The Dire Need to Walk with God in this Evil World!

03 Aug 2024 Leave a comment

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

1 Samuel 2:1.        And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over (smiles at) mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.

Well friends, it’s our lazy-day Saturday, and I took full advantage of it this morning after the horrible evening I had last evening attending the Steelband Competition in Toronto. Ah Lord eh, what a nightmare. First of all, just at the entrance to the city, the traffic was horrendous because of road construction. Then, the new location for the Carnival is in the heart of the big Exhibition Stadium, where several activities were scheduled for the same time, and with several roads closed within the stadium, moving around and parking was another disaster. 

Then, when you were finally directed to a parking spot on the grass, with cars packed close together, you had to walk at least a quarter mile to the entrance of the show we wanted to attend. But who says the Lord doesn’t work in mysterious ways, for halfway there, a heaven-sent gentleman offered a middle aged woman and us two old men a ride in his golf-cart. Praise the Lord! 

Now that was the good part, for when you got into the show you found that the stands were situated behind the judges and the D.J, and both of them had canopies covering them, so you could not see the full stage, which was in front of them. You either had to sit right down at the very front on the first couple of rows, or go to one end of the stand or the other to see anything. I went to the left side of the judges’ placement, which means I didn’t see the right side of any of the seven bands that performed. 

It was such a total disrespect to the patrons who were paying their hard earned money to see a mediocre show in the first place, because only about three or four bands really deserved to be there. Our West Indian community has put on some bad shows in our time, but I’ve never seen such total disrespect for the patrons before. And in talking to the duchess this morning, it was apparently the same way with the King and Queen Show the night before. 

And the seven, middle-aged to elderly West Indian men who were the judges just sat in their comfortable seats with no sun shining down on them, oblivious to the sad plight of the paying people! A pox on you judges, who have all been involved in entertainment in the city over the years! You should have been big and responsible enough to speak up and have the covering removed, and not be simply concerned with your own comfort. 

Then when the competition was over, you had the long walk back to your car, if you could find it in the crazy maze of cars parked all over the grounds. And the sad part is that instead of driving, we spoke about taking the Go-train which stops at the Exhibition grounds, but figured that the last train home would be too early, and we would have to leave before the show was over, which turned out to be untrue. It’s the earliest I’ve ever seen the show finish; shortly after eleven o’clock. 

Anway, if the venue for this Competition is the same place next year, God spare life, I won’t be there! I know they won’t miss me, but neither will I miss the terrible organizing that has characterized West Indian promotions in this city for the last fifty odd years. End of my griping! (smile) 

Now let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with heartfelt sincerity. As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

Yes Lord, thank you for the calm and peace that you’re sending into my soul, as I contemplate the events of last evening. I know there is a lesson somewhere in there for me, please help me to see it and learn it. Yes friends, in every situation we encounter, there’s a lesson embedded there for us, that’s how our Lord moves. The problem though, is for us to discern that lesson and then action it in our lives. So please pray that I will be able to discern whatever it was the Lord desires to teach me, in allowing yesterdays fiasco to happen. (smile) 

And as for today’s scriptural lesson, I just opened the Good Library and it opened to Hanah’s Prayer and Song, that’s the prophet Samuel’s mother, as she gave her son Samuel to the duty of Lord, as she had vowed if the Lord heard her prayer and opened her barren womb. And it’s a perfect prayer or song for us to sing today and every day. So let’s pray or sing it, whichever you prefer. (smile) 

‘And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over (smiles at) mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy (arrogance) come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. 

They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased (to hunger): so that the barren hath borne seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor our of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar form the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them. 

He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn (strength) of his anointed. And Elkanah (Samuel’s father) went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister (serve) unto the Lord before Eli the priest.’ (1 Sam. 2:1-11) 

Yes my fellow believers that’s the kind of faith and prayer life we should have! Hannah prayed sincerely to have a son as she was undergoing torment in her barren life, and vowed that if the Lord heard her prayed she would enlist him in the Lord’s service. And that’s exactly what she did. Unlike many of us who vow to do stuff if the Lord hears our prayers, then don’t keep our promise. But as we sit today and ponder Hannah’s powerful prayer, let’s also remember these wise words of Cousin Sol from Ecclesiastes. ‘When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than thou shouldest vow and not pay.’ (Eccl. 5:4-5) 

And we should not keep our promises only to God, but to all mankind, which will surely increase the faith, trust and LOVE in our faithless and distrustful world!  Much LOVE!

