21 Jan 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bad influence, a bed of pain, a broken world, a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, a valuable experience, all things are possible, an open door, an unworthy friend, bad attitudes, beside still waters, Bible, build a new life, bury the hatchet, calamity, chaotic world, christianity, Christians, cleans up collected clutter, comforting us, concentrate on today's troubles, courage to discard, desires trouble, discover new skills, do all things, Dr. Robert H Schuller, drying our tears, duty bound, embrace Jesus as Lord and Saviour, faith, friendship of Christ, frustrates you, future troubles, gospel truth, green pastures, hardships, hidden talents, hiding your real talents, holy spirit, Hour of Power Devotional, hurry, in god's eyes, interesting possibilities, Jesus Christ, leads you down a new road, lock stock and barrel, LOVE, lurks furtively in your path, lying undetected, makes a cold heart warm, makes a greedy man generous, makes a hard man compassionate, makes a person forget himself, makes you furious enough, mercy, no courage to leave, opportunities in disguise, paths of righteousness, problems, protects you from an unknown hazard, quit a job, renew, renewing our joy, restoring our souls, salvation, share His love with my neighbours, shelters you from a sin, slams a door in your face, start thinking of others, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, tears out of your life, the amazing love of Christ, the beloved of God, the dustbin of history, the good shepherd, the throes of trouble, through Christ who strengthens me, to fight for a good cause, to our advantage, too arrogant to believe, too blind to see, too busy to serve, too highly valued, too stubborn to accept, trouble, trouble teaches you valuable lessons, trust my friend Jesus, truth, Tuesday Mantra, unable to help, under cabbage fields, uplift, veins of gold, waiting to tempt you, When trouble is not trouble, wisdom, work week frustrations, worry
Matthew 6:33b. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble, calamity) thereof.
And then it was Tuesday! Yes friends, I know it’s somewhat surprising the speed with which Monday disappeared. No sooner had it shown up with its new work week frustrations, then it was gone! That’s the way the days seem to work nowadays. Remember what Jesus said: ‘Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble, calamity) thereof.’ (Matt. 6:33b). That means we have to concentrate on the troubles of the reigning day. However, by the time you can get a handle on the problems of a sunny and very cold Tuesday, that too will be thrown into the dustbin of History, never to be remembered, and you’ll be dealing with the calamities of Wednesday!
Ah Lord eh! It just seems to be another set of troubles day after day, especially in this currently chaotic and disastrous world Before you can finish with one, another one pops up. That’s why it’s so wonderful to have Jesus in our lives, because with His Holy Spirit indwelling us, and the tools and promises to be found in His Word, we are guaranteed a way to handle even the most worrying and troubling of troubles! (smile)
And talking about trouble, I want to share an interesting expose on the subject from Dr. Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power Book of Daily Meditation and Inspiration. This meditation is titled: ‘When is Trouble not Trouble?’ So please read with me. ‘When is trouble not trouble, you ask? When it protects you from an unknown hazard on the road ahead, or shelters you from a sin that, unknown to you, lurks furtively in your path waiting to tempt and trip you, then trouble is not trouble!
When trouble cleans up collected clutter that you valued too highly and did not have the courage to discard or destroy, or when it tears out of your life an unworthy friend whom you were unable to help and who was not a good influence on your life, then trouble is not trouble! When trouble makes you furious enough to fight for a good cause you were too busy to serve, or frustrates you so that you quit a job that was too long hiding your real talents and forces you to discover new skills and hidden talents that were lying undetected like veins of gold under cabbage fields, then trouble is not trouble!
When trouble cause two parties, long unspeaking, to bury the hatchet; when it makes a person forget himself and start thinking of others; when it makes a greedy man generous, a hard man compassionate, a cold heart warm, a thoughtless man considerate – then trouble is not without its reward! When trouble teaches you valuable lessons that you would have been too blind to see, too arrogant to believe, or too stubborn to accept any other way than by this bed of pain; when it slams a door in your face to force you out of a rut that you would never have had the courage to leave and leads you down a new road through an open door, then trouble may be a most valuable experience!’
And isn’t that gospel truth my people! What we consider trouble often unexpectedly opens up our hearts, minds, souls and bodies to better things, more interesting possibilities and exposes bad attitudes that we might be holding on to too tightly. Granted, none of us desires to have troubles, but since we’re living in a broken, troubled world, we’re all going to experience trouble at some time or the other. And when we do, it will be to our great advantage to try and learn something from it, for as they say, problems are merely opportunities in disguise, meaning that though they may show up as hardships, they are actually means to help us live a fuller and better life.
However, we have to look at those problems in a more thoughtful way to divine the hidden opportunities they may present. And I know that all of us have had experiences with several, or even all of those trouble not being trouble scenarios that Dr. Schuller has pointed out. Hopefully, we have been wise enough to have seen the hidden opportunities that they presented. And if not, knowing what we now know, then in the future, we will endeavour to seek out those hidden opportunities, so that we can uplift, renew or even build a new life around.
And please don’t open your eyes in surprise about future troubles,, because it’s certain that while we’re living in this troubled world, we will always have troubles, be they piddling or mind-boggling. (smile) The important thing to understand is that with Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, all things are possible, and therefore we can do all things through the strength He provides us. (Phil. 4:13)
And if He is our Guiding Light, then we will understand that His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths. (Ps. 119:105) That means He will be our Good Shepherd, leading us down the paths of righteousness to green pastures, beside still waters, restoring our souls, renewing our joy, and drying our tears; in other words, comforting us whenever we are engulfed in the throes of trouble. (Ps. 23)
And now, with all of this trouble stuff fully understood, (smile) let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, 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 my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’
And having said all of that, we’re now duty bound to go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!
