06 Jul 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future, accomplished, assistant, beyond comprehension, beyond expectation, blesses, blessing, brilliant light of Jesus, but by my spirit, cnadlestick, coming in, coming of the Messiah, empowers, encouraging, escape, evil night, expectations, flying colours, glad to be alive, glory hallelujah, glory to God, God's great earth, godforsaken, going out, Guide, halfway home, He that keepeth Israel, hide, holy spirit, I'm not turning back, imbued, impossible, invade, Israel, Jesus, Joshua, magnanimous god, magnificent God, marvellous, Messiah, move mountains, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are on the plough, neither slumber nor sleep, no way Jose, nor by power, not by might, olive trees, omnipotence, omnipotent god, One Year Book of Bible promises, penetrate every fibre, Pentecost, permeate, praise the performance, praises, preserve thy soul, Protector, ramifications, reassuring words, reward, run, Ruth Harms Calkin, saith the Lord, shade upon thy right hand, strength, the breath of life, the dark, the Lord is thy keeper, the moon by night, the Spirit of God, the straight and narrow path, the sun shall not smite thee, the Task, unite, victory, vision, walk on water, Wednesday Wail, wherewithal, wisdom, You electrify me, Zechariah, Zerubbabel
Zechariah 4:6b. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.
And then it was another bright and sunshiny day on God’s great earth!
And all His people joyfully declared: ‘Glory to God for bringing us safely through the dark and evil night into the glorious and brilliant light of His Son and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!’
Yes friends, our wonderful God is always working on our behalf! What does the scripture say? ‘Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper (protector): the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve (keep) thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve (keep) thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth,and even for ever more’ (Ps.121:4-8)
Ah mih people what encouraging and reassuring words! They tell us all about the sustaining power of our omnipotent God!
Now hear this other aspect of our marvellous and magnanimous God. It comes in the form of a poem ‘The Task,’ from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin.
And it says: ‘Lord, You give me a task So utterly impossible So totally beyond comprehension – The very thought of it Startles me. I want to run hide escape Anything, Lord. Then You electrify me You invade and permeate me
You penetrate every fiber of me Until the task is accomplished By Your own magnificent power. Then You praise the performance Your creativity achieved And You reward me beyond expectation – As though I had done it All by myself, My Father.’
Wow mih breddren! Isn’t that a most magnificent God? He gives you a task that seems utterly impossible, then gives you the wherewithal to perform it with flying colours, then turns around and praises and blesses you, as though you had done it all on your own, when, without His omnipotence, you couldn’t even have accomplished the initial step!
Oh my people, I feel that way everyday when I come to write the Bit, for basically it’s not my idea, but the Lord’s, and through His Holy Spirit, He guides and enables me to write it. Yuh think I could have been writing the Bit for nine years now in my own strength and wisdom? No way Jose! It’s the Lord who empowers me each and every day!
And the scripture verse on which that poem is based is also our Bit for today. ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.’ Yes friends, it’s not through might nor power, but through His Holy Spirit that the Lord accomplishes His tasks through us!
Now that piece of scripture comes from a vision of the prophet Zechariah about a magnificent, golden candlestick and two olive trees. And the angel in the vision asked Zechariah if he knew its significance?
And when Zechariah said no, the angel informed him. ‘Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.’ (Zech.4:6) That’s the full verse there.
And the scholars offer us this explanation. ‘4:1-14. The fifth vision, the golden candlestick and the two olive trees: The work of God (the rebuilding of the temple) would be accomplished through God’s leaders, Joshua and Zerubbabel, who would be enabled to perform their tasks by the Spirit of God.
The vision indicates that future Israel will be a blessing to all the nations of the world through an abundant supply of the Spirit of God as the result of the coming of the Messiah, who will unite the offices of priest and king in Himself.’
And did it all come to pass as prophesied my people? It surely did! For since the coming of Jesus, beginning at Pentecost, all believers have been imbued with the Holy Spirit as their guide and assistant. In the olden days the Spirit would come upon someone when the Lord needed them to do something special, but didn’t dwell within them as He does in us now…
And all God’s children declared a loud, sincere and heartfelt, ‘Glory to God for His wonderful goodness to the children of men!’ And He certainly deserves oodles of glory my breddren!
Now we won’t get into the ramifications of our Bit today, we’ll leave that for tomorrow, the Lord willing. Let’s go home instead by declaring our Wednesday Wail with sincerity, truth, faith and hope, some of the things that keep us going on the right path, the straight and narrow one, in this evil, godforsaken world.
Wailing now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home.
My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Oh friends, I do hope those words were sincerely and truthfully felt and meant, because only then can we enthusiastically go out with great expectations of victory, and do the important work Christ has entrusted us with. Have a godly and blessed day my people! Much LOVE!
…when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…your life changes for the better…you can walk on water and move mountains…
04 Jul 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 4th July, at noon, aura of love, be about Christ's business, be prepared, Beelzebub, believers in Jesus Christ, calls us home, Canada Day, Chicago, Christ's Church, Christians, come up higher, complaining, confidence, cry aloud, dangerous, deceitful, dissension, divisions, does anybody care, Does anybody know what time it is, double heart, Drunk or sober mind yuh business, enemy, enthusiasm, eternal life, evening, ever-faithful God, evil, evil minions, faith, falsely, fellowship, fervent followers, flattering lips, friends, get our houses in order, God's flock, good neighbourly relations, Granny's advice, honesty, hope, humble servants, in splendour and power, inconsistent mind, inner sanctum, invincible, Jesus Christ, Jesus returns, joy, joyful band of Christians, last bastion, lies, lollygagging, LOVE, Lucifer, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, morning, neighbour, peace, planet earth, pray, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, resting on their laurels, salvation, sense of right and wrong, spiritual armour, stand up strong, steadfast faith, stick together, strife filled, the clock's ticking, the end times, the last days, the Lord shall save me, tragic, Trojan horse, trust, truth, unfair, ungodly world, unkind place, vanity, victory, wary, weary souls, wiles, wisdom
Psalm 12:2. They speak vanity (idly, falsely) every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with double heart (an inconsistent mind) do they speak.
