SCRIP-BITS

Ah my wonderful Friends in Christ, it’s another bountiful day of blessings and mercies being bestowed on us from our heavenly Father! Wow! What an awesome and LOVING God we serve! Now our first and foremost bounty is the breath of life, that wonderful opportunity to see another day on planet earth, for which we should all be exceedingly thankful. Oh I know some of us would rather not see any more days on earth because of the sorry state of our world and our own, rough, impoverished circumstances, but we have to remember that while there’s life, there’s ALWAYS hope. That means hopeless looking situations can be turned around in the twinkling of an eye through our omnipotent God’s touch. So as believers we must NEVER give up, regardless of how desperate and hopeless our situation seems. And that’s exactly what our Bit today tries to make us understand. ‘Blessed are the undefiled (blameless) in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.’ Yes Friends, if we follow God’s law to the best of our ability, we shall surely be blessed, both down here on earth and in heaven. Psalm 128, the rewards of faithfulness, spells out some of those blessings. ‘Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands (fruit of thy labour): happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides (in the heart) of thine house: thy children like olive plants about thy table.’ (Ps.128:1-3) What more can we ask eh Friends than the prosperity of our labour, to be happy and contented without too many serious problems, our wives procreating plentifully, and our children strong and vibrant around us, and also serving the Lord?  Note too that the promise is made with certain assurance; if you follow the Lord, you will be blessed, as the next verse compellingly states. ‘Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.’ (Ps.128:4) Furthermore, there’s no ambiguity about what’s required of us in the Lord’s Law, which comes from the Hebrew word ‘Torah’ meaning to teach, and emphasizes that God has taught us all we need to know in His Word. Answers to all questions can be found written in His Book, the Holy Bible. So there can be no excuses about what we should or shouldn’t do. Exodus 20:1-17, spells out the basics in the form of the Ten Commandments, and Jesus later paraphrased them down to two: ‘LOVE your God with your whole heart, soul, body and mind. And LOVE your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matt.22:37-40) In other words, if we simply follow those two dictates, we shall be blessed. And Friends, being blessed by following God’s law is nothing new. Adam heard that on day one: ‘And the Lord God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’ (Gen.2:16-17) Obviously Adam didn’t listen and suffered the consequences of disobedience. Then Moses proclaimed it to the Israelites when they left bondage in Egypt, on the way to the Promise Land. ‘Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee (you may prosper), and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days (live long) upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.’ (Deut.4:39-40) Later on, he again reminded them about the blessings of obedience: ‘Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken (listen) to these judgements, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers. And he will LOVE thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine (cattle), and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware (promised) unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people.’ (Deut.7:12-14) It’s all so straightforward Friends; follow the Lord’s will and you’ll be blessed, if not, you’ll suffer much calamity. We saw what happened to Adam, also to the Israelites when they didn’t obey God’s law, and unfortunately we’re doing the same thing today? Oh my people, our God is certainly a caring, LOVING, merciful and forgiving Deity, but when we blatantly go against His orders we’ll pay a terrible price. Just look at the price our ungodly, evil, violent, greedy, oppressive world is paying today. All of this could have been avoided if we hadn’t strayed from His law. He never said it would be all wine and roses, but He did guarantee a good, prosperous and fulfilling life for all those who faithfully followed His commandments. So if things aren’t going right with us, we may need to check how we’re walking with Almighty God, if we’re truly walking in His way. And to end, here’s another tidbit on the subject courtesy of Isaiah: ‘Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.’ (Is.3:10) It can’t get any clearer than that Friends, so please, let’s buckle down and truly follow God’s will, if we sincerely want to see long life and prosperous days nuh. It’s the only way. Much LOVE!…to walk with Jesus…is to live the good life with Him…