SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 145:18.     The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
 
Well a good Sunday morning to all you beautiful Friends and Neighbours in Christ! The new provisions of God, this new day, are being disseminated at this very moment to all who truly seek them. And while we are being richly blessed, it’s only right that we should remember others not so fortunate and do stuff to benefit them, though we may never see or know about it. In support of that statement, let me share a quote from my ‘I LOVE YOU’ poster, which says: ‘Do for others with no desire of returned favours. We should all plant some trees we’ll never sit under.’ And that’s the living truth my brethren! We should all aspire to do good deeds; some with hope of future blessing, but also some without thought of future reward. And yuh know, those are usually the ones that please our God the most. It reminds me of the story about an elderly man who planted a tree that took many years to grow and bear fruit. When asked why he did it, since he would most likely not be around to enjoy its fruit and shade, he simply replied that it wasn’t planted with his enjoyment in mind, but for that of some unknown person(s) in the future. Now that’s the epitome of selflessness, a lesson many many of us believers still have to learn because we insist on following the selfish, greedy ways and patterns of the world. Remember though that we ought to be in the world, but not of it. (Rom.12:2; 1 John 2:15) However, the only way to do that on a successful basis is by continually doing as our Bit advises: ‘The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.’ Yes Friends, we have to keep calling out to the Lord for help to handle the evils of our world; evils like selfishness, greed, anger, resentment, bitterness, hate and violence, otherwise we’ll get caught in the trap, fall into the pit of evil that the enemy has dug and set for us. As Moses said to the Israelites when exhorting them to obedience of God’s laws. ‘For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh (near) unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?’ (Deut.4:7) And the emphatic answer is NONE! Ah mih people, many of us want and expect God’s attention, but it doesn’t usually happen until we call out to Him, unless we purposely seek Him. He’s always there, right close by, but does not get involved unless we ask Him to, cause He’s a God of choices. Now the next important thing is that we can’t just go to Him and ask for whatever we want without a sincere heart; a heart that truly recognizes Him as Lord and Saviour. Selfish, greedy motives will be readily discovered since it’s our hearts that He searches and listens to, not merely the pleas of our mouths. Jesus said it quite plainly to the Samaritan woman at the well: ‘But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.’ (John 4:23-24) Oh Friends, to be true believers we must seek God on purpose, with truth and a right heart, otherwise we’re just fooling ourselves, our religion is vain and useless. So today, let’s ponder those two aspects of our lives, determine the intensity of our desire to know and seek God, and the rightness of our motives when we come to Him, then try our best to improve them, for there’s room for improvement in all of us. Note too, it’s all for OUR benefit, not God’s. Much LOVE!…remember…God is not there to serve our selfish purposes…but we’re here to serve His righteous desires…  P.S.  And my reason for the Bit being late today – I went to church, seeking God and fellowship with other believers, simply trying to practice what I preach. (smile) Much LOVE!