12 Apr 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a comapssionate heart, acknowledge, act of denial, adversity, Alex Boyer, Beelzebub, before men, before my heavenly father, cast men into hell, Christian faith, concrete jungle, confess me, courage, creativity, curse, deny me, destroy both body and soul, doctor's appointments, dying for Christ, everlasting fire, evil spirit, favour, fear him, fear not them, fight with the soul, forgiveness, glory to God, health, hell fire and damnation, hoard, in the thick of it, kill the body, life everlasting, lifelong resistance, LOVE, mercy, mish mash, negative word, not able to kill the soul, of more value, our heavenly Father, physical lives, pot holes, practical impossibility, prosper, public confession, reassurance, resurrection, rough times, Satan, secret discipleship, self-control, self-discipline, shaking it rough, share with others, showering of grace, sold for a farthing, sparrows, spiritual aspect, succeed, the body gets tired, the fight for survival, the hairs of your head, the living truth, the Lord's generosity, Thursday's Blessings, Toronto, traffic jams, victory in Jesus' name
Matthew 10:28. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Well hello there mih Scrip-Bit family! How goes it with you all this rainy day Thursday eh? I hope it goes better with you than with me, because the ole fella is shaking it a tad rough after spending the last two days running around in the concrete jungle called Toronto for doctor’s appointments and tests. That’s why the last two Bits were so early. (smile)
But what a mish mash that place is; the roads are full of potholes, the traffic jams are constant…! Brother! I don’t see how people can handle that ridiculous commute for five days every week nuh. But I guess you have to do what you have to do to make a living.
The good news though my brethren, is that the Lord’s generosity has not stopped flowing…and it never will! His ongoing showering of grace, mercy, LOVE and forgiveness on His people is guaranteed for all time. So though we may occasionally face adversity and rough times, we know for sure that our heavenly Father is right in the thick of it with us, and has promised to bring us out better than before.
Glory to God my brethren! What a wonderful God we serve and worship! Give Him some thanks and praise nuh!
And I just noticed an interesting and rather appropriate quote here amongst the confusion of papers on the desk in front of me. It’s attributed to one Alex Boyer, and it says: ‘When the body gets tired, you fight with your soul.’
And isn’t that the living truth friends! The soul is much stronger than the body, though the body leads in the fight for survival. And when the body fails or falters, it’s the soul’s job, the spiritual aspect of our humanity, to take up the battle and lead us to victory in Jesus’ name.
I guess that’s why Jesus gave His disciples the fateful warning found in Today’s Bit. ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ Ah friends, what wise and wonderful advice from our Saviour Himself; advice that is also applicable to us today.
Hear how the scholars explain that section. ‘10:25-31. Beelzebub refers to Satan himself, the ultimate evil spirit. The disciples are told to fear…not. The disciples’ enemies can only take their physical lives, which cannot prevent their blessed resurrection to life everlasting.
In other words, Jesus reminded them that it was more important to fear Him who had authority over the soul as well as over the body and who can bring both to eternal condemnation in hell (Gr. Gehenna). Notice that God is the One who has authority to cast men into hell, and not Satan, who will himself be ultimately cast into everlasting fire.’
Yes my fellow believers, it’s only Almighty God; our Creator, Controller and Provider who can sentence us to a lifetime of hell fire and damnation! And I’m sure none of us want to suffer that terrible fate. Therefore, we need to live a life down here on earth that is subject to His law and will, if we want to see His glorious face at the end of our earthly sojourn.
Listen to how Jesus continues His warning to the disciples. ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing (1/16 of a denarius – a penny)? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.’ (Matt.10:29:-31)
Oh mih breddren, what a glorious reassurance that is from our Master! We are God’s greatest creation; worth more than many sparrows, and even the very hairs on our head are numbered. Wow! The Lord knows it all and is committed to keeping us together, even though we sometimes falter.
However, these next two verses are the ones that will cement His decision. ‘Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.10:32-33) There it is in black and white my people! If you deny Christ, He will deny you before His heavenly Father.
And the scholars offer this good explanation. ’10:32-37. Confess me means “Acknowledge that you belong to me.” In reality, secret discipleship is a practical impossibility. Jesus constantly called for an open confession of Himself by His followers. That our confession is to be before men clearly indicates that a public confession of true Christian faith is a virtual necessity.
The warning whosoever shall deny me is a comprehensive historical aorist tense, (hn!) referring not to one moment of denial (such as Peter’s), but to an entire lifelong resistance to Christ. Therefore a single act of denial does not make one unworthy of being a disciple, but a refusal to confess Christ at all eliminates one from being a true follower of Jesus Christ.’
So all of us who claim to belong to Christ, but refuse to acknowledge Him in public, yuh better had think again! But for those of us who gladly acknowledge Him in public and enjoy His wonderful company, let’s go home now declaring the manifold grace and mercy we enjoy in our Thursday Blessings.
In strong and sincere voice now: ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
Yeh mih people all of that is ours, and not just to hoard for ourselves, but to share generously with the less fortunate. So let’s go out and do that now nuh. Much LOVE!
…a true Christian is one…who is not afraid or ashamed to tell the world…and also show the world…that he is living and dying for Christ…
22 Mar 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abundance, actions, alive and kicking, behaviour, blessings, blind, brand of Christianity, broken, Christ's Church, Christian attributes, church at Laodicea, compassionate heart, compromise, creativity, curse, diligence, divine protection, excellence, faith, favour, fence sitting, God's great earth, help, I know thy works, in the name of Jesus, kicking butt for Jesus, lack of genuine faith, lackadaisical, lacklustre, lazy, legalistic approach, LOVE Revolution, lukewarm, medicinal qualities, miserable, naked, nausea, need nothing, negative word, neither cold nor hot, no passion, obits, poor, positive outlook, pray, promotion, Revelation, rich, scared, self-control, share our blessings, spew thee out, steadfast, success, talk a good talk, thanks and praise, the things of God, the things of the world, Thursday's Blessings, volunteer, walk a good walk, wealthy, worthless, wretched, zeal
Revelation 3:15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert (wish you were) cold or hot.
