SCRIP-BITS

Oh Friends, another beautiful day is in the offing, filled with lots of mercy and blessings! And note too, you have not seen your name and/or picture in today’s obits. (smile)  And all God’s people joyfully cried: ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Most of us also live a good life compared to the majority of the world, but even so, the lives of believers won’t always be easy. In fact they’ll be filled with a fair amount of suffering. Hopefully it won’t be bad enough to call it ‘sufferation’, but unfortunate enough to cause us pain and heartache. Remember though, Jesus’ words of assurance: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)  So though we’re sure to have problems, we should not be afraid, but be of good cheer, high spirits, for Jesus has gone before us and braved, cleared a path in the world for us. Also, when Christ appeared to the disciples before His ascension, He explained to them that it was necessary for all the things written about Him in the Old Testament to be fulfilled. (Luke 24:44) ‘Thus it is written, and thus it behooved (was necessary for) Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.’ (Luke 24:46) So suffering plays a big part in believers’ lives. But Bruh Paul, in his second missive to Timothy, assures us: ‘It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer (endure), we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not (are faithless), yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.’ (2 Tim.2:11-13) In other words, if we pay the price in Jesus’ name, then we’ll reap the accompanying benefits. And Bruh Paul, having said to the Roman church: ‘The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.’ (Rom.8:16-17) He could then consequently declare the words of our Bit with confidence: ‘For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.’ Yes Friends, the unfortunate things we experience here on earth are not worthy to be compared with the glory of Christ’s Second Coming, the rewards we’ll receive in heaven and the glory we’ll experience in Jesus’ presence. Mama Mia! Oh what a happy day that will be my people! We Christians look forward to that glorious time with a blessed hope which fuels our faith. The fact that there’s better stuff ahead for us is what keeps us going, keeps us turned off of the world’s pleasures. As Bruh Paul expounded to the Corinthians: ‘For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound (abound) to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not (do not lose heart); but though our outward man perish (is perishing), yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.’ (2 Cor.4:15-18) Ah my people, as believers in Christ, we can’t afford to concentrate on, or be caught up in the things of this evil, lustful, idolatrous world, because it reduces our focusing on heavenly, eternal things. The things of the world, which we already see, we know are temporary. But those things we can’t see, the ones pertaining to heaven, that Jesus spoke of, and wants us to concentrate on, they are eternal, they last forever. And as believers’, that’s the mindset we ought to have. Unfortunately though, too many of us, even long time believers, still focus on the earthly things that will pass away. This should not be so my brethren, because it detracts from our witness for Christ, which should be our most important consideration in this earthly life. In conclusion, let’s remember that Christianity is a movement based on LOVE and ACTIVE SERVICE. Jesus was a man of action. He suffered much here on earth, but that didn’t stop Him from carrying out His commission since He knew the benefits that would accrue from His suffering and humble obedience to His heavenly Father; our salvation and eternal life. Likewise, we shouldn’t allow the world, with its evil and suffering, to stop us from doing our God-given duty, for great shall be our rewards in heaven, if we stand strong here on earth, and don’t faint in God’s service. Much LOVE!…suffering in Jesus’ name…is par for the believer’s course…