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY U. S. OF A!
18 Jun 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a smooth ride through life, a way to escape, able to bear it, all things work together for good, appreciation, attitude, basic goal, be of good cheer, belief, blessed, boost our faith, called according to His purpose, calling, Christ-like, Christians, circumstances, common to man, deceitful, disservice, doting parents, dross, earthly goals, endure, evil times, faith, fires of refinement, followers of Christ, God is faithful, godless, gospel truth, he that endureth to the end, I shall come forth as gold, Job, LOVE, overcome the world, patience, perseverance, promise of victory, puts us through our paces, refining fires, righteous, sappy, sin, soft, spiritually strong, storms of life, struggle, struggling, suffering, temptation, test, the divine perspective, the human perspective, though he saly me, to them that love God, trials, tribulations, unquenchable, victory, yet will I trust him
Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
Well a blessed day to all you my Scrip-Bit family and friends! And I know that some of us will be quick to say what’s so blessed about it eh? Just look at my circumstances, look at how I’m suffering and struggling. I certainly wouldn’t call that blessed.
I understand that friends, but it’s all in our attitude toward those circumstances and struggles. Too many Christians expect to just have a nice smooth ride through life without any problems simply because they are followers of Christ. But it doesn’t work like that. Unfortunately, the greater our calling from God, ofttimes the greater the struggle in our lives.
Look at all the great prophets, Bruh Joseph, Moses, Bruh David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Bruh Paul, and finally Jesus Christ Himself; they all went through many trials and much tribulation to accomplish their earthly goals. Jesus even warned us: ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33b)
And furthermore, the Lord uses these trials and struggles to test us, to build and grow our faith; to see if we truly believe and are willing to rely on Him and His promises. As Job, another righteous man who suffered great tribulation declared during his time of trial. ‘But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.’ (Job 23:10)
And the scholars have an interesting take on that verse. ’23:10. I shall come forth as gold: His friends maintained that Job was full of dross, but Job is confident that no dross, or sin, would be revealed in the fires of refinement.’
Yes friends, the Lord puts us through our paces like we put metals through fire to purify them. And believe me, when you go through some of those refining fires, you will come out as bright and beautiful and strong and faithful as gold!
And we don’t even have to go to the Good Book to learn about struggles; listen to these quotes from our friend Anselm, who always aspires to inspire us. He says first: ‘Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.’ And the corollary to that is; ‘Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.’
Gospel truth all of that my fellow believers! That’s why so many of this young generation are so soft and sappy and whiny, because they have had most everything given to them by us doting parents. They never had to struggle or work hard for something, so therefore there is no real appreciation of anything they have or get.
In their minds the world owes them a living. And that’s a big disservice we’ve done to them. No wonder most of them have no belly or backbone, and are quick to throw in the towel as soon as hard times show up.
Oh my people, everybody goes through struggles and hard times, whether you’re rich, poor, black, white, Muslim, Jew, or whatever, but where we believers win out over the others is that we have the rich and faithful promises of our God to depend on.
We know for instance that as Bruh Paul told the Corinthians in his first letter: ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ (1 Cor.10:13)
Yes my struggling and suffering fellow believers, our God promises never to give or allow us to bear more than we can handle and will either make a way out for us, or give us the wherewithal to endure it. He doesn’t always make us escape it, but more often than not He brings us safely through it. Another way to boost our faith and make us spiritually strong, more Christ-like, which is the basic goal for all believers.
That brings us to our Bit, another crucial promise from our ever-faithful God. In the momentous words of Bruh Paul: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are called according to his purpose.’
Oh my brethren, what a wonderful promise! Only we Christians are assured that our omnipotent, ever-LOVING God will work out everything in our favour eventually, according to His timetable! It’s all a matter of faith, of belief, of patience and perseverance my people!
And this is what the scholars have to say about that verse. ‘8:28. To them that LOVE God is the human perspective. God is working all things together for good, but those who LOVE God are best able to appreciate that fact because they LOVE Him no matter what (cf. Job 13:15) To them who are called is the divine perspective. Scripture often refers to believers as “the called” or “the elect.”
And for those of us who want to know what Job 13:15 says but are too lazy to look it up, let me spoon feed you. (smile) Job defends his integrity before his condescending and self-righteous friends by declaring of God: ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine (defend my) own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation: for a hypocrite shall not come before him.’ (Job 13:15-16) Just thought I’d throw in verse 16 for good measure. (smile)
And the scholars say of ’13:15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him expresses the unquenchable faith of one who lives by faith, not by sight. Even when it appears that God Himself has turned against Job, he will still trust in God.’
Oh friends, oh friends, in these godless, deceitful and evil times, that is the kind of faith we believers need to have, an unquenchable kind, if we’re going to see it through to a victorious end!
And we’ll conclude with these fateful words of Jesus: ‘And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.’ (Matt.10:22) Much LOVE!
…Christians have to understand that struggles are a part of human life…but we have the certain promise of victory in the end…to see us through life’s storms in the middle…
12 Jun 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: agape, be brave, charity, Christ has made us free, conflict, Corinthians, courage, crown, danger, dearly beloved, death is gain, Dudley Atkins Tyng, duty, fear, George Duffield, gospel armour, joy, Joyce Meyer, liberty, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, mysterious hand of God, prayer, quit you like men, reign eternally, rout, royal banner, saving souls, serve the Lord, shame, slavery, soldiers of the cross, stand fast in faith, stand up for Jesus, suffer loss, the foe, the god of battles, the king of glory, the mighty hand of God, the trumpet call obey, the yoke of bondage, victory, watch, wisdom, worship, YMCA, zenith
1 Corinthians 16:13. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you (be brave) like men; be strong.
Oh friends, let’s begin this Sunday morning’s proceedings with a most appropriate moment of worship, as we sing the old standard, ‘Stand up for Jesus.’