Awright mih breddren, another wonderful day on God’s great earth is upon us! Give Him thanks and praise! And you know what? I just checked the obits and none of our names or pictures are listed there! Wow! That must mean that we’re alive, alive and kicking, alive and kicking butt for Christ! (smile) I like that.
It sounds like something we were meant to do. But are we doing it? To a certain extent yes, but definitely not as much as we ought to. The problem with our brand of Christianity these days seems to be that we are doing a lot of right things, but we are not doing them sufficiently.
You know, you can give, volunteer, help, pray, whatever, show Christian attributes, but with a lacklustre attitude, no real passion for what you’re doing. It doesn’t seem to come from the heart, but from the mind. Like I’m supposed to do so and so, so I’ll do it, but not with any real zeal; a more legalistic approach than a heart-felt one.
But Jesus calls for excellence, passion, and diligence in His followers. That reminds me of what He said to the church in Laodicea, through John’s vision in Revelation, our Bit for today. ‘I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert (wish you were) cold or hot.’
Ah friends, that’s exactly how Christ’s church is today. The zeal and passion for growing it, for enhancing Christ’s LOVE Revolution doesn’t’ seem to be present in sufficient quantity amongst its believers. We still seem to be too taken up with the matters of the world and not enough with those of heaven.
And as Jesus continues after our Bit: ‘So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew (spit, vomit) thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods (have become wealthy), and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.’ (Rev.3:16-17)
Yes my people, if we look at ourselves in truth, we will see that we are still too taken up with the things of the world and not those of God, thus Jesus’ reproach.
Listen to these explanations from the scholars. ‘3:15-16. The church is likened to lukewarm water, or as being virtually worthless. Christ says He will “spew them out,” or eject them from His company. The hot waters of nearby Hierapolis were known for their medicinal qualities, whereas Colossae was known for its cold, pure water.
But Laodicea was forced to receive water by aqueduct from other areas. By the time it arrived at Laodicea it was lukewarm and provoked nausea. The works of the Laodicean church were as worthless as the city’s lukewarm water. The description does not refer to a backslidden condition, but rather to their lack of genuine faith.’
Ah friends, although I don’t think our contributions to Christ’s church are totally useless, I do believe that they are not worthwhile enough because our faith is not strong enough. Too many of us are too scared, lazy and lackadaisical about our faith. We don’t stand up steadfast and strong enough for what we believe in.
There is too much fence sitting and compromise in our behaviour and actions. And both those things lessen the strength of anything. We talk a good talk, but we don’t walk a good enough walk.
That’s why Jesus commanded the church at Laodicea: ‘I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried (refined) in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment (garments), that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear (may not be revealed); and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.’ (Rev.3:18)
I have to chuckle there friends, because nobody can turn a phrase like Jesus, can admonish you the way He does. And the scholars have this to say about that scripture. ‘3:17-19. Laodicea was famous for its wealth, its bankers, its medical school, its popular eyesalve, and its textile industry.
Christ says that spiritually the people of the church are poor, blind, and naked. True wealth is found only in God’s grace. This church had no spiritual value (gold), virtue (white raiment), or vision (eyesalve). He urges the Laodiceans to repent of their lack of genuine faith and of spiritual understanding.’
Fellow believers in Christ, I believe that admonition of Jesus will also stand us in good stead today. Please, I implore us to stop running after the things and wealth of the world, because they will avail us nothing in the time to come. It’s time we raise the level of our faith and actions and concentrate on sincerely growing Christ’s church as personified by His LOVE Revolution. Why do you think He blessed us with our Thursday Blessings eh? So that we can lift Him up.
Now let’s declare those blessings with a sincere heart and strong belief. ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
And if we truly believe, it, then let’s go out and share it with others as Christ desires, for a blessing is not a blessing until it’s declared. Much LOVE!
…Christ wants His followers to be either hot or cold…not in between…
01 Mar 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a serious toll, abundance, acknowledge, adamant people, adversity, ashamed, be known, bombarding our world, bounden duty, calamity, can't kill the soul, Christ's body, Christian faith, communicating the gospel, compassionate heart, confess me, confrontation, courage, curse, deny me before men, destroy both soul and body, discipleship, drift away, earthly fortunes, eternal life, fear, fear them not, fight the good fight, first of March, foolish, Gentiles, hard work, hear, hid, I will deny before my Father, in darkness speak in the light, in heaven, in the name of Jesus, individuals, Jews, kill the body, lackadaisical, lifelong resitance, like a whirlwind, magnanimous god, missing out on salvation, necessity, negative word, nothing covered, open confession, persecutors, pilgrim's journey, preach from the housetops, proselytize, prosper, public confession, reap benefits, reap peas, refuse to believe n Jesus, rejection, salvation, scared, shall be revealed, shame, sit on the fence, soldiers in Christ's army, sow rice, stubborn, success, the church, the gospel of christ, the One and Only Living God, the power of God, Thursday's Blessings, tragedy, two edged sword, ungodliness, wisdom, wishy-washy
Matthew 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
And then it was the first of March… Can you believe it? January and February have passed us by like a whirlwind! It’s now an old year! (smile) Unfortunately though, not much has changed over the past two months, there is still an overwhelming amount of adversity, calamity and tragedy bombarding our world.
Ungodliness is also taking a serious toll on our earthly fortunes, as lots of people, for whatever reason, unfortunately drift away from the ONE and ONLY TRUE LIVING GOD. How sad that is friends, knowing that so many of our fellow man stand the very good likelihood of missing out on salvation and eternal life with Christ. And there’s nothing more important that that, in this entire world!
But as individuals, and as Christ’s body, the church, we can only do so much. However, I do believe that we’re not doing as much as we can. It’s doubtful that we’ll ever proselytize EVERYBODY on the planet, because there are just some stubborn, foolish, adamant people who will just flatly refuse to ever believe in Jesus, but we can surely give it a greater effort than we’re currently doing.
