Jeremiah 3:22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s in a bind as to how to start the Bit in a spunky, upbeat mood, so we’ll just have to settle for a dour, dreary beginning. ‘Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.’ (Jer.3:20) Oh my people, I believe we are guilty of the same sin. We have disobeyed the Lord and gone astray, worshipping false idols created by men in their ignorant wisdom. That’s why our recent calamities have befallen us, and we are now bemoaning our sin of desertion, as we pay the price. For ‘A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God.’ (Jer.3:21) But my Friends, the good thing is we’ve finally recognized the error of our ways, finally accepted our truant behaviour for what it was, and hopefully are ready to make amends for it. And luckily for us, the arms of our LOVING, merciful and forgiving God are always opened wide to accept those who come to Him in sincere prayer. Thus, like the prophet Jeremiah did with Israel, I’m advising us to; ‘Return ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.’ And what does backsliding mean? The scholars say it can mean two things: Failure of a people, like Israel, to keep their covenant with God; being rebellious and arrogant, wanting to do their own thing. Or the failure of a people to grow spiritually in accord with God’s enlightenment. I beg to offer that we are guilty on both counts. We have both erred from keeping our covenant with Jesus, being a stubborn, egotistic, know-it-all people. Neither did the remnant that stayed faithful, grow spiritually or mature in the faith. We just let it slide, gave in to the stronger voices of the enemy, basically just paying lip service and not putting up a vigorous offence or defence of the faith. That’s why the enemy was able to take so much of God out of the society. But now my Friends, the chickens have come home to roost and we are faced with dire recession. However, I’m sure we’ll rebound, in a leaner, meaner way, as we penitently come back to the Father. For as Jeremiah prayerfully acknowledges; ‘Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.’ And isn’t that a most wonderful truth my people, for which we should all shout; ‘Hallelujah! Praise His Holy Name!’ For ‘Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.’ (Jer.3:23) Oh my brethren, truer words were never spoken! Salvation is only available from the Most High God Jehovah! And unless we believe that, and until we store it deep down in the very depths of our hearts, souls and minds, we’ll always have problems, in particular with backsliding, with wanting to do things our way instead of God’s. Oh Friends, I’m chuckling over what I’m about to write, and I hope you take it the right way. It’s just that the scholars claim in these verses of scripture, that though Jeremiah has to declare God’s judgment, he so longs for his people’s repentance and return to a right standing with their God, that in his vision, he joins with them in confession and contrition. They claim that here Jerry gives us a lesson in ‘speaking the truth in LOVE,’ (Eph.4:15) and in feeling concern. Now I’m no prophet, but I surely long for the day when we’ll all be returned to our right place in God’s favour, and I need to add my own confession and contrition, for I too have sinned and come very short of God’s glory. But one doesn’t need to be a prophet to speak the truth in LOVE, or feel genuine concern, which I am doing right here and now. I don’t know about Jerry, but my life is certainly not as good as it can be and anything I say here you can believe, for whatever happens to our world greatly affects me too. My job is to encourage us, to keep us strong, energized, motivated, steadfast and true in the faith. I surely hope I’m doing that. But I’ve been granted one bit of prophecy, (smile) namely, that our lives will improve in direct proportion to our return, with an unconditional acceptance of Almighty God. In other words, when the majority of us are living in peace and LOVE with each other and obeying God’s commands, then our society will become truly prosperous again. Hn, hn! But ah have to laugh again yes, for that’s no real prophecy, cause any fool fool believer with little knowledge of the scriptures could figure that out. Anyway, for all our sakes my people, let’s try and speed it up nuh. ‘Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.’ (Hos.6:1) Our wonderful God is just waiting with bated breath and wide opened arms for us to come back to Him, so that He can bind and heals us my Friends. Please, my people, let’s not disappoint Him. Much LOVE!…to every thing there’s season… this is the season for LOVE…and for GOD…
