Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 March 2021 John 14:15.

19 Mar 2021 Leave a comment

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

John 14:15.     ​If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments.

Welcome my Scrip-Bit friends and family to a glorious sunshiny Friday morning! Springtime is almost here in the northern climes, but I certainly don’t trust Mother Nature, especially in these days of climate change. I won’t put it past her to drop another rough snowstorm upon us…just for good measure, just so we can remember her for the rest of the year. (smile) But until we see and experience it, let’s just fill our hearts, minds, bodies and souls with Jesus nuh, for He is the answer to our every problem, our every wish, our every desire! Glory be my people! 

Jesus is indeed what we call today; one stop shopping! Whatever our needs and wants, He can meet them. In fact He is the ONLY one who can do that! But there’s something we must do so that He can help us. We have a responsibility in this wonderful partnership, and it’s a simple, but at times quite difficult rule to follow. Jesus said it this way: ‘If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments.’ (John 14:15) Yes, it is a simple rule, but in this evil, aggressive, strife-filled and hateful world it’s not always easy to follow it, although when we sincerely come to Jesus, He will enable us to follow it through the workings of His Holy Spirit that indwells all believers. 

As one Bible commentator says: ‘God’s commandments are a manifestation of His LOVE for us, and obedience to His commandments is an expression of our LOVE for Him.’ And that’s the glorious truth my people! God gives us rules to protect and guide us, just like we have rules and regulations for our children’s safety. But as our children often rebel against our rules, feeling that they are somewhat onerous and restrict their personal freedom, we also often rebel against God’s rules for the same basic reason; infringement on our personal freedom. 

But my people, as we reach out to God, dig deeper in His word, try to understand what He’s really all about, we realize that those rules and regulations are actually for our safety and protection and they are all linked up to LOVE, the same way our rules for our children are based on our LOVE for them. John puts it this way in his first epistle. ‘For this is the LOVE of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (burdensome).’ (1 John 5:3) As the commentator above says, His LOVE for us, and our LOVE for Him. 

It’s a two-way street friends. But, unfortunately, we only recognize that as we grow in faith, as we mature in our Christian belief. And that can’t happen until we begin to show greater trust towards our Triune Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who each have a different but vital role in our lives and our growth. Technically speaking, the Father sets the overall agenda; the Son lays the foundation, and the Holy Spirit enables, leads and guides the builders in the task of building the magnificent memorial! 

But we need to implicitly trust each of them as they do their part in our lives, otherwise the glorious memorial in which we are involved in building won’t turn out right. And that basically means acknowledging that the Father is the Creator and Controller of the universe; the Son is our Redeemer who died to save us from our sins, and the Holy Spirit is the one who indwells us to show us the way to obedience in Christ Jesus. 

Notice what Jesus said to His disciples after He told them our Bit. ‘And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter (Helper), that he may abide in you for ever. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.’ (John 14:16-17) Yes friends, Jesus was there stressing that though He had to go away and leave them, the Holy Spirit would come and replace Him, dwell in them permanently. But most importantly, He’d be just like Jesus, a Helper and an Advocate; to lead and guide them in righteousness on their earthly journey. 

And hear His awesome promise nuh. ‘I will not leave you comfortless (as orphans): I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.’ (John 14:18-20) Wow mih bredrin! That’s a promise of our security in Christ; everlasting security for all believers. We are secure in Christ, and Christ is secure in God! It couldn’t get any better than that! 

But I like how Jesus never leaves us without a gentle reminder on whatever topic He’s talking about. ‘He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that LOVETH me, and he that LOVETH me shall be LOVED of my Father, and I will LOVE him, and will manifest (reveal) myself to him.’ (John 14:21) 

So the question now is, have we kept His commandments and thus shown our LOVE for Him? And the obvious answer is a big NO! And consequently, our world is in a thorough mess, with sickness and strife and what have you. But now we’re tired of the current situation and want some relief from it, and belatedly realize that Almighty God is the ONLY source of the kind of help we so desperately need. That means swallowing our foolish pride and going to Him in prayer and asking for His help. 

And we can do that right now through our Friday Chant. So, as one sincere voice, let’s pray: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. Yuh know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and the racial strife causing. We not accustomed to that kind of life Lord, and it really telling on us. And we know we can’t handle it on our own, that we desperately need your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the sure and wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, so that we can avoid any more serious setbacks. 

And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to also bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. It’s also a good opportunity to introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion because of the way we, your faithful believers, handle the situation. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And the simple message is like it’s been from the very beginning; ‘If you want my help, then keep my commandments.’ It’s now up to us friends to keep our vows to God. Much LOVE!

…we can’t be disobedient to God’s commandments…and yet expect His divine blessings… 

P.S. The ordinary workingman refused to speak to us today because he was real angry about the continuing confusion and negativity of the pandemic situation. (smile) Much LOVE! 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8     

Today’s Scrip-Bit 12 March 2021 Ecclesiastes 12:13.

