SCRIP-BITS

Ah Friends, the rain finally stopped yesterday, and the sun peeped out from behind the clouds, but then the wind began causing havoc; it played a rough, villainous mas all day. (smile)

Ah Lord eh! When it’s not one thing it’s certainly another! But that’s life my people; good things come and go, and so do bad things. The bad thing, winter, has gone, and the good thing, spring, is a coming, though it’s also bringing with it much rain and strong winds. But as Job said, we can’t expect to get good without bad. (Job 2:10) And one of the good things we can get, and also be, in this crazy, evil world is a Friend.

Yes my fellow believers, Friends are important in this life. But we have to be careful that we don’t have too many supposed ones, or those who are just wolves in sheep’s clothing, meaning they are really our enemies masquerading as our Friends.

And what caused me to follow this line of thought today, is a quote I read by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), the famous American essayist, lecturer and poet. He describes a Friend thus: ‘A Friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud.’

And that’s very true my brethren. That definition of a Friend, and any other implies a certain amount of trust. The closer the friendship the greater the trust. What did Cousin Sol say in Proverbs: ‘A friend LOVETH at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.’ (Prov.17:17)

And according to the scholars: ’17:17. A true friend has unquenchable LOVE that is not diminished be adversity.’  

That’s much better than this Proverb: ‘A man that hath friends must show himself friendly (may come to ruin): and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.’ (Prov.18:24)

And the scholars explain that thus: ’18:24. A man that hath many friends must show himself friendly, may also be translated, “A man of many friends comes to ruin.” In other words, a man must not spread himself too thin among many superficial relationships. Far better is it to have genuine friends who become like family and LOVE at all times.’

That’s gospel truth my people! A lot of times too, friends are more trustworthy and reliable than our family members. And we’ll end this li’l preamble on Friends by saying, that literally speaking, if you want to have friends, you also have to behave like a friend; be pleasant, kind and show yourself to be trustworthy.

Unfortunately though, the corrosive and corrupt state of our world doesn’t lend itself to too much trustworthiness, especially when a premium is placed on selfishness and deceit. So please, let’s all be very careful whom we let into our inner circle, if we want our lives to not get worse than they should.

And as for everything in our lives, when coming to friends, we must also pray about them; pray that the Lord will either make them work out or show us their insincerity very early in the proceedings, so that we can drop them like a hot potato. (smile)

That’s why our Bit tells us to ‘PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.’ Having a prayerful attitude is all for our benefit, not God’s.

And to end this series of messages on the importance of prayer, let’s listen to James as he discusses patience in affliction. ‘Is any among you afflicted (suffering)? let him pray. Is any merry (cheerful)? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess you faults (trespasses) one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual (effective) fervent prayer (supplication) of a righteous man availeth much.

Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are (with a nature like ours), and he prayed earnestly that I might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by (the land for) the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.’ (James 5:13-18)

Oh mih people, yuh see the multi-purpose function that prayer plays in the believer’s life! As we said in an earlier message, prayer is our lifeline to our Creator, Almighty God, and that communication should never be broken, if we want to have a godly and fruitful life.

And we’ll go cruising home with Peter, the rock, this Saturday morning in the spring of 2015. Hear this wonderful verse from his passage on being good stewards of God’s grace. ‘But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.’ (1 Pet.4:7)

Yes Friends, it’s of the utmost importance that believers make prayer a strong and steadfast foundation in their lives, for that is the will and desire of God! It is also wisdom of the heavenly kind! Much LOVE!

…we’ve said it before…but we’ll say it again…prayer should be like breathing…constant and regular…otherwise we die spiritually…