Psalm 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
Oh my Friends, we are indeed facing troubling and depressing times, with most of the news of the negative variety, giving the impression that we’re on a see-saw, hanging in the balance, one day we’re up, next day we’re down. But aye, you old fogeys like me out there, remember those youthful days of playing see-saw? Where you’d get a piece of board, put it over a stone or something to act as a fulcrum, then one person would carefully get on either side and away you’d go, singing as we rode up and down, ‘see-saw, marjorie daw…’ (smile) I don’t remember the rest, but one thing we had as children was lots of imagination and inventiveness. We couldn’t buy most of the stuff we wanted, so we found some means to make it ourselves; like box carts, skaters, tops and kites. Sadly though, this generation lacks, or has lost that creativity because everything’s been handed to them on a silver platter, and when things get rough, they have no experience of hard times to fall back on. That’s mostly the fault of us parents and the soft, now for now society we’ve developed. However my Friends, if it’s one thing the old fogeys had back in those olden days along with our ingenuity, was hope: Hope of a brighter tomorrow; hope that things would get better, and luckily for most of us, it did. But unfortunately times have again become trying and troublesome, possibly much more so than they’ve ever been for many of us. But we know that we’ve overcome rough times before, so why not again? How did our parents do it? Most, if not all, did it through first trusting in the Lord God Jehovah; then by helping each other, when and wherever they could, and being creative in their own situations. Working two jobs simultaneously is nothing new to me, my mother did it most of her working life. The problem now is not even being able to find one menial job, much less two. At one stage in my teenaged years my mother had no job at all, as she got fired over some triviality, and the union never lived up to its promise to seek redress. But yuh know what Friends, though it was somewhat rough, we survived. I never went hungry one day, still had a roof over my head and decent clothes to wear. And there was no welfare or unemployment to cushion the blow. So how did she do it? Through trust and faith in God, the generosity of friends and neighbours and her own ingenuity. Because she had lived right in the good times, others were willing to help in her time of need. I’ve had my own rough times too, should possibly have gone under long ago, but I’m still here, living decently, better than most of the billions of people in the world. Why? Again because of hope and trust and faith, and keeping keeping on, and trying to do the right thing in spite of numerous misfortunes and setbacks. What am I trying to say? That our current problems, though seemingly large, are not overwhelming or insurmountable. But the first thing we need to do is take stock of our spiritual lives. Sit down and sincerely determine our relationship with God. Then upgrade that relationship; take a leap of faith. Tell yourself that you will trust in your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ no matter what. If He was magnanimous enough to die for your sins, why would He let you suffer over little things like jobs, food, clothing and shelter. Friends, I guarantee that if you sincerely place your full trust in Him, He will not let you suffer want and deprivation now. So hope for the best, believe that things will get better, and do your part to accomplish that. Oh my people, if it’s one thing the human spirit has in great abundance is the ability to hope and believe; to bounce back from misfortune. The saying that while there’s life there’s hope is oh so true. Just like never say die until you’re dead. Once we’re alive and kicking anything can happen, anything is possible, remember we’re dealing with a God of the supernatural, who can come to our rescue anytime, anywhere, truly from out of the blue. Listen to this quote attributed to O.S. Marden. ‘The hopeful man sees success where others see failure, sunshine where others see shadows and storms.’ Yes my Friends, it’s largely a matter of perception; the old mind game of whether the glass is half full or half empty. It’s always better to consider the positive aspects, cause they say we become what we think on. And we all know that it’s tough times and disappointments that often cause us to hunker down and become creative, make good use of the few opportunities we have. Lots of the creatures of our easy life were created during hard times. Some creative mind decided they were tired with the difficult situation and set out to improve it. My brethren, I know that the road is long, it’s rough and rocky, full of pot holes (like ours in Ontario now) and sudden twists and turns, but there is hope if we stand strong, communicate sincerely and constantly with the Most High God Jehovah, meditate on His Word and keep doing the right thing. It won’t be easy. Life is never easy. And we don’t seem to appreciate it easy either. The important thing though my people is to not give up. Never give up on yourself or on your God! Encourage and help each other in whatever way we can. This is one of those times when the Lord’s eyes are trained on us, to see if we can all come together for the common good. Let’s not disappoint Him nuh. Let’s do like Bruh David says: ‘Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.’ And My Friends, that’s the gospel truth. So let’s all raise our level of HOPE, think positively, let’s give it our all, our very best, let’s seek excellence even in the darkest times, let’s believe it even when we can’t see it, for that’s the basis, the foundation of our faith. It’s time to concentrate on obedience to His will, then, ‘Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.’ (Ps.27:14) Much LOVE my Friends!…and please remember…in hope…there’s strength…and in strength…a promising future…
