28 Aug 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a battery of queries, a sign from heaven, a useful purpose, adrenaline, antidote, aura of love, baskets of fragments, beware of the leaven, blues, brought to heel, confidence, conquerors, daily task, demonic origin, derogatory, don't you understand, encourage us, enthusiasm, feeding of the five thousand, fragility, frailty, friends, generation, grind, grouchy, hardened heart, he charged them, Herod, humble servants, invincible, Jesus Christ, Jesus is sufficient, lies, lift up our spirits, like pulling teeth, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, patient teacher, Pharisees, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, same ole, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, take heed, taunts, the enemy, tired, trust, truth, ungodly world, wiles, wisdom
Mark 8:15. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven (yeast) of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.
What shall I say this Monday morning eh my people, to encourage us to get up and get going? It’s so hard to arouse us, lift up our spirits every Monday, like pulling teeth, as our ancestors would say. I believe that we just don’t handle the weekend properly, so on Mondays we’re tired and grouchy and don’t want to get up to go to work, to face the same ole, same ole grind and daily task.
But that’s just the way our society is structured my brethren, there’s not much we can do about it, except don’t work, and then we won’t eat, so the sooner we come to terms with it, the sooner we’d lose those Monday blues.
And everybody nods and agrees. But since when did we begin taking good advice eh? (smile) We all still like to do our own thing even though it brings negative consequences. But don’t worry, we have the proper remedy, the right antidote for those Monday Blues of yours. It’s called the Monday Morning Battle Hymn. So let’s stir up some enthusiasm in our spirits and adrenaline in our blood by declaring it right now nuh.
In strong voice: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Now that wasn’t as rousing a rendition as our choirmaster Jesus would have liked, but He understands the frailty and fragility of our souls, and once we expend a reasonable effort He will be satisfied. So let’s get a move on and put that enthusiasm and adrenaline to work in building Christ’s kingdom in this evil and ungodly world in which we live.
But let’s also be careful and heed Jesus’ warning to His disciples in our Bit. ‘And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven (yeast) of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.’
They had just left a group of Pharisees who were trying to tempt Jesus asking for a sign from heaven. As the scholars surmise: ‘8:1. These Pharisees were evidently not interested in Jesus’ message. They sought rather to satisfy their own curiosity, or perhaps to gather further evidence against Him on the supposition that his work was of demonic origin (3:22).’
But Jesus in His own inimitable way, ‘sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation. And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.’ (Mark 8:12-13) Ah friends, yuh like how Jesus could mash up the Pharisees and them, and just leave them hanging?
And according to the scholars: ‘8:12. Generation refers to those Jews living at that time. “This generation” carries a derogatory sense because this particular generation of Jews has rejected Jesus as their Messiah, despite all the evidence provided them.’
Now after they set out for the other side, the disciples realized they had forgotten to get bread, they only had one loaf on board. That’s when Jesus declared our Bit. ‘And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven (yeast) of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.’ (Mark 8:15-16)
And the scholars offer these explanations. ‘8:15. Charged means “ordered.” Leaven here has a derogatory meaning. Jesus warns of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy and Herod’s secularism.’ ‘8:16. The disciples miss the point totally.’ And is that ever so true! They had no clue whatsoever about what Jesus meant.
And when Jesus realized their wrong thinking, He admonished them. ‘Why reason ye because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye (is) your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?’ (Mark 8:17-21)
Yeh friends, the disciples were somewhat daft there. The scholars explain thus: ‘8:14-21. Jesus challenges the disciples to deeper discernment. The disciples apparently failed to realize from the feeding of the five thousand (6:30-34) and from the feeding of the four thousand that Jesus can certainly provide for their needs.’
Unfortunately, that’s the way a lot of believers are these days too. We forget what the Lord has already done in our lives and begin to fear and worry when problems come up against us, and we need to be summarily reminded of it all.
And we’ll end with this interesting note from the scholars. ‘8:17-21. Jesus is often portrayed as the gentle, patient teacher. Here he barrages His followers with a battery of queries worth of a prosecuting attorney.’ And that is how we unthinking and unseeing believer’s ofttimes need to be brought to heel! Much LOVE!
…Jesus is able…is sufficient to meet…ALL…of our needs…and if you are a believer…you shouldn’t need to be reminded of it…
21 Aug 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fortress, a paycheck, a refuge, all my fears, amenity filled, assurance, aura of love, buoyed spirits, Christians, confidence, deliver him, diligent soldiers, enthusiasm, evil, for Jesus' sake, for our good, friends, God's work, good cheer, he delivered me, he heard me, holy spirit, honour him, humble servants, I sought the Lord, in our hands, invincible, ironic situation, Jesus Christ, jobs, join the fray, keep a roof over our heads, Knowing God Intimately, lies, light, live high on the hog, long life, LOVE, modern day life, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, no work no eat, overcome the world, problems, raised spirits, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, rest, salt, salvation, satisfy him, servants, set him on high, spiritual armour, spread the good news, steadfast faith, surrender, taunts, the answer to everything, the enemy's ranks, the LOVE of Jesus, the oppressed, times of troubles, tribulation, trust, truth, ungodly world, wiles, wine and roses, wisdom, work
Psalm 34:4. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
And now it’s Monday friends, so what’s the action eh? And everybody throws their hands in the air and excitedly shout: ‘Work! Monday means it’s time for work! Work! Work! Work!’
