03 Nov 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a drunken sailor, a word of warning, acloholic beverages, balanced, be not proud, Bible, blessed day, blow yuh mind, bring an offering, come into his courts, cotton to sin, crapaud smoke we pipe, dark mountains, darkness, disasters, earthly life, fear, fellowship, fight the good fight, flow like water, food plentiful, Friday chant, fun, furthering your glorious kingdom, generous help, Gentiles, give ear, give glory to the Lord, give unto the Lord, glory and strength, glory due his name, go overboard, God is faithful, God's generosity, God's sensibilities, guidance, guide book, hear ye, holiness, immortal words, in Jesus' name, Israel, Jeremiah, judge the people, licentious, look for light, move away from sin, on the serious side, partying, praise God, ready for the weekend, realistic, refreshed, relaxation, renewed, repent, rest, resting, righteously, sensible, shadow of death, sin, sinful, soul body and mind, sufficent to the wise, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, thankful, the bass line, the Good Book, the heathen, the Lord hath spoken, the Lord reigns, the music loud and heavy, the waters, the workingman, there comes a time, thumping through yuh heart, to heel, tremble, tribute, ungodliness, ungodly, vices, warning signs, warnings, week of work, weekends, well-balanced lives, worship the Lord, wrath, your feet stumble
Jeremiah 13:15. Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.
Add another one friends! Yes, add another blessed day to your earthy life. The Lord’s just overwhelming in His generosity towards us, for which we ought to be thankful. And it’s Friday too, thus the workingman is singing his song.
‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday… And am I ever ready for the weekend! The waters (alcoholic beverages) going to flow like water…the food’s going to be so plentiful that it’ll just blow yuh mind… and the music loud and heavy, with the bass line just thumping through yuh heart… Bredder! It going to be a great weekend of simply partying….party, party, party! Thank God for Fridays and weekends oui!’
Ah mih people, I don’t know about you all nuh, but I simply cannot handle that much partying…and I definitely don’t want that bass line thumping through my chest. I’ve felt it already, and it’s not a pleasant sensation.
On the serious side though, all of that is just too much. Where is our Maker in all of it eh? Shouldn’t we find some time for Him in all the ‘kerfuffle’ of the weekend? Surely we should!
What about resting and getting ourselves ready to go back out next week and fight the good fight eh? None of that is contained in the workingman’s song, but there certainly is need for it, if we are to live well-balanced, godly lives.
That’s why our Friday Chant is a much better tribute to the weekend. So let’s sing it with much gusto now nuh. ‘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.’
That’s much more realistic and sensible and doesn’t go overboard in any one direction, but keeps us balanced in God’s sensibilities. And it brings us to our Bit for today: ‘Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.’
And yuh know what friends, until just now, I had no idea what the Bit would be. But as usual, I asked for guidance and then opened the Good Book… And lo and behold it opened unto the book of Jeremiah, and those were the first words that caught my eye.
Yuh see how our God is faithful! And today He didn’t even have me searching for long. (smile) Some days He does though. So, as I keep saying, He won’t ask you to do something without giving you the wherewithal to do it.
And in this particular case, though Jeremiah was having problems communicating with his people Israel, the Lord was still putting immortal words in his mouth. This section deals with Israel being like a drunken sailor come ashore; like the workingman above, with sin and virulent vice and ungodliness rampant in the nation.
Therefore Jeremiah is crying out to his people, the warning words of their God. ‘Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.’ (Jer.13:16)
Oh my people, I believe the Lord is giving us the same warning today, because there’s no doubt that our world is as sinful, ungodly and licentious as that of Israel back then. I’ll even wager that we are worse than them. And if the Bible is our Guide Book for earthly living, then we ought to pay careful attention to such words of warning anytime our world parallels those gone before.
And moreover, I believe that all the natural and man-made disasters that have been recently befalling our world are also warning signs from God. We can sit down and debate and contemplate all we want, but the truth of the matter is that Almighty God exists, and He does not cotton to sin in any society in His universe.
And eventually, there comes a time, after giving that society time to repent and move away from their sinfulness, that He unleashes His awesome wrath on selfsame society, and either brings them to heel, or wipes them out completely.
We just have to go back through history to see the many societies which became powerful and sinful, and not worshipping Holy God, that eventually became extinct. Some of them were so violently and rapidly wiped off the map, that we have very little information or artifacts from their ascendancy here on earth.
Oh my people, all I’m saying is that it’s better to be safe than sorry. Let’s take in front before in front takes us nuh. Let’s take God’s warnings seriously and change our sinful ways, before He obliterates us in His anger.
As the psalmist recommends in Psalm 96 – A call to praise God: Let’s ‘Give (ascribe) unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give (ascribe) unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear (tremble) before him, all the earth. Say among the heathen (gentiles) that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be (is firmly) established that it shall not be moved (shaken): he shall judge the people righteously.’ (Ps.96.7-10)
All I can say friends, is that for our own sakes, we had better take that wise advice, otherwise…crapaud will eventually smoke we pipe! Much LOVE!
…a word of warning to the wise…is sufficient…
08 Sep 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living
Tags: a good-looking day, a modicum of circumspection, acquainr thyself with God, be at peace, Beelzebub, better late than never, boundaries, call upon me, carousing, defense, disaster, drinking, earthquakes, eat drink and be merry, eating, Eliphaz, enthusiasm, exaltation, fires, Friday chant, furthering God's kingdom, gain a foothold, glorify, go overboard, good weather, he shall hear thee, heartbreaking situation, hurricane Irma, hurricanes, I will deliver thee, in Jesus' name, in the day of trouble, in thine heart, invitation, Jesus, Job, lay up his words, lift up thy face to God, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, man's best bet, men are cast down, natural disasters, omnipotent god, pay thy vows, pray, prayer, problems, pureness of hands, raveages, refreshed, relax, renewed, repented, return to the Almighty, save the humble, sensible solution, soul body and mind, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the Caribbean, the Good Book, the innocent, The Israelites, the law, the light shall shine, the most powerful force, the weekend, the workingman, thou shalt glorify me, time of need, trouble, warnings, week of work, work, worry
Psalm 50:15. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Oh friends, it’s shaping up to be a good-looking day in my neighbourhood, and the workingman was out early singing his song. ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! And soon, no more work! It’ll be a beautiful weekend, with all the good stuff happening; like eating and drinking and carousing, paying no mind to the problems that surround us.
God gave us the weekend so that we could relax and enjoy it, not to work or worry. So that’s exactly what we going to do. Eat, drink and be merry! Thank God for Fridays and the weekends yes!’
Ah mih people, a lot of what he says is true; God did give us the weekends to rest and relax, but not to go overboard. Remember, we need to have certain boundaries that we don’t cross and thus allow Beelzebub to gain a foothold in our lives. A much better incantation would be our Friday Chant, which contains those boundaries.
Let’s declare it now nuh, with the same enthusiasm that the workingman declared his song. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yes my people, we always have to be cognizant of what comes after the weekend. Otherwise, come Monday morning, when we have to go back to work, we’ll be too tired and wasted and of no use to either God’s kingdom or ourselves. That’s why ‘a modicum of circumspection’ is always necessary my brethren.
But unfortunately, today, many of our fellow men around the globe won’t have the luxury of enjoying good weather or the weekend, because of hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes or some such natural disaster.
Please, let’s remember to pray for them sincerely. We can’t help them all with money or other worldly stuff, but we CAN help them all with PRAYER, the most powerful force in the universe.
What a heartbreaking situation it is to see your fellow man suffering the ravages of disaster, like Hurricane Irma is causing down in the Caribbean, and you can’t do much to help them physically. But as true believers we can call on our great God to help them in their time of need.
Our God said it: ‘And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’ Yeh friends, that’s the faithful invitation of our omnipotent God! And in these very trying end times, it’s the most sensible solution we can ever consider.
As we keep saying, who knows whether all the numerous disasters occurring around our planet right now are warnings from God? They might be, as well as they might not be. But the wisest path we can take is to consider them warnings as our sinful and ungodly world plunges down to hell with one unwise step after another.
Oh friends, please take note of the Israelites, who, when they found themselves in trouble for turning away from the God of their fathers, repented and turned back to Him, and he welcomed them back with opened arms. We desperately need to do the same.
Listen to this scripture where Job’s friend Eliphaz after accusing him of sin, implores him to repent. ‘Acquaint now thyself with him (God), and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. Receive, I pray thee, the law (instruction) from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles (tents). Then shalt thou lay up gold as (in the) dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defense (gold), and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up (exaltation); and he shall save the humble person. He shall deliver the island of the innocent (the one who is not innocent): and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.’ (Job 22:21-30)
Oh my people, there it is, the solution for all our problems, written in the Good Book ages ago, and nothing about it has changed. So what are waiting for eh?
Come on Christians, we need to up the ante in these disastrous times and get Jesus’ LOVE Revolution running full steam ahead. That’s the ONE and ONLY answer to our lost and ungodly world! Much LOVE!
…in times of trouble…man’s best bet is to…PRAY…
P.S. Please accept my apologies for the lateness of the Bit. Though I went to bed early, by my standards, (smile) some new medication kept me bogged down for longer than I expected. But better late than never! Much LOVE!
23 Feb 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a good man, a righteous man, abhor sin, angry, battle the enemy, Beelzebub, believers, brotherly, Christ died for us, Christians, clear consciences, complacent, corrupt, crime riddled, cutthroat, discouraging things, egotistic, enamoured, encourage, erotic, eternal life, evil world, expectant faith, faithful, false emotion, fighting, fighting the good fight, for God so loved the world, friendship, galvanize, gladness, God's Word, Hades, haranguing, hate-filled, have everlasting life, he gave his only begotten son, heaven, horrendous death, hungry hope, in due time, ingrates, just, justification, justified by hs blood, kindness, LOVE, loyalty, mano a mano, messenger, negative connotations, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, perish, plausible solution, positive things, power in the Word, problems, reality, resentful, reverential fear, revolutionary, righteous, Romans, sacrifice, salvation, saved, selfish, serious action, shallow, sin, stand up strong, substitutionary, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, the bondage of sin, the drop of a hat, the heathen, the Holy Trinity, the LOVE of Jesus christ, the most lethal weapon, the things of God, the things of the world, the ungodly, the wisest thing, Thursday Blessings, trust, ungrateful sinners, warmongering, warnings, withouth strength, wrath, yet sinners
John 3:16. For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Well a bright and blessed Thursday morning to you my Scrip-Bit friends, family and neighbours!
And I do hope that the day finds you filled with ‘expectant faith and hungry hope’ in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for that is the wisest thing any of us can do in this crazy and evil world.
Every day we hear and see more discouraging things and events in our hate-filled, angry, resentful, corrupt and crime riddled societies. Steups! Almost everything these days has negative connotations!
Whatever happened to the positive things like LOVE, friendship, kindness, loyalty and trust eh? We spout a whole lot about LOVE, but it’s not the real thing, just a selfish, egotistic, shallow and oftimes false emotion.
And the supposed LOVE that exits today can change at the drop of a hat, if the person who claims to be expressing it doesn’t get their way, whether it be the erotic or brotherly kind. And the sad part of that situation is that it’s getting worse and not better.
What’s it going to take to change it eh friends, so that our children’s children don’t have to live in this warmongering, cutthroat society?
Only one thing; the LOVE of Jesus Christ as exhibited by us Christians!
If we don’t stand up strong and faithful and battle the enemy with the most lethal weapon in the universe – LOVE- then we’ll be wasting the tremendous sacrifice that our heavenly father and His sinless Son made on our behalf.
Yuh think the Lord really wanted to send His Son to die for a bunch of ungrateful sinners? Or that Jesus wanted to give up His life by going through such a horrendous death?
No way Jose! But they LOVED us so much and that was the only plausible solution, if the Father was to remain righteous and just and abhor sin!
Just listen to our Bit nuh: ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’
Now that might not strike the heathen as being revolutionary, but it ought to strike reverential fear and gladness into EVERY ONE who claims to be a Christian, right down in their very hearts and souls!
Why? Because that’s the only reason we have the option to bypass Hades and Beelzebub and look forward to salvation, heaven and eternal life with the Holy Trinity!
Now how could that not move us eh, if we are true believers? That ought to galvanize us into serious action; into standing strong and fighting mano-a- mano against the enemies of LOVE!
But sadly, too many of us so-called believers have become complacent and enamoured of the things of the world, to the detriment of the things of God.
