Today’s Scrip-Bit   27 March 2023 Psalm 107:1.

27 Mar 2023 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 (LOVING-kindness) endureth for ever.

Aye mih people, it looks like spring has really sprung this Monday morning in the last week of March. Once again, you can hear the joyful birds singing their sweet songs of morning praises to their Creator and giving their thanks for seeing another day. Now that’s what we should also be doing, because we have even more to be thankful for than the birds of the air. The sun’s up and shining brightly, and I believe the weather is above the freezing mark, giving us another reason to be glad for the air we breathe and God’s breath of life that’s energizing our souls, our bodies, and our spirits. 

And all of God’s children said a grateful and thankful: ‘Thank you Lord for your magnanimous gifts to your underserving children!’ That brings to mind the opening verse of Psalm 107: ‘O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy (LOVING-kindness) endureth for ever.’ (Ps. 107:1) And that’s the indisputable truth friends! God’s mercy (LOVING-kindness) is from everlasting to everlasting! That’s why we are still around to tell the tell the tale. 

Unfortunately though, not as many of us as should, do truly give God thanks for His mercy and goodness. Right now, so many people and situations are crying out for the removal of God from our society, but please think for a moment, if we actually got rid of God – which by the way will NEVER happen – what would become of us eh? We certainly can’t govern or rule ourselves. Just look at the mess we’re in right now, even with God somewhat in the picture. Can you imagine if there was no God to help us up when we falter and fall, like so many of us are doing? 

And what I can’t understand, is that we can’t fix our problems, but we don’t have the wisdom to turn to God, because our foolish pride and the devil’s goading is preventing us from doing so. Oh friends, I beg of you to listen and turn back to God. Please look at what’s happening to our world; the scary, unpredictable weather conditions, with more powerful hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and so many other natural disasters than we’ve ever known at one time. Not to mention, the pervasive drought and famine all over, the economic futility and poverty in a world of plenty. 

Then add the worldwide sickness and disease in a time when we’re transplanting hearts and other organs like it were child’s play, but the scourges of cancer and stress are still consuming our young in great numbers because of the food we eat and the lifestyle we live. We’ve put man on the moon and are tearing up and down in space, like it was our own backyard, while focusing on building ever bigger and more powerful weapons of mass destruction. No wonder there are wars and turbulent times all over. It’s almost impossible to find a place on the globe where there’s no strife and serious unrest. 

And yet we look down our noses at the Israelites who had God’s goodness surrounding them, but when they became prosperous turned away from Him because of foolish pride, believing they had engineered their prosperity on their strength. In Deuteronomy 8, Moses warned the Israelites of that very thing. But they didn’t listen, and it’s the very same thing we are doing today. We’ve entirely forgotten that it’s the Lord God Almighty who has given us the power to get wealth and prosperity. (Deut. 8:18) 

But the big difference between the Israelites and us is that when they suffered their disastrous times for turning away from God, they eventuallywoke up, realized their mistake and turned back to Him, and were reinstated in His mercy. But not us. We’re so modern and inventive, twenty-first century people, we don’t need some far away, nebulous being to handle our affairs. And that’s why all the negative stuff that’s currently overwhelming our world is going to continue, with Satan forcing us down further into the mire of darkness, until we either wake up and smell the roses, or our world implodes. 

We certainly cannot continue in this negative vein, without more disastrous things happening, because each one just fuels the other. Remember the basic law of God’s economy? You reap what you sow, more than you sow and later than you sow! And we’re already reaping the harvest of our earlier negative deeds, but one day, if we persist in this negative manner, we’re certainly going to reap the big boomerang. Remember, another law of nature is what goes around comes around. 

That’s why we should take these cathartic, cleansing and refreshing words of Psalm 107 very seriously. ‘Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron (prisoners): Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned (despised) the counsel of the most High: 

Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder (broke their chains in pieces). Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass (bronze), and cut the bars of iron in sunder.’ (Ps. 107: 8-16)  

Yes my people, that’s what the Lord did for the children of Israel, and what He will do for us if we get wise and ask Him. And there’s no better time to do that than right now! So, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and place our petition before Him. Altogether now:  ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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 if we truly expect a positive answer from heaven, then now is time for us to keep our part of the covenant and turn from our evil ways. Much LOVE!

…God is the Creator and Controller of the universe… while we are only frail and fragile created beings…why do we keep forgetting that eh… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ  

Today’s Scrip-Bit   24 July 2022   1 Thessalonians 5:6.

24 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

1 Thessalonians 5:6. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober (self-controlled). 

Come on friends, it’s time to gather for another Sunday session of praise, worship and thanksgiving! Glory be! Sometimes I just can’t wait for Sunday to come around so we can get together to celebrate the Lord’s Day in high fashion, or low style, (smile) which ever one is more appropriate to our circumstances. 