And I know that some of you might think me crazy to even come up with such a scenario, since nobody ever behaves like that, but technically speaking that’s the way it ought to be. Why is that, you demand?
Well for one it gets us out into the world to spread the good news and LOVE of Jesus, and secondly it earns us a paycheck so we can buy food and clothing and keep a roof over our heads. As Bruh Paul says, ‘no work, no eat.’(smile) (2 Thess.3:10) So as true Christians, anyone of those reasons should get us excited enough to want to go to work.
But unfortunately that’s not the case; very few of us even want to go to work, much less get excited at the thought, but we still expect to eat heartily and otherwise live high on the hog. This easy, amenity filled, comfortable modern-day life has certainly spoiled us. And the sad part is that many who want to work, can’t find any – another ironic situation in our screwed up society.
But for those of us who are blessed to have jobs, please let’s get it together and go out and do our best, as Jesus desires of us. And if you’re not feeling up to scratch this particular Monday morning, then please sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with me, it’s guaranteed to lift your spirits and get your adrenaline running.
So all together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Yeh friends, that was surely encouraging! I can already feel your buoyed spirits, so let’s get a move on and join the fray on behalf of Jesus. Let’s be strong and diligent soldiers in His army. Let’s go out there and be worth our salt, let our lights shine brightly in the darkness of this evil world. It would be so wonderful if we could illuminate the entire world with the brilliant light that’s Jesus!
That’s what the Father desires of us, so that He doesn’t even lose one of His magnificent creations to the enemy. It’s all in our hands my brethren, so please, let’s make it happen nuh…for Jesus’ sake.
That brings us to our Bit. ‘I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.’ What wonderful assurance emanates from those words my fellow believers! Bruh David lived them personally, which means we can do the same.
As I’ve been saying over the last couple of days, seeking the Lord is the wisest and most important decision we can ever make in this life, for what happens in the next life all hinges on what we do now. But enough preaching, (smile) let’s hear what the Word has to say about it all.
First hear Bruh David from Psalm 9 – Praise for God’s justice. ‘The Lord also will be a refuge (stronghold) for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.’ (Ps.9:9-10) Words of absolute truth my fellow believers! NOBODY who has ever put their sincere trust in God can say He has forsaken them!
Now listen to these words from Psalm 91 – God is a refuge and a fortress. God says: ‘Because he hath set his LOVE upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.’ (Ps.91:9-16)
Powerful words my brethren, though we can’t expect to have no problems in this life. Remember following Jesus is not all wine and roses, but as He said: ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33b)
So let’s go out this Monday morning with raised spirits and complete assurance, while we enthusiastically and diligent do God’s work, knowing that despite the problems which may come, He’ll eventually work them all out for our good. Much LOVE!
…knowing God intimately…is the answer to everything…
07 Aug 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a useful purpose, adrenaline, an ornament of grace, ask in faith, ask of God, aura of love, awe, bring thee to honour, Caribana weekend, Christians, Civic holiday, confidence, conquerors, crown of glory, double-minded man, Drunk or sober mind yuh business, enthusiasm, eternal life, faith, friends, get a move on, grace, Granny's advice, he who has ears to hear, holy spirit, humble servants, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, knowledge, lies, long life, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, move heaven and earth, pay the mortgage, principal thing, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, reverence, seeing is believing, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, stop the whining, taunts, the beginning of wisdom, the evidence of things not seen, the fear of the Lord, the Holy One, the substance of things hoped for, time to roll out, trust, truth, understanding, ungodly world, walk in god's will, wiles, wisdom
Proverbs 9:10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy (Holy One) is understanding.
Yeh friends, it’s that time again, Monday morning! Time to roll out of that warm, comfortable bed and get a move on! Time to go out and make a million bucks! And please stop the whining, for it’s rough on everybody. Nobody in their right mind wants to get up and go out and face the evil, daunting world that lurks out there, but if we want to eat and pay the mortgage, we don’t have a choice.
And we Christians are better off than the rest of the world because we have a God and Saviour who will move heaven and earth to help us if we walk obediently in His will. So what’s all the fuss about eh? (smile)
Now I know it’s not always easy to get going on a Monday morning, that’s why we have our picker-upper; our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. So let’s get with the programme and belt it out as lustily as we can. And I know the Canadian voices will be the loudest and the hoarsest because we don’t work on this Civic Holiday Monday, the last day of the Caribana long weekend.
