SCRIP-BITS

Oh Friends, it’s certainly exciting that we didn’t see our names and/or pictures in the obits this morning. Praise the Lord! That means we have another day on earth to enjoy God’s blessings and to do His will. What more can we ask for down here eh? Not much. And for those of us who celebrate the Sabbath on Sundays, it’s extremely important that we get out and fellowship and worship Almighty God with other believers this morning. Hopefully, those who celebrate it on Fridays and Saturdays have already done so. My brethren, it’s imperative that we come together at least once a week with fellow believers to socialize and cast our hands, heads and hearts heavenwards in reverence to our God, Creator, Provider and Protector. This enables our faith to be nourished and regenerated, and assures that all the doubts, anxieties and fears generated in our sinful hearts by the enemy is expunged by the Holy Spirit, and a clean heart and right spirit renewed in us. But my people, though all that’s said above is very important, perhaps the most important attitude, or aspect of our faith is forgiveness. And I believe that right now, in this bitter, angry, confused, war-torn, resentment filled world, that’s our NUMBER ONE problem. That’s because a lot of our problems are caused by unforgiveness. Many are the violations of life that are perpetrated because one person, one family, one group, one nation did not forgive another for whatever wrongdoing they believed was done to them. It’s a proven fact my brethren that wherever unforgiveness lives, resentment and bitterness are easily bred. However, where there is forgiveness, lives run much smoother. And if you don’t believe me, try it now, in your own circle of friends, family and neighbours. Hence the extreme urgency of Jesus’ words in Today’s Bit. ‘I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.’ Selah! Jesus was so big on teaching forgiveness that it prompted Peter to ask Him: ‘Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?’ (Matt.14:21) Just imagine the surprise and consternation of the disciples when Jesus said not a mere seven times, but seventy times seven occasions. To Jesus, seven times was way insufficient, though to some of us supposed believers seven times is way too much. But as far as Jesus was concerned, His disciples were to be characterized by unlimited forgiveness. Now that’s obviously difficult to accomplish in this earthly life, but there’s one great reason that we should forgive. It’s a proviso Jesus laid down after He taught the disciples ‘The Lord’s Prayer.’ At the end, He told them, in no uncertain terms: ‘For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.’ (Matt.6:14-15) Simple and straightforward Friends! You forgive others, the Lord will forgive you. You don’t forgive, neither will the Lord forgive you. That’s not rocket science Friends, yet why is there still so much unforgiveness in our crazy world eh, especially amongst friends, families and close neighbours? Many of us think that bearing grudges against those that hurt us is healthy, and think that by so doing we’re getting revenge. But Friends, the truth is that we’re only causing ourselves irreparable harm by keeping the anger and resentment fuelled within us, which only brings us unnecessary stress and eventually physical and emotional sickness. What makes it even worse, is that oftimes the person(s) we’re not forgiving doesn’t even know, or for that matter care that we’re holding an unforgiving spirit against them. We need to remember that whenever God tells us to do something, it’s usually for our benefit, not for anyone else. And that’s the very essence of forgiveness; it makes us feel better; free from anger and hatred, and also allows the Lord to forgive us. There’s much more to say on this controversial subject, but time and space dictate that we end here today. And we’ll do so with some more warning words from Jesus. After Peter’s question on how often to forgive, Jesus told them the parable of the ungrateful servant, (Matt.18:23-34) where his master forgave him a large sum, but he went and threw his fellow servant in jail over a comparable pittance. Obviously when the master heard of his unforgiveness, he threw him in jail too. Jesus ended by saying: ‘So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.’ (Matt.18:35) Please Friends, I’m asking us today to release all the accumulated hatred, bitterness and unforgiveness we have stored up in us, so that the Father will also forgive us, our world will improve, and we’ll be true disciples of Jesus. Much LOVE!…unforgiveness…a sure way to remain unforgiven…

