Thanksgiving: A time for celebration and honouring God for His goodness and mercy!

14 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 107:1.        O Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

HAPPY  THANKSGIVING  DAY  CANADA!

And then it was another Monday…but this time, a special one in this great country of Canada! It’s Thanksgiving Day my people! The special day, when, all over the land, we take our normal celebrations of thanks and praise to our great God to a higher level, truly acknowledging His awesome presence in our lives and the numerous blessings He’s bestowed on us in this past year. And yuh better believe that we have a whole lot to be thankful for, especially life and breath to see another new day and experience His new mercies and compassions. 

And it’s obviously a holiday, meaning no work for most of us, but plenty celebrations. However, as always, we implore us to have a modicum of circumspection in our celebrations and don’t let them go overboard, because far too often in our festive times we overdo it, and unnecessary tragedy follows.  Please, let’s not allow that to happen today. And remember we’re going back to work tomorrow, which means don’t celebrate too intensely, too far into the night. (smile) 

Ah friends, despite our many problems, our country is so blessed, that we need to truly appreciate it! Why do you think so many people are trying to flee from other countries to come here? Because we have a standard of living and a peace and serenity that they cannot find in their own countries. That’s something we ought to cherish and try to maintain, by not allowing the old animosities from the old countries to take root here, and thus continue the same old patterns from which we’re trying to flee. 

We’re trying to build a new and better life, and that can only be done when we live in unity and not disharmony. As these oh so appropriate words of Bruh David from Psalm 133 stipulate: ‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!’ (Ps. 133:1) Yes, my fellow Canadians, if we don’t put aside our old animosities, we’ll never move forward as a nation. Or as Cousin Sol puts it in Proverbs. ‘Where there is no vision (prophetic or divine revelation), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov. 29:18) 

And that’s oh so true! Where we don’t follow God’s law, or moral compass, we will suffer moral and spiritual decline, which will only lead to chaos, as we’re seeing happening in so many countries of the world right now. And before we run out of time and space, let’s have a look at some scriptures that encourage thanksgiving, beginning with these wonderful verses from Psalm 103: 

‘Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 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-KINDESS and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.’ (Ps. 103:1-5) Now, what better circumstances do we need to give thanks to our great God eh? 

Then Bruh Paul, writing to the Philippians strongly advises us to: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation (gentleness, graciousness) be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 4:4-7) Yes friends, everything we do unto God, should be with thanksgiving. 

Now, listen to these marvellous words from Psalm 107.  ‘O Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary (desolate) way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 

Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.’ (Ps. 107:1-9) Now, those are all wonderful reasons for thanksgiving my people! 

And we’ll close with these awe-inspiring words from words from Isaiah: ‘And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. 

Therefore with joy shall we draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings (deeds) among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.’ (Is. 12:1-5) 

And that’s no lie my fellow believers, our God has done great things in the earth, the greatest possibly being giving us salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ! So on this special day of Thanksgiving, let’s go confidently to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid in these turbulent and strife-filled times. 

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 to get divine aid, we must do exactly what our prayer says: pray and sincerely seek God’s face, while turning from our evil ways. There’s no other way! Much LOVE!

…the giving of thanks…should be a continuous…everyday occurrence…for believers…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 April 2021 Isaiah 12:2a.

01 Apr 2021 Leave a comment

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

Isaiah 12:2a.     ​Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid:

 Aye mih people, can you believe that we are already entering the fourth month of this most controversial and troubling year of 2021? We thought 2020 was bad, but this one could be even more problematic. And would you believe that we’re on the verge of another province-wide lockdown in this wonderful Province of Ontario? 

And no, it’s not an All Fools, or April Fool’s joke. It seems that all the ICU Departments in the hospitals are filled to overflowing, and we’re back up to some two thousand cases of Covid a day. And yuh better believe more confusion will reign after that decision is announced, because some things that were originally locked down, will apparently now stay open, while others that seem similar will stay closed. 

Why is all of this happening eh? Is it because with vaccines available, some people are no longer obeying the few options we have to keep the virus in check? Or is it that the new variants are more highly contagious and the vaccines are not working so well on them? No one seems to have a good answer for our predicament, which might just be a combination of those two things, and even more. And though this is a serious matter, at times it seems even jokified, that the great creation called human beings with all their knowledge and understanding and foolish pride can’t get a handle on a li’l virus, that you can’t even see without a powerful microscope. 

What does that tell us eh? That mankind is not as powerful, knowledgeable, and smart as we think, and that we’re only an imperfect created being, who ought to bow to his Creator and obey His commandments, not belittle and blaspheme His holy name and try to eradicate Him from our society. I don’t know why we can’t learn from other people’s mistakes nuh. 

And we have a great example from which we can learn; that’s the demise of the archangel Lucifer, (Is. 14:12-16) a created being so much more powerful than us, but who, in his foolish pride and selfish ambition tried to overthrow Almighty God, and was kicked out unsavourily from heaven with the other angels, who foolishly sided with him. They were committed to a life of hell on earth after enjoying the glories of heaven, and eventual eternal damnation. So, why do we think a lesser mortal like us can overthrow our Creator eh? 

It’s so senseless, so ridiculous, and on this Holy Thursday morning, the day before our Lord and Saviour, Jesus sacrificed His sinless life for us on the cross of Calvary two thousand years ago, I’m pleading with us, that instead of trying to get rid of God, to embrace Him with all our hearts, souls, minds and bodies, because He is the one who created us, and still looks after us, the One who owns the future and thus holds our future in the palms of His mighty, scar flecked hands. 

Yes friends, instead of turning away from God, we should thank Him for all that He’s done for us, the breath of life He’s given us so we can go through today, the family and LOVED ones He’s provided, the food on our tables, the roof over our heads, the opportunity to get wealth and so much more! We should be offering thanksgiving for His mercies and not blasphemy! 

And the Good Book opened today at this most appropriate song of triumphant praise from the mouth of the prophet Isaiah. So please offer praise with me. ‘And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedest me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. 

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings (awesome deeds) among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.’ (Is. 12:1-6) 

Now that is the kind of stuff we should be doing and saying my people, in appreciation of all that our wonderful God has done for us. Remember all the pain and sorrow Jesus suffered that we could be saved from hell fire and damnation! And on the day before we mourn His sacrificial death, this is a rather good time to think on all the things we’ve spoken about this morning and get ourselves together so we can raise up His name instead of tear it down. And to further show our appreciation, let’s declare (steups!) our Thursday Blessings, that He so generously bestowed on us to do His earthly work. 

Altogether now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! 

I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’  

Now friends, it’s our bounden duty to go out and share those blessings just as generously with others, not selfishly store them all for ourselves. Much LOVE!

…religious ritual…without spiritual reality…is worthless to our sovereign God…

P.S. Isn’t it wonderful that it’s so short today! (smile) Much LOVE!

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