As one now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
And the Canadians were the most enthusiastic – a no work day does lift one’s spirit – but their voices were also the most gravelly, after all the shouting and partying over the weekend. But for you unfortunate ones, who have to get out into the world and labour today, please keep that adrenaline flowing so you can do a good job for Jesus amongst the enemy.
And for you Canadians, who still have today to party, please take it easy because you will have to go to work tomorrow and will be of no use to yourself or anyone else if you don’t heed Granny’s advice: ‘Sonny boy, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business.’ And that my friends, is exceeding wisdom, anytime and anywhere!
And you truculently ask – What is wisdom eh? Well here is how the reputed wisest man in the world explained it. ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy (Holy One) is understanding.’ So if Cousin Sol explains it thus, who am I to say him nay eh?
That means friends, until we have a proper reverence and awe as pertains to Almighty God, we cannot obtain true wisdom. Of course we can obtain what the world terms wisdom, but that is not true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from and through God.
James tells it like this: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not (without reproach); and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (not doubting). For he that wavereth (doubts) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (James 1:5-8)
Yes my brethren, wisdom comes from the Lord, but you must first revere Him, hold Him in proper esteem, and then you must ask for wisdom with faith, not doubting. And what is faith? The author of Hebrews describes it thus: ‘Now faith is the substance (the realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen.’ (Heb.11:1)
In other words you have to believe it before you see it or receive it. That’s how it operates in God’s economy. The world says ‘seeing is believing,’ but God says when you believe, then you’ll see it.
And why should you desire wisdom? Cousin Sol provides the answer. ‘For by me (wisdom) thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased (years of life will be added to you).’ (Prov.9:11)
Now that sounds like a pretty good reason to me. Hope it does to you too. But just in case that explanation didn’t satisfy you, (smile) then listen to this earlier one, again from Cousin Sol.
‘Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to (place on) thine head an ornament of grace, a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.’ (Prov.4: 7-9)
I don’t know about all yuh nuh friends, but I taking Cousin Sol advice yes; I seeking wisdom, so I could embrace her and get the ornament of grace, the crown of glory and long life. Yuh see what the Lord gave Cousin Sol when he asked for wisdom and understanding and good judgement to rule Israel? All of that plus wealth and honour. (1 Chr.1:8-12) So he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Much LOVE!
…it all begins with reverence…then comes faith…then comes wisdom…
05 Jun 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adrenaline, aura of love, belief in Jesus, brimstone, by the sweat of thy brow, call his name Jesus, complaining, confess, confidence, conquerors, dilly-dallying, enthusiasm, evil, fire, friends, God sent not His Son, grief, holy spirit, humble servants, invincible, Jerusalem, Jesus Christ, Jesus is the Son of God, jobs, joy, labour, lies, LOVE, loving kindness, magnanimous god, manner of spirit, material possessions, meet the enemy, mission, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, on the outside looking in, pain, paying homage, prince of this world, reap the sweat of labour, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, salvation, Samaria, save our sinful souls, sick, soft spot, sorrow, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, taunts, the world through him might be saved, thou shalt eat bread, time to toil, tired, to condemn the world, trust, ungodly world, wealth, weary souls, wiles, wisdom, worth it
John 3:17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Arise oh friends and greet the new day! It’s Monday, which means it’s time to toil, to go out and labour, so that we can eventually reap the sweat of that labour. What does the Good Book say? Something like by the sweat of thy brow thou shall eat bread.
Well then, if we want to eat bread, let’s get a move on. Enough of the dilly-dallying and complaining about we sick and/ or tired. We weren’t too sick or tired to join in the partying though. So come on, let’s be up and at ‘em! And to help us do that, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with great gusto and heartfelt belief.
In harmony now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Good singing friends, good singing! Our harmony wasn’t perfect, but our choirmaster, Jesus, knew that our heart was in it and He was pleased. Now let’s keep that adrenaline flowing as we get out into the evil, disaster filled world to help the needy and less fortunate, and try to right whatever wrongs we can in Jesus’ name.
That’s our mission. Jesus states it quite plainly in our Bit. ‘ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’
Yes friends, if it was Jesus’ mission, then it’s also ours, seeing that we are His followers, His disciples, and ought to do what He does, or commands us to do. And you know my brethren that we never deserved that LOVING-kindness, but our God has such a soft spot in His heart for us that He just couldn’t help Himself, He just had to save us, regardless of how much pain and sorrow it caused Him. And it did cause Him much grief, but He knew that the result would be absolutely worth it.
