18 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: allegations, almighty god, another week of work, attuned to God, balanced weekend, calypsos, celebrate, change, chastize, Christ-like, Christian's life, confidence, discombobulated world, dogs, economic slavery, enthusiasm, faith, fellowship, Friday chant, fun, generous help, give ear, give thanks, glorious kingdom, greedy, hear, hypocrite, I the alligator, joyful, LOVE, loving kindness, lusting for power, material things, merciful outlook, mercy, moderation, o ye kings, o ye princes, party, perspective, Philippians, pittance for pay, prayer, Rejoice in the Lord always, relationship, relaxation, resentful, rest, sing and praise, sing praise, slave master, slave work, spiritual image, St. Joseph's Day, St.Patrick's Day, supplication, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, thankfulness, thanksgiving, The God of Israel, the heathen, the Lord is at hand, the peace of God, truth, unbeliever, whips, wine women and song, wisdom
Judges 5:3. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes: I, even I, will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
Aye mih people, how it going this cloudy Friday morning eh?
The somewhat snotty reply was: ‘But what yuh expect eh brother? Is Friday. That means it going beautifully! Yuh don’t hear everybody joyfully declaring, ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’
The weekend is upon us, and everybody’s just holding their breath, can’t wait for evening to come, so that they could party, celebrate another week of slave work over, with only a mere pittance for pay, under the greedy slave master and them.
The only difference now is that they don’t have no whips nor dogs to keep you in line, now is economic slavery. That is why everybody so happy when Friday come, and joyfully shouting ‘Thank You Lord for Friday!’
Now who am I to dispute those allegations eh? I’m certainly not going to jump up and say ‘I the alligator sir!’ as a politician in Tobago was reputed to have said in the House of Assembly many moons back. (smile)
I can only say that spending too much time partying and wasting away the supposed pittance you’re paid on wine, women and song is not a very wise move. We’d all be better off with a balanced weekend as our Friday Chant advises. So let’s chant it up with plenty enthusiasm and thankfulness nuh.
As one now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Now that line of thinking provides a much better perspective on the matter my people. And before I forget, let me make some apologies. In yesterday’s Bit I talked about growing up in T&T celebrating St. Paddy’s Day, but apparently I was wrong. A friend wrote and told me that instead we celebrated St. Joseph’s Day on March 19.
To tell the truth, I really don’t remember what day we celebrated back then. I only remember that we’d be anxiously waiting for that one day in the middle of Lent when you could drink and party and hear calypsos on the radio with a free conscience. (smile)
And on the other hand, I’ve been celebrating St. Paddy’s Day up here for the last forty something years, so the memory of down south in that respect is somewhat dim. (smile)
Now yuh see friends, that is the kind of feedback I require, that I need. Please, when I make mistakes, as I’m won’t to do every so often, being an ageing human, let me know nuh. I very much dislike putting stuff in the Bit that isn’t true. Anyway, thanks for that Miss T. (smile)
Now here’s our Bit. ‘Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes: I, even I, will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
And yes, our Bit is the same one as the last couple days, because thanks and praise are such integral aspects of a Christian’s life, and I don’t believe that we’re doing it as well as we ought to. Our hearts don’t really seem to be in that space where we’re happy to seek God; to sing and praise Him for His LOVING-kindness and His most merciful outlook upon us.
Oh my fellow believers, that is just such a sorrowful statement on our part. And I do believe it’s true. Just look around us and you’ll see the way we Christians behave, almost as badly as the heathen, as the unbelievers; greedy, resentful, lusting for power and the material things of the world.
Now that has got to change, if we ever hope to make any significant change(s) in our crazy, discombobulated world. I know several people who refuse to go to church because of the unchristian way those already in the church behave. But I keep telling them to go and add one more hypocrite to the bunch already there.
Oh friends, we’re all hypocrites to some degree, because we all do things we’re not suppose to, then chastise others for doing the same stuff. So what does that make us eh? Definitely not a true Christian! And besides, it’s more difficult trying to change things from the outside. You stand a much better chance if you’re on the inside too.
Anyway, that’s just my take on the situation. Let’s get to some appropriate scripture. And there’s none more suitable then this admonishment of Bruh Paul to the Philippians. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand,
Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep (guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ (Phil.4:4-7)
Oh my people, what true and wise and wonderful advice! Actually, it should be a no-brainer for even the elementary Christian because from day one we’re advised to sing and praise and give thanks to God in ALL circumstances, and bring EVERY problem to Him in prayer, be they large or small.
For whatever reason though, we just are not doing those things sufficiently, that’s why our individual lives and the lives of our churches are not as joyful and Christ-like as they should be.
So let me plead with us this morning to get back to the basics of our faith. Remember, it’s all about our relationship with Almighty God; seeking Him, praising and glorifying Him. That’s the wisdom of the ages! Much LOVE!
…man was made in the spiritual image of God…so that his spirit would be closely attuned to God….
17 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 123 Newsletters, asaph, backsliding, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, calypsos, chosen for his inheritance, Christian time, conduct, confession, day of abundance, Editor Bob, enjoy the day to the fullest, give ear, God is the judge, good fortune, green, growth, have fun, hear O ye kings, Holy Trinity, indigo glow of the sky, Irish Angel's Blessing, Irish folklore, joy, Lenten season, leprechaun, magnanimous, magnificent, mindset, mischief-making, Moments of Leisure, monetary, o ye princes, offering praises, patron saint of ireland, perfection of life, Pot o' gold, praise and thanksgiving, praise is comely, pro-actively cultivate, prosperity, reflections, relationship with god, repentance, shamrock, signs, sing praise to the Lord, sing unto him a new song, spread luck, St.Patrick's Day, symbolism, take life easy, the salvation of God, thethe word of the Lord is right, this is the day the Lord has made, topsy turvy world, truth, we will rejoice and be glad in it, Whoso offers praise glorifies me
Judges 5:3. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes: I, even I, will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY !
Well a Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all you fine Irish and non-Irish folks out there! It’s time to enjoy the luck o’ the Irish! (smile)
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated every year on March 17; the feast day of St. Patrick the patron Saint of Ireland. According to history though he was not Irish, but was born in Britain in 385 AD and brought to Ireland as a slave when he was sixteen. Six years later he escaped and became a priest, and per a vision, he returned to Ireland to Christianize the Irish people.
According to legend, St Paddy used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish people by showing them the three-leafed plant with one stem. And it eventually became the national flower/emblem of Ireland.