Please sing with me: ‘Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross; Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss. From victory unto victory His army shall He lead, Till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the solemn watchword hear; If while ye sleep He suffers, away with shame and fear; Where’er ye meet with evil, within you or without, Charge for the God of battles, and put the foe to rout.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the trumpet call obey; Forth to the mighty conflict, in this His glorious day. Ye that are brave now serve Him against unnumbered foes; Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, stand in His strength alone; The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own. Put on the Gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer; Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, each soldier to his post, Close up the broken column, and shout through all the host: Make good the loss so heavy, in those that still remain, And prove to all around you that death itself is gain.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long; This day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song. To those who vanquish evil a crown of life shall be; They with the King of Glory shall reign eternally.’
And my fellow believers do we ever need to stand up for Jesus and all that He stands for in these very trying and difficult times! We’re not only meant to sing these words in church, but even more importantly to put them into action in our daily lives! That’s the only way Jesus’ LOVE Revolution will be victorious!
And to show how supposed believers are strange and unpredictable, I heard Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) say the other day that one of the many books she’s written is one titled, ‘The LOVE Revolution,’ and would you believe it’s the worst selling of all her books. Hn!
Why? Not because it was a bad book, because it isn’t, but because believers nowadays just don’t seem to be interested in ‘agape’ LOVE; the kind of LOVE that Jesus espouses, that has us caring about others, even when we are going through rough times. Ah Lord eh my brethren, when we going to wake up, to grow up and learn what real Christianity is eh?
Anyhow, as I went looking for the lyrics to ‘Stand up for Jesus,’ I discovered some worthwhile information on how it came about. Apparently, the writer, a Presbyterian minister, George Duffield Jr. in 1858 was an associate of the Rev. Dudley Atkins Tyng, who had recently been thrown out of his Episcopalian community for speaking against slavery.
In March of that year, Tyng preached one of the most successful sermons of modern times to the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) in the large space known as Jaynes’ Hall. Of the five thousand men that were there at least one thousand, became ‘the slain of the Lord,’ were converted. His sermon was apparently based on Exodus 10:11 “Go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord.” Pharaoh’s admonishment to Moses.
The following Wednesday, leaving his study for a moment, he went to the barn floor, where a mule was at work on a horse-power, shelling corn. Patting him on the neck, the sleeve of his silk study gown caught in the cogs of the wheel, and his arm was torn out the roots!
He died not long after that, but it’s reputed that before he moved on to the other side, he told his father “Tell my brethren of the ministry, wherever you meet them, to stand up for Jesus.”
At a memorial service for Tyng, Duffield preached a message based on Ephesians 6:14. “Stand firm, wearing the whole armour of God”, and supposedly the hymn was written simply as a concluding exhortation. However, the superintendent of the Christian school printed the hymn on leaflets for the children and one of those copies ended up in a Baptist newspaper…and the rest is history. Stand up for Jesus is now known and LOVED around the world!
Yuh see mih people how the mysterious hand of our great God works! Tyng gets tossed from his congregation for preaching against the inhumane system of slavery, but ends up saving many souls at the Y. But then through an unfortunate accident, he soon dies, but he’s already spread the seed he was meant to; stand up for Jesus, and his buddy Duffield, writes those verses more or less as a memorial, but the school superintendent prints it on some leaflets for the children, and a Baptist newspaper gets hold of one and publishes it. Only the mighty hand of God could have fashioned such an unlikely story!
And finally we come to our most appropriate Bit. ‘Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you (be brave) like men; be strong.’ That’s Bruh Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians in his first missive. And to sweeten it, he adds: ‘Let all your things be done with charity (LOVE).’ (1 Cor.16:14)
Ah friends, so much of great importance has been said in those few words of those two verses, that if we follow them, we can never go wrong. And we’ll end with a couple more verses where Bruh Paul is encouraging his readers to stand fast.
To the Galatians, he declares: ‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.’ (Gal.5:1) Wonderful advice my brethren!
And to the Philippians he solemnly advises: ‘Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.’ (Phil.4:1)
Oh friends, please let’s go out and do likewise today and everyday nuh, for that is wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!
…and having done all…stand…now, more than ever…Christians need to stand up steadfastly for what they claim to believe in…
09 Jun 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a burning tempest, a righteous God, a vision, abundance, all one body, almighty god, anthems, arrows, backbone, battle, belly, bend their bow, blessed, brimstone, burning coals, Christ's promise, church of Jesus, church's health, clear direction, compassionate heart, conquer, courage, creativity, crowns, curse, darkness, defences, faith, family, favour, fear, fire, flee as a bird, friends, God's will, going on before, health, hell's foundations quiver, immune, In the Lord I put my trust, kingdoms, lift your voices, marching as to war, military procedure, negative word, not divided, Onward Christian soldiers, praise, prosper, push back, righteousness, rise, security, self-control, self-discipline, shoot, snares, soul, spirit, spiritual armour, stand up and fight, stand up for Jesus, strength, succeed, success, talent, the church of God, the foolish foe, the foundations, the prince of darkness, the righteous, the shout of praise, the upright in heart, the wicked, threat of the wicked, thrones, Thursday's Blessings, triumph, trust, victory, violence, wane, wickedness, will, wisdom, with the cross of Jesus, worship
Psalm 11:1. In the Lord I put my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
Oh friends, let’s fittingly begin this glorious Thursday’s proceedings with some praise and worship nuh. Please sing with me this old, but still ever-important standard from our hymnal.
‘Onward Christian soldiers! Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before. Christ, the royal Master, Leads against the foe; Forward into battle, See, His banners go! Onward, Christian soldiers! Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, Going on before.
