Proverbs 21:21. He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s tired this morning. But what else is new eh? This past week has just been one thing after another. Hn! Until you go through funeral preparations, you’ll never know how much stuff is involved and how draining it is, especially if your grief is very deep. The Spirit will have to come up with plenty plenty help this morning yes, because I’m not of much use in my own strength. (smile) Anyway, here is an interesting quote from the Covenant House Calendar for September, attributed to Henry David Thoreau, which says: ‘What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other’s eyes for a moment.’ And isn’t that a fact! It’s like saying walk in my shoes for a moment so you can experience who I really am, experience the real me, then and only then will you understand where I’m coming from. Ah Friends, the biggest benefit to that miracle would be the amazing reduction in judgements of each other. At least the judgements we make then would be much more factually based, unlike now, when most of our judgments are incorrect. That’s because most of our perceptions of others are often gleaned from second hand information and circumstances, a lot of which are totally false, or only partially true. That’s why there’s so much strife and friction in our society. And if it’s one thing we’re very good at is judging others, very quickly too, and mostly on outward appearances, which again is seldom a reliable base for judgement. But let us be judged using that same criteria, and we’re soon up in arms, railing against the unfair judgement, conveniently forgetting that’s also our modus operandi. Oh my people, the only way to avoid those unpleasant situations is to do like our Bit says: ‘He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.’ Yes Friends, when we try to live a righteous life, showing LOVE, mercy and forgiveness to those who cross our paths, then our lives will be truly enriched, with righteousness and honour being attributed to us. And the proof of that is in these words of Jesus in the Beatitudes. ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.’ (Matt.5:6) Those are words of indisputable truth Friends! When we possess a strong desire to do and live right, then our desires, our hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied by our God, because that’s the way He wants and expects us to live. Cousin Sol says the same thing earlier on, but in a slightly different way. ‘The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord: but He LOVETH him that followeth after righteousness.’ (Prov.15:9) And who wouldn’t LOVE people who deal in righteousness eh? Only those foolish ones steeped in evil. Long before Jesus came Isaiah talked about the rebellious and unrighteous being punished while the righteous are filled and exalted. ‘Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed. Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl (wail) for vexation (grief) of spirit.’ (Is.65:13-14) Oh my people, one of the reasons why there’s so much hunger and poverty in our society is that too many of us don’t live right. Instead of following the laws of God, we follow the lustful, evil dictates of man. So what else can we expect but sorrow and disappointment? Jesus’ Mother, Mary, also pointed it out in her song of praise, the Magnificat, after being informed that she’d been chosen to bear the Son of God. ‘He hath put down the mighty from their seats (thrones), and exalted them of low degree (the lowly). He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.’ (Luke 1:52-53) Yes Friends, it’s only when we live the way Jesus desires us to, in LOVE, in a righteous, merciful, forgiving manner, that we truly find the good life, one filled with blessings and honour. Please my people, let’s seriously begin to live the way Jesus wants us to nuh. This unrighteous, ungodly life we’re currently living is only killing our society, and consequently us. Is this the way we really want our children and children’s children to live? I doubt it very much. But it won’t change until we, the parents and supposed true believers begin to live a truly godly and righteous life. Much LOVE!…our faith…our beliefs…should be borne out in the way we live our lives… P.S. Sorry that this is so late Friends, but I had some more funeral arrangements to make, and when I began writing it around lunch time, I found myself falling asleep, so I had to go and get some rest. Ah Lord eh! The ups and downs of life! (smile) But have no fear, stand strong, and we shall overcome. Much LOVE!
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s tired this morning. But what else is new eh? This past week has just been one thing after another. Hn! Until you go through funeral preparations, you’ll never know how much stuff is involved and how draining it is, especially if your grief is very deep. The Spirit will have to come up with plenty plenty help this morning yes, because I’m not of much use in my own strength. (smile) Anyway, here is an interesting quote from the Covenant House Calendar for September, attributed to Henry David Thoreau, which says: ‘What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other’s eyes for a moment.’ And isn’t that a fact! It’s like saying walk in my shoes for a moment so you can experience who I really am, experience the real me, then and only then will you understand where I’m coming from. Ah Friends, the biggest benefit to that miracle would be the amazing reduction in judgements of each other. At least the judgements we make then would be much more factually based, unlike now, when most of our judgments are incorrect. That’s because most of our perceptions of others are often gleaned from second hand information and circumstances, a lot of which are totally false, or only partially true. That’s why there’s so much strife and friction in our society. And if it’s one thing we’re very good at is judging others, very quickly too, and mostly on outward appearances, which again is seldom a reliable base for judgement. But let us be judged using that same criteria, and we’re soon up in arms, railing against the unfair judgement, conveniently forgetting that’s also our modus operandi. Oh my people, the only way to avoid those unpleasant situations is to do like our Bit says: ‘He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.’ Yes Friends, when we try to live a righteous life, showing LOVE, mercy and forgiveness to those who cross our paths, then our lives will be truly enriched, with righteousness and honour being attributed to us. And the proof of that is in these words of Jesus in the Beatitudes. ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.’ (Matt.5:6) Those are words of indisputable truth Friends! When we possess a strong desire to do and live right, then our desires, our hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied by our God, because that’s the way He wants and expects us to live. Cousin Sol says the same thing earlier on, but in a slightly different way. ‘The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord: but He LOVETH him that followeth after righteousness.’ (Prov.15:9) And who wouldn’t LOVE people who deal in righteousness eh? Only those foolish ones steeped in evil. Long before Jesus came Isaiah talked about the rebellious and unrighteous being punished while the righteous are filled and exalted. ‘Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed. Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl (wail) for vexation (grief) of spirit.’ (Is.65:13-14) Oh my people, one of the reasons why there’s so much hunger and poverty in our society is that too many of us don’t live right. Instead of following the laws of God, we follow the lustful, evil dictates of man. So what else can we expect but sorrow and disappointment? Jesus’ Mother, Mary, also pointed it out in her song of praise, the Magnificat, after being informed that she’d been chosen to bear the Son of God. ‘He hath put down the mighty from their seats (thrones), and exalted them of low degree (the lowly). He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.’ (Luke 1:52-53) Yes Friends, it’s only when we live the way Jesus desires us to, in LOVE, in a righteous, merciful, forgiving manner, that we truly find the good life, one filled with blessings and honour. Please my people, let’s seriously begin to live the way Jesus wants us to nuh. This unrighteous, ungodly life we’re currently living is only killing our society, and consequently us. Is this the way we really want our children and children’s children to live? I doubt it very much. But it won’t change until we, the parents and supposed true believers begin to live a truly godly and righteous life. Much LOVE!…our faith…our beliefs…should be borne out in the way we live our lives… P.S. Sorry that this is so late Friends, but I had some more funeral arrangements to make, and when I began writing it around lunch time, I found myself falling asleep, so I had to go and get some rest. Ah Lord eh! The ups and downs of life! (smile) But have no fear, stand strong, and we shall overcome. Much LOVE!
SCRIP-BITS 