Another part of St. Paddy’s legend claims that he drove the snakes out of Ireland, although some biologists claim there were never any snakes in Ireland. (smile) St. Patrick died on March 17 461 AD.
And today I want to share some words of wisdom from Editor Bob from the 123 Group of Newsletters.
The newsletter begins by saying that ‘St. Patrick’s day is here, we know besides being a day celebrating the revered patron saint of Ireland it has now become a perfect time to groove away with folks and friends wearing green jackets adorned with a shamrock and wish for our pot of gold delivered by the lucky Leprechaun.’
And what is a Leprechaun you ask? Well it’s a type of fairy in Irish folklore, who is usually depicted as a little bearded man, wearing a coat and a hat, with a mischief-making side to his personality.
Now my recollection of St. Paddy’s day is just that as quoted above, because while growing up in T&T, St. Patrick’s Day was the only day you’d hear calypsos on the radio during the Lenten season. So it was basically a break in the staunch and strictly celebrated Christian time. We’d all be dying for St. Paddy’s day to come so we could drink and party with a clear conscience. (smile)
Ah Lord eh! What began as a religious festival has turned in to a universal time of partying. But anyway, here are Editor Bob’s words of wise advice.‘Wisdom comes from the moments of leisure and reflections that you give yourself; sometimes perfection of life is not having perfection at all.
So step down from the escalator and sit on a quiet bench, enjoy the indigo glow of the sky, invite a friend or two to spend the moment of nothingness with you and celebrate the day of abundance which is not necessarily monetary in nature.
The festival is full of signs and symbolism. Green is the colour of growth and prosperity. Leprechaun brings a message to take life easy and have fun with it. Pot of gold is the “good fortune” you crave for on the outside but is within your reach if you just believe. Shamrock stands for trinity indicating the power that you have to attract all that is good. So friends enjoy the day to the fullest.’
And that is exactly what we ought to do, not simply because it’s St. Paddy’s Day, but because we are alive and kicking, being LOVINGLY looked after by a mighty, magnificent and magnanimous God.
So why should we not follow the advice of both Editor Bob and the psalmist, who loudly declares: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps.118:24)
Oh my people, that is the mantra we should follow each and everyday we are blessed to open our eyes to greet a new morn. It’s not always easy because of the unfortunate circumstances that beset all of us at some time or other. But if we pro-actively cultivate that mindset, life will become much easier, and we will not allow our circumstances to steal our joy in the Lord as much as we’d otherwise do.
Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes: I, even I, will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.’
Yes friends, we’ll continue with scriptures of praise and thanksgiving to our great and wonderful God – even though we don’t have much time and space left. (smile) That’s because there is nothing else that brings joy to the Lord and to us than offering up praises to our Creator and heavenly Father.
First off, listen to these words of Asaph from Psalm 50 – God is the judge. ‘Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation (conduct) aright will I show the salvation of God.’ (Ps.50:23).
Oh my people, please let’s remember that the Creator made us to have an intense but beautiful relationship with Him. Mankind is the only one of His creatures that can do that.
But unfortunately, over the last generation or so, we have been backsliding badly, and now need to very seriously come to Him as desperate times are overtaking our world. Only confession, repentance and mountains of praise can right our upside down, topsy-turvy world.
The psalmist in Psalm 33 – Praise to the Lord for His creation- steadfastly and confidently declares: ‘Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely (beautiful) for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise (joyful shout). For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.’ (Ps.33:1-4)
And all God’s children said a loud and grateful ‘Praise the Lord!’ to those words of indisputable truth.
And we’ll close with an appropriate Irish Angel’s Blessing: ‘May the leprechauns be near you, to spread luck along your way. And may all the Irish angels, Smile upon you on St. Patrick’s Day.’
Yes my brethren, I wish us all a blessed St. Patrick’s Day! Much LOVE!
…blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance… (Ps.33:12)
P.S. I’m somewaht tardy today because of my early celebrations of St. Paddy’s Day. (smile) Much LOVE!
16 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future with Jesus, a solitary note, Advocate, appreciation, be filled with the Spirit, be not drunk with wine, bicker, breathtaking knowledge, brother, chimes, Christian, complain, declarations, defer not to pay, difference, diligent, dissipation, enthusiasm, eternity, excess, exhort, faithfulness, friend, get on track, give ear, giving thanks always, glory hallelujah, glory to God, God has no pleasure in fools, God's work, grateful, hear, heaven, hymns, I am halfway home, I will sing praise, I'm not looking back, I'm so glad to be alive, in God's sight, in the fear of God, instruct, It's Good, Jesus, life symphony, life-giving love, LOVE, magnify, mercies, Messiah, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are on the plough, o ye kings, o ye princes, One Year Book of Bible promises, praise the name of god, psalms, responsibility, Ruth Harms Calkin, saviour, serve, sing praise to the Lord God of Israel, sing praises to God, spiritual songs, steadfast, thankful, thanksgiving, the breath of life, the obits, to all generations, to be loved by God, tremulous heart, truth, unsettled questions, used for good, vow unto God, walk like the children of God, Wednesday Wail, with my mouth, worship Christ
Judges 5:3. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes: I, even I, will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
Oh my people, another beautiful day has dawned on God’s great earth, and along with it our responsibility to walk like the children of God that we are! Glory Hallelujah!
And our God is so great that He gives us all the tools we need to do His work. Glory to God!
So let’s not bicker and complain this glorious Wednesday morn. Instead, let’s raise our voices and wail our Wednesday Wail with joyful enthusiasm and grateful appreciation.
As one now: ‘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!’
Yes precious people, that’s what we ought to be doing and feeling; be grateful that we’re still alive, for a lot of others names are in the obits today, but not ours. For that we ought to be rather thankful.
Then we have to be serious about doing God’s work; being diligent and steadfast about it, while believing and looking forward to a wonderful future with Jesus, both down here on earth, and then in heaven for all eternity.
And all Jesus’ followers declared loud, proud and grateful: ‘Glory to God! Thank You Lord for giving us Jesus as our Messiah, Advocate, Saviour, Brother and Friend! We faithfully promise to do His work, serve, worship and LOVE Him for evermore! Amen.’
Now please remember what Cousin Sol says about promises in Ecclesiastes. ‘When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better it is that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.’ (Eccl.5:4-5)
Yes friends, that puts us on the spot, for we have just promised to serve and worship Jesus Christ for ever. So please, let’s not break that vow, let’s keep paying it each and every day, so that we don’t end up as fools in God’s sight.
And today I want to share a poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, simply titled ‘It’s Good.’