…trouble is only trouble…when you think it’s trouble…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
22 Dec 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, against the mother, Anselm, asks for gifts, aspires to inspire, attitudes, basic unit of soicety, being happy, busy world, callous, Christmas Saturday, come face to face, comfort zone, confidence, corrupt, culture, daughter in law, destroy, disagreements, disasters, disobedience, do evil, dodo bird, don't get so worked up, enjoy life, evil desires, extincition, eye contact, faithful God, falling apart, famine, feuds, friend, go with the flow, God will hear me, godd advice, greedy, guard thy mouth, his brother, hunt every man, in public, laugh more, learn life in private, lie in wait for blood, life, lighten up, look unto the Lord, LOVE, morally sinful, morass, morning chat, mother in law, my salvation, perilous times, persihed, petty, playing a violin, poverty, preparations, promises, punishment, recuperating, relax, scheme together, serious, sharp and thorny, shopping, sickness, smile, stick together, stress, stressful, support system, tense, the biggest killer, the daughter rises up, the family, the good man, the judge for bribes, the prince, the son dishonours the father, trust, uncaring, uplift, wait for God, what ent meet yuh ent pass yuh, who you are, words of wisdom
Micah 7:6. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
Saturday, Christmas Saturday! And everybody is busy doing their last minute Christmas shopping and preparations! Thank the Lord that does not include the ole fella nuh! (smile) Yeh friends, the ole fella’s recuperating nicely I suppose. I’ve been up for some time now because I could not find a comfortable position in the bed, one that would alleviate all the aches and pains.
Yuh know how it is; when you find a comfort zone for one ache, it causes another to act up. And then I sat at the kitchen table having a coffee and a Saturday morning chat with the duchess – have to take them when I can get them (smile), so that’s why I’m only now getting to the Bit. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!
Now let’s see what words of wisdom our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And the first quote simply says: ‘Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, laugh more, and don’t get so worked up about things.’ Oh mih people, those few words do contain lots of good advice and wisdom!
In this stressful and busy world we all need to lighten up and relax and just go with the flow! Have you ever walked down a busy street and seen how people are tense and serious, with very few smiling, everyone just intent on going about their business?
And it always amuses me when I get in an elevator and all the others in the car keep looking up at the roof, everybody apparently dreading making eye contact with a stranger. Chuh friends! Our society definitely needs to lighten up and not take ourselves so seriously, because it only draws us to unnecessary disaster. That’s why stress is the biggest killer in our midst right now, causing all sorts of illnesses! And then we wonder why so many of us are dying so young!
And the next quote declares: ‘Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.’ I guess that means you cannot learn life in private, and only as you go along that you really learn it. It’s a process and you can only deal with it as it comes against you. As the old people would say, ‘what ent meet you ent pass you!’ In other words, people can tell you about life, but you don’t truly learn life until you yourself come face to face with it.
And the last quote says: ‘At the end of the day, life is about being happy being who you are, and I feel like we are so blessed to have the support system and the best family to really just support each other no matter what we’re going through.’ Ah friends, I wish that was so much truer of our world than it actually is!
We ought to be happy being who we are, especially in Christ, and we do need good support systems to help us in those perilous times that all of us undergo at some time or the other. But unfortunately the basic unit of our society, the family, is being undermined and destroyed by the callous, greedy and uncaring attitudes and culture that proliferate in these modern times. Families turn against each other for small and petty reasons, as each one fights to make their mark in this evil world.
Steups! We don’t have to, and we won’t always agree, but when it comes to family, we ought to stick together, for who else are we going to turn to eh, since there is no unit smaller than that supposedly close knit group titled ‘family.’ Right here I’ve got to give thanks for my family yes! We don’t always agree, but we’re always there for each other!
That’s what family is about, why it’s called family. But nowadays there are so many feuds and disagreements between those of the same household, for whatever reason, that our society is falling apart. Whatever happened to that bond, that trust that families exuded once upon a time eh?
That brings us to this scripture where the prophet Micah describes a morally sinful Israel, a true reflection of our modern day society. ‘The good (faithful or loyal) man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly (successfully), the prince asketh (asks for gifts), and the judge asketh for a reward (bribe); and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous (evil) desire: so they wrap it up (scheme together).’ (Mic.7:2-3)
And isn’t that exactly what is going on in our society today people? I don’t think we’ve ever seen a time that’s corrupt and evil as this one! But Micah is not done with us: ‘The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation (punishment) cometh; now shall be their perplexity.’ (Mic.7:4) Ah mih people, things are so bad, that even the best of us are sharp and thorny!
But as the Lord has warned so often in His word, continual disobedience will eventually bring His wrath and punishment! And we are seeing it in the failings of our supposed great and modern society; sickness, famine, poverty, natural and man-made disasters are proliferating in the richest times ever.
That’s why Micah advises: ‘Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide (companion): keep (guard) the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.’ (Mic.7:5-6)
And when all those things are occurring, as they are in our current society, that means our society is on the way down and out unless we turn back to God as Micah so wisely advises: ‘Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.’ (Mic.7:7)
Yes friends, that’s the only way our society will ever rise up out of the morass that it’s currently embedded in! So please, let’s turn to our great and faithful God and LOVE Him with all our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, as He desires nuh, so that our society will not go the way of the dodo bird – extinction! Much LOVE!
…the Lord fulfills ALL His promises…be they to uplift…or to destroy…please remember that…
26 Sep 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future with Jesus, a medical mission, A prayer of confidence, a rainy day, acclamation, all praise and glory, an unruly evil, anger, assurance, bear olive berries, bless God, blessing, calmly and serenely, can no man tame, choose life, confidence, curse people, cursing, defiles us, difficult times, doth a fountain, dr robert h schuller, drizzle, edify, eternal future, face challenges, fall of mankind, full of deadly poison, God is behind me, God will help me, God's Holy Name, halfway home, hordes of humanity, Hour of Power Devotional, if god is for me, in the image of God, Joyce Meyer, life and death, looking forward, my conscience is clear, not afraid of problems, not looking back, out of the same mouth, overpowering downpours, prayer, proceeds blessing, resentment, salt water, set before you, shed man's blood, show me favour, something good is going to happen through me, something good is going to happen to me, spirit of confidence, strife, surging in my heart, sweet water, Thank You God, the breath of life, the fig tree, the right decision, the tongue, thy seed may live, uplift, Wednesday Wail, who can be against me, wonder
James 3:10. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
Looks like it’s going to be another ‘raaainy or raiiiny day’! Hn! Don’t know how to spell it so that it can bring out the Scottish brogue that the ad man uses. It sounds more like ‘riney day’ when he says it. (smile)
But if so, let’s hope it’s one like yesterday, with just a constant drizzle and no overpowering downpours, since I’ve got to go on a medical mission again today, but not into the heart of the city, just to the eastern end. It’s also an afternoon appointment, so there was no need to be up extra early to write the Bit before joining the hordes of humanity running into downtown Toronto. (smile)
And yesterday was a good day, the Lord caused people to show me favour wherever I went. I didn’t have to wait long for buses or taxis or medical appointments. All praise and Glory to His holy name!
