Jeremiah 32:17. Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.
Oh Friends, with the gracious and generous help of Almighty God, and some decent rest, the ole fella’s feeling somewhat better this morning. Praise His Holy Name! I’m not fully recovered, but I’m getting there. What amazes me though, is that in Tobago I never felt this tired. Can one day of travelling, from one climate to another, and one hour of gained or lost time, make such a big difference? I guess so, for there are no other variables that I can think of. Anyhow, here’s an interesting quote, attributed to Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the third President of the U.S, one of its founding Fathers and writers of the Declaration of Independence. It says: ‘Happiness is not being pained in body nor troubled in mind.’ And if we could ever achieve that nirvana in these times, then it would be a veritable truth. But with the busy, stressful lifestyle that our world now dictates, and the aches and pains of old age, we need to learn to be happy in spite of those drawbacks. And the best way to do that my brethren is to surrender our souls, our very lives to the wisdom and guidance of the Most High God Jehovah. Why, you ask? Because as Jeremiah so rightly declares in our Bit: ‘Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard (difficult) for thee.’ Yes Friends, the Lord created the universe and all therein, and controls it in His infinite might and wisdom. We might not agree with His will or direction for it, but since it’s His creation, He can therefore do whatever He wants with it, and the contents thereof, including mankind. So if we’re smart, we’ll do our very best to get on His good side and then stay in His good books. (smile) Yesterday we began looking at some scriptures that reinforced the statements made in our Bit. Beginning with the first part, re God’s awesome power and creation of our world, we looked at Hezekiah’s prayer, (2 Kin.19:15) and the psalmist’s cry in distress, (Ps.102:24-27). Today we’ll continue with some more scriptures that deal with the might and glory of our wonderful God. Hear Jeremiah declare it in an earlier chapter about yokes and bonds of Israel. ‘And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto (proper to) me.’ (Jer.27:4-5) Yes my people, the earth and all it contains is the Lord’s, and He does as He pleases with it! Now listen to that great man of God, Isaiah, tell it in all its majesty and truth: ‘Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint (weak); and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’ (Is.40:28-31) Oh Friends, what more do we need to hear to believe in the wondrous power and works of Almighty God eh? I can personally testify to His amazing grace just through my activities on Monday, and I’m sure many of you can also attest to His strengthening powers in your own lives. So why are we so hesitant and reluctant to let ourselves go, to surrender our all to the One who created us, still LOVES us a whole bunch despite our rebellious and sinful nature, and truly desires to make our lives interesting and fruitful, by bringing us to salvation and eternal life with Him, through belief in His Son Jesus? That’s certainly not wisdom, my brethren! No wonder our lives and our world are in such chaos. And now, moving on to the second part of our Bit; ‘and there is nothing too hard for thee,’ here are some scriptures that appropriately address the topic. One example which we all ought to know, comes from Genesis, when the Lord promised Abraham and Sarah a son of their own loins in their old age, and Sarah laughed, prompting the Lord to tersely declare: ‘Is there any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.’ (Gen.18:14) And she did bear a son, Isaac, in her nineties! Oh fellow believers, if the Lord truly created the world and everything in it, then it shouldn’t be a problem for Him to cause an old man and woman to have a child. That would be like child’s play to Him. Meanwhile, the Good Book, in the same chapter from which our Bit comes, later states: ‘Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?’ (Jer.32:26-27) And the obvious answer to that my people, is a very emphatic NO! And we’ll end, as we like to whenever possible, with the definitive words on the subject from Jesus. This comes from when He told the young, rich man to go and sell all his earthly possessions, then come and follow Him, which the fellow was obviously reluctant to do. That brought forth this statement from Jesus: ‘And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.’ (Matt.19:24-26) End of story my brethren! So Friends, let’s stop trying to live this life by our own will and power nuh. Instead, let’s wisely hand them over to the One who made us, and has a good plan for each and every life. When we do that, then we’ll have the peace that Jesus promised. ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) Words of absolute truth and wisdom, my people! Words that I want us to truly consider today, so that our lives can be greatly improved in this evil and troubled world. Much LOVE!…to think that the creation can ever be greater than the Creator…is nothing but foolish pride and wishful thinking…
SCRIP-BITS 