Yes, there is just something unique and wonderful about a bunch of people from different creeds, cultures and races gathering in one place to enjoy fellowship with each other in the holy presence of our great God Jehovah. And while we give Him thanks and praise, He blesses us, gives us the strength and confidence to go out and face the world like what we truly are – children of God! 

Now, the song to open today’s proceedings is a fairly new one, written in 1970 by Ron Miller and first performed by Stevie Wonder. We’re talking about that soulful number, ‘Heaven Help Us All’, which was very appropriate back then and sadly, is still relevant to our times today. So, let’s get soulful and sincere as we offer up our sacrifices of praise in sweet harmony, in a mid-tempo version, a la Ray Charles and Gladys Knight. 

Singing: ‘Heaven help the boy who never had a home Heaven help the girl who walks the street alone And Heaven help the roses if the bombs begin to fall Lord, won’t you help us all? Heaven help the black man if he struggles one more day Heaven help the white man if he turns his back away Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl Heaven help us all. (Chorus: Heaven help us all, Heaven help us all, help us all. Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call) 

Oh, yeah Heaven help the boy who won’t reach twenty-one And Heaven help the man who gave that child a gun And Heaven help the people with their backs against the wall Lord, won’t you help us all? (Chorus: Heaven help us all…when we call) Gladys – monologue: “I want everybody within the sound of my voice this evening to fall down on their knees and say a prayer; asking for His guidance, His grace, His mercy. You might want to say: Lord, Lord, Lord, have mercy!” 

Now I lay me down before I go to sleep In a troubled world, I pray the Lord, the Lord to keep. Keep hatred from the mighty and the mighty from the small, Heaven help us all, Heaven help us all, help us all. Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call. We need You Jesus so won’t you hear us when we call. We can’t do without You, so please hear us when we call. Heaven help us all, Heaven help us all, help us all, Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call… Heaven help us all…’ 

And my faithful friends, do we ever need a lot of help from heaven in these very evil and calamitous times! Without help from heaven we certainly won’t make it through the dismal and disastrous days that our world is currently undergoing. What with the unprecedented amount of strife and warfare all over the globe, the immense poverty and starvation of billions of people, the poor economic outlook, made even worse by worldwide sickness and disease…

And that’s just some of the manmade stuff. When you add the natural disasters like serious drought and famine, floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes that seem to be more prevalent than before, possibly because of climate change, it’s easy to see why we need heavenly help…and quickly too. 

However friends, I don’t believe we will get that heavenly help as quickly as we need it unless we quickly turn back to the God of our forefathers and give up the idols and foolishness that the world sees as valuable. Remember Jesus words, His memorable advice from the Sermon on the Mount? ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33) 

Yes my bredrin, the only way to get heaven’s help is by sincerely seeking God and His righteousness. We can’t go worshipping the things of the world and doing the ungodly things the world wants us to do, and expect godly help. But that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re only paying lip-service to God. It reminds me of what the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah re Israel’s blindness. ‘Wherefore the Lord said, For as much as this people draw me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear (reverence) toward me is taught by the precept of men.’ (Is. 29:13) 

Ah mih people, it’s the same thing we’re doing now that Israel did back then; simply honouring God with our mouth and lips but not our hearts. And our reverence is being ‘taught by the precept of men,’ meaning, as the scholars tell us, it’s ‘merely an intellectual accommodation. For true worship must begin with a proper reverence for God and His Word.’ 

And if we don’t do that, if we don’t wake up to the realities of life asap…then crapaud smoke we pipe. The Lord’s not going to put up with our dalliance with the devil for ever. He might be long-suffering and all that, but at some stage He’s going to say enough is enough, like He did with Israel when they became unfaithful and with so many other proud and foolish nations, who in their prosperity, turned away from Him unwisely believing that their prosperity was their own doing. 

That’s totally wrong my people. It’s the Lord’s goodness and mercy that causes a nation to prosper. And the psalmist tells us in no uncertain terms. ‘Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it; Except the Lord keep (guards) the city, the watchman waketh but (stays awake) in vain.’ (Ps. 127:1) And I believe these words from Bruh Paul to the Thessalonians when he talks about Jesus coming as a thief in the night might just be a good wake up call for us. 

Listen closely please. ‘But ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober (self-controlled). For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that are drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and LOVE; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Thess. 5:4-9) 

Oh my fellow saints, if we are the children of light, then we must behave as such; wake up and seriously and sincerely hold on to the trappings of our faith, and do our best to encourage others to do the same. We already have all we need to do the job, and if heaven sees that we’re serious, heaven will certainly help us. But we need to take the first step to help ourselves. Much LOVE!

…heaven won’t help us…until we start helping ourselves…that’s for sure…

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