29 Aug 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a means of restoring faith in you, a parable of covetousness and greed, all such rejoicing is evil, amidst all the anxiety and confusion, boast in your arrogance, boast not thyself of tomorrow, buy and sell and make profit, concentrate on the problems of today, contingency plans for tomorrow, continue there a year, defeat the simmering unrest in our land, discontent, dissatisfaction, divine aid, doeth it not, eat drink and be merry, enquire about the wisdom of our intentions, faith, for that ye ought to say, Friday chant, give first thought to God, go to now ye say, greed, holy spirit, honour worker's contribution to the labour scene, humdrum work life, hunger for power, if the Lord will, improve our witness for Christ, inhumane times, intorduce a new flock of believers, is not rich toward God, it is even a vapour, Jesus Christ, labour day weekend, labour unrest and violence, legalization of unions, LOVE, mercy, omnipotent help, our sinful world, rejoicing in boastings is evil, return backsliders to your fold, salvation, say to my soul, show them the error of their ways, so is he that layeth up treasure for himself, Soul thou hast much goods laid up for any years, stand strong and steadfast, stand up strong and fight for what we have, strife-filled times, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, take therefore no thought for tomorrow, take thine ease, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, that appeareth for a little time then vanisheth away, the horrific labour scenes, the living truth, the morrow shall take thought for itself, the throne of grace, these ungodly times, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, thou fool, thou knowest not what a day may bring forth, times of lawlessness and uncertainty, to him it is sin, to him that knoweth to do good, today or tomorrow, truth, unexpected storms, wake up and smell the coffee, we shall live and do this or that, we will go into such a city, what is your life, whcih thou hast provided, when anything goes, whose shall those things be, wisdom, wise guidance, workers have little say in working conditions, working conditions, ye know not what shall be on the morrow, ye rejoice in your boastings
Proverbs 27:1. Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
And then it was Friday, a sunny but somewhat chilly day for August. It’s only about 15 degrees Celsius. But that did not stop the many shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ from going up to high heaven. There’s just something about Friday, whether it be hot or cold, that gets the populace in shouting mode. And it’s all because of the upcoming weekend, and the relaxing break from the humdrum work life that it promises.
And this weekend promises to be a big one, as it’s the last long weekend of the summer season, as well as the celebration of Labour Day on Monday. It’s a holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September, dedicated to honour the contribution of workers to the current Labour scene, to remember all the labour unrest and violence that happened in the 19th century, when workers were brutally illtreated by management and had very little, if any legal rights. Those demonstrations, that met with extremely violent reactions by the owners, thankfully led to the eventual legalization of unions in 1894.
Most of us take the current situation for granted, but it certainly wasn’t so in the beginning, and many workers suffered and died at the hands of owners to enshrine the work system we now have. But even today, you can see the owners fighting to get it back to where the workers have very little or no rights or say in their working conditions. Unfortunately, the excessive greed and hunger for power still lives within the ownership class. But let’s hope that today’s workers won’t allow the situation to deteriorate to what it was like a couple of centuries ago, although that would please the owners no end.
So, although this is a weekend for celebration, it’s also one for remembering the horrific labour scenes that took place not that long ago, and pledging to stand up strong and fight for what we now have, and not let those inhumane times ever happen again. End of Sermon. (smile)
And today, our scripture lesson is also very applicable to these greedy, selfish, and strife filled times. The words come from the wise writings of Cousin Sol in Proverbs. He admonishes us thus: ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ (Prov. 27:1) And believe me people, those are indeed very wise words, especially in these times of lawlessness and uncertainty.
Remember Jesus warned us to ‘Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (troubles) thereof.’ (Matt. 6:34) So, although some contingency plans can be made for tomorrow, we should not worry about it, and instead concentrate on the problems and challenges of today, for tomorrow will bring it’s own problems and challenges. And we might not even make it to tomorrow if we don’t handle today’s problems properly.
And Jesus also gave a wonderful parable that spoke to covetousness and greed, but also highlighted the problems of placing too much interest and trust in tomorrow. He spoke of the rich man whose land produced so much fruit, that he did not have enough room to store it all. But after a moment’s contemplation, he hit upon this wonderful plan.
‘And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow (store) all my fruits (crops) and goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat drink, and be merry. But the Lord said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ (Luke 12:18-21)
Yes friends, whatever we do, we must first give thought to God, and enquire about the wisdom of our decisions or intentions, for He might have completely different plans and ideas for us, like He did for that greedy, rich man. And that’s why James also warns us that rejoicing in boastings is evil. He puts it thus: ‘Go to now (come now), ye say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.’ (James 4:13-14)
And that’s the living truth my fellow believers! Our earthly lives are very short and can be taken away from us at any time by Almighty God, our Creator and Life-giver. So, instead of boasting about what we will do tomorrow or in the distant future, James wisely advises: ‘For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings (boast in your arrogance): all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James 4:15-17)
Oh my fellow believers, I could not put it any better than that, and it’s something we ought to seriously consider in our daily walk, especially in this season when anything goes. Are there good things we know we ought to do, and are not doing them? If so, we are only building up our sin account, which is not a wise move. So, let’s go right now to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant seeking divine aid in these tough and turbulent times.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Now friends, despite our prayer, we still need to do our part; that’s improve our witness for Christ, because it’s our lack of good, strong and constant witness that’s caused the enemy to become so powerful in our world. And until we improve, divine aid will not be forthcoming. It’s as simple as that! Much LOVE!
