Psalm 29:11 The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.
Ah Friends, we normally live in a topsy-turvy world at best, but with all these recent crises taking place world wide, Planet Earth has become downright loony, and if we try to follow it on its wild roller coaster ride, it will just drive us hog crazy and loony too. The crux of the matter here is that we should not fret and worry too much. Be concerned and careful, but try to keep the fretting and worrying to a minimum, since neither of these negative emotions gives us any positive assurance or encouragement. They just eat away at our innards until we’re a complete mess. As one Devotional notes, fretting and worrying is like putting our emotions in a blender; the contents are simply whirled and swirled around so much that they break up into an unrecognizable frothy mixture. Now, since we definitely don’t want to end up as an unrecognizable mixture of dubious parts, we need to curtail the anxiety and torment that these turbulent times are trying to force upon us. Before we get into the heart of the matter though, let me specify one thing that I never had the space to do yesterday. I’m referring to the part where Gamaliel, Bruh Paul’s teacher, used the false messiahs quick rise and fall argument to dissuade the Jewish leaders from killing the apostles. I want to point out that not all false teachers rise and fall quickly, and we should never use that as a means of bypassing false teaching. We should constantly be on the lookout for it, and jump on it as soon as we spot it, rebuking and opposing it. Gamaliel’s position was just a ruse our God used to get His servants out of a tight spot. And that’s exactly why we do not need to be overly fearful or worried about our current situation. Just as the Lord empowered and emboldened the apostles in the face of the Jewish leaders, the same way He will look after and deliver all those who trust in Him. As Bruh David says; ‘The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.’ And if we sincerely believe that and act, or run our lives by it, we’ll certainly see it come to pass. The title of Psalm 29, and a very appropriate one, especially for these stressful, uncertain times, is ‘The voice of the Lord in the storm.’ Yes my people, in the midst of the wrath and fury of the storms of life we must be quiet and listen for the voice of the Lord since He’s promised to shelter us from them. ‘For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against a wall.’ (Isa.25:4) Amen my Friends! That verse succinctly captures the all encompassing power and capabilities of our God. In whatever difficulty we find ourselves, He’s always the answer to our prayer. Please remember that my people. There’s nothing too big, too small, too simple or too complicated for our God to handle. He made it all, so why should it be a problem eh? And there’s nothing He LOVES more than when we come to Him, cry out to Him in our anguish for His help. That’s when He knows that we’re truly His children. Like all children, our first plea for help is usually to our parents, and since He’s our Creator and Heavenly Father, then, by definition, it’s to Him we should always direct our first pleas. Why? Because ‘He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.’ (Ps.107: 29) And that’s exactly what He will do with any storms that spring up in our lives, once we ask for His help. Oh my Friends, it’s very important that we go to Him in prayer when times of difficulty arise. We can’t just sit around and wait, expecting Him to act. Remember we’re in a partnership with the Most High God Jehovah, and as in all partnerships, each partner has a role to play. Our role is to obey His dictates and call on Him for help. His role is to help us. And remember too, our God is not a wishy-washy God; He’s a business-like, upstanding Deity, who doesn’t really care for wishy-washy followers. He wants His people to be action oriented, doing His works and pleasing Him. And though by nature the human animal is weak and frail, when we accept the Lord’s provenance, it empowers us. When the Holy Spirit of Jesus enters our soul, a whole new being is created, we become new persons. Oh my people, I just want us to know, learn, remember and put into action the overriding principle of Christian faith, wherein the Lord always strengthens those who turn to Him and ask in sincere belief and trust. It has to be sincere cause He not only hears our words, but more importantly listens to our heart to see if the same feeling lies there. On that note, I’ll close with two powerful, outstanding scriptures that bring home that principle. We’ll start with the popular verses of Isaiah 40:29-31: ‘He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength…But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…they shall walk and not faint.’ Open the Good Book and read the full thing for yourself. It will do you more good than if I wrote it. (smile) And the last passage is from Psalm 68:35. ‘O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.’ Yes my people, Blessed be the God of our Fathers, who strengthens us! Let us therefore turn to Him in humility and prayer, so that we can receive the grace and strength He’s so generously and faithfully promised. Much LOVE!…don’t worry, don’t fret… instead…watch and pray…