12 Mar 2021 Leave a comment

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

Ecclesiastes 12:13.     Fear (reverence) God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Oh friends, it’s another bright and sunshiny morning with more springlike temps! And best of all, the Lord chose to wash the earth clean last evening with a glorious thunderstorm. So out there looks fresh and new now, and there’s a feeling of hope in the air! Yuh know how we usually feel clean and refreshed after a shower! Well that’s how the earth looks this morning! Glory be! 

And here’s some more good news. The ole fella now has a podcast on the Anchor website of WordPress, where our blog is displayed. Our God is certainly something else yes, great and mysterious. I’d been wondering about doing a podcast since it’s all the rage now, but thought it would be too complicated, however, a few days ago, when I was posting the blog, I noticed a sign that said turn your blog into a podcast. But that day I ignored it. 

The next day though, I ventured into the unknown and soon thereafter, without a whole lot of fuss our Scrip-Bits Podcast was born! Glory to God my people! So for those of you who prefer to hear me, rather than read me, (smile) you can go to this link https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8 and sign in to Spotify with whatever you choose. Now it’s just a simple podcast, so don’t look for fabulous sounds and sights, (smile) just my growly voice. 

And oh, here’s something else, I never told you about. If you want to hear my gravelly voice, well done, with music, then you can contact me at randyobrien50@hotmail.com to purchase a C.D, or rather a double C.D, titled ‘Some of My Favourite Script-Bits, Vol. 1’ which I recently put out. It’s not available on a website or streaming as yet. But you’ll get two for one: The spoken word with music behind them, and just music alone. And the music is quite eclectic, varied, so you’re sure to find several things you like. 

Believe me, producing that C.D has truly been what we call a labour of LOVE! It’s been about ten years in the making. Ah Lord, when I think about the process, I just have to shake my head and chuckle. I had the vocals all ready to go from the beginning, but couldn’t find anyone willing to write the music. Then, in the Lord’s time, He sent someone along to do it. And even then, there were roadblocks all along the way. But would you believe that’s in the height of the pandemic, He allowed me to complete it. 

Ah mih people, I keep telling us that the Lord surely moves in mysterious ways and His timing can be somewhat tough and overbearing, but when we wait on Him, He does good things when we least expect it. And today’s certainly a good news Friday, for here’s what the ordinary workingman has to say. His enthusiasm has certainly been raised a notch, as he declares: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday…And though a whole lot hasn’t changed, there is at least a li’l light at the end of the tunnel. My boss called this week and said that we’d be able to go back to work in the next easing stage of the lockdown! Glory be! 

And since I’m one of the older employees, I’ll be amongst the first to go back. It’ll sure feel good to earn some money after such a long time! Let’s hope the next easing stage doesn’t take too long nuh, because then I’ll be so out of shape, I might not be able to do all the heavy lifting and physical stuff we need to do on the job. And with the vaccine being handed out, it’s the first sign of optimism I’ve felt in many a day. Ah Lord eh! Let’s hope that the foolish people out there don’t relax their caution either, now that there’s a vaccine and cause another corona wave to start nuh. So things looking up. Thank God oui!’ 

Oh mih bredrin, as Bruh Paul so rightly said to 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 isn’t that the indisputable truth! 

And we on a roll here friends, for when I opened the Good Book just now, to look for some scripture to back up all that we’ve said, it opened at this interesting section of Ecclesiastes, where Cousin Sol proclaims: ‘Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely (fitting) for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun (in which he toils) all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.’ (Eccl. 5:18) Yes friends, enjoyment is a gift of God, and we ought to be excited and motivated to do just that, as our life is so short here on planet earth. Oh we can’t get away from troubles, but in our honest toil and labour with God beside us, we can certainly find joy. 

And Cousin Sol wraps up the Book of Ecclesiastes with these awesome words. ‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear (reverence) God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’ (Eccl. 12:13-14) And that’s the gospel truth friends! Our job is to obey God and do His will, but we will all answer for our actions or lack thereof come the judgement day. 

Now let’s go to God with that awesome privilege of prayer, through our Friday Chant, and empty our hearts, pour out our hopes and dreams before His holy throne. Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. Yuh know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and the racial strife causing. We not accustomed to that kind of life Lord, and it really telling on us. And we know we can’t handle it on our own, that we desperately need your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the sure and wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, so that we can avoid any more serious setbacks. 

And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to also bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. It’s also a good opportunity to introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion because of the way we, your faithful believers, handle the situation. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And if we truly want the strife and sickness in our world to be lessened, then we have to keep our vow to God; be faithful believers, and handle the situation properly with true repentance and LOVE for Him and each other! Much LOVE!

