The Outstanding and Undeserved Goodness of God towards Mankind!

01 Sep 2025 Leave a comment

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

Romans 5:8.        But God commendeth (demonstrated) his LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

                                                             HAPPY  LABOUR  DAY! 

Well, it’s September first, meaning the summer vacation season is over. And since this is the first Monday in September, we’re also celebrating Labour Day in honour of all those who put up a strenuous fight over the last century, for us to get the labour benefits many of us now currently enjoy. It was not an easy fight, and many died and suffered so we could enjoy these gains. So please, as we enjoy the holiday, let’s not forget those who made it happen, and promise to fight valiantly not to allow the labour situation to revert to anything like it was back then. 

Labour Day also means that the CNE Exhibition down by the lakeshore ends today, and schools reopen tomorrow. So this is the last big party of the summer, but that doesn’t give us license to go overboard with celebrations, for tomorrow is also work for most of us and we cannot afford to book off sick or go to work obviously suffering from the effects of too much partying. Consequently, we need to apply a modicum of circumspection to the celebrations. (smile) End of sermon. 

 Ah friends, as I was just browsing through the Good Library for an interesting topic to expatiate on (smile), I came across these wise and marvellous words of Psalm 92. ‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth (declare) thy LOVING-KINDNESS in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night. Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery (lute, lyre); upon the harp with a solemn (harmonious, melodic) sound. For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the work of thy hands.’ (Ps. 92:1-4) 

Now that’s how it ought to be all over the Christian world! As we enjoy triumph through the marvellous work of the Lord’s mighty hands, our grateful praise and thanksgiving should be rising up to Him, both morning and evening…and even during other times of the day! Yes, my people, because of the Lord’s innate faithfulness and LOVE for us, He’s gone out of His way to do a lot of stuff on our behalf, stuff we certainly don’t deserve. 

And though we can never truly repay Him for His goodness and mercy towards us, we can certainly attempt to show our gratitude and heartfelt appreciation by genuinely returning His LOVE and offering up much praise and thanksgiving! And that’s all the Lord really desires of us, because He created us and knows that we don’t have the wherewithal to do better. 

And for those who would dispute the Lord’s goodness, His unconditional LOVE and compassion for man, we simply need to look at the great gifts of salvation and eternal life He’s bestowed on us, through the sacrificial death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. And why did He do it? As Bruh Paul writes to the Romans: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) 

Now that’s one of my favourite scriptures, and it tells me that unlike most rulers who would call and/or wait for us to change before giving us the gift of salvation, the Lord God Jehovah LOVED us so much that He gave us the gift before requiring our obeisance. And Jesus Himself spoke of God’s great LOVE for humanity, when He poignantly informed Nicodemus, the Jewish Leader: ‘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) 

Oh my people, those two verses of scripture are possibly the most important in the Bible, because it shows why the Lord sacrificed His Son for a bunch of ungrateful sinners; the word is simply a deep and satisfying LOVE for His human creation. After we had become so steeped in sin, disobedience and rebellion, God could have just given up on us and allowed us all to head to hellfire and damnation with Satan, whom we seem to admire much more than Him. 

But His compassionate heart, His unfailing LOVE would not allow Him to be so callous. So He had to find a way to remedy the situation. And believe me, because of His sense of righteousness and justice, the proper price for sin had to be paid, and the only choice available was to sacrifice His sinless Son. Obviously, it was not an easy choice, for it meant breaking His own heart, but He did it, thus showing the depth of feeling He had for us. And we’d be truly a sad bunch of sinful ingrates, if we did not attempt to be grateful and thankful for all God’s done for us. 

And one of the things that we get to do through His work, is go to the throne of grace to receive grace and mercy in time of need. And are ever in a time of need right now! So, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, let’s confidently, but humbly approach the throne of grace for divine aid. 

Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.