Too many of us are too lackadaisical about communicating the gospel to others, and some simply refuse to do it for fear of confrontation, rejection or shame. But please remember the momentous words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in our Bit: ‘But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.’ Ah mih people, it couldn’t get any plainer than that nuh.
And earlier on He said to the disciples: ‘Fear them not therefore (persecutors): for there is nothing covered (veiled), that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what hear ye in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ (Matt.10:26-28)
Yes friends, there is no need to fear what man can do to us, because he can only kill the body, but we need to fear God, who can kill both body and soul. Thus, once we embark upon the pilgrim’s journey with Christ, we cannot afford to let fear of man put us off, but we have to keep on fighting the good fight to spread the gospel to ALL the world, because that’s our bounden duty.
And as good soldiers in Christ’s army, we need to do our duty sincerely and proudly and with lots of courage. Please note what Jesus said right before our Bit. ‘Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.10:32)
And the scholars enlighten us as to the meaning of our Bit and that verse. ‘10:32-37. Confess me means “Acknowledge that you belong to Me.” In reality, secret discipleship is a practical impossibility. Jesus constantly called for an open confession of Himself by His followers. That our confession is to be before men clearly indicates that a public confession of true Christian faith is a virtual necessity.
The warning whosoever shall deny me is a comprehensive historical aorist tense, (hn!) referring not to one moment of denial (such as Peter’s), but to an entire lifelong resistance to Christ. Therefore, a single act of denial does not make one unworthy of being a disciple, but a refusal to confess Christ at all eliminates one from being a true follower of Jesus Christ.’
What more can I say eh mih breddren. The scholars hit the nail on the head. We either acknowledge Jesus in public, or we don’t. We can’t sit on the fence, scared and wishy-washy. That doesn’t work in Jesus’ organization. A lot of us want to reap the benefits of knowing Jesus but don’t want to put in the hard work those benefits require before they can become reality.
Remember friends, in God’s economy, whatever you sow, that is what you’re going to reap. So don’t think you can deny Jesus and still get to heaven. As true believers in Jesus, we ought to proudly and courageously say and act like Bruh Paul: ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Gentiles).’ (Rom.1:16)
Yes my people, that’s how we ought to think of the gospel of Christ, because it is indeed powerful, remember, it’s like a two edged sword. That means we have to be very careful with it, not play around with it like some ordinary knife, else we’re liable to get cut very badly with it. (smile) So please, let’s sit and ponder today, how we are treating the gospel of Christ, and if we’re denying or confessing Him, because that’s the key to our eternal salvation.
Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings in strong voice and heartfelt sincerity. ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
Oh what a magnanimous God we serve my people! Now let’s go out and share those blessings with others, as He intends for us to do. Much LOVE!
…you can’t sow rice and expect to reap peas…likewise…you can’t deny Christ…and expect Him to confess you before His Father…
22 Feb 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a Christian, a journey, a piece of gnarled barked, a positive outlook, a process, abides for ever, abundance, acceptable, aimless, apostle Paul, as a man thinks, awesome light of the Son, be born again, being obedient, blessing, christianity, clear direction, compassionate heart, conformed to the image of Christ, conformed to this world, courage, crashing breakers, cultivate us, curse, drifting back and forth, enemy of God, enmity, favour, fence sitting, follow God's direction, friendship with the world, from glory to glory, get to know Christ, glory to God, going to school, good, grow in Christ, grow spiritually, Grow Up, heresy, hold back, immature Christian, jump from church to church, let go, life journey with Jesus, love not the world, lust, made no effort, more than sufficient, negative word, no set purpose, one goal, One Year Book of Bible promises, only one way, perfect, play second fiddle, praying, put in the effort, root us, Ruth Harms Calkin, share blessings, shining brightly, single minded, soaring, spiritual puttering, spoken over someone, studying God's Word, success, talent, the battle is in our minds, the renewing of your mind, the will of God, things of the world, Thursday's Blessings, to meet our needs, tossed to and fro, total commitment, transformed, trust, undisciplined, unsteady, wading in self-pity, water us, wet weather, will of God, willingness, wisdom, wishy-washy Christians, ye may prove, yearn for change
Romans 12:2. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Good news friends; after about three days of wet weather, it’s cloudy but dry in my neighbourhood! Wow! Let’s hope the sun comes out later to make it an even more pleasant day. But even if it doesn’t, we still have the awesome light of the SON shining brightly in our lives, and He is more than sufficient to meet ALL of our needs! Glory to God!
And without further ado, let me share something from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. I don’t know if I’ve ever shared it before, but is it ever so appropriate for our currently trying and troublesome times. It’s simply titled ‘Grow Up.’
Please read with me. ‘Picture it with me: a piece of gnarled bark tossed to and fro over the crashing breakers. First one direction, then another, back and forth, over and under. Aimless. No set purpose. Drifting…always drifting. What an accurate picture of an immature Christian. Nothing but spiritual puttering. Up and down, in and out.
One study group for a few weeks, then another. One church for a while, then another. Undisciplined, unsteady, one day soaring, the next day wading in self-pity. No consistency. The apostle Paul tells us to grow up! Not grow older, but grow up into Christ.
What we are today is more important to God than what we were yesterday. Our life journey with Jesus is now – this very day, this very hour. Why yearn for change if we’ve made no effort to follow the direction God has already given us?
To grow spiritually we must be single-minded. Our one goal? To be conformed to the image of Christ. He longs for our willingness to let Him root us, cultivate us, water us. Above all else, God wants our total commitment. He will take anything we give Him except second place.’
And isn’t all that the gospel truth friends? It surely is! God wants our total commitment, but we’re not prepared to give it. We want to hold back stuff from Him. But that won’t work. As I said yesterday, God doesn’t play second fiddle to anyone! Only one fiddler in His band; that’s Him!
And what we don’t seem to realize is that being a Christian is a process, a journey, like going to school; you begin in ABC (kindergarten) and work your way up through elementary, secondary and tertiary levels. But you must put in the effort required at each level if you wish to be successful and proceed to the next.
