Psalm 89:36-37 His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as the faithful witness in heaven. Selah
Oh yes Friends, the Lord is faithful, His LOVE par excellence; unconditional, and His promises as dependable as solid rock. He promised to establish Bruh David’s house on high forever. And He did just that, through Jesus. But people, our God is also a God of righteousness and justice, meaning that He abhors sin and wrongdoing. Although He LOVES us down to the ground, His conscience won’t allow Him to overlook our wrongs, without some kind of retribution. So, added to His promise of unconditional LOVE, peace and compassion, is a serious responsibility. ‘If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgements; If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.’ (vs.30-32) That’s a promise too Friends, and we all know that He never breaks them. Just as our earthly fathers, who also LOVE us, will not tolerate disobedience, our heavenly Father won’t either. He’s the leading advocate of ‘Tough LOVE.’ Though He’ll never stop loving us in spite of what we do, He certainly won’t condone disobedience. And if yuh think our earthly parents punishment was tough, Friends, you ain’t seen nothing yet. If yuh really want to see tough LOVE, then just keep on disobeying the Lord. He’s not going to spank you with His bare hands, or with a leather belt soaked in urine, or a tamarind whip, or a pot spoon, or whatever was closest to your parents hands. (smile) No Friends, it will be a different kind of pain, one yuh feel deep down in yuh soul, that’ll hurt more and last longer than anything out parents ever did. You really don’t want to get on the Father’s wrong side, cause with Him, an hour of pain is as long as a day of pleasure. That’s why I’m surprised we can’t see what’s happening in our world today: The natural disasters, the strife and oppression, leading to refugee camps all over the world, famine, hunger, homelessness, with food banks proliferating in first world countries, the terrible poverty, while the rich get richer, the soaring inflation and economic decline worldwide, the outrageous greed and sinfulness, the ungodliness, the ‘doh care’ attitude…Oh Friends, so many negatives are occurring in our world today. A world that’s never been richer or more advanced, yet has never experienced so much tragedy and disaster either. Why are we suffering so much atrocity? Is it because of our blatant disregard of the Lord’s laws, that He’s now visiting our transgression and iniquity with the rod and stripes He promised? It’s entirely possible. As the Jamaican brother that taught us History in High School expounded, feet on the desk, right hand lightly stroking his scraggly grey beard.: ‘What is History? History is a record of the past. And why do we learn History? To understand the present.’ Obviously we’ve failed History. Look at what the Lord did to the Israelites, His chosen people, more than once too. Check out Sodom and Gomorrah, and the numerous cities and nations that got so rich and sinful and relegated Him to the trash heap. And today we’re taking God out of our lives like never before. Shouldn’t that ring some alarm bells? Friends, we need to take the tragic happenings in our world seriously, consider them a sign of displeasure from the Lord, that He’s telling us to wake up and smell the roses before it’s too late. Let’s be safe rather than sorry nuh, and act more in accordance with His will. It can only improve the situation. Much LOVE!…the rewards of obedience… far outweigh…those of disobedience; rods and stripes…
Oh yes Friends, the Lord is faithful, His LOVE par excellence; unconditional, and His promises as dependable as solid rock. He promised to establish Bruh David’s house on high forever. And He did just that, through Jesus. But people, our God is also a God of righteousness and justice, meaning that He abhors sin and wrongdoing. Although He LOVES us down to the ground, His conscience won’t allow Him to overlook our wrongs, without some kind of retribution. So, added to His promise of unconditional LOVE, peace and compassion, is a serious responsibility. ‘If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgements; If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.’ (vs.30-32) That’s a promise too Friends, and we all know that He never breaks them. Just as our earthly fathers, who also LOVE us, will not tolerate disobedience, our heavenly Father won’t either. He’s the leading advocate of ‘Tough LOVE.’ Though He’ll never stop loving us in spite of what we do, He certainly won’t condone disobedience. And if yuh think our earthly parents punishment was tough, Friends, you ain’t seen nothing yet. If yuh really want to see tough LOVE, then just keep on disobeying the Lord. He’s not going to spank you with His bare hands, or with a leather belt soaked in urine, or a tamarind whip, or a pot spoon, or whatever was closest to your parents hands. (smile) No Friends, it will be a different kind of pain, one yuh feel deep down in yuh soul, that’ll hurt more and last longer than anything out parents ever did. You really don’t want to get on the Father’s wrong side, cause with Him, an hour of pain is as long as a day of pleasure. That’s why I’m surprised we can’t see what’s happening in our world today: The natural disasters, the strife and oppression, leading to refugee camps all over the world, famine, hunger, homelessness, with food banks proliferating in first world countries, the terrible poverty, while the rich get richer, the soaring inflation and economic decline worldwide, the outrageous greed and sinfulness, the ungodliness, the ‘doh care’ attitude…Oh Friends, so many negatives are occurring in our world today. A world that’s never been richer or more advanced, yet has never experienced so much tragedy and disaster either. Why are we suffering so much atrocity? Is it because of our blatant disregard of the Lord’s laws, that He’s now visiting our transgression and iniquity with the rod and stripes He promised? It’s entirely possible. As the Jamaican brother that taught us History in High School expounded, feet on the desk, right hand lightly stroking his scraggly grey beard.: ‘What is History? History is a record of the past. And why do we learn History? To understand the present.’ Obviously we’ve failed History. Look at what the Lord did to the Israelites, His chosen people, more than once too. Check out Sodom and Gomorrah, and the numerous cities and nations that got so rich and sinful and relegated Him to the trash heap. And today we’re taking God out of our lives like never before. Shouldn’t that ring some alarm bells? Friends, we need to take the tragic happenings in our world seriously, consider them a sign of displeasure from the Lord, that He’s telling us to wake up and smell the roses before it’s too late. Let’s be safe rather than sorry nuh, and act more in accordance with His will. It can only improve the situation. Much LOVE!…the rewards of obedience… far outweigh…those of disobedience; rods and stripes…
SCRIP-BITS 