Ah friends, I’m just the messenger, and all I can do is to point out what I see as the problems and try and encourage us to do better. Every one of us will have to answer to the Lord at some stage of the game, so please take these warnings seriously and let’s put aside whatever is keeping us back from fighting the good fight for Jesus.
Now enough of my haranguing, (smile) let me tell you what God’s Word says. Hear Bruh Paul to the Romans, as he talks about the results of justification.
‘For when we were yet without strength, in due time (at the right time) Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure (perhaps) for a good man some would even dare to die.
But God commendeth (demonstrates) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now (having being) justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.’ (Rom.5:6-9)
What more can I say to get us sincerely stirred up eh mih breddren? I really don’t know. If that doesn’t stir us up, then we’re just a bunch of ungodly ingrates.
Anyway, listen to what the scholars have to say about this verse. ‘5:8. Christ died for us: His death was vicarious. That is, He did not die merely for our benefit but in our place. His was a substitutionary sacrifice.’
Yes friends, Jesus died so that we didn’t have to die, so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin through His death!
Hope that makes a big enough impact on us, disturbs our consciences sufficiently to wake us up to reality. And if it does, then we can go home with clear consciences declaring our Thursday Blessings. And remember, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone.
There is power in the Word my brethren, so let’s declare it now in perfect harmony: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance!
I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Yes my beautiful and precious people of God, let’s take all those blessings now and go out and share them with others, as our Lord and Saviour Christ desires. Much LOVE!
…only real LOVE…will ever stop the world from going in its current zig-zag direction…
22 Jul 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a blessed day, a fool's voice, a pleasant word, admonishment, amazing god, anger, backbiting, be not rash with thy mouth, be ye angry and sin not, blessings, bring to its knees, by thy words thou shalt be condemned, by thy words thou shalt be justified, Christ's body, Christians, comfort, Cousin Sol, depart from evil and do good, disjointed, distrustful, disunited, don't give up on God, Ecclesiastes, encouragement, envious, every idle word that men speak, friends, glory hallelujah, glory to God, gnawing at our souls, God is amazing, God is awesome, God will never leave nor forsake us, God's faithfulness, gossip, guidance, heavenly wisdom, I'm not focusing on the past, I'm not looking back, I'm not turning back, it's so wonderful to be alive, jealous, Jesus, Jesus is advocating for us, keep thy tongue from evil, kindnesses, let every man be swift to hear, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, let thy words be few, LOVE, malady, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are on the plough, negative seeds, negative stuff, neither give place to the devil, out of the woodwork, peaceful mode, positive seeds, potential to be a winner, Praise the Lord, putting away lying, ramifications, rensentment, responsibility to live good with each other, seek peace and pursue it, slow to speak, slow to wrath, smiles, speak every man truth, stepping into a breach, the breath of life, the day of judgement, The Father is on His throne, the goodness of God's heart, the Lord's loving-kindness, the multitude of words, the straight and narrow, the wisdom of a fool, they shall give account for, thy lips from speaking guile, to a glorious future with Jesus, warnings, Wednesday Wail, what a delight to live for Jesus, wherefore my beloved brethren
James 1:19. Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
Oh Friends, it’s a beautiful Wednesday morning, a little on the cool side, but nonetheless the sun’s shining brightly, Mother nature is about her business, and Jesus is advocating for us to the Father who sits on His throne. Wow! What a delight to live for and with Jesus!
And let me tell you my people, our God is really and truly an amazing God yes! Hn! A most awesome and amazing God is He! And although I’ve experienced it several times before, I still can’t believe how He springs some unexpected things out of the woodwork.
And I say that because yesterday was a blessed day in my life. And I’m not talking about big stuff, just small things like kindnesses, smiles, a little encouragement, a pleasant word, things that by themselves might not mean much, but when taken all together they do add up. My spirit yesterday was in a peaceful mode all day long. Praise the Lord!
But one thing was of sufficient importance for me to put my index finger to my brow and murmur a thoughtful and grateful ‘Hnnn!’ I got a surprising phone call, which I almost never answered, but which presented me with an opportunity I could not have imagined or come up with on my own.
But through the Lord’s LOVING-kindness an interesting door has opened. I don’t know how it will all pan out, but the potential is certainly there for it to be a winner. Glory to God!
Ah Friends, I keep on reminding us of God’s faithfulness. Once you try to be obedient and sincerely follow His will, He will bless you by stepping into a breach when you need help, as well as bless us in some unexpected way, simply out of the goodness of His heart.
So please don’t give up on Him, even when things get real bad. In fact that’s the time when you most need to turn to Him for comfort and guidance. Believe me, the Lord will never leave nor forsake you. I can testify to that.
And since today is Wednesday, let’s wail our Wednesday wail nuh, with plenty gusto and sincerity. As one wailer now: (smile) ‘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!’
Ah Friends, it’s so wonderful to be alive, despite any negative things that’s happening in our lives. There’s nothinng to beat the breath of God that’s giving us life here on planet earth!
But along with that blessing comes the responsibility for us to live good with each other, as outlined by our Bit. ‘Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.’
Now that’s certainly something we very badly need to work on because it’s not happening as it ought to among believers. We are too disunited, disjointed, distrustful, jealous and envious of each other, filled with too many petty resentments and anger that goes to bed with us and wakes up gnawing at our souls the next day.
Please remember Bruh Paul’s admonishment to the Ephesians. ‘Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.’ (Eph.4:25-27)
Yes my brethren, by the time we go to bed our anger must have subsided, for when we go to bed with it, we just give Lucifer the chance to plant negative seeds during our sleep, instead of God planting positive ones. That means we wake up still angry and negative, thus doing oftimes non-repairable damage to ourselves. That my Friends, is the wisdom of a fool.
Now listen to how Cousin Sol puts it in Ecclesiastes. ‘Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon the earth: therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business (effort or activity); and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.’ (Eccl.5:2-3)
Oh my people, what wonderful and wise advice! Oh if we would only take it and put it into action! Life here on earth would so much better.
And we all know Bruh David’s warning from Psalm 34 – The Lord hears the righteous. ‘What man is he that desireth life, and LOVETH many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile (deceit). Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.’ (Ps.34:12-15)
Ah Friends, how much more admonishment and warnings do we need to cut down the foolish and idle and destructive things like gossip, backbiting, resentment and anger eh? It is a malady that’s slowly eating away at Christ’s body, the church, and society in general, and is slowly bringing the world to its proverbial knees.