At the name of Jesus Satan’s host doth flee; On then, Christian soldiers, On to victory! Hell’s foundations quiver At the shout of praise: Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise! Like a mighty army Moves the Church of God:
Brothers, we are treading Where the saints have trod; We are not divided, All one Body we— One in faith and Spirit, One eternally. Crowns and thrones may perish, Kingdoms rise and wane; But the Church of Jesus Constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never ’Gainst the Church prevail; We have Christ’s own promise, Which can never fail. Onward, then, ye people! Join our happy throng; Blend with ours your voices In the triumph song. Glory, laud and honor Unto Christ, the King; This through countless ages Men and angels sing.’
Oh my people, what a wonderful hymn! Remember when we used to sing such military songs like this and ‘Stand up for Jesus?’ They are still very important to our movement, because we are still in a raging battle with the enemy, the prince of darkness, therefore we need military procedure to fight it properly.
We also need to be well dressed everyday with our spiritual armour, backed up by sincere prayer, otherwise the enemy will have no trouble infiltrating our defences.
Now let’s move forward on the offensive by declaring our Thursday Blessings that will keep us rolling on to victory. With true sincerity, trust and confidence in Jesus Christ, let’s passionately speak blessings over our lives 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!’
Oh my brethren, what a powerful declaration of blessings over our lives! Wow! Remember a blessing is not truly a blessing until it’s spoken over someone, so please let’s continue to speak since blessings over our LOVED ones and ourselves! That’s the only way they will truly take hold.
And that brings us to what I think is a most appropriate Bit for all of what we’ve spoken about so far. ‘In the Lord I put my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?’
Yes friends, if we put our strong and steadfast trust in Almighty God, why need we to flee anywhere eh? No reason whatsoever! Our God is the mightiest Being that exists, so there’s need to run from anything at all!
And Bruh David continues the psalm: ‘For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily (secretly) shoot at the upright in heart.’ (Ps.11:2) But the reality of that situation my fellow believers, is if we’re wearing our spiritual armour, no arrow of the wicked can penetrate it to harm us.
And all God’s people boldly and gratefully declare: ‘All glory be to our great and wonderful God! Let His holy name be praised now and forever more!’
Then Bruh David further asks: ‘If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?’ (And answers) ‘The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try (test) the children of men. The Lord trieth (tests) the righteous: but the wicked and him that LOVETH violence his soul hateth.
Upon the wicked he shall rain snares (burning coals), fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest (a burning wind): this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous Lord LOVETH righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.’ (Ps.113-7)
Yes my faithful brethren, our God is a righteous God and thus despises wickedness. So once we are walking in His will, protected by His sure armour, we have nothing to fear from the wicked, for in the Lord’s time, He shall rain fire and brimstone, burning coals and a burning wind up them. So there’s no need for a true and sincere Christian to be afraid of anything or anybody!
As the scholars explain: ‘Psalm 11. A vision of the Lord on His throne (v.4) is all the righteous need for security in the face of the threat of the wicked (v.2).’
Oh my people, please, please, let’s stop being fearful nuh. Instead let’s stand up and fight the foolish foe, who thinks he can push God’s people around! Let’s push back! Let’s stop the wicked from trying to take Almighty God completely out of our society!
Let’s strengthen our belly and backbone and truly fight for what we believe in! It’s the only way we will ever accomplish much for Jesus; ever win the LOVE Revolution!
So let’s end today’s proceedings the way we began nuh, with a powerful verse of military might. ‘Onward Christian soldiers! Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before. Christ, the royal Master, Leads against the foe; Forward into battle, See, His banners go! Onward, Christian soldiers! Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, Going on before.’ Much LOVE!
…soldiers are not immune from fear…but they let their courage conquer their fear…
01 Jun 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a dark world, aligned with God's Word, aligns us with Jesus, and glorify your Father in heaven, be excited, blessings, bountiful blessing, catch Christ's spirit, challenge, close the door, come up higher, Creator, darkness, defeat, do love, draw close to Christ, dread, dread things, enjoy, expecting success, failure, faith, favour, glad to be alive, glorify, glorious future with Jesus, Glory be, glory hallelujah, going astray, good morning, good works, Guide, halfway home, holy spirit, Hour of Power Devotional, I love you, in contact with Jesus, Joel Osteen, joy, Joyce Meyer, leader, let you light shine, light, live in victory, LOVE, make your path straight, mercies, mindset, misery, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are on the plough, new tests, open that door, passion, paths of righteousness, pilgrimage, problems, prosper, provider, redesign your self-image, restful night's sleep, Richard Grubb, right off the bat, robert h schuller, running things, shining our light, short mind spans, sincerity, start worshipping, starting your day right, staying positive, talk about your god, thank you, the breath of life, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the mindset of dread, the salt of the earth, the spirit of fear, truth, victorious living, victory, Wednesday Wail, words of defeat, words of faith, worrying
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 people, the great universe of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is unfolding as it should! Yes Friends, our magnificent God, Creator and Provider is sitting on His heavenly throne running things! Glory Be!
And we, His most wonderful creation have been blessed to see another beautiful day on planet earth. Wow! You can’t beat that my friends. But now, the problem is what should our response be to such a bountiful blessing eh?
Let me frame an interesting little scenario here. First of all Gramps Schuller (Robert H Schuller) tells us from his Hour of Power Devotional to ‘draw close to Him (Jesus Christ). Catch His spirit and you will never be the same again. Let Jesus Christ redesign your self-image.
Tomorrow morning try this prayer by Richard Grubb. “Good morning Christ. I LOVE You! What are you up to today? I want to be part of it! Thank you, God. Amen!”
Ah friends, it’s indeed a simple but interesting and powerful prayer, in that it aligns us with Jesus Christ as soon as we awaken, gets us sincerely and securely hooked up with Him, our Guide and Leader right off the bat! That way we have less chance of going astray pretty early in the day.