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s in a bind as to how to start the Bit in a spunky, upbeat mood, so we’ll just have to settle for a dour, dreary beginning. ‘Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.’ (Jer.3:20) Oh my people, I believe we are guilty of the same sin. We have disobeyed the Lord and gone astray, worshipping false idols created by men in their ignorant wisdom. That’s why our recent calamities have befallen us, and we are now bemoaning our sin of desertion, as we pay the price. For ‘A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God.’ (Jer.3:21) But my Friends, the good thing is we’ve finally recognized the error of our ways, finally accepted our truant behaviour for what it was, and hopefully are ready to make amends for it. And luckily for us, the arms of our LOVING, merciful and forgiving God are always opened wide to accept those who come to Him in sincere prayer. Thus, like the prophet Jeremiah did with Israel, I’m advising us to; ‘Return ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.’ And what does backsliding mean? The scholars say it can mean two things: Failure of a people, like Israel, to keep their covenant with God; being rebellious and arrogant, wanting to do their own thing. Or the failure of a people to grow spiritually in accord with God’s enlightenment. I beg to offer that we are guilty on both counts. We have both erred from keeping our covenant with Jesus, being a stubborn, egotistic, know-it-all people. Neither did the remnant that stayed faithful, grow spiritually or mature in the faith. We just let it slide, gave in to the stronger voices of the enemy, basically just paying lip service and not putting up a vigorous offence or defence of the faith. That’s why the enemy was able to take so much of God out of the society. But now my Friends, the chickens have come home to roost and we are faced with dire recession. However, I’m sure we’ll rebound, in a leaner, meaner way, as we penitently come back to the Father. For as Jeremiah prayerfully acknowledges; ‘Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.’ And isn’t that a most wonderful truth my people, for which we should all shout; ‘Hallelujah! Praise His Holy Name!’ For ‘Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.’ (Jer.3:23) Oh my brethren, truer words were never spoken! Salvation is only available from the Most High God Jehovah! And unless we believe that, and until we store it deep down in the very depths of our hearts, souls and minds, we’ll always have problems, in particular with backsliding, with wanting to do things our way instead of God’s. Oh Friends, I’m chuckling over what I’m about to write, and I hope you take it the right way. It’s just that the scholars claim in these verses of scripture, that though Jeremiah has to declare God’s judgment, he so longs for his people’s repentance and return to a right standing with their God, that in his vision, he joins with them in confession and contrition. They claim that here Jerry gives us a lesson in ‘speaking the truth in LOVE,’ (Eph.4:15) and in feeling concern. Now I’m no prophet, but I surely long for the day when we’ll all be returned to our right place in God’s favour, and I need to add my own confession and contrition, for I too have sinned and come very short of God’s glory. But one doesn’t need to be a prophet to speak the truth in LOVE, or feel genuine concern, which I am doing right here and now. I don’t know about Jerry, but my life is certainly not as good as it can be and anything I say here you can believe, for whatever happens to our world greatly affects me too. My job is to encourage us, to keep us strong, energized, motivated, steadfast and true in the faith. I surely hope I’m doing that. But I’ve been granted one bit of prophecy, (smile) namely, that our lives will improve in direct proportion to our return, with an unconditional acceptance of Almighty God. In other words, when the majority of us are living in peace and LOVE with each other and obeying God’s commands, then our society will become truly prosperous again. Hn, hn! But ah have to laugh again yes, for that’s no real prophecy, cause any fool fool believer with little knowledge of the scriptures could figure that out. Anyway, for all our sakes my people, let’s try and speed it up nuh. ‘Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.’ (Hos.6:1) Our wonderful God is just waiting with bated breath and wide opened arms for us to come back to Him, so that He can bind and heals us my Friends. Please, my people, let’s not disappoint Him. Much LOVE!…to every thing there’s season… this is the season for LOVE…and for GOD…
SCRIP-BITS 