And believe me Friends, once we get there, it will be nigh impossible to get back up on our feet again. So please, I implore us, let’s get serious about our words nuh, both the quality and quantity, for remember our words are powerful and can have either negative or positive ramifications.
And we’ll close with one more warning, this from Jesus. ‘But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ (Matt.12:36-37)
Now Friends, if Jesus said that we’d be judged by our words, then it must be true, since he cannot lie. So it’s up to each of us now to clean up our act and get on the straight and narrow. Please don’t put it off, because the longer we wait to straighten out the problem, the more condemnation we’ll be likely to create. Please let heavenly wisdom reign. Much LOVE!
…Christians are known for much talk…it might be better if we were known for less…
19 Oct 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: afflicted, all knees shall bow, all tongues confess, antibiotics, blight, bondage in Egypr, chikungunya, death, destruction, disasters, diseases, disgraceful, disobedience, Ebola, economic fallout, enough rope to hang ourselves, ever-, Father God, firebrand, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, forgiveness, greed, homelessness, humble, hunger, in our own strength, inequities, Israel, Israelites, Jesus Christ, judgement, little children, locusts, magnanimous god, magnify the Lord, malaria, mind games, moving away from God, new creations in Jesus, our Deliverer, our esteemed Creator, outward show, oving, pestilence, polio, poverty, praise, prepare to meet thy God, prosperity, punishment, rejoice in nothing, repentance, saith the Lord, salvation, selfishness, shameful, sinful behaviour, slain with the sword, Sodom & Gomorrah, state of our hearts, stench of your camps, Sunday, super bugs, the Good Book, the kingdom of heaven, the Lord God of Abraham Isaac and jacob, the Lord of hosts, the Lord's Day, the name above every other name, the Promised Land, the Sabbath Day, warnings, wisdom, worship, yet you have not returned to me
Amos 4:6B. …yet ye have not returned unto me, saith the Lord.
Well my Friends, brothers, sisters, neighbours, kinsfolk and strangers, it’s Sunday; the Lord’s Day, the Sabbath Day, a day we are supposed to keep holy and magnify the Lord therein!
Yes my brethren, it’s calling for the gathering of all and sundry to worship and praise our esteemed Creator, Father God, and our wonderful Deliverer, Jesus Christ, the Name above every other name, to which all knees must bow and all tongues declare that He is Lord indeed!
So today, please let the sanctuaries be full of new creations in Jesus, all avidly singing and praising the wondrous name of the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
And remember that it doesn’t really matter how many are gathered together, though it would be nice to have all creation, (smile) for Jesus promised that ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.’ (Matt.18:20) So don’t be cowed by a lack of numbers, because it’s not the outward show He’s interested in, but the true state of our hearts.
Ah mih people, our God is such a wonderful Deity that it truly amazes me when folks refuse to worship Him! And none more so than the Israelites of old. Imagine it nuh Friends, after He brought them out of dire bondage in Egypt, gave them the Promised Land and prosperity they didn’t work for or even deserve, they had the gall, the ‘boldfaceness’ to turn away from Him! Steups!
And even His punishment for their dreadful disobedience didn’t seem to faze them. As the Good Book relates: ‘I have smitten (stricken) you with blasting (blight) and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm (locusts) destroyed them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.’ (Amos 4:9)
How foolish and insensitive my brethren! And the Good Book continues: ‘I have sent among you the pestilence (a plague) after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses (along with your captive horses); and I have made the stink (stench) of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.’ (Amos 4:10)
Ah Lord eh! One would think that by then they would have gotten the message. But they obviously did not. And the Good Book continues: ‘I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.’ (Amos 4:11)
What fools mih breddren! But in reality we can’t judge the Israelites of old too harshly, because we are doing the same foolish thing in our modern society. The Lord raised us up as great nations, but then, when prosperity set in, we behaved as though we did it all in our strength. Chuh! How foolish!
And I like how Amos describes it later on. ‘Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought (over nothing), which say, Have we not taken to us horns (a symbol of strength) by our own strength.’ (Amos 6:13)
So Friends, we in this modern technological age are just as ignorant, stupid and guilty as the Israelites were in their simple agrarian days. We are hearing the same warnings my people, with all sorts of disasters suddenly raining down on us all over the globe. Old diseases which we thought we had eradicated are coming back – polio, malaria – with new ones ever on the horizon, think of Ebola and Chikungunya.
Even our super drugs, antibiotics are no longer as useful, because superbugs are developing that resist them. Poverty, hunger and homelessness are widespread in a world of plenty. Greed and selfishness predominate. Economic fallout is widespread… And everyday we’re moving further and further away from God with our overly sinful, doh-care behaviour.
Oh Friends, you don’t need me to point out the inequities, the shameful and disgraceful aspects of our society, because we are all touched and afflicted by them to some degree.
And as I contemplate our current disgusting situation, I’ve come to the conclusion that something is drastically wrong with our brains, because as children we were taught, it was drilled into us, that disobedience brought punishment. And we most certainly experienced it when we were foolish enough to disobey the authority in our lives, whether they were our parents, school teachers, the law, or even strangers!
So how now that we’re adults, when we should be wiser, we have turned against our wonderful, ever-LOVING and magnanimous God, Creator and Provider eh?
No wonder Jesus compared those fit for the kingdom of heaven to little children. ‘Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matt.18:3-4)
Obviously Friends, from our proud and disgusting behaviour, it’s obvious that we’re not humbling ourselves as little children, which means that our place in heaven is somewhat dicey.
And as the Lord eventually said to His chosen people: ‘Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind (or spirit), and declareth unto man what is his (God’s) thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, the God of hosts, is his name.’ (Amos 4:12-13)
That’s a powerful warning my people! As the scholars declare: ‘4:12-13. Prepare to meet thy God warns that God is not going to visit Israel with salvation, but rather with inevitable and complete judgement.’
And unfortunately my people, He’s established the same destruction for us, if we continue in our evil, ungodly ways down the path of disobedience that we have so unwisely chosen to tread.
Please remember that He is our Creator and Controller, His thoughts and ways are much higher than ours, and He doesn’t play the silly mind games that we play. His patience is long, and He gives more than enough rope to hang ourselves. So let’s consider ourselves warned, and be wise and return to the Lord. That is the ultimate in wisdom! Much LOVE!