…sincerely walking with God…is the best antidote…for the problems of this earthly life…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 May 2020 Genesis 28:20.

03 May 2020 Leave a comment

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

​Genesis 28:20.    ​If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:

 

Come Sunday morning, my fellow saints and I, will gather together for sweet fellowship, around our electronic devices, to sing and praise and thank and exalt our wonderful God, for all that He’s done for us! Oh for sure, no social distancing and locking of sanctuary doors will stop us from worshipping Him on His day with singing and dancing, hearing His Word, and receiving His joy, confidence and assurance to help us get through another week of pandemic panic! 

So let’s get going with a song of worship, most appropriate to these times nuh, a song written by Sarah Flowers in the 19th century, titled ‘Nearer My God to Thee.’ And do we all ever need to draw close and closer to our Creator and Provider my people! Our lives have become so sinful, haphazard and disobedient that it’s only by drawing closer to Him that we can ever get them cleaned up and set right again. So with true sincerity in our hearts, let’s raise our voices in sacrificial song, soulful and sweet. 

‘Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me, Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down, Darkness be over me, my rest a stone; Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! There let the way appear, steps unto Heav’n; All that Thou sendest me, in mercy giv’n; Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! 

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise, Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise; So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky, Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I’ll fly, Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest, There in my Savior’s LOVE, perfectly blest; Age after age to be nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!’ 

Oh friends, our singing was most excellent, let’s hope that the Lord saw genuine sincerity when He looked at our hearts. Yes precious people, we need the One and Only True Living God, every minute of every day, whether we’re down here on earth or in heaven above. One commentary put’s it this way: ‘Even when we cannot see or feel Him, the Lord never leaves our side. As we walk through each day, let us remember to call upon His name and give Him thanks. The beautiful lyrics of ‘Nearer My God to Thee’ are the perfect call to the Lord.’ And are they ever my friends! 

And someone also noted the irony that in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, as the British Passenger Liner, the Titanic was sinking, the bandleader chose to play ‘Nearer My God to Thee.’ The irony comes from the earlier boast of the ship owners and builders that the Titanic was a ship that ‘even God Himself could not sink.’ But as they were going under, God’s Spirit moved miraculously to turn their thoughts to Him, their Creator and Saviour. It was reputed that the song was written to accompany a pastor’s sermon on Genesis 28:11-19, generally known as the story of Jacob’s ladder, or dream. 

The Good Book tells us that Isaac sent Jacob to Padan-aram from his home in Canaan to marry one of his uncle Laban’s daughters because he didn’t want him marrying a Canaanite woman. One night along the way, he slept in a certain deserted place and had a dream, as of a ladder going up from earth to heaven, with angels of God ascending and descending it. ‘And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed (descendants). And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ (Gen. 28:13-14) 

Oh friends, doesn’t that sound mighty familiar? It surely does, because it was the same basic promise the Lord made to Abraham back in Genesis 12. And out of the seed of Jacob, the Lord’s promise to Abraham would begin to come true, after He changed His name to Israel, the father of many nations, through the twelve tribes of Israel. But the Lord didn’t stop there in Jacob’s dream, He continued: ‘And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee; until I have done that which I have spoken to thee.’ (Gen 28:15) 

No wonder Jacob was so blessed. But yuh see who the Lord used to bring Abraham’s dream to pass; Jacob, the ole crook and con man. Just goes to show that the Lord is no respecter of people, and will use the most unexpected people to do His bidding. Obviously Jacob awoke afraid, and said: ‘Surely, the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.’ (Gen. 28:15) Then when he got up, he took the stone he’d used for his pillow, set it up for a pillar, poured oil upon it, and called the place Bethel (House of God), although it was already named Luz. 

Then he vowed a vow saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth (a tithe) unto thee.’ (Gen. 28:16-22) And apparently the Lord kept His promise to Jacob, and Jacob kept His vow to God. 

But my people, how many of us have vowed vows to God, made promises that we’ve never kept eh; either when He’s blessed us, or when we’ve asked Him for blessings? Too many, I suspect. But please remember these wise words of Cousin Sol: ‘When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.’ (Eccl. 5:4-5) That’s wisdom in spades! Much LOVE!

…He who has ears to hear…let him hear…