Then sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) from her devotional ‘Starting Your Day Right’ tells us: ‘Another key to starting your day right is not to dread things. Don’t lie in bed dreading the whole day before you even get up. Dread is a close relative to the spirit of fear. When dread enters, joy leaves.
Dread sets you up for misery, because by choosing to dread, you decide that you cannot enjoy what you must do today. Be excited when you face new tests. Close the door to the mindset of dread.
Decide early to enjoy every challenge that faces you today, knowing that God will be with you to make your path straight and to prosper everything you set out to do.’
What great advice my brethren! Oh my people, we need to immediately get in contact with Jesus when we get up, and don’t allow the spirit of fear to enter our lives and spoil our day before we even get moving.
And to help us do that, Bubba Joel (Joel Osteen) tells us from his devotional ‘Thirty Thoughts for Victorious Living:’ “God has commanded that we live in victory. That means no matter what you are going through, no matter how dark it looks, you can be encouraged that the darkness has to give way to light. Defeat has to give way to victory!
But in order to open that door to victory, we must continually do what the psalmist did and constantly praise His name. Don’t go around talking about your problems: go around talking about your God! Don’t go around speaking words of defeat and failure; speak words of faith and victory!
Quit worrying and start worshipping! Start praising and thanking God, and expect things to change in your favour. God will take you places that you’ve never even dreamed of, and you’ll start experiencing the victories that He’s commanded to be yours!”
Yes my fellow believers, the only way we can truly benefit from God’s mercies and blessings is by staying positive, expecting success and victory in whatever we do, provided it is aligned with God’s Word.
Ah friends, I wasn’t expecting this little combo to be so long when I dreamt it up, or more correctly was led by the Holy Spirit to put it together. But that’s how it turned out.
Now I sincerely hope that that combination of things to do at the start of each new day and during it, will inspire us to come up higher, to get with God right from the very beginning and stay with Him all day long, so that He can successfully lead and guide us along paths of righteousness.
And again, to help us through our earthly pilgrimage this Wednesday morning, the first day of June, let’s declare our Wednesday Wail with sincerity, truth and lots of passion.
As one now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!
I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And is it ever so wonderful that all we’ve said today, when put into action, will certainly help us obey 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.’
Yes precious people, the only way we can truly obey that command is by staying in contact with Christ from the beginning of our day, right to the very end, when we put our heads on our pillows to sleep, after thanking Him for bringing us safely through the day, and asking for a blessed and restful night’s sleep, so that we can awaken next day to do LOVE all over again with Him.
And on that excellent note we’ll close for today, because the rest of stuff I had envisioned sharing will make it too long. And I always have in mind our short mind spans. (smile)
So please my fellow believers, let’s go out today and make Jesus proud of us nuh, by shining our light in this dark world, being the salt of the earth, adding godly flavour to it, and doing good works so that our heavenly Father can be deservedly glorified. Much LOVE!
…oh what a thrill and a joy it is…to do LOVE with Christ…each and every blessed day…Glory to God…!
04 Dec 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a modicum of circumspection, a rough workweek, Amen, better late than never, blessed is he that readeth, carousing, cast off the works of darkness, Christ's reign of righteousness, Christian's life, circumspect, doing what we want, drunkenness, earthly pilgrimage, envying, ever-Loving, faith, fellowship, focused, for the time is at hand, Friday chant, fulfilling of the law, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, go astray, gracious, hope, insensitivity, invite the enemy, keep those things which are written therein, licentiousness, LOVE, love worketh no ill, merciful, no giving up in Jesus, partying, patience, perseverance, praise and glorify, put on the armour of light, put on the Lord jesus christ, relaxation, renewed and refreshed, rest, revelry, run afoul of Christ, salvation, sense of balance, sense of purpose, sincerity, strife, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, thank you Father God, the coming of Christ, the demands of Christ, the new life in Christ, the prince of the power of the air, the road is rugged and rough, the sin nature, the straight and narrow path, the weekend, they that hear the words of this prophecy, to awake out of sleep, to walk in company with christ, tough, truth, victory, walking in LOVE, wantonness, we can't give up, we will overcome, wide and destructive path, wisdom, with your generous help
Revelation 1:3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Well precious people, it’s Friday…
And like everybody just went berserk. ‘Wowee! TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the weekend’s here! What a wonderful time we’re going to have, partying, carousing, and doing exactly what we want! There’s no better time than the weekend! Thank God it’s Friday and the weekend’s here!’
Ah friends, I do understand the ecstatic sentiments at the end of a rough workweek, but they are ones that will lead us down the wide and destructive path, not the narrow one that leads to our heavenly Father. So we need to be a bit more circumspect, re our weekend activities, if we don’t want to run afoul of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
And to help us do that, let’s chant our Friday Chant with sincerity and sense of purpose. As one chanter now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yes my fellow believers, we need to achieve some sense of balance in our weekend activities, so that we don’t go astray and invite the enemy into our lives anymore than he’s already there. So please, just a modicum of circumspection nuh, as Jeeves would say. (smile)
And here is the chorus of a reggae song that I heard last night by Michael Arkk, titled ‘Tough’ It goes like this: ‘The road is rugged and rough. We all know it’s tough. But we can’t give up. The road is rugged and rough. We all know it’s tough. But we will overcome.’
Oh my people, my people, that describes believers to a ‘T’! Our earthly pilgrimage can be indeed rugged and rough, but we cannot give up because there’s no giving up in Jesus, especially since He has already assured us that the victory will indeed be ours.
Now it certainly wouldn’t make sense to throw in the towel if you know that victory is guaranteed, you’ll just work through what ever difficulties come against you with faith, hope, patience and perseverance, knowing that you WILL win in the end!
But again, to do all of that successfully requires more than we can manage in our finite and human selves. It needs the help of our wonderful Creator, as our Bit reminds us. ‘Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.’
That’s for certain sure friends! We can’t do very much on our own, we need the ever-ready and always-faithful assistance of our great God and King to keep us focused on the straight and narrow path that leads right to His front door in heaven.
