The Overwhelming Importance of Knowing and Accepting the Seven ‘I Am’ Statements of Jesus

15 Oct 2026 Leave a comment

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   15 October 2026   John 8:12.

John 8:12.        ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’

It’s finally happened friends; yes the bright and sunshiny warm days are now over, and the cold weather is slowly creeping in. Thus, the trees, possibly been fooled by the unbroken spell of warm weather, are now hurriedly starting to change the colours of their leaves and then discard them. Yes, they have finally seen the light, and let’s hope that we have also seen the light, whose name is Jesus!

And on this cool and cloudy Thursday in the middle of October, with the winter season quickly approaching, it’s of the utmost importance that we know, appreciate, receive and follow the light of this world. Jesus Himself said it: ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’ (John 8:12) And He is bold and secure enough to repeat it in the next chapter.’ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ (John 9:5) That means He guides people out of spiritual darkness or death, and offers them the light of life.

Now, if Jesus said it, then it must be true, because He’s God and has no need to lie. The problem there was that the foolish, hypocritical Pharisees disputed His claim because Jesus witnessed to Himself. But if He is God; the highest Being in the universe, who else is there above Him to witness for Him eh? So please let’s not do like those Pharisees of old, be narrowed minded and stubborn, and doubt Christ’s claim to be the light of the world, or really none of His six other claims. And you wonder what those are?

Let’s see if we can gather them together. Here is this very important one, sorry, all of them are important. (smile) Jesus solemnly declares: ‘I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.’ (John 10:11)  And He repeats it a little later, with a slightly different angle. ‘I am the good shepherd and know my sheep, and am known of mine.’ (John 10:14) In those two statements Jesus emphasizes His care and protection, and willingness to die for His sheep, just like any good  shepherd would. And we all know He laid down His life for us on the cross of Calvary, so that the Father could justly forgive our sins.  

And shortly before that, He also said: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.’ (John 10:7-9) There Jesus is presenting Himself as the protective keeper of the door through which people can find safety and salvation.

Then in Chapter 11 of John, while talking to Martha about her brother Lazarus’ death, Jesus says to her. ‘ I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead (may die), yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?’ (John 11:25-26)  Now that’s the perfect question for us to ponder on this cool, cloudy Thursday in mid-October 2026! Yes friends, it certainly is, for like Jesus asked Martha if she believed, He’s also asking us the same question today because it’s the most important question we will ever need to answer in this life. Jesus has the power over life and death, and only those who sincerely believe in Him will experience everlasting life. So it’s of the utmost importance that we answer that question with a very positive ‘YES!’

Then, when Jesus tells the disciples, that He’s going away, He adds: ‘And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me.’ (John 14:4-6) Ah mih people that’s something else we must also take into great consideration. Jesus is the ONLY way to get to God the Father! He has exclusive rights over that path, and thus, if you don’t believe in Jesus, you will never see the pearly gates of heaven. And believe me, that’s not a very pleasant thought to entertain. So it’s very necessary that we accept and believe in the godly sovereignty of Jesus right now, before it’s too late, since  there’s no way to do it after death.

And when Jesus turns to his husbandry lesson, He rightly expounds: ‘I am the true (genuine) vine, and my Father is the husbandman (vinedresser).’ (John 15:1) Now that’s another agrarian statement that the Jewish people would have clearly understood, like the allegory of the good shepherd. Here, Jesus is saying that we have to stick to Him, like white on rice, so we can get spiritual strength and thus bear good fruit. And later on He enlarges on the statement by saying: ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:5)

And that’s the gospel truth, for without closeness to Jesus our abilities are severely limited! And to cover all those ‘I am’ statements, the scholars say that it echoes God’s revelation to Moses at the burning bush, about His identity. ‘And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.’ (Ex. 3:14) So Jesus was quite right in declaring all those ‘I ams’!

Now, let’s declare our Thursday Blessings, undeserved blessings most generously bestowed on us by our heavenly Father to do His earthly work. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 every day! Amen!’ 

And having made that declaration, it now behooves us to go out and generously use those blessings to help others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE God like we do! Much LOVE!

…Jesus is indeed the First…the Last…and Everything in between…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   24 July 2023 Proverbs 14:34.

24 Jul 2023 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 14:34.        Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach (shame) to any people.

Prologue: Yes, it is late and long, but it’s certainly worthwhile reading and putting into immediate action. (smile) 

Aye Monday, come on down, we’re ready for you. We believers in Christ Jesus are no longer afraid of you and your evil patron, Satan, who try to frighten us into having bad Mondays and not witness properly for our Lord and Saviour. But all of that is over now, because we’re getting rid of our fear of Mondays, and instead ramping up our faith, so that we will not be ashamed of the fearful and ungodly way we behave on Mondays. We’re totally embracing the scripture that says: ‘The Lord has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of LOVE and a sound (disciplined) mind.’ (2 Tim. 1:7) 

We’ve talked it for a long time, but now we’re finally putting it into action, beginning with our fear and resentment of Mondays! So, you and your evil buddy, Beelzebub, can try all you want to intimidate us, but it won’t work any longer, because we’ve finally seen the light, the awesome light that is our Leader, Jesus Christ of Nazareth! And all God’s people said a loud and grateful ‘Amen!’ 