Christianity is exactly the same; you get to know Christ and become more like Him by first putting your entire trust in Him, then studying His word, being obedient, sincerely and constantly praying (communicating) and thus gradually growing in His image; slowly – from glory to glory.
But unfortunately today we have a whole lot of wishy-washy Christians, who talk a great talk, but don’t know the real Christ. We jump from church to church, apparently seeking what we want to hear, and not what the word really says. And the sad part is that plenty churches seem to preach that heresy.
But friends, there is ONLY ONE WAY to truly grow in Christ, and that’s the one advised by Bruh Paul to the church at Rome, our Bit for today. ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’
Yes my brethren, it all begins and ends in our minds. The battle between a true relationship with Christ and one with the world is fought primarily in our minds. That’s why they say, as a man thinks so is he. Therefore, if we want to be born again and grow in Christ, we have to let go of the things of the world, we have to stop conforming to what the world wants us to be.
As James so blatantly puts it: ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of (with) the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be (wants to make himself) a friend of the world is the enemy (makes himself the enemy) of God.’ (James 4:4)
John though puts it a little nicer: ‘LOVE not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man LOVE the world, the LOVE of the Father is not in Him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, 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 2:15-17)
That’s it in a nutshell friends; we can’t be friendly with world and be friendly with God at the same time! So let’s stop trying to do it nuh. Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings, that the Lord has so graciously bestowed on us who truly believe and are obedient to His will.
In sincerity and truth now: ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
Remember, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s spoken over someone. So let’s go out and generously speak those blessings over others nuh, for that’s why God gave them to us. Much LOVE!
…sitting on the fence is not an option…you’re either FOR God…or AGAINST Him…
01 Feb 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a beautiful place, a brand new day, a compassionate heart, a dime a dozen, a low ebb, advances in technology, amenities, an ugly place, as white as snow, Ash Wednesday, Auld Lang Syne, bask in the sunshine, be as scarlet, began from scratch, blessings, blood guiltiness, bounden duty, building, called according to His purpose, Carnival, children, close harmony, come now, communicate with Him, crying out, curse, destroying, destruction, devoured by the sword, dissension, disunity, everlasting goodness, evil world, evildoers, faith, favour, forgive, future generations, gives the world hope, God's invitation, goodies, hate, health, heavenly Father, hope, in good faith, Isaiah, left overs, let us reason together, LOVE, Love the Lord, made specially for today, magnificent and magnanimous God, negative word, new mercies, New Year's resolution, one thing, personal relations, positive outlook, prosper, ready to cleanse, reasoning together, rebel, red like crimson, refuse, repentance, repenting, see a better world, shall be as wool, share our blessings, sins, standard of life, strife, strong conviction, succeed, talking to each other, the future, the good of the land, the mouth of the Lord, those who love him, Thursday's Blessings, turning to god, turns the world, Valentine's day, walking closer with Christ, war, willy-nilly, wisdom, worm
Isaiah 1:18. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Welcome, welcome, one and all to a brand new day in God’s great universe! And it’s not only a new day, but also one filled with new mercies and blessings from our heavenly Father, stuff he made specially for today.
He threw out all the left overs from yesterday and began from scratch this morning, so those who LOVE Him and are called according to His purpose can bask in the sunshine of His everlasting goodness.
Wow! What a magnificent and magnanimous Deity we serve and worship my brethren! But remember YOU have to communicate with HIM, to get those goodies! He doesn’t just hand them out willy-nilly. (smile)
And would you also believe that today is the 1st of February? Brother! We were just singing Auld Lang Syne a few days ago, welcoming the New Year, now we’re already hot into the bacchanalian bash called Carnival, with Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day falling the same time in two weeks. Is the year flying by or what?
Let’s hope that we all are keeping our New Year’s resolution, that of walking ever closer with Christ this year, strong and in good order, because that’s the only way we will be successful in this crazy, troubled, war-like, evil world.
And you know friends, the ‘One thing that turns the world from an ugly place to a beautiful place is LOVE. LOVE gives the world hope!’ And is that ever so true my people. Without LOVE permeating our hearts and souls, we simply have no hope, since hate is all about destroying, but LOVE is about building; building together in close harmony.
But sadly, if we look around our world right now, there is very little, if any building, everywhere is simply destruction, both manmade and natural. How does that augur for the future of our planet eh? It’s not very encouraging. If we keep on destroying everything in our path, the future generations will be left with nothing.
Is that what we want for our children, and our children’s children? Even the evildoers will answer no to that question, but none of us are doing anything substantial to stop if from coming to pass. That’s why we’re crying out now, in our Bit, like the prophet Isaiah did on the Lord’s behalf, many centuries ago to the Israelites.
‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’
Yeh friends, it’s all about mankind sitting down and reasoning together if we want to see a better world. And the two verses after our Bit clearly spell out the consequences of not doing so. ‘If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured by the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.’ (Is.1:19-20)
Oh my people, we don’t have to wait for the Lord to tell us that. It’s written ever so plainly in our behaviour, where there’s so much dissension and disunity, even amongst family, much less between countries. Consequently, strife is all-pervasive, and wars are a dime a dozen. It’s easier to pick out where there is no strife than where there is strife, because there are so much fewer of the former. That’s to tell you how bad it is.
But turning back to our Bit. Let’s get some explanations from the scholars. ‘1:18-20. The prophet’s appeal to come and reason together reveals God’s gracious invitation to all men. It literally means to be “reasonable” by repenting and turning to God. Their sin is described as scarlet and red like crimson, referring to their blood guiltiness before God.
The term ‘crimson’ also means “worm,” referring to the colourfast red dye of the scarlet worm. The eradication of this stain turns it snowy white and is symbolic of the life-changing grace of God, which delivers men from guilt and condemnation of sin. Thus the prophet reminds his readers that God stands ready to cleanse and forgive all who will turn to Him.’
Oh mih breddren, from way back then, our wonderful God was prepared to forgive sins to those who turned in repentance to Him, and today He is still in the forgiving business. All we have to do is turn to Him in true repentance. Are we willing to do that so our world and our children can enjoy a better standard of life in the future?
