Proverbs 10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
And the sweltering summer weather continues unabated Friends, with no sign of the promised showers of blessing. Whew! But the important thing is that we’re all alive and kicking; alive to see another glorious day of the Lord’s making and enjoy the undeserved mercy and goodness that He bestows on the sinful children of men. And all God’s people joyfully proclaimed: ‘Praise the Lord, for His goodness and mercy endureth forever!’ Now that’s an undeniable fact! And on that note, here’s a quote from Kay Lyons that admirably suits our purpose of trying to comprehend and live this crazy life, day in and day out. Kay says: ‘Yesterday is a cancelled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have – so spend it wisely.’ And isn’t that the living truth mih people! Yesterday’s gone forever. Tomorrow hasn’t come as yet; and it may never come since we might not live to see it. The only sure thing we have is today, that’s why we’re encouraged to use it wisely. And having said that, if we look at the first half of our Bit; ‘Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,’ we can obviously realize that trying to accumulate earthly treasures, through wicked or ungodly devices, is certainly not a sensible or wise way to use today. And the same goes for each and every today we live my Friends! You’d notice that Jesus was very passionate about not accumulating earthly treasure for the wrong reasons and also through the wrong avenues. He sternly warned His disciples: ‘Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.’ (Luke 12:15) Unfortunately though, too many of us today have yet to heed that warning and learn the lesson it teaches, for we still run behind the treasures of the world, spend most of our lives trying to accumulate them, then when we die, leave it all behind for others to enjoy and fight over. Isn’t it a sort of poetic justice that Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson were so overwhelmed by their earthly fame and fortune, it confounded them and eventually brought about their untimely deaths. But even in death, they are still the biggest money earners. Oh Friends, please let’s learn from those two modern examples, as well as the parable that Jesus told about the rich fool; the one who looked out over his possessions and saw that they were so plentiful that his storehouses couldn’t hold it all. So what did he do? In his selfish wisdom, he decided to tear them all down and build bigger and better ones that would be able to hold all his goods. ‘And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ (Luke 12:19-21) Yes Friends, that’s a perfect example of how ‘treasures of wickedness profit nothing.’ The rich fool did not even talk to God about his problems, just went ahead and made his own solitary, selfish decisions. I heard somebody preach about that recently; I believe it was Uncle Charles, Charles Stanley, and they made the point that the rich fool could or should have at least considered giving away the excess of his bounty, the part which could not fit in his already bulging storehouses. That move would definitely have sat much better with the Lord. But mih breddren, in actual life that’s a tough row to hoe, because by nature we’re selfish, ‘grabby-grabby, gravalicious’ and greedy individuals, and sadly the current standards of our world just reinforce that negative image. Consequently, too many of us, even believers, find it extremely difficult to share our bounty with others, especially if we believe we’ve worked very hard for it. However Friends, that’s the whole point about Jesus: His coming to earth as a man, suffering the human frailties and dying that dreadful death on the cross for us, then rising from death to new life. That’s all about unselfishness, caring and helping. Our heavenly Father set the example of selflessness for us by sacrificing His only Son Jesus on our behalf, and because of that, all who believe in Him are assured of eternal life. But we can’t believe in Him, and at the same time live the selfish, evil, ungodly, me and mine life that the world regales and delights in. Instead we need to live a life filled with we and our, with sharing and caring for each other, for widows and orphans and strangers like Jesus did. Oh Friends, space and time are unfortunately upon us, but we’ll continue this topic tomorrow, God willing of course. In the meanwhile, let’s take close stock of ourselves and make sure that we’re not letting the glitzy, glamorous looking but oh so flimsy treasures of earth lead us down the wrong path. No one, believer or unbeliever, is automatically guaranteed protection from it, we all have to make conscious, continuing efforts to thwart that evil feeling, and it’s ever so easy to go astray. My people, please, oh please remember that. Much LOVE!…what’s the point in making it…if you can’t take it eh…