Give Him much thanks and praise my fellow believers for providing us with an option to save our sinful souls. And if you don’t believe me, or Jesus, then listen to some corroborative scripture. Hear what the angel said to Joseph, re his betrothed Mary. ‘And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his Names JESUS (Saviour): for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matt.1:21)
And the scholars explain. ‘1:21. Call his name JESUS: The name of the child Jesus (Heb. Yehoshua) means “Jehovah Saves.” This points to the very purpose of Christ’s coming into the world – to save sinners. Placed early in the New Testament, this statement becomes the foundational concept of the gospel. Jesus, by His very name and nature is the Saviour.’
And if you still doubt, then listen to Jesus after a village in Samaria refused to accept Him, because they knew he was going to Jerusalem, and James and John wanted to call down fire and brimstone on the village. ‘But he turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.’ (Luke 9:55-56)
Ah friends, I keep reminding us about the wonderful, the magnificent and magnanimous God we serve, but a lot of us don’t pay attention, we’re too busy paying homage to the evil prince of this world, seeking his frivolous and fraudulent material possessions and earthly wealth. But please, please believe me, there will come a time when the material wealth and possessions will be of absolutely no use to you, and the only saving option for you will be Jesus.
And if you don’t sincerely have Him in your heart, then you’ll be left forlornly, on the outside looking in. And I can guarantee that that will not be a very nice place to be. So let’s close with these warning words from John.
‘And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.’ (1 John 4:14-15)
Yes friends, trust in Jesus Christ is the only wise and sensible option in this life. Wisdom dictates that you accept Him before it’s too late. Much LOVE!
…what separates hell from heaven…belief in Jesus…
29 May 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: afflictions, as a roaring lion, aura of love, be sober, be vigilant, confidence, conquerors, dominion, enthusiasm, evil, faith, finite being, friends, glorious kingdom, glory, God is faithful, gospel truth, grace, humble servants, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, lies, LOVE, Memorial Day, Monday Morniing Battle Hymn, omnipresent, patriots, Praise the Lord, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, resist the devil, Satan, seeking whom he may devour, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, taunts, temptation, trust, truth, ungodly world, walks about, war heroes, wiles, wisdom, your adversary the devil
1 Peter 5:8. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Awright mih breddren, it’s Monday morning, so let’s be up and at ‘em nuh!
‘Not today,’ claim our U.S. breddren. ‘Today is our Memorial Day Holiday, where we celebrate our fallen war heroes, so no work for us today. Praise the Lord!’
Yes friends, the shoe is on the other foot this week; last week we in Canada had Monday off for our Victoria Day Holiday, this week the U.S honours their patriots. But since it’s still a day of labour for most of us, we still need to sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to get us going. So with as much verve and enthusiasm as we can muster, let’s sing.
‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
And as expected, the loudest and most off key voices were those who did not have to go to work today, and were already into the celebrations. But just remember, please listen to Granny’s advice. ‘Drunk or sober mind yuh business.’ We don’t want to go giving the evil one any foothold in our souls, for he is always lurking around, always on the prowl to find someone he can invade and cultivate.
That’s why Peter, after telling us to humble ourselves before God, and to cast our care on him, because He cares for us, so strenuously warns in our Bit. ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.’
And that’s the gospel truth friends! Remember when Satan came before God in Job? ‘And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.’ (Job 1:7)
And the scholars offer this explanation: ‘1:7. From going to and from in the earth refers to Satan’s activity. Though he does not admit it here, Satan’s character clearly shows that his many travels are for evil purposes. In 1 Peter 5:8. Satan is described as “your adversary the devil…seeking whom he may devour.”
The activity of Satan indicates that he only has limited access to God. This account in Job emphasizes that God is sovereign over Satan. It also teaches that Satan is a finite being and therefore not omnipresent (can’t be everywhere at the same time). Nor can he touch God’s servants without God’s permission.’
Oh glory to God my people! That means Satan has no direct say over us, he can only invade our souls and spirits if God gives him permission, or of we foolishly allow him to enter therein. That’s why Peter continues after our Bit. ‘Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in (experienced by) your brethren that are in the world.’ (1 Pet.5:9)
Oh friends, I know it’s no great consolation to know that our brethren are experiencing the same temptation as us, but it just goes to show that we are not alone in being tempted, as Bruh Paul tells the Corinthians. ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ (1 Cor.10:13)
Now friends, we have to be careful and understand that God will not always make us escape the temptation, but will often allow us to go through it, to build our faith, but will eventually bring us out safely on the other side. Remember too, that even Jesus was tempted by Lucifer during His earthly sojourn, but He successfully rebuked Him, and we ought to try and do likewise.
James also warns us. ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ (James 4:7) Yes my fellow believers, if we keep resisting Lucifer, he will eventually flee from us; not that he won’t come back and try to tempt us later on, (smile) because he can be very persistent.
However, we’ll end with these reassuring words of Peter. ‘But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish (confirm), strengthen, settle you. To him be the glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (1 Pet.5:10-11)
What a blessed and faithful assurance my people. So let’s go out today strengthened in the Word of God, so that we can do His will. Much LOVE!
