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Todays Scrip-Bit 12 November 2018 Psalm 119:176.

12 Nov 2018 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a decent livelihood, a job, a roof over our heads, alive and kicking, almighty god, aura of love, Bless His Holy Name, Christians, confidence, desperate situation, doh break no bone, down in the dumps, drunk or sober, dumb sheep, enthusiasm, eternal life, evil, faith, food on our table, for the sheep, forget thy commandments, gives his life, glorious kingdom, glorious promise, gone astray, good advice, gospel truth, Granny's warning, griping, hellfire, holy spirit, humble servants, iniquity, invincible, Jesus Christ, joy, laid on him, lies, like lost sheep, LOVE, loved us, mercy, mind yuh business, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, praising the Lord, prayerful song, raise our voices, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, righteousness., sacrifice, salvation, save the lost, seek thy servant, sheep, sinless life, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, taunts, the Father's request, the good shepherd, the name that's above every other name, the only hope, the other side of the coin, trust, truth, ungodly world, vitality, we have Jesus, wisdom, wonders never cease, worldly stuff

Psalm 119:176. I have gone astray like a lost sheep: seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.

Wonders never cease mih breddren! Monday has quickly rolled around again…Praise the Lord! (smile) And some miserable, disturbed body is wondering why we praising the Lord for Monday? Well because we’re alive and kicking; we have strong, healthy families, a roof over our heads, and food on our table, and a job to go to that pays us money so we can sustain our earthly lives…and I can go on and on.

But what we need to thank God most for on this Monday morning is that we have Jesus! Bless His Holy Name! Yes friends, please bless that name that’s above all other names, for without Him we might have some of the worldly stuff we now have, but we wouldn’t have salvation and the glorious promise of eternal life. And that’s worth more than anything in this world.

So instead of griping about having to go to work, let’s look on the other side of the coin and consider those who don’t have a decent livelihood, and would just LOVE to have what we have. So let’s be thankful for all that we have and are, and if we feeling a bit low and down in the dumps this morning, then please join us as we raise our voices in prayerful song to heaven, soulfully and sincerely declaring our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.

In unison 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!’

Yes my fellow believers, that will cure all your Monday morning ills! And I have to laugh because, as always, the loudest and croakiest voices were those of the people who do not have to go to work today. It’s not a full public holiday, but for some, because Remembrance Day fell on a Sunday, they get the following day off.

And for those of you who have already begun celebrating, getting into your cups, judging from your hoarse voices, please remember Granny’s warning: ‘Sonny boy, drunk or sober please mind yuh business.’ That’s wonderful advice friends. And yuh know what the ole people say about that? ‘Good advice doh break no bone.’ Gospel truth that! And I just happened to hear it in a calypso on the radio yesterday afternoon. And all it basically means is that you can’t go wrong with good advice.

So now that everybody’s up and about, in good spirits, LOVING Jesus and each other, let’s concentrate on doing His will nuh, whatever plan(s) He has for each of our lives on this November day. And we going to follow some more good advice from the psalmist, that surely won’t break any bones, but more likely mend them, as we humbly cry out in our Bit to the Lord: ‘I have gone astray like a lost sheep: seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.’

And is that ever the truth my people! So many of us have strayed from the straight and narrow path like, dumb, lost sheep, it’s not funny. And the only way to get back on the straight and narrow is for the Lord to search us out and bring us back.

And it’s not like we have forgotten His commandments, but for one reason or another, we’ve let them slide. And that’s not very wise. And sadly, we’ve been doing that for a very long time, which led Isaiah through God’s Spirit, to pen: ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ (Is.53:6)

Yes friends, mankind was in a desperate condition, totally sinful, lost without a Saviour, until the Lord laid our heavy and abominable sins on the strong shoulders of Christ, the ONLY ONE who had the parts to bear them. And Jesus willingly took our sinful burden and compassionately gave us His righteousness in return. Wow! What an awesome Saviour He is!

As He said: ‘For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.’ (Matt.18:11) And also: ‘I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.’ (John 10:11) And that is exactly what He did my brethren; gave His sinless life for our sinful ones!

That’s why we ought to be everlastingly grateful to Him! He could have refused, but He knew that He was the ONLY hope for mankind, and He just could not refuse the Father’s request, because He knew how much the Father LOVED us, and it would break His heart if He lost even one sheep to the enemy. So let’s have no more questions about why we should praise God and thank Him for Jesus on this cold November morning! Just do it! (smile) Much LOVE!

…without the Good Shepherd Jesus… the dumb sheep…mankind…would be lost in hellfire for ever…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 January 2018 Matthew 6:21.

