Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 May 2013 James 4:15

02 May 2013 Leave a comment

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

James 4:15.     For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
 
‘Hot town, summer in the city. Back of my neck, getting dirty and gritty.’ Yes Friends, that’s how it was yesterday afternoon in my area. The sun was shining brightly, and actually giving off heat. When I first came out side and felt the heat of the sun on my face, I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. Mama Mia! It felt so good! And I ended up outside most of the afternoon, doing some physical chores, then lounging on my back porch for the first time this year, suitably attired in my shorts and t-shirt. Wow! What a change! The day before I was showering in hot water to try and ease the aches and pains in the old bones, but yesterday it was cold water all the way to wash away the sweat and cool down the body. Like we’re finally getting some good weather, as it’s supposed to be sunny and warm, in the high teens for the rest of the week. And all God’s people in the north country declared a solemn, but happy: ‘Praise the Lord! It’s about time!’ (smile) Yes Friends, it’s surely time that the Lord granted us some decent warm weather up here in the north, but it’s also time that we begin cleaning up our Christian conduct, this in reference to our increasing dependence on ourselves, our own strength, where James appropriately scolds us. ‘Go to (come) now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit). Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.’ (James 4:13-14) Ah mih people, what fools we make of ourselves, when we believe we have the wherewithal to control our destiny. That’s the wisdom of a fool. For as our Bit wisely informs us: ‘For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.’ And isn’t that the veritable truth! Hear the scholars. ‘This, or that: This verse teaches that God does have something for Christians to do and that they should plan accordingly. James condemns only elaborate planning that omits God. (cf. Prov.16:9)’ And that’s exactly where we fall down my brethren; omitting our great and wonderful God from all our big and bright plans! For when we turn to Proverbs 16:9, as the scholars point out, what we read is: ‘A man’s heart deviseth (plans) his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.’ Similarly in Proverbs 19:21, Cousin Sol informs us: ‘There are many devices (plans) in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.’ Yes my fellow believers, we can scheme and plan as much as we want, but Almighty God is sovereign over every move we make. Please, let’s remember that, and always include God in our plans, from the very start too, if we don’t want to face too much heartache and disappointment. As you’ll notice, whenever I say we’ll continue stuff the following day, I always include, either ‘God willing,’ or ‘God in favour.’  That’s because I’m not sure if it will be God’s will for me to be around the next day, or even if He will want us to continue with the same stuff from the day before. So it’s always wise to add the proviso, be it God’s will. Now let’s look at some scriptures that create the appropriate mindset, that of including God in ALL of our plans. And we’ll begin in Acts 18, when Bruh Paul passes through Ephesus. The Good Book declares: ‘When they desired (asked) him to tarry (stay a) longer time with them, he consented not; But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep the feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.’ (Acts 18:20-21) Please notice the three most important words in that scripture my brethren, ‘if God will.’ For without God we can do nothing of much worth, and the best laid plans of mice and men usually go astray when we leave God out of the planning. Now listen to Bruh Paul again, this time in his first missive to the Corinthians. ‘But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.’ (1 Cor.4:19) Again, the important words in that passage are, ‘if the Lord will.’ Oh my people, it’s always about the will of the Lord for dedicated Christians, since we surrendered our will to Him when we accepted His Son, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. And we’ll finish with some appropriate words form Hebrews, where the author desires to talk about the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. He then declares: ‘And this will we do, if God permit.’ (Heb.6:3) Yes Friends, we shall all do what we shall – if God permits it. Let us not forget that, and therefore take God into our inner circle and lay our plans before Him, for His approval. Or better yet, ask Him to show us His plan for our day and our lives, so that we won’t be too disappointed or ashamed by trying to live on the strength of our mortal inadequacy. That again, is wisdom at its highest level. Much LOVE!…man plans…but God overrides…
 
 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 5 December 2012 Jeremiah 32:17

05 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jeremiah 32:17.     Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.
 