…continual .disobedience to God’s Law breeds only one thing…eventual punishment of death and destruction…but true repentance…oh my my… it joyfully brings forgiveness and salvation…
09 Sep 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a halfway moment, a haughty spirit before a fall, Babylon, blessings, boantrophy, break off thy sins, breath of life, by the might of my power, change our minds, Creator, Daniel, decision making, decree of the most High, dream interpretation, dreams, drive thee from men, earthly days, eat grass as oxen, evil pride, exile, for the honour of my majesty, god moves in mysterious ways, graven images, hair was grown like eagles' feathers, hands of Almighty God, humiliating experience, I am the Lord, iniquities, Israelites, king nebuchadnezzar, Lord God Jehovah, LOVE, master of the magicians, mental illness, mistakes, mortal man, my glory will I not give to another, nails like birds' claws, Nebuchadnezzar, neither my praise to graven images, omnipotent god, Pearl S. Buck, possible outcomes, power of God, praise, pride, pride goes before destruction, provider, ramifications, righteousness., rough and tumble world, showing mercy to the poor, Spirit of the Holy God, split second moment, stump of the tree, the kingdom has been taken from thee, the most High rules in the kingdom of men, thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, tranquility, visions, warnings, wet thee with the dew of heaven, wisdom, zoantrophy
Daniel 4:30. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for for the house of the kingdom (a royal dwelling) by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
Oh Friends, it doesn’t seem as though my late night endeavours are blending well with my early morning rising to write the Bit nuh. What a momentous discovery! (smile) But it’s all good. Sometimes some things just have to be done late at night. Let’s just hope that they are the exception rather than the rule.
I’m still enjoying my semi-summer weather though, which usually ends up with an early morning spell on my front porch, communing with the peaceful moments of nature and my wonderful Creator. So it’s not all fun and frolic. (smile)
Now here’s an interesting quote from Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer and novelist. ‘Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.’
And that’s quite true. Decision making is often a process, rather than just a split second moment, and just before pulling the trigger there’s usually a point where we can change our minds. The problem though is that once we make up our minds on something, it’s often difficult to change them, despite warnings of the dangers ahead.
That means we need to take our time, try and not rush the decision making process without properly considering the ramifications of all the possible outcomes. That brings us to our Bit, a perfect example of what we’re talking about.
‘The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of my kingdom (a royal dwelling) by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?’
And we all know the story of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who besieged Israel and carried the Israelites into exile in Babylon. This particular episode deals with his dream about a huge, powerful, stately and useful tree. (Dan.4:10-16) His astrologers, magicians and soothsayers though couldn’t interpret the dream, so he called in Daniel to do it.
And it’s interesting to see how king Neb perceives Daniel, from prior experience with his dream interpretation. (Dan.2) ‘But at last Daniel came before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods (Spirit of the Holy God):
And before him I told the dream saying, O Belteshazzar, master (chief) of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods (Spirit of the Holy God) is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell (explain to) me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.’ (Dan.4:8-9)
However, after being told the dream, Daniel was troubled by the interpretation he received from God. The king saw this and said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, (if only) the dream be to (concerned) them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to (concerned) thine enemies.’ (Dan.4:19)
Then Daniel goes on to tell the king that the dream heralded his sickness, mental illness. (Dan. 4:20-23) The essence of the vision was thus: ‘This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times (years) shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure (assured) unto thee, after that thou shalt have known (come to know) that the heavens (heaven, God) do rule.’ (Dan.4:24-26)
Now to most of us, hopefully such an interpretation would have made us think twice about our current lifestyle. And Daniel even warns king Neb about it. ‘Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness (by being righteous), and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening (prolonging) of thy tranquility.’ (Dan.4:27)
But Neb fails to take Daniel’s advice, and a year later, while walking in his sumptuous palace, he foolishly declares the words of our Bit.
And the Good Book tells us: ‘While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed (has been taken) from thee.
And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times (years) shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.” (Dan.4:31-33)
Ah mih people, yuh see how our omnipotent God does move in mysterious ways, His power and glory to protect!
Neb unwisely felt that his glory was all his doing. But the Lord God Jehovah showed him differently. The same thing happens to us daily Friends; we mistake the power and blessings of Almighty God for our power. But as Cousin Sol so wisely informs us: ‘Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (stumbling). (Prov.16:18)
So please, let’s pay careful attention to the lustful and evil pride that tends to rise up in us when we are on top of the world and wisely realize that it’s not our power and might that got us there, but that of our Creator and Provider. For remember what He so vividly states in Isaiah 42: ‘I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.’ (Is.42:8) Nuff said!
And we’ll close with some significant information from the scholars re Neb’s illness.’4:33. Two important questions arise form this incident: (1) Could it happen to a man? and (2) Could it have happened to Nebuchadnezzar? The answer to both questions is Yes. There is a mental illness known as zoantrophy in which a man thinks and acts like an animal. It is also called boantrophy, more specifically when a man thinks of himself as an ox.
In answer to the second question, this illness is not mentioned in Nebuchadnezzar’s annals, but one would not expect such a humiliating experience to be chronicled. On the other hand, his long reign of 43 years (605-562 B.C.) is more than long enough to include the lengthy sickness.’