…believers know what to do…but for one reason or another…we are not doing it…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
21 Nov 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a dangerous supposition, a great family, a light at the end of the tunnel, a man's life does not consist of his possessions, a vapour, arrogance, asking for God's opinion, beware of covetousness, boast not thyself of tomorrow, buy and sell, Christians, confer with God, courage, creativity, curse, destroyed, doeth it not, eat drink and be merry, evil doers will be cut off, faith, favour, good freinds, good health, he sees that his day is coming, holy spirit, if the Lord will, is not rich towards God, Jesus Christ, LOVE, make a profit, mercy, negative word, painted with that brush, prosper, rejoicing in boastings is evil, repercussions, salvation, self-control, self-discipline, shall inherit the earth, success, take heed, take thine ease, that appears for a little time, the abundance of peace, the abundance of things, the Lord shall laugh at him, then vanishes away, they that wait upon the Lord, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, thou fool, thou hast much goods laid up, thou knowest not what a day may bring forth, to him it is sin, to him that knoweth to do good, today or tomorrow, truth, we shall live and do this or that, we will go into such a city, what is your life, wisdom, ye ought to say, ye rejoice in your boasting
James 4:15. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
And now it’s Thursday; the penultimate day of our work week…and we’re seeing a li’l light at the end of the tunnel…for tomorrow is Friday…the day we live for! But please remember we’ve got to get through Thursday before we can celebrate Friday, and who knows what can happen in that space of time. So let’s not be too confident of being alive and with everything being okay on Friday.
That brings to mind James’ discourse on Rejoicing in Boastings is Evil. He writes: ‘Go to now (come now), ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice (boast) in your boasting (arrogance): all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James 4:13-17)
Ah friends, we all do that kind of stuff, without even considering what the Father has in mind, much less asking His opinion or blessing on whatever we want to do. We simply take things for granted, that they will go along as they always have. But that’s a dangerous supposition, for life can change without a moment’s notice. That’s why it’s always good to speak with the Father before making our pronouncements, for He might just be of a different opinion. (smile)
And I like how the scholars explain the first two verses there: ‘This one is a fool, for he thinks he knows something that he doesn’t. He presumes he has the resources to control his destiny. (cf. Prov. 27:1; Luke 12:13-21).’ But sadly, far too many of us, even Christians, can be painted with that brush. But as Cousin Sol so rightly tells us in Proverbs: ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ (Prov. 27:1) And we know that scripture, but we still do it, because we’ve gotten so accustomed to doing it without any serious repercussions.
That brings us to the other reference the scholars gave where Jesus teaches us to beware of covetousness. He warns: ‘Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.’ (Luke 12:15) Then He goes on to tell them this parable about the rich, greedy fool. The one where this rich man’s harvest has been so bountiful that he has nowhere to store it.
So he says to himself: ‘This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow (store) all my fruits (crops) and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’(Luke 12:17-21)
That again is so true of too many of us, who kill ourselves to accumulate the material things of the world, without any thought to God, neither spending time with Him and being obedient to His word or keeping Him first place in our lives, nor giving generously of our possessions to do His kingdom work. That obviously will draw forth His displeasure. And yes, there are many of the wicked who are amassing great fortunes, but please remember the Lord’s Word that the wicked will destroyed, and won’t even be remembered.
Bruh David says it in Psalm 37 – Trust in the Lord. ‘For evil doers shall be cut off destroyed: but they that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider (look diligently for) his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.’ (Ps. 37:9-13)
It could not be said any plainer or more straightforward than that my brethren. So please let’s take serious note of those words and do our best to refrain from the world’s entreaties, from the enemy’s attempts to get us involved in evil doing. And let’s remember, as James says, those who know how to do good and don’t do it, to them it’s considered sin. Now, let’s go home declaring (chuh!!!) and thus activating our Thursday Blessings that the Lord has so generously bestowed on us to do His earthly work.
As one 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 activated those undeserved blessings, it’s now our bounden duty to go out and use them on behalf of others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us! Much LOVE!
…before making any pronouncements…it’s always best to confer with God first…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
14 Nov 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a faithful saying, a free gift, a man is not justified by the works of the law, a positive outlook on life, all gone out of the way, all have sinned, an unclean thing, and then the judgement, appears for a little time, ascendeth up for ever and ever, be born of water and the spirit, Bible, bring us to God, by the faith of Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, Christ suffered once for sins, christianity, church membership, come short of the glory of God, courage, cowardly, crapaud smoke we pipe, creativity, curse, day or night, divine protection, eternal life, except a man be born again, fade as a leaf, faith, fearful, fervent heat, filthy rags, god, God's supernatural wisdom, he cannot see the kingdom of God, he who has ears to hear let him hear, holy spirit, iniquities, it is appointed unto men once to die, Jesus Christ, like the wind, LOVE, mercy, murderers, negative word, no not one, none that doeth good, none that seek after God, our iniquities have take us away, righteousnesses, salvation, sinful ways, talent, the just for the unjust, the lake of fire, the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, The Leviticus Church, the second death, the smoke of their torment, then vanishes away, there is none righteous, they have no rest, truth, what is born of flesh is flesh, what is born of Spirit is spirit, what is your life, who worship the beast and his image, whoremonges, whosoever receives the mark of his name, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, wisdom, ye know not what shall be on the morrow, you cannot gamble with salvation, your life is even a vapour
Romans 3:23. For all have sinned and come (fallen) short of the glory of God.
Then it was Thursday, and the world is going along in it’s usual sinful ways, with many of us supposed believers in Jesus Christ helping them on. But as we saw yesterday, this world, both the solid part of it and the wicked within it will not last forever, it will go up in flames one day, or as Peter puts it, ‘in fervent heat,’ when the Lord decides it’s time. And what’s going to happen to us then eh? We’ll either end up in the New Jerusalem or in the lake of fire, to experience the Second Death.
And if you remember, twice in the last couple of weeks we checked out a Bible tract from the Leviticus Church in Jamaica, New York, which had to do with Salvation. The first time we explored what it said about Eternal Life being a Free Gift, and the second time, we talked about how you can be saved. Well, today we’re going to explore the last aspects of the things it talks about, beginning with this one: that Church Membership CANNOT Save You.
In support of their claim, they open with a quote from Romans 3:10, but I’ll add a couple of verses to it ‘As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.’ (Rom. 3:10-12) Now that’s also a fairly accurate description of today’s world.
