Today’s Scrip-Bit   24 October 2023 Esther 4:14b.

24 Oct 2023 Leave a comment

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

Esther 4:14b.       and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

So what’s new on this Tuesday morning in late October eh friends? Not a whole lot nuh. All the disasters that are currently enveloping our world are still there; none of them have faded away during the night, which means that mankind is still at each other’s throat, behaving like wild animals instead of the civilized human beings we’re supposed to be. 

Our only hope is to remember that the Lord is still on His throne, still controlling things, and in His time, when He is good and ready, that He will settle the problems in His own way. Until then, we need to be strong and steadfast in our faith, do our best to promote His Name and Word in our li’l area, like He expects of us, running our Christian race to the best of our ability with God’s grace and mercy leading and guiding us through the auspices of His Holy Spirit! 

We can’t all be big powerbrokers of the world, but we can all be true believers doing our small part in the big picture. And truthfully, that’s all the Lord is asking of us yes. He doesn’t expect us all to get up and run the world, but just to do the li’l bit that He’s asked of each of us. Like the Jamaicans say; ‘one one cocoa full a basket.’ And it’s the truth; every li’l contribution grows the whole structure. So please, let’s just concentrate on doing our parts nuh, and don’t allow the untold disasters to steal our joy and crush our spirits, for if we are not the strong, salty flavour of the earth and the bright light shining through our dark world, what will become of it eh? 

As these famous words of Mordecai to his guardian and cousin Esther, when the Jews were about to be slaughtered in Babylon by official proclamation through the cunning of Haman the Agagite so vividly remind us. ‘For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time (remain completely silent), then there shall enlargement (relief) and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’ (Esth. 4:14) 

Yes friends, who knows whether we were all born for this time, so that we can make a significant difference in the lives of those around us.? And what does it all mean eh? As one commentary puts it: ‘it speaks to stepping up to fulfill the purpose God has for each of us, even if it could cause our earthly death.’ The Lord has a plan for each of our lives and we haven’t been just placed in these trying times by accident. No! Our God does NOTHING by accident; He always has a plan for every move He makes. Consequently, we are expected to grow and mature right where we are planted. 

And yes, like Esther we can fear for our lives, but if we claim to be true believers in Christ Jesus then we simply have to do whatever is necessary to promulgate His kingdom, though it costs us our earthly lives. Let’s remember these very important words of Jesus to the disciples, after telling them about His upcoming demise, and Peter took Him aside and rebuked Him, then Jesus in turn rebuked Peter, telling him, ‘Get thee behind me Satan.’ 

Jesus then continued: ‘If any man will (desires to) come after (follow) me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’ (Matt. 16:24-26) 

And those are some very good questions raised by Jesus, my fellow believers! What shall we give in exchange for our souls eh? Unfortunately, a lot of us, too many, are selling our souls to Beelzebub for the perishable and foolish riches of this world, none of which we can carry with us when we leave this world. 

As the patriarch Job says when he was struck down by terrible tragedy: ‘Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ (Job 1:21) And as Cousin Sol so eloquently but plainly puts it in Ecclesiastes: ‘As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.’ (Eccl. 5:15) 

Please my fellow saints, let’s take that verse of wise scripture to heart today nuh and stop running down the destructible wealth of this world, which moth and rust corrupt, and thieves steal, and furthermore, none of which we can carry with us when we depart to the other side. But instead, let’s sincerely seek the indestructible wealth of God’s kingdom, His awesome righteousness, and all that goes with it, where moth nor rust nor thieves can get into steal or corrupt it. That’s the wisdom of heaven my people! And as Jesus so rightly says: ‘For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.’ (Matt. 6:21) 

So if our eyes are steadfastly fixed on the wealth of the world, how can we have any time for the things of heaven? It’s just impossible. And the sorry thing about selling your soul to Satan for worldly wealth, is that you can also get worldly wealth through heavenly sources and not lose your soul in the process. Remember all the things in the universe belong to God, and He is the One who enables us to get wealth. So why run to Beelzebub who can’t do a bloody thing for you, but bring you down to hell fire and eternal damnation, when you can get all the same things and more from Jehovah God eh? 

Please friends, let’s sit and ponder those questions today and see how they line up with the current situations in our lives! It’s high time we take stock of ourselves! Now let’s go home declaring (steups!!!) 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!’ 

Now, we ‘re bound by our words to go out and share that awesome LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…if you don’t stand up for something…especially Jesus…you’re standing for NOTHING…and that’s the greatest waste of a human life… 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   16 December 2021 Romans 1:16a.