…the stronger our faith in Jesus…the more we are able to resist temptation…
22 May 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a rainy Sunday, aura of love, bounden duty, Canadians, clothed with majesty, clothed with strength, confidence, conquerors, Drunk or sober mind yuh business, end times, energy, enthusiasm, friends, girded himself, glorious kingdom, God is alive, guilty, hardy breed, harmonious choir, holy spirit, homage, humble servants, hungry hope, I am with you always, impeding God's work, in the name of the Father, inventive, invincible, Jesus Christ, joy, lies, LOVE, loving kindness, Lucifer, make disciples of, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, moral support, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, righteousness., shout it to high heaven, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, taunts, teach, the Gentiles, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the Great Commission, the heathen, the Holy Ghost, the Lord reigns, the nature of the beast, the SON, the world is established, trust, truth, turning away from God, ungodly world, vacation time, Victoria Day, wiles, wisdom, wood ants, words of truth
Psalm 93:1. The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved (shaken).
And it was a rainy Sunday… Yes friends, the rain spoiled the outside celebrations yesterday for our Victoria Day long weekend. Chuh! But we Canadians are a hardy and inventive breed; no wonder our party season is in the winter and vacation time is the summer. And despite the rain, I’m sure that the celebrations, which had to be moved inside, were just as rocking and rollicking as if they had been outside. (smile)
And we still have one day to go, which should be sunny, so please, please, listen to Granny, and drunk or sober, please mind yuh business. Don’t give Lucifer even a small chance to become involved in it, because like wood ants, once he gets in, you won’t notice or see him, until the whole house is falling down around your head. (smile)
And fortunately for us in this great country called Canada, most of us don’t have to go out and labour today…Thank you Queen Vic! But others around the world do, so let’s sing along with them, give them some moral support, as they face the rough Monday morning going. As one big harmonious choir now, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, with plenty energy and hungry hope.
‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Ah friends, it had plenty energy, but it certainly wasn’t harmonious; more hoarse and croaky than anything. And as always, the loudest and croakiest voices belonged to those who did not have to go to work today. That’s just the nature of the beast. And our choirmaster, Jesus, just smiled like an indulgent father, appreciating our energetic though totally off-key output.
And that brings us to our Bit. ‘The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved (shaken).’
Glorious words of truth my people! As we said at the beginning of our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, He is ‘the Creator of the universe and all therein!’ Therefore we ought to pay Him great homage, exalt His holy name throughout all the universe, as Jesus instructed His disciples: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always(s), even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt.28:19-20)
And that’s the Great Commission that has been handed down to us my brethren! But I don’t think we’re doing such a great job of it nuh. Let’s see, are we doing what the psalmist advocates?
‘Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; show forth (proclaim the good news of) his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen (gentiles), his wonders among all people. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Give (ascribe) unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give (ascribe) unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear (tremble) before him all the earth. Say among the heathen (gentiles) that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be (is firmly) established that it shall not be moved (shaken): he shall judge the people righteously.’ (Ps.96:2-10)
Oh my people are we doing those things in these end times? Obviously not to the best of our ability, otherwise so many people would not be turning away from God and gladly embracing the wicked and evil ways of the world.
Ah friends, it’s up to us to teach our children about the ONE and ONLY TRUE GOD; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so that His mighty wonders and LOVING-kindness can be passed down from generation to generation. Please, let’s not be guilty of impeding God’s work, of not passing on the vital formation that we’ve been commissioned to do, because we’ll have to answer for it one day. Much LOVE!
…if we sincerely believe that God is alive and great…then it’s our bounden duty to shout it to high heaven…
15 May 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a shelter, abundant in goodness and truth, antidote, appreciation, attributes, aura of love, condemn self, confidence, cup of java, earthly pilgrimage, enthusiasm, expectant faith, faith, fear, friends, glorious kingdom, goodness, gospel truth, grace, gracious, gratitude, hoarded, holy spirit, hope, humble servants, hungry hope, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, judging others, lies, long-suffering, LOVE, meet the enemy, merciful, mercy, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, Moses, Mother's Day, peace, plots of man, Praise the Lord, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, repentance, rest, righteousness., spiritual armour, steadfast faith, sure conquerors, taunts, the goodness of God, the land of the living, the Lord God, the Lord passed by, the state of our livers, the strife of tongues, the Ten Commandments, throughout the year, trust, truth, ungodly world, wiles, wisdom, work
Exodus 34:6. And the Lord passed by before him (Moses), and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
Well mih breddren, the Mother’s Day celebrations over now! Hope we celebrated our mothers in fine style, but that we’ll also show them a greater level of appreciation and gratitude all throughout the year, rather than on just this one day. I know they like the fuss and bother on their special day, but I’m sure they’ll prefer to have a li’l of that each and every day where possible.