…the Lord gave us life…so that we could enjoy it…within His boundaries… 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 October 2020 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

23 Oct 2020 Leave a comment

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

1 Thessalonians 5:18.     ​In every thing give thanks: for that is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

 Well the weather is behaving just as inconsistently as us! (smile) Yeh, yesterday it didn’t morph into any bright and sunshiny skies, just remained dark and dreary. Now today, after a foggy, drizzly night, the sun is out there trying to overcome the dark rain-filled clouds. Who knows which aspect will be victorious eh? Only the good Lord at this particular time, but we’ll find out eventually. 

Yeh friends, that’s the way we live a lot of our life, not sure what’s happening in our present or future, and only understanding it when it becomes our past. As Cousin Joyce (Joyce Meyer) likes to say; ‘you live life forward, but understand it backward.’ And that’s certainly the truth…if you understand it at all. (smile) Anyhow, enough of me, let’s hear what the ordinary workingman has to say this cloudy Friday morning, as we run through the month of a very calamitous October. 

And as usual, he opines: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday and work soon done for a couple days! It’s good to see another weekend, although there still isn’t much to do in it, but stay home and stay safe, for the Covid-19 numbers not coming down appreciably even though some of us still in phase 2 of the lockdown. In fact, the average cases actually going up, and some four major hospitals have outbreaks of the virus now. Ah Lord, what is happening eh? An’ people still refuse to wear masks, wash dem hands and stay away from crowds, the only things we currently have to somewhat control the virus So what yuh expect eh? Steups! 

But as my old mother always use to tell me: ‘Son, when yuh don’t hear, yuh does feel.’ And believe me, plenty times when I didn’t hear her, I certainly felt her! (smile) And is the same thing that’s happening to us as a society now. We not listening to the medical advice, what little we have, so people still living in fear of the tiny li’l virus that yuh can’t even see with the naked eye. What a knowledgeable and revolutionary society we’ve built eh… Hn! 

The trouble is that though we society so advanced and so flashy looking, we still only full of heifer dust! And as they say, if yuh put a pig in a palace, it still going to be a pig, and still going to behave like one! But with a small man like me, all I can do is try to keep my family safe yes, and say thank God for Fridays and weekends oui!’ 

Ah mih bredrin, when you have a preponderance of sin, foolish pride, greed, hunger for power, and a lack of godly principles in a society, there will never be peace nor stability. And those are the things which are currently running rampant in our society, so it’s no surprise that we are in such a distasteful and disastrous situation. And how do we solve our calamitous situation eh? I just came upon a couple verses of rather appropriate scripture, some prayerful words ascribed to the prophet Daniel, when Israel was suffering the consequences of one of their disobedient spells; seventy years of captivity in Babylon. 

Daniel prayed: ‘O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city (Jerusalem) which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do (listen and act); defer (delay) not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.’ (Dan. 9:18-19) 

Yeh friends, it seems that it’s only in our dark and dreary times that we remember the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And so it is in these times, many who had turned away from God, for whatever reason, are now crying out to him for help and succour as they go through unprecedented and very unfavourable times. And those of us who have remained faithful and steadfast during the exodus from God’s fold, we too need to get very prayerful. As Bruh Paul said to the Thessalonians: ‘Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for that is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.’ (1 Thess. 5:16-19) 

Ah mih people, those are not easy rules to follow, but if we want to be successful in this life, we ought to follow them as best we can, obviously with the Lord’s help. Hear these explanations from the scholars. ‘5:17. Pray without ceasing… the believer ought to remain in an attitude of prayer though not always praying audibly.’ That means praying at intervals throughout the day. ‘5:18. In every event or circumstance (thing) the Christian is to give thanks to God for the good He can bring out of the event, even should the event be unpleasant. The constant attitude of prayer, mentioned in verse 17, will help the believer to maintain gratitude in the face of adversity.’ 

Yeh friends, it’s not a matter of giving thanks for the adversity, although that will help us grow stronger in faith, but more for the fact that God can bring good from all our adversity. Remember the famous scripture that promises it. ‘And we all know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) So we need to be prisoners of hope and hang in there. And as per quenching God’s Spirit, we must ‘not stifle, suppress or hinder the Spirit’s workings by stopping Him from leading us to rejoice (vs. 16), to pray (vs. 17), to give thanks in adversity (vs. 18).’ 

Oh my fellow saints in Christ, it’s in those times of dire need that we need to listen to the Spirit’s leading and guiding more than ever. So let’s put some of that into action right now nuh, by going to God in prayer and supplication, making our needs, wants, fears and anxieties humbly known to Him through our Friday Chant. 

All together now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. Yuh know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and the racial strife causing. We not accustomed to that kind of life Lord, and it really telling on us. And we know we can’t handle it on our own, that we desperately need your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. 

So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the sure and wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, so that we can avoid any more serious setbacks. And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to also bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. 

It’s also a good opportunity to introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion because of the way we, your faithful believers, handle the situation. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’  

Now if we were really sincere in that prayer, then we need to go out and behave like faithful believers, handle the situation the way Christ desires, so that others can take example from us and come to Him. Much LOVE!

…talk is cheap…but action needs sacrifice…let’s see some works with our faith…