Please pray with me. ‘God, it’s good to be LOVED by You! The breathtaking knowledge Of Your life-giving LOVE Rings chimes in my tremulous heart. It fashions eternal declarations Out of unsettled questions. It creates a majestic life symphony from a solitary note. God, it’s good to be LOVED by You!’
And isn’t that the awesome truth my brethren! It’s so wonderful to be LOVED by a God as powerful and merciful and forgiving and understanding as ours! Give Him the thanks and praise He rightfully deserves my people!
And the biblical promise for that prayer comes from Psalm 89 – God’s sure promises to David. Ethan the Ezrahite opens it thus: ‘I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.’ (Ps.89:1)
And does that ever fit right in with our Bit, our continuing desire to sing praises to our great God. ‘Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes: I, even I, will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.’
Oh my fellow believers, I don’t think that we do that as much as we should. We don’t seem to have time, or make time to do as Bruh Paul directed the Ephesians. ‘And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (dissipation); but be filled with the Spirit;
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.’ (Eph.5:18-21)
Yes friends, that’s how we ought to conduct our lives as true believing Christians! Unfortunately though, not enough of us are doing it to the extent that we should, and that’s why we are not making as powerful a difference in this evil world as we should.
And we’ll close today with some valuable info from the scholars on those verses. ‘5:19-21. There are four results of being Spirit filled (v.18): (1) believers speak to one another with psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs; that is, they exhort and instruct each other;
(2) there is singing and the making of melody, of individual song and praise for the Lord; (3) there is giving thanks always – the Spirit enables the Christian to be grateful for all things divinely allowed to enter his life since they will be used for good;
(4) there is mutual submission, that is, showing deference to the wishes of one another, as long as that to which the believer submits is in the fear of God, which is to say, in accord with what pleases Him.’
And there we have it my brethren; the way we ought to conduct ourselves as true believers in Christ. I therefore implore us, starting today, right now, to get on track and give thanks and sing praises to our wonderful God, the way we ought to, for that is indeed wisdom of the highest order. Much LOVE!
…I will praise the name of God with a song…and will magnify him with thanksgiving… (Ps.69:30)
13 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, a pure heart, accept conditions, Anselm's quotes, bickering, blessings, blood of the everlasting covenant, charity, children of God, choices in life, clarion call of Jesus, clay, cleanse, coaxed down, cold-turkey, comfort, compassion, complain, complaining, correction, Daylight Savings Time, dishonour, disputes, doctrine, encouragement, equipped, faith, fellowship, fight the good fight, fluctuating, friends, furnished, gentle, gold, good examples, good works, habits, honour, inertia, inspiration of God, LOVE, March break, may be perfect, meekness, patient, peace, penchant, profane, purge, reproof, responsibility, righteousness., sanctified, scripture, set apart, silver, sit on the fence, social media, spiritual strength, spring-like, step up to the plate, strife, sunshine, teach, technology, the circle of life, the God of peace, the grand scheme of things, the Holy Bible, the man of God, the shepherd of the sheep, the weather, those in opposition, time of need, tools, tossed out a window, truth, ungodliness, useless talk, vain babblings, vessels, walking hand in hand with Jesus, well-pleasing, wisdom, youthful lusts
2 Timothy 3:17. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished (equipped) unto all good works.
Aye friends, how goes it this Sunday morning at the beginning of the March break, where so many people try to get away to the sunshine for a week or so?
But yuh know what? There might not be much sense in doing that this year, because the weather up here is more spring-like than winter. And it is fluctuating crazily; yesterday morning there was frost on the ground and on the cars parked outside, but by mid-afternoon the temperature was in the low to mid-teens.
And to add to all the weather fluctuations and craziness, this morning at 2 o’clock, the clocks went forward by an hour, initiating Daylight Savings Time, meaning that some people will lose an hour’s sleep, while those who are working will work an hour less. Now who all of that benefits I don’t know, but I do know that a lot of people, including me, don’t like it.
But then again, in the grand scheme of things, none of that really matters once we are walking hand in hand with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
And since it’s Sunday, it means heading for the Lord’s sanctuary to praise and worship and give thanks as one harmonious body, and receiving His awesome blessings of spiritual strength, encouragement, compassion and LOVE, so that we can keep on fighting the good fight, and also help and comfort others in their time of need. It’s all about the circle of life and LOVE friends!
And since I haven’t shared a quote in some time from our friend Anselm, who aspires to inspire us today for a better tomorrow, I’ll now share two. (smile) The first one says that ‘A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time.’
Now I do agree with that under certain circumstances, but there are some people who can only break their bad habits by throwing them out the window all at once, in other words going cold-turkey. I guess in the long run it all depends on the character of the person and the habit involved.
And the second quote from our friend Anselm declares: ‘There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.’
And that is the basic truth. We must either shut up and accept what we have, or step up to plate and do what is required to better the situation. Unfortunately though, too many of us just want to sit on the fence and complain and do nothing to solve the attendant problems, while hoping that someone else will fix them.
Now our current penchant for complaining and epidemic of inertia are two big reasons why our society is so messed up. We all want to live high on the hog but don’t want to do what it takes to accomplish that. And that’s rather unfortunate, because as children of God we have all the tools available at our disposal to function at a high level; namely God’s Word, the Holy Bible.
And as we recently saw, the verse before our Bit tells us that ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.’ (2 Tim.3:16) Now why is that eh?
So ‘That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished (equipped) unto all good works.’
So my people, we have all the tools for improving the world at our disposal, why aren’t we using them eh? We are obviously not following Bruh Paul’s advice earlier on his letter.
‘Study (be diligent) to show (present) thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (properly interpreting the Word of God). But shun profane and vain babblings (worthless talk): for they will increase unto more ungodliness.’ (2 Tim.2:15-16)
And that is exactly what’s happening in our society! This explosion of social media and its attendant technology have us involved in more useless talk and bickering than ever before.
And Bruh Paul continues: ‘But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth (clay); and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge (cleanse) himself from these (the latter), he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified (set apart), and meet (useful) for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow (pursue) righteousness, faith, charity (LOVE), peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions (ignorant disputes) avoid, knowing that they do gender (generate) strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive (quarrel); but be gentle unto all men, apt (able) to teach, patient.
In meekness instructing (correcting) those that oppose themselves (who are in opposition); if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of (so that they may know) the truth; And that they may recover themselves (come to their senses) out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at (to do) his will).’ (2 Tim.2:20-26)
Oh my fellow believers, our duty is spelled out in black and white right there for us. And it’s not an easy duty, but with some diligence, some steadfastness, sincere faith and trust in God, we can all do much better than we’re currently doing. Remember the forging and growing of Jesus’ church, His LOVE Revolution is in our hands. As we go, so do His body, His influence and His saving of the world go.
