SCRIP-BITS

Lamentations 3:22-23.    It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
 
Oh Friends, oh Friends, it’s Friday! This week sure has passed quickly. And all around the world, in various languages, voices are shouting heavenward, ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ That’s because the weekend cometh, when we’re allotted a short period for rejuvenation. And though it’s short, it’s a very important aspect of our working lives, for without that brief respite every five days, we’d soon crumble like the dust from which we were created. So let’s chant our Friday Chant that calls out to our heavenly Father for mercy and LOVING-kindness. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ And having offered up that prayer for weekend guidance, let’s look at our Bit, which is the same as yesterday. Today though, instead of my crazy ramblings, (smile) we’ll look at some scriptures that are tied into it. ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we’re not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.’ Ah my brethren, those are such important words in a believer’s life. According to the scholars, the two verses of our Bit form the main theme of the Book of Lamentations; they highlight God’s compassions, mercies and faithfulness. But what do these words mean? In God’s magnanimity, when He deals with us, His sinful children, He’s exhibiting compassion, which, per the dictionary is ‘Pity (sympathy, empathy) inclining one to spare or help.’ Now Friends, we’d better give our God a big, ‘Thank you Lord!’ for exhibiting that tendency to spare and help, in other words to forgive us, otherwise we’d be long lost unto eternal death and damnation. Then, when we think about His mercies, we’re talking about His great and unconditional LOVE for His people. And on that score, all God’s people declared a loud, appreciative ‘Thank you Lord!’ And we’d better be truly thankful yes, because if our Creator and our God didn’t care for us so much, then crapaud would surely smoke we pipe. Now if this God who has such empathy and unconditional LOVE for us isn’t an awesome and wonderful Deity, then I don’t know who is. He is the ONLY TRUE Deity in the universe, the ONLY ONE who’s ALIVE and kicking, and also the ONLY ONE who forgives wrongs when His people come to Him in sincere repentance. All the other dead fakes punish without reprieve. In addition to that, every single, solitary day, our God begins from scratch, showering us with new sympathy, empathy and LOVE! WOW! What a magnificent God we worship my people! And this happens everyday without fail because He’s faithful. Per the scholars, the word faithful comes from Greek roots meaning to ‘be permanent, secure and reliable.’ And our God sure is all those! From this then comes the idea of faith, where solid trust and reliability abound. This brings us to the realization that if God is so faithful to us, then we believers ought also to be very faithful to Him. It’s a two way street. And on our part, that faithfulness has to be borne out in all aspects of our lives; everything we do must show a constant, consistent, reliable and responsible attitude towards the Lord God Jehovah. True faith, true belief ought to be reflected in the way we live our lives. Now we all recognize that it’s not easy to live a true Christian life in this evil, ungodly world, but we’re also positive that with God’s generous, unstinting help, we certainly can make a good go of it. And having digressed somewhat, though I think it’s a good digression, (smile) time and space have run out on us, so we’ll have to do the scripture thing tomorrow, the Lord in favour. Let me also apologize for the Bit being so late, it was just one of those days: I had a couple problems to iron out before I began, then my trusty computer acted up some, then the nurse wanted to come earlier than usual to check on my wound. So everything just got backed up. But thankfully I’ve had my three problems for the day, the rest of it should now be clear sailing. In conclusion, Friends, the only wise and sensible way for us to live is to keep on trusting and being faithful to our God, who first LOVED us and showed great compassion on a bunch of ungrateful sinners. Where else can we find such empathy? Much LOVE!…to LOVE, serve and worship our God…that’s the very essence…the very reason for our being…