And all God’s children sighed a grateful sigh, and uttered a loud shout of thanks and praise. ‘Thank You Father God for enabling us to successfully walk this path of pilgrimage! We LOVE You, and sincerely praise and glorify Your Holy Name! Amen.’
Oh mih breddren, how beautiful and wise it is to walk this earthly walk in company with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Wow! Nothing else in this world compares even one iota to it!
And all God’s people gave out with a loud and rousing ‘AMEN!’
Now let’s continue looking at scriptures that corroborate our bit, beginning with the words of Bruh Paul in his letter to the church at Rome, when he talks about walking in LOVE.
‘LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we (first) believed.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly (properly), as in the day; not in rioting (revelry) and drunkenness, not in chambering (licentiousness) and wantonness (lewdness), not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.’ (Rom.13:10-14)
Oh my people, what encouraging and truthful words! Please let’s take them to heart and put them into action, for that is wisdom personified!
Now let’s end with some explanations from the scholars on those verses. ’13:11-12. Sleep means insensitivity to the demands of Christ on the Christian’s life. Now is our salvation nearer: The coming of Christ to deliver us from this sinful world grows nearer every day.
The night is the time while Christ is out of the world, and the world has been delivered into the control of the prince of the power of the air. (Eph.2:2). The day is a reference to the time when Christ will return and establish His reign of righteousness.’
‘13:14. Make not provision for the flesh: One should not seek opportunities to satisfy the deep-seated desires of the sin nature, but should seek occasion to manifest works that are consistent with the new life in Christ.’
Words of awesome truth my brethren! So let’s seriously and sincerely ponder them and make them a precious part of our lives nuh, so that we can dwell in righteousness with our ever-LOVING, merciful and gracious God. Much LOVE!
…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…
P.S. Please excuse the lateness of the Bit, but the ole fella’s sleep was not the greatest, the aches and pains were having a heyday, and thus he got up rather late. And it seems like my trusty computer wasn’t having such a good morning either; it was sort of slow and groggy like me. (smile) But as they say, better late than never. Much LOVE!
13 Oct 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a grateful heart, A Prayer for Deliverance, a psalm of victory, adversity, an attitude of appreciation, and share His love with the world, Awake up my glory, awaken the dawn, backslide, blessings, Bruh David, Christ's atoning death, Christ's love Revolution, compassion, confidence, faithfulness, feel the joy, for vain is the help of man, give thanks and praise, give us help from trouble, give us rest and peace, God's LOVING-kindness, grace, grow in christ-likeness, he shall tread down our enemies, hear the birds singing, I am the beloved of god, I can trust my friend Jesus, I don't have to hurry, I don't have to worry, I will awake early, I will sing and give praise, I'm not what I do, I'm not what I have, I'm not what people say about me, it is a gift of God, lament, level of faith, LOVE, maturity in Christ Jesus, mercies, my heart is fixed, our heavenly Father, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our thanks meter, peace, persecutor, petition, productive labour, repent, rest, Saul, sincerity, steadfast, steadfastness, succour, take everything to God in prayer, thanksgiving, the breath of life, the LOVE of God, through God we shall do valiantly, thy mercy is great unto the heavens, thy truth unto the clouds, trials and tribulations, truth, Tuesday Mantra, victory, wisdom
Psalm 57:7. My heart is fixed (steadfast), O God, my heart is fixed (steadfast): I will sing and give praise.
Well Friends, the Thanksgiving partying is over and done with now! Time to get back to some productive labour. But that doesn’t mean we have to stop giving thanks and praise to Almighty God as individuals.Yesterday was just a day set aside to give thanks as a nation.
But really, every time we open our eyes to greet a new day, we ought to give thanks to our Creator, for the breath of life that He has imbued in us, because it is a gift of such immense proportions, which ONLY He can give.
And when we hear the birds singing, and feel the joy their trilling brings, our thanks meter ought to rise up even higher. Then when we enjoy the wonderful mercies and blessings of our heavenly Father throughout the day, and contemplate upon the salvation and eternal life He has provided through His awesome grace and the atoning death of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…
Oh brother, then our thanks ought to ramp up so high that it breaks the measuring equipment! That just shows we are so grateful for His LOVING-kindness and compassion to us, undeserving though we are.
So let’s never forget my people, that thanks and praise is an every day, all day attitude of appreciation to the Most High God Jehovah, our wonderful Creator and ever-generous Provider!
And since today is Tuesday, it’s only appropriate that we give some thanks and praise through our Tuesday Mantra.
Now as one harmonious body, let’s pray. ‘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 hurry. I don’t have to worry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen.’
And all of that is ever so true Friends! Once we have the LOVE of God flowing through us, then there is no need to worry or be anxious about ANYTHING! For in wisely taking EVERYTHING to Him in prayer, and casting ALL our cares upon Him, He will unburden us and give us rest and peace like no one else can. And that is even more reason to be generous in our thanks and praise.
And to show how real our thanks and praise ought to be, just listen to our Bit, taken from Psalm 57 – A Prayer for Deliverance – written when Bruh David fled from his persecutor Saul to a cave in the wilderness. ‘My heart is fixed (steadfast), O God, my heart is fixed (steadfast): I will sing and give praise.’
So you see my brethren, even during some of Bruh David’s roughest times he still was wise, steadfast and faithful enough to keep on giving thanks and praise to the God of his fathers. Likewise Friends, our wisdom, steadfastness and faithfulness ought to have us giving thanks to God in ALL situations, be they good or bad, for that’s what Jesus advised.
The first part of Psalm 57 is filled with Bruh David’s lament and petition to God for succour, while the second half, starting at our Bit, portrays his trust and thanksgiving.
