SCRIP-BITS

Oh Friends, when is the nonsense going to stop eh? Only when we’ve completely destroyed ourselves? I’m talking about the sad spectacle in Norway’s capital, Oslo; the senseless bombing of the government’s office building, containing the Prime Minister’s office and those of other high government functionaries, then the fatal shooting of at least eighty odd teenagers at an island camp outside of the capital. Ah Lord eh! And it’s hard to believe that that’s the work of apparently one deranged Norwegian male, unhappy with the ruling government. Many of us are unhappy with our governments, but that’s no reason to go blowing up buildings and killing innocent people. If all unhappy citizens acted that way, then there’d be total anarchy. Unfortunately that seems to be the direction we’re headed, for this sickness of wreaking havoc, of being a destructive rather than a creative force, has become too pervasive all around the globe now. The cowardly, murderous behaviour, nicely termed terrorism, has now infiltrated all societies, causing us to live in even more fear than normal. But Friends, until we truly and seriously come together and defeat the satanic beast that’s corrupting our world, our lives will always be less than fulfilled, because that unspoken fear at the back of our minds will constantly have us jittery and anxious. On a much more pleasant note though, some showers of blessing finally fell in the Toronto area last night… And the voices of all God’s people rose to high heaven with a glorious shout of: ‘Glory Hallelujah! Great is our God! And greatly to be praised!’ I don’t think it was sufficient to quench the immense thirst of the parched land, but we’re all thankful for small mercies. On the other hand, the extreme heat is not forecasted to go away for a few days yet. But then again, as true and faithful believers, we all know and operate on the principle that ‘this too shall pass.’ And with that in mind, let’s do what our Bit advises nuh mih people: ‘Make a joyful noise (shout) unto God, all ye lands, (people of the earth). Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.’ Yes Friends, our powerful but merciful, generous and LOVING God is most worthy of our praise and honour. I don’t think we really appreciate His goodness sufficiently, else we would LOVE, honour, praise, thank and obey Him much more than we do. I’m sure if each us looked back at where we came from, where we are today, and where we’re headed, we’d see quite clearly the hand of God writ large there. None of us could have made it without His constant and merciful help along the way. So why are we so reluctant to give Him the praise and glory that He’s due eh? I guess we’ve allowed the enemy to infiltrate our hearts and minds, causing us to think we had much more to do with our success than we did. But fellow believer, please remember these faithful words of Jesus: ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:5) Truer words were never spoken my brethren! Without Jesus in our lives, we’re lost, helpless imbeciles. End of story! Consequently, it is essential, of vital importance that we constantly praise, revere and glorify the Lord God of our fathers. The psalmists enthusiastically advised it on several occasions. Listen to a few of them: ‘O Come let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms (songs). For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.’ (Ps.95:1-3) Then Psalm 105 joyfully proclaims: ‘O Give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.’ (Ps.105:1-3) And finally, Psalm 100 declares in conjunction with our Bit: ‘Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands (all the earth). Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.’ (Ps.100:1-5) And a loud, ‘Hallelujah! Amen!’ rang up to heaven. Ah Friends, the major fault in our world right now is that we’ve relegated our God to background status, and therefore don’t praise and glorify Him as we ought, and that’s the main reason why He created us. So please, let’s bring Him back to the forefront of our lives. And the easiest way to do that is by singing His praise and talking of His goodness, letting His LOVE in our hearts shine abroad, so horrific deeds like that committed in Norway, won’t happen again. It’s the only way to prevent such disastrous occurrences. Much LOVE!…only the LOVE of Jesus…can conquer the evil of Beelzebub…