SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 107:8.    Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.
 
Oh Friends, sorry that this is a tad late, but it’s just been one of those days when the vicissitudes of life simply overwhelmed me. (smile) Anyway, another glorious day is in the offing for all those who LOVE and serve the Most High God Jehovah. So with humble hearts and minds, let’s gratefully offer up a prayer of thanks and praise. ‘Dear Lord, You are so good to me! And I thank you sincerely for the many blessings You send me! I’m very glad to have You in my life day in and day out – whatever I do and wherever I go! You are the One who always does what is best for my happiness.’ And all God’s people said a loud, heart-filled ‘Amen!’ because that’s the gospel truth my brethren! Now that prayer you just read was taken from a pamphlet I found in my mother’s Bible, prepared by the Life Study Fellowship in Noroton, Connecticut, sometime in 2004. And it’s amusing, but very gratifying that every time I open her Bible, I come upon some interesting tidbit of prayer or scripture, which gives me a better insight into her spiritual character. Let’s hope that when we all pass on to the golden fields in the sky, that our children can also open our Bibles and find spiritual gems that helped define us. And as usual, our great and most wonderful God, in His mysterious wisdom has chosen to use that prayer with a rather appropriate Bit. ‘Oh that the men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men!’ Oh Friends, how can we ever make known the utmost importance of those words to mankind eh? The psalmist thought it so important that he used that verse four times, yes mih people, four times in the same psalm. (vs. 8,15,21,31) Oh my breddren, our steadfast refusal to praise and thank the Lord in sufficient numbers for His goodness to us, is one of the major reasons why our world is in such an appalling state, it’s filled with so much horrible negativity. The children of men simply are not praising and glorifying our God, our Maker, Provider and Protector enough. As usual, the little success we’ve made in the arts, science and technology has gone to our heads, and with the gleeful aid of the enemy, is fooling us into thinking that we’ve done it all in our own strength, thereby sadly invoking the prophecy declared by Moses ages ago. ‘Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgements, and his statutes, which I command thee this day. Lest when thou hast eaten and art full (satisfied), and hast built goodly (beautiful) houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and gold is multiplied (increased), and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up (becomes proud), and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove (test) thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish (confirm) his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.’ (Deut.8:11-20) Nuff said Friends! That’s the Good Book talking, showing us where we’ve taken the wrong path, and are thus suffering the repercussions for our many grave and deadly sins. It could not be put any plainer and simpler than that, and it is my sincere desire that we all seriously take those words to heart, truly meditate on them, learn the worthy lessons they teach, then share them with others, so that they too can turn from their wicked ways and remember that our Lord God Jehovah is the One who made us and keeps us going. Much LOVE!…to turn away from our Provider…is utter stupidity…and surely shows how prideful and arrogant we’ve become…