Then the tract continues with this quote from Romans 3:23: ‘For all have sinned and come (fallen) short of the glory of God.’ Then they declare: ‘Sin is the problem, and belonging to a church will NOT take it away. Jesus Christ Himself said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
And for greater clarification, we’ll add these verses where Jesus further enlightens Nicodemus the Jewish ruler who had come to Him by night to question His purpose. ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’ (John 3:5-6) And that tells us very plainly that we personally have to do something about our style of living if we want to see the pearly gates of heaven, and simple church membership will not cut it.
Then the pamphlet exhorts us: ‘You Cannot Take Your Chances.’ In other words, you cannot gamble on your being saved. Then they let us know: ‘The Bible says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement.” (Heb. 9:27) Thus they reason, you really don’t know for sure how much time is left of your life. And they support that with this scripture from James. ‘Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.’ (James 4:14) That in essence tells us that we could be here today, but gone tomorrow, therefore we must take the opportunity to be saved RIGHT NOW!
Then, the tract reminds us of this indisputable truth: ‘You Cannot Save Yourself.’ And they use these Bible quotes to justify their contention. ‘Knowing that a man is not justified (declared righteous) by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ… (Gal. 2:16a). It also says: ‘But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (a filthy garment); and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.’ (Is. 64:6) I added the last half of the quote.
Then we learn that ‘Salvation is “FREE” to ALL.’ The Bible says, ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Rom. 10:13) And furthermore, the Bible says, ‘This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Tim. 1:15) There again, I used the whole verse. ‘For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God…’ (1 Pet. 3:18a)
Now, we come to the most important aspect of the entire situation: ‘IF YOU DO NOT GET SAVED…’ And the tract expounds: The Bible says, “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.’ (Rev. 14:11) The tract only gives the first half of that verse, but I thought the whole thing would be more beneficial. (smile)
Then, it continues: ‘For the wages of sin is death;’ (Rom. 6:23a) But this death is more than just physical death. It is an “ETERNAL BURNING!” The Bible says, ‘But the fearful (cowardly), and unbelieving, and the abominable, and the murderers, and whoremongers (sexually immoral), and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the SECOND DEATH.’ (Rev. 21:8)
And that says it all my people! If we do not get saved before we die the physical death, then we will surely end up in that lake of fire for the second death, and then crapaud smoke we pipe for all eternity! Now, is that what we desire? I don’t think so. But the reality is that if you not get saved as soon as possible, there’s a great likelihood that you can end up with Beelzebub and all the other iniquity workers. So, a word to the wise; please look after your salvation, RIGHT NOW!
Now, let’s declare and thus activate our Thursday Blessings, which the Lord has so generously bestowed on us to do His earthly work. As one 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 use those blessings just as generously on behalf of others. Much LOVE!
… he who has ears to hear…let him hear…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
04 Jun 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, all such rejoicing is evil, all the ways of man are clean in his own eyes, and doesn't do it, Bible, boast not of tomorrow, buy and sell and get gain, christianity, commit thy works unto the Lord, duty bound, faith, from the Lord, god, God has the last word, hurry, if the Lord will, in god's eyes, it is even a vapour, it is sin, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lock stock and barrel, LOVE, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, share His love with my neighbours, sharper than any twoedged sword, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, take no thought for the morrow, that appears for a little time, the answer of the tongue, the beloved of God, the best laid plans of mice and men usually go astray, the Lord weighs his spirit, the preparations of the heart, the Word of God is quick and powerful, then vanishes, thou knowest not what a day may bring forth, thy thoughts shall be established, to him that knows to do good, tommorow is not promised to us, tomorrow will worry about itself, trust my friend Jesus, truth, Tuesday Mantra, what is your life, wisdom, worry
Proverbs 27:1. Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
And the days continue to move right along with no thought for our problems or negative circumstances. (smile) Yes, Monday has come and gone, and Tuesday is going about its business like there was no tomorrow. And for Tuesday, there is no tomorrow, just Wednesday anxiously waiting in the wings to take its place. Therefore it has to do whatever it needs to do today. Likewise, we believers in Jesus Christ don’t know if we’ll live to see tomorrow, consequently we should be up and about our Father’s business today, not leaving anything we can do today for the proverbial tomorrow.
Remember Cousin Sol’s wise words from Proverbs? ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ (Prov. 27:1) And that’s the gospel truth, for look at how many plans we make for the morrow, plans that seem so foolproof, but yet when tomorrow finally shows up, we have to jettison those plans because of other more important matters. Yes friends, that scripture tells us that we are not promised tomorrow. Each day could be our last day and as believers, knowing this should change how we spend our daily lives. That’s doing what we ought to in light of God’s will and plan for our lives.
And Jesus adds to that by saying in his Sermon on the Mount: ‘Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof.’ (Matt. 6:34) In other words He’s warning us: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” And so it does. Yesterday, Monday, had its individual problems, so will today Tuesday, and so will tomorrow Wednesday. Some troubles might carry over from one day to the next, but be sure that each new day will bring its own problems to the front.
And with all of that in mind, we can turn to the epistle of James, who goes even further when he writes that rejoicing in boastings is evil. He says: ‘Go to now (come now), ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice (boast) in your boastings (arrogance): all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James 4:13-17)
Jesus’ brother is really socking it to us. And He’s quite right, in these selfish and greedy times we make boastful and arrogant plans to do things without any thought to what Almighty God desires, and when He squashes those plans we wonder why such well-laid plans did not materialize. And again Cousin Sol has wise advice for us in Proverbs, that treasure trove of wisdom. ‘The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth his spirit. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.’ (Prov. 16:1-3)
In other words: ‘We may make our plans, but God has the last word. You may think everything you do is right, but the LORD judges your motives. Ask the LORD to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out.’ That’s it in plain and simple language my brethren! Or as the old people would say, ‘Man plans, but God laughs.’ Also, ‘The best laid plans of man and mice go astray.’ It all shows the overwhelming importance of bringing God into our everyday lives and plans. We shouldn’t make a move without consulting Him. He might not answer right away, but most of the time we know what is right, and as James says, if we know that and don’t do it, then it’s considered sin on our part.
