SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 84:11.    For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
 
Oh Friends, our earthly pilgrimage continues, and with God’s generous help and abundant grace, we will do an awesome job! And all God’s people declared with much gratitude and adoration: ‘Thank you Lord! You are the greatest! There’s none other like you! Never was, and never will be!’ And that’s an indisputable fact Friends. Today, I’ll start with two quotes from the little booklet ‘Happiness For Life,’ because I think they are very important for all believers – young, old and in-between – to always keep before them. Here’s the first one: ‘Never should the Bible be studied without prayer. Before opening its pages we should ask for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and it will be given.’ Now that’s something we all should practice! It’s a very healthy and wise bit of advice, because oftimes the Word is out of our league, above our comprehension, and it’s only God, through His Spirit who can help us understand it. And the second point is tied into the first. ‘The Holy Sprit exalts and glorifies the Saviour. It is His office to present Christ, the purity of His righteousness, and the great salvation that we have through Him. Jesus says, ‘He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.’ (John 16:14) The Spirit of truth is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. How must God esteem the human race, since He gave His Son to die for them, and appoints His Spirit to be man’s teacher and continual guide!’ There we have it my brethren; two everlasting truths for us to ponder! Isn’t it marvellous that God not only LOVED us so much that He sent His only son to die for us, but then He also sent His Spirit to guide and teach us about Him? He surely is a most wonderful Deity. That’s why the psalmist could proudly and confidently proclaim the words of our Bit: ‘For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.’ Now let’s consider the fact that the Lord’s our shield. And what’s a shield? It’s basically anything that we can hide behind, anything that can protect us from being seen or hurt by something or someone else. In olden times a soldier went out to fight with sword in one hand and shield in the other. Nowadays though we’ve become so high tech that actual shields are extinct, replaced with stuff like body armour for individuals and anti ballistic missiles for weapons of mass destruction. How sad. However, in the spiritual warfare in which believers are engaged, we still need a personal shield  in our accoutrements of war. As Bruh Paul declares, re putting on the whole armour of God: ‘Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked (one).’ (Eph.6:16) Yes Friends, we desperately need that shield of faith so that we can enjoy the massive protection it provides. But where does that faith come from to protect us. Obviously from the Lord God Jehovah! The Lord Himself promised it to Abram. ‘After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.’ (Gen.15:1) Moses also describes our God thus, on blessing the Israelites before his death. ‘Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency (majesty)!’ (Deut.33:29) And later on, the psalmist warns his people not to trust in idols, but instead wisely advises: ‘O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.’ (Ps.115:9-11) Yes Friends, our great God is not only our Creator and Provider, Anchor and Guide, but also our Protector, our Safe Harbour, our Shield against the enemy! It is to Him we should always turn FIRST, when we need help, because He’s the most mighty Being in the universe. So please, let’s do that starting today, RIGHT NOW. Let’s give all our fears, worries and anxieties to Jehovah God, and He will both fill our souls with His protective Spirit, and shield us from the enemy’s blazing arrows with His broad, expansive wings of LOVE! More on this tomorrow if our pilgrimage continues. Much LOVE!…faith in God…is the spiritual shield…that keeps us safe…in our spiritual battles…
 

Psalm 84:11.    For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk upright.
 