So my brethren, let’s take all of this to heart as we make our journey through this rough and tumble world, always remembering where the real power of the universe lies…in the hands of Almighty God! Now that is truly heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
…wherefore does mortal man think he’s so powerful…when he does not even have power over the breath of his life or length of his earthly days…
24 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour, adrenalin pumping, arguments, aura of love, battlefield of the world, be wise, blessed, Christians, comfort of the scriptures, complaining, correction, crapaud smoke yuh pipe, Creator of the universe, crisis mode, day star arises in your hearts, disobedience, doing good, end times are nigh, enemy's wicked taunts, ensconced in Jesus' fold, enthusiasm, evil, evildoing, faith, fellowship, fence sitting, further your glorious kingdom, godliness, grounded in truth, heart and soul, heavenly wisdom, helping others, holy men of God, Holy Name, holy spirit, hope, humble servants, inspiration, inspiration of God, instruction, invincible, Israel, Jesus Christ, Jesus' return, jobs, keeping families together, lead and guide, left out in utter darkness, light, LOVE, make Jesus proud, man's basic nature, miracle, Monday Morniing Battle Hymn, moved by the Holy Ghost, Oh Lord God Almighty, pagan deity, patience, perseverance, pertinent plea, plague, profitable for doctrine, Promised Land, rebellions, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, reproof, righteousness., rise and shine, sally forth with confidence, salt, scripture, sinful, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, strife, take heed, the light of Christ, the prophetic word, the will of man, true followers, ungodly world, unity in Christ, useful purpose, warnings, weary souls, whining, wisdom, worthwhile inroads
2 Timothy 3:16. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Well well mih lovelies, it’s Monday once again! What a way the weekend flies by! Unfortunately it’s time to rise and shine and get out into the world and spread our highly flavoured and tasty salt, and our bright and shining lights, as Jesus asked and expects of us, His true followers. (Matt.5:13-16)
It’s no use whining and complaining that we’re tired and feeling low down, because we spent the weekend partying and overdoing it, instead of resting and getting ready for the new work week. Being negative will only make matters worse, so let’s just get a move on with the help of our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. Please put some real heart and soul in it now. (smile)
‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Yes Friends, yuh feel the miracle that worked in your spirit! That’s what sincere prayer does! And now that we’ve got the adrenalin pumping, let’s go out there on the battlefield of the world and do our thing nuh, make Jesus proud of us, by helping others and doing good, just like He did when He was here on earth. (Acts 10:38)
And if we believe that, then we also ought to believe what our Bit says: ‘All scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.’
Ah mih people, so many arguments, and so much strife has occurred down through the ages over the veracity of the Bible, that it’s best we either believe it in its entirety, or don’t believe it at all. On this matter there can be no fence sitting.
Now let’s talk a little about the last part of our Bit, which declares that the scriptures weren’t only written through God’s inspiration but also ‘is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.’
First up is Bruh Paul speaking to the Roman church, re Unity in Christ, and how we ought to help, please and edify each other more than ourselves, for even Christ didn’t please Himself. (Rom.15:1-3) ‘For whatsoever things were written aforetime (beforehand) were written for our learning, that we through patience (perseverance) and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.’ (Rom.15:4)
So true, my fellow believers, so true! The scriptures surely provide us with the strength to persevere, be comforted, and have hope, without which, we’d never be able to function properly as Christians.
And here’s Bruh Paul again, this time talking to the Corinthians, re early Israel’ being a warning example, when enroute to the Promised Land, twenty something thousand of them died of the plague in one day, because they had turned from the God of their fathers to worship the pagan deity Baal-peor. (Num. 25)
‘Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition (instruction), upon whom the ends of the world (ages) are come.’ (1 Cor.10:11)
Yes Friends, God knew that the Corinthians and many other societies would follow the disobedience of Israel, and end up in crisis mode with Him. And that’s why He had all those examples recorded for the benefit of those to come, since mankind’s basic nature would still be sinful and prone to disobedience and rebellion.
So please, let’s pay serious attention to the warnings contained in the scriptures, especially as we are now at a very high state of evildoing, and a rather low one of godliness, and there are several signs that the end times are nigh. And unfortunately Friends, once that happens, once Jesus returns, if you’re not safely and securely ensconced in His chosen fold, then crapaud smoke yuh pipe, you’ll be left out in utter darkness, looking in on those who believed, enjoying the light of Christ.
And we’ll end this series of messages on the inspiration of God on the scriptures with a very pertinent plea from Peter, where’s he’s referring to the scriptures as being all grounded in truth. ‘We have also a more sure word of prophecy (the prophetic word made more sure); whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation (origin). For the prophecy came not in old (any) time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’ (2 Pet.1:19-21)
Oh Friends, we couldn’t end on a better passage of scripture than that, because it’s the truth of all truths! So please, I’m pleading with all my heart, please don’t let that happen to you. Please be wise and accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, RIGHT NOW, for that’s heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
…when Jesus comes again…and that could be any time…it will be too late to whimper…if only I had believed…
07 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: appropriate scripture, Babylon, bad choices, blind lead the blind, burned with fire, cause them to err, consequeneces, consider, contemptible, corruption, covenant, critical position, death, decision making, destroyed, disasters, disobedience, disregard, enormous ramifications, equal rights, evil cohorts, evil path, famine, fellowship, Friday chant, friends, frivolity, fun, further your glorious kingdom, gay abandon, generous help, glorious kingdom, go with the flow, God's Law, God's principles, God's Word, gospel truth, greed, heartfelt rendition, heartrending, heavenly wisdom, hedonistic, hold my head and bawl, holiness, holy spirit, horrific price, in Jesus' name, ineptitude, insightful words, Isaiah, Israel, Jesus Christ, joy of the lord, justice, knowledge, Leaders, leading people astray, led of them, life, LOVE, Lucifer, man-made idols, messenger of God, mourning, natural laws, no place like Home, one day, one true God, partiality, peace, plagues, pleasure driven lifestyle, ponder, poor decisons, prophecies, proven fact, rat-race, refreshed in soul body and mind, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, repent, rest, retribution, Revelation, right perspective, righteousness., routine, rude awakening, seek the Lord, strong is the Lord, stumble, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the head and tail, the Lord's anger, the priest's lips, the prophet Isaiah, think on, truth, turn back to God, understanding, ungodly society, virtual reality, warnings, welcome back, wisdom
Isaiah 9:16. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
‘Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back!’ Oh Friends, the snow and cold gave me a very warm welcome back last night. Wow! But in spite of the rude awakening, it’s good to be back, because there’s just no place like home!
And like I’ve fallen right back into the early morning routine. Chuh! How nice it was the past three weeks not to have a set routine and just go with the flow of life. But that was the virtual reality, the frivolity of the situation, this is the real reality, and the two are definitely much different.
So as most workers rejoice with shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! Payday and time to party!’ let’s get the right perspective on the situation right away, with a soulful, heartfelt rendition of our Friday Chant.
As one chanter now. (smile) ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yes my people, the wise and sensible thing to do on the weekend is to make sure you get enough rest, relaxation and fellowship with other believers, so that come Monday you’ll get out there bright, spunky and full of the joy of the Lord! That’s the only way we can successfully handle this rat race we so nicely term life.
That my Friends, brings us to today’s Bit; a very interesting and rather appropriate verse of scripture, which has enormous ramifications for our present society and way of life. ‘For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.’
