Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering.
And all God’s people shouted: ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Why? Because they had been granted yet another stay of execution! They were alive and kicking, ready to greet another beautiful day in paradise! Oh Friends, I know some of us have it real rough, but that’s no reason to give up and not enjoy God’s goodness here on earth. Some of us, because of our unpalatable situations, are probably hoping for heaven sooner rather than later. But that doesn’t make sense either mih people. In the first place, many of us have put ourselves in those compromising and untenable situations all on our own steam, without any help from God. In fact, if we had listened to Him, we wouldn’t be in them, so we only have ourselves to blame. Then remember, He’s put us on planet earth at this particular moment in time for a specific purpose, and it’s our duty to find out that purpose and pursue it to the best of our ability. So merely wishing that the bad times will go away, and that heaven will soon come, isn’t really fulfilling our Christian mission. It’s not holding steadfast to our beliefs as we ought to. In effect, it is a defeatist attitude, something a believer should never possess. That brings us to the virtues that Bruh Paul declares in our Bit, that true believers MUST HAVE. Yesterday we talked about ‘bowels of mercies,’ compassion and kindness. Today we’ll continue with ‘humbleness of mind.’ Hn! What’s that eh? In today’s greedy, selfish, I, me and mine first world, the word humility, or the mere idea of being humble, is not only anathema to many, but doesn’t even exist in the minds of plenty others. And Friends, that’s a major downfall of us believers. We talk about humility, but we don’t really show or practice it. We look askance at the poor, the lame, the down on their luck with a snotty, nose in the air, I’m better than you cause I’m a Christian. But my brethren, that’s totally unchristian. Jesus is the perfect example. Though He was God in the flesh, He made no big thing about Himself. He willingly served others and gave the resultant glory to His Father in heaven. That’s how we ought to be my Friends. And remember, the Lord dislikes the sins of pride and arrogance possibly more than most sins, though He dislikes them all. That’s because pride and arrogance imply that we have no need or time for Him, we can do it all on our own strength, which, deep down, we know is nonsense. And my people, when we wave our God off and consider Him irrelevant in our lives, that not only angers Him, but hurts His heart too. Just think how we feel when our children consider us irrelevant and behave that way. It possibly hurts more than it angers. Well our God feels the same way when we can’t be bothered to give Him the time of day. Then, Bruh Paul goes on to speak of ‘meekness’ in a Christian’s life. What a joke that is my brethren! The dictionary defines ‘meek’ as ‘piously humble and submissive; submitting tamely to injury etc.’ Oh Friends, many of us interpret that as grovelling, dragging along, not putting up any resistance, a passive sort of response. But mih people, the Christian idea of meekness is certainly none of those things. We’re to submit to authority, give Caesar what is his and all that, but we don’t just roll over and play dead. It’s more like having a soft, gentle, tender spirit, but one that also has backbone and belly, to stand up strong when necessary. Once more, Jesus is the perfect example. He was soft and quiet and gentle, but when necessary, He was also strong and determined and not afraid to take the bull by the horns, like when He threw the crooks out of the temple. (Mat.21:12-13) And the last virtue Bruh Paul talks about in the Bit is ‘long-suffering,’ or patience. Now that’s another thing we’ve thrown aside in our mad rush for fame and glory in this modern society. Nobody wants to suffer for even a moment, much less to suffer for long. We want everything to be easy and now for now. Waiting for anything is frowned upon in this new culture. Consider the great debts we owe, because we couldn’t wait to save for what we wanted but bowed to Lucifer’s minions and instead bought on credit. And if we’re hurt or offended, we want retribution or payback right away. We can’t put up with the mistakes, weaknesses or eccentricities of others for even one moment. But Friends, consider this: If God behaved, or felt like us, where would we all be eh? All headed straight for purgatory; for death and eternal damnation with Lucifer. But the Lord is long-suffering. Sometimes I even think that He’s too patient with us, and so we seem to take advantage of His goodness and mercy. But please NEVER FORGET Friends, that our God is a just and righteous Sovereign, and we’ll all pay in some fashion for our continual wrongdoing. The Lord will not just roll over and play dead like some of us want or expect. And those are just some of the virtues we’re expected to possess, to cultivate, and also put into action because our Leader, Jesus, is, was, and will always be a man of action. My people, we can’t live a truly Christian life unless the basic virtues and requirements are solidly entrenched in our hearts, souls and minds, then we expose them in godly fashion to all and sundry. And I truly believe that our lack of those virtues today, is a major setback in our Christian walk. We’re just too weak in the simple virtues like kindness, humility and compassion, because we choose to follow the world’s greedy, ‘gravalicious’, inhumane lead. And we know that’s totally unacceptable for true believers. Oh Friends, let’s all do a serious inventory of our virtues nuh, and see where we’re lacking, then ask the Lord for help in improving them. He will be only too glad to oblige. Anyhow, enough on virtues for today. I don’t want to clutter us with too much material to digest. More virtues tomorrow though, the Lord willing of course. Hn, hn! Some of you possibly going: ‘Chuh! Yuh mean they have more of them goody goody principles!’ (smile) But whoever said that it was easy being a Christian eh? But Friends, in the long run, it’s very rewarding. So till tomorrow then, Much LOVE!…a true believer is kind and compassionate…but also strong and proactive…like Jesus…