Oh Friends, it’s another day in the life of our earthly pilgrimage! We don’t know how it will turn out, but with our strong faith in Jesus Christ, we expect it to be wonderful. And if it happens not to be so, then again, through strong faith in Christ, we know that He will eventually make all things good for those who LOVE Him and are called to do His work. Now touching on that sore point of doing Christ’s work – and it is a sore one for many Christians who like to call His name but don’t actually want to do the work Christ did, in terms of humility and having a servant-like attitude, of foregoing their selfish pride for the good of others – here’s a passage from a little booklet, ‘Happiness for Life, I was just reading, which speaks to the problem. I wasn’t planning on sharing it, but at the last minute, the Holy Spirit guided, nudged me to do so. And it says: ‘If the followers of Christ were awake to duty, there would be thousands where there is one today proclaiming the gospel in heathen lands. And all who could not personally engage in the work, would yet sustain it with their means, their sympathy, and their prayers. And there would be far more earnest labour for souls in Christian countries.’ And isn’t that the unvarnished and awful truth! If believers would truly act like believers, Christ’s Church would be much bigger, friendlier and less divisive, while our world would not be full of so much fear, confusion and evil. That’s our wake up call for today Friends, especially if we want to embrace the goodness of God that our Bit proclaims. ‘For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.’ And we all know that to be gospel mih breddren! Now let’s continue where we left of yesterday, looking at the ramifications of our God being ‘a sun.’ I still have some scripture to share on that because I didn’t want to get too long and involved yesterday. See how I’m taking your interest to heart Friends! (smile) Anyway, here’s the first scripture, taken from Malachi, re the coming day of the Lord. ‘But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall (grow fat like stall fed calves). And ye shall tread down (trample) the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.’ (Mal.4:2-3) What a powerful, energizing and faithful promise people! It’s so sad that more of us bent for hell sinners don’t accept, believe and live as though the awesome promises of God were true. Now here’s the clincher, from John, when he beheld the New Jerusalem. ‘And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten (illuminate) it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.’ (Rev.21:22-25) Oh Friends, there’s no more to say! For as the old people would rightly point out, ‘a word to the wise is sufficient.’ So let’s digest today’s lesson, then act positively on it nuh. In accordance with our beliefs, I implore each of us to try and take even one small step for God today my people. Much LOVE!…the Sun won’t have cause to shine…when the SON truly shines…  P.S. It’s so short today that I’m scared I left out something, but I guess that’s the Spirit’s wisdom working in me. (smile) Much LOVE!

Psalm 84:11.    For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Ezekiel 36:26.    A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26.    A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

Psalm 71:1.    In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.
 
Oh Friends, it’s Friday, and I can hear your enthusiasm ringing out with lots of ‘TGIFs!’ and ‘Thank God is Fridays!’ but my spirit is not as enthusiastic because I’m praying that the rain will hold of so I can get some work done on my leaking basement today. I sure don’t want to have to baby-sit it all weekend. Anyhow, we all need to get our minds and souls in the proper perspective for the weekend, so let’s chant our Friday Chant, which will enable us to do that. As one, in a confident voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ And here’s our Bit, the first verse of a prayer for help in old age. ‘In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion (shame). Now that, in conjunction with our Friday Chant, ought to put us on the right road today; have us walking, talking and behaving as Jesus desires. The ole fella who penned the psalm was obviously surrounded by enemies, (vs.9-10) but he was confident that the Lord would look after him in the rough times that seemed ahead. And where did this assurance come from? ‘For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth. By thee have I been holden up from the womb (upheld from birth): thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels (womb): my praise shall be continually of thee.’ (Ps.71:5-6) Yes mih people, the old guy’s trusted the Lord from his youth, so he knows whereof he speaks. Some of us old fogeys have also trusted the Lord from young, while others didn’t get so trusting till later in life. But whatever time one begins to seriously trust in the Lord God Jehovah, it’s the right time, though the earlier in life the better it is. And when we talk of trust in the Lord, there’s none better than Bruh David, who portrayed it throughout his entire life. Listen to him on the subject in Psalm 25, a prayer for guidance and protection: ‘O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait (in faith) on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress (deal treacherously) without cause.’ (Ps.25:2-3) Oh my brethren, in any relationship whatsoever, trust is a necessary ingredient for it to grow and prosper. That goes even more for our relationship with God, because unless we fully trust Him, fully surrender our very lives and souls to Him, we’ll never have the right relationship that He desires, and that will benefit us the most. Hear Bruh David again proclaiming God’s trustworthiness: ‘This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles…O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.’ (Ps.34:6,8) And Bruh David is speaking from personal experience people, so we ought to pay close attention to his words. My Friends, talk is cheap, and we all talk a good talk, but it’s only when the heifer dust hits the fan that we can truly see whether we’re walking our talk or not, re total trust in and surrender to Almighty God. We can fool each other, and even ourselves, with our talk, but not God, for He knows exactly who’s serious about trusting Him, and not merely making a mockery of His Word. So if we truly believe that the Lord’s our Creator, Protector and Provider, in fact our Everything, why then are we so reluctant to lay our lives out before Him eh? The answer’s simple Friends: we don’t truly trust Him as much as we say or think, the lust of the flesh and the desire to go our own way, to make our own decisions are still strong within us. But thankfully we’re still alive today, so we still have some time to rectify the situation. So let’s hunker down nuh, let’s seriously search our hearts and souls for any reluctance that resides there to totally trust Him, then let’s prayerfully acknowledge it, and gratefully let it all hang out before Him. That’s wisdom and trust at its best. Much LOVE!…trust is a two way street…that must be acted upon…not merely spoken…
 