Ah Friends, we normally live in a topsy-turvy world at best, but with all these recent crises taking place world wide, Planet Earth has become downright loony, and if we try to follow it on its wild roller coaster ride, it will just drive us hog crazy and loony too. The crux of the matter here is that we should not fret and worry too much. Be concerned and careful, but try to keep the fretting and worrying to a minimum, since neither of these negative emotions gives us any positive assurance or encouragement. They just eat away at our innards until we’re a complete mess. As one Devotional notes, fretting and worrying is like putting our emotions in a blender; the contents are simply whirled and swirled around so much that they break up into an unrecognizable frothy mixture. Now, since we definitely don’t want to end up as an unrecognizable mixture of dubious parts, we need to curtail the anxiety and torment that these turbulent times are trying to force upon us. Before we get into the heart of the matter though, let me specify one thing that I never had the space to do yesterday. I’m referring to the part where Gamaliel, Bruh Paul’s teacher, used the false messiahs quick rise and fall argument to dissuade the Jewish leaders from killing the apostles. I want to point out that not all false teachers rise and fall quickly, and we should never use that as a means of bypassing false teaching. We should constantly be on the lookout for it, and jump on it as soon as we spot it, rebuking and opposing it. Gamaliel’s position was just a ruse our God used to get His servants out of a tight spot. And that’s exactly why we do not need to be overly fearful or worried about our current situation. Just as the Lord empowered and emboldened the apostles in the face of the Jewish leaders, the same way He will look after and deliver all those who trust in Him. As Bruh David says; ‘The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.’ And if we sincerely believe that and act, or run our lives by it, we’ll certainly see it come to pass. The title of Psalm 29, and a very appropriate one, especially for these stressful, uncertain times, is ‘The voice of the Lord in the storm.’ Yes my people, in the midst of the wrath and fury of the storms of life we must be quiet and listen for the voice of the Lord since He’s promised to shelter us from them. ‘For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against a wall.’ (Isa.25:4) Amen my Friends! That verse succinctly captures the all encompassing power and capabilities of our God. In whatever difficulty we find ourselves, He’s always the answer to our prayer. Please remember that my people. There’s nothing too big, too small, too simple or too complicated for our God to handle. He made it all, so why should it be a problem eh? And there’s nothing He LOVES more than when we come to Him, cry out to Him in our anguish for His help. That’s when He knows that we’re truly His children. Like all children, our first plea for help is usually to our parents, and since He’s our Creator and Heavenly Father, then, by definition, it’s to Him we should always direct our first pleas. Why? Because ‘He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.’ (Ps.107: 29) And that’s exactly what He will do with any storms that spring up in our lives, once we ask for His help. Oh my Friends, it’s very important that we go to Him in prayer when times of difficulty arise. We can’t just sit around and wait, expecting Him to act. Remember we’re in a partnership with the Most High God Jehovah, and as in all partnerships, each partner has a role to play. Our role is to obey His dictates and call on Him for help. His role is to help us. And remember too, our God is not a wishy-washy God; He’s a business-like, upstanding Deity, who doesn’t really care for wishy-washy followers. He wants His people to be action oriented, doing His works and pleasing Him. And though by nature the human animal is weak and frail, when we accept the Lord’s provenance, it empowers us. When the Holy Spirit of Jesus enters our soul, a whole new being is created, we become new persons. Oh my people, I just want us to know, learn, remember and put into action the overriding principle of Christian faith, wherein the Lord always strengthens those who turn to Him and ask in sincere belief and trust. It has to be sincere cause He not only hears our words, but more importantly listens to our heart to see if the same feeling lies there. On that note, I’ll close with two powerful, outstanding scriptures that bring home that principle. We’ll start with the popular verses of Isaiah 40:29-31: ‘He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength…But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…they shall walk and not faint.’ Open the Good Book and read the full thing for yourself. It will do you more good than if I wrote it. (smile) And the last passage is from Psalm 68:35. ‘O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.’ Yes my people, Blessed be the God of our Fathers, who strengthens us! Let us therefore turn to Him in humility and prayer, so that we can receive the grace and strength He’s so generously and faithfully promised. Much LOVE!…don’t worry, don’t fret… instead…watch and pray…
SCRIP-BITS 