And we’ll close with these immortal words of Bruh Paul from Hebrews. ‘Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect (complete) in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ (Heb.13:20-21)
And that’s my sincere wish for all of us today my brethren. Now let’s get ourselves together, come to our senses, and do what is necessary to bring the rest of the world back to its senses, back to God where they belong. Much LOVE!
…only as believers live godly lives…be good examples…will the world ever respond to the clarion call of Jesus…
11 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: another week of work, antagonistic, Christ's Church, christianity, Christians, compacted, confidence, conquered, disharmony, disunity, divided, divinely ordained, don't have a care, easy target, enthusiasm, Ephesians, favour, fellowship, fitly joined together, foolish pride, Friday chant, friends, fun, generous help, glorious kingdom, Glory be, godly manner, grace, grow in grace, harmonious, harmony, holy spirit, Jesus Christ, joins believers together, joint, joy, joyful noise, junk mail, leggo-beast, libertine living, licentious living, logic, lost sheep, LOVE, loving kindness, manifestations, ministries, now and for ever, our Lord and Saviour, packing, party down, pride, relationship, relaxation, selfishness, showers of grace, spiritual gifts, spiritual growth, supporting ligament, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the common good, the enemy's work, the good of the body, the knowledge of god, the weekend, to him be glory, truth, unites, unity, unpacking, wandering aimlessly, wisdom, working people
2 Peter 3:18. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Wow people! Friday has certainly come around quickly! No wonder the joyful noise in the streets and workplaces.
‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday once again yes! And the good ole weekend is here! Glory be! How we going to party down the place like leggo beast and don’t have a care these next couple days! Friday, oh Friday! How we LOVE you! That’s why we shout: TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui!’
Ah friends, I guess we cannot control the joy and enthusiasm that a Friday brings to working people. However, we can guide the response in a much better way than just libertine living. So let’s chant our Friday Chant, which shows us the better way to use the weekend.
As one harmonious chanter now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yes, that’s a much more sensible way to use the couple days off we get every week. Simple licentious living doesn’t add any glory to God, just to Beelzebub. And I know that is definitely not what we intend to, or want to do. So please let’s use these vital days in a much more godly manner nuh.
Oh brother, am I ever tired. I don’t know which one is worse, packing to go away, or unpacking when you come back. I suspect though that it’s the latter, because I haven’t finished unpacking, and there’s still a lot of stuff to catch up on, plus a million and one letters to check out. Hopefully though, most of them will be junk, thus needing only a perfunctory glance.
Boy, does stuff ever pile up quickly when you go away. And then yesterday I had to go running around in the constant drizzle to get stuff that we needed. But all in all it was a good day. Thank You Lord!
And per our Bit, I did grow a little in grace yesterday. ‘But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.’
Ah friends, that word ‘grace’ is something else yes! The dictionary has 14, yes 14, definitions for it. But the one we’re most concerned here with is: ‘Favour, benignant (kind, kindly) regard, or its manifestation, on part of superior.’
That brings into play the grace, the favour, the manifestation of our wonderful, magnificent and magnanimous God, who showers us with His grace and favour every single day! Oh glory to God my people for that constant shower of grace! Without it, we would be truly like lost sheep, wandering aimlessly in the wilderness; a perfect and easy target for the enemy.
And yuh know what? We grow in grace and favour with God, when we grow in knowledge of His will, power and LOVING-kindness. The one, brings on the other.
And I want to share here some explanations of the scholars, re the verse from Ephesians that we looked at a couple days ago; the one that talks about the whole body fitly joined together and compacted (knit together).
‘4:16. Fitly joined together and compacted: As He unites Christians with Himself, Christ also brings them into a harmonious relationship with one another. This harmonious relationship is accomplished by that which every joint supplieth or, “by every supporting ligament.”
The spiritual gifts mentioned in verses 7-15 are figuratively likened to the various “ligaments” of a body. Removing this figure, Christ joins believers together and unites them by the divinely ordained ministries of Christians who possess diverse spiritual gifts, which are exercised and used among believers for the common good.
The church’s spiritual growth, then, comes from Christ through the believer’s ministry to one another as they employ their spiritual gifts.’
Oh friends, please note that the whole theme of whatever Christ does is always unity and harmony, especially amongst the body of believers called ‘His church.’
But in actual fact, His supposed church is not becoming more united and harmonious. In fact it is breaking up, with more divisions happening every day, and more fighting and disharmony even amongst those divisions. So how then do we expect the church to do the job it was created to do, if there is more disharmony than harmony within it eh?
We all have diverse gifts which we are supposed to use for the common good. But are we doing that? Obviously not, otherwise the church would not be as divided and antagonistic as it is. Our selfishness seems to be paramount in relationship to the good of the body.
Ah friends, I don’t know what else to say to get us to think in terms of unity, rather than disunity nuh. But until, and unless we put our selfish and foolish pride aside, and begin truly seeking what’s good for us all, then Christ’s church will always be divided and easily conquered by the enemy. That’s simple logic. Much LOVE!
…when we work against each other…then we’re dong the enemy’s work…not Christ’s…
09 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: balanced lives, children of God, common task, communing with God, Crusoe's Isle, daily grind, devotions, evil, fellowship, forgiveness, friends, friends of Jesus, giants, give thanks, glory hallelujah, glory to God, gospel truth, grace, grow in grace, harmony, holy spirit, I am the beloved of god, I can trust my friend Jesus, ingenious God, Jesus Christ, kindness, knowledge of Jesus, LOVE, memorable, memories, mercy, midget, more like Jesus, One Year Book of Bible promises, pollinating, praying, reproduction, Rosie's rock cake, Ruth Harms Calkin, salt air, share His love with the world, sights and sounds of nature, sitting on the patio, spiritual growth, the Lord in favour, the party's over, Tobago, truth, Tuesday Mantra, warmth, wisdom, worth the waiting
2 Peter 3:18. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever Amen.
Well friends, the music has ended, and the D.J is packing up his equipment, that means the party’s over! Steups! So sad, but oh so true.
The simple fact of the matter is that we can’t party for ever, we also have to have periods of work if we want to live balanced lives as the Lord, our Maker intended.
And all of that is just to say that the ole fella’s vacation in paradise, on sweet Tobago is over. Chuh! But them’s the breaks! Sadly, it’s time to get back to the common task and daily grind in the cold North country.