16 Dec 2021 Leave a comment

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

Romans 1:16a.     For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: 

It’s a cloudy and somewhat windy Thursday morning in my neighbourhood, but we have spring like temps, something like 13 degrees Celsius, and it’s expected to go higher, although there’s a weather advisory also in effect. But however you cut it, we can’t really complain about that kind of temperature in the middle of December in the northern climes. And with the Christmas season in full swing, the joy of Christ’s birth has thankfully lifted the spirits of many who were hitherto somewhat under the weather. 

And the amazing LOVE story of Christ will do that every time my people! Because that’s what He came to earth to share, the indisputable, unconditional, irreplaceable LOVE of the Father. A LOVE so strong and wonderful that the Good Book describes it thus: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 8:5) 

Imagine that nuh mih bredrin…our heavenly Father sacrificed His one and only Son for us while we were still in bondage to the tyranny of sin! What sort of Father does that eh? Only one that’s very concerned about the people He created. As Jesus Himself summarily declared: ‘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.’ (John 3:16) What an amazing situation for our finite, puny minds to contemplate eh? 

Yes friends, while our hearts were still in chains to sin, the Father offered up His sinless Son for us. Now shouldn’t that make us so grateful that we just want to jump and shout for joy, to tell everybody, and praise the name of Jesus to the high heavens? It ought to, if we are truly grateful and free from the bondage of sin. That’s why Bruh Paul positively proclaimed to the church at Rome: ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.’ (Rom. 1:16) 

Unfortunately though, many of Christ’s supposed followers are ashamed of sharing His gospel with those around them because it will put them in a bad light with those whose opinions they tend to value more than Christ’s. And sharing Christ’s gospel can get you ostracized as Bruh Paul found out by often being beaten, jailed and kicked out of town, as he explains in these excerpts from 2 Cor. 11:23-27. 

‘…in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save (minus) one… In weariness and painfulness (toil), in watchings (sleeplessness) often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.’ (2 Cor. 11:23-27) And yuh better believe that it is still possible for the sharing of the gospel in some societies today to cause serious problems, problems like Bruh Paul’s, thankfully though, not in our society. 

But as one commentator, John Piper, puts it in his article on the subject on the desiringgod.org website: ‘The gospel does two things: It brings out shaming behavior in those who will not believe it. And it gives freedom from shame to those who do believe it.’ Yes my people, when we fully believe Christ’s gospel it gives us the power and strength to resist all shame and possible consequences. And that’s partly why our world is going through the current throes of calamity; we supposed believers were, and still are not truly convinced of the power of the gospel and we fear displeasing men more than we fear displeasing God, our Creator and Controller. 

Now that doesn’t speak well of us, especially when Jesus said it quite plainly. ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ (Matt. 10:28) That’s Almighty God my brethren! But sadly, too many of us supposed Christians only talk a good talk about Christ with our Christian friends and family, but out there amongst the heathen, too often we clam up as though we are stricken dumb for fear of rejection and shaming. 

Christ wasn’t ashamed to be crucified naked on the cross of Calvary for us, but we want His salvation without suffering any sacrificial moments. It doesn’t work like that friends. Please remember these words of Jesus to the disciples: ‘If any man will come after (follow) me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? ’ (Matt. 16:24-26) 

Now that’s a very good question my fellow saints? What are we prepared to give up to save our souls eh? Jesus said if we want to be His followers, we must die to ourselves, to our will, and let His will take priority in our lives, even to the giving up of our mortal lives. And no, it’s not easy to do, or even to contemplate, because ‘discipleship demands sacrifice.’ However, the rewards of doing it His way are more plentiful and beneficial than embracing the only other option available, that of getting in league with the evil enemy, who only has the rewards of death, damnation and eternal separation from Almighty God to offer. 

And, in keeping with His generosity, the Lord has given us freedom of choice to make our own decision. So please, please, let’s take His advice as set out by Moses to the children of Israel so long ago. ‘I call heaven and earth to record (announce) this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deut. 30:19) Yes friends, that’s the best advice in this whole wide world – to choose Jesus, who offers blessings and abundant life! 

And for those of us who have chosen Him and are sincerely trying to do His will, He’s given us numerous blessings that enable us to perform His earthly desires. We call them our Thursday Blessings and we delight in declaring (chuh!!!) them every Thursday. So, in loud and confident voice, let’s do just that nuh: ‘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!’ 

Now, it’s our bounden duty to go out and use those blessings to help others, just as generously as Christ shared them with us. Much LOVE!

…living for Christ…the ultimate sacrifice of life… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8