I do hope so, because with all the amenities and advances in technology we now have, the most important aspect of our society, personal relations between humans is at a low ebb, and until we fix that, nothing else will make life any better.
Now, for those of us who choose to LOVE the Lord and obey Him, let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings. In full voice and strong conviction: ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
Now let’s go out and do our bounden duty; share those blessings with others, as Jesus desires. Much LOVE!
…only by talking to each other…in good faith…will our world ever improve…
25 Jan 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bride, a compassionate heart, a new day, a positive outlook, abundance, adorned for her husband, all will be well, are passed away, as a thief in the night, be diligent, be prepared, blamesless, created the universe, creativity, crying, curse, dire toll, don't give up, Erwin Raphael McManus, everlasting peace, every moment of the day, faith, faithful and true, fallen, favour, fear, fight the good fight, friends, god, God shall wipe away all tears, greetings, habitation of the saved, hang in there, holy spirit, home free, I make all things new, in living colour, in peace, Jesus Christ, Jesus is right there with us, John the Revelator, joy, keep on believing, limit your freedom, lose hope, Mosaic church, negative word, no more death, no more sea, not to hoard, our Lord and Saviour, pain, ploughing straight furrows, power in the Word, promises, reassuring message, redeemed people, righteousness, self-control, self-discipline, share with others, sinful world, sorrow, success, talent, tears, the bride of Christ, the day of the Lord, the effects of sin, the Father, the former things, the holy city, the Last Arrow, the Milennium, the new Jerusalem, the obstacle to our future, the pain of life, the second coming, the tabernacle of God, Thursday's Blessings, treasure trove, we will succeed, weekend break, what a joyful day, with His help, without spot, your future
Revelation 21:4. 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.
Greetings friends, from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! He wants us to know that this Thursday morning we are only one day away from our weekend break, and that we have done a good job so far this week, we’ve been ploughing straight furrows, so we should not give up or lose hope, because He is right there alongside us, every moment of the day, and with His help, we will certainly succeed.
So just hang in there, keep on fighting the good fight, and all will be well! What a reassuring message my people! And Jesus is nothing, if not a ‘reassurer.’ And His promises are ever-faithful and true. So please keep on believing.
And I have an interesting thought to share from one Erwin Raphael McManus, author, futurist, designer, filmmaker and Pastor of a Los Angeles church called Mosaic. He apparently says in his book, ‘The Last Arrow,’ that ‘The pain of life is the obstacle to our future. Do not let fear and pain limit your freedom to your future.’
What wise and truthful words my brethren! In this fallen and sinful world of ours, it is fear and pain that take a dire toll on our freedom to enjoy this earthly life. If we didn’t have fear or pain, we’d be home free. (smile) But we know that that situation will only be rectified after the Second Coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, when Almighty God births the new heaven and earth. What a joyful day that will be my people!
And we have that on good info from John the Revelator, who writes, after seeing a vision: ‘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 with them, and 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 said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.’ (Rev.21:1-5)
Wow mih breddren, what an awesome promise and time we have to look forward to; living in the New Jerusalem where there will be no night or day, no pain, sorrow, or death and Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit will dwell amongst us in living colour! Mama Mia! I can’t wait for that day when there will be no more pain! (smile)
Now let’s check out some explanations from the scholars’. ’21:1-2. Chapters 21 and 22 are a description of the eternal state (following the Millennium and the final judgement), centering in the new Jerusalem as the eternal habitation of the saved (cf. Heb.11:10; 12:22-24).
The first heaven and the first earth are replaced by a new heaven and a new earth, predicted by Isaiah (cf. Is.65:17; 66:22). The present universe will thus be cleansed from all the effects of sin (cf. 2 Pet. 3:7, 10-13). Since there will be no more sea, the increased land space will be fully capable of handling large numbers of redeemed people from all ages.
The New Jerusalem is fully described in 21:10-22:5. It is a holy city, totally separate from sin (cf. vs, 8, 27; 22:15). It is being prepared (cf. John 14:3) as the habitation of the bride of Christ (cf. v.9). From God shows its divine purpose, and out of heaven its divine origin.’
Yeh mih people, a new day is coming, we know not when, that means we have to be prepared and constantly on the lookout for it. As Peter warns: ‘But the day of the Lord will come as a thief (robber) in the night…Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.’ (2 Pet. 3:10a, 13-14)
Yeh friends, we have that awesome promise of Jesus that after He’s wrapped up, destroyed all the sin and evil in the world, He will bring us to a place of everlasting peace and joy to dwell with Him forever. But it’s imperative that we make the necessary preparations RIGHT NOW, because Jesus can come back at ANY time. Oh, and please read the references in the scholars’ explanations, for they are a treasure trove of scripture. (smile)
And having read and digested all of that, let’s go home loudly and sincerely declaring our Thursday Blessings. As one now: ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
And please remember that those blessings were granted to us not to keep and hoard for ourselves, but to share with others, so let’s go out and share them now nuh. Much LOVE!
…there is awesome power in the word of Jesus…because that’s what created the universe and all therein…
23 Mar 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, Absalom, adulterous affair, afraid, anointed, Bathsheba, blessings, clean up our act, cleanse us from all unrighteousness, cleansed, clear direction, clog our hearts, communication, confess our sins, confession of sins, creativity, curse, deserves to die, divine protection, forgive, forgiven, forsake sins, full weight of the law, God's grace, guideline, he is faithful and just, in sync with God, Israel, judgements, light, magnanimous god, mercies, mercy, Nathan, negative word, no pity, nobody, nothing to fear, pet, prosper, rebellion, repent, salvation, scriptural standards, secret places of our hearts, see the sins of others, sins, strength, success, supernatural, the Lord God of Israel, the strength of my life, Thursday's Blessings, to forgive us our sins, true motives, unrighteousness, whom shall I fear, wisdom
1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Welcome to another bright, sunshiny day friends in the early spring of 2017! It just doesn’t feel quite like spring, with a minus something temperature.
But that doesn’t truly matter once we’re alive and enjoying another day of new mercies and blessings specially prepared for this day by our magnanimous, merciful and magnificent God!
