‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but (except) to steal, and to kill, and destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:7-10) 

Mama oh Mama! What a joy it is to hear that scripture! Jesus came that we could have life, and have it more abundantly! Wow! So why are so many of us against Him eh? Don’t we want life, and abundant life at that too, meaning eternal and everlasting life, life that never ends? Well, if we truly do, then it’s ONLY in Jesus we’ll ever find it! 

And here’s one of the things I LOVE about Jesus. When He makes a point, He delivers it with full force, He doesn’t back away and give a half-hearted explanation. Listen to how He continues with the shepherd allegory. ‘I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.’ (John 10:11) And that’s exactly what He did for us; sacrificing Himself on the cross on that first Good Friday so that the sheep in His fold could be saved, be reconciled back to the Father and have eternal life! Showing that He’s a man who keeps His promises regardless of how difficult they are to keep! 

That wasn’t the end of Jesus’ discourse on the shepherd allegory though. He continues: ‘But he that is an hireling (hired man), and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.’ (John 10:12-15) 

Yes friends, Jesus knows His sheep, cares for them like the shepherd does and He died for them to show how much He truly cared. So, I don’t know why we question His intentions and don’t believe His actions. A lot of other people have come, and are still coming, and talked a lot, but He was the ONLY ONE who put His words into action! 

And if you don’t believe Him, then crapaud smoke yuh pipe, you’re S.O.L when you die and your destination is realized. For ONLY when you believe in Him and hold Him true, that you will get a chance to talk to Peter at the Pearly Gates. Otherwise, you’ll be greeting his Satanic majesty at entrance to the fires of hell, with eternal damnation and separation from God your lot. 

Now my people, this next verse in Jesus’ shepherd discourse is possibly the most important verse in the whole Bible for non-Jewish persons. Why you ask? Listen up first, then we’ll discuss it. Jesus states: ‘And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one fold (flock), and one shepherd.’ (John 10:16) And all Gentiles gave a loud, rousing and grateful cheer of ‘Thank You Jesus!’ 

That’s because Jesus was sent to the Jews, the Chosen People, to be their Messiah, but being the generous and ever-LOVING God that He is, He also extended His window of salvation to Gentiles, those outside of the Jewish faith. And that’s why we can now talk headily about Jesus, and glory in the salvation, grace, and all those other wonderful things of which He is the author and finisher! 

But having said all of that my brethren, the sad fact is that our world is in a serious mess, at the brink of a precipice, drowning in the mire of evil, and we need God’s help to save it. And we communicate with our heavenly Father through prayer, so please let’s go to Him in prayer right now nuh, through our Friday Chant, sincerely seeking divine help. 

Altogether now: ‘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!’ 

Oh friends, there’s no better time than right now, to renew our efforts in the LOVE Revolution, so that our world can be saved from eternal damnation. But it all depends on us, pulling together as one, and doing our part for Jesus! Much LOVE!

…the truth is…Jesus can’t do it without us…and we can’t do it without Him… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   11 November 2021 John 10:14.

11 Nov 2021 Leave a comment

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

John 10:14.     I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and are known of mine. 

Then Thursday opened somewhat cloudy in my area – but still with great promise, meaning it can go one way or the other; that’s rain or shine…or even just stay cloudy. (smile) However, the beauty of Jesus and His Holy Spirit that dwells within us, is that they only, and always bring sunshine, no cloud cover whatsoever! Therefore, we can always have some sunshine in our lives when we have Jesus as our reigning Lord and Saviour! Give Him some thanks and praise my people for His wonderful goodness to the children of men! 

Without His life-saving sacrifice on the cross at Calvary, we Gentiles would have been headed straight for Hades. But His sacrificial death and resurrection were life-giving instruments to us; that means we were also given the option of eternal life in heaven, and not that of hell alone. As He said so compassionately in His famous soliloquy on His role as a shepherd. ‘I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and are known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold (flock), and one shepherd.’ (John 10:14-16) 

That other sheep, the other fold, means us, my brethren, who would be given the option of salvation later on, through the zealous work of Bruh Paul’s preaching of the gospel to the Gentile world. Ah friends, Bruh Paul, formerly known as Saul, was very instrumental in persecuting the early Christians, until his journey to Damascus to continue that persecution. On the road, Jesus accosted him and miraculously changed his outlook on life. Listen to the story of his conversion as he told it to King Agrippa. 

‘At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue (language), Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard to kick against the pricks (goads – a sharp stick used to prod cattle to move, so Jesus was telling him it was foolish to resist). And I said, Who art thou Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 

But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear (reveal) unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I now send thee. To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified (set apart) by faith that is in me.’ (Acts 26:13-18) 

Wow! What a faithful Saviour we have my brethren! Remember He promised to bring us, His other flock unto Him and make one fold. But who ever thought He would set it in motion so miraculously and through Saul, the most feared persecutor of the early brethren? But that’s the way our great God moves – in mysterious ways His wondrous works to perform, to open man’s eyes and bring light to their darkness. 

And the wonderful thing about Bruh Paul is that after his conversion, he was just as zealous in saving Christians, as he was in persecuting them before he saw the light. Oh, how I wish that some of his zeal would rob off on some of us modern day believers, for with it, we could turn this evil and ungodly world upside down. 

Now hear these marvellous words Bruh Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus concerning the unity of all believers, which we spoke of earlier on, that’s the joining together of both the Jewish and Gentile believers under Christ’s august leadership. He writes: ‘Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands.’ (Eph. 2:11) And the scholars explain: ‘Uncircumcision was a derogatory term used by the Jews regarding Gentiles because the latter were uncircumcised. Jews called themselves the Circumcision since they were circumcised.’  

And Bruh Paul continues: ‘That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.’ (Eph. 2:12) That basically means that before they became Christians, the Gentiles were aliens from the Jewish nation, who were God’s people, so they had no part in the promises of God, like salvation and all the other godly goodies the Jews had been promised. 

‘But now,’ Bruh Paul writes, ‘in Christ Jesus ye who were sometimes (once) far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ ( able to have a proper relationship with Him). For he (Jesus Himself) is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition (separation) between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for to make (create) in himself of twain (the two) one new man, so making peace. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain (put to death) the enmity thereby. And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.’ (Eph. 2:13-17) 

Wow! What powerful scriptures my fellow saints. And what does it all mean? Listen to the scholars: ‘2:14-15.Who hath made both one: Jesus has formed the two antagonistic groups of Jew and Gentile into a single new party, the Christian church. He did this by removing the middle wall of partition, that is the Mosaic Law. The law was meant to protect Jews from pagan corruptions; but by misconstruing the purpose of the law, the Jews felt superior to Gentiles, who were incensed at this arrogance. So Jesus abolished this enmity (hatred), caused by an abuse of the law, by making the law invalid for His church. Of twain one new man: As above, Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles now compass this “one new man” or Christian church.’  

Yes friends, that’s basically how the Christian church, became one body, from two flocks. And we need to give much thanks and praise for Jesus being compassionate enough to include us Gentiles in His church. And that compassion isn’t only talk, but also action, as we discover through our Thursday Blessings, that He’s so generously bestowed on us to do His earthly work. And since a blessing isn’t a blessing until it’s spoken out loud, let’s declare them now nuh, in loud, proud and grateful voice. 

‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

Our job now is to go out and share those blessings with others just as generously as Jesus shared them with us, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him, like we do! Much LOVE!

…the only ONE who can bring unity and LOVE to all…Jesus…the Prince of Peace…Lord of Lords…and King of Kings…                                                                                                                       

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