SCRIP-BITS

Oh Friends, on this fall Sunday morning, many of us are getting ready to go to church to fellowship with other believers, praising and worshipping our great God without any restrictions. Unfortunately though, a lot of other Christians in many parts of the world aren’t so lucky. They either have to hide to worship, or their places of worship are vengefully destroyed and their people persecuted. Right now in Egypt, a predominantly Muslim country, the Coptic Christians, who have lived there for some 2000 years, are feeling the sordid and sorrowful effects of religious persecution. Their churches are being burnt and their congregations flagrantly killed for no other reason than their religious beliefs. Please people, let’s cry out in fervent prayer to our most merciful and LOVING God on their behalf, and for all persecuted Christians around the world. We air our petty grievances to God without any problems, so it should be easy for us to advocate on their behalf to the ultimate advocate, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in whose name they are being persecuted. And our Bit very appropriately encompasses that situation. ‘Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.’ Yes Friends, we have to be watchful and prayerful at all times, not only for ourselves and our immediate others, but also for the millions of unfortunate believers around the globe who cannot worship in peace and freedom, who have to hide, be fearful, to give thanks to Almighty God. Yesterday we looked at the first part of our Bit; ‘Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.’  Today we’ll delve into the second half: ‘The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.’ That we all know Friends to be the living truth! The Spirit of God within us is ready, willing and able to do all we require, but the sinful, sensuous nature of our flesh is the weak link in the chain. Bruh Paul experienced it personally and explained it thus to the church at Rome. ‘Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would (want to do), I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that (which) I would (should) not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would (want to) do good, evil is present in me. For I delight in the law of God after (according to) the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am!’ (Rom.7:17-24) Yes my people, the sinful nature of our flesh automatically wars against the Spirit of God that’s trying to lead us along the path to righteousness. And it’s not an easy struggle. We have to seriously and persistently fight that good fight whereby the Spirit of Jesus works in us to help us overcome the bright and lustful temptation of the world that can so easily overtake us. Bruh Paul also dealt with it in his letter to the Galatians. ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law,’ (Gal.5:16-18) My fellow believers, right now the flesh is winning the war, as can clearly be seen by the evil, negative, fearful, ungodly direction and atmosphere that currently permeates our world. If we ever hope to turn that situation around, then we believers have to up the ante, have to increase and improve our spiritual walk. As soldiers in Jesus’ army, we definitely need to come up higher if we hope to proclaim His good name and His gospel all over the world, and further His righteous kingdom, as He greatly desires, and so commissioned us. We can’t allow the petty divisions and dissensions, envy and pride that are presently prevailing in Christ’s Church to bedevil us. For our sakes, so that we can keep our freedom to worship, and even more so for those believers being persecuted for their Christian beliefs, let’s pray fervently, and without ceasing, that the Lord will enable His mighty Spirit to work mighty works in us and help us to defeat our sinful flesh, so that we can walk in His awesome light. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen. Much LOVE mih people!…the potholes of temptation in our lives…can only be avoided and /or filled…by the Holy Spirit of Jesus…

Oh Friends, the Lord in His infinite wisdom and great mercy has seen it fit to bless us with another day of physical life on planet earth. All thanks and praise be to Him! Sometimes though, we wish that He would take us home asap because our days are often filled with much difficulty, plenty heartaches and overwhelming sorrows. But please remember that we are soldiers in His army, fighting to the death against the forces of evil and darkness, and to be good soldiers we must bear up under the pressure of the spiritual warfare in which we’re engaged. Good soldiers don’t moan and complain or run away. They stand strong and steadfast and fight against the enemy for what they believe in. Consequently, we need to be always on guard against the enemy and his wily, treacherous ambushes. However, because of our fallen nature, we seem to automatically lean more towards the sinful, ungodly things of the world, thus Jesus’ admonition in our Bit to His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, when they could not stay awake. ‘Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.’ And isn’t that the awesome truth my people, as each one of us can readily attest to! We can be easily led astray by the temptations of the evil one if we’re not careful, if we’re not on guard, as good soldiers ought to be. Now that wasn’t Jesus’ only warning to His disciples re praying and being on guard against temptation. Luke 18:1 says: ‘And he spake a parable to them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (lose heart).’ That was the parable of the persistent woman and the unjust judge. Then, after telling the disciples of the signs that would portend His Second Coming, (Luke 21:25-32) Jesus again pleaded with them: ‘And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged (weighed down) with surfeiting (carousing), and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.’ (Luke 21:34-35) Yes Friends, we need to be always on the lookout for temptation. And the best way to not succumb to it is through constant prayer. We’re never going to avoid temptation, for it’s one of the facts of this earthly life. But note how Jesus responded to Lucifer’s temptation in the wilderness; (Matt.4) by uttering words of faith. ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God… It is written again, Thou shall not tempt (test) the Lord thy God… Get thee hence (away with you) Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’ (Matt.4:4,7,10) And in the same manner should all believers be concentrating on the Word of God when Beelzebub comes a calling, so that we can find the necessary strength through fervent prayer to repel his obscene attacks. No wonder Bruh Paul talked so much about the need for the believer to pray. He was talking from personal experience. ‘Pray without ceasing’ (1 Thess.5:17) ‘I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men. For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty (reverence). For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour….I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubt.’ (1 Tim.2:1-3,8) Oh Friends, it’s imperative that we turn to constant prayer if we want to be able to withstand the attacks of the evil tempter, for only the Word of God has the power to repel Him. And we’re not talking about bowing and scraping and all the pretensions we put on when we seek to pray, but simply constant communication with the Father; always being focused on Him and His Word, talking to Him about everything in our lives, be they big or small, because He’s interested in all that happens to us. And if we keep repelling the evil one, then we’ll have the added benefit of making our world a better place, with less people falling prey to his evil machinations. What a blessed day that will be my brethren! However, since I don’t want Jesus’ strong, steadfast soldiers to complain that the Bit is too long (smile) I’ll end here. We’ll have more on the subject tomorrow if the Lord sees fit to bless us with another day of life down here on earth. Much LOVE!…only God’s power…through faith and His mighty words…can nullify Beelzebub’s strength…

