Ephesians 1:3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Oh Friends, can you believe it’s already February first 2014, and that the Bit’s late and all of that? (smile) But there are extenuating circumstances for it all. In any case, please sing with me, what seems to have become our theme song on this wonderful vacation. ‘Memories don’t leave like people do. They always stay with you. Whether they been good or bad. They’re never something that you had.’
Oh my people, those words contain so much simple but unbelievable truth that it’s not funny! For memories NEVER leave us! We always have them, whether they were bad or good, they’re always ours to keep. And I lived out that fact last evening.
After running around shopping and visiting a couple friends, the Duchess and I ended up in the Redemption Steelband yard in Bethel. We were both tired as we had been out since mid afternoon and the day had been a pretty warm one. To make matters worse, the band as a whole had not begun to practice, though a few players were doing their individual thing.
But I was assured by a couple of players that the band would begin practicing shortly. So I decided to stick around for a spell, even though it might incur the displeasure of the Duchess. (smile) This was possibly around nine p.m. And luckily, soon thereafter, as band member and listeners flowed in, the practice began.
Then lo and behold, I saw two men and a woman walking up the incline to the pan yard. I looked at them, and they looked at me…Then we all burst out laughing, because they had recognized me, while I only recognized the two men. Well we began hugging each other and carrying on.
One of the men I had last seen in New York one Labour Day a while back, but the woman and the other man… Hn! I hadn’t seen them in almost fifty years, and although they were all a few years older than me, we had all been fairly close acquaintances in our youthful days growing up in Tobago.
But the Lord was not finished with His miraculous machinations, for shortly thereafter a younger gentleman showed up from way back when. Then in another few minutes two more old acquaintances showed up, one from the North Country, who was surprised to find me down here.
The long and short of the story is that we all got together round a table, talking, laughing, and generally having a good time; remembering some of those memories we made so long ago, and simultaneously making some new ones for us to cogitate and reminisce on at some later date.
In between I also met a couple of other people I had grown up with. So by the time Redemption began to practice in earnest, we were all having a jolly good time, including the Duchess, with her ears perked up for all the old time stories. Now the old fella didn’t imbibe too much, as he remembered Granny’s admonition about being drunk or sober to mind my business, and since I was the designated driver, I watched my imbibing. (smile)
And by the way, we all had to admit that Redemption sounded good, despite all the heckling amongst ourselves re association with other older steelbands. And would you believe we locked up the place. We only left because the bar was closing. But while the others repaired to some other nearby watering hole, the Duchess and I came home.
This was sometime after midnight, so I didn’t get to bed until around one thirty in the morning. Then early this morning, another old friend from High School, a Real Estate Agent, carried me to see and expansive and expensive house that he had on the market. And though the house was beautiful, it was way above my affordability, and for that much money, too close to the madding crowd.
So by the time I got back home, had breakfast, dropped the Duchess back out the street to visit with her friend, had a nap and got myself together, it’s now about one in the afternoon, as I sit on my balcony overlooking the golf course, enjoying the cool sea breeze, writing the words of this belated Bit.
Bubba! And who says you can’t go home again eh? I’m certainly disproving that theory!
Oh, oh Friends! I made another good memory yesterday! I bathed in the little bay on the sea-side of the property. It’s not anything big, just a gathering of rocks surrounding a sandy spot. The rocks serve to keep out the fair sized angry waves that seem to continually break over them.
I couldn’t do any real swimming, but it was the salt water on my skin that I needed more than the swimming. I might even go back there later today, since I can walk to and from it in my bath trunks, and it’s quiet and far from the madding crowd. And right now that’s what my spirit seems to crave.
So that was the memory scene from yesterday and early today for my later rocking chair walks down memory lane. (smile) Now let’s see what our Bit has to offer for today.
It’s Bruh Paul sending spiritual blessings to the church at Ephesus. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.’
Now my fellow believers, that sounds like a simple blessed greeting, but it surely isn’t so simple. And before I add my two cents worth, let’s hear what the scholars have to say about it. Believe, me, you’ll be surprised at how much stuff Bruh Paul says in those few words.
So here goes. ‘1:3. Blessed here means “worthy of praise.” When God blesses man, He confers benefits upon him; when man blesses God, as Paul does here, he attributes praise to Him. Who hath blessed us (or, “because He has blessed us”): The apostle, then, praises God because He has bestowed all spiritual blessings on His people.
When did he do this? Probably in eternity past (cf. vv.4-5). Where are these blessings located? In heavenly places, that is, in heaven. As the Christian’s citizenship (Phil.3:20), high priest (Heb.4:14), hope (Col.1:5), and inheritance (1 Pet.1:4) are all “in heaven,” as his treasure (Matt.6:20), and affection (Col.3:1) are to be “in heaven,” so also the Christian’s blessings are “in heaven.”
These spiritual gifts were granted to the believer and are retained in heaven for him, being progressively dispersed to him on earth in accord with his need and Christian growth. In Christ, or “by Christ,” that is, the Father has conferred these blessings on the church, but He did not act alone; He hath blessed us in Christ.
This verse therefore makes five points. (1) What has God done? He has blessed us. (2) With what? With every spiritual blessing. (3) When? In eternity past. (4) Where are these blessings? In heaven. (5) How did God do this? By Christ.’
Wow Friends, I won’t even bother to add my two cents worth! That certainly is enough for us to ponder today. So please look up the various scriptures referenced, so that we can have a better understanding about what the Word of God is trying to tell us. Much LOVE!
…how can we know and understand God’s Word…not unless it is taught and explained to us…
SCRIP-BITS 