Anyway, it’s time to get back to the common grind and daily task, the humdrum aspects of a working life, so that we can enjoy the fruits of our labour. And I know that many of us are suffering from too much celebrating, and it’s difficult to get up and face the very idea of going to work, but get up and go, we must.
So to help us with the Monday morning wake up, we have this antidote, this prayer called the Monday Morning Battle Hymn that jolts us awake even better than a hot, strong cup of java. (smile) So let’s sing it now with lots of enthusiasm, expectant faith and hungry hope nuh.
‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
That was pretty good friends, considering the state of our livers! (smile) Jesus, our choirmaster smiled knowingly at some of the harshness, but He respected and acknowledged our enthusiastic effort. So with the adrenaline bubbling in our veins, let’s go out now and take the battle to the heathen, this Monday morning in Jesus’ name, for the glory of God the Father!
And all God’s people declared a loud and proud: ‘Praise the Lord! His goodness reigns forever!’
And that it surely does, as the Lord Himself proclaimed to Moses when he went up the mountain the second time for the tables of stone containing the Ten Commandments. ‘And the Lord passed by before him (Moses), and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.’
Now that’s our great God Himself, extolling some of His many wonderful attributes, goodness being one of them. And since we know that he cannot lie, then we must accept His words as gospel truth. Now, let’s just look at a few scriptures, from the human perspective, which prove the point.
And one of the most well-known is that verse from Psalm 27 – The Lord is my light and my salvation, where Bruh David ardently proclaims: ‘I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.’ (Ps.27:13)
So true friends, so true! What’s the purpose of having this good God eh, if we can’t experience some of His goodness in our earthly pilgrimage?
Now hear another mighty man of God, Bruh Paul, as he admonishes the Romans re judging others is to condemn self. ‘And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgement of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?’ (Rom.2:3-4)
Ah mih people, so wonderful is God’s goodness that it leads us to repentance! Praise his Holy Name!
And listen to Bruh David again, this time from Psalm 31 – In thee O Lord, do I put my trust. ‘Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret (places) of thy presence from the pride (plots) of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion (shelter) from the strife of tongues.’ (Ps.31:19-20)
Oh friends, we can’t ask any more than that from God! He’s got all those who believe in Him covered on all fronts. And what’s the purpose of all that goodness eh? So that we can go forth here on earth and proclaim it, as well as show it through the way we live our daily lives. The Lord’s goodness is meant to be shared my people, not merely hoarded for one’s own good!
Now let’s go out today and show it in spades nuh; let’s broadcast it to all and sundry: the Lord is GOOD! He is GOOD INDEED! Much LOVE!
…true goodness can only beget goodness…
08 May 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a rod of iron, a useful purpose, adopted son, adrenaline, almighty god, anointed one, aura of love, be wise, break their bands, chutzpah, confidence, derision, enthusiasm, evil, evil minions, fear, fellowship, friends, fun, futile, heathen, holy spirit, humble servants, inheritance, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, kiss the son, laugh, lies, loser, LOVE, Lucifer, meet the enemy in battle, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, opposition, partying, pay homage, perish, rain, rejoice, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, rhetorical question, snow, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, surrender, taunts, the Messiah, the people imagine a vain thing, trembling, trust, truth, ungodly world, why do the heathen rage, wiles, winner, wisdom, worthless, wrath, Zion
Psalm 2:1. Why do the heathen (gentiles) rage (throng tumultuously), and the people imagine (plot) a vain (futile, worthless) thing?
‘Monday, Monday! Oh how I hate that day…especially when there’s no rain or snow, because then I have no excuse to not go to work!
Yeh friends, many of us feel that way about Monday because we don’t handle the weekend right; too much partying and not enough rest and fellowship. But don’t worry, as usual we have the antidote for whatever ails you this Monday morning, and it’s fittingly called the Monday Morning Battle Hymn!
So let’s sing it out now nuh, with as much enthusiasm and chutzpah that we can muster, as Jesus, our choirmaster, guides and directs us. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Ah mih people, it was a tad out of sync, but the enthusiasm was right on, and I believe that satisfied our choirmaster, because he could see that we were trying. Now let’s go out and join Jesus on the battle field, taking with us that enthusiasm and the new-found adrenaline that our prayer stimulated, and just wow the heathen into His camp!
That brings us to our rather appropriate Bit. ‘Why do the heathen (gentiles) rage (throng tumultuously), and the people imagine (plot) a vain (futile, worthless) thing?’
Now that’s a very good question my believing brethren, in light of what the psalmist says afterward. ‘The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed (Christ the Messiah), saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex (distress) them with his sore (deep) displeasure. Yet have I set (installed) my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen (nations) for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ (Ps.2:2-9)
Ah friends, the earthly rulers have no idea of the fire which they are playing by taking Almighty God and His anointed Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ lightly. Now listen to some valuable explanations from the scholars.
‘Psalm 2: Psalm 2 is attributed to David in Acts 4:25 and is called the second psalm in Acts 13:33. The introductory rhetorical question, Why do the heathen rage? (v.1) is shown in the following verses to be a question of incredulity. Why do the nations attack God’s anointed king when their attack is doomed to failure? Historically, his Anointed (v.2) referred to David or to any of his descendants who were experiencing opposition (cf. 1 Sam.24:6); prophetically, it refers to the Messiah who, as Son of David, also experienced opposition (Acts 4:25-27).
The fact that God shall laugh (v.4) at the world’s opposition to the Anointed One presages their calamity because the Lord has installed His King upon…Zion (v.6) and adopted Him as His Son; therefore the nations may be taken as an inheritance at the Son’s request (v.8). Every Davidic ruler was an adopted son (2 Sam.7:14), but the real significance of the promise is fulfilled only in Christ, the eternal Son of God (Acts 13:33; Heb.1:5, 5:5). The wise alternative is to submit to this Son. (vs.10-12).’
Yes friends, it’s all been arranged, so I don’t know why Lucifer and his evil minions are still trying to fight a losing battle nuh? As the scholars said, the only wise alternative is to submit to the Son.
‘Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear; and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son (pay homage to Him), lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Ps.2:10-12)
Oh my people, all I can do now is to advise us to take that immortal wisdom to heart, to act sincerely on it, by putting your entire trust in Jesus Christ, for He is God’s Anointed Son and will win the war eventually. Much LOVE!
…why join with the loser eh…when we already know the winner…it doesn’t make any sense at all…
29 Apr 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, aspiring to inspire, Assad, assignment, authority, benefits, bless the Lord oh my soul, Christians, cohorts, corrupt, deceptions, decisions, do nothing, earthly wealth, Easter, Edison, egotist, Erdogan, eternal value, exercise influence, facade, fleshly lusts, forget not all his benefits, glamour, glitz, gospel truth, happiness, hell, Henry Ford, household words, iniquities, lair, lay about, lazy, let Israel hope in the Lord, lies, life, light, lite, Lord Acton, loving-kindness, Lucifer, negative, power, power corrupts, precious jewels, Putin, quit, redemption, Saturday, shine of gold, showing us the way, spring season, taunts, teaching us, test cahracter, the Holy Spirit, the king's pajamas, Trump, understand life, Walt Disney, way, wickedly, wiles, with the Lord there is mercy
Psalm 103:2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
So friends, once more it is Saturday, when we have to make our own decisions as to what to do with our day; to just lay about and do basically nothing, or get up and get done the million and one things that need doing, especially in this emerging spring season. The choice is yours. (smile)
But whatever you choose to do, right now, let’s contemplate some of our friend, Anselm’s quotes of this past week. You know he is always aspiring to inspire us for a better tomorrow.
And this first one is a blast: ‘When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.’ Now who’s right or wrong there eh?
This second quote is a little more serious. ‘Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.’ That’s gospel truth if you want to succeed in this life. Eschew the lite and the lazy, the egotist and the negative, for they will only pull you down.
But remember this one, even when you’re down. ‘A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.’ And that goes for everything, in all walks of life, especially Christianity, for in Jesus’ vocabulary there is no such word as ‘quit’! So remember, NEVER QUIT! When you fall, get back up, dust yourself off and keep going, because success might just be around the corner.
And if you check out a lot of the successful people in this world, you’ll find that many of them failed many times before they succeeded. People like Walt Disney, Edison, Henry Ford, didn’t succeed on their first try, but they never gave up, and now their names are household words.
This last quote though is somewhat scary, as it says: ‘If you want to test the character of a person, give them power.’ Now it might be true, but I certainly don’t want to try it, for I’ve seen too many people go mad with a little power. What did the British Lord Acton say about power? “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority.’’
Yes friends, power corrupts. And all of us have seen how a little power corrupts. And right now, we have several examples of big power going to people’s heads in Russia’s Putin, Syria’s Assad, Turkey’s Erdogan and Mr. Trump in the U.S, just to name a few of the more prominent ones. They all think that they are the king’s pajamas and know best how to run things.
But one thing’s for certain sure, all these power hungry people, fall at some time or another, and usually great is their fall. And one of the reasons is that they don’t pay serious attention to the words of our Bit. ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.’
Yes friends, these cohorts of the evil one, Lucifer, pay no attention to the Lord God Almighty. Some might mention His name conveniently, but He is really nowhere in their hearts, otherwise they wouldn’t be behaving as wickedly and horrendously as they are doing. They don’t seem to realize that ALL there is on the earth and in heaven above belongs to Him. But thankfully we Christian believers know better and behave more sensibly, at least some of us. (smile)
Now yesterday we enumerated some of the benefits (verses 3-5) and were looking at scriptures which corroborated the first part of verse 3; ‘Who forgiveth all thine iniquities…’ And I have one more piece of scripture to add to it, before we move on to the second half of that verse.