Oh Friends it’s a new day! Can you feel the new mercies and blessings being poured down from heaven on us unworthy humans? I sure hope so, because they are coming down, and it’s our job to catch them. If we don’t, then we only have ourselves to blame. And while we’re at it, let me share two quotes that will certainly help us catch these wonderful mercies and blessings. The first one I found in my mother’s Bible, one of many things written on the blank front pages. I don’t know who said it, or where it comes from, but it’s definitely essential to our earthly well-being. And it says: ‘The Bible is God’s word to us. Still fresh through all the ages. And if we read it, we will find God’s wisdom on its pages.’ Now that’s a profound truth my brethren! The Bible IS God’s Word. But though written many, many moons ago, it is still fresh, vibrant and relevant, as though it was written today. And if we truly want to know about God; who He is and what He has to say, then we need to read it consistently and meditatively. Now the next quote comes from the booklet ’Happiness for Life.’ We often pray in Jesus’ Name, and He said that we should. (John 16:26-27) ‘But to pray in the name of Jesus is something more than a mere mention of that name at the beginning and the ending of a prayer. It is to pray in the mind and spirit of Jesus, while we believe His promises, rely upon His grace, and work His works….The life must be like Christ’s life – between the mountain and the multitude.’ And that’s an indisputable fact Friends! Simply saying the words ‘In Jesus’ Name,’ without the proper Christ like thoughts and actions avails us nothing. As the quote says, we must live between the mountain – in solitude and prayer – and the multitude – in the hustle and bustle of life doing good works. But unfortunately, in these evil, ungodly times, too many of us are not doing that, and before our lives can ever improve we have to bow to Almighty God and admit our wrongdoing, like Jeremiah does in our Bit: ‘We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.’ And that’s putting it mildly my brethren, for the sins we’re committing today are so disgusting and repugnant that they break the hearts of all the heavenly hosts. And if it wasn’t for the cleansing blood of Jesus sacrificed on the cross to pay for our sins, the Lord would surely have wiped us out already. As the psalmist so rightly says in Psalm 106 – Israel sins against God’s LOVE- ‘We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies (LOVING-kindness); but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.’ (Ps.106:6-7) Oh Friends, we cannot deny that, neither can we simply blame it on our naturally sinful nature, because we know better. The proper avenue is to come to God and confess our sinfulness, otherwise death and damnation, eternal separation from God is our lot. Daniel said it thus: ‘O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face (shame), to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him.’ (Dan.9:8-9) And when Jeremiah bemoaned the desperate state of his people, he declared: ‘Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defensed (fortified) cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall (bitter, poisonous) to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!’ (Jer.8:14-15) And that’s exactly what we’re facing now! Then later on, Jeremiah pleadingly confesses: ‘O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee…Are there any among the vanities (idols) of the Gentiles that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou he, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.’ (Jer.14:7, 22) Oh Friends, there is truth in all Jeremiah says, however, before the Lord changes anything, we first have to show that we are truly repentant and will wait on Him; we’ll let go of our sinful desires and bow to His will. Then and only then will we truly reap the many new blessings and mercies that are being rained down on us from heaven every day. Much LOVE!…to him that knows to do good…but doesn’t…it is accounted to him as sin…

Oh Friends, it’s Monday…’We know that,’ comes the sour reply. ‘We know that the few of us who have jobs need to get up and go to them so we can survive. So please doh rub it in nuh.’ Hn, hn! Ah Friends, I’m not trying to rub it in, just reminding us that the workweek battle is about to begin again, so we need to be prepared. And to help us in that preparation, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with much gusto. Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ I surely hope that energized us, set us on the right path, steadfastly focused on God. And with the Lord’s mysterious but well planned workings, we even have a Bit that’s very appropriate for today, one that admirably matches the sentiments of our Battle Hymn: ‘For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.’ Now isn’t that the gospel truth? And in affirmative answer, all God’s people declared a loud and jubilant, ‘Glory Hallelujah! Indeed our Lord God is powerful and righteous, and most worthy to be praised!’ Without a doubt He is Friends. But let’s break down our Bit some. The first part refers to the Lord as ‘a sun.’ By definition ‘a sun’ is a bright, shining orb that provides light in dark places. Now since our forefathers sinned, our souls, our spiritual arenas have been shrouded in continual darkness and so have our physical abodes and surroundings. But hear what our ever-LOVING, merciful, gracious and forgiving God promises when the future glory of Zion is proclaimed: ‘The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. The sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. The people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.’ (Is.60:19-21) Wow people! In that day of glory, both our souls and our physical surroundings will forever be lit by the Lord’s Spirit! There will be no need for any artificial light whatsoever, because the Lord’s light will be more than sufficient. Now tell me, having received such a wonderful promise from the Lord God Jehovah, why would I foolishly embrace Lucifer, the fallen angel of darkness, when he has nothing even closely comparable to offer? No Friends, true wisdom declares for God, the Creator of the universe and all therein! More on this topic tomorrow, if that same God allows us to see the light of yet another day. Much LOVE!…why choose perpetual darkness…when perpetual light is available…

Oh Friends, our world is so full of corruption and evil doing that it’s time Jesus came back and cleaned it up, like He did in the temple at Jerusalem that fateful day, some two thousand years ago. I like John’s description best. ‘And (Jesus) found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made a scourge (whip) of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew (overturned) the tables.’ (John 2:14-15) Wow! Just imagine the scene nuh: the sudden, unexpected panic, with Jesus, in His righteous anger, like a bull in a china shop, overturning tables with His left hand, while the whip of cords flashed back and forth in His right, as the wicked stumbled over each other to get out of the way. You definitely didn’t want to feel one of those lashes, because Jesus was strong and fit, what with doing manual labour all His life and walking everywhere He went. And as He drove them out of His Father’s house, these were His prophetic words: ‘It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.’ (Matt.21:13) Oh Friends, that’s exactly what all the crooks, con artists and perpetrators of evil who currently run our broken, corrupt world need; somebody with might and right to slash and bash some sense into their evil heads and hearts. And no doubt the wicked will eventually receive their just desert, for the Lord has promised that the evil Jerusalem will be destroyed. (Jer.32:28-26) But He’s also promised that it will be restored. ‘Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear (have reverential awe toward) me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them.’ (Jer.32:37-39) Yes people, the only way mankind can, or will ever give up his wicked ways is by the Lord removing his evil heart and replacing it with a new and godly one, as our Bit so rightly describes: ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.’ Right now my brethren, men’s hearts are as cold and hard like stone, and consequently they lack LOVE, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. But when God takes away that hard heart and replaces it with a soft, fleshly one, then all those godly emotions will automatically rise up from it and change and energize us. Remember Jesus’ words to Nicodemus, the Jewish ruler who came to Him under cover of darkness; ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ (John 3:3) Poor Nicodemus didn’t understand, and Jesus further explained: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’ (John 3:5-6) And Bruh Paul said it this way: ‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’ (2 Cor.5:17) And when that wonderful experience takes place Friends, God gives us that new heart and new Spirit, full of LOVE and compassion, to replace our previous cold, stone-like ones. Now we’ll end with some immortal words of Bruh David on the subject of cleansing, after the prophet Nathan confronted him re his sin with Bathsheba. ‘Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.’ (Ps.51:7-10) Oh my people, that’s a prayer we should all pray as often as possible, not just by rote, but sincerely, with focus, truly desiring God to cleanse our hearts and renew that right spirit with us, so that we can joyfully go out and LOVE our God, LIVE our Faith, and SPREAD His Word. In other words, do our bounden duty. Much LOVE!…unless the hearts and souls of man…be washed clean by the purifying blood of Jesus…he shall never attain unto righteousness…

