SCRIP-BITS

Jeremiah 29:13.    And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
 
Oh Friends, it’s a beautiful Tuesday morning in my neck of the woods, but for some reason, known only to God Himself, my ying and yang refused to get in sync this morning, (smile) that’s why the Bit’s late. But yuh know what? We’re not giving up! NEVER! We’ll continue fighting right down to our last breath! That’s how believers must operate if we’re to be successful in this crazy, confused, violent greedy, ungodly world. And here’s a prayer to help us persevere, from ‘The Pursuit of God,’ By A.W. Tozer, from the chapter titled ‘The Speaking Voice,’ where the author puts forth a very convincing theory that our God is alive, is very vocal, and talks to us all the time, but we don’t hear Him because we’re just not listening. ‘Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, “Speak, for thy servant heareth.” Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice. Amen.’ Yes Friends, we’ll never hear God talking to us unless we keep quiet and listen for and to Him, amongst all the noise that’s prevalent in our world. And that’s where our Bit comes in: ‘And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all our heart.’ Fellow believers, it is necessary, a key part of the Christian journey, to keep seeking and searching for God. Our God is like most good things in life, which we don’t find until we consciously and diligently seek them out. Now hear the conditions for restoration and blessing that God laid down through Moses, for His rebellious and disobedient people, the Israelites. ‘And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity (bring you back from captivity), and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, wither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.’ (Deut.30:1-3) Oh my people, the Lord couldn’t speak any plainer than that! Before compassion and forgiveness are granted, we have to do our part; seek Him, repent and confess our abominable sins, then live obediently to His law. And that prescription for rebellion and disobedience has not changed since it was first decreed. So in our current time, where dalliance with the evil and ungodly is prevalent, we too need to turn back to the Lord; repent, confess and live righteous lives, else out world will deteriorate until it simply falls apart or self-destructs. And please note Friends, this return to God cannot just be surface deep, an exterior façade without any interior substance, but it must be done through the fullness of our hearts, with right motives, since that’s where the Lord looks before He decides on our blessings and punishments. As out Bit says, we shall find the Lord: ‘when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ Listen to these words of advice that Bruh David gave to Cousin Sol, possibly the best advice a father ever gave to a child. ‘Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; arise therefore and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.’ (1 Chron.22:19) Ah mih breddren, how many of us have given that wise advice to our children eh, substituting our lives and bodies for the physical sanctuary to be built in honour of our great and magnificent God? Obviously not enough, else our world would not be in such a sinful mess. Oh Friends, in these ungodly, destructive times, I implore us to band together, as Jesus desires, into one, unified Church, and to do all that we can to change the direction which our world is currently focused on, down the evil path, so that the word of the Lord, as spoken in Jeremiah, can be fulfilled. ‘And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.’ (Jer.24:7) It’s the only way to stave off divine destruction Friends. Much LOVE!…hard ears pickney…always pay a hard price…