Matthew 5:16.    Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16.    Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
 
Oh Friends, it ‘s a brand new day, with brand new mercies and blessings as so faithfully promised by our Lord and God! Wow! What a champion He is! Consequently, I sure hope that we all gave Him much thanks and praise for so graciously blessing us to see it. Today I want to share some words of St.Therese, Saint of the Little Flower and Champion of the Small Way, words that interact nicely with our Bit, but first listen to this authoritative statement of Jesus as expressed in the Bit. ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ Now that’s an order that all believers should take very seriously and diligently try to put into action, because that’s how the Word is best spread, and unbelievers brought to Christ. However, in reality, not all of us can be big, shining lights on the world stage. We all can’t be brilliant spotlights, some of us have to be satisfied and contented with being just glowing nightlights since that’s the purpose for which we were created. The important thing is that we shine to the fullest whatever light we possess. And that’s where St. Therese words come into play, assuring us that we can all work diligently for Christ, even in small ways. We don’t necessarily have to shine big and bright to make a useful contribution, just give all we’ve got. Listen to how she says it: I have always longed to be a saint, but when I compare myself with the saints, I was conscious of the same difference that exists between a high mountain and a grain of sand. Instead of feeling discouraged, I would say to myself: God would never inspire me with an ideal that cannot be attained, so that I can still aspire to sanctity although I am so small and weak. I cannot become great; I must put up with myself as I am, with my innumerable imperfections, but I will try to find a new way to heaven quite short and direct. We live in an age of inventions; in the houses of the rich you go up in a lift, instead of climbing the stairs. As I am too small to climb the arduous ladder of perfection, I also must find a lift to carry me up to God. I turned to the Scriptures to find some clue and came upon these words of eternal Wisdom: “Whomsoever is a little one, let him come to me!” …Your arms, O Jesus, are the lift which will carry me up to heaven.’ What inspiring and encouraging words! And yuh know what, she became great for doing the little things she could in Jesus’ name, although she was sickly and full of self-doubt, and died at a young age, early twenties, of tuberculosis.  But the certainty that Jesus LOVED her and would carry her up to heaven in His LOVING arms buoyed and boosted her to do what little she could. Yes Friends, even the smallest and lowliest among us has an assigned path to tread, a worthwhile job to do in Jesus’ name. So please, DON’T ever think that because you and your deeds seem small and insignificant in the great world order of things, that you’re insignificant in the sight of Almighty God. That’s just not true, for the Father of All Creation dearly LOVES everything and person He’s ever made. Remember we all can’t be superstars – sorry – stars, because there’s only ONE SUPERSTAR, and that’s Jesus, but we can all play a useful role in furthering His kingdom. Remember too that stars can only be stars when they have a solid team of workers behind them. Likewise, in the building and furtherance of Jesus’ kingdom, some of us will have to be mere grunts, mere workers, but still absolutely necessary in the building process. Note, it’s the builder and the architect of the beautiful building who receive the outward praise, but it’s the ordinary men, with and without specialized knowledge and skills, with strong and dirty hands that do the actual building, and without them it’s impossible to construct the beautiful building. In the same way, it’s impossible to build God’s kingdom without all kinds of people. As Bruh Paul so wisely puts it: ‘For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office (function): So we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another.’ (Rom.12:4-5) Yes my people, as they say; ‘all for one and one for all,’ that’s how it is, rather supposed to be in Christ’s Church. Please let’s try to make it so nuh, and cut out all the petty divisions, dissension and jealousies that currently pervade, plague and prevent the successful building of Christ’s body, His Church, here on earth. More on this tomorrow, provided the Lord sees it fit to bless us with another day. Till then, please, please, WALK, TALK, LIVE and LOVE good, in Jesus’ name. Amen! Much LOVE!…even the smallest grain of sand…has an important part to play in God’s great universe…  P.S. I forgot to reiterate St.Therese’s most powerful statement, that God will never inspire us with an ideal, an idea, a heart’s desire that we cannot attain. Please believe that my people, because it’s the gospel truth. Whatever He inspires us to do, He will help us to achieve. Much LOVE!
 

Matthew 5:16.     Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.
 
