The Overwhelming Importance of Christians standing up RIGHT NOW and fighting for Their Beliefs!

Philippians 2:8.       And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Tuesday, Oh Tuesday! How we LOVE thee! For thou hast pushed that ugly, ole, disruptive, overbearing Monday out of our way! And for that, we give thee much thanks, Oh Tuesday! Yes friends, many of us are happy to see Monday flushed into the dustbin of history, because it brings out too many negative things in us. But that’s just because we don’t do the right things in the first place. 

But nonetheless, we’re alive and kicking this Tuesday morning, so let’s give our wonderful God some thanks and praise for that, as well as for all of His new mercies and compassions that He’s poured out on us on this brand-new day, that’s sunny, but a tad cool in my neighbourhood. 

Please pray with me: ‘Oh heavenly Father, we thank You for the breath of life to see this new day, and ask that You let Your Holy Spirit lead and guide us in the way You desire us to go, so that we can be good and diligent servants as we engage in our daily walk. Please help us to be the salt of the earth and light of the world that You desire us to be. We pray it all in the holy name of Jesus! Amen.’ 

Now, that means listening to whatever the Holy Spirit has to say to each of us, then getting up and doing His bidding. And there’s oodles of work to be done, if we ever hope to make something godly and righteous of this sinful world. The point being, that we can only make any worthwhile changes with the help of Jesus and His Holy Spirit. 

But there’s so much work to be done, that we cannot only touch the surface with Jesus, but we have to dig deep down in and with Him; study and meditate on the Word like there was no tomorrow, then right away put it into practice. For who knows if there will be any tomorrow? Our biggest problem, I believe, is not so much knowing the word, but putting it into practice, which ofttimes takes more than what many of us are willing to give. 

Many of us know the word well enough to make some beneficial changes in our world, but the problem is getting us to make the effort, to put out the energy needed to make the sacrifices required to put those changes into effect. It’s all a matter of us being too lazy, too comfortable or too fearful. Remember, Jesus didn’t have to undergo the sufferation He underwent, but because of the Father’s great LOVE for his sinful creation, that’s us, and Jesus LOVE for the Father, He did it, without complaining too.  

As the Bible tells us: ‘(Jesus) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (emptied himself of all his privileges): And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil. 2:6-8) 

Yes my brethren, that’s what Christ did for us, so why can’t we become a li’l uncomfortable and do His work eh? Because we’re just a bunch of talkative, no good, lazy, compromising, comfortable and fearful hypocrites, masquerading as Christians! Yuh think, with the number of supposed believers in the world, if each one of us would get out into the world and act like we should, not join or compromise with the world, that the sinfulness and ungodliness that’s currently permeating the land would be as bad? 

No way! But it’s just that we supposed believers are not prepared to stand up and sincerely fight for what we claim to believe in. And the longer we wait to pull up the reins on the soaring ungodliness, the worst it will become, until we won’t ever have a chance of stopping it. Oh my people, do we really want to see our grandchildren and their children living in a world that’s worse than this one? 

Of course not! But to make that happen, we have to stand up strong and fight the enemy RIGHT NOW! It’s high time to stop all the talking, which we’re so good at, like the hypocrite Pharisees of Jesus’ day, and begin walking that talk. That’s the only way we will ever make any serious changes in our current sinful and ungodly world. And what a wonderful world we can bring about if we would just walk our talk a bit more than we’re currently doing. 

But it actively requires Christ’s church, that’s His people, not the buildings, to get together and stop fighting against each other, to drop the animosity and petty differences that keep us apart. Christ is depending on us to do His work, and we cannot do it if we’re as divided and uncompromising as we are. 