Yeh friends, we can handle anything once we are under the umbrella of God’s grace and mercy! Please remember that and let it be a signpost, a guideline, a lighthouse, or whatever you choose to call it, to our earthly journey.
Once we’re in sync with our heavenly Father there is absolutely nothing to fear!
As Bruh David so wisely and assuredly puts it in Psalm 27: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’ (Ps.27:1).
And the big and bold answer to those questions my faithful, believing brethren is ABSOLUTELY NOBODY!
So let’s not be afraid of all the nonsense that’s currently happening in world; be concerned yes, but not afraid, for the Lord our God is with us wherever we go. But by the same token, we also have to be with Him, for Him to guide and guard and keep us safe from all harm.
That brings us to our Bit. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
Yes my people, it also behooves us to clean up our act, otherwise we can’t walk sincerely with God. We have to make continual and constant confession of our sins, so that we can be forgiven and cleansed of them by our heavenly Father.
If we don’t, then our souls will be clogged and bogged down with unrighteousness and we won’t have good communication with the Father. Now listen to some scripture that corroborates our contention.
First up is Cousin Sol from Proverbs, where he authoritatively declares: ‘He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.’ (Prov.28:13)
Please notice though mih breddren, that we don’t only need to confess our sins, but also forsake them, give them up. And that’s usually the difficult part, but try we must, for God doesn’t look at our outward actions, or listen to our talk, but looks deep down into the secret places of our hearts to discern our true motives.
And if you think that’s not true, just listen to how the Lord trapped Bruh David in his adulterous sin with Bathsheba. He sent the prophet Nathan to him with a nansi story about some traveler visiting a rich man, and the rich man, instead of taking one of his endless flocks to feed the traveller, he took the pet lamb of a poor man and fed the visitor. (2 Sam.12:1-4)
Now Bruh David got all hot and bothered over this tale and declared to Nathan: ‘As the Lord liveth, that man that hath done this thing shall surely die (deserves to die). And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’ (2 Sam.12:5-6)
And the scholars add an interesting note to those verses. ‘12:5-7. How easy it is to see the sins of others without applying the scriptural standards to ourselves (cf. Matt.7:3-5). David called for the full weight of the law to be applied (cf. Ex.22:1).’
And that’s no lie my brethren, we all do it. But was Bruh David in for one of the biggest surprises of his life.
‘And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things (much more).
Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil (adversity) against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ (2 Sam.12:7-12)
Ah friends, yuh see, we can’t do evil in secret and expect the Lord not to notice it. And the scholars tell us: ’12:10-11. These judgements came to pass literally in the sins of his (David’s) own household (ch.13), the rebellion of his own son Absalom (ch.15), and the civil war that followed (chs.16-20). David was never to fully know rest again.’
Yeh mih people, our God doesn’t make empty promises, and He sees ALL, and knows ALL, so it’s no use trying to run and/or hide from Him. Now let’s go home invoking our Thursday Blessings. And remember, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone or something.
In unison now: ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
Now let’s go out and put it all into action my fellow believers! Much LOVE!
…sin will forever clog our hearts…and keep us from God…until we truly repent of it…
P.S. I know it’s late and long, but it’s ever so good! (smile) Much LOVE!
29 Dec 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a work in progress, accomplished, achievements, believer, blessed, blessings, brethren, but this one thing I do, ceremony, Christians, compassionate heart, curse, Daily Bread Devotionals, difficulties, disaster, disastrous scene, divine commendation, divine summons, dung, eager anticipation, earthly sojourn, erroneous thinking, eternal life, ethically perfect, faith, fidelity, finery, for the prize, forgetting those things which are behind, fresh snow, gifts of grace, goal, God shall reveal, grace, I count not myself to be apprehended, I press toward the mark, knowledge in christ, level of maturity, loss, LOVE, maturity, mind the same thing, mistake, molding, New Year's Eve, perfect, personal satisfaction, pomp, positive outlook, promises, promotion, prosper, purposes, reaching forth, reflections of Jesus, salvation, shaping, spiritual attainments, spiritually, strength to endure, succeed, successes, the error of our ways, the high calling of God, the same rule, those things which are before, Thursday's Blessings, thus minded, trust, trusting our heavenly Father, truth, wait for God' s good purposes, waiting
Philippians 3:13. Brethren, I count not my self to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.
And then it was Thursday, two days away from the great celebration of New Year’s Eve, with a smattering of fresh snow on the ground. It’s not a great deal, but sufficient to cause problems if we’re not careful. So please be careful on the roads this morning.
And despite problems and otherwise, everybody is getting their dan-dan, (smile) their finery ready to go out and party and ring in the New Year with much pomp and ceremony.
But here again, please, let’s just be careful while we’re having fun, because the slightest mistake whatever it may be, can cause disaster. And we certainly don’t want to ring in the New Year amidst a disastrous scene.
Now here is a simple but interesting prayer I got from one of the Daily Bread Devotionals. Please pray with me: ‘Father, teach me to trust You for the strength to endure difficulties and the faith to wait for Your good purposes to be accomplished within me.’
Yeh friends, there’s nothing like trusting our heavenly Father and waiting with eager anticipation for His promises and purposes to be done in us, for spiritually we’re still a work in progress, and He’s continually molding and shaping us into reflections of His Son, Jesus Christ.
No wonder Bruh Paul could declare in our Bit: ‘Brethren, I count not my self to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.’
Yes, he was still in that molding process. In spite of all his successes and achievements, Bruh Paul still felt he hadn’t attained that level of maturity and ‘knowing Christ,’ the way he wanted to.
Consequently he stopped concentrating on what had gone before, accounting it all loss and dung to the wonderful privilege of advancing his knowledge in Christ in the foreseeable future.
And to continue his noble search, he further declares after our Bit. ‘I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil.3:14)
That verse the scholars explain thus: ‘3:14. The mark is the objective of verses 10 and 11 (i.e. knowing Christ). The prize is the joyful personal satisfaction of having attained it, as well as the divine commendation and reward to be granted in heaven for having reached this goal on earth. The high calling of God is the divine summons extended to the believer for salvation.’
