Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 July 2016 John 14:27

29 Jul 2016 Leave a comment

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

John 14:27.   Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

So it’s Friday! And all over God’s great earth, working people are celebrating! They are ecstatic that the weekend is upon them, and are joyfully singing: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! When this working day is done, my time will be my own! No more slave master to drive me crazy, to keep my nose to the grindstone! I’ll be free! Doing my own thing! Glory Be! Thank God for Fridays and the weekends yes!’ 

Ah friends, we all know how important the weekend is for most of us, trying to get things done that we couldn’t do during the work week. But we can’t afford to encumber ourselves with too much of our own activities either, for we’ll just continue the stress of the workweek. The weekend is a time when we must recapture some semblance of balance in our lives. 

So let’s chant our Friday Chant which gives us a better idea of how to achieve that balance. All together now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. 

Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ 

Yes my brethren, we must find some way to get rest, relaxation and fellowship into our weekends if we want to be able to function at a high level the following week. And in keeping with that philosophy, here’s an interesting quote from one Robert H Davies. In checking though, there were so many people with that name, I couldn’t figure out which one said it. 

Nonetheless here it is. ‘One of the signs of maturity is a healthy respect for reality – a respect that manifests itself in the level of one’s aspirations and in the accuracy of one’s assessment of the difficulties which separate the facts of today from the bright hopes of tomorrow.’ 

Yes friends, a healthy dose of reality is what a lot of this world needs right now, especially with all the huge emphasis we’re currently placing on what is called virtual reality. Today, if true reality hits some of us in the face we won’t even recognize it! (smile) 

But we do need to be more mature and sensible about what has gone before, what’s happening today, and our prospects for the future. We must stop living in the past, learn to accept the present, and refrain from painting too bright a future, which when it doesn’t come to pass will only drag us down into the depths of despair. 

Goals and dreams are great to have, but we must temper them with a modicum of circumspection, of reality, otherwise they can mess up our lives. Essentially what we need in our lives, especially in these trying times, these rush and push days, is a proper sense of balance. 

And you know what my people, that can only be accomplished with a big, wonderful dose of Jesus: of His LOVE, His peace, His care and compassion! And nowhere is that more readily seen and available than in the words of our Saviour, as highlighted in our Bit. 

‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’  

Ah friends, what encouraging and reassuring words! Jesus was there telling His disciples of the necessity for Him to go away so that the Holy Spirit, our Guide and Comforter could be sent to us. 

Now obviously it takes some maturity in the Christian faith to accept those words of Jesus at face value. But it’s the only way that we can truly handle the vicissitudes of this life, our changing circumstances and fortunes. Only through the peace and harmony gained by associating with Jesus, can we ever successfully navigate the stormy seas and strong winds of this life. 

And please note the priestly benediction that the Lord gave Moses for the children of Egypt way back when. ‘The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee (look on you with favour), and give thee peace.’ (Num.6:24-26) 

Yeh friends, without the peace and favour of our wonderful God moving in our beings, our lives will never be stable and successful. 

Hear how Bruh Paul puts it to the Philippians. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation 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 requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep (guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’  (Phil.4:4-7) 

Oh precious people of God, what a moving and encouraging set of scriptures! Through constant prayer and thanksgiving we are able to invoke the wonderful peace of God, that’s always close by, through the Holy Spirit! A peace that our finite minds can’t even understand, but we can surely feel it. 

And we’ll end with these reassuring and triumphant words of Jesus. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) 

Friends, as true believers in Christ, let’s therefore go forth today, and everyday, holding those words of enduring truth in our hearts, souls, minds and bodies, so that we can successfully navigate our way through this evil and ungodly world, for that is wisdom to the nth power! 

Much LOVE!…Jesus is the blueprint for successful earthly living…so let’s copy as much of His style as possible…

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 11 March 2016 2 Peter 3:18‏‏

11 Mar 2016 Leave a comment

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

2 Peter 3:18.   But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Wow people! Friday has certainly come around quickly! No wonder the joyful noise in the streets and workplaces. 

‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday once again yes! And the good ole weekend is here! Glory be! How we going to party down the place like leggo beast and don’t have a care these next couple days! Friday, oh Friday! How we LOVE you! That’s why we shout: TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui!’ 

Ah friends, I guess we cannot control the joy and enthusiasm that a Friday brings to working people. However, we can guide the response in a much better way than just libertine living. So let’s chant our Friday Chant, which shows us the better way to use the weekend. 

As one harmonious chanter now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. 

Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ 

Yes, that’s a much more sensible way to use the couple days off we get every week. Simple licentious living doesn’t add any glory to God, just to Beelzebub. And I know that is definitely not what we intend to, or want to do. So please let’s use these vital days in a much more godly manner nuh. 

Oh brother, am I ever tired. I don’t know which one is worse, packing to go away, or unpacking when you come back. I suspect though that it’s the latter, because I haven’t finished unpacking, and there’s still a lot of stuff to catch up on, plus a million and one letters to check out. Hopefully though, most of them will be junk, thus needing only a perfunctory glance. 

Boy, does stuff ever pile up quickly when you go away. And then yesterday I had to go running around in the constant drizzle to get stuff that we needed. But all in all it was a good day. Thank You Lord!  

And per our Bit, I did grow a little in grace yesterday. ‘But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.’

Ah friends, that word ‘grace’ is something else yes! The dictionary has 14, yes 14, definitions for it. But the one we’re most concerned here with is: ‘Favour, benignant (kind, kindly) regard, or its manifestation, on part of superior.’ 

That brings into play the grace, the favour, the manifestation of our wonderful, magnificent and magnanimous God, who showers us with His grace and favour every single day! Oh glory to God my people for that constant shower of grace! Without it, we would be truly like lost sheep, wandering aimlessly in the wilderness; a perfect and easy target for the enemy. 

And yuh know what? We grow in grace and favour with God, when we grow in knowledge of His will, power and LOVING-kindness. The one, brings on the other. 

And I want to share here some explanations of the scholars, re the verse from Ephesians that we looked at a couple days ago; the one that talks about the whole body fitly joined together and compacted (knit together). 

‘4:16. Fitly joined together and compacted: As He unites Christians with Himself, Christ also brings them into a harmonious relationship with one another. This harmonious relationship is accomplished by that which every joint supplieth or, “by every supporting ligament.” 

The spiritual gifts mentioned in verses 7-15 are figuratively likened to the various “ligaments” of a body. Removing this figure, Christ joins believers together and unites them by the divinely ordained ministries of Christians who possess diverse spiritual gifts, which are exercised and used among believers for the common good. 

The church’s spiritual growth, then, comes from Christ through the believer’s ministry to one another as they employ their spiritual gifts.’ 

Oh friends, please note that the whole theme of whatever Christ does is always unity and harmony, especially amongst the body of believers called ‘His church.’ 

But in actual fact, His supposed church is not becoming more united and harmonious. In fact it is breaking up, with more divisions happening every day, and more fighting and disharmony even amongst those divisions. So how then do we expect the church to do the job it was created to do, if there is more disharmony than harmony within it eh? 

We all have diverse gifts which we are supposed to use for the common good. But are we doing that? Obviously not, otherwise the church would not be as divided and antagonistic as it is. Our selfishness seems to be paramount in relationship to the good of the body. 

Ah friends, I don’t know what else to say to get us to think in terms of unity, rather than disunity nuh. But until, and unless we put our selfish and foolish pride aside, and begin truly seeking what’s good for us all, then Christ’s church will always be divided and easily conquered by the enemy. That’s simple logic. Much LOVE!

…when we work against each other…then we’re dong the enemy’s work…not Christ’s…

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 February 2015 Psalm 62:7

27 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 62:7.  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

Well…and like it was suddenly Friday! And the clamour from working people all around the world rose up to high heaven. ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday yes, and we have the weekend to look forward to; to play and party and do whatever we want!’

But Friends, that’s not quite true. Regardless of time, place and opportunity, we still have to put our Creator and Provider, Almighty God FIRST! And to help us do that, let’s chant our Friday Chant.
 
