Today’s Scrip-Bit   3 July 2022   1 Peter 5:7.

03 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

1 Peter 5:7.      Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

It’s come around again friends, the Lord’s Day, that marvellous day called Sunday, where we gather to praise, worship and renew our commitment to Almighty God and receive His awesome renewal of strength and perseverance to face the upcoming week! Wow! No wonder Sunday is indeed the first and best day of the week! Glory Hallelujah! 

And to celebrate today’s praise and worship, we are going to sing a fairly recent composition, written in the mid twentieth century by John Willard Peterson (1921-2006). It’s a song that I truly wish so many more of us would take to heart and sincerely accept by putting its sentiments into action. The song is very appropriately titled: ‘No One understands like Jesus!’ And if that isn’t the gospel truth, then I don’t what is. 

Now here is a li’l background on how the song came about, which I think will endear it to us even more. It seems that Mr. Peterson, the author was at one time employed by a prestigious gospel ministry and was led to believe that an open supervisory position would be offered to him. And according to Mr. Peterson: ‘I was thrilled and challenged by the prospect of a new joy. But I was by-passed, and a man from the outside was brought in to fill the position. There followed days of agonizing heart searching. It was all I could do to keep from becoming bitter.’ 

I guess many of us would react the same way. However, matters got worse when the new supervisor made some hurtful remarks to Mr. Peterson. And he says: ‘Later that evening, after returning home, I was sitting in our living room thinking about the events of the past days and about the bitter experiences of that evening. I began to feel very alone and forsaken. Suddenly, I sensed the presence of the Lord in an unusual way and my mind was diverted from my difficulties to His faithfulness and sufficiency. Soon the thought occurred to me that He fully understood and sympathized with my situation–in fact, no one could ever completely understand or care as did He.’ 

Words of awesome truth my fellow believers!  And soon after that He began to write the song. ‘Discouragement gripped him. He felt alone and forsaken, and was tempted to become bitter, until he began thinking about the great compassion of the Lord. Who cares? HE does!’ Now let’s sing this marvellous, empathetic song in a soulful, mid-tempo, heart-felt version, opening our mouths and hearts, offering up sincere sacrifices of praise to our amazing Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! 

As one sweet sounding, harmonious choir: ‘No one understands like Jesus. He’s a friend beyond compare; Meet Him at the throne of mercy; He is waiting for you there. (Chorus: No one understands like Jesus When the days are dark and grim; No one is so near, so dear as Jesus– Cast your ev’ry care on Him!) No one understands like Jesus; Ev’ry woe He sees and feels; Tenderly He whispers comfort, And the broken heart He heals. (Chorus) No one understands like Jesus When the foes of life assail; You should never be discouraged; Jesus cares and will not fail! (Chorus) 

No one understands like Jesus When you falter on the way; Tho’ you fail Him, sadly fail Him, He will pardon you today. (Chorus: No one understands like Jesus When the days are dark and grim; No one is so near, so dear as Jesus– Cast your ev’ry care on Him!  No one understands like Jesus When the days are dark and grim; No one is so near, so dear as Jesus– Cast your ev’ry care on Him! Cast your every care on Him, Cause no one understands like Jesus.’ 

Oh my people, there is no one in this world who understand like Jesus! Why, you ask?  Because on His earthly sojourn, He underwent, He experienced the trials, temptations and tribulation that mankind suffers every day on this evil and ungodly earth. So, He can indeed empathize with the stuff that we are forced to bear. And when He faced His storms and troubled times, He went to His Father for strength and encouragement, just like He now expects us, His followers to come to Him for compassion and understanding when we are beset by troubles that test our souls and faith. 

And we all know the basic scriptures on which the song is based, beginning with this awesome advice from Psalm 55 – A cry against deceitful friends. Bruh David writes from personal experience: ‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer (permit, allow) the righteous to be moved (shaken).’ (Ps. 55:22) Yes my fellow believers, if we cast our burdens on the Lord, He will never allow the enemy to overcome us! And in Psalm 37 – The true state of the wicked – Bruh David again wisely advises us to: ‘Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.’ (Ps. 37:5) 

Now if that isn’t sufficient proof for you, (smile) then listen to Peter, another recipient of Jesus’ great grace and mercy. He advises us to: ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.’ (1 Pet. 5:6-7) 

Now none of those scriptures could be more explicit than they are. It’s simple: with sincerity and trust, take all your concerns to God, to Christ, who cares ever so deeply for you, otherwise they would not have allowed Jesus’ blood to be shed on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins, and then send His Holy Spirit to indwell us, so that He can lead and guide us on the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life. 

And I really don’t know what else it will take for us to truly accept that our heavenly Father allowed Christ to die for us because of His deep and abiding LOVE for us nuh. I guess that’s why He gave us free will, so that we could decide to whom we would give our allegiance, to Him or Beelzebub. I can guarantee us one thing though; Satan doesn’t care one iota about us, he only wants us to lose our heavenly destiny and end up with him in Hades, and ultimately in the lake of fire. So, it’s a decision each one of us must make. 