And the sweltering summer weather continues unabated Friends, with no sign of the promised showers of blessing. Whew! But the important thing is that we’re all alive and kicking; alive to see another glorious day of the Lord’s making and enjoy the undeserved mercy and goodness that He bestows on the sinful children of men. And all God’s people joyfully proclaimed: ‘Praise the Lord, for His goodness and mercy endureth forever!’ Now that’s an undeniable fact! And on that note, here’s a quote from Kay Lyons that admirably suits our purpose of trying to comprehend and live this crazy life, day in and day out. Kay says: ‘Yesterday is a cancelled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have – so spend it wisely.’ And isn’t that the living truth mih people! Yesterday’s gone forever. Tomorrow hasn’t come as yet; and it may never come since we might not live to see it. The only sure thing we have is today, that’s why we’re encouraged to use it wisely. And having said that, if we look at the first half of our Bit; ‘Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,’ we can obviously realize that trying to accumulate earthly treasures, through wicked or ungodly devices, is certainly not a sensible or wise way to use today. And the same goes for each and every today we live my Friends! You’d notice that Jesus was very passionate about not accumulating earthly treasure for the wrong reasons and also through the wrong avenues. He sternly warned His disciples: ‘Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.’ (Luke 12:15) Unfortunately though, too many of us today have yet to heed that warning and learn the lesson it teaches, for we still run behind the treasures of the world, spend most of our lives trying to accumulate them, then when we die, leave it all behind for others to enjoy and fight over. Isn’t it a sort of poetic justice that Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson were so overwhelmed by their earthly fame and fortune, it confounded them and eventually brought about their untimely deaths. But even in death, they are still the biggest money earners. Oh Friends, please let’s learn from those two modern examples, as well as the parable that Jesus told about the rich fool; the one who looked out over his possessions and saw that they were so plentiful that his storehouses couldn’t hold it all. So what did he do? In his selfish wisdom, he decided to tear them all down and build bigger and better ones that would be able to hold all his goods. ‘And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ (Luke 12:19-21) Yes Friends, that’s a perfect example of how ‘treasures of wickedness profit nothing.’ The rich fool did not even talk to God about his problems, just went ahead and made his own solitary, selfish decisions. I heard somebody preach about that recently; I believe it was Uncle Charles, Charles Stanley, and they made the point that the rich fool could or should have at least considered giving away the excess of his bounty, the part which could not fit in his already bulging storehouses. That move would definitely have sat much better with the Lord. But mih breddren, in actual life that’s a tough row to hoe, because by nature we’re selfish, ‘grabby-grabby, gravalicious’ and greedy individuals, and sadly the current standards of our world just reinforce that negative image. Consequently, too many of us, even believers, find it extremely difficult to share our bounty with others, especially if we believe we’ve worked very hard for it. However Friends, that’s the whole point about Jesus: His coming to earth as a man, suffering the human frailties and dying that dreadful death on the cross for us, then rising from death to new life. That’s all about unselfishness, caring and helping. Our heavenly Father set the example of selflessness for us by sacrificing His only Son Jesus on our behalf, and because of that, all who believe in Him are assured of eternal life. But we can’t believe in Him, and at the same time live the selfish, evil, ungodly, me and mine life that the world regales and delights in. Instead we need to live a life filled with we and our, with sharing and caring for each other, for widows and orphans and strangers like Jesus did. Oh Friends, space and time are unfortunately upon us, but we’ll continue this topic tomorrow, God willing of course. In the meanwhile, let’s take close stock of ourselves and make sure that we’re not letting the glitzy, glamorous looking but oh so flimsy treasures of earth lead us down the wrong path. No one, believer or unbeliever, is automatically guaranteed protection from it, we all have to make conscious, continuing efforts to thwart that evil feeling, and it’s ever so easy to go astray. My people, please, oh please remember that. Much LOVE!…what’s the point in making it…if you can’t take it eh…
SCRIP-BITS 