Oh my fellow saints, we desperately need to search our hearts and see what’s there and how we can make the necessary changes. It’s like Bruh David says in that great Psalm 139: ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my (anxious) thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’ (Ps. 139:23-24) 

Yes my fellow saints, that’s what we all need to do TODAY, so that we can be on our way to becoming the true salt of the earth and light of the world as Jesus desires. End of Sermon! (smile) Now let’s go home declaring (oh heifer dust!!!) yes, my exclamation was much stronger today. (smile) Let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. 

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

And having said all of that, we are now duty bound to go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…what’s it going to take… for Christians…to get up and truly act like Christians eh…another world war…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 December 2017 John 15:4.

John 15:4.   Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Ah mih people, it’s the Eve of New Year’s Eve, and I guess everybody is getting their dan-dan (finery) ready to go out and tear the house down tomorrow night. (smile) Good for them yes, but the ole fella is going to stay right here in his yard and celebrate whatever celebrations he celebrates! 

The days for going out in the cold and then having to drive back home under the watchful eyes of Babylon are done. And this year I’ll be celebrating New Year’s Eve at home, and not in the hospital. Glory to God! 

But what a bam-bam eh! To end up in the hospital on New Year’s Eve. But I guess the Lord was trying to tell me something. Let’s hope I learned whatever it was. (smile) Enough about my woes though, let’s see what our friend Anselm had to say this week. 

I only got three quotes, so I guess he must be a public servant, doesn’t work on holidays. (smile) And the first one says: ‘Never let someone else decide for you whether you are going to be happy or sad.’ And if we haven’t learned that lesson yet, then it’s high time we do. Other people should not control our happiness and sadness, but invariably many of us allow it to happen. Please stop it! 

And while you are at it, please remember to ‘LOVE yourself. Stay happy. Live life to the fullest, and focus on the best things in life!’ Remember what Jesus told us to do? LOVE our neighbours as ourselves, which means if we don’t LOVE ourselves in a healthy, non-narcissistic manner, then we can’t LOVE anybody else. 

And He also died that we could have an abundant life. So please don’t shortchange yourself of all the good things Jesus died so that we could have. Jesus was a calm, good-natured, generous, positively thinking fellow who enjoyed life, and so should we be also, if we claim to be His followers. 

And the last quote tells us: ‘There are greater things to be achieved in every new year, and each and everyone must prepare themselves to be great, not by words of the mouth, but by a lot of sacrifices.’ 

Ah friends, it is a proven fact of history, if you want to be great, you must be prepared to face sacrifices. No one has ever become great without sacrificing something to achieve that greatness. So if we desire to be great in 2018, then we’d better prepare ourselves from now to sacrifice something for that chance at greatness. 

And the best sacrifice one can ever make is sacrificing one’s own interest to follow Christ. As Jesus said to His disciples: ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.’ (Matt.16:24-25) 

Yeh friends, following Christ is the best route we can take in this life, but it also means giving up, sacrificing our selfish desires, and bringing them into sync with those of Jesus. And on top of that He declares in our Bit: ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.’ 

Ah mih breddren, only as we stay close to Christ can we bear good fruit. As the scholars explain: ‘15:1-9. Jesus explains the divine-human relationship by the analogy of a grapevine. Jesus is like the main vine. The disciples are compared with branches. The Father tends the branches like a gardener. At that time of year, branches of grapevines would be budding in Jerusalem.’ 

Yuh see mih people; it’s a family affair! It has to be, if it is going to work properly. That’s why Jesus refers to His followers as ONE BODY! Only when we all have the same interest at heart – that of Jesus – and are going in the same direction can we ever be successful. 

And that’s exactly why today’s church is not as successful as it ought to be; too many divisions, petty squabbles, selfishness, power struggles, strife, and all the other negative stuff that’s disrupting the world. Those things should not be as rampant as they are in Christ’s church. 

It’s obvious then, that as a body, we are not abiding in Christ, nor is He in us sufficiently, else the body would not be as maimed and sick as it is. We all talk a good talk, but only a small proportion of us actually walk that talk. So please, if we consider ourselves followers, disciples of Jesus, let’s plan to put on a better show this upcoming year nuh. Let’s make Him proud of us nuh. 