And today I was led to share this assurance once again, from Gramps Schuler’s (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional, titled ‘A Prayer of Confidence.’
Please pray with me. ‘It is flowing into me now, for my conscience is clear. I have made the right decision. I am not afraid of problems. I will face challenges calmly and serenely for God is behind me. He will help me. If I must go through difficult times, He will rescue me. I feel His spirit of confidence surging in my heart now. With Him I cannot possibly fail. “If God is for me who can be against me?” I have a strong feeling that everything is going to work out just beautifully. Thank You, God. Amen!’
Oh friends, I do hope your confidence surged with those words of acclamation and assurance. And you can say now like Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) likes to say: ‘Something good is going to happen TO me today. And something good is going to happen THROUGH me today!’
Yes my brethren, our words and thoughts have awesome power, power to control our lives and actions, so let’s use them wisely, proudly and in a godly manner nuh. Stop all the fear mongering and negativity, like the Good Book says through Moses: ‘I call heaven and earth to record (witness) this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deut.30:19)
Oh my people, the same things have been set before us, so let’s wisely choose life, instead of death nuh. And it all begins with our words; whether they show forth confidence and trust in Almighty God, or the negativity of the enemy. As James says so truly about the tongue: ‘But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.’ (James 3:8) And is it ever! It is the source of almost all the strife, anger and resentment that takes place in our world.
However, ‘Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude (likeness) of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.’ (James 3:9-10) And that’s a fact my fellow believers!
Hear the scholars: ‘3:9. James explains that man is made in God’s image (cf. Gen.1:26-27; 5:1), so to curse people and yet bless God is inconsistent. Though the fall of mankind has marred that image or likeness, James teaches that it still exists (as do Gen.9:6 and 1 Cor.11:7).’
And that will never change friends, for hear what the Lord said when He blessed Noah and his family. ‘Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.’ (Gen;9:6) So whatever we do to man, we will also be doing to God, because he has been made in the indelible, unchanging image of His Creator.
And James continues with these interesting comparisons: ‘Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.’ (James 3:11-12)
And the scholars point out: ‘3:12. The last clause of verse 12 differs from those that precede it. The former are questions that attempt to illustrate; this one is a statement to teach. As salt water cannot make sweet water, so the person who curses others cannot bless God. The cursing of people truly indicates what lies within a person.’
And is that ever so true my people! As Jesus says it’s not what goes into us that defiles us, but what comes out of us. (Matt.15:11) And cursing our fellow man shows in spades what’s inside of us. So let’s stop it nuh, and use words of blessing instead, which edify and uplift our fellow man. That’s wisdom from the top of the mount!
Now let’s go home declaring…(Chuh! These days, I just can’t seem to spell ‘declare’ right (smile)) our Wednesday Wail, letting the world know our envious position in Christ. As one now, with a sincere sense of purpose: ‘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!’
Look up friends, Jesus is with us down here on earth! Much LOVE!
…everytime I think about the eternal future with Christ…I just shake my head…in absolute and amazing wonder…
28 Jul 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adversity, alive, alive and kicking, another week of work, attitude of prayer, boundaries, compassionate God, Daniel, deceitful friends, desperately need God, disputes, doubting, each step I take, efficacy of prayer, encourage, enjoy the fruits of our labour, exhort to prayer, faith, fellowship, freedom, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, gae thanks, generous help, give God the glory, give thanks, give up hope, glory to God, go overboard, gratitude, holy hands, hope, I will call upon god, in Jesus' name, Jesus, kneeled, laugh and sing, like no tomorrow, men pray everywhere, party, praise God, pray without ceasing, prayer is the answer, rejoice, relaxation, resolve to pray, rest, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the battle of life, the enemy, the focus of our lives, the lion's den., the Lord shall save me, the safe side, the weekend, the will of God, the workingman, things can get better, three times a day, time with God, times are good, Timothy, trials, tribulations, ungodly behaviour, uplift, winning, wrath
Psalm 55:16. As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.
‘Alive! Still alive! Still alive and kicking! Give God the glory!’ Yeh friends, the ole fella is still alive and kicking! What an honour!
That means God still has some plan for me to accomplish. And though I might not be kicking as healthily and actively as I’d like, once I’m alive, I have hope that things can get better. But if I’m not alive, things can’t get any better here on earth. (smile)
So let’s praise our wonderful God and give Him much, much thanks for everyday we open our eyes to a bright new morning with Jesus the focus of our lives. Glory to God!
So it’s Friday and the workingman is overjoyed at his short stint of upcoming freedom, and understandably shouts: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday mih breddren! No more labour till Monday! We going to laugh and sing and party like there was no tomorrow…
For who knows if there’ll be a tomorrow anyway! So let’s party up a storm and enjoy the fruits of we labour nuh like Cousin Sol, the wisest man ever, advised. Thank God for Fridays and the weekend oui!’
And Cousin Sol did advise that my friends, but I don’t think he meant for us to go overboard with it, as the workingman seems to advocate. I believe he would have liked to see some boundaries, boundaries that did not allow the enemy to get into our lives.
He’d much prefer a statement along the lines of our Friday Chant, which advocates a tad more circumspection. So let’s give voice to our Friday Chant nuh…declare it like we truly mean it. ‘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!’
Ah mih people, I guess that’s what you’d call erring on the safe side (smile). But there is an enormous benefit to it; spending more time with God and less with the enemy! And anytime we can do that, we’re winning the battle of life.
That brings us to our Bit; the proclamation of Bruh David from Psalm 55 – the cry against deceitful friends. In the midst of it all, he faithfully and boldly declares: ‘As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.’
What awesome faith my brethren! How many of us boldly make such declarations when the trials and tribulations of life are coming against us eh? Not as many as should, I’d dare to say.
When times are good, we talk a good talk, but when they get rough, the exact time when we desperately need God, too many of us forget Him, give up hope and allow the ever-lurking enemy to confuffle us even further. That’s foolish, unproductive and ungodly behaviour my fellow believers, which severely detracts from our faith walk.
Instead, we should be declaring powerful acclamations like Bruh David did after our Bit: ‘Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.’ (Psalm 55:17) Yeh precious people of God, when our prayers are constantly being floated up to heaven, we are assured of more assurance in our faith walk. (smile)
That’s why Bruh Paul told the Thessalonians: ‘Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ (1 Thess.5:16-18) And the scholars tell us that ‘the constant attitude of prayer, mentioned in verse 17, will help the believer to maintain gratitude (even) in the face of adversity.’