16 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a garden plot, a good man, accumulation of things, balmy winter, beloved of God, by thy words, check out your heart, common sense, concentrate on faith, condemned, corrupt, day of judgement, deep freeze, evil man, evil things, evil treasure, evil world, faith, faith is cultivated, faithful service, friend jesus, give account, Glory be, God's LOVE, God's wisdom, good things, good treasure of the heart, grow in Christ, grow in faith, gush, hold closest to out heart, hurry, idle word, indisputable truth, justified, LOVE, lures, meritorious benefits, monitor your heart daily, moth, Our Daily Bread Devotionals, pay cnstant attention, people, plenty talk, rewards, ruin, rust, safe, share jesus' love, spiritual growth, state of our hearts, talking through their hats, there will your heart be, thieves break through and steal, treasure, treasures in heaven, trust, Tuesday Mantra, unattended hearts, unsullied by man, wandering, warned, weeds, where your treasure is, wisdom, worldly stuff, worry

Matthew 6:21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Ah friends, it’s obvious that the weather people who forecasted a mild and balmy winter were talking through their hats, (smile) as so far it has been anything but balmy. Except for the couple days last week, when the temps were above freezing, we’ve been in a deep freeze since before Christmas and the snow has been plentiful; more again yesterday afternoon and last night.

And it amuses me that every time I look outside and see the place covered in snow, I gush about how beautiful it is. Hn! Hn! Oh, it does look beautiful when it’s unsullied by man. But then, we all know that man sullies everything he touches!

And I have some wise words to share this morning from Our Daily Bread Devotionals. The first says: ‘Monitor your heart daily, to avoid wandering from God’s wisdom.’ And the second declares: ‘Spiritual growth occurs when faith is cultivated.’

Oh my people, what words of indisputable truth! Unless we pay constant attention to what’s happening with our hearts, it’s ever so easy to move away from God’s wisdom, especially with the many lures that the evil world has in place to do just that. It’s like a garden plot; if you don’t pay serious attention to it, the weeds will soon grow up and overrun it. The same thing is possible, no, inevitable with unattended hearts.

And it should be obvious that to grow in faith, we have to concentrate on faith. We won’t grow in Christ unless we specifically cultivate that growth, for whatever we concentrate on, that’s the direction in which we will go and grow. Yeh friends, we can easily be known by the state of our hearts. As Jesus so rightly states in our Bit: ‘For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’

Ah mih people, our treasure is never far from our heart, neither is our heart far from our treasure, because our treasure is what we hold closest to our heart. And Jesus warns before our Bit. ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt (ruin), and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.’ (Matt.6:19-20)

What everlasting wisdom friends! In this world our treasures can be ruined by worldly stuff and people, but in heaven that’s impossible. Therefore the common sense to store treasures in heaven rather than on earth. (smile)

And the scholars add:. ‘6:19-21. The attention of the believer is directed toward treasures in heaven. The term ‘treasures’ implies the addition or accumulation of things. The two kinds of treasures are conditioned by their place (either on earth or in heaven). The concept of laying up treasures in heaven is not pictured as one of meritorious benefits but rather of rewards for faithful service, as is illustrated elsewhere in the teaching of Jesus.’

Please note that significant difference my brethren! It’s not how much stuff we accumulate in heaven, like it is on earth, but it’s all about rewards for our faithful service here on earth. So it’s based on how much good we do here on earth. And, unlike money, and power and physical stuff, they can never be lost or destroyed. Hence again, the wisdom of storing up treasures in heaven, where they are everlastingly safe.

That brings us to another instance where Jesus links treasures with the heart. Here He is talking about good and corrupt fruit. ‘A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.’ (Matt.12:35)

There again friends, we see that what’s in our heart is what we treasure, and vice-versa, and it can be either good or bad, but we can only bring out what’s in there, be it good or bad.

Note though how Jesus continues: ‘But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ (Matt.12:36-37)

Powerful stuff that, my fellow believers: powerful enough that we should pay special attention to it! Remember the world was created by the Lord speaking words, which means that words are indeed very powerful, and we shall be judged by the words that we speak on this earth.

So it behooves us to be very careful about not only what we do, but also about what we say. So don’t say we have not been warned. (smile) Please take it very seriously, because in these times of plenty talk, it’s very easy to say the wrong thing and thus make our judgement day even more difficult than it’s already going to be.

Now let’s go home this Tuesday morning declaring our Tuesday Mantra, letting the world know who and whose we are. All together in strong and sincere voice now: ‘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!’

Glory be my people! How blessed we are! Now let’s go out and share Jesus’ LOVE and friendship with the rest of the world, as He so generously desires. Much LOVE!

check out your heart…what does it treasure most…worldly stuff…or God’s LOVE…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 March 2017 Psalm 119:105.

