SCRIP-BITS

Oh Friends, it’s Monday! Time to rise and shine and prepare to join the battle; both spiritually and physically, for it will indeed be a fight to get to work, on the highways, the buses, the subways, and wherever we go to labour. And remember this is the first Monday after the daylight savings time change, when they say we have more accidents than normal, so be exceptionally careful on the roads today. But yuh know, it’s real amazing that with all our brilliance and advances in technology, medicine, etc. we can’t devise a way to stop, or even curtail the daily traffic jams and people pushing and shoving, morning and evening, to get to work and then to get home. No wonder we’re such a tired, stressed out, frustrated, angry society, given to such outbursts that we so nicely call road-rage! I’m sure that more time is lost collectively in the Western world everyday from people sitting in long lines of traffic, than is done in productive work. By the time we do arrive at work, especially if we didn’t get our morning fix of java, (smile) or home in the evenings, we’re cranky, miserable and stressed out, and not in a very productive frame of mind. Unfortunately there isn’t much we can do about that right now, except for us fortunate believers who have Christ as our guiding light, to give us some peace and calm during the tension-filled hours. So without further ado, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn in powerful voice. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ Oh my people, I sure hope that got us all going, gave us a first, second or third wind, depending on what time of our busy day we sang it! And now it’s time to turn to our Bit. ‘Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse.’ What a powerful statement mih Friends! And yes, the Lord does give us a choice everyday, as to whether we will live blessed or cursed. Now yesterday we dealt with the blessings of obedience, running through all but one verse of the blessings, from Deut. 28:1-15. Today we’ll deal with the curse aspect, the consequences of disobedience. However mih breddren, we certainly can’t write them down, or even paraphrase them all in one day, because they run from Deut.28:15-68. Yes Friends, the curse is more than three times as long as the blessing. Now doesn’t that tell you right away that the Lord was mucho serious when He laid down His laws? And I have to ask Him now for guidance in dealing with all these curses since I am convinced that the human animal does not take the detrimental stuff seriously until it stares them straight in the face. So here goes: ‘But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto (obey) the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do (observe carefully) all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.’ (Deut.28:15) Yes my brethren, the same way the blessings will overtake thee, the same way the curses will: ‘Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store (kneading bowl). Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body (offspring), and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine (cattle), and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation (confusion), and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.’ (Deut.28:16-20) Ah mih people, it’s all self-explanatory, and I strongly believe that some of the confusion and tribulation we’re experiencing today is because of our disobedience. The Lord has set His curse in motion against us. But time and space are against us, so we will continue this topic tomorrow, our God willing. Till then, please pay serious attention to the Lord’s Word, so we can eventually change the curse back to a blessing. Much LOVE!…man’s wisdom…is like fool’s gold…not worth very much…