Oh Friends, the real fall weather is finally hitting the northern climes. Now wet and windy weather seems more the norm than the exception. However, God’s people are of hardy, never say die stock, so we’ll handle whatever comes against us without going under. We might bend, but we’ll NEVER break, once the enabling Spirit of Jesus lives and reigns within us. Please remember that all you fellow believers: there’s no quitting in Jesus! It might take some time though for us to adjust to and believe this truth, but as we mature in Christ, that challenge will eventually take root and begin to bear good fruit. It’s all a matter of seriously and diligently putting our heads, hearts and hands to the plough and never looking back. Now here’s a quote from Swedish Diplomat and former Secretary General of the U.N. Dag Hammarskjold, which sort of sums up the Christian maturity problem. ‘Maturity: among other things – not to hide one’s strength out of fear and consequently live below one’s best.’ Unfortunately though, that’s something a lot of strong Christians do. We obviously should not boast or take too much pride in our strength, but like Jesus so confidently said of us: ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle (lamp), and put it under a bushel (basket), but on a candlestick (lamp stand); and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.’ (Matt.5:14-15) And that’s what we’re supposed to be Friends; a city that’s set on a hill with its lights shining brightly to all the world! Thus Jesus’ admonition in our Bit: ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ That brings me to another inappropriate behaviour we Christians tend to exhibit; that’s trying to devalue the favour God has blessed us with, playing down our rightful blessings too much, so that we should appear humble and poor in other men’s eyes. But Friends, God never meant His people to be poor and destitute, that’s why He shows each of us special favour sometimes. We don’t have to boast about it, or behave as though it’s our own accomplishment, but we need to let others know with humble pride what God has done for us, that He’s purposely blessed us for a good reason. I heard my Bubba, Joel Osteen, talk about this the other day. We don’t have to make excuses for whatever God has seen it fit to bless us with. He’s done that so we can be proud of walking in His Will, that we can glorify Him, so that others can see and believe that He’s a keeper of his Word, and if they truly live for Him, He will also bless them in special ways, ways that other’s won’t be. As Bubba said, ‘favour is not always fair.’ So if God favours us with special blessings, we ought to be proud, but not prideful and arrogant, and use those blessings to help others and show His wonderful nature. However, many of us believers sadly seem to think that we should hide our God-given light and blessings under a basket, but that’s definitely not so my people. We obviously should not strut around like better than thou peacocks, but we must take pride in our Christian heritage and show it to the world in a manner that will make their mouths water for the good thing we have. We shouldn’t be afraid of what others say about out beliefs and bury our heads in the sand, like ostriches, but proudly hold them up to Jesus’ shining light for all the world to see. Remember our purpose; to spread the gospel to the whole world. (Matt.28:19) And who would want to participate in a broken down, ‘poor me one’ movement eh? Nobody! But as I said before, this appreciation, strength and confidence to bare our light to the evil, disbelieving world only comes with time, patience and study of God’s Word. And this is not hear say Friends, but personal experience. A few years ago, though I was a believer, and had decent enough faith, I was definitely not as mature, proud and confident in Jesus as I am now. Even five years ago, when the Lord first proffered the idea of the Bit, I laughed and told Him I was not capable of doing it. But He was adamant about my doing it, and I eventually put my faith and trust in Him. And here I am now, bold and beautiful in the faith, though still with a long way to go. That’s because God helped and nurtured me every step along the way, as He promised. Oh Friends, that’s the wonderful kind of God we serve and worship; an extraordinary Being, who’s main property is genuine and unconditional LOVE for all His creation! And it’s that same property of LOVE that moved Jesus to sacrifice His life for us, and which He wants us to show and tell to the rest of the world, so that His glorious kingdom could be furthered and the Father’s greatest desire fulfilled; not to lose even one of His most precious children to the evil Beelzebub. So let’s get serious nuh Friends, let’s fully accept the goodness and LOVE of our God, buckle down and spend serious time in His Word, then go out and proudly let the world know what He’s done, doing, and will do for us. That’s how we’ll fulfill our great commission. Oh my people, I hope it all makes sense, because when the Spirit gets my adrenalin flowing, I tend to natter on. (smile) And just in case it doesn’t, I know that as you all are filled with Jesus’ Spirit, you can all pick sense from nonsense. (smile) Much LOVE!…it’s high time believers step up to the plate…and truly LOVE our God…LIVE our Faith…and SPREAD His Word…

Habakkuk 3:18.  Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.