SCRIP-BITS

Hosea 8:2.    Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
 
Oh Friends, as I sat here contemplating how to begin, the Spirit nudged me into saying that today, unlike yesterday, I have overcome the vicissitudes of life. (smile) Through my heavenly Father’s help and good grace, they have not overwhelmed me today. And since there are no words to truly convey the gratitude we owe our magnanimous God, all I can say is a simple, ‘Thank you Lord.’ And yuh know what Friends, as far as the Lord’s concerned, that’s quite sufficient. He doesn’t require any highfalutin, elaborate prayers, full of empty pomp and ceremony. He just needs to know that we acknowledge His help and dominion over our lives. Plenty words, spouted with much bowing and scraping don’t mean anything, for it’s not the amount of words we use, or the manner in which we use them, but the rightness of our hearts and motives towards Him that are matter. Thus the importance of our Bit: ‘Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.’ Yes Friends, the words do sound good and right, but they did not register that way in their hearts, it was a false cry. In a season of prosperity, Israel had turned from worshipping the God of their fathers to man made idols, conveniently forgetting where their strength and power really came from. (Deut.8:18) Therefore the Lord declared: ‘Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. Thy calf (golden calf image), O Samaria, hath cast thee off (is rejected); mine anger is kindled (aroused) against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.’ (Hos.8:3-6) Apparently Samaria was the heart of idolatrous worship, specifically in the form of a golden calf. Unfortunately though people, like Israel, we have cast away the good things of God, and replaced them with worthless idols; the pursuit of wealth, money, power, celebrity status, etc. That’s why so many enemies, both known and unknown, surround us. Have you noticed how easily and over what petty matters both individuals and nations nowadays can change from being friends to enemies? That’s because there’s no truly LOVING Spirit of God within us, neither as individuals or nations. For we have erred and strayed from the law of God. As the opening verse of the chapter so ominously declares: ‘Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed (rebelled) against my law.’ (Hos.8:1) Consequently, judgement will be forthcoming. ‘For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk (the stalk has no bud): the bud shall yield no meal (it shall never produce meal): if so be it yield (if it does happen to produce), the strangers (foreigners, aliens), shall swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.’ (Hos.8:7-8) Please note my people, that that judgement did fall on Israel. So if we are behaving like them, and we are actually behaving worse than them, why should our consequences be any different eh? And both literally and figuratively we have sown small winds, but we are already reaping whirlwinds, in the form of powerful hurricanes and tornadoes, with all their attendant devastation. Now also, just like Israel in their time of punishment, some of us are turning to God, but it’s not really true conviction and repentance. As the psalmist Asaph says in Psalm 78, a reminder of God’s goodness to Israel: ‘For all this they sinned still, and believed not his wondrous works. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity (futility), and their years in trouble (sudden terror). When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early (sought diligently) after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right (steadfast) with him, neither were they steadfast (faithful) in his covenant.’ (Ps.78:32-37) Oh Friends, that’s exactly what’s happening in our confused and sinful world today! Many of us talk God, but don’t really follow Him. We’re still too taken up with the things of the world, and the Lord knows it, for He inspects out hearts, not our words. As Bruh Paul told Titus: ‘They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate (disqualified).’ (Tit.1:16) Please people, let’s all consider our true nature and make sure that we’re not like those spoken of in the scripture, else we’ll all suffer the same fate that they did. Much LOVE!…if we truly know and LOVE God…then our works and actions will show it…