Listen to Bruh David pour out his heart in praise after our Bit. ‘Awake up, my glory; awake psaltery (lute) and harp: I myself will awake early (will awaken the dawn). I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people:
I will sing unto thee among the nations (gentiles). For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.’ (Ps.57:8-11)
Oh my fellow believers in Christ, can we give such acknowledgement to Almighty God during our times of adversity? Most of us cannot, but we ought to be able to, according to the level of our faith and maturity in Christ Jesus.
Sadly, some of us don’t even sing His praises and give Him thanks during our good times, much less in the rough ones. But we must keep seeking to grow in Christ-likeness, until we can give thanks and praise even in the midst of our trials and tribulations. Then and only then will we have attained a strong enough foundation to take us through our earthly problems and tests.
But please be careful though, that if and when we achieve such a state, we don’t stop and rest on our laurels, but keep on striving, striving with Jesus to win this race of life.
Oh my people, we can never afford to stop learning, to stop growing in Christ Jesus – not until the day He takes us home – or else we are liable to backslide, and backsliding is one of the worst things a believer can ever do.
And please note that the verses of Psalm 57, which we have just read, are also the beginning stanzas of Psalm 108 – Israel looks to God for help.
And the scholars inform us, re ‘Psalm 108. This Psalm is composed of fragments from two other psalms. The first section verses 1-5, is taken from 57:7-11; the second section, verses 6-13, is taken from 60:5-12, with little change in the wording of either fragment.
Though taken from psalms of individual lament (ch.57) and national lament (ch.60), the present psalm is composed of the most positive sections of confidence in both. The resulting work is a psalm of victory that only briefly alludes to the nation’s lament, namely, their ever-present enemies (vv.12-13).’
And we’ll end with last two verses of Psalm 60 – A prayer for help against the foe – and Psalm 108, verses which are ever so appropriate to our current world situation.
Please pray with me Friends. ‘Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.’ (Ps.108:12-13)
Yes my people, it is indeed the great God of Hosts who will trample down our enemies! But first we have to repent and come back to Him in all sincerity and truth. Let’s wisely begin doing that today nuh, because that’s our ONLY hope. Much LOVE!
…only through Christ’s LOVE Revolution…can the world be saved…
25 May 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fool's wisdom, a mirror image, abundantly pardon, arrogance, brimstone and fire, celebrate, confidence, deceiver, Drunk or sober mind yuh business, enemies, enthusiasm, eternal life, evil, for free, forgive their sin, forgiveness, friends, glorious kingdom, God is faithful, gospel truth, gracious, heal their land, holy spirit, humble servants, I am the way, invitation, Jeremiah, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, lies, like pulling teeth, long-suffering, LOVE, Lucifer, Memorial Day, merciful God, mercy, Monday Morniing Battle Hymn, my people which are called by my name, no man comes to the Father but by me, Noah, Oh Lord God Almighty, patient, plenty rope, pray, pride, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, repentance, rest, righteousness., sacrifice, salvation, save his soul, seek my face, seek ye the Lord, serve a useful purpose, shall humble themselves, spiritual armour, spunk, steadfast faith, taunts, the earth was corrupt, the Great Flood, the table's turned, then will I hear from heaven, transgressions, truth, turn away from their wicked ways, turnabout is fair play, ungodly world, victory, violence, when a man's ways please the Lord, wicked nature, wiles, wisdom, worship our Creator
2 Chronicles 7:14. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn away from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Come on people, it’s Monday; time to rise and shine and get with the programme!
But some of our Friends in the U.S. laugh and declare: ‘Not today my brother! Today is our Memorial Day holiday, and that means no work today, period! Just like you had your Victoria Day holiday last weekend and laughed at us lowly plebs who had to go to work down here, well the table’s turned now.
It’s time for us to celebrate while you go out and labour. As they say, turnabout is fair play, or something to that effect. Hn, hn! But we do wish you the best in all your labouring today. (smile)
Yes Friends, our U.S. brethren are putting it to us today. But we can handle it. So to show that there are no hard feelings, and to help all those who have to go out and labour, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle hymn with spunk and powerful, positive thoughts of victory.
All together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Now that was spunky enough, but obviously the loudest voices were those of our U.S. brethren. They could afford to sing loud and lustily because they have a whole day of celebration in front of them. But as I said last week, let’s remember to keep Granny’s advice front and centre in our hearts and minds; ‘drunk or sober, mind yuh business.’ For the ole deceiver, Lucifer is out there just prowling for anyone he can latch on to. And we certainly don’t want that to be any of us.
Now let’s turn to our oh so important Bit, one that can make the difference between eternal live in heaven, or everlasting death and damnation in Hades. ‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn away from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’
Oh Friends, what a wonderful invitation from a gracious and merciful God! But from day one, our wicked nature, pride and arrogance seems to have been our downfall, as we’ll see when we deal with the last of the four things we need to do for God to hear from heaven and forgive our sin and heal our land, which we desperately need.
Way back when, in the time of Noah, the Bible declares: ‘The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way on earth.’ (Gen.6:11-12)
Ah mih people, it was just a mirror image of today’s world! And what did God do? He caused the great flood and destroyed all the inhabitants, beside Noah and his family. Now doesn’t that say something to us; that it’s possible for Him to wipe out everybody again? Obviously we don’t seem to think so. But remember our God is a faithful God, who keeps His promises, and He promised that the next time would be with brimstone and fire, not water.
Meanwhile Cousin Sol says in Proverbs: ‘When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.’ (Prov.16:7)
Oh Friends, that ought to have us just crawling over each other to make our ways please the Lord. But that’s certainly not happening. In these supposedly modern times, it’s like pulling teeth to get people to truly worship our Creator. But our God is so patient and long-suffering that He gives us plenty of rope, hoping against hope that we will not hang ourselves.