What more can we ask eh friends? Not a whole lot. To be grateful in the rough times is the mark of a true believer. And Bruh Paul also exhorted Timothy to prayer when he wrote. ‘I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.’ (1 Tim.2:8)
So again we see that prayer should not only be constant, but it can be done anywhere, preferably ‘with a pure life without disputes.’
And we won’t forget to mention Jesus’ advice on the subject. ‘And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (lose heart).’ (Luke 18:1)
And the scholars explain that verse thus. ’18:1. To faint means to “lose heart.” Precisely when tempted to give up, men ought to be strong in their resolve to pray.’ Exactly the message I’ve been trying to covey my fellow believers.
Now we’ll close with a powerful example of what we’re talking about. It’s about Daniel, when his enemies plotted against him and had the king sign a law that forbade anyone to ‘ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save (except) of thee O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.’ (Dan.6:7b).
They knew that the only way they could get to Daniel was through his God. But Daniel was not perturbed. The Good Book tells us: ‘Now when Daniel knew that the writing (written decree) was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a (that) day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime (had been doing all along).
Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.’ (Dan.6:10-11)
And we all know the story how Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den but the Lord stopped them from harming him.
Oh friends, examples like Daniel have been placed in the Word to encourage and uplift us, so that we too can take courage in the efficacy of prayer. Please, let’s use them productively nuh, like our caring and compassionate God intended. Much LOVE!
…to pray…and yet to pray…and still yet to pray…that is the answer…
02 Jun 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abide, abundance, agents, almighty god, ambassadors, answered prayer, awesome plan, badge of honour, baton, bear fruit, before men, believer, blessed, blessing, browbeat, cast forth, charles stanley, chide, clear direction, come up higher, commandments, communication, compassionate heart, conviction, courage, creativity, curse, disciples, divine protection, earthly work, emptiness, encourage, family, favour, filth, foment revolution, friends, fulfillment, glorified, glorify your Father, glory hallelujah, good, good works, gospel of Jesus, gospel truth, health, holy spirit, human form, In Touch Devotional, Job, joy, let your light shine, lost, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, mire, negative word, open our eyes, pass the baton, passion, positive outlook, power, presence, promise, promotion, prosper, purpose, resources, running rampant, self-control, self-discipline, sense of unrest, sheep in the wilderness, sinful, speak blessings, stir up LOVE, strong will, succeed, success, supernatural strength, supernatural wisdom, talent, the next generation, the works of God, Thursday Blessings, umbrella of christ, unloving, uplift, wicked, wickedness
Matthew 5:16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Oh my wonderful brethren in Christ, another blessed day has been granted to us to spread the good news, the marvellous gospel of Jesus! Glory Hallelujah!
And by diligently doing so, we will therefore increase the power and presence of Jesus’ LOVE Revolution, the movement that’s currently taking both the known and unknown world by storm!
Yes friends, just imagine our God’s thinking and imagination nuh, where He draws up this awesome plan to send His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ down to the earth to stir up, to foment revolution; a LOVE Revolution!
You know my people, that was all Jesus came to do; to stir up LOVE amongst the world’s rather wicked, sinful and UNLOVING population.
He enlisted agents, disciples and ambassadors to help Him do it, because as a man, in human form, He could not spread it all Himself. He could only be in one place at a time. But once He returned to heaven, He sent his Holy Spirit to dwell within those ambassadors, to enable them to do His holy will.
And what a wonderful job they have done! But now, two thousand years later, that badge of honour has been passed down to us to carry on the spreading of the gospel, and then pass the baton down to the next generation, our children.
Unfortunately though friends, I don’t think we’re doing such a good job nuh, otherwise our world would not be getting deeper and deeper in the mire of filth and wickedness that’s running rampant throughout it.
But the good news is that I’m not here to chide or browbeat us, because that’s not Jesus’ way. I’m here to uplift and encourage us; to help open our eyes and allow us to come up higher in our earthly work for Christ.
And to help us do that this first Thursday morning in June 2016, let’s declare our Thursday Blessings with much conviction and passion.
Altogether 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 my fellow believers, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s spoken over someone, so please, let’s remember to continually speak blessings over our friends, families and neighbours and thus keep them covered under the majestic, widespread umbrella of Christ.
And all of that will only help us adhere better to the command of Jesus in our Bit. ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’
Now that is our basic job on this earth my friends, the general purpose for which we were made. And we can only accomplish it properly if we stay in constant touch with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, because it is He who enables us, gives us the strength and direction to perform the tasks assigned to us.
As Jesus so bluntly told His disciples: ‘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. If ye keep my commandments; ye shall abide in my LOVE; even as I have kept my father’s commandments, and abide in his LOVE.’ (John 15:6-10)
Yes friends, if we abide in Jesus and His words in us, we can ask whatever we will and it will be done for us.
As the scholars explain: ‘In my name, means “as My agent.” 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.’
So you see friends, to do the work of God, we need to enlist the aid of God. And we’ll end here with an appropriate word from Uncle Charles (Charles Stanley) on prayer, found at the beginning of the In Touch Devotional for June.
He declares: ‘When we fail to make prayer a priority, we will begin to feel an emptiness in our heart, accompanied by a strange sense of unrest and uneasiness. In contrast, when our prayer life is active, the weight of these burdens will be lifted by the mighty hand of God.’
And that’s the gospel truth my people! Prayer is our method of communication with Almighty God, and if we don’t actively participate in it, we won’t reap all that we can from the wonderful association with our Creator.
So today, please, let’s ponder our prayer lives, and see whether they are up to scratch, and if not, sincerely ask the Lord to help us, because without good communication with the Father, we’ll truly be like lost sheep in the wilderness. Much LOVE!
