SCRIP-BITS

Hebrews 4:16.     Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Another Sunday, another day of worship friends! That ever so important time every week, when we praise and glorify our most wonderful God corporately, even if it’s by technological means and not actual physical gathering. That’s because worship is worship whether you are in a sanctuary together or a million miles apart, connected only by TV or computer.

And worship isn’t only to give God His much deserved thanks and glory, but also a time of restoring and renewing our faith in Christ Jesus, where we receive His strength and renewal of our spirit, so that we can go back out again in the new work week and raise up His name to all the world. Like Jesus said to the disciples: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:19-20)

Yes friends, that’s one of our major earthly purposes, and worshipping together every Sunday, helps to give us the wherewithal to do our bounden duty. So let’s begin our worship with a song of praise that’s rather appropriate for these turbulent times in which we are currently living. It’s aptly titled: ‘Lord I Need You!’ And do we ever need Him, my faithful brethren! So let’s offer up our sacrifices of praise through the contemporary Christian song, as sung by one of its writers, Matt Maher.

In a soulful, scintillating, heartfelt manner, let’s sing! ‘Lord I come, I confess Bowing here, I find my rest Without You, I fall apart You’re the one that guides my heart (Chorus) Lord, I need You, oh I need You Every hour, I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You) Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more Where grace is found is where You are And where You are, Lord I am free Holiness is Christ in me (Chorus)

So teach my song to rise to You When temptation comes my way And when I cannot stand, I’ll fall on You Jesus, You’re my hope and stay (Chorus. Lord, I need You, oh I need You Every hour, I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You You’re my one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You.’

Oh my fellow saints, Jesus is indeed ALL of those things to us! That’s why we so desperately need Him, every minute, every hour of every day! And what’s a need you ask? One explanation goes like this: ‘A need is something that is necessary for an organism to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants in that, in the case of a need, a deficiency causes a clear adverse outcome: a dysfunction or death. In other words, a need is something required for a safe, stable and healthy life (e.g. food, water, shelter) while a want is a desire, wish or aspiration.’

And that’s the thing about needing Jesus; without Him we can’t live, safe, healthy, stable lives, in fact we can’t live at all, we’d die spiritually, with no hope of eternal life! And that, as we all know, is the saddest thing that can ever happen to a human soul and sprit. Now the website, Godtube, tells us: ‘This song confesses our need for the Lord every hour as our “one defense, my righteousness.” And that’s the indisputable truth! Christ is the first line of defense for believers and also the author of all our righteousness. It’s only through Hm that we are made righteous in the eyes of the Lord God Jehovah.

Then, they invite us to discover some of the scriptural influences in the song, pointing out that verse one: ‘Lord, I come, I confess Bowing here I find my rest Without You I fall apart You’re the One that guides my heart,’ reflects the Great Invitation of Jesus. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) And you can’t find fault with that reasoning.

And per  the Chorus: ‘Lord, I need You, oh, I need You Every hour I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You,’ they say that points to these two magnificent and encouraging scriptures. First, one from Hebrews: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

And isn’t that the awesome truth! Once Jesus broke the curtain of the veil that separated us from God by His magnificent resurrection, we can now freely go to the Father for help in each and every situation. The problem here though, is that too many of us don’t make use of this awesome provision, still retaining the old thinking that God is too holy and far away for us lowly, sinful minions to go to Him on what we consider trivial matters.

But the truth is my people, our God wants to get involved in EVERYTHING we do, in EVERY aspect of our lives. That’s why He gave His only Son Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins. Thus reconciling us to Himself, bringing us back to His fold as His beloved children. And what child doesn’t admire His father and go to Him in times of need eh? And since Jesus is our Advocate, High Priest, Defender, Provider, our ALL in ALL, it means we can go to Him without fear, but with confidence to meet our needs.

Then the second verse they say the chorus reflects is this one from Peter. “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15) Yes friends, we must always be ready, willing and able to tell others why we believe so wholeheartedly in Christ, but in a gentle and respectful manner, like Jesus would.

So with the sun shining brightly in my area this very cold Sunday, it is indeed a good day to be alive, and to worship our omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and ever-faithful, ever-LOVING God, who, through His marvellous Son, Jesus Christ, satisfies all our needs. Please give Him much thanks and praise today my people for His marvellous grace, goodness and mercy to us underserving folks! Much LOVE!

…once you have Christ in your life…you don’t need anybody else…Glory Be!

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8