SCRIP-BITS

Isaiah 55:6.       Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.

And the week’s moving along as programmed. Thursday has opened cloudy and windy in my neck of the woods, but it’s still a wonderful day to be alive! It just means being prepared for the weather when we go out; dress for it and be careful walking or driving. However, for true believers in Jesus Christ, every day we open our eyes is a marvellous day, despite the weather, and one we should all greet by declaring (yesss!!!) these awesome words of the psalmist. ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps. 118:24) 

Yes friends, we ought to be grateful for each day we awaken and don’t see our names listed in the obits, (smile) even when the mighty storms of life, both literally and figuratively are pounding upon us, and we don’t know what to do. But that’s okay too, because we know someone who knows what to do, how to handle both the literal and figurative storms, His name is Jesus Christ; the Saviour of this sinful world, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace, the High Priest in the heavens, the Mighty Advocate for those who believe in Him and sincerely surrender their souls to Him; the name that’s above every other name, the one to whom ALL knees must bow and confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father! 

Wow! What a powerful and influential person to know! And unlike most powerful and influential persons down here on earth, Jesus Christ doesn’t play favourites, or turn away anybody who desires to come to Him, regardless of their troubles, physical or spiritual status. In fact, He welcomes ALL and sundry through His Great Invitation. But before we get to that new invitation (smile) listen to this other Great Invitation that our Lord God Jehovah offered His people Israel through the prophet Isaiah, long before Jesus offered His. 

Isaiah gracefully declared (awright!!!) on the Lord’s behalf: ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness (abundance). Incline your ear and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David… Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.’ (Is. 55:1-3, 6) 

Oh my people, yuh see how our great God was generous from the outset? As the scholars tell us, ‘God’s free gift of salvation is offered to ALL who will receive it. Those who are hungry and thirsty may come and drink without money (freely). He promises an everlasting covenant to the Gentiles (vs. 5) like the one He established with Israel. His invitation to ALL men is clearly stated by the appeal, Seek ye the Lord and call ye upon him.’ 

Yes my fellow believers, from the very beginning God has been pleading with us to come to Him for succour and nourishment for our souls. But sadly, we have been forestalling Him with excuses, lies and deceptions cast upon us by our enemy Satan, the devourer and deceiver of God’s people. However, as we can see God didn’t give up on us – He NEVER does – and with a heart full of LOVE, sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth to save us, by paying for our sins with His sinless blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary. 

So I don’t know how we can ever say that God doesn’t care for us. And Bruh Paul declares it (yesss!!!) thus in his missive to the church at Rome. ‘But God commendeth (demonstrates) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) Please note my people, that the Lord didn’t wait for us to change our evil ways and come to Him, He came to us first, with salvation, through His glorious Son Jesus Christ. 

And Jesus, in His turn, also offered us another Great Invitation, where He pleads with mankind: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (gentle and humble): and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt. 11:28-30) I don’t know how else Jesus could plead with us to come to Him nuh. And He did it all through His earthly ministry, but stubborn, unwise, mankind still refuses to believe Him and seek His comfort, peace and salvation that can be found in no one else in God’s great world. 

But that li’l matter of free will keeps cropping up and we keep using it to fulfill our own selfish desires for the things of the world, leaving our souls totally open to be ravaged, plundered and then cast off into the fires of hell by the enemy. That’s certainly not wisdom, especially in a time like this when the whole world is in a negative uproar, one filled with strife, poverty, sickness, natural disasters and inequality of enormous proportions.

 Oh, but we have free will, so we can do what we want. And what we want right now is to drive God out of our society. Hn! What a laugh! We are even more foolish than we seem, if we believe that God will ever allow Himself to be driven out of His own creation! But as Moses told the children of Israel a long time ago ‘I call heaven and earth to record (as witnesses) this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deut. 30:19) 

And just for your information my brethren, that declaration (oh yeah!!!) still stands to this day. So it’s up to you to choose spiritual life or death with your free will. But for those of us who have chosen life, the Lord has bestowed upon us a number of tools to do His awesome work. We call them our Thursday Blessings. So let’s declare them (wow! – that’s 5 times straight) so that they can be activated in our lives. 

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And now it’s our bounden duty to go out and put those tools to work in Christ’s name. Much LOVE!

…you reap what you sow…you can’t sow sin and expect to reap eternal life…for the wages of sin is death… 

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