 HAPPY  THANKSGIVING  DAY  CANADA!

Oh Friends, it’s Monday… ‘So what?’ is the grumpy reply I receive from my fellow Canadians. ‘Why yuh bothering us eh? We don’t have to go to work today. It’s a holiday – Thanksgiving Day…Praise the Lord! Glory Hallelujah!’ And they roll over and go back to sleep. Hn, hn, hn! Yes Friends, the partying will certainly be plentiful in ole Canada this weekend. But please, please remember to also give plenty thanks for the many blessings we have, and also to share generously of those blessings with the many less fortunate amongst us. Don’t forget the old people’s advice either: ‘Drunk or sober, mind yuh business.’ However, since the rest of the world has to get up and go to work today, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to brush the sleep from their eyes and help set their focus where it should be…on Almighty God. With raised voices, let’s call upon the Father in song: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ Now that should jump-start our cold engines and start our day right by focusing on our God, Creator, Provider and Protector – our Everything! We’ve also taken the psalmist’s wise advice stated in our Bit: ‘Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) unto him with psalms (songs).’ And why should we do that? ‘For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand (possession) are the deep places of the earth: the strength (height) of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.’ (Ps.95:3-5) Yes Friends, all those things are gospel truths, and on this Canadian Thanksgiving Day of 2011, it’s imperative that we sincerely search our hearts and souls, repent of any wrongdoing, then give much praise for the exceedingly good life we’re living in the northern climes, for very few of the world’s massive population live better than us. The problem though is that we’ve become so accustomed to the good life, that we now take it for granted. However my people, that’s definitely the wrong approach. To continue our prosperous lifestyle, we must be forever mindful of where all our blessings come from. Infinitely Everything is the ultimate source of all that we have and enjoy: from the breath of life in our physical bodies, the jobs we have, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the rooves over our heads, our parents, our friends, families and neighbours, the good health we enjoy, or the Health Care System that we can turn to when we’re sick, for free in most cases, our eyesight, our senses of hearing taste, touch and smell, the ability to LOVE, forgive and have mercy… Oh my brethren, we only enjoy all these good things through the grace of our merciful and magnanimous God. Sorry, I forgot to mention the two most important blessings that flow from the Lord; namely salvation and eternal life, through the shedding of His only Son Jesus’ precious blood, which paid for all our all sins, from the first to the last. For that Friends, we can never thank Him enough. So please, in the wisdom of the psalmist: ‘O Come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand (under his care).’ (Ps.95:6-7)  My people, that’s the height of thanks to which our finite minds are capable, so let’s promise ourselves to make it a daily habit, because our God truly deserves even more than that. It also pleases Him when we offer praise and worship, and He responds by raining down blessings on us. Now wouldn’t we truly be foolish if we allow such little things like praise and worship to come between us and our multitude of godly blessings? (smile)  Of course! So let’s be wise nuh. Much LOVE!…to be thankful for what we receive…to be generous with what we have…that’s the true meaning of thanksgiving…

Oh Friends, it seems like it’s going to be another warm, beautiful autumn day in my neck of the woods. Praise the Lord! And to honour the season of autumn, here’s a quote attributed to American naturalist and essayist, John Burroughs (1837-1921) It says: ‘How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and colour are their last days.’ And isn’t that the truth Friends! Leaves gradually lose their green, chlorophyll-generated colour as the tree roots find it ever more difficult to get food and water in the growing cold ground. The green fades until the leaves become red, gold, russet, brown or some such colour. And oftimes they look much more beautiful than when clothed in austere green. Then they die and fall gracefully to the earth. Oh my people, would that our human lives would pass so gracefully and beautifully into old age, then death! But instead, most of us get grumpy and miserable in our autumn years, possibly because of our many physical aches and pains, and/or because we fear the