And that’s gospel truth my people! This is the prophet Isaiah declaring the Lord’s anger against the Northern kingdom of Israel, for their overwhelming disobedience and turning away from Him to worship other supposed gods and man-made idols. But my fellow believers, we know that there is ONLY ONE TRUE GOD IN EXISTENCE, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
And you don’t have to look very far or dig very deep to see the gross ineptitude, corruption, greed, poor choices and decision making of today’s leaders.
But listen to what Isaiah says before our Bit. ‘For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth (strikes) them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.’ (Is.9:13)
That my Friends is so relevant to our current society, that it’s heart rending. A substantial part of our society has turned away from the ONE TRUE GOD, and refuses to repent and turn back to Him, despite the many warnings found in His Word, and the many unusual and severe disasters that are happening on a more frequent basis than that to which we are accustomed.
So what do you think will the consequences of this disobedience eh? ‘Isaiah details it: ‘Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch (palm branch) and rush (bulrush), in one day.’ (Is.9:14)
And if you don’t believe Isaiah, then listen to what Revelation says about the eventual fall of Babylon, the evil, ungodly society in which we’re presently living. ‘Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord who judgeth her.’ (Rev.18:8)
And we’ve seen all Gods’ prophecies come true, so why not that one eh? Yes my brethren, the Lord will eventually destroy our society, like He’s done to so many others before us, who proudly and foolishly refused to accept His warnings.
Then Isaiah further explains: ‘The ancient and honourable (elder) he is the head; and the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail.’ (Is.9:15)
For as the prophet Malachi said way back when, and still applies today: ‘For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial (shown partiality) in the law.’ (Mal.2:7-9)
Again Friends and fellow believers, that is gospel truth, for the priesthood nowadays is definitely not up to the level or standard of righteousness and holiness that it ought to be, people no longer look up to them as they used to, and unfortunately they are leading a lot of people astray!
Ah Lord eh! Some of the things I see and hear about, regarding our leaders and priests, it just makes me want to hold my head and bawl!
Oh my brethren, it truly amazes me, that with so many societies, shown by history to have bitten the dust because of blatant disobedience to God’s holy law, we, supposedly the wisest and most knowledgeable of all humans, are still pursuing, unabashed and unashamed, in fact with total disregard and gay abandon, to flout the natural laws of justice, peace, LOVE and equal rights!
Now that’s a Bruh Paulian sentence! (smile) But it’s irrefutable truth!
Oh Friends, we desperately need a change of mind and heart, one filled with crucial but true understanding of God’s principles, so that we can turn back to Him, repent and diffuse His holy and just anger against us. And unless you are really foolish, you’ll realize that God is indeed very angry with us for our evil, hedonistic, material and pleasure driven lifestyle.
Oh my people, I don’t know what else to say to get us to understand the critical position we’re currently in nuh. We’re behaving just like Israel did long ago, not heeding God’s warnings. And they paid a horrific price for their disobedience. And the same will eventually happen to us, if we keep going down the evil path we’re being led down by Lucifer and his evil cohorts, many of them our elders, teachers and prophets.
And we’ll end with some interesting, but oh so true words of Jesus on the topic. ‘And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?’ (Luke 6:39)
Oh Friends, please, let’s ponder, seriously think on and consider those very insightful words of our Lord, Saviour and Leader, Jesus Christ. Then with God’s help, let’s try to make any necessary corrections in our own lives. Now that’s undoubtedly heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
…disobedience to God’s holy law…will always bring painful retribution…and that’s a proven fact throughout history…
P.S. Please excuse the lateness Friends, for although I got up fairly early, I had lot of other important stuff to first rectify, and then a sudden bout of tiredness hit me and slowed me down. But it’s still an excellent Bit. (smile) Much LOVE!
29 Sep 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all thy heart, all thy soul, be obedient to God's voice, calamity, catastrophe, celebrate God's Holy Name, destinty, destroy thee, disaster, disobedience, eternal life, ever-LOVING God, evil world, faithful keeper of promises, fellow believers, fellowship, find God, forget the covenant of thy father, forgiving Deity, forsake thee, God is LOVE, God Jehovah, graven images, heathen, hope, hymn of praise, idol worship, idolatrous things of the world, idolatry, idols, Israelites, Jesus Christ, latter days, lord god almighty, LOVE, loving embrace, loving god, merciful God, Moses, mover and shaker, plague, praise and worship, praise God, precious souls, Promised Land, prosperous, provoke God to anger, rat-race, reassurance, repentance, repented, replenish our souls, righteous life, righteousness., rocket scientist, Sabbath Day, salvation, sane, seek the Lord, sensible, serve gods, silver and gold, siren call, strength, successful, thanks and praise, the Lord God Almighty, the work of men's hands, time today, tribulation, turn to God, ungodly things, unlock the door, warnings, wise, wonderful god, wood and stone, worship
Psalm 135:15. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Oh Friends, on this glorious, but a tad chilly morn, the last Sunday in September 2013, I think we should begin our message with a hymn of praise to our wonderful God, Jehovah. So please sing this old, but ever timely hymn with me.
‘Praise Him, praise Him, all ye little children, God is LOVE, God is LOVE; (repeat). LOVE Him, LOVE Him, all ye little children, God is LOVE, God is LOVE; (repeat). Thank Him, thank Him, all ye little children, God is LOVE, God is LOVE; (repeat)
Oh yes my people, there’s no better way to start our day than with some thanks and praise to our ever-LOVING God! Now let’s hope that all of us who are able to, will get out some time today and fellowship with other believers, for we need that strength and reassurance that fellowshipping brings.
That’s why the Lord gave us ONE day each week, regardless of which one you choose, to get together and worship and celebrate His Holy Name. That’s a chance to get away from the evil world and all the ungodly things it has to offer and filter some godly stuff into our precious souls with praise and worship. And all of that fits in very nicely with our Bit: ‘The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.’
Ah mih Friends, during our work week, we’re constantly bombarded by all the idolatrous things the world has to offer, so we’ve got to make the most use of the opportunity on Sundays, or whenever you celebrate the Sabbath, to put replenish our souls by reasserting that the Lord God Almighty is the ultimate mover and shaker in our lives.
Now for the last two days, we’ve been looking at scripture that supports our Bit, and today we’ll continue to do the same. There’s plenty scripture on idolatry my Friends, and we need to get it all into us, so that we can resist the attractive siren call of the idols of the world.