…oh what joy it is…for a believer…to be in constant touch with Jesus…
01 May 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: ambassadors, Amorites, as for me and my house, be my guide, blatant refusal, blessings, bounden duty, Christian living, comfort, covers all the bases, different strokes, difficult times, disicples, do His will, encompassing, encouragement, evil, examples speak more forcibly than words, fear the Lord, feel discouraged, fellowship, first day of May, glamour, glitz, grateful, guidance, happiness, heartfelt thanks, Israelites, Jesus Christ, Joshua, lean on God for support, listen with conern, living God, LOVE, magnanimous god, material possessions, my every deed, my every word, New World Order, one and only God, peaceful moments, praise, praise the Lord for His goodness, prayer, put away the gods, reassure, rejuvenation of spirit, seek God, serve him, sincerity, sinful trap, steadfastness of purpose, strength to keep going, Sunday, talk the talk, thanksgiving, the Euphrates river, the gospel of Jesus, the Great Commission, the Lord's Day, the Most High God jehovah, the other side of the flood, time for church, troubles, truth, ungodliness, ungodly world, uplift, we will serve the Lord, wisdom, worship
Joshua 24:14. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood (The Euphrates River), and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
Oh my beautiful believers in Jesus Christ, it’s the first day of May, as well as the Lord’s Day, better known as Sunday!
That means it’s time for church; time for praise and worship, for thanksgiving and fellowship, for rejuvenation of spirit, encouragement and steadfastness of purpose, plus all the other good things that our magnanimous God pours out on those who LOVE Him, diligently seek Him and obediently do His will!
Now I’m not going to harangue or lecture us about going to church today. That shouldn’t be at all necessary, for if you’re a true believer, then you’ll know that’s your bounden duty, so I’ll just leave that up to you and your heavenly Father. (smile)
What I’ve been guided to do though, is to share a prayer which I shared a long time back, so many of you would not have heard it, but it’s one of my favourite prayers. From the first time I found it in my mother’s Bible after she died, something about it just touched me, and I’ve prayed it almost every day after that.
It’s a special prayer prepared by the Life Study Fellowship, Noroton, Connecticut. It’s titled ‘Lord, Please Accept My Heartfelt Thanks!’ And the sub-title is ‘Praise the Lord for His Goodness.’ – Psalm 107:8’
Now please pray with me: ‘Dear Lord, You are so good to me! And I thank You sincerely for the many blessings You send me! I’m very glad to have You in my life day in and day out – whatever I do and wherever I go! You are the One who always does what is best for my happiness!
How grateful I am to be able to turn to You for guidance and comfort when troubles come my way! If any situation arises that makes me feel discouraged, You let me know I can lean on You for support! And because of Your LOVE for me, somehow I seem to find the strength to keep going – even through the most difficult times!
I’m grateful too, for peaceful moments like these when I’m all alone with You in prayer! Talking with You never fails to reassure and uplift me! Nothing I say to You goes unheard. You listen with great concern to everything I confide in You! For You truly care about me!
As I look to 2016 (or whatever year) I pray that You will continue to watch over me – and grant me even more of Your wonderful blessings! And may I serve You well in my every word, my every deed! Be my Guide hour by hour; I pray! Amen.’
Oh friends, I do hope that prayer touched you all! I guess what I like about it is that it covers all the bases, it’s so all encompassing, plus everything it says is true and relevant. Some of you may not like it, but that’s okay; it’s your choice. As they say, different strokes for different folks! (smile) Anyway, that’s my contribution for today.
Now let’s turn to our new Bit, a part of Joshua’s farewell address to the Israelites. He had just finished reminding them about all the good things the Lord had done for them, giving them houses they didn’t build, vineyards they didn’t plant etc.
‘Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood (The Euphrates River), and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.’
Ah mih people, that verse is even more appropriate and relevant in this New World Order than it was thousands of years ago when Joshua spoke those fateful words. That’s because the worshipping of other gods, plus basic ungodliness is so rampant in our current society.
Unfortunately, the ONE and ONLY TRUE and LIVING God; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not held in respect nor reverence by a rather large part of the world. Many people know of and about Him, but yet they steadfastly refuse to honour and obey Him. How sad that is my people, for our world could be truly such a beautiful place if more of us sincerely worshipped and revered the Most High God Jehovah.
Now why the blatant refusal to accept the God of heaven eh? I believe there are two main reasons. First of all, the pull of the material, lustful and sinful world is rather strong. We feast our eyes on all the supposed glitz and glamour and possessions available, and our hearts clamour for them, and the evil one just makes it so easy for us to fall into his sinful trap.
And the second reason is that we believers, supposed ambassadors and disciples of Jesus, who have been assigned the Great Commission (Matt.28:19-20) to teach and baptize and spread the wonderful gospel of Jesus all over the world, are not doing as good a job as we should. The hypocritical examples of our lives are turning people away from Jesus instead of drawing them closer to Him.
So there we have it; Lucifer and his evil cronies are doing a good job on selling sin, while the followers of Jesus are not doing a good job of selling righteousness. No rocket science involved at all friends.
So what are we doing, or going to do to change this rather unpalatable situation eh my believing breddren? All I can say is that we need to pull up our britches and do a better job of spreading the good news of Jesus, and backing it up with perfect, well not quite perfect, but much better examples of true Christian living.
Remember friends, examples speak more forcibly than words, and we can talk all the talk in the world, if we don’t walk that talk, then it’s useless, just wasted talk. And we’ll close with these precious and fateful words of Joshua, declared after our Bit.
‘And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood (The Euphrates River), or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ (Josh.24:15)
Yes friends, that’s the big and serious decision we all have to make. And like Joshua, I surely hope that we will all decide, with our families, to serve the Lord God Jehovah, for that is indeed the wisdom of the ages! Much LOVE!
…until more believers get truly serious about the Great Commission…both talking and living it…the good news of Jesus will be sadly lacking in this ungodly world…
31 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a perfect heart, a sense of well being, a willing mind, all is right with the world, an even keel, annoyed, be not dismayed, be strong, carefree attitude, cast thee off forever, circumstances, commandments, dreary feeling, emotions of joy, ever-faithful, everyday is a beautiful day, faith, fear not, frivolity, He will not fail thee neither forsake thee, imaginations of the thoughts, improve, in God's realm, inheritance, interceding for us, laugh at ourselves, laugh at trouble, laughing is important, laughter is the best free remedy, mercies, new blessings, nothing's right, omnipotent god, physical circumstances, positive attitude, possess this land, righteous journey, risen from the dead, seek God, sits at the right hand of God, Solomon, steupsing, surrendered to God, take heed now, the congregation of the Lord, the god of thy father, the Lord goes before thee, the Lord searcheth all hearts, the Love Revolution of Jesus, trust, uplift, waxing philosophical, what a difference
Deuteronomy 31:8. And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Oh friends, what a difference a difference in a day can make in the lives of mortal men eh! Yes sir, the ole fella is waxing philosophical this morning! (smile)
But all that means is that yesterday was bright and sunny with warm blue clouds floating on high, and it automatically invoked emotions of joy and frivolity, of feelings that all is right with the world, even if that is far from true. But overall a sunny day brings a sense of well being.
