SCRIP-BITS

And the dark forces of evil continue to batter and destroy our beautiful planet – Mother Earth – and all therein. Yes Friends, the negative effects of those ungodly forces; hatred, strife, violence, greed, oppression, suppression, corruption, hunger, poverty, rape, pillage, plunder et al, they all continue unabated. When will it end eh? Will we have to wait until Christ returns? Or will we self-destruct sometime soon through our extremely aggressive and war mongering attitudes? I certainly hope that none of those scenarios come through. So what then, you ask? Who or what will solve our problems, will rout the evil forces and bring some much needed peace and stability to our world that’s in serious crisis? Ah mih people, as believers, we know there’s only ONE thing that can conquer evil, that’s LOVE, in particular the LOVE of Jehovah God! But how will that be accomplished? We also know the answer to that; through us, believers in Christ, through His Church, His family here on earth. Remember His last words to the disciples: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt.28:19-20) That means our job on earth is basically to spread the gospel, and thus bring some long overdue and much needed peace and LOVE to our very troubled world. The forces of evil are winning right now because of their greater numbers and greater diligence towards their goals, than we believers have towards ours. I’ll say it again for the umpteenth time; Christianity is an action-based faith! We have to actively engage in bringing people to Christ through the way we live our lives, not by mere talk. Examples always speak more forcibly than unsupported words. Yet too many believers are still either afraid or ashamed to acknowledge Jesus in public. For that matter, Christianity might be the least recognized faith from a purely outward and/or physical basis. Most of the other faiths bask in them, and are proud to shout them to the world. Not so much Christianity. Too many of us are too comfortable in our little spheres and figure going to church, giving a few dollars and spouting scriptures makes us a Christian. Unfortunately my brethren, that’s the furthest thing from the truth. You might impress your fellow man with that stuff, like the Pharisees of old tried to do. But notice Jesus gave them heck all the time, calling them hypocrites, because they never truly walked their talk. And sadly, nothing much has changed today, for we’re still a bunch of hypocrites. And though we might successfully fool men, we can’t fool God, because He doesn’t look at our outward show, but what’s secreted deep in our hearts. And as Jesus said: ‘For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ (Luke 12:34) There again my people, too many of us are still more enamoured of the flimsy, fly by night treasures of the world, than with those of God, thus our hearts can’t be right with God, and thus we can’t, or won’t do what He requires of us, which is to LOVE and honour Him above everything else. That brings us to our Bit: ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup (dine) with him, and he with me.’ Please note that when Jesus comes a calling, He doesn’t concern Himself about our bodies or minds, but our souls, our spiritual hearts. That’s where He wants to enter, because it’s in the deepest recesses of our beings that the true seed of His LOVE can be planted and have the best chance of germinating, and finally growing into a mature Christian. The past couple days we’ve dealt with the first two parts of the Bit, today we’ll look at the last portion: ‘I will come into him, and will sup (dine) with him, and he with me.’ Oh Friends, Jesus dining with us personally is the greatest honour we can ever receive. And it’s exactly what He’s offering in our Bit; personal, individual attention, just you and Him alone, if you’d only open the door to your heart and gladly let Him in. Wow! What an opportunity! Please don’t pass it up. In conclusion, let’s hear some scriptures on the subject. The first deals with His promise to send a helper to all who believe in Him. And in answer to Judas’ (not Iscariot) question: ‘Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man LOVE me, he will keep my words: and my Father will LOVE him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode (home) with him.’ (John 14:22-23) So when we LOVE Him, open our hearts and accept Him, the Holy Spirit, the helper of the Trinity, will come to dwell in us, to lead and guide us along godly paths. But the best is yet to come mih breddren, for as John declared in his vision of the New Jerusalem: ‘And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’ (Rev.21:3-4) And all God’s people shouted ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Yes Friends, that’s the great life we have to look forward to, but we can only accomplish it by truly accepting Jesus into our hearts here on earth, living the way He leads, then helping others to do the same. Then He’ll say: ‘Well done true and faithful servant!’ And nothing can be better than Jesus’ approval of our earthly efforts. Much LOVE!…only as much as believers truly do what Jesus asks…will our world improve…