No longer will I be waking up to the sweet singing of the birds, coming out the front door and inhaling the fresh salt air from the sea as the waves rush foam-filled over the reef and crash against the rocky shore. No more sitting out on the patio in the early morning hours communing with the Father, watching the sun rise and feeling it’s heat permeate my very being.
No more watching the birds and insects play amongst the bunch of young date palms on the small tree as they go about their business, God’s business of pollinating the flowers so that life can go on.
And I have to stop and say what a wonderful and ingenious God we serve, the ingenious way He designed for nature’s reproduction. Please give Him all the glory!
Then no more walks along the rocky coastline after devotions… Hn! No more dips in my waterhole either. No more sitting on the patio with the duchess taking in the sights and sounds of nature, as she says, enjoying the ambiance. (smile) And she certainly won’t be able to see, or hear her boats, the ferries speed back and forth along the horizon.
And she won’t be able to have me drive miles down the road to get some of Rosie’s rock cake! Hn! Three times this past week I drove all the way down to this local bakery, in the hot sun to boot, only to discover that she was closed, or she had no drops. I wasn’t very thrilled.
But you know what friends; the vacation might all be over in reality, but the wonderful time we had on Crusoe’s Isle will never be forgotten, will never be erased from our memories. For as Johnny Bristol says in his old song: ‘Memories don’t leave like people do. They always stay with you. Whether they’ve been good or bad, They’re always something that you have.’
And that is gospel truth my people! And believe me, we made many many good memories over the last few weeks. As I sit in my rocking chair during the cold days and nights, I will recall many of them, chuckle and give thanks to the Almighty for having allowed me to make them.
And to all of you in T&T who made our stay so memorable, the duchess and I give you thanks from the very bottom of our hearts. We sincerely appreciated your warmth and kindness, and hope that we can savour some more of it next year, the Lord in favour. Can’t wait to come back! (smile)
Anyway, today is Tuesday, so let’s get on with our Tuesday Mantra nuh. Altogether now: ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen.’
Glory to God my people for those true and wonderful sentiments! Please, let’s remember that what the world says or thinks about us is of no importance, once we are sincerely trying to do the Father’s bidding. We are indeed children of God and friends of Jesus! That’s our designation; nothing else!
And today I want to share a rather important message from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. It’s aptly titled, ‘Worth the Waiting.’
Listen closely: ‘Growing spiritually is such a long, slow process! It’s painful too. Every day at the turn of the road I become acquainted with new pitfalls and heartaches. Sometimes the pain backs me into a corner. For example: There is a woman I know who is so sarcastic, so curt and unkind. Am I ever excused? Is forgiveness always a part of my growth?
So often I feel like a spiritual midget while my husband and friends appear to be spiritual giants. I seem to shrink in my own home. Another thing: I confess that I am a coward about pain. Emotional pain. Physical pain. The pain of loneliness, the pain of grief.
Yet, again and again it is true. What I must learn in my pain is that it is leading to something positive, something beyond what I can see in the present darkness. I do want to grow! I want to become more and more like Jesus. Even though it takes so long, surely it is worth the waiting.’
And friends, that is the immutable truth! Becoming more like Jesus, is indeed a long and ofttimes painful process, but believe me, it is worth the wait!
So for all of us who have problems like those above, and we all do at some time or other, the important thing is never to give up, just keep holding on tightly to Jesus, because in due time, in His time, He will bring us through the fire transformed, more like Him.
And the Bible Promise for that passage is also our Bit for today. ‘But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever Amen.’
Yes my fellow believers, the only way to handle the wickedness and the temptations of this evil world is by growing in the grace and knowledge of our great and wonderful God. Without the bulwark that His favour and word provide, we’re easy pickings for the enemy.
And remember God’s basic plan for each of us is that we grow more like the Saviour each and every day, by studying His Word, praying and fellowshipping with other believers. Those things need to be constants in our lives, if we are to mature successfully.
And we have a very relevant scripture to quote from Bruh Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. As pertaining to the new life in Christ, he tells them. ‘That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight (trickery) of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
But speaking the truth in LOVE, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted (knit together) by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual (effective) working in the measure of every part (of each part doing its share), maketh increase (causes growth) of the body unto the edifying of itself in LOVE.’ (Eph.4:14-16)
Yes my brethren, the church of Christ is like the human body, to grow successfully, it needs proper food and all the parts working together in harmony. And the best way to do that is to come up over our problems with LOVE; the LOVE of Christ! Much LOVE!
…in all things…the LOVE of Christ suffices…
07 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a child is born, a son is given, adrenaline, asaph, ascension, awe, battle lines, birth, born of a virgin, care, christianity, compassion, confidence, copulation, Counselor, Creator of the universe, death, down in the dumps, egg, enthusiasm, evil, faith, fallen humanity, fellowship, forgiveness, friends, furthering God's glorious kingdom, glory hallelujah, holy spirit, humble servants, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, judgement, justice, keeping lives and families together, lies, LOVE, mercy, Messiah, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, payment for sins, peace, praise your holy nmae, redeemed, redemption, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, resurrection, reverence, righteousness., sacrifice, salvation, serve a useful purpose, sexual relations, sinless, sperm, steadfast faith, taunts, the everlasting Father, the Lord of hosts, the mighty God, the one and only true living God, the Prince of Peace, the sanctuary, the throne of David, thy way O God, trust, truth, unblemished, ungodly world, weary souls, who is so great a God, wiles, wisdom, Wonderful, work, zeal
Psalm 77:13. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?
Awright friends, it’s Monday, so let’s be up and at ‘em nuh! Our Field Marshall, Jesus Christ is already at the battle lines waiting patiently for us, and it’s a crime, a sure sin to keep Him waiting too long.
So for those of us who fellowshipped and worshipped yesterday, whose spirit is ready to do battle, let’s wake up those who are down in the dumps, moaning and groaning, tired and finding it difficult to get a move on, with a mighty rendition of our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
As one awesome choir now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Wonderful friends, simply wonderful! Jesus was just smiling and tapping as He swung His baton in guidance, and the Father too was smiling and tapping, as He listened to us bare our hearts and souls in awe and reverence!
Now with all that adrenaline running through our motors, let’s get us to the battlefield that’s work and show the heathen, the unbelievers, how Jesus’ followers do life here on earth nuh, with LOVE, peace, mercy, forgiveness, care and compassion!