Today however, it’s raining, the streets are wet and slippery, the skies are dark and the soul of man tends towards that same attitude; a dark and dreary feeling, one of nothing’s right, even though everything might be right.
It just goes to show how our physical circumstances tend to have a strong effect on us. Now yesterday I was out and about with a carefree attitude, today though, I wake up and see the rain and I’m steupsing and somewhat annoyed because I have to go out in such uncomfortable weather.
But you know what my precious people, in God’s realm though, those things ought not to affect us so strongly, because where our God is concerned everyday is a beautiful day, loaded with all kinds of new blessings and mercies to uplift and improve our physical, emotional and mental circumstances.
Christians are supposed to be people who run on an even keel, not ones who are ruled by the vagaries of their current situations. That’s why I want to share something from my One More Day – Daily Meditations for People with Chronic Illness. I believe I’ve shared it some time ago, but it’s till useful today.
The quote is attributed to one Ed Howe, which one I’m not sure, because they are so many of them. (smile) However it says: ‘If you don’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you grow old.’
I guess he’s trying to say that when you get old, trouble is what you have more than anything else, so you might as well learn to laugh at it, otherwise you won’t be laughing much.
And the text says: ‘Laughing with others is important. Learning to laugh at our own problems is even more important. Since we will continue to live with situations that cause us all types of problems, we may as well learn to laugh at ourselves.’
And believe you me friends, laughter is the best free remedy available for all kinds of illnesses and problems. When we laugh, it brings on a more positive attitude in our spirits and we don’t seem to feel as dreary and forlorn as we were before, although there may be cause to feel that way.
And as the text continues: ‘Laughter is a gift we give ourselves. We can carry it with us wherever we go, and it will always be ours.’
And all of God’s people declared a loud and lusty ‘Praise the Lord!’ then burst out laughing.
Ah mih people, laughter is indeed a good remedy for whatever is wrong with our souls. And when that attitude is combined with the strong and faithful promise of our Bit, mankind will surely be able to move mountains. (smile) ‘And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.’
Now why are we still so fearful in our daily lives eh, even with such a promise from our ever-faithful and omnipotent God?
It just means that we have not fully surrendered our lives to Him; our trust and faith are not to the level they ought to be. But friends, what’s the point of having promises if we don’t sincerely and fully believe them? None whatsoever!
Now listen to Bruh David as he counselled Israel and Cousin Sol. ‘Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the Lord, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever. Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong and do it.’ (1 Chr.28:8-10)
Oh my fellow believers, that is the exact attitude we need to adopt and follow today! We must continually seek God and keep His commandments and be strong and do whatever it is He has called us to do. That is the only way we can win this war against darkness and evil and further the LOVE Revolution of Jesus!
So, please, let’s show ourselves to be true believers and get started on that righteous journey, right now nuh! Much LOVE!
…Jesus has triumphantly risen from the dead…and sits at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us…so what’s there to be afraid of eh…absolutely NOTHING…
10 Apr 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a li'l sunshine, action, admonishment, advice, alert minds, amenities, diligent, drudgery, every purpose under the sun, far from the madding crowd, fellowship, firtst world lifestyles, Friday chant, fun, glorious kingdom, grateful hearts, holy grail, holy spirit, household chores, Jesus Christ, LOVE, Lydia, miracle, moderation, modern day life, persevere, perspective, Philippi, pray without ceasing, prayer, rejoice, relaxation, responsibility, riverside, shopping, spiritual armour, spring, stel your joy, stress, tension, traffic jams, uplift, week of work, wisdom, wisdom of God
1 Thessalonians 5:17. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!
And then it was Friday Friends, hope the rain will stop by mid-morning yes, because it’s been going on steadily for the last couple days. I know it’s spring and all that, but still we deserve to see a li’l sunshine sometime eh man! (smile)
But yuh know what Friends, the rain and the lousy weather is not preventing the workers from joyfully crying out ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and work soon done!’ That’s because, regardless of the weather, they are just happy to get out of the routine, the drudgery, the traffic jams morning and evening, and all the other inconveniences and inconsistencies that make up their work week.
And though making it through till Friday should not be like our holy grail, it is nice to see the weekend approach, where hopefully we can get some time for ourselves, far from the madding crowd. However, for quite a few workers though, that’s only wishful thinking, since they now have to go home and do all the household chores and the shopping and getting things ready for the upcoming week.
Living this supposedly successful, modern day life, even with all the modern amenities, sure can be a drag because of the numerous things we need to do to maintain our first world lifestyles. Ah Lord eh! We fail to realize that the more we have, the more responsibility falls on us. But that’s just the way life is Friends.
Anyway to try and mitigate the madness and crazy rushing about in our society, let’s chant our Friday Chant, which hopefully will give us a better perspective on it all. As one body 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 my people, we have to make time to rejuvenate and refresh ourselves, both at home and in fellowship with other believers, otherwise we will simply drop down from the stress of it all, without any warning too. And that’s the sort of catch 22 situation we find ourselves in, where we want to have a lot of stuff, live a good life, but making it and keeping it causes us to struggle a lot of the time.
And I received a quote from my Friend Anselm yesterday that ties in nicely with all that we’ve said so far. It says: ‘In life, we will always encounter difficult people. Don’t allow them to frustrate you or steal your joy.’ And that my brethren is ever so true! Some people just seem to go out of their way to make our lives difficult; they seem to get pleasure from it. However, it is our responsibility not to let them get to us, so please keep a sharp eye out for that sort and not let them get their negative hooks into us.
And one of the tools we need to do that job Friends, or any other for that matter is prayer. As our Bit says: ‘PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.’
And today we’ll look at a few circumstances in the New Testament where prayer was ever so important. We’ll begin in Acts, where Herod kills James and imprisons Peter. The Good Book tells us: ‘Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.’ (Acts.12: 5) And we all know the results of those prayers; an angel of the Lord eventually came into the prison and miraculously let Peter out. Please find some time to read the rest of the story. (Acts 12:6-19)
Now prayer doesn’t always call for or bring miracles like in Peter’s case, but it is useful for every purpose under the sun. Listen to Bruh Paul’s account of the time they were in Philippi: ‘And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be (customarily) made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted (met) thither.’ (Acts 16:13)
Yes Friends, these women regularly met at the riverside to pray, and that day when a woman named Lydia heard Bruh Paul speak she was converted, she and her whole household. Ah mih people, I’m here chuckling now, because in a sense that was another miracle accomplished through sincere prayer.