02 Mar 2017 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a feeling of love, a light unto my path, a positive outlook, A prayer for change, a ruined life, a wasted day, after thee O god, blessings, broad highway, Christians, cleanse, commandments, compassionate heart, confession, courage, covenant, creativity, curse, depressing, destruction, disconsolate mood, divine favour, dr robert h schuller, dreary, entrance of thy words, forty days, freedom, give light, glowing sunshine, God's LOVE, God's Word, godly, good stuff, holy, hope, Hour of Power Devotional, introspective, Jesus, joy moves in, judgement, laughing, Lent, magnanimous god, magnificent, mental dial, mercies, moment of prayer, moods, morning mist, negative feelings, negative word, parted clouds, promotion, redemption, repentance, responsible, reverend, richly blessed, righteous lives, rise and shine, self-control, self-discipline, self-pity, selfishly indulge, so panteth my soul, spiritual improvement, springtime, stand fast for ever, success, temptation, testimonies, the hart panteth after the water brooks, the sun breaks through, the works of his hands are verity, Thursday Blessings, thy word is a lamp unto my feet, truth, understanding to the simple, unproductive thoughts, unprofitable, wasting God's goodness, winter, worldly stuff

Psalm 119:105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Oh my precious people, it’s Thursday, rise and shine and greet the brand new day filled with new mercies and blessings, courtesy of our magnificent and magnanimous God!

Oh, I know some of you have been up a long while ago, but have you invoked the new blessings and mercies provided especially for today? I do hope you have, otherwise you’re missing out on a whole lot of good stuff, and wasting God’s goodness.

Anyway, it’s the second day of Lent, that time when Christians become especially introspective, giving up worldly stuff, concentrating on confession and repentance, seeking to cleanse their souls, bodies and minds. It’s a time about spiritual improvement and upliftment that coincides with Jesus’ forty days of temptation in the wilderness.

Now here is ‘A Prayer for Change,’ from Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional, which I believe can be of much benefit to us today.

Please pray with me. ‘O God, when a life has been so richly blessed as mine has been, it’s not right for me not to be laughing! I confess that I am responsible for my moods. I have no right to selfishly indulge in negative feelings of self-pity. It’s time for me to change my mental dial, Lord.

You are helping me. This will be the moment when the sun breaks through the parted clouds, and springtime returns after winter. Thank you, Lord!

The dreary, depressing, disconsolate mood disappears like the morning mist in the glowing sunshine of your LOVE. And joy moves in! And hope begins to build up within me! And a beautiful feeling of LOVE starts to surround me!

Thank you, God, for the great things you are doing within me now in this moment of prayer. Amen.’

Yes friends, with God’s amazing help, we can all change for the better! But as Gramps Schuller states early on in the prayer, we need to change our mental dial to bring about that improvement. Remember it all begins in the mind, with our thoughts. And if our mind and our thoughts aren’t right, then our lives will never be right.

And this is what the Lenten season is all about, changing our mental dial; looking deep inside, with God’s help obviously, to weed out the unprofitable and unproductive thoughts and replace them with God-centred ones that enrich our lives.

And to help us do that, we desperately need to delve into the truth of God’s Word, so that it becomes as the psalmist says in our Bit: ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’

Ah mih people, until and unless, we allow God’s Word to lead and guide us in this earthly life, we’ll most likely go astray and end up on the broad highway that leads to destruction. And believe me, that’s not a very nice place to be.

Yes it looks good, and there’s lots of freedom, but the end of it all is just a ruined life. So let’s look now at some scripture that corroborates our Bit and encourages us to get into the Word like never before.

This first piece, like our Bit, comes from Psalm 119. ‘Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.’ (Ps.119:129-131)

Oh friends, is that the way we feel about God’s Word? Do we long for it? Do we pant for it? And do we keep it? Now if we are serious believers, then we should be doing all those things.

As the Sons of Korah put it in Psalm 42 – An intense longing for God: ‘As the hart panteth after (the deer longs for) the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.’ (Ps.42:1)

Yes my brethren, that’s how we ought to feel about our God: long for Him in our souls like the thirsty deer longs for a drink of cold, sweet water! And believe me friends, when we find Him, a joy comes into our souls just like when the deer drinks that thirst quenching water.

And this last bit of scripture reinforces all that we’ve said so far. ‘The works of his hands are verity (truth) and judgement; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.’ (Ps.111:7-9)

And those are all facts, not alternative ones (smile) but facts of gospel truth! So please let’s take them to heart nuh, so that we can live godly and righteous lives.

And finally, it’s time to declare our Thursday Blessings. Remember a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone.

So with sincere enthusiasm and belief let’s declare them: ‘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 everyday! Amen!’

Now let’s go out and bless others! Much LOVE!

…a day that’s not filled with God…is indeed a wasted day…

SCRIP-BITS

Todays Scrip-Bit 12 November 2018 Psalm 119:176.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 March 2017 Psalm 119:105.

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