Almighty God, Sovereign of the Universe, gives His People Victory through His Son, Christ Jesus!

03 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 15:57.       But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Aye mih people, it’s a new Monday and a new work week, and who knows what joys and sorrows we will encounter this week, but be encouraged that with Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we will be able to handle whatever comes against us with a strong trust and confidence in the One who strengthens us and provides for all of our needs! How did Bruh Paul put it in his first missive to the Corinthians? ‘But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!’ (1 Cor. 15:57) And that’s a mighty big thanks my faithful brethren! 

It’s such a big deal that there are several scriptures that attest to it. Verses like this magnificent encourager from Isaiah. ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of (from) me, saith the Lord.’ (Is. 54:17) Now doesn’t that just your get your dander up and make you feel like you could face the world and beat it with God on your side! Of course! (smile) 

But what does that mean? This commentary tells us: ‘Simply put, God was stating that anyone who is seeking to do evil against believers will fail. Though for a time it may seem that we are defeated in a situation, God assures us the victory.’ And that’s an attitude we need to walk around with every day my fellow believers. 

Why? Because it plays right into this other well-known scripture, where Bruh Paul in writing to the Romans, about persecution befalling believers, states in no uncertain terms: ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that LOVED us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of God, which is in Christ Jesus.’ (Rom. 8:37-39) 

Now that’s another noteworthy scripture that should be amongst our go to ones in times of doubt, trial and worry. Then John in his first epistle steadfastly proclaims: ‘For this is the LOVE of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (burdensome). For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God.’ (1 John 5:3-5) 

Wow! What an uplifting scripture! And the scholars explain those verses thus: ‘Whatsoever refers to every believer born of God. There is conquering power through this confession because God is sovereign over the world, and only through the Son of God does man have access to and find favour with God.’ And who wouldn’t want to have access to God and find favour with Him eh? Only a fool or an evildoer. 

Now we cannot go home without featuring these revolutionary words from Jesus Himself, that He issued when warning the disciples of coming persecution and hard times. ‘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) Yes friends and fellow believers, when we place our sincere trust in Jesus, then we can have peace and calm despite the trials and tribulations we might face, because His authority and power over the world and the devil, enables us to do it. 

And we’ll close this Bit on the victories of God on our behalf through Christ Jesus, with the one that we’re all looking forward to. In the prophetic words of John the Revelator: ‘And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’ (Rev. 21:2-4) 

It could not get any better than that my fellow saints! And after what I’ve been through these last few months, I for one am looking forward to the day when there will be no more pain! Yuh better believe it! (smile) Now, let’s go to the throne of grace in humble confidence seeking help to handle all that ails us in these evil and ungodly 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!’ 

But please, let’s remember that we’re in a two way partnership with God; He has responsibilities, and so do we, and to get His help, we need to better carry out ours. Nuff said! Much LOVE!

… a word to the wise is sufficient…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

The Great Need for Christians to Resist Temptation!

15 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 10:13 b.       but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;

Awright friends, Wednesday is up with its joys, problems, challenges and frustrations. But since this is the day we catch our second wind, then hopefully we’ll deal with all of them with a right and godly attitude. (smile) To help us do that, let’s offer up a prayer on a very appropriate subject: Temptation. Yes, we all know that’s our biggest problem in this world, and although we have all the tools to deal with it, the enemy doesn’t make it easy for us. This prayer comes from some prayer cards recently issued by the In Touch Organization, on useful topics that constantly affect our lives. And there’s certainly none bigger than Temptation! 

So, let’s pray: ‘Father, where Your grace has made me firm against old temptations, thank You for victory. In areas where I’m still tempted, I call on You for help. Show me the way out, and give me the wisdom and courage to take it. Make my desire to be obedient greater than the pull of false pleasure. When I see Your escape route, I will rejoice, knowing blessings await those who endure. Thank You for LOVING me enough to rescue me from every trap. Amen!’ 

Oh friends, do we ever need God’s recuing from all the traps Satan and his demonic followers place in our paths! Especially, as the prayer says with ‘the pull of false pleasure.’ That’s Satan’s favourite way of drawing us in; placing what looks like pleasure before us, but a pleasure that’s often short-lived, and very often with an enormous price to pay for our disobedience. But thanks be to God that He’s promised to help us recognize and hopefully avert those temptations. 

And here’s the most famous scripture on that topic, from the pen of Bruh Paul in his first missive to the Corinthians. ‘There hath no temptation taken (overcome) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13) Now that tells us that we all experience the same basic types of temptation, but we have a most faithful God who will not allow us to undergo a temptation bigger than we can handle, but even if it seems like He’s done so, He will always make a way for us to handle it. 

And according to the scholars: ‘Make a way to escape (lit. “an egress” or “way out”): In early Greek usage, this term had the sense of a landing place for a ship. The idea is thus not that He will allow us to escape temptation, but that He will enable us to land intact on the other side.’ Now, that’s something a lot of us supposed believers need to come to terms with. Temptation is a must; it’s just part of the world order of things. Even Jesus was tempted before He officially began His ministry. (Luke 4:1-13) 

And He subsequently warned us: ‘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) That means in this ungodly and evil world we will certainly have trials, troubles, tests, temptations and all kinds of trouble! However, as believers in Christ Jesus, who has already conquered the forces of evil, we can be of good cheer, or have a basic peace and faith that allows us to go forward with courage, facing whatever comes against with a good, strong and godly attitude. 

Why? Because our God is faithful to His promises! Bruh Paul said it thus to the Corinthians: ‘God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellow ship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (1 Cor: 1:9) And I like this scripture that corroborates that one. ‘What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?’ (Rom. 8:31-32) 

Now those are indeed very good questions? If the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God is for us, who can harm us eh? Nobody! And if He’s already broken His own heart, done the most important thing ever by giving us His Son Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, why would He refuse us anything else eh, for nothing can be more important than that? 

Oh my fellow believers, if we would only use our brains and meditate on God’s Word, we’d certainly see how much He truly LOVES us and desires us to have a good life. He’s bent over backwards to show it, there’s no more He can do. The rest is all up to us; either to accept or reject His grace, mercy, favour, faithfulness and LOVE! Or to foolishly accept the short-term pleasures and sinfulness of Satan, who has no LOVE whatsoever for us, but is only looking for company to spend eternal death and separation from God with him. Let’s hope we’re not foolish enough to allow him to draw us into his web and lose the best thing we’ve ever had; that’s Jesus Christ. 

Now, let’s go home declaring (chuhhh!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus, and inviting them to join us in that marvellous journey! As one strong and sincere voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And it’s been promised that if we endure with Jesus right down to the very end, then that future will be even more glorious than we can ask or imagine. So please, let’s plan on being there right at the very end nuh, so that we can enjoy that more than glorious future! See you there! Much LOVE!

…in an ungodly world…temptations are inevitable…but capitulation to them is not…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien