SCRIP-BITS

Wake up, wake up people! It’s Monday, time to go and labour! Yes Friends, it is indeed Monday; bright and beautiful, and brimming with bountiful blessings from a kind, ever-LOVING, generous, merciful, forgiving and gracious God. Wow! What an honour and a pleasure to be alive today and diligently serving the Most High God Jehovah! Yes mih people, like the ole fella’s in fine fettle this glorious Monday morning. (smile) So without further ado, let’s give enthusiastic voice to our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, to help get those dormant adrenalin juices flowing. In one accord now: ‘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 Friends, isn’t it fun to be alive? It sure is! I don’t know what we’re going to talk about as yet, but when these Spirit-driven ideas spring up, I just have to go with them right away. So as mih Jamaican breddren would say: ‘Soon come!’ Aye mih people, the ole fella’s back – some fifteen, twenty minutes later. And as you can see, the Spirit guided me to a very good, very interesting and very important Bit: ‘Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.’ Yes my brethren, as believers, followers of Jesus, the sinless One, we must stop allowing sin to have mastery over our lives. It’s not easy, since we’re all fallen and sinful by nature, but remember that Jesus died and paid for our sins, and if we sincerely turn to Him for help, through the anointing of His Holy Spirit, He will surely help us cut down on our sinful, ungodly behaviour. We will never rid ourselves completely of it in this earthly life, but if we truly concentrate on God, on spiritual rather than worldly things, that most irritating thorn in our flesh called sin, or lusts, won’t be as powerful, and thus our normal sinful nature won’t be as prevalent. Note, Bruh Paul didn’t tell the Roman Church to stop sinning, but to stop letting sin have ‘reign,’ that’s mastery, rule, control over their lives, because he knew that it was impossible for a human being to be sin free on earth. And Friends, that’s an even harder task in these times of so many ungodly pleasures and temptations, of so much eye-candy and evil invitations, stuff Bruh Paul could never have imagined. These days we’re just constantly bombarded from all sides with the lusts and idols of the world, and unless we’re really strong in the faith, it’s real easy to fall prey to those delicious, mouth-watering temptations. Lucifer knows just how and when to rattle our cages with his evil pleasantries. That’s why Friends, if we want to stay true and righteous to God’s ways, we have to continually immerse ourselves in God’s Word. That’s the only thing in this crazy, confused and evil world which will give us some respite from the enemy’s ongoing attacks. Anytime we seem weak or ready to falter, Beelzebub and his cronies are on us like white on rice. (smile) Laugh, but it’s true. Consequently, things like our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and Friday Chant are important in keeping the Word near and dear to us. Every opportunity we get to read, speak or meditate on the Word, we need to grab it with delight, for once the Word is paramount, uppermost in our hearts and minds, then there’s much less room for Beelzebub to work in, so his taunts and invites won’t seem so wonderful. Anyway Friends, knowing our modern-day penchant for short attention spans, (smile) we’ll stop here for today. Tomorrow though, our God in favour, we’ll continue this topic, cause it’s of the utmost importance and there are plenty scriptures that address it. Till then, let’s LOVE our God, LIVE our Faith, and SPREAD His Word. Much LOVE!…where the Word of God abounds…sin is of little influence…