SCRIP-BITS

Romans 6:12.    Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
 
Oh Friends, it’s another beautiful day in the life! I sure hope that we all gave thanks for being able to see and enjoy it. And since we’re believers, followers of Christ, we will definitely enjoy it, come what may…right? As the man says: ‘This is the day the Lord’s made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it!’ Okay, so some days are harder than others, but everyday we have Jesus’ help available to us. It’s entirely up to us whether we use it or not. Remember Job told his wife that we can’t have good only and no bad, and that still holds today. (Job 2:10) However, when we completely surrender our souls to Jesus, the bad days aren’t as bad as if we hadn’t surrendered. That’s the beauty of living with, for and in Christ, my people! Through His Holy Spirit He lessens our burdens, we don’t feel the lash of the worldly whip as much: ‘For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt.11:30) And we keep Jesus in our hearts by concentrating on heavenly or spiritual things much more than the worldly junk with which we’re confronted every day. As C.S. Lewis reputedly said: ‘All that is not eternal is eternally useless.’ Words of wisdom my people! Concentrating on the eternal thus enables us to live up to the advice and direction of our Bit: ‘Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.’ We noted yesterday that this means to stop letting the many tentacles of sin overwhelm us; to stop allowing it to dictate and control our lives, otherwise we won’t be truly in, of and with Jesus. Bruh Paul then expanded on our Bit to the Roman Church: ‘Neither yield (present) ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield (present) yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments (weapons) of righteousness unto God.’ (Rom.6:13) That’s it exactly Friends! We have to stop giving in to sin in our everyday confrontations with it. Instead, as believers, as born again in Christ, we should present ourselves to God, give into His work. That’s what being born again means; living for Christ, doing what he wants rather than what we, in our worldly and sinful flesh desire. Bruh Paul called for a definite and determined commitment from the Roman Church. Today Friends, we need an even stronger and more determined commitment to live for Christ in this way more evil and ungodly world. Oh my people, without that total surrender and assertive, sometimes even aggressive commitment to Christ, we can’t do His work. Yes, we most certainly need to have an action oriented not passive response, for as I keep saying, Christianity is an action-oriented faith. Jesus went about doing. He never stayed stationary or passive. That means we have to be firm, positive and forward looking with strong, determined hearts, souls and minds, if we want to be successful against an enemy that’s very determined to spread their evil ways and wreak worldwide havoc on God’s earth. And in the immortal words of Bruh David, who seems to have run the entire gamut from saint to sinner and back again, we can boldly pray: ‘Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great (much) transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength (my rock), and my redeemer.’ (Ps.19:12-14) Yes Friends, it’s only with that kind of sincere, heartfelt plea, and an ardent desire to serve God, come what may, that we can truly keep sin at bay, and prevent our mortal bodies from being ravaged by its deadly effects. More on this tomorrow, God willing, as we still have scriptures to share. And my people, please don’t take this subject lightly, because our very salvation and the rewards thereof depend on not giving in to sin. As the song says: ‘The good things we do in life…determine what tomorrow brings.’ Much LOVE!…as much as the Word dwells faithfully in us…so much shall we be able to repel sin…