Oh Friends, with the gracious and generous help of Almighty God, and some decent rest, the ole fella’s feeling somewhat better this morning. Praise His Holy Name! I’m not fully recovered, but I’m getting there. What amazes me though, is that in Tobago I never felt this tired. Can one day of travelling, from one climate to another, and one hour of gained or lost time, make such a big difference? I guess so, for there are no other variables that I can think of. Anyhow, here’s an interesting quote, attributed to Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the third President of the U.S, one of its founding Fathers and writers of the Declaration of Independence. It says: ‘Happiness is not being pained in body nor troubled in mind.’ And if we could ever achieve that nirvana in these times, then it would be a veritable truth. But with the busy, stressful lifestyle that our world now dictates, and the aches and pains of old age, we need to learn to be happy in spite of those drawbacks. And the best way to do that my brethren is to surrender our souls, our very lives to the wisdom and guidance of the Most High God Jehovah. Why, you ask? Because as Jeremiah so rightly declares in our Bit: ‘Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard (difficult) for thee.’ Yes Friends, the Lord created the universe and all therein, and controls it in His infinite might and wisdom. We might not agree with His will or direction for it, but since it’s His creation, He can therefore do whatever He wants with it, and the contents thereof, including mankind. So if we’re smart, we’ll do our very best to get on His good side and then stay in His good books. (smile) Yesterday we began looking at some scriptures that reinforced the statements made in our Bit. Beginning with the first part, re God’s awesome power and creation of our world, we looked at Hezekiah’s prayer, (2 Kin.19:15) and the psalmist’s cry in distress, (Ps.102:24-27). Today we’ll continue with some more scriptures that deal with the might and glory of our wonderful God. Hear Jeremiah declare it in an earlier chapter about yokes and bonds of Israel. ‘And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto (proper to) me.’ (Jer.27:4-5) Yes my people, the earth and all it contains is the Lord’s, and He does as He pleases with it! Now listen to that great man of God, Isaiah, tell it in all its majesty and truth: ‘Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint (weak); and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’ (Is.40:28-31) Oh Friends, what more do we need to hear to believe in the wondrous power and works of Almighty God eh? I can personally testify to His amazing grace just through my activities on Monday, and I’m sure many of you can also attest to His strengthening powers in your own lives. So why are we so hesitant and reluctant to let ourselves go, to surrender our all to the One who created us, still LOVES us a whole bunch despite our rebellious and sinful nature, and truly desires to make our lives interesting and fruitful, by bringing us to salvation and eternal life with Him, through belief in His Son Jesus? That’s certainly not wisdom, my brethren! No wonder our lives and our world are in such chaos. And now, moving on to the second part of our Bit; ‘and there is nothing too hard for thee,’ here are some scriptures that appropriately address the topic. One example which we all ought to know, comes from Genesis, when the Lord promised Abraham and Sarah a son of their own loins in their old age, and Sarah laughed, prompting the Lord to tersely declare: ‘Is there any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.’ (Gen.18:14) And she did bear a son, Isaac, in her nineties! Oh fellow believers, if the Lord truly created the world and everything in it, then it shouldn’t be a problem for Him to cause an old man and woman to have a child. That would be like child’s play to Him. Meanwhile, the Good Book, in the same chapter from which our Bit comes, later states: ‘Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?’ (Jer.32:26-27) And the obvious answer to that my people, is a very emphatic NO! And we’ll end, as we like to whenever possible, with the definitive words on the subject from Jesus. This comes from when He told the young, rich man to go and sell all his earthly possessions, then come and follow Him, which the fellow was obviously reluctant to do. That brought forth this statement from Jesus: ‘And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.’ (Matt.19:24-26) End of story my brethren! So Friends, let’s stop trying to live this life by our own will and power nuh. Instead, let’s wisely hand them over to the One who made us, and has a good plan for each and every life. When we do that, then we’ll have the peace that Jesus promised. ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) Words of absolute truth and wisdom, my people! Words that I want us to truly consider today, so that our lives can be greatly improved in this evil and troubled world. Much LOVE!…to think that the creation can ever be greater than the Creator…is nothing but foolish pride and wishful thinking…