The Overwhelming Intensity of God’s LOVE and Compassion for Mankind!

11 Mar 2026 Leave a comment

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

Romans 5:8.       ‘But God commendeth his LOVE (demonstrated his own LOVE) toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’

Then it was Wednesday, our second wind day, but it’s wet, cloudy and chilly! The recent sunshine and spring-like warmth have faded away. However, we do know that it will come again, for that’s how the Lord decreed it. So, a li’l more winter won’t hurt, for spring will soon be back, you can bet your bottom dollar on that! (smile)

And today we’re going to look at a very interesting and rather appropriate poem for many of us, from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. It’s titled ‘Has God Passed Me By?’ And as always, I don’t know if I’ve shared it before because I don’t keep a check on them. The beauty of these poems though is that they are very relevant to our times, and thus can be shared over and over.

So please read with me: ‘We were sitting in our living room before a cheerful hearth fire, listening to the low March wind beat against our house. My pretty seventeen-year old friend looked pensive. She said finally, “You’ll probably think I sound morbid, but sometimes I just get the feeling that God has passed me by. He just doesn’t seem personal. It’s like being all alone in a huge computer universe where I don’t really matter.” The doubts of a seventeen-year old? If we’re honest we’ll all confess that we’re prone to ask questions: Why life’s tragedies? Why disease and pain and heartache? Why the sense of futility so often? Does it really matter to God about me?

What better evidence than the cross? What better evidence than the Lord’s promise, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Our vast universe is in God’s control. We are not governed by fate, but by our Father. Not chance, but His choice. Not a guessing game, but His guidance. He chose us to be the object of His lavish LOVE. Cast down, perhaps – that we might learn to trust, regardless of circumstances. Tested, that we might claim God’s unlimited resources. Passed by? Never!’

Now that my friends is the gospel truth! Our God has never and will never pass us by? Why would He do that eh, after all the trouble He’s been through to first create us, then save us from the sin we so foolishly embraced? As the poem asks: ‘What better evidence than the cross?’ And that’s another most important fact. If the Lord didn’t care very much about His human creation, do you think He‘d send His only Son to earth to die such a horrible death so that our sinful souls could be saved?

No! That doesn’t make any sense. Remember what Bruh Paul says in Romans – one of my favourite scriptures: ‘But God commendeth his LOVE (demonstrated his own LOVE) toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) Now why would He take such drastic, heartbreaking measures if He didn’t care deeply for us eh? It’s very obvious that He did, and does care for His most remarkable creation. Remember what Peter says: ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, 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 friends, that’s possibly one of the reasons Christ hasn’t returned as yet; the Lord’s patiently giving as many of us time to accept Christ as Lord and Saviour and thus receive salvation and eternal life, because He doesn’t want to lose anybody to hellfire and damnation. And there are several verses in the Bible where God has promised to never leave nor forsake us. As the one that’s the Bible Promise for the poem. ‘’Let your conversation (conduct) be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’ (Heb. 13:5) And consequently, when we add the next verse, we get a call to contentment and courage. ‘So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.’ (Heb. 13:6)

And right from the very beginning the Lord, through Moses, also made that promise to the Israelites who were about to enter the Promised Land. ‘And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.’ (Deut. 31:8) What more can I say eh friends? How much more encouragement do we need eh? But if you need more, then listen to these words of the Lord though the prophet Isaiah. ‘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. Fear not: for I am  with thee:’ (Is. 43:1-5a)

What more can our God say or do to make us understand our importance to Him eh? He redeemed Israel in olden times, gave men for them, and He’s done the same for us under the New Covenant; He gave the life of Jesus to redeem us. As Jesus stated so clearly to Nicodemus and also to us: ‘For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world though him might be saved.’ (John 3:16)  Now what’s there not to understand eh?

And I like how this commentary describes God’s promise never to leave nor forsake us. ‘The Intensity of the Promise: In the original Greek, this phrase uses multiple negatives, translating to an emphatic “I will never, ever, under any circumstances, desert you, nor give you up nor leave you without support”. That’s how strong God’s promise of never deserting us is! And Jesus gave us His final assurance when He said: ‘and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:20b)

Now that’s certainly good enough for me! Let’s hope it’s good enough for many more people out there who still have doubts and fears about the Lord by passing us. And to help with that, let’s declare our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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!’ 

Now, that leads to an even greater promise: those who endure to the very end with Christ, will enjoy an even more glorious future than the one mentioned above; one we cannot comprehend. So, why don’t we all endure to the very end, so that we can enjoy that more than glorious future together eh? That seems to be wisdom to the nth degree! Much LOVE!

…The Lord might refuse our requests…but He’ll NEVER pass us by…

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

The Necessity for Believers to not only Have Strong Faith, but More Importantly to Show that Faith in Action! Part 1!

20 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

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

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