Oh my people, there can be no higher calling than that of God, which exists through Jesus Christ, bringing the wonderful gifts of grace called salvation and eternal life!
Now the smart or wise thing for us all to do is to simply keep pressing on, reaching out for the prize, racking up rewards in heaven for the things we’ve done here on earth.
And as Bruh Paul continues: ‘Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.’ (Phil3:15)
And the scholars explain: 3:15. Be thus minded literally means “let us think this” or “let us hold this opinion.” Mature Christians must realize that they are not ethically perfect, but they tirelessly press onward for higher spiritual attainments (vv.13-14).
There is present, then, a bit of irony: perfect (mature) believers are those who admit they are not perfect in any absolute sense. The apostle urges all mature Philippian Christians to hold his attitude; conceding that none has yet “spiritually arrived” but ever pressing on toward further development.
If…ye be otherwise minded: The writer realizes that not all of the Philippian readers agree with this conviction of verses 12-15. But he is confident that God shall reveal their erroneous thinking to them.’
Likewise my faithful brethren, in these modern times we believers must also press on, seeking spiritual maturity in our earthly sojourn. And just like the Philippians, some of us might not agree with that path, but God will undoubtedly show us the error of our ways, if we don’t hold fast to that commitment.
And Bruh Paul reminds us: ‘Nevertheless, whereto (to the degree that) we have already attained (arrived, reached), let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing (be of the same mind).’ (Phil.3:16) And that is simple common sense my people.
But hear the scholars’ comments. ‘3:16. Whereto we have already obtained refers to whatever level of Christian knowledge and maturity the Philippians have attained since conversion.
They are to walk by the same rule, that is, live in accord with the same level of knowledge and maturity, if God is going to give them further light. Fidelity to the truth possessed is a condition for receiving more.’
Yes friends, at whatever our level of spiritual maturity, that is the standard to which we must walk, if we want to eventually move up higher.
So let’s go home with that in our minds and our Thursday Blessings being proclaimed by our tongues. Remember, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone.
Now in full voice and strong belief: ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
Oh friends, we are so blessed by our wonderful God, let’s go out and bless others nuh and thus glorify His Holy Name! Much LOVE!
…God won’t give us more…until He sees we can handle what we already have…
22 Dec 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a performance, a trumpet player, abundance, action, adore, bits of news, blessed, blessed arth thou among women, blessed is she that believed, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, blessings, blocked toilet, born to proclaim, brethren, broken, Christ's mother, Christian fashion, christianity, clear direction, compassionate heart, confidence, courage, creativity, curse, discredit, divine protection, down to earth, Elisabeth, exuding Christian feeling, faith, favour, filled with the Holy Ghost, for brethren to dwell in unity, friendly manner, fulfillment, genuine, glory to God, good friends, great family, greeting, happy to serve, Healer, health, hill country, how good and pleasant, in the name of Jesus, in true action, influential people, John the Baptist, jumps for joy, leaped in her womb, light, LOVE, LOVE in action, Mary, negative word, pleasant, positive, positive outlook, praise, promotion, prosper, reluctant to discredit, renewed my confidence, running sinks, salt, salutation, she spake out with a loud voice, shoddy job, strength, succeed, success, talent, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the Holy Ghost, the house of Zechariah, the mother of my Lord, Thursday's Blessings, told her of the Lord, travail, upbeat note, walk this earth, wisdom, with haste, worked wonders, workmanship, Zechariah
Luke 1:42. And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
Oh friends, oh friends, the ole fella has two good… no not two good, but two of the most wonderful and exciting bits of news to share!
First of all I was told that our bubba Scotty was back at church last Sunday…Glory to God! And he was looking good too…Give the Lord even more glory!
He still is not a hundred percent, but He is much better than he was. So let’s keep on praying that the wonderful healer, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, will soon restore him to full health. Isn’t our God great? He surely is!
And the second excellent piece of news is that I finally saw Christianity in true action. Wow!
The story goes like this: A few days ago, a plumber, a tall white guy, possibly in his forties, came to check out a couple of slow running sinks and a blocked toilet in my house. He fixed the sinks without a problem, but could not unblock the toilet. Finally he called a different department and got them to send someone else the following day.
This guy had to take down the toilet, and after much travail, (smile) finally removed the object that was blocking it. However, to the duchess and I, he did a somewhat shoddy job of putting the toilet back together. So she called and they sent the first plumber back yesterday.
On viewing what we thought was shoddy workmanship, he declared that the fella had actually done his job, but not as well as he could have. And you could see that in good Christian fashion, he was reluctant to discredit the other plumber.
Now, from his first visit, we had established that he was a Christian, also a trumpet player, and we had spoken some about our faith, but not to a great extent. And much to our surprise, he then began to work on improving the job.
Now he didn’t have to do it, and even though he was still on call and getting paid, a lot of others would have just left it and walked away. His manner was also pleasant and friendly and you could feel the Christian feeling exuding from him.
It was actually LOVE in action, not just talk. And I was really moved by his attitude. I saw the proverbial salt and light in his genuine, happy to serve, down to earth behaviour. And it sort of renewed my confidence in our faith.
Ah mih people, I don’t know if I described it properly, but a genuine caring for his job, and the way he did it enthusiastically, worked wonders on the duchess and I. Oh how good it would be to see more of that kind of attitude amongst our Christian brethren!
Anyway, here’s our Bit for today, don’t know if we have space for all I want to say now. (smile) ‘And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.’
Now that was Elisabeth, John the Baptist’s mother talking as Mary, her relative, Christ’s mother came to visit her.
The Good Book describes the scene thus: ‘And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; and entered into the house of Zechariah, and saluted (greeted) Elisabeth.
And it came to pass, that when Elisabeth heard the salutation (greeting) of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.’ (Luke 1:39-41)
That’s when she declared our Bit. And isn’t it amusing, amazing, and mysterious, just like our God, to engineer such a meeting. Mary greets Elisabeth, and John the Baptist jumps for joy in his mother’s womb. He is having his first encounter with the mother of His Lord, whom he will be born to proclaim.