Let’s remember that the Lord is sovereign, even over a man’s thoughts and words, and He is also the great discerner of motives. As the author of Hebrews reminds us: ‘For the word of God is quick (alive, living) and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of (able to judge) the thoughts and intents (intentions) of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest (not hidden) in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do (must give account),’ (Heb. 4:12-13)
My fellow saints, we cannot run from or hide anything from our Creator and Controller. So I don’t know why we foolishly insist on doing it. Please, let’s wake up and see ourselves for what we truly are nuh. That’s creations of God, to whom He gave free will, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t keep tabs on us and just allows us to do what and go where we want. Absolutely not! In His own time, according to His will, He is going to foul up our well laid plans, if we don’t include Him in them. And that’s the long and short of the story! (smile).
Now for those of us who are trying our best to live according to God’s will, 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 made that declaration (awright!!!) 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!
…if God is not in it…then there’s a strong possibility it won’t be successful…
22 Mar 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a word of warning, all such rejoicing is evil, and doeth it not to him it is sin, backsliders, beware of covetousness, Bible, boast not thyself of tomorrow, boasting, buy and sell and make profit, christianity, continue there a year, divine help, eat drink and be merry, error of their ways, faith, foolish pride, Friday chant, go into a city, go to now ye that say, god, he that layeth up treasure for himself, I will say to my soul, if the Lord will, is not rich toward God, it is even a vapour, Jesus, Jesus Christ, LOVE, one one cocoa full basket, simmering unrest, snowy weather conditions, Soul thou hast much goods laid up for any years, stand strong and steadfast, take heed, take thine ease, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, that appeareth for a little time then vanisheth away, the devil's playground, the example we faithful believers set, the green eyed monster, the parable of the rich fool, the throne of grace, the Wrath of a Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, thou fool, thou knowest not what a day may bring forth, to him that knoweth to do good, today or tomorrow, we shall live and do this or that, what is your life, wisdom, ye rejoice in your boastings
Proverbs 27:1. Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Well, it’s that day, when all the voices around the world can’t help but sing ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ Let’s hope that those who went to work on clear, dry ground this morning won’t be too unhappy when they have to make the evening drive home in snowy weather conditions. Yes, the snow has begun coming down in my area, and granted, right now it’s merely trickling down, but as my Jamaican people would say, ‘one one cocoa full basket.’ And that’s the truth, a little of anything builds up over time, so if the snow continues to fall, even as slowly as it’s now doing, by this afternoon a fair amount would have fallen and made driving and walking conditions difficult.
So, a word of warning, unless you must go out, don’t go! (smile) And today we’ll talk about a very popular but unwise thing that we all do from time to time. It comes from the wise words of Cousin Sol in Proverbs, under the general heading of ‘The Wrath of a Fool. It says: ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ (Prov. 27:1) And doesn’t that sound familiar. It certainly does! For as James, Jesus’ brother, so wisely wrote to the Jewish diaspora.
‘Go to now (come now), ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice (boast) in your boastings (arrogance): all such rejoicing (boasting) is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James 4:13-17)
Oh my people, what wonderful words of wisdom and good advice are to be found in that passage of scripture! First, we make all sorts of pronouncements about our future without including God, without even asking for His opinion and/or direction. That’s not wise, for who knows what another day may bring, since our lives are as vapour, that’s here one minute and gone the next. A lot of people went to bed last night expecting to get up this morning and continue life as usual, only to be disappointed, because they were either too ill to get up or the Lord had called them home during the night. That just shows how little control we have over our lives.
Again, many people who have left home this morning hale and hearty to go to work, won’t return home this evening because they either got sick at work and ended up in the hospital, or they met in a car accident and unexpectedly departed this life. So that should teach us two things; firstly, to always involve God in all of our decisions, to seek out His eternal wisdom on whatever we’re planning to do. And secondly, to always be good to the ones we LOVE, show them true appreciation, and tell them we LOVE them at every opportunity, for we don’t know if or when we will be unexpectedly separated.
Now, all of that reminds us of the parable of the rich fool that Jesus told, when asked about dividing an inheritance between two brothers. First off, He warned: ‘Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.’ (Luke 12:15) Yes friends, the tentacles of the green eyed monster; envy, jealousy, selfishness and covetousness are rampant in our world today. We must remember though that our earthly possessions are not the most important things in our lives, for as we said earlier on, our lives are like a wisp of vapour; one minute here, then gone the next. So why spoil our already short lives by coveting and fighting for earthly things that we will just leave behind for others to fight over eh? It’s the height of foolish pride!
Then Jesus told this most appropriate parable. ‘The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits (store my crops)? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow (store) all my fruits (crops) and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ (Luke 12:16- 21)
As usual, my fellow saints, Jesus did not mince words. He spoke it loudly and plainly. Those who don’t have God in their lives, as their guiding light, will eventually stumble and fall into the darkness of the evil one. Please, let us learn the necessary lessons from all that we’ve said this morning, so we don’t fall into Satan’s evil net. Now, it’s time to go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, asking for help in these our desperate times of need.
As one voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly.
And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And I’d just like to remind us that no divine help will be forthcoming until we show the ‘trusting faith’ and be the good ‘examples of faithful believers,’ we spoke of in our prayer. Much LOVE!
…boasting…in and of ourselves…is the devil’s playground…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
22 Sep 2022
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a positive outlook on life, all such rejoicing is evil, and doeth it not to him it is sin, boast not thyself of tomorrow, buy and sell and get gain, courage, creativity, curse, have life more abundantly, I am come that they might have life, in a partnership with God, LOVE, negative word, new mercies and compassions, sufficent unto the day is the evil thereof, take therefore no thought for tomorrow, that appeareth for a little time than vanisheth away, the morrow shall take thought for itself, the mountain of sins, the penultimate day of the work week, this is the day the Lord has made, thou knowest not what a day may bring forth, Thursday Blessings, to him that knoweth to do good, unchristian conduct, unto whom much is given much is required, we will rejoice and be glad in it, what is your life, wisdom in spades, ye know not what shall be on the morrow, your life is even a vapour
Psalm 118:24. This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.