Hear the psalmist: ‘Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy (LOVING-kindness), and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.’ (Ps.130:7-8)
Oh friends, is there hope in Lucifer, or mercy, or LOVING-kindness, or redemption from our iniquities? Absolutely not! All he seeks to do is to add to our iniquities and thus get us to accompany him to his rotten lair in hell. So why would I want to follow him eh? In fact, why are so many of us falling for his lies, his taunts, his wiles and deceptions eh? It just doesn’t make sense my people.
Since Jesus defeated Lucifer at the Easter season two thousand years ago, he has no hold whatsoever over us, except what we allow him to have. But yet we fall for his story about earthly wealth and fleshly lusts and the shine of gold and other precious jewels, the supposed appeal of glamour and glitz, full well knowing that it’s all a façade, just a glittering front, like movie sets that look so wonderful on camera but have nothing behind the outer shell.
Ah friends, our world is bursting with all sorts of things that are trying to turn us away from God, but we’re supposed to have His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, teaching us and showing us the way. So why are falling for all the nonsense that has no eternal value eh?
I implore us, please, please, let’s be wiser than that nuh. Christ is the ONLY TRUE LIGHT, LIFE and WAY! Let’s remember that and act accordingly nuh! Much LOVE!
…ALL benefits in this life…come from Almighty God…and from no one else…
24 Apr 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a saint of God, almighty god, antidote, aura of love, buckler, common task, confidence, courage, daily grind, deleted expletives, delivers, diligently heed, divine protection, enthusiasm, fear, friends, generous help, glorious kingdom, gospel truth, grin and bear it, groaning, hate evil, he preserves the souls of his saints, holy spirit, humble servants, invincible, Jesus, jobs, joy, judgement, justice, knowledge, lies, LOVE, moaning, Monday blues, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, moving and grooving, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, reverential awe, rewards, salvation, scintillating words, shield, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, strengthen your heart, taunts, the hand of the wicked, the proud doer, treasures, trust, truth, understanding, ungodly world, vim and vigour, wiles, wisdom, ye that love the Lord
Psalm 97:10. Ye that LOVE the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Ah mih friends, once more it’s back to the common task and daily grind…and no short workweek either, but a full five days of labouring! And I hear some moaning and groaning and expletives I must delete, as we realize that it’s our favourite day, Monday.
Hn, hn! But my working brethren, it is what it is, and we can’t do much about it, for even the very rich need to labour some to keep their wealth. So we just need to grin and bear it and thank the Lord that we’re alive and kicking on another glorious day on planet earth. And once we get up and get moving, we’ll forget all the puny and pitiful details of waking up on a Monday morning to go to work, cause by then we’ll be full of vim and vigour.
And I hear some of you sourly declare: ‘Don’t bet on that nuh!’ But I’m betting on it, because I know the awesome power of our antidote for the Monday Blues, our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. So let’s belt it out now nuh, like there was no tomorrow.
‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Good going friends, good going! Jesus was pleased, as the affirmative nod of His head and bright smile attest to. And I know you are now feeling the strong ripple of adrenaline just moving and grooving through your system, and with your spiritual battle armour on, you can’t wait to get out on the battlefield called work to do serious battle in Jesus’ name. See, I told you about the power of our antidote! (smile)
And all of that finally brings us to our Bit; those immortal words of wisdom from the psalmist: ‘Ye that LOVE the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.’
And some of you are muttering: ‘But we just did that a couple of days ago?’ Yes, we did. But I wasn’t quite finished with it, because there are three parts to it, and yesterday’s Bit was just more suited to the Sabbath Day. (smile)
Now we’ve already covered the first part in our earlier messages, ‘Ye that LOVE the Lord, hate evil:’, so let’s turn to some scriptures that deal with the second aspect: ‘he preserveth the souls of his saints;’ Listen up to these scintillating words of advice and wisdom and indisputable truth from Bruh David out of Psalm 145 – The Lord is gracious.
‘The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that LOVE him: but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.’ (Ps.145:17-21)
And if that doesn’t touch your very heart and soul, then hear Cousin Sol from Proverbs, as he talks about seeking wisdom. ‘If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear (reverential awe) of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up (stores up) sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler (shield) to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgement (guards the paths of justice) and preserveth the way of his saints.’ (Prov.2:4-8)
So friends, if you are one of the Lord’s saints, then you know that true wisdom is yours for the asking, and divine protection is guaranteed!
And we’ll close with some more powerful and wise advice from Bruh David out of Psalm 31 – In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. ‘O LOVE the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth (fully repays) the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.’ (Ps.31:23-24)
Words of gospel truth my brethren, and if we’re wise we’ll diligently heed them. Much LOVE!
…one can’t be a saint of God…and not be securely tuned in to Him and His Word…
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