So when the Father complains about our complacency, compromise and lack of progress in becoming truly Christ-like, Jesus can excitedly and truthfully say: ‘Look Father! They are improving, they are getting better! There’s less compromise and complacency, and they are indeed walking their talk more than last year! Bless their souls!’ 

Yeh friends, that’s the good news we want to be giving Jesus this upcoming year of 2018. He deserves it. Much LOVE!

…as His church…we’ve let Jesus down enough…it’s time to give Him something He can be proud of…sincerely walking our talk…


Today’s Scrip-Bit 5 September 2017 Psalm 18:20.

Psalm 18:20.   The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

Well friends, it’s the Tuesday after Labour Day, which means that all the fun and frolic of summer is drawing to an end. As the D.J plays that famous last tune: ‘The party’s over my friends. It’s time to call it a day…’ Yeh mih breddren it’s back to school and work time now. 

And to add fuel to that fire, here’s a li’l blurb from Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) on the subject. He says: ‘Possibility Thinking isn’t just dreaming. It’s faith in action.  That translates into W-O-R-K with a patient commitment to excellence.’ 

And that is exactly what our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ expects of His followers; a serious commitment to excellent work! And in these end times, we all need to step up our work in and for the kingdom of Christ. 

He’s losing more followers than He’s gaining, and that’s due in large part to our lack of commitment, our compromises, generally taking the easy way out and preferring to enjoy the easy life of the world, rather than go the extra mile for Christ. 

Why? Because that might include some ‘sufferation,’ some adversity on our part, and we’ve gotten so soft and afraid of adversity nowadays, that we’d rather allow Christ’s work to suffer, than we break a nail trying to further His kingdom. 

And when the unbeliever looks at our hypocritical lifestyles, what can we expect but criticism and disbelief eh? Too many of us are not living true Christian lives; we’re like the Pharisees of old, who preached one thing in public and did something completely different in private. That’s why Jesus continually lambasted them. 

And if we seriously believe in Jesus and sincerely want to do His work and try our best to become like Him, then we’ve got to clean up our act, and begin walking our talk. Oh, many of us are doing it, but definitely not enough to make any worthwhile difference. 

There are too many divisions in Christ’s body, too many cliques and too much dissension for it to function at a consistently high level, and until we stop fighting amongst ourselves, Christ’s church will not grow the way it is supposed to. 

That brings us to our Bit. ‘The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.’ And that’s exactly what happens in God’s kingdom; we’re rewarded for our faithfulness and obedience to His Word. 

And Bruh David continues in his thanksgiving for deliverance from his enemies, after our Bit: ‘For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgements were before me, and I did not put his statutes from me. 

I was also upright before (with) him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.’ (Ps.18:21-24) 

How much plainer can it be eh friends? We do right and the Lord rewards us. We do wrong, and He doesn’t. Oh my brethren, Christianity is not rocket science. It’s simply believing in God and doing our best to be obedient to Him and His word. 

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He knows we will make mistakes, because we’re frail and foolish, (smile) that’s how He made us. But He does expect us to try our best. And that is simply what too many of us supposed believers are not doing. 

Now listen to Job’s friend, Elihu, as he reasons with Job about God’s forgiveness when men repent. ‘His flesh shall be fresher than (young as) a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth: He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him (delight in him): and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render (restore) unto man his righteousness. 

He (God) looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver (redeem) his soul from going into the pit (hell), and his life shall see the light. Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.’ (Job 33:25-30) 

Yes friends, our God is a most merciful and forgiving God, but we have to be honest and up front with Him. Now let’s go home declaring our Tuesday Mantra, which clearly states who and whose we are. 

‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world.  Amen!’ 

So let’s go out and share that LOVE nuh, for that’s what Jesus desires. Much LOVE!