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

And, from our prayer, it’s very easy to see what we need to do to get divine aid – turn from our evil ways, with sincere repentance in our hearts. So please, I plead with us, let’s get up and do it nuh, right now, so that we can make this evil and ungodly world a better place for our children and grandchildren! Much LOVE! 

…God has been so good to us…that His praise should come naturally from our lips and hearts… 

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

The Remarkable Benefits Believers have Received from the Death and Resurrection of Jesus! Part 1

25 Jun 2025 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 103:2.        Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

And then it was Wednesday, our second wind day of the work week! And I hope that we catch that second wind yes, because the last two days have been the proverbial hell on earth, with bright sunshine and temps in the mid-thirties ably accompanied by a hot wind. Thankfully though, today is not as hot, we’re in the mid-twenties, with cloudy skies overhead, a promise of rain, but also rising temps As the old people would say; ‘what a bam bam!’ Right now, we don’t know whether we’re coming or going, but with the marvellous help of Jesus, we can be assured that help is on the way! And all God’s people gave a loud and grateful shout of ‘Thank You Jesus!’

 And we should be grateful for all the things He’s done for us, as Psalm 103 reminds us: ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with LOVING-KINDNESS  and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.’ (Ps. 103: 2-5)

Yes friends, those are some of the reasons why Christ gave up His heavenly position and came to earth like a man, then selflessly gave His life for us on the cross of Calvary, bearing our sins, so that we can be reconciled with God the Father, from whom our abominable sins had wrenched us apart.

Bruh Paul writes it thus to the Philippians: ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (emptied himself of his privileges): And being found in fashion (appearance) of a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) things in heaven, and (those) things in earth, and (those) things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil. 2:5-11)

Oh my people, that just goes to show what a great job Jesus did! So great that the Father exalted Him to the name that’s above every other, and that every tongue should consider Him Lord. But let’s look a little deeper into what His selfless work did for us. And in a nutshell, this commentary tells us what we derived from Christ’s death and resurrection. ‘Christ’s death and resurrection offer believers forgiveness of sins, new life, and the hope of eternal life, among other benefits. His sacrifice on the cross atones for our sins, while his resurrection conquers death, granting believers new life and the promise of eternal life.’

And as per forgiveness of sins, the Bible states: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom. 6:23) So through Christ’s death we achieved forgiveness of sin and basic reconciliation with the Father. Then as per a new life and the new identity we are given when we accept Him as Lord and Saviour (becoming a new creation in Christ; (2 Cor. 5:17) this new life frees us from the power of sin.

As Bruh Paul writes to the Romans: ‘Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like (just) as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. For if we be planted together (united) in the likeness of his death, (certainly) we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:’ (Rom. 6:3-5)

Yes my brethren, if we die with Christ, then we will automatically be raised with Him. And that resurrection is oh so beautiful, because it enables us to have eternal life; to spend eternity with Jesus and the Father! Jesus said it quite plainly to Nicodemus, the Jewish leader who came to him under cover of night seeking answers. ‘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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17)

And as we mentioned before that Jesus resurrection gives us freedom from sin, these words of Bruh Paul to the Corinthians, shine bright light on that new situation. ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave (hades), where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 15:54b- 57) 

However, since time and space are running out on us, if God spares life tomorrow, then we’ll continue looking at some more of the great benefits Christ’s death and crucifixion accomplished on our behalf. But let’s leave with this exhortation from Bruh Paul. ‘Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain (futile) in the Lord.’ (1 Cor. 15:58) And that’s exactly how we ought to behave as true saints of God!  

Now, it’s time to declare our Wednesday Wail, letting all the world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus! As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 let’s remember that for those who endure with Jesus right to the very end, there’s a promise of an even more glorious future than our finite minds can imagine. So wisdom behooves us to be there at the very end, so that we can enjoy that more than glorious future together! Much LOVE!

…without the selfless sacrifice of Jesus…mankind would have eventually been nothing but toast…

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