Meanwhile to the Ephesians, after Bruh Paul explains to them about the spiritual armour of God; (Eph. 610-17) he admonishes them: ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.’ (Eph.6:18) That just points out my people that all the spiritual armour in the world will do us no good unless it is accompanied by sincere and fervent prayer.
And to the Colossians, Bruh Paul advises them to ‘Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.’ (Col.4:2) And you wouldn’t believe how much is said in those few words.
Hear the scholars explain it. ‘4:2. Continue in prayer means “persevere in prayer.” Watch in the same means that the Colossians are to be mentally alert and spiritually sensitive to the needs for which they pray. With thanksgiving signifies that gratitude is the attitude in which prayer is offered. So the readers are to persevere in prayer with alert minds and grateful hearts.’
Oh Friends, that same admonishment also applies to us today! We need to be diligent and sensitive and grateful and persevering in our prayer lives, otherwise our prayers won’t be answered, and we’ll be even more frustrated than we already are.
Now let’s go home with some more faithful words from Bruh Paul on the subject of prayer, this time to the Philippians. He tells them: ‘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 everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests 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.4:7)
Oh Friends, we couldn’t get any better advice than that! So today let’s try and put it into action nuh, and see how our lives will improve, for that is the wisdom of God! Much LOVE!
…there’s nothing like prayer to uplift our souls…and relieve our stress and tension…
24 Mar 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 1 John, abusing our blessings, all bets are off, allow us to earn money, be prepared, be warned, believers in Jesus Christ, blessedness, blessings, bound for glory, breath of life, burst of inspiration, cleansing light, come short of God's glory, compassion, condemn, condemnation, confession, covered with mud, crapaud smoke we pipe, deceive oneself, deny our sins, empower, empowers, encourage, eternal life, faithfully serve, fight to keep our rights, fleeting glimpse, fluctuating heart, foolishness, for we have all sinned, friends, give thanks, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, God's greatest creation, gone mad, gospel truth, gratefully appreciate our blessings, greedy enemy, handcuffed spirit, His key of infinite love, hope, hope for forgiveness, I am blessed, if we confess our sins, Jesus Christ, Jesus is coming back, joy, lack of wisdom, lesser creatures, liar, lost our minds, LOVE, lustful ways of Beelzebub, misery, New Testament, Old Testament, omipotent, omni-present, omniscient, One Year Book of Bible promises, options, our forefathers, our godly empowerment, our jobs, our Lord and Saviour, pamper, plays hooky, purify our hearts, recognize their blessings, refuse to obey, resonated, restful hours, restores joy, reverberated, Ruth Harms Calkin, safe fortress, share our good fortune, shortcomings, sinful path, sins, sit on the fence, spiritual irregularity, stand up strong, stretch spiritual muscles, taking them for granted, the birds singing, the centre of God's will, the clothes on our backs, the food on our tables, the freedom to worship Jehovah God, the fruit of our loins, the Giver of light, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the last train, the less fortunate, the Master, the prince of darkness, the righteousness of jesus Christ, the roofs over our heads, The Truant, there is therefore now no condemnation, thouroughly cleanses, time to waiver, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, to provide necessities, truths, universality of man's sin, unrighteousness, uplift, wisdom, wrongdoings
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.
Oh Friends, ‘I, I am blessed! I want to tell the world, that I, I am blessed!’
Yes my people, last night in one of my late night sessions, I heard that tune by Mello G, one of my favourite reggae songs. And apparently it reverberated and resonated through my mind during those restful hours of sleep, because I got up this morning still singing it. I took that as a sure sign that I was expected to share it with you on this chilly Tuesday spring morning.
And to further solidify that theory, when I went outside just now to put out the garbage, I heard the birds singing it too. (smile) So if these lesser creatures can recognize their blessings and give thanks for them, why can’t we, God’s greatest creation eh?
So please sing the chorus with me: ‘Oh we, we are blessed! Let’s shout to the world, that we, we are blessed! Yes indeed, we are truly, truly blessed!’
Yes my brethren, if you can read these words and mentally process them, then you are indeed blessed! The roofs over our heads, the clothes on our backs, the food on our tables, the fruit of our loins, our children, the jobs we go to which allow us to earn money to provide those necessities, those all indicate that we are greatly blessed!
The freedom to worship Jehovah God, all of that shouts out blessings and blessedness my brethren! For there is a very large portion of the earth’s population who can’t say those things at all.
So please, let’s gratefully appreciate them nuh, instead of simply taking them for granted and abusing them, and learn to share our good fortune, our godly empowerment with the less fortunate, and stand up strong and fight to keep those rights that our forefathers fought so long and hard to get, but which the cruel, evil and greedy enemy now wants to take away from us!
Wow Friends! That certainly came in a sudden burst of inspiration! (smile) Now here is this touching story entitled ‘The Truant,’ from the One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin.
It says: ‘What does God do with a truant who plays hooky from her heavenly Father? What are the options? One thing is sure: He doesn’t pamper her. He knows she needs to stretch her spiritual muscles. He doesn’t shout, “Get up, foolish child!”
She’s so covered with mud she can’t move. He doesn’t condemn her, because His promise is “There is therefore now no condemnation.” In the end he does what He always does for any half-demolished child of His: He unlocks her handcuffed spirit with His key of infinite LOVE.
He checks her fluctuating heart with its spiritual irregularity. He gives her a fleeting glimpse of things as they could be. He accepts her confession. He thoroughly cleanses her, then He holds her close to His tender heart. He restores her joy and empowers her to obey.
Suddenly she knows with great gladness that her one safe fortress is the centre of her Father’s will. At least so it is with one truant child: me.’
And Friends, that story is ever so true! It’s repeated thousands of times a day by our wonderful heavenly Father! No other supposed god does anything like that. They put you through even more misery for your sins and shortcomings.
But not our wonderful God! When we confess our wrongdoings, He instead cleanses us and shows us LOVE and compassion! And yet so many of us still refuse to obey and faithfully serve Him. What foolishness, what lack of wisdom, my people!