Oh Friends, all I can say today is, ‘All praise and glory be to God, our ever-LOVING Father! I will also give Him thanks for the umpteenth time! Why? Because, as always, in my time of need He came through for me. He held back the rains yesterday so that I could get some much needed work done on my leaking basement. Most of the day was dark and cloudy, but thankfully no precipitation came. And again I say, ‘Thank you Lord!’ I really wasn’t looking forward to mopping up water all weekend. Now the next phase is to find out if what we did solves the problem. And we’ll find out soon enough, when the latter rains come pouring down. But Friends, though I’m glad that I got a chance to solve my problem, there are a couple of things I read this past week that saddens me terribly, and shows just how low the human condition has sunk. The first story, published in last Sunday’s weekly New York Times deals with a rape centre in Freetown, in the African country of Sierra Leone. The headline read that the patient was 3 years old. Ah Lord eh! What fun or satisfaction can you get from having sex with a 3 year old eh? And the horrific statistic at that centre states that 26% of the rape victims are 11 years old or younger. Hn! And it seems that last month a 10 month old baby was brought in for treatment after being raped. Steups! And the sad part is that the girls are being blamed. Here’s a quote from the article: ‘If a girl is raped and she’s above 5, then it’s the way she was dressed. But we’ve had a girl of 2 and a half months who was raped. Was it the way her mom put her diaper on?’ For God’s sake, two and a half months mih people! The child’s internal organs weren’t even fully developed. And she eventually died of internal injuries sustained during the rape. Humans have become lower than the lowest wild animal, because they don’t treat their young that way. And don’t think that sort of sickness is happening only in Africa. No Friends, serious crimes against women are happening all over the world! Right under our very noses in the so-called developed countries too. They’re possibly developed in physical infrastructure, but abysmally backward and depraved in their state of mind. And sadly too, a lot of it is swept under the rug, because many wealthy, powerful people are involved in the sick, psycho behaviour. I don’t know if the violence against women is actually on the upswing, or we’re jut now hearing more about it because of improved communications, but whatever the reason, my fellow men, we have to wake up to reality and realize that we’re not supposed to act like wild beasts, but the like the cherished children of the Most High God, and that sort of bestial behaviour certainly doesn’t endear us to Him. And you women out there, you’ve got to stand up strong and fight the evil presence too; report it to the authorities, do whatever you can to get it out into the public eye. I know it’s often physically and emotionally painful, and the rest of society looks at you askance, as though you were dirty and unclean, and you caused it, which makes you feel ashamed, but you have a sacred responsibility to the females coming after you. You can’t afford to condone it by hiding or covering it up, else the disgraceful and disgusting cycle will never end. I know it’s not easy to come forward with such revelations, but that’s the only way mankind will ever wake up and cut out the atrocious behaviour. Now the next thing that saddened me this week is a story out of China, where a van driver ran over a 2 year old girl in the street. He apparently stopped when he ran over her with the front wheels, but then continued and ran over her with the rear ones too. Mama mia! To make matters worse, another vehicle came along and also ran over her. And would you believe that some eighteen people passed by and nobody lent a helping hand? Unbelievable! And even when a Good Samaritan finally picked up the battered and bruised child from the street, nobody still ventured to lend a helping hand. And they’re spouting rubbish excuses about no legal protection for those who help others, lack of a Good Samaritan Act. It’s even been suggested that the van driver left her to die because it would be cheaper for him if she died, than if she lived with long-term injuries. Oh Friends, Jesus must surely be weeping bitter tears in heaven, both for the abused young, and the sick, sadistic adults existing in His future kingdom. I’m sure He realized how tame His story of the Good Samaritan was compared to this one. Oh mih breddren, how did we ever sink to such a disgusting level eh? Have we become so selfish and hard hearted that we’ve lost all the milk of human kindness? My people, there’s only one way to conquer this unfortunate malady that’s permeating our society; that’s by turning in true repentance to our Creator, because to have any hope of sincere change, we desperately need what the Lord promises in our Bit: ‘A new heart also will I give to you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.’ More on this tomorrow, if God in His wrath doesn’t decide to wipe us all out before then. And neither do I want to hear any nonsense about the Bit being too long, cause I’m sure if you or anyone close to you were involved in such shameful scenarios, you’d want the whole world to know and do something about it. I’m tired with our blooming hypocrisy. If it was a set of insipid jokes everybody would gladly read it to the end. But anything about God must be as short as possible. Chuh! But then, when we find we self between the devil and the deep blue sea, the first words we utter are ‘Oh God, help!’ And we expect Him to come running to our aid. But life doh work so nuh people. It takes two to tango and two hands to clap! Much LOVE!…a heart of stone…does not a human make…but one of LOVE…and true compassion…