The Overwhelming Importance of Understanding and Believing that this World and All Therein will Pass Away, but God shall Endure!

29 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 24:35.        Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

And the weekend’s begun with a wet, chilly, lazy-day Saturday, with the promise of freezing rain and consequently an ice accumulation. And believe me, that’s the worse part of the winter – ice. The snow, you can at least see and navigate through, but the ice so often is invisible, and you walk or drive through it indiscriminately and suffer severe, unexpected consequences. Hence this famous term for it on the roadways; black ice. But tell me nuh, why is everything supposedly dangerous or bad given the misnomer of ‘black’ eh? And unfortunately, to the minds of many white folks, that tendency is also associated with black people. 

But that’s a story for another day. The important thing right now is if you don’t have to go out, don’t. Just stay at home and putter around, doing little or nothing important, or simply lazing and meditating on the quality of your life. This is a good time when it’s peaceful and quiet to contemplate our association with Almighty God. But if you must go out, then be very careful, because the temperature is right around the freezing mark, which means ice can be hiding underneath the apparently solid ground. 

Now, on a brighter note, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday prayer with all sincerity and truth. As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And the divine peace and calm simply starts flowing into our connected spirits, easing the stress and tension that so many of us are experiencing in these tough and turbulent times. What a joy it is to be in the Lord’s presence, to have greater intimacy with Him than we normally do. But that’s our fault, for He desires greater intimacy with all His creation, and He’s just waiting with open arms for us to come to Him. However, for whatever reason, too many of us hesitate or refuse to make that unbelievable, gracious and merciful connection, which can only benefit us. 

Meanwhile, the Lord is wondering what else He has to do to get His most precious creation to come to Him. He’s offered, LOVE, grace, mercy, salvation, compassion, forgiveness of sins, justification, sanctification, righteousness, etc. etc. What else does He have to do to get us to sincerely turn to Him eh? I guess the bright, shiny, unimportant sinful things that the world offers catches our attention and our sinful nature more than the things God offers. But please note, that the things of the world eventually will disappear along with those who sadly embrace them, but the things of God will endure forever, along with those who wisely and joyfully embrace them. 

Remember what we recently read in John’s first epistle. ‘For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (physical desires),and the lust of the eyes (personal desires), and the pride of life (self-interest), is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.’ (1 John 2:16-17) Truer words were never spoken my fellow believers! 

And if you don’t believe John, then listen to Jesus as He talks about the signs for His second coming.  He emphasizes: ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.’ (Matt. 24:35) There again, He stresses ‘the permanence of God’s words compared to the transient nature of the physical world.’ 

And the psalmist said it in such beautiful poetry, way back in olden times. ‘Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure (continue): yea, all of them shall wax (grow) old like a garment; as a vesture (cloak) shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed (descendants) shall be established before thee.’ (Ps. 102:25-28) 

Yes friends, even the old time people knew that this world would end eventually along with the wicked who refused to accept God as their Lord and Saviour. And Isaiah’s prophecy on the Lord’s behalf was even more forceful. He wrote: ‘Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax (grow) old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished (broken).’ (Is: 51:6) 

And if you still need further clarification, then try these words of John from Revelation. ‘And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be their God. 

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne (Jesus) said, Behold, I make all things new. and he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.’ (Rev. 21:1-5) 

Well friends, if you’re still not satisfied, then all I can say, that’s too bad, because that’s the Word of the Lord which is the gospel truth. Oh…but wait a  minute, this other scripture might help you make up your mind. ‘But the fearful (cowardly), and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers (sexually immoral), and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death.’ (Rev. 21:8) 

Now that’s the opposite end of the spectrum, so it’s up to you to decide how you want to go. But wisdom hearkens back to these words of Moses to the Israelites. ‘I call heaven and earth to record (witness) against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:’ (Deut. 30:19) Let’s hope that we all  make the right decision, and like Joshua, eventually say with great determination: ‘but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ (Josh. 24:15b) And all of heaven said a loud and glad ‘Amen!’ 