And the Bible promise that’s quoted for that story is our Bit for today. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
Oh my fellow believers in Jesus Christ, those are just more beautiful truths that ought to empower and uplift us, to encourage us to keep on faithfully following our wonderful Lord and Saviour! But they obviously don’t do that for a large part of our population, who prefer to follow the sinful path of the prince of darkness.
Now listen to the verse after our Bit. ‘If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.’ (1 John 1:10) More unfortunate truths again my people!
And the scholars offer these interesting explanations on those verses. ‘1.9. This is a restatement of verse 7. We ought not to deny our sins (v.8), but rather to confess them before God. This opens the door for His forgiving and cleansing light to purify our hearts. Unrighteousness is another way of saying “sin”.
1:10. To deny one’s sinfulness (v.8) or sins is not just to deceive oneself; it is to make God a liar by denying His word. Both Old and New Testaments stress the universality of man’s sin. (e.g. Job 4:17; Ps.14:3; Is.53:6; Rom.3:10-18, 23).’
Yes Friends, that’s all gospel truth: ‘For we have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God.’ (Rom.3:23)
So, after hearing all of that, we have no good or real reason not to believe in and serve the omnipotent, omniscient, omni-present God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. None whatsoever! Unless we’ve lost our minds and literally gone mad.
Sadly though, it seems that a lot of us have succumbed to that dreaded illness, because too many of us have chosen, and are choosing to follow the worldly, lustful ways of Beelzebub, the prince of darkness, rather than the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Master and Giver of Light and Eternal Life!
The wonderful thing about our God though, is that we can always get another chance! While there is His breath of life in our mortal and sinful bodies, there’s always hope for His forgiveness.
But please be warned, there isn’t time to waiver and sit on the fence, because Jesus is coming back in majesty and glory at any time! And when He does… all bets are off!
So please be wise and get yourselves straightened away with Him today; better yet, RIGHT NOW! That is the wisdom of the righteous! Much LOVE!
…let us be wise…be prepared…for we know not when…the last train bound for glory…will be steaming out of the station…and if we’re not on it…hn!…then crapaud smoke we pipe…
15 Dec 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: aura of love, behold the days come, christianity, Creator of the universe, dig deep down., encourage, enthusiasm, eternal life, evil, glorious kingdom, holy spirit, house of Judah, humble servants, I will be their God, I will make a new covenant with Israel, invincible, Israel, Jesus Christ, jobs, long commutes, lord god almighty, LOVE, Monday Morniing Battle Hymn, New Covenant, Oh Lord God Almighty, presence of god, promises, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, saith the Lord, seed of Abraham, steadfast faith, the House of Judah, the second coming of Christ, the sun follows the moon, those who don't work don't eat, traffic jams, trust, truth, ungodly world, uplift, wisdom, work from home
Jeremiah 31:31. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.
Oh Friends, just as the sun follows the moon from one day to the next, and the seasons each other, so is Sunday followed by Monday, just as the Lord the Creator of the universe planned it. However, it is mankind who planned that most of us would work five days a week in this Western Society, starting on Monday.
But yuh know what? The Lord also admonishes us to obey those in authority over us, (Heb.13:17) and Bruh Paul advocates that those who don’t work should not eat. (2 Thess.3:10) So, as true believers, we have no choice but to get up and go out and labour, putting up with long commutes and endless traffic jams, envying those lucky few who can work from home.
And yes, it’s often difficult to get both the body and spirit up for work, but that’s why we have our Monday Morning Battle Hymn; to encourage and uplift us. So let’s sing it with much gusto and verve. Dig deep down in your souls this morning and find them. (smile)
‘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!’
Oh mih people, that was only a so so version, but hopefully it will lift our spirits enough for us to get up and get a move on. And today is the last day in the series of messages on this life-changing Bit of immense promise. ‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.’
Now let’s continue with the scholars explanations that we began yesterday. Some of you might think that all this is not necessary, but if you truly want to grow and mature in the Word, to understand it properly, then you have to take all this stuff into consideration. ‘As a document of prophetic promise, like the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants, the new covenant is unconditional.
In form, it corresponds to the Royal Grant Treaties of the ancient Near East. As to subject matter, by comparing Jeremiah 31:31-34 with the other formulations of the new covenant (e.g. 32:37-44; 33:14-26; Is.55:1-3; 61:1-11; Ezek. 34:22-31; 36:22-38; 37:21,28) it may be seen that the new covenant assimilates the elements of the promises made to Abraham and channelled with progressive light through David, and brings them to full realization.
Thus the final blessing of Abraham’s seed will find fruition in Israel’s possession of the Promised Land in perpetuity under the rulership of Christ, the Greater Son of David, the Seed par excellence (cf. 33:26; Ezek. 37:25-27; Mic.7:19-20 with Luke 1:68-78; Acts 3:25-26; Rev.11:15). Further, by faith in Christ, Gentile believers also become the spiritual seed of Abraham and members of the family of God (cf. Is.45:22-25; rom.4:18-25; Gal.3:26-29; Eph.2:1-3,6; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Pet.2:9-10).
Although the new covenant is now operative (Matt.26:27-28; 2 Cor.3:6; Heb.8:6-13) and is attended by the ministry of the Holy Spirit who is resident in believers’ lives (Acts 2:14-37; Rom.8:23; 2 Cor.1:20-22; 5:1-5; Eph.1:13-14; 1 Thess.5:19), the full realization of the new covenant, as the capstone of all the covenants, awaits the second coming of Christ.
He will give to Israel the promises distinctive to that nation, and will rule over the earth in an unprecedented period of universal peace (Is.2:4; Ezek.34:25; 37:26), prosperity (Is.61:7-8; Ezek.34:26-27), and the full knowledge (v.34) of the abiding presence of God. (Ezek.48:35; Joel 3:21).’
Ah Friends, it might all sound long and involved, but if you take your time and read it and check out some of the references, I’m sure you’ll come to a much better understanding of the scriptures. And as a supposed teacher and student too, I’ll be amiss if I didn’t give you all the information at my disposal.
And now let’s close with one of those prophetic references from Ezekiel. ‘Moreover I will make (cut) a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place (establish) them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. My tabernacle (dwelling place) also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.’ (Ezek.37:26-28)
Oh Friends, after reading the same basic promise from all those prophets, and then having Jesus come and begin the implementation, how could I not believe eh? But each one of us has to come to our own conclusion. Let’s hope that we all come to the right one. Much LOVE!
…whoever is smart enough to come to Jesus…will never be disappointed…for they will find help and succour for their every need…in every circumstance…
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