And then it was Thursday, the penultimate day of the workweek, with many of us anxiously, hopefully looking forward to that last day tomorrow. But please remember Jesus’ wise advice: ‘Take therefore no thought for the morrow (do not worry about tomorrow): for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof.’ (Matt. 6:34).
Now that’s the overwhelming truth my people! We need to look after, to concentrate on today, which is all we have right now. Tomorrow will look after itself. We don’t know if we’ll even be around to see tomorrow, so why spend so much time concentrating on it eh? Instead, let’s do as the psalmist so wisely proclaimed: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps. 118:24)
And that’s wisdom in spades. Today is what we have, so let’s enjoy it, otherwise we’re wasting God’s precious time and blessings, especially the new mercies and compassions that He’s prepared new for us this special day. Yes mih bredrin, every day we spend on this planet earth is a special day which the Lord made so that we can enjoy it and do His will. That’s why He blesses us anew every day.
Jesus said it very clearly: ‘I am come that they (His flock, His followers) might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10b) Now how can we enjoy a more abundant life if we’re always thinking of tomorrow and not focusing on today, as we ought to eh? That’s defeating Jesus’ very plan for our lives. And I like how James admonishes his readers, and consequently us on the subject of tomorrow.
Describing unchristian conduct, he writes: ‘Go to now (come now), ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings (boast in your arrogance): all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ ((James 4:13-17)
Oh my people, James covers a whole lot in those few verses. So let’s see what the scholars have to say on them. Re 13-14: ‘This one is a fool, for he thinks he knows something that he doesn’t. He presumes he has the resources to control his destiny. (cf. Prov. 27:1; Luke 12:13-21).’ And those scriptures are excellent references of our unfortunate concentration on tomorrow. In the verse from Proverbs, Cousin Sol does declare very forcefully. ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ (Prov. 27:1)
Meanwhile the passage from Luke is where Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool, who had so much that he had no room to store it. So, in his wisdom, decides to tear down everything and build anew, that he might have space to store all his wealth, and then take things easy: ‘eat, drink and be merry.’ But in his frail and finite wisdom he missed one important thing, he did not factor in God’s will.
Consequently, when God came along, He said to him. ‘Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ (Luke 12:20-21) Yes friends, we are in a partnership with Almighty God and partners are supposed to talk with and cooperate with each other. That means we cannot make plans without including God.
And going back to the verses from James, the scholars tell us in vs.15: Re ‘This or that. This verse teaches that God does have something for Christians to do and that they should plan accordingly. James only condemns elaborate planning that omits God. (cf. Prov. 16:9)’ Now, since I delight in spoon feeding us, (smile) here is that verse from Proverbs. ‘A man’s heart deviseth (plans) his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.’ (Prov. 16:9) Yes my people, our God is indeed sovereign over our scheming and planning. So it’s His will that usually wins out.
And moving back once more to James, we discover that in vs. 17: ‘To do good here requires including God in one’s plans. Omitting God is not merely bad planning; it is sin.’ And that’s not rocket science, but simple common sense. If you know what is right to do, and don’t do it, then you’re wrong, and it can therefore be construed as sin. And Jesus, in His telling of the parable of the unfaithful servant, (Luke 12:41-48) says as much.
‘And that servant, which knew his lord’s (master’s) will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.’ (Luke 12:47-48)
Oh friends, right there, Jesus is indirectly talking about us. Servants bear a great responsibility to their masters, and if Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, we as His followers, or His servants, also bear a huge responsibility to Him and His will. We need to remember that at all times. Yes, life is good, is better with Jesus than with anybody else, but that good life doesn’t come gratis or free. There is indeed a price to pay, a responsibility to be shouldered, and if we don’t shoulder our responsibilities, then there are consequences to be suffered for our irresponsibility.
But our God is so good that He doesn’t just send us out to do His bidding without the necessary tools to accomplish it. That’s why we’ve been endowed with what we call our Thursday Blessings, tools to perform His awesome will. So, let’s activate them right now by declaring (steups!!!) them nuh.
Altogether now, in 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 activated those marvellous blessings, let’s go out now and put them to use in Jesus’ name, as is our bounden duty. Much LOVE!
…can you imagine the mountain of sins…we believers pile up each day…by knowing the good and right things to do…and not doing them…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
29 Aug 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bright and sunshiny day, all things, an added sparkle to the morning, attitude of prayer, be grateful for life, breathe. let go, come calling so suddenly, contributed to your advancement, count your blessings, counting my blessings, counting our blessings, cultivate the habit of being grateful, different like night and day, entitlement, give thanks continuously, gospel truth, immoral society, immortal words, in Christ Jesus concerning you, in everything give thanks, in the face of adversity, in the fear of God, it is even a vapour, look forward to life, maintain gratitude, my life is a wind, my whole life turned around, name them one by one, one to another, our friend Anselm, positive vibes, pray without ceasing, remind yourself, see what God has done, sink in, submitting yourselves, take active root, thank you, the grim reaper, this is the will of God, this might be your last moment, use not vain repetitions, vibes become positive, washed by divine showers of blessings, what is your life, when ye pray, wisdom is the principal thing
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Oh friends there’s nothing better to awaken to than a clean earth that’s been well washed by divine showers of blessings during the night, and then opens as a bright and sunshiny day. Everything smells fresh and clean and there’s an added sparkle to the morning, as when silver is polished to a heightened state. (smile) Well that’s the kind of day with which we’ve been blessed in my area on this lazy, late summer Saturday. And since it’s Saturday, I guess I should turn my attention to the quotes that our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow.