And in closing, let’s remind us that we ought to make the wise choice, choosing life, BEFORE the Lord takes us home, or Jesus comes back the second time, and either scenario could occur at any time. So, the best time to do it is RIGHT NOW! That’s the long and short of the story my people! Much LOVE!

…the wise money is always on Christ…because He first defeated Satan in heaven…and again here on earth…Satan is a loser… why turn to him…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 20 October 2020 John 8:12.

20 Oct 2020 Leave a comment

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

John 8:12.     ​I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Another wet and dreary day seems to be in the offing. But yuh know, unlike what the Carpenters said in their hit song way back in 1971, it’s not only rainy days and Mondays that get me down, but rainy days period. (smile) It’s just that rainy days seem to have this inherent touch of melancholia in them; just like sunshiny days have a built-in sense of upliftment. You see the sun and spirits automatically lift despite your circumstances. Likewise, you experience the wet and dreary looking weather and your spirits tend to fall somewhat, the attitude of relaxation and laziness also seem to pop up. (smile) You have to actively lift them up again. 

And so it is with this Tuesday morning, after a rather melancholy Monday. But yuh know friends, when you have Jesus as your Guiding Light, the kind of physical day doesn’t really matter, because He Himself is such a wonderful ray of sunshine that just thinking of Him and talking to him automatically lifts you up! Glory to God my people! Jesus Himself revealed His awesome Light. ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’ (John 8:12) 

But unfortunately, the Pharisees disputed His authority because He witnessed to Himself, which to them, invalidated His claim. That however did not change anything, all it meant was that the Pharisees would remain on the outside looking in; stubborn, like the head-butting goats they were. (smile) As Jesus’ reply indicated. ‘Though I bear record (witness) of myself, yet my record (witness) is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.’ (John 8:14) 

Now here is an interesting explanation on Jesus being the light of the world from the www.biblestudytools.com website. ‘Jesus saying He is the Light of the world is the outer recognition of His Father’s creation and presence, and the inward dwelling of the Holy Spirit, by which we know our Father and walk with Jesus. Jesus is the Light of the world, our world, and in the world. Like God is omnipresent, so Jesus is Light.’ Ah friends, what a wonderful depiction of Jesus; His light just shining everywhere, being the ever-present reality, our invaluable and unbreakable connection to the Father! 

And it’s obvious that the Pharisees, supposedly the most learned scriptural group back then, didn’t know or understand the true meaning of the scriptures, or were simply being egotistical and guarding their earthly power, for Isaiah said it loud and clear. ‘The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.’ (Is. 9:2) 

The prophet Malachi also told us about the bright Light that would come. ‘But unto you that fear my name shall the SUN of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall (grow fat like stall fed calves).’ (Mal. 4:2) 

Now if the Pharisees were so wise or knowledgeable of the scriptures, they would have put two and two together and come up with four and not three, especially since Jesus was healing people like crazy, something they’d never seen before. Or, possibly, as I said earlier, they did come up with four, but were wary of losing their upper crust position if they acknowledged Jesus for whom He really was. 

One stumbling block for the whole Jewish society though, seemed to be the thinking that the Messiah would be this great warrior king who would come and through war-like means, free them from the Roman atrocities, not a gentle, meek, peaceful Rabbi with LOVE as the basis of His testimony. And no doubt we have also been influenced by what or whom we believe Jesus to be in our lives, not what He truly is, and thus have erred in our direction, belief and behaviour, just like the Pharisees did. 

That can clearly be seen in all the different religions and denominations, doctrines, beliefs and behaviour held under the same great umbrella called Christianity. Thus the great disunity amongst Christ’s supposed followers. And thus, the lack of substantial testimony from us on Jesus declaration. ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ 

Yes friends, when Jesus returned to heaven, He designated us as His replacement for light in this ungodly world. But have we done that? Not to the extent that we should have, for there are still too many unbelievers out there, who have never heard about Jesus, or heard about Him and refused to believe because of our dark, unlit testimony. 

So my people, this dark and cloudy morning, please let’s remember Jesus words and do our best to put them into action nuh. ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle (lamp), and put it under a bushel (basket), but on a candlestick (lampstand); and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.’ (Matt. 5:14-15) 

Those are words of awesome truth people, and if our light was shining as bright and as far reaching as possible, our hold on life worldwide right now would certainly not be as intimidating and tenuous. That means we have to raise our level of shining. In the immortal words of Jesus: ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt. 5:16) 

And that’s all Jesus really expects of us yes friends; that we give good testimony of Him through our beliefs and behaviour, so that the Father can be glorified, which is what the Father sent him to do. And in these dangerous and uncertain times, it behooves us Christians to come up higher than we ever have, so the world around us can take some courage and assurance in Christ’s guiding light that shines forth through us. So let’ step up to the plate and do better nuh mih people. 

And now, as we go home, let’s boldly and confidently proclaim to the world, who and whose we are by declaring (steups!) our Tuesday Mantra. ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’  

And if we’re sincere, we’ll now go out and share that awesome LOVE and friendship of Christ with others who, in these desperate times, so desperately need to know and come to LOVE Him! Much LOVE!

…light will always overcome darkness…but only when it’s shone there…