Now friends, please don’t make me a liar, or a laughingstock after I’ve put myself on the line. Let’s go out this Monday with plenty vim and vigour, confident that we can make a positive difference in this disaster-filled world. And is it ever filled with natural disasters; droughts, famine, earthquakes, forest fires, floods, pestilences, severe heat waves, like many of us have never seen before, volcano eruptions, you name it, our world is filled with it. 

And we now blame climate change for almost everything that happens to us, and some of it is indeed attributable to changing weather patterns, because we have over the years screwed up the fine balance of the Lord’s system, but what about our own sinful and ungodly behaviour eh? Don’t we think that the rampant, runaway sin that’s currently permeating our world possibly has something to do with the disastrous situations that we’re facing on all corners of the globe. 

We have obviously forgotten these wise words of Cousin Sol in Proverbs: ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach (shame) to any people.’ (Prov. 14:34) And he’s not referring to individual righteousness there, but to a nation that adheres to God’s righteous standards as found in His moral law. And this commentary explains: ‘That means that we can declare if we are doing what Jesus told us to do, if we’re acting like Him, LOVING like Him, forgiving like Him, and boldly declaring God’s Word, then we are righteous. If all believers across the world just simply acted like Jesus, then the nation that they live in will be changed.’ 

And, unfortunately, I don’t know of any nation to which that designation can now be applied, for man’s inhumanity to man has skyrocketed way out of all reasonable proportions. Everywhere you turn is either wars or rumours of war, hate and anger abound, with strife from the highest echelons of the society to the lowest. Dire poverty and economic deprivation are widespread in a world of plenty, sickness is endemic in a world that has taken enormous strides in medicine and technological advancements. 

But the power elite still control most of the earth’s wealth and power, and the rich are getting richer while the poor are indeed getting poorer. And you can classify it as a cliché, and it might be trite or somewhat overused, but it’s still true. Meanwhile racism and religious intolerance and nationalism are on the uptake, bringing with it much despotic and dictatorial rule. What a foolish lot we are to be continually falling for the glib promises, or rather lies, of our politicians, who are only interested in their own aggrandizement. Where will it end eh? 

Remember friends, sin, the original sin of our forefathers Adam and Eve, is what began us down the deadly path on which we’re currently trodding. And what the Lord said through the prophet Ezekiel still stands: ‘The soul that sinneth. It shall die….But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live and not die.’ (Ezek. 18:20a, 21) 

And despite the Lord in His grace, mercy and LOVING-kindness  providing a way out of it for us. That’s through believing in His Son Jesus Christ who came to earth and sacrificed His sinless life so our sins could be paid for, we are still mired very deeply in sin. Bruh Paul writes to the church at Corinth: ‘For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.’ (2 Cor. 1:21). 

That certainly hasn’t done us much good, for there are few places in our world right now where serious strife isn’t taking place or being fomented. We all seem to be unhappy about something, and instead of trying to work it out peacefully with our neighbours, like the Bible wisely advises, the trend is to escalate the situation. Chuh! What a foolish animal is mankind! He can’t see the forest for the trees, and every move he makes, just seems to make matters worse, because selfishness and greed are so prevalent. It’s all about me, myself and I, for those who still use those pronouns. 

These are the words we ought to live by: ‘Recompense (repay) to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest (have regard for good things) in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in (depends on) you, live peacefully with all men… Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.’ (Rom. 12:17-18, 21) 

And I know to some of us, that might sound rather simplistic, but friends, the truth is usually simple, it’s we who tend to make it complex, because we wrongly belief that simplicity is not powerful enough for us to live on. But it surely is. Just look at how Leader, Jesus Christ lived down here on earth nuh; it was a quiet, simple but powerful and difference-making life, an example that we His sincere believers ought to follow, instead of the noise, the clamour. strife and complexity that the enemy is gladly feeding into our lives, and we are foolishly sucking up. 

Oh my fellow saints, remember we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, that means we ought to be setting the example for the world, so that they can see Jesus mirrored in our words and actions. So please, please, I plead with us that from today, from this time henceforth we WILL fully embrace the example of Jesus and let our salt and light shine forth and reinvigorate our badly damaged world, so we can begin to heal it. That’s all Jesus is asking of us. Now, let’s lift our heads, hands, hearts and eyes heavenward, and through our Monday Morning battle Hymn, invoke the divine help of our heavenly Father. 

As one sincere voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. 

So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And having made all those requests, it now behooves us to change our evil ways, and live a godly and righteous life, if we truly desire to see heavenly help. Much LOVE!

…sin is what drives us away from God…but when it overwhelms us…it’s also what points us back…to the everlasting arms of God… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