Oh my fellow saints, what a momentous decision for a wet and chilly lazy-day Saturday! (smile) Much LOVE!

…one truth from the Bible…is worth more than…all the wisdom of man…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit   27 January 2024 Hebrews 13:8.

27 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

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

Hebrews 13:8.        Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.

Ah friends, I don’t know what to say about our recent weather patterns nuh. Remember, yesterday I said how it was so wet and cloudy in my neighbourhood and we couldn’t hope for much of a change. Well, lo and behold, when I went back upstairs a couple hours later, I was greeted by brilliant sunshine and almost dry streets. And though the brilliant sunshine did not stick around for the rest of the day, it certainly made it’s presence known and the place remained dry. And by the way, just for your information, on this lazy-day Saturday, the last one in the month of January 2024, it’s damp and cloudy out there right now. (smile) 

But thankfully, that is immaterial at present, for we have God with us, so let’s get to our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer and appeal to our heavenly Father with true conviction. As one sincere voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And with those words of prayer floating up to heaven, we find the Lord’s presence floating down to us, in such abundance that we cannot handle it. But that’s the generous kind of Deity we serve. The more you LOVE Him, the more LOVE He bestows. Ah Lord eh! What would we do without Him eh? Just crumple up and die, I suppose. For who truly knows what to expect from anything or anybody in these confusing and convoluted days? The ONLY person we can be sure of is our great and wonderful God Jehovah! 

Yes my people, it’s only God we can trust because He is ever-faithful and reliable, He never changes, remains the same all the time. Please beleive it my faithful brethren, our God is unchanging. The Bible tells us so. The prophet Malachi says it thus: ‘For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.’ (Mal. 3:6) And are we ever thankful for that, because if He was liable to change and wishy-washy like so many of the other false gods, we would have  been destroyed long ago. As Jeremiah so aptly says in his Lamentations. ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.’ (Lam. 3:22) Words of indisputable truth! 

Meanwhile the author of Hebrews reminds us: ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.’ (Heb. 13:8) That means ‘While everything around us is changing, we can depend on God continually showing us His grace, LOVE, and compassion.’ How awesome is that eh! And this commentary puts it nicely into perspective. ‘What does it mean that God doesn’t change? We call this attribute immutability. This means He doesn’t change His character, His plan, or His mind. Frankly, with the instability of life, this is the security we all long for—consistent unconditional LOVE. The Unchanging God.’ 

It couldn’t get any better than that friends! With God being the same all the time, we know exactly what to expect from Him, no hemming and hawing or constantly changing His mind, but a steadfastness and reliability that no one or nothing else can ever match. That’s why James could write these encouraging words to his readers. ‘Do not err (be deceived) my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness (variation), neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.’ (James 1:16-18) 

And so it should be, now and forever! God is good – ALWAYS GOOD – and doesn’t change, and we the redeemed, are the first step in His redemption of all creatures. Now if you want to find more information on that last aspect, the scholars give a reference to Romans 8:18-27. And it might not be a bad idea to check out that scripture, because it does deal with some interesting stuff. (smile) Finally, turning to Psalm 102, we find the unknown psalmist writing about the ‘Lonely Soul,’ and making some profound statements re the everlasting and unchanging nature of our most marvellous and magnificent God. 

He writes: ‘My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. But thou, O Lord, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations…. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure (continue): yea, all of them shall wax (grow) old like a garment; as a vesture (cloak) shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.’ (Ps. 102: 11-12; 24-27) 

Oh my fellow saints, I don’t know about you all nuh, but being reminded of all that stuff, I do feel refreshed and revitalized knowing that our God is good and generous, He’s unchangeable, is compassionate and LOVING, and will endure forever with the redeemed of His people! Now isn’t that wonderful news? It certainly is! So let’s accept it with opened arms and enjoy the abundant life that Christ died for us to have. Otherwise it doesn’t make any sense being a Christian, reconciled, justified and set apart by Almighty God! Much LOVE! 

… in this ever changing and unstable world…it’s good to know we have a stabilizing and unchanging rock of ages…Jesus Christ…to rely on…

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