…Jesus calls us to action…much more than to talk…

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 August 2017 Luke 14:27.

Luke 14:27.   And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

One more day, just one more day… Yeh friends, one more day to be alive in God’s great kingdom! It’s such a pleasure to be alive again! (smile) 

But have you noticed how those one more days quickly add up to many more years? One day you’re a young pup, a spring chicken, then one day you’re suddenly a senior, an old fowl! Hn, hn! But that’s the way of life. 

And let’s hope you are enjoying each of those days to the fullest, because that’s what our Lord and Saviour desires for us and why He sacrificed His life on that wooden cross at Calvary. So if we’re not celebrating that triumph, then we’re wasting His sacrifice. And what an awful thing that would be. 

But here are a couple of good questions for us. Where is our focus concentrated today eh? And what’s on our agenda? 

Hopefully, as true believers, our focus is directly on Almighty God, and the priority on our agenda is doing the work of Jesus; spreading His awesome gospel of undying LOVE, redemption, salvation and eternal life. 

And that doesn’t always mean talking, but more so in the example of life that we live. Our lives should realistically reflect the good news of Jesus. And if they aren’t reflecting it, then we’re not doing a good job for our wonderful Leader and Saviour, we’re not being good disciples, good ambassadors for His kingdom. 

Consequently, we’re not the true Christians we ought to be. And that’s the major reason why more people are turning away from God today, than turning to Him. 

My friends, we are falling down in our Christian witness when we talk one thing, then people see us living contrary to our talk. We’re obviously not walking our talk. And it’s time to do better, if we truly want Christ’s LOVE Revolution to be successful. 

And please remember that actions speak much louder than words. So what we do, will usually have a greater impact on others than what we say. Thus the hypocrisy, the compromise and contrariness in our faith walk is souring people on the Christian lifestyle, and consequently on Christ. 

And a quote from my ‘I LOVE YOU’ Poster reminds us that ‘Dreams come true for those who work while they dream.’ The present day Christian problem seems to be that too many of us are dreaming without working, that’s why we’re not accomplishing as much as we ought to. 

Obviously we’re not complying with the words of Jesus in our Bit. ‘And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.’ 

Yes friends, we each have a cross to bear in our kingdom work; a task we have to perform. Now it doesn’t mean that task is necessarily onerous or body-breaking like Jesus’ cross was, but it always entails some sacrifice. 

Earlier on in Luke Jesus outlined the terms of discipleship. ‘And he said to them all, If any man will come after me (desires to follow me), let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. 

For whosoever will (desires to) save his life, shall lose it; but whosoever will lose (loses) his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged (benefited), if he gain the whole world, and lose himself (is destroyed), or be cast away (is lost)? 

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.’ (Luke 9:23-26) 

There you have it my fellow believers, the terms of discipleships as detailed by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Now are we living up to those terms? Most of us aren’t. Too many of us have settled for the soft, easy comfortable life our society affords. 

And surprisingly, too many of us are ashamed of Jesus! We’re afraid to talk about Him to others. We listen to others put Him down and don’t utter a word in rebuke or support, because we don’t want them to know that we are Christians and think badly of us. 

Steups! Ah friends, if we can’t support Jesus in public, that means we hold the opinions of man more important than that of God. And that definitely does not lead to true discipleship, but rather tarnishes the image of our Saviour and His movement. 

So today is as good as any to sit down and consider the saying ‘know thyself.’ Let’s sit down and seriously inspect our own lives and see if we’re being true disciples of Jesus. Then ask the Lord to help us in our shortcomings. He won’t ever turn down our sincere pleas for help. 

Now let’s go home loudly and proudly declaring our Thursday Blessings. In unison: ‘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!’ 

And since blessings are meant to be shared, let’s go out and bless others now my fellow believers in Christ! Much LOVE!

…just like Jesus had His cross to bear…all Christians have their crosses too …Christianity is a cross bearing affair…