SCRIP-BITS

OH  HAPPY  DAY!

Hebrews 10:35-36     Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
 
Oh Friends, Oh Friends, it is indeed a Happy Day! The Good Lord finally saw fit to bless the ole fella with winning a horse race today. Wow! It’s been almost two years since I last won. So please join me in an exuberant shout of praise and thanks to the Most High God Jehovah. All together now: ‘Thank you Lord! Thank you! We praise and glorify your Holy Name! Thank you! Amen! And would you believe that on the way home I heard the song, ”Oh Happy Day!’ That’s what gave me the idea to title the Bit the same. Just another li’l bit of God’s working nuh. ‘Oh Happy Day!’ Yes mih breddren, the ole fella’s sure in a thankful mood, but let me tell all yuh, it wasn’t easy nuh. No dream the Lord puts in our heart is ever easy because He planned it that nothing worthwhile is ever easy. And sometimes if you’re trying to be a serious believer, it’s even worse, cause then He includes various obstacles and growing pains to test and mature us. I can attest to that from personal experience. Two years ago I had a decent racing season; my best yet. In light of that, I expected it to improve last year since I had more horses, and of better quality too. Hn! But last year turned out to be my worst ever. One misfortune after another befell the operation. It was rather disappointing, but I swallowed my pride and surrendered all to Him, saying, ‘Your will be done Lord, not mine.’ Well 2009 began with high hopes again. I now predicted that this would be my best year yet. Hn! Unfortunately things I had no control over again stepped in and muddied the waters. But I kept keeping on, knowing that some day my number would play, if the Lord meant for me to be in the Horse Racing business. Now it’s been almost a dozen years since He unexpectedly opened a way for me to get involved, so it seems fairly certain I was meant to be there. But Friends, though I LOVE my four legged children with a passion, like many things, it all boils down to dollars and cents. If you can’t pay your way at the racetrack, then you have to move on. This particular horse that won today, War Rebel, was on the verge of doing that cause he’d run a dozen times without winning, even with several good opportunities to do so. He just wasn’t making enough money to pay his expenses since he runs in cheap races. The ole fella is only minnow in a shark-infested pool, but hopes one day, with the Lord’s help of course, to match the sharks pound for pound. So Rebel was on a short leash; two or three more races and no decent return, he was history. But as I keep saying Friends, our God is such a masterful God, especially when it comes to timing. Of that I can testify with expert authority. The Lord knew we needed some dinero, but even more importantly we needed a bligh, some encouragement, a little light at the end of the tunnel, because the disappointments were increasing without any real signs of improvement. And this wasn’t so much about me, but my trainer, Wendy Wonder Woman Wolff. She’s so dedicated to the horses and works so hard with them that it breaks my heart to see her disappointed time after time. Note one thing though Friends, despite all the setbacks, we still kept on believing that this would be our best year yet. And lo and behold, today the Lord smiled down on us with a win. Aye Cousin Frankie, you’d have been real proud of yuh Cousin Rebel, the way he won with authority, wire to wire, though the longest shot on the board. So my people, that’s my testimony for today. (smile) And it just goes to prove what Bruh Paul’s been saying all along; ‘Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.’ Don’t lose hope because of unexpected setbacks. If the Lord sanctioned your project, then it will succeed, but only if you stick with it through thick and thin, talking to the Lord all the time, seeking His guidance and His will. Jesus endorsed that action when He declared: ‘Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’   (Mat.5:12) What we need most of all though is patience that translates into endurance. Bruh Paul puts it wisely. ‘For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.’ Another strategy that Jesus himself endorsed when He said: ‘In your patience possess ye your souls.’ (Luke 21:19) Yes my Friends, patience with endurance; the waiting but still fighting game is sure a hard one to play, but it’s the only way to grow and mature in Jesus. Bruh Paul again hit the nail on the head in directing the Colossians thus: ‘And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily unto the Lord, and not unto men. Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ. (Col.3:23-24) And that’s an indisputable fact my brethren: we serve the omnipotent God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who faithfully keeps His promise that all who work in His Holy Name shall be rewarded. Friends, we all have this race of life to run, and we can run it in only two ways; with or without Jesus. I seriously implore us though to take Bruh Paul’s advice and run it WITH Jesus. ‘Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Heb.12:1-2) Yes my people, that’s how we have to live this life. Whatever dreams God has put in your heart, keep pursuing them in Jesus’ name. Don’t give up. It’s imperative that at the end of our mortal days we are able to say with pride of accomplishment, like Bruh Paul: ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.’ (2 Tim.4:7) Just keep keeping on my Friends. Today I’m riding high, and though tomorrow I may suffer a setback, I know that it only takes an ounce of God’s favour to turn everything around and make it right. So just keep on believing and persevering and it will all turn out positively in the end. Remember, the race is not for the swift, but the sure of foot. Much LOVE!…never give up…never give up…keep believing…in yourself… and in Jesus…