Ah mih breddren, my days on paradise are quickly drawing to a close, but that’s life. It was a rather interesting vacation with all sorts of ups and downs, and one I will remember for as long as I live. All glory be to a great God who looks after His followers with all those wonderful attributes we mentioned above!
That’s why when we are confronted by our Bit: ‘Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?’ We can confidently declare in a loud and proud voice: ‘NOBODY is as great as our God!
And that’s the indisputable truth! That’s also why the psalmist Asaph, in the verses after our Bit could loudly, proudly and truthfully proclaim: ‘Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength amongst the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph.’ (Ps.77:14-15)
Yes my people, our great and awesome God has indeed done all of that! And since I’m going to make today the last day for this particular Bit – and I hear many voices whispering, ‘Thank God!’ (smile) I’ll get to some real powerful factors in our God’s redemption of His people; namely the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Wow! What moments of true might and power from the ONE and ONLY TRUE and LIVING God!
Let’s talk generally about those actions, because we’d be here till next never (smile) if we tried to look at them in detail.
Long before Jesus ever came, the Lord promised His people a Messiah, a Saviour. Isaiah prophesied this when he declared: ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ (Is.9:6-7) And perform it did He ever!
Now here is the clincher in the whole scenario: our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born of a virgin named Mary! Upon that lies the entire basis of Christianity. If you don’t believe that, or if it isn’t true, then Christianity is a fake.
But that’s the only way Jesus could have been born a sinless man. If He had had an earthly or human father then He would have been amongst the fallen humanity as we are. But to ensure that He was both man and God, the Father conceived Him spiritually in the womb of a virgin; a woman who had had no sexual relations with any man.
So He had an earthly mother, which made him man, but a heavenly and spiritual Father, which made Him God. That’s why He could have lived amongst us, feel all the pains and anxieties we feel, but still considered sinless.
And He had to be sinless, unblemished like all the sacrifices the Jews made, otherwise He could not have been sacrificed on the cross of Calvary, and thus paid our sin debt in full. Oh glory to God my people!
The Father in His holiness, righteousness and justice needed payment for our sins, if they were to be forgiven, and the only unblemished person beside Himself was His Son Jesus. That made the argument moot, if He intended to redeem His fallen creation.
So friends, let’s end with these two question nuh; is there any other supposed deity who LOVES His followers, more than our great God who sacrificed His Only Son for us?
The answer is obviously a resounding NO!
And lastly, is there any other supposed deity down through the ages, who could have made a human being without some sort of copulation between a male and a female of the species?
The answer is also a resounding NO!
Even in these days of high technology and great advancement in the science of human reproduction, to produce a human being, it still takes the sperm of a male to come into contact with the egg of a female, however that is accomplished. I rest my case. Much LOVE!
…only a most mighty and powerful Deity…could have created this world and all therein…
05 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a great King, a psalm of praise, acknowledge, adversity, aggressiveness, Andrew Murray, angrily, another beautiful day, anxiously, behave as God's child, bestow, blessings, bow down, by His will, Caleb, circumstances, clothes wore out, contrite, draw us closer to Him, dry land, dwell on the past, encouragement, evil, fellowship, formula, friends, glory, glory hallelujah, God brought me here, God's appointment, God's great earth, God's Word, great is our God above all gods, guidance, heaven cannot contain God, humble, hurt and pain, In His good time, in time of trouble, Jesus Christ, Joshua, keep me in His love. grace, keeping, kneel, LOVE, majesty, make a joyful noise, mercies, obedient to God's will, omni-present, omnipotent, omniscient, Our Daily Bread, people of his pasture, petulantly, sanctuaries, shout joyfully, teaching me lessons, thanks and praise, thanksgiving, the earth, the greatness of God, the Lord our Maker, the sanctuary, the sea, the sheep of his hand, this strait place, thy way O God, trail, training, truth, turns over a new page, who is so great a God, why me Lord, wisdom, wise counsel, wonders, worship
Psalm 77:13. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?
Ah mih people, welcome to another beautiful and bountiful day on God’s great earth!
And all God’s children declared a loud and proud ‘Glory Hallelujah! All thanks and praise to our great God who lavishes us with new blessings and mercies each and every day!’
Now that’s a truth from which we cannot escape friends; every day, the Lord turns over a new page in our lives, and asks that we do the same; not forget the past, but not to dwell on it, as so many of us tend to do.
And today I want to share with us, I guess we’ll call it… a formula, for lack of a better word, although I don’t like to talk about formulas when dealing with God’s Word because it makes it sound so contrived.
Anyway, this is a process that was shared in yesterday’s Our Daily Bread Devotional, so those of you who read it, will know what I’m talking about. But for those who don’t, the story goes that way back in 1895, a South African pastor, Andrew Murray, was visiting England when he was felled by excruciating pain from an old back injury.
However, during his time of recuperation, his hostess mentioned a lady who was also experiencing a time of great trouble, and wanted to know if the pastor had any words of advice, of wise counsel to help her. It’s reputed that the pastor told his hostess: ‘Give her this paper which I have been writing for my own (encouragement). It may be that she will find it helpful.
And this is what the pastor wrote. ‘In time of trouble say: First – God brought me here. It is by His will I am in this strait place. In that I will rest. Next – He will keep me in His LOVE and give me grace in this trial to behave as His child.
Then – He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He intends to bestow. Last – In His good time He can bring me out again – how and when He knows. I am here – by God’s appointment, in His keeping, under His training, for His time.’
Oh friends, what wonderful words of wisdom! For we are all subject to God’s plan for our lives. There’s no getting away from His mandate; we might run for a spell, but we can never hide.
The best way to handle our adversity is to assume that everything has come from God, even though it might not have originated with Him, there is a reason He has allowed it to upset our lives; for testing, training, learning or to draw us closer to Him.
The right thing is to come to Him in sincerity and ask for His guidance, what to do under the prevailing circumstances. Don’t go anxiously, angrily and petulantly asking, ‘Why Lord, why me, why this calamity at this time eh? You know I’m trying my best to serve you, but still these adversities happening to me. Why Lord, why eh?’
For our questions as to why, we very seldom get an answer, although later on we usually are able to determine the why. It’s best just to go before Him with a humble and contrite heart and pour out all our hurt and pain without any aggressiveness.
For once we let pride make us haughty and aggressive, He will just tune us out. So please let’s take all those points into account, because it will make our lives much easier in times of adversity.
And now to our Bit. ‘Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?’
Yes friends it’s the same one, because there is so much scripture to relate, scripture which teaches us about the greatness of our God!