And this first one is certainly interesting: ‘Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.’ Now that’s what you call gospel truth, because none of us ever knows if our next breath may be our last. The Grim reaper can come calling so suddenly, that we need to continually remember the vapour that life is. As James puts it: ‘Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.’ (James 4:14) And Job, when he remonstrates with God, solemnly declares (yeah!): ‘O remember that my life is wind…’ (Job 7:7)
That just goes to show how frail and uncertain our lives can be. Consequently, this next quote can certainly help us in that regard. ‘If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.’ Ah mih people, those two words, ‘thank you,’ are possibly the best two we can ever say to God or man. Now I’m assuming that the author of that quote doesn’t mean the one single prayer you’ve ever said in your entire life, and that you’ve never said another, (smile) but that ‘thank you’ is the prayer you say continually, and nothing else.
Under those circumstance I believe that God will be extremely pleased, because all He asks of us is to be thankful and grateful for the life and blessings He’s so generously bestowed on us, especially the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. And as Jesus says, we don’t need to prayer long prayers. ‘But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.’ (Matt. 6:7) Now that doesn’t mean that our every prayer should be only a few words, but generally speaking, babbling on like the heathen are accused of doing, doesn’t mean our prayers will be heard or answered any quicker.
That leads to the following quote, which does a marvellous job of explaining how our lives ought to be ordered. Listen up carefully. ‘It is necessary, then, to cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.’ Oh friends, oh friends, what wonderful truth is contained in those words, and if we were to ever follow it, our lives would be different like night and day!
And it’s so sad to realize that the habits of gratefulness and thankfulness are fading fast away from our greedy, selfish, godless and immoral society. For some of us, saying thank you, or showing gratefulness is like pulling teeth without the use of anesthetic! Being grateful for all that we have, or have done, which makes us who we are, has become anathema to our society, and has been replaced by the cult of entitlement. Yes, entitlement now rules the roost my brethren! We are now entitled to everything!
But let’s remember the immortal words of Bruh Paul to the Thessalonians nuh: ‘Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ (1 Thess. 5:17-18) That means, as the scholars explain: ‘5:17. A believer ought to remain in the attitude of prayer though not always praying audibly.’ ‘5:18. In every event or circumstance (thing) the Christian is to give thanks to God for the good He can bring out of the event, even should the event be unpleasant. The constant attitude of prayer, mentioned in verse 17, will help the believer to maintain gratitude in the face of adversity.’
And to the Ephesians, re the ways of the believer, Bruh Paul said it thus: ‘Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear (reverence) of God.’ (Eph. 5:20-21). Meanwhile to the Colossians, he said: ‘And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.’ (Col. 3:17) How much more do we need to hear for it to sink in and take active root in our lives eh my people?
And this last quote covers, or encapsulates all the others. ‘When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.’ And is that the living truth! My precious people of God, when we begin counting our blessings, instead of our adversity, then the whole mood, mode and tempo of our lives change for the better. Our vibes then become positive and not negative and we look forward to life each and every day, although we know that it won’t always run as smoothly as we desire.
But that’s the Spirit of God then working in us to lighten and brighten our days. As the song ‘Count Your Blessings’ so wonderfully puts it: ‘Count your blessings, name them one by one; count your blessings, see what God hath done…’ Why don’t we try doing that today my fellow saints in Christ, rather than dwelling on the negatives in our lives eh? That’s wisdom to the nth degree. And we all know that wisdom is the principal thing. Much LOVE!
…nothing beats a grateful and thankful heart…
18 Feb 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a vpour, Ahab, another winter's day, appears for a little time, arrogance, Ben-hadad, best example, boast himself, boast not thyself of tomorrow, boastings, boldfaced, build bigger and better, buy and sell, crowing, eat drink and be merry, get gain, girdeth o his harness, God's graciousness, have a good attitude, heavy snaowfall, hurry, in god's eyes, in Jesus' name, including god in one's plans, Israel, Jesus the poster boy, layeth up treasure for himself, life, litigation, make a profit, mans heart plans his way, mentally embrace it, much goods laid up, no difference between jew and Gentile, not rich towards God, not what I do, not what I have, omitting god is sin, parable of the rich fool, put out best foot forward, sacrificial love, say to my soul, shall not be ashamed, share His love, sin, Smamria, take thine ease, the beloeved of god, the grace of Jesus, the Lord directs his steps, the northern climes, the white enemy, the world's wealth, thou knowest not, trust my friend Jesus, Tuesday Mantra, turn back and bite you, vanishes away, what a day may bring, what is your life, whoever believes on him, with Jesus' help, worry, worthless possessions
Proverbs 27:1. Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring.
And yuh see how life could turn back and bite yuh! Yes, for all of you in the G.T.A, who were crowing yesterday morning because you didn’t have to go to work, yuh see the dangerous and messy conditions you have to go out in today…the white enemy all over, after a heavy snowfall last night! Serve yuh right for lording it over those who had to go and labour yesterday! (smile)
Ah friends, it’s just another winter’s day in the northern climes, and as you valiantly forge through it, you must have a good attitude, laugh and chuckle, hope for and think of the sunshine and good weather that soon come, otherwise it’s just going to drive you crazy, as you slip and slide through it. You might not like the snow, but the wise thing to do is to mentally embrace it, with Jesus’ help of course, so you’re not always flustered and bothered when you encounter it.
Yes, that can be easier said than done, but like everything else in this world, we have been endowed with the parts to live a pleasant and abundant life, we just have to put our best foot forward in Jesus’ name. And all of that brings us to this ever so important principle of scripture and life in general. Hear these immortal, truthful and wise words of Cousin Sol. ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring.’
And Jesus described it ever so well in the parable of the rich fool, who had so much wealth and not enough space to store it, that he decided to tear down all and build bigger and better… ‘and there will I bestow (store) all my fruits (crops) and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.’ (Luke 12:18-19) Yes my brethren, that’s how too many of us behave, believers included. We live too much for the world’s wealth and pretty but worthless possessions.
And Jesus continued His parable with these words of everlasting wisdom. ‘But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?’ Yeh friends, for the lawyers and other professionals involved in the tremendous and foolish litigation that will follow his death! We see that played out everyday in the lives of the rich and famous: somebody is never satisfied with their portion of the estate, or unhappy that they didn’t get any.