And all God’s people shouted: ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Why? Because they had been granted yet another stay of execution! They were alive and kicking, ready to greet another beautiful day in paradise! Oh Friends, I know some of us have it real rough, but that’s no reason to give up and not enjoy God’s goodness here on earth. Some of us, because of our unpalatable situations, are probably hoping for heaven sooner rather than later. But that doesn’t make sense either mih people. In the first place, many of us have put ourselves in those compromising and untenable situations all on our own steam, without any help from God. In fact, if we had listened to Him, we wouldn’t be in them, so we only have ourselves to blame. Then remember, He’s put us on planet earth at this particular moment in time for a specific purpose, and it’s our duty to find out that purpose and pursue it to the best of our ability. So merely wishing that the bad times will go away, and that heaven will soon come, isn’t really fulfilling our Christian mission. It’s not holding steadfast to our beliefs as we ought to. In effect, it is a defeatist attitude, something a believer should never possess. That brings us to the virtues that Bruh Paul declares in our Bit, that true believers MUST HAVE. Yesterday we talked about ‘bowels of mercies,’ compassion and kindness. Today we’ll continue with ‘humbleness of mind.’ Hn! What’s that eh? In today’s greedy, selfish, I, me and mine first world, the word humility, or the mere idea of being humble, is not only anathema to many, but doesn’t even exist in the minds of plenty others. And Friends, that’s a major downfall of us believers. We talk about humility, but we don’t really show or practice it. We look askance at the poor, the lame, the down on their luck with a snotty, nose in the air, I’m better than you cause I’m a Christian. But my brethren, that’s totally unchristian. Jesus is the perfect example. Though He was God in the flesh, He made no big thing about Himself. He willingly served others and gave the resultant glory to His Father in heaven. That’s how we ought to be my Friends. And remember, the Lord dislikes the sins of pride and arrogance possibly more than most sins, though He dislikes them all. That’s because pride and arrogance imply that we have no need or time for Him, we can do it all on our own strength, which, deep down, we know is nonsense. And my people, when we wave our God off and consider Him irrelevant in our lives, that not only angers Him, but hurts His heart too. Just think how we feel when our children consider us irrelevant and behave that way. It possibly hurts more than it angers. Well our God feels the same way when we can’t be bothered to give Him the time of day. Then, Bruh Paul goes on to speak of ‘meekness’ in a Christian’s life. What a joke that is my brethren! The dictionary defines ‘meek’ as ‘piously humble and submissive; submitting tamely to injury etc.’ Oh Friends, many of us interpret that as grovelling, dragging along, not putting up any resistance, a passive sort of response. But mih people, the Christian idea of meekness is certainly none of those things. We’re to submit to authority, give Caesar what is his and all that, but we don’t just roll over and play dead. It’s more like having a soft, gentle, tender spirit, but one that also has backbone and belly, to stand up strong when necessary. Once more, Jesus is the perfect example. He was soft and quiet and gentle, but when necessary, He was also strong and determined and not afraid to take the bull by the horns, like when He threw the crooks out of the temple. (Mat.21:12-13) And the last virtue Bruh Paul talks about in the Bit is ‘long-suffering,’ or patience. Now that’s another thing we’ve thrown aside in our mad rush for fame and glory in this modern society. Nobody wants to suffer for even a moment, much less to suffer for long. We want everything to be easy and now for now. Waiting for anything is frowned upon in this new culture. Consider the great debts we owe, because we couldn’t wait to save for what we wanted but bowed to Lucifer’s minions and instead bought on credit. And if we’re hurt or offended, we want retribution or payback right away. We can’t put up with the mistakes, weaknesses or eccentricities of others for even one moment. But Friends, consider this: If God behaved, or felt like us, where would we all be eh? All headed straight for purgatory; for death and eternal damnation with Lucifer. But the Lord is long-suffering. Sometimes I even think that He’s too patient with us, and so we seem to take advantage of His goodness and mercy. But please NEVER FORGET Friends, that our God is a just and righteous Sovereign, and we’ll all pay in some fashion for our continual wrongdoing. The Lord will not just roll over and play dead like some of us want or expect. And those are just some of the virtues we’re expected to possess, to cultivate, and also put into action because our Leader, Jesus, is, was, and will always be a man of action. My people, we can’t live a truly Christian life unless the basic virtues and requirements are solidly entrenched in our hearts, souls and minds, then we expose them in godly fashion to all and sundry. And I truly believe that our lack of those virtues today, is a major setback in our Christian walk. We’re just too weak in the simple virtues like kindness, humility and compassion, because we choose to follow the world’s greedy, ‘gravalicious’, inhumane lead. And we know that’s totally unacceptable for true believers. Oh Friends, let’s all do a serious inventory of our virtues nuh, and see where we’re lacking, then ask the Lord for help in improving them. He will be only too glad to oblige. Anyhow, enough on virtues for today. I don’t want to clutter us with too much material to digest. More virtues tomorrow though, the Lord willing of course. Hn, hn! Some of you possibly going: ‘Chuh! Yuh mean they have more of them goody goody principles!’ (smile) But whoever said that it was easy being a Christian eh? But Friends, in the long run, it’s very rewarding. So till tomorrow then, Much LOVE!…a true believer is kind and compassionate…but also strong and proactive…like Jesus…
SCRIP-BITS 