And as I said yesterday, we’ll never be able to truly surrender our lives to Him and truly appreciate His wonderful nature until we fully realize How magnificent, magnanimous and merciful He is.
And we’ll just mention some instances of His great power, beginning with the fact that for all the forty years He allowed His chosen people to wander in the wilderness, until all those who came out of Egypt, except Joshua and Caleb died, neither their clothes nor shoes or sandals ever wore out.
Just think about that nuh mih people; forty years with no need for new clothes or shoes. Some of you women would die! (smile) Only a rather powerful Deity could do that.
Now listen to Cousin Sol after he had built the temple. ‘And the house which I build is (will be) great: for great is our God above all Gods. But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?’ (2 Chr.2:5-6)
Yeh friends, who will build our great God a house when the universe cannot contain Him? It’s just like our sanctuaries today. They are merely for our gathering to give Him thanks and praise, a place where we believe He can be more readily found. But in truth, our great God is everywhere, all the time. That’s why we call Him omniscient, omnipotent and omni-present!
Now hear these words of the psalmist from Psalm 95 – A psalm of praise to the great God. ‘Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) unto him with psalms (songs). For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In his hand (possession) are the deep places of the earth: the strength (heights) of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker’ (Ps.95:2-6)
Yes my fellow believers, there’s nothing better for us to do than to bow down and worship our great God, for He is our Maker, and He made us to have fellowship with Him and be obedient to His will.
So today let’s ponder and consider all that we have said nuh, plus all the times when the Lord has worked His wonders in our individual lives, for He certainly has done wonders in all of our lives. Then let’s acknowledge His glory and majesty, and give Him the praise and thanks that He so fittingly deserves. Now that’s true wisdom! Much LOVE!
…For He is our God…and we are the people of His pasture…and the sheep of His hand (under His care)… (Ps.95:7a)
04 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: A prayer for change, adhered, another week of work, balance of life, be in thy mouth, body, calamitous, calamity, chiding, children of Israel, circumstances, contention, day and night, depressing, disconsolate, do whatever I want, doubting, dreary, Egypt, evil, exodus, face challenges, faith, fellowship, Friday chant, frivolity, fun, further your glorious kingdom, generous help, glory hallelujah, glowing sunshine, God's Word, guideline, half-truths, holy spirit, hope, image, indulge, Israelites, Jesus Christ, Joshua, joy, lack of water, laughing, LOVE, Massah, meditate, mental dial, Meribah, mind, miracles firsth hand, moment od prayer, moods, morning mist, negative feelings, omnipotent, partying, Pharaoh, prayer, prosperous, relaxation, remove God from our lives, renewed and refreshed, responsible, rest, richly blessed, second hand, self-pity, slave work, soul, sovereign, springtime returns, success, surrender, tempted the Lord, testing, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, Thank You Lord, the book of the law, the prince of darkness, the Rock, the sanctuary, the sun breaks through, the weekend, thy way O God, time to play, traffic jams, travelling, trust, truth, trying times, turning away from God, understand, ungodly world, who is so great a God, wiles, work diligently
Psalm 77:13. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?
And the day that the working people LOVE so much, Friday, has finally rolled around again. That’s why there are so many glorious and joyous shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! I couldn’t make it even one more day in this slave work nuh! At last the weekend! My time to play and do whatever I want! Oh thank you ever so much Lord for Fridays! Glory Hallelujah!’
And in these trying times of early waking up and much travelling to get back and forth to work with all the traffic jams and otherwise, you can understand the sentiment of the ordinary working man. And though we are entitled to do whatever we want with the weekend, there is a wise and a foolish way to use it; the latter involving excessive partying and frivolity.
But listen to the better and wiser way to use our weekends as we chant our Friday Chant. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Now doesn’t that make much more sense as to how we use our weekends? It surely does! We get a better balance of life, including the strength and refreshed spirit so that we can work diligently the following week.
And today my fellow believers in Christ, I want to share with you a prayer from Gramps Schuller’s (Robert H. Schuller) Hours of Power Devotional. This one is titled, ‘A Prayer for Change.’ And I know that many of us are in dire need of change (s) in our lives. So please pray with me.
‘O God, when a life has been so richly blessed as mine has been, it’s not right for me not to be laughing! I confess that I am responsible for my moods. I have no right to selfishly indulge in negative feelings of self-pity.
It’s time for me to change my mental dial, Lord. You are helping me. This will be the moment when the sun breaks through the parted clouds, and the springtime returns after winter. Thank you, Lord!
The dreary, depressing, disconsolate mood disappears like the morning mist in the glowing sunshine of your LOVE. And joy moves in! And hope begins to build up within me! And a beautiful feeling of LOVE starts to surround me! Thank you, God, for the great things you are doing within me now in this moment of prayer. Amen.’
Oh friends, oh friends, I do hope that depressing mood has lifted and the hope, joy and LOVE of our heavenly Father has once more captured our lives, because it’s definitely what we need to confidently face the challenges and calamitous circumstances of this dangerous and evil world!
Now let’s turn to our Bit, which shows us that that very change in our moods and thinking are quite possible because of the outstanding, magnificent and omnipotent God we serve and worship. ‘Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?’
And I know that some of you are tired hearing about how great our God is, but my brethren, that’s exactly what makes Him our God; His greatness! And until we fully understand just how great and wonderful He is, we will never be fully able to surrender, to give our entire beings into His wonderful care. So just bear with the ole fella nuh, (smile) you know I’ll never lead you astray.
And we’ve seen over the past few days how our God played with Pharaoh until he let the Israelites go, and all the wonders the Lord did during their exodus from Egypt and those in the wilderness too. Now we come to one more marvelous wonder where water was miraculously supplied.
As usual the Israelites were complaining, this time about the lack of water. And as was his wont, Moses cried out to the Lord for guidance and direction. The Lord told him to take his rod and the elders with him and go on before the people.
‘Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
And he called the name of the place Massah (lit. Tempted), and Meribah (lit. Contention), because of the chiding (contention) of the children of Israel, and because they tempted (tested) the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?’ (Ex.17:6-7)
Oh friends, what a foolish and ignorant people! After all the signs and wonders that the Lord had done in their sight, they still doubted His presence and His power! Chuh!
The truth of the matter though is that we can’t be too harsh on the Israelites, because we are doing the exact same thing right now. We are doubting and turning away from God in droves, aided and abetted by the wiles and deceitful half-truths of the prince of darkness, who rules this current evil world.