And Elisabeth continues after our Bit. ‘And whence (why) is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.’ (Luke 1:43-44)
Yeh mih people, the Holy Ghost obviously filled in Elisabeth with the enormous task that would befall Mary, and she ends with these powerful and most significant words. ‘And blessed is she that (who) believed: for there shall be a performance (fulfillment) of those things which were told her from the Lord.’ (Luke 1:45)
Elisabeth could only have known those things through the power of the Holy Ghost. What a way our wonderful God, the greatest scriptwriter of all time, tied together the cousins who would bear two of the most important and influential people ever to walk this earth!
How could we not adore, praise and give Him all the glory He deserves eh!
Now let’s go home on a further positive and upbeat note by declaring our Thursday Blessings. Remember, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been proclaimed over someone.
All together now: ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
Yes mih people, blessings and more blessings! Now let’s go out and bless others and be salt and light in the world as Jesus expects us to be. Much LOVE!
…behold…how good and pleasant it is…for brethren to dwell together in unity… (Ps.133:1)
15 Dec 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a beautiful garden, a branch, a compassionate heart, a positive outlook, abide in Jesus' love, abundance, answered prayer, ask what ye will, be fruitful, bear much fruit, blessings, broken, cast forth, cast into the fire, Christmas Season, consideration, courage, courtesy, creativity, curse, diligence, disciples, energy, exceptional, faith, faithfulness, family, favour, fertilizing friendships, friends, fulfillment, gentleness, glorify the Father, good relationships, goodness, grow, guiding light, he that abideth in me, human strength, I am the vine, in Jesus' name, indisputable truth, it shall be done for you, joy, judgement, judgement seat of Christ, kindness, lines of communication, long-suffering, LOVE, LOVE each other, mature, meekness, morning rush hour, my words abide in you, negative word, overnight, P.S. I Love You, Paul's immortal words, peace, purists, relationship with Jesus, relationships, rewards, self-control, self-discipline, snow, success, supernatural strength, supernatural wisdom, takes time, talent, temperance, the agent of Jesus, the Father glorified, the fruit of the spirit, the same bringeth forth much fruit, Thursday's Blessings, truth, unique, vine, weed filled jungle, weeds, white christmas, withered, without me ye can do nothing, ye are the branches
John 15:5. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Ah friends, like this snow business seems to be rather serious yes, because it visited us again last night. Chuh! Not as much as over the weekend, but enough to make life somewhat difficult in the early morning rush hour.
Some people might be happy with that, since it might mean that we’ll finally have a traditional white Christmas ten days hence.
Over the last few years, that hasn’t been as regular an occurrence as in days gone by, and some of the purists have been disappointed. But what to do eh? If it’s winter, then there’s a very real probability of snow. (smile)
Now here’s a timely reminder from my ‘P.S. I LOVE YOU’ Poster, which says: ‘Friends are like a beautiful garden. They require regular care.’
And is that ever true my people! Unless we spend time fertilizing those friendships that we treasure, they’ll eventually grow weeds and disintegrate into what resembles a dilapidated and forgotten garden. We need to keep those lines of communication open with our friends, just like we need to keep them open to God.
So, especially at this festive and friendly Christmas season, let’s remember to reach out to our friends and family with whom we haven’t had any recent communication, so the beautiful garden we have blossoming with them, won’t be changed into a weed filled jungle.
Remember, without good relationships an important part of us goes missing and makes us less than whole. And talking about relationships, the most important one in our life is that which we have with Jesus.
Listen to Him explain it in our Bit. ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’
And that is indisputable truth my people! For without Jesus as the leading and guiding light of our lives, we are able to do precious little in our own human strength.
Hear Him continue His discourse. ‘If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto (for) you.
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath LOVED me, so have I LOVED you: continue ye (abide) in my LOVE.’ (John 15:6-9)
Oh friends, what a wonderful promise! If we abide in Jesus and He in us, then we’ll be His disciples, be fruitful and glorify the Father, and the Father will grant us our requests. How awesome is that eh!
But we need to remember that last proviso: to abide in Jesus’ LOVE! Just like the Father LOVED Him, and He LOVED us, we need to continue LOVING Him and each other. Without that LOVE shining forth my fellow believers, all that we claim to do for Jesus is of no account.
Now here are a couple of explanations from the scholars re those verses above. ’15:6. This refers to the judgement of the believers at the judgement seat of Christ (2 Cor.5:10).’
15:7. The promise of answered prayer is based on the disciple acting as the agent of Jesus’ will (cf. 16:23-26). The promise is for unlimited resources to do the works of God.’
And as we’re talking about bringing forth fruit for Christ, let’s just share Bruh Paul’s immortal words on the subject. ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith (faithfulness), Meekness (courtesy, consideration), temperance (self-control): against such there is no law.’ (Gal.5:22-23)
Yeh mih people that’s what is expected of us in terms of bearing fruit for Christ. And the scholars add. ‘5:22. The word fruit is significant for three reasons. (1) It means the result, the product, outcome, or effect produced by the Spirit in the believer’s life.
(2) Unlike “the gifts of the Spirit” (plural), only some of which are given to a Christian, each believer is expected to have all nine virtues composing “the fruit of the Spirit” (singular). (3) As fruit on a tree takes time to grow and mature, so the Spirit does not cultivate these values in the believer’s life overnight.’
Yeh, I know we’re complaining that that’s a lot of fruit to bear, but as the scholars say, it doesn’t grow overnight, or all at once, but like real fruit takes time, diligence and energy.
And as Jesus promised, if we abide in Him, and He in us, we will have the help of all heaven and earth to produce the fruit He desires of us. So there’s no need to worry; just stay close to Jesus, and all will be well.
Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings. Remember, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone.
In unison friends: ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
Wow! It couldn’t get any better than that my brethren! So let’s take it all to heart nuh, and put it into solid action. Much LOVE!
…the bearing of fruit for Jesus…it’s such a wonderful process…and the rewards are so unique and exceptional…
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