All together now, with true sincerity. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
 
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
 
Now that’s a little more like it ought to be. So let’s hope it alters our perception in a suitable manner. (smile) And Friends, you know there’s truly no place like home!
 
I got back to the cold North Country around 7 p.m last night and looking out over the city of Toronto from the plane, all I could see was white. Hn! And when I came out of the airport and the first blast of the chilly weather hit me, it sorta rocked my soul.
 
After a month of constant high twenties and low thirty degrees weather, the body was a bit shocked by the minus 17 degrees chill. Lord have mercy! But the human being is such a wonderfully made and adaptable body, that by the time I got home and settled in, it was just like I’d never been away.
 
And here I am once again down in my basement office tapping away at my old desk top listening to the furnace next door, instead of being on my verandah in Lowlands, on my laptop, looking out at the beautiful scenery of flowers, green trees and sky blue seas. Ah Chuh!
 
And this morning when I got up and looked out my bedroom window, all I could see was white…snow everywhere. It was a shock to the system. But life goes on, and I have to get on with the real thing, not the fairy tale one. So it’s back to the daily grind and common task.
 
I have a whole set of mail sitting on my desk to go through eventually, and I’m sure it’s a combination of mostly bills and charities begging for money. What a blessing that I haven’t had to deal with that for a whole month! Glory Hallelujah!
 
But I’m truly tired of these supposed charities begging all the time. And the worst mistake you can make is to give them one time, for after that they constantly bombard you with pleas for assistance.
 
And the sad part is that a lot of the funds received don’t get to where they are supposed to, they are siphoned off to pay the fundraisers, which is now a huge business, and for administrative purposes.
 
But the Lord says to give and you will receive, so we have to give some, just be careful of whom we are giving to and how much. End of sermon! (smile)
 
Now turning to our Bit, which again comes from Psalm 62 – God only is my rock and salvation. Bruh David proclaims it without any doubt or hesitation whatsoever. ‘In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.’
 
And that my people is indisputable, irrevocable, gospel and all other kinds of truth!
 
The Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is indeed our salvation as He has proven through the sacrificial death of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! He’s also our glory, our strength and refuge! The One to whom we look to for things mighty and majestic, for help in ALL our daily activities, be they big or small.
 
And He certainly is the One we run to when we can’t handle the trials and tribulations of this ungodly world, and where we certainly receive help and succour without any untoward questions asked! What a mighty and wonderful God is our heavenly Father! He is the ONLY ONE who can help and save us in times of trouble!
 
That’s why Bruh David wisely advises us in the next verse: ‘Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.   Selah.’ (Ps.62:8) More wonderful words of heavenly wisdom and truth my brethren!
 
And the prophet Jeremiah said it this way: ‘A voice was heard upon the high places (bare heights), weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.
 
Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.’ (Jer.3:21-23).
 
Oh Friends, it’s uncanny how those same words are so pertinent to our situation in today’s world! For just like Israel back then, we in this current age have indeed forsaken the God of our fathers. That’s why there is so much weeping and gnashing of teeth all over the world.
 
When man turns away in droves from Jehovah God to foolishly follow the lusts of the world, what else can we expect eh? Granted that it is difficult to reject the worldly baubles and bangles and bright shining things of the world when they are constantly pounded in our ears, eyes and minds by the secular advertising entities, using all the psychological tools at their disposal.
 
That’s why my fellow believers it is of the utmost importance that we are very careful in whom and what we watch, read and listen to, for our weak and frail minds are very fallible and gullible to those new fangled ways of Lucifer.
 
And we’ll end with another true and wonderful and confidence building insight on the subject from Bruh David, from Psalm 3 – A prayer of confidence in God. ‘Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people.  Selah.’ (Ps.3:8)
 
Oh Friends, please let’s remember those insightful words, and all the others that we’ve spoken about today, as we journey forth into the evil, disgusting world to live for Jesus, for that’s wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!
 
…let’s remember that our duty is to…LOVE our God…LIVE our Faith…and SPREAD His Word…