Oh my Friends, we are indeed facing troubling and depressing times, with most of the news of the negative variety, giving the impression that we’re on a see-saw, hanging in the balance, one day we’re up, next day we’re down. But aye, you old fogeys like me out there, remember those youthful days of playing see-saw? Where you’d get a piece of board, put it over a stone or something to act as a fulcrum, then one person would carefully get on either side and away you’d go, singing as we rode up and down, ‘see-saw, marjorie daw…’ (smile) I don’t remember the rest, but one thing we had as children was lots of imagination and inventiveness. We couldn’t buy most of the stuff we wanted, so we found some means to make it ourselves; like box carts, skaters, tops and kites. Sadly though, this generation lacks, or has lost that creativity because everything’s been handed to them on a silver platter, and when things get rough, they have no experience of hard times to fall back on. That’s mostly the fault of us parents and the soft, now for now society we’ve developed. However my Friends, if it’s one thing the old fogeys had back in those olden days along with our ingenuity, was hope: Hope of a brighter tomorrow; hope that things would get better, and luckily for most of us, it did. But unfortunately times have again become trying and troublesome, possibly much more so than they’ve ever been for many of us. But we know that we’ve overcome rough times before, so why not again? How did our parents do it? Most, if not all, did it through first trusting in the Lord God Jehovah; then by helping each other, when and wherever they could, and being creative in their own situations. Working two jobs simultaneously is nothing new to me, my mother did it most of her working life. The problem now is not even being able to find one menial job, much less two. At one stage in my teenaged years my mother had no job at all, as she got fired over some triviality, and the union never lived up to its promise to seek redress. But yuh know what Friends, though it was somewhat rough, we survived. I never went hungry one day, still had a roof over my head and decent clothes to wear. And there was no welfare or unemployment to cushion the blow. So how did she do it? Through trust and faith in God, the generosity of friends and neighbours and her own ingenuity. Because she had lived right in the good times, others were willing to help in her time of need. I’ve had my own rough times too, should possibly have gone under long ago, but I’m still here, living decently, better than most of the billions of people in the world. Why? Again because of hope and trust and faith, and keeping keeping on, and trying to do the right thing in spite of numerous misfortunes and setbacks. What am I trying to say? That our current problems, though seemingly large, are not overwhelming or insurmountable. But the first thing we need to do is take stock of our spiritual lives. Sit down and sincerely determine our relationship with God. Then upgrade that relationship; take a leap of faith. Tell yourself that you will trust in your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ no matter what. If He was magnanimous enough to die for your sins, why would He let you suffer over little things like jobs, food, clothing and shelter. Friends, I guarantee that if you sincerely place your full trust in Him, He will not let you suffer want and deprivation now. So hope for the best, believe that things will get better, and do your part to accomplish that. Oh my people, if it’s one thing the human spirit has in great abundance is the ability to hope and believe; to bounce back from misfortune. The saying that while there’s life there’s hope is oh so true. Just like never say die until you’re dead. Once we’re alive and kicking anything can happen, anything is possible, remember we’re dealing with a God of the supernatural, who can come to our rescue anytime, anywhere, truly from out of the blue. Listen to this quote attributed to O.S. Marden. ‘The hopeful man sees success where others see failure, sunshine where others see shadows and storms.’ Yes my Friends, it’s largely a matter of perception; the old mind game of whether the glass is half full or half empty. It’s always better to consider the positive aspects, cause they say we become what we think on. And we all know that it’s tough times and disappointments that often cause us to hunker down and become creative, make good use of the few opportunities we have. Lots of the creatures of our easy life were created during hard times. Some creative mind decided they were tired with the difficult situation and set out to improve it. My brethren, I know that the road is long, it’s rough and rocky, full of pot holes (like ours in Ontario now) and sudden twists and turns, but there is hope if we stand strong, communicate sincerely and constantly with the Most High God Jehovah, meditate on His Word and keep doing the right thing. It won’t be easy. Life is never easy. And we don’t seem to appreciate it easy either. The important thing though my people is to not give up. Never give up on yourself or on your God! Encourage and help each other in whatever way we can. This is one of those times when the Lord’s eyes are trained on us, to see if we can all come together for the common good. Let’s not disappoint Him nuh. Let’s do like Bruh David says: ‘Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.’ And My Friends, that’s the gospel truth. So let’s all raise our level of HOPE, think positively, let’s give it our all, our very best, let’s seek excellence even in the darkest times, let’s believe it even when we can’t see it, for that’s the basis, the foundation of our faith. It’s time to concentrate on obedience to His will, then, ‘Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.’ (Ps.27:14) Much LOVE my Friends!…and please remember…in hope…there’s strength…and in strength…a promising future…
SCRIP-BITS 