And the warning is also in the Old Testament. In 1 Kings 20, when Ben-hadad, king of Syria, threatened Ahab, king of Israel to destroy Samaria unless he gave up his wealth and power voluntarily, Ahab answered: ‘Tell him, let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.’ (1 Kin. 20:11) Yes my people, we never know what’s going to happen in between time. And Ben-hadad in his righteous anger was defeated by Israel, obviously with God’s help, when he finally came against them.
But getting back to Jesus’ parable of the rich fool. Here is how He ended it. ‘So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ (Luke 12:21) And the scholars explain: ‘12:21. Here Jesus brings out the meaning of verses 16-20. Notice that what Jesus calls for follows quite logically out of His own example (2 Cor.8:9), as well as out of God’s graciousness toward all who seek Him (Rom.10:12). Jesus is thus not speaking of a pay-as-you-go faith, but of participation in a relationship in which God already provides what He wishes His people to give back to Him.’
Oh my people, remember all that we have belongs to God, and we’re just stewards of His belongings, so it’s rather boldfaced of us to think that we’re giving Him our things. (smile) Anyway, we have space to highlight those two scriptures the scholars quote above. ‘For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.’ (2 Cor. 8:9) Yes, when coming to sacrificial LOVE, Jesus is the poster child for that, the mightiest example to be ever found!
And the next verse declares (yeah!): ‘For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.’ (Rom.10:11-12) I put in verse 11 so that the context could be better understood, that our God is rich in mercy, grace, forgiveness, what ever have you, towards all and any that call on Him, in sincerity of heart, be they Jew or Gentile! So it doesn’t make sense for us to become so attached to the things of the world, as so many of us are.
Now hear James theorize on the subject: ‘Go to (come) now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that. But now ye rejoice (boast) in your boastings (arrogance): all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James 4:13-17)
And the scholars offer a couple of explanations. ‘4:15. This, or that: This verse teaches that God does have something for Christians to do and that they should plan accordingly. James condemns only elaborate planning that omits God (cf. Prov. 16:9).’ ‘4:17. To do good here requires including God in one’s plans. Omitting God is not merely bad planning; it is sin.’ Now if all of that doesn’t grab our attention and teach us not leave God out of any of our business, then I don’t know what will. (smile)
Now let’s go home declaring (yeah!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know who and whose we are! In strong voice with sincere hearts: ‘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 the world. Amen!’
And the end goal is to now go out and share that wonderful friendship and amazing LOVE with those who don’t know Him! Much LOVE!
…a man’s heart deviseth (plans) his way…but the Lord directeth his steps… (Prov.16:9)
11 Jun 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a man's heart, a riney day, a vapour, after, after life ends, and doesn't, appears for a little time, arogance, beloved of God, boast not of tomorrow, boastings, breath of life, bright and sunshiny, come now, don't leave for tomorrow, eliminate the after, for thou knowest not, friend jesus, gospel truth, if the Lord will, if we shall live, immense pleasure, it is sin, later, make a profit, material welath, not leave till later, not say after, of the time we have left, omitting God, over man's scheming and planning, parable of the rich fool, plans his way, share His love, such rejoicing is evil, take full advantage, the charm is broken, the children grow up, the day becomes night, the Lord directs his steps, the Lord is sovereign, the promises are forgotten, then vanishes, time flies, time waits on no one, to him that knows to do good, too late to go back, Tuesday Mantra, what a day may bring, what is your life, what you can do today
Proverbs 27:1. Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Oh yes, it was indeed a very ‘riney’ day yesterday – from early morn, right on into the night! But it’s very sunshiny and beautiful today though! Glory Be! Like it’s becoming impossible to have a few bright and sunshiny, warm days in a row. But we’ll take them however we can get them yes! (smile)
Anyhow, here’s an interesting situation. And you’ll notice how the Lord is so up on things? I’m in the habit of telling the duchess that the week is almost done, but I haven’t done even a half of what I wanted to do. And she replies by telling me that time isn’t waiting on me. Then lo and behold, a few days ago, a friend sent me this message via her what’s app app.
It says: ‘This was sent to me today and couldn’t help but share, very beautiful, very true….! Hardly the day started and … it is already six o’clock in the evening. Barely arrived on Monday and it’s already Friday… and the month is already over. … and the year is almost up. … and already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed. … and we realize that we lost our parents, friends. And we realize that it is too late to go back …
So … Let’s try, however, to take full advantage of the time we have left … Let’s not stop looking for activities that we like …Let’s put color in our greyness … Let’s smile at the little things in life that put balm in our hearts. And yet, we must continue to enjoy serenely the time that remains. Let’s try to eliminate the “after” … I’ll do it after … I will say after … I will think about it after …
We leave everything for later as if “after” was ours. Because what we do not understand is that: after, the coffee cools … after, priorities change … after, the charm is broken … after, health passes … after, the children grow up … after, the parents get older … after, the promises are forgotten … after, the day becomes the night … after, life ends … And after that it’s often too late….
So … leave nothing for later … Because always waiting for later, we can lose the best moments, the best experiences, the best friends, the best family … The day is today … The moment is now … We are no longer at the age where we can afford to postpone until tomorrow what needs to be done right away. So after you read this message… Please share it with others… And don’t leave it for “later”… Or not share it “ever”….’
Well I left it for a li’l later, but not for ever. (smile) Yes friends, that’s why they say time flies, and time waits on no one, and why our parents and teachers drilled it into our heads to not leave for tomorrow what we can do today! But do we ever listen? No sir! We still procrastinate and say, tomorrow, even though tomorrow never comes – because it’s always today!
So let’s hope that li’l message will help us stop putting off things for later, or tomorrow, because we often miss the best of life when we do so. That’s why Cousin Sol warns us in Proverbs: ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ And isn’t that the gospel truth? We don’t have a clue as to what will really happen tomorrow. That’s why we should try our best to do what we have to do today.
And even when we can’t, we should make this proviso as James warns. ‘Go to now (come now), ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice (boast) in your boastings (arrogance): all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James 4:13-17) All of that is simply gospel truth my people, whether we think so or not!
And the scholars offer some explanations on those verses. ‘4:13-14. This one is a fool, for he thinks he knows something that he doesn’t. He presumes he has the resources to control his destiny. (cf. Prov.27:1; Luke 12:13-21).’ ‘4:15. This, or that: This verse teaches that God does have something for Christians to do and that they should plan accordingly. James condemns only elaborate planning that omits God (cf. Prov.16.9).’ ‘4:17. To do good here requires including God in one’s plans. Omitting God is not merely bad planning, it is sin.’ Matter fix mih people!
And if you don’t believe James, then you can check out his brother Jesus, when He told the parable of the rich fool, (Luke 12:13-21) who was only interested in his own aggrandizement and left God out of his plans. But what he forgot was that he had no control over the breath of life in his physical body, which belonged to God in the first place.
So when the Lord decided to take back His breath of life that very night that he was making big plans, the poor fool had no recourse but to go away and leave all his material wealth for others to blow away. And that’s what is likely to happen to any of us who is not rich towards God. And now, having that lesson written indelibly in our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, let’s go home declaring (yes!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know who and whose we are.
In strong voice and sincere sense of purpose now: ‘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 the world. Amen!’
And as always, the corollary is to go out and share that special friendship and wonderful LOVE of Jesus with those who don’t have the immense pleasure of knowing Him like we do! Much LOVE!
…a man’s heart deviseth (plans) his way…but the Lord directeth his steps…(the Lord is sovereign…over man’s scheming and planning…) (Prov.16:9)
19 Dec 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future with Jesus, a man's heart plans, a vapour, appears for a little time, boast not of tomorrow, buy and sell, christian conduct, do this or that, hands on the plough, if the Lord will, in God's time, looking ahead, make a profit, not looking back, pray fervently, proviso, righteous saints, stay strong and steadfast, thank God, the Big Day, the breath of life, the Holy Spirit, the Lord directs his path, the Lord willing, vanishes away, we shall live, Wednesday Wail, what is your life, what shall be on the morrow, ye ought to say
James 4:15. For what ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Well at last friends, at long last the Big Day is here! Give God the glory! The ole fella’s heart is finally going to be fixed up, given some assistance so that he can live and LOVE longer in God’s great universe and do His work with greater diligence and excellence! Give Him plenty thanks friends! Now you’re only getting this so early because I have to be in the downtown hospital by seven o’clock, so please don’t think it will be the future norm. (smile)
And I have to chuckle here because none of my surgeries have gone off on the day originally planned. The removal of the tumour in my head had been planned for January, but that never took place until the end of April. Meanwhile, with the heart stuff, I was in the hospital for that at the end of March, but it didn’t happen. Now, after another postponement last week, it finally seems to be happening.
All in God’s time, my people, all in God’s time! We need to remember that we can make lots of plans, but they can all come to nought if they don’t correspond to God’s time, or include Him at all. And when thinking about making the statement that all will be well, and I’ll speak to you all tomorrow, bright and spunky, the Holy Spirit brought this passage of Scripture to mind.
Listen up here to James re Unchristian conduct. ‘Go to now (come now), ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.’ (James 4:13-14) Yeh friends, that’s pure presumptuousness!
And the scholars don’t mince any words in their explanation of those two verses: ‘4: 13-14. This one is a fool, for he thinks he knows something that he doesn’t. He presumes he has the resources to control his destiny (Prov.27:1; Luke 12:13-21).’ True words of wisdom my people!
And here is how Cousin Sol puts it: ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ (Prov.27:1) And we really don’t. Look at how many of us go to bed fine at night and don’t awaken in the morning eh? It’s all in the Lord’s hands! And until we learn that, our well-prepared plans are liable to go awry very often.
And James continues: ‘For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.’ Now that sounds more like it! And the scholars tell us: ‘4:15. This, or that: This verse teaches that God does have something for Christians to do and that they should plan accordingly. James condemns only elaborate planning that omits God (cf. Prov.16:9).’
And as always, Cousin Sol has a saying on every subject: ‘A man’s heart deviseth (plans) his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.’ (Prov.16:9) And the scholars simply explain: ‘16:9. The Lord is sovereign over man’s scheming and planning.’ No doubt about that my brethren! It’s His universe, and He controls it, though it sometimes looks otherwise. But please have no doubt that His finger is on the pulse of everything that goes on in His world, and NOTHING happens unless He allows it.
Therefore I will say to us, that we will speak again tomorrow, possibly very late though, because I might not get home until the afternoon, and might need to rest before I can get up the gumption to write the Bit, (smile) but…but with the proviso…the Lord willing! I strongly believe He is willing, and with all the prayers and pleas you righteous saints are sending up to heaven on my behalf, how can He do otherwise eh? (smile)
He’s had oodles of opportunities to take me home…and never did…so why now eh? He’s put too many desires in my heart for exalting and proclaiming His name, that taking me home now would simply be a waste of those desires.
And as the old people would say; ‘my pee (urine) has burnt any grass as yet.’ (smile) Meaning that I haven’t left a mark on the world as yet. Anyhow, be that as it all may, it’s all in the Lord’s hands, and He will do what He thinks fit. But yes, mih friend Scotty, we are being positive! (smile)
And since today is Wednesday, it behooves us to go home declaring our Wednesday Wail, letting this evil and ungodly world know our true position in Christ. As one loud, strong and sincere body now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!
I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And though I know that the future will indeed be glorious, I don’t think I’m ready to see it in living colour just yet. (smile) So until we talk again sometime tomorrow…the Lord willing obviously…please stay strong and steadfast my people…and pray fervently! Much LOVE!
…our times are in the Lord’s hands…that’s for sure…
P.S. It’s surely a smiley kind of day! But why not eh? Much LOVE!
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