Hear His free offer of mercy to all, through the prophet Isaiah. ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is.55:6-7)
And again in Jeremiah, the Lord offers mercy and forgiveness for repentance. ‘Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive (preserve himself). Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.’ (Ezek. 18:27-28)
Ah mih breddren, what else do we want the Lord to do eh? How often must He offer the same thing and we refuse His wonderful offer? All down through the ages He’s offered us forgiveness for repentance, but we’re too stubborn and proud to accept it. He even gave us His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins, and yet we still don’t think it wise to be obedient to His dictates. That’s a fool’s wisdom my Friends.
Anyway people, we’re running out of space and time, so we’ll continue this dialogue tomorrow, the Lord in favour. In the meanwhile, let’s end with these words of absolute truth from Jesus, which says it all. ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.’ (John 14:6)
Now my wise Friends, (smile) let’s go and ponder that statement, and with Jesus’ help, bring our lives into line with it, for that is the wisdom of all wisdom. Much LOVE!
…evil and sin should never be so rampant in our world…when genuine forgiveness, mercy and salvation… are so readily available…for free to boot…
18 Dec 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: almighty god, ask for help, by strength shall no man prevail, by the power of god, Christmas, confronting struggles, contrite heart, Controller, Creator, eternal life, flee before thee seven ways, forgiveness, generosity, glory hallelujah, God is a good god, God will never turn us away, God's good to the very last drop, grace, Hannah, holy spirit, Holy Trinity, humble spirit, I can do all things through Christ, I will never leave you, in all truth, Jesus Christ, leads and guides, lean not unto thine own understanding, life might not be fair, living our faith, LOVE, loving our god, magnanimous, magnnificent God, mercy, our Lord and Saviour, pilgrim's journey, provider, salvation, setting a good example, silent in darkness, song of praise, spiritual Leader, spreading the gospel, the Birth of Christ, the Good Book, the Holy Spirit, the Lord gives wisdom, the Lord shall preserve thy going out and coming in, the power to rise above, trust in the Lord with all thy heart, victory, work diligently
Psalm 121:8. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Aye Friends, on this Thursday morning, a week before Christmas, I have something very important to remind us of; that Almighty God, our heavenly father is a good God! Please don’t let anyone fool us into thinking otherwise. Life might not be fair, but believe you me, the One who created us is good indeed!
In fact, our God is extremely good, awesomely good, abundantly good… and all the other excellent words that describe generosity, grace, mercy, LOVE, forgiveness, salvation and eternal life.
Mama Mia! Anyone who could, and would offer all those rich and rewarding blessings, for free to boot, just had to be good! He just couldn’t be anything else. And that’s exactly what our God is – as they would say, He’s good to the very last drop. (smile)
But seriously though my people, we need to remember that we serve a magnanimous, majestic and magnificent God, Creator, Controller and Provider!
And in addition to Him, we also have the other two thirds of the Holy Trinity; Jesus Christ, our spiritual Leader, Lord and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit, the One who does all the leg-work, dwelling in believers, helping them to make a successful pilgrim’s journey, here on Planet Earth.
That’s why we can boldly reaffirm this affirmation. ‘I can have victory in my life by dealing with the things that are keeping me from God’s best. I am confronting my struggles head-on so I can overcome them.
God has given me the power to rise above. He has given me the strength to focus on Him and push through. Nothing will hold me back. This is my declaration of what I can do through Christ.’
Yes Friends, let’s believe all that and work sincerely and diligently towards that outcome, for as the Good Book tells us: ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’ (Phil.4:13)
Don’t ever forget that! Christ enables us to handle various circumstances in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit, who leads and guides us in all truth. We just have to come to Him with a contrite heart and a humble spirit and ask for His help.
He will NEVER turn us away, for He has also made the very significant and encouraging promise to never leave nor forsake us. (Heb.13:5) And we all know that He is indeed faithful, who promised.
So this Thursday morning, as the tumultuous year of 2014 draws to an end, let’s bolster our courage, our faith, our trust and our belief in Jesus Christ, whose birth we are in the midst of celebrating, so that we can go out there and build His church, enlarge His earthly body and further His LOVE Revolution, which is the only movement that can save our sinful, evil and ungodly world from death and eternal destruction.
Remember too that the Father doesn’t want to lose even one of His human creation to the evil Lucifer. That means we have to work diligently to bring the heathen, the unbeliever to belief in Him. And we can only do that successfully by setting a good example, by living a life that’s worthy of Him.
That means truly LOVING our God, sincerely LIVING our Faith and diligently SPREADING His Word!
That brings us to the marvellous promise contained in our Bit. ‘The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.’ And that’s no lie Friends! It’s all based on God’s sustaining power.
Moses informed the Israelites of this fact a long time ago. ‘Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten (defeated) before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.’ (Deut.28:6-7)
What a promise my people; the Lord will rout our enemies if we hearken unto His voice and obey His commandments!
Meanwhile, in support of this topic, Cousin Sol tells us: ‘For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up (stores up) sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler (shield) to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgement (guards the paths of justice), and preserveth the way of his saints.’ (Prov.2:6-8)
And the good news there my brethren is that we are His saints! Glory Hallelujah!
And Hannah, Samuel’s mother put it this way in her song of praise and glory for the Lord granting her a son when she seemed destined to a barren and childless life. ‘He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.’ (1 Sam.2:9)
Now listen to Peter’s two cents worth. (smile) ‘Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.’ (1 Pet.1:5) Yes my brethren, it is indeed by the mighty power of God that we are able to lead safe and secure lives down here on earth!
And we’ll close with these awesome words of wisdom from Cousin Sol that fit every situation and circumstance in our lives. ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct (make smooth or straight) thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body) and marrow (strength) to thy bones.’ (Prov.3:5-8)
And that my people is the gospel, gospel truth!
So now, may the Lord bless and keep us safe and secure as we go out to put all that stuff into practice today, and may He cause His bright and smiling countenance to shine on us, give us His heavenly peace and fill our hearts with joy, until we meet again tomorrow, if that’s His plan. Much LOVE!
…only by walking sincerely with Jesus…can we truly reap the benefits of all His promises…
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