And we’ll begin with Moses’ warning the Israelites. In Deuteronomy Chap. 4, from verses 15-27, he warns them about turning to the worship of idols when they go into the Promised Land and become prosperous and successful. Letting them know that it would provoke God to anger, and He would then scatter them amongst the heathen.
‘And there shall ye serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy father which he sware unto them.’ (Deut.4:28-31)
And Friends, we all know that the Israelites did not heed Moses’ warning and eventually turned to idol worship, not once, but several times. And God, being the faithful keeper of His promises, dutifully scattered them amongst the heathen. But by the same token, each time they woke up from their stupidity and repented, He was also faithful and merciful to restore them to their land and prosperity.
Oh my people, please remember that our God doesn’t change, and like the Israelites, we have a covenant with Him, through Christ Jesus to stay away from idols and graven images. However, like the Israelites again, we’re not fulfilling our part of the contract, but instead are heavily into worshipping the things of the world. No wonder so much calamity and disaster are currently plaguing our world.
So it’s obvious that if we want to eliminate the catastrophe in our world, then WE have to change. We have to get out of the worldly rat race, CUT OUT the pre-eminence of worldly things in our lives. We can see from the Israelites’ example that all is not lost, that while there’s life, there’s always hope, for our God is a most merciful and forgiving Deity.
Thus, if we sincerely repent and turn from our evil ways, He will once again, enfold us in His LOVING embrace, but it all depends on us my people. We hold the key to both our earthly and eternal destiny, and His name is Jesus!
So let’s use it to unlock the door to righteousness, salvation and eternal life, like we’ve been taught nuh. It’s the only wise, sane and sensible thing to do, provided we want to save and improve our world. You don’t have to be rocket scientist to figure that our Friends.
So, though I have more stuff to share, taking into consideration our busy schedules and already overworked mental systems, (smile) I’ll leave us to ponder on those things that make for a godly and righteous life. Much LOVE!
…God’s world doesn’t change…He who is disobedient….will ALWAYS pay a stiff price for their disobedience…
23 Feb 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abuse, cancer, cancer fundraisers, carcinogens, climate change, fools, forget God, human bodies, human-rights, hypocrite's hopelessness, hypocrites shall perish, iniquity, pollution, religion, righteous, sinful state, snowstorms, spirituality, traffic congestion, ungodliness, unusual weather patterns, warnings, weather patterns, wicked, wisdom
Job 8:13. So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish.
Oh Friends, it’s another day in the life! However, for many down in the U. S. it’s going to be an extremely rough one, where they continue to dig out from another round of severe snowstorms, this one predominantly hitting the Central part of the country. I guess we can call this the year of the snow, for places that haven’t had snow in ages have experienced it this year. Even in parts of Southern California some snow fell, causing unaccustomed traffic congestion and the other niceties that snow brings, especially when you’re not accustomed to it. (smile) They were even pelting snowballs in Arizona instead of playing golf, because the courses were white and not green. Some places that have not fully recovered from previous snowfalls have again been inundated by the white stuff. But why are we seeing so much of it in such short periods eh? I’d like to put forward two theories. The first is climate change. We have screwed up the delicate balance of the planet with so much pollutants that it’s now coming back to haunt us in unstable, unusual weather patterns. Cut it whichever way you want, we can’t continue to put so much polluting stuff in our air, water and land and don’t expect some unusual reaction. And anyone who believes that, or eschews that position is a fool! Look at amount of known carcinogens we now have in our food, either to make it look pretty or stay fresh and last longer. Don’t you think that affects the delicate balance of our bodies too? I get angry when I hear about these cancer fundraisers and curing cancer. How can you cure something when you keep putting it in your food, water, land and atmosphere eh? But that’s a story for another day. But getting back to climate change. When last have we seen so much snow in North America eh? For the last five to ten years we’ve hardly had any, in comparison to what we used to have before. So much so that recently the ski resorts had to resort to snow making machines for longer periods than ever before. Now it seems as if it has turned around again, and they’re getting mucho snow. Oh Friends, our planet can stand a lot of pain, but like our human bodies it’s finely timed and tuned and continued abuse will eventually make it sick, just like it does to our human bodies. Our God didn’t make it to stand the kind of abuse we’re putting it through. That brings me to our second theory; that the unusual climate patterns and natural disasters we’re having in unusual places is partly the work of our God, in retribution for our very sinful state of ungodliness and disobedience to His Word. That dovetails very nicely with our Bit: ‘So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish.’ We’ve seen over the centuries that societies that have gotten too big for their ‘britches’ and become sinful and ungodly, have eventually been cut down to size one way or another. The sad part is that most of the times there have been warnings, but the proud, evildoers have not paid them any attention. And I believe that what’s happening right now is God’s way of warning us. But are we paying attention? Certainly not! But there’s no doubt that we’re a very evil, sinful society, which has successfully turfed the Lord from its schools and public places, a society where the evildoers have the upper hand and revel in their wicked works without a thought for the consequences. And believe me Friends, there will be serious consequences for the immoral, ungodly morass into which our society has plummeted. Now let’s look at a few scriptures that foretell retribution for proud, continual disobedience. Job says it in spades when he talks of the hypocrite’s hopelessness. ‘For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?’ (Job 27:8-10) I’m afraid the answer to all those questions my brethren is a resounding ‘NO!’ And if we turn to Psalm 112; Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, we’ll find graphic descriptions of both the righteous and wicked in the last two verses. In talking about the righteous, the psalmist boldly declares: ‘He hath dispersed (distributed abroad), he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn (strength) shall be exalted with honour. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with this teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.’ (Ps.112:9-10) Oh my fellow believers, please note carefully the great difference between the eventual outcomes of both sets of people. And we’ll go home with some extremely wise words of Cousin Sol, as he contrasts the doings of the wise and the foolish. ‘The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth (land). The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward (perverse, deceitful) tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness (perversity, deceitfulness).’ (Prov.10:27-32) Oh Friends, please remember that the laws and words of our God don’t change, that means if they were true in Cousin’ Sol’s time, then they’re still true today. So please let’s allow wisdom to be our guide. Let’s start cleaning up the pollutants from our unfortunate planet, our evil societies and our individual lives, beginning today, RIGHT NOW! Because if we don’t, we’ll only force the Lord to do it for us, and I can guarantee we won’t like His methods. Much LOVE!…where wisdom prevails…societies prosper…but where evil fools rule the roost…the societies perish…
Previous Older Entries
SCRIP-BITS 