The only difference here my people, is that the Israelites saw God’s miracles first hand, but we only have second hand accounts of them. But nonetheless, we have seen our Christian societies grow and prosper when were a truly Christian people.
So what has happened to change our outlook so drastically eh, that we’re now trying our best to take God completely out of our lives? Oh friends, that is indeed a fool’s wisdom!
How many times during the course of history have we seen societies that have grown great while serving and worshipping the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and when they got too big for their britches, the Lord took away His favour and protection and they eventually wasted away, ignominiously fell into the bowels of history?
We tend to overlook, forget, or simply ignore this seminal bit of scripture, the Lord’s advice to Joshua, when He made him leader of the Israelites after Moses’ death.
‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (shall constantly be in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh.1:8)
That my friends, has been, and will always be a society’s guideline to success. We see it in the very behaviour of the Israelites; when they adhered to God’s Word, they prospered; when they didn’t, they suffered serious calamity.
May we today understand this principle and do our best to adhere to the Word of our great, mighty, sovereign and omnipotent God, because that is wisdom to the nth degree. Much LOVE!
…it’s ever so foolish to turn away from the ONE who created you…in His…might, power and image…
03 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a pillar of cloud, bitter water, blessings, bondage, created the universe, deity, disconnected power, doubts, Egyptian army, electricity, ever-LOVING God, faithless, fears, fickle, glory hallelujah, God the Good, heathen, interesting lives, Israel, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, joy, long and short of the story, LOVE, loving kindness, manna, Marah, mercy, Moses, nomadic, omnipotent, Pharaoh, pillar of fire, praise and thanks, protective umbrella, quail, sins, smoke herring, the adventure, the Red Sea, the sanctuary, the wilderness, thy way O God, transient thing, truth, unbeliever, unpaid bill, walk wisely, who is so great a God, wisdom, wonder of wonders, work for Jesus
Psalm 77:13. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?
And the adventure continues…
Yes friends, this holiday is turning into something of a nomadic adventure. Listen up. To start with, the villa we had contracted for was not available for the first week, so we stayed at a different one. And if you remember for that week we had no t.v. because the cable wasn’t working.
Then after the first week, we moved to the correct one, where we had no t.v for the first couple of days, because the bill had not been paid. That was eventually rectified and it’s been going fairly smoothly since then.
Now yesterday afternoon the power went off, but we felt it was just a transient thing. My brother and his wife came to visit during the early afternoon, and then the ladies went out to do whatever ladies do when they go out, (smile) while my brother and I remained chatting on the patio.
Every so often we would open the front door to see if power had returned, and every time the answer was negative. But through all of that I could swear that I heard a generator running close by, though I never paid much attention to it.
Finally, around four o’clock, we had some contact with the ladies and the duchess asked if I had contacted the lady at the rental agency. I said no, but would soon do so.
Wonder of wonders, when I did contact her, she checked and informed me that the power company had disconnected my power because the bill had not been paid.
Ah Lord eh! That thought had never occurred to me, otherwise I could have called her much earlier and possibly had it restored yesterday.
She claimed that they had paid several electricity bills earlier in the week, but apparently mine was not amongst them. And when we came outside and checked the board with the meters, all the others had a yellow tag, except mine, which had a red one denoting disconnection.
The long and short of the story is that they put us up overnight at another villa on the property, from which I’m now writing this Bit. That makes three places I’ve now stayed at on the grounds in the few weeks that I’ve been here.
Anyway, hopefully the bill will be paid this morning and sometime later today I can move back to my correct place of abode. As I keep saying friends, when you work with and for Jesus, life is always interesting.
And why is that? Simply because He desires His people to live prosperous and interesting lives. If we didn’t do that, why would the heathen and the unbeliever want to come to Him eh?
And I just finished having an interesting breakfast too; bake and smoke herring that my brother had brought for me yesterday. The smoke herring was something I haven’t had for some time. And did it ever go down well! All praise and thanks be to our great God!
That brings us to our wonderful Bit. ‘Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?’
Now we’ll continue dealing with second half of that statement: ‘who is so great a God as our God?’ And let me reiterate for the doubtful, the unbelievers and the don’t care: there is ABSOLUTELY NO ONE OR NOTHING THAT’S GREATER THAN OUR GOD JEHOVAH! And the sooner people realize that, the better off they will be.
As I believe I asked yesterday; how can anybody be greater than the ONE who created the universe and all therein eh? It’s impossible!
And we showed some of His greatness by how He spoke the world into existence, played mind games with Pharaoh, led His chosen people Israel out of bondage, by parting the Red Sea for them to walk across on dry land, then closing it back up to engulf the chasing Egyptian army.
Today we’ll look at some more of the great stuff He did as He led the Israelites through the wilderness. And the first thing we’ve got to realize is that the Lord did not lead them the easier and nearer way, through the land of the Philistines’ ‘for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent (change their minds) when they see war, and they return to Egypt.’ (Ex.13:17)
The Lord obviously knew the fickle and faithless kind of people He was dealing with. Nonetheless, the Good Book says in His mercy and LOVING-kindness, ‘the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light; to go by day and night.’ (Ex.13:21)
Now tell me which other supposed God can do that eh? NONE!
And then, three days into their journey through the wilderness they found no water until they came to a place called Marah, but the water was bitter, hence the name.
‘And the people murmured against Moses, saying, what shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet:’ (Ex.15:24-25)
Now who else but our omnipotent Deity can cast a tree into bitter water and make it sweet eh? ABSOLUTELY NO ONE!
Further on into the wilderness of Sin; a somewhat appropriate name (smile), the children of Israel began to murmur against Moses, this time for food, remembering the plentiful food they had back in Egypt. And Moses took his problem to the Lord, as we all should do, and the Lord promised to rain down bread and flesh on the Israelites, and so He did.
In the evening quail rained down upon the camp, and in the morning they had fresh bread, manna to eat. Now none of them had ever seen or heard of the manna, and at first didn’t like it, but when you don’t have, you’ll eat almost anything.
And we’re talking about between one and two million people here, so you can imagine the great amount of quail and manna it took to feed them every day. Who else could do that eh, except our mighty and ever-generous and ever-LOVING God eh? NOBODY!
So we’ll leave off there for today, so that we can sit and consider and ponder the true greatness of our God, which we don’t do often enough, otherwise we wouldn’t have as many doubts and fears.
Tomorrow, God in favour, we’ll continue to look at some of His great and mighty works. Till then, please walk wisely and safely under His marvellous umbrella of safe and secure protection. Much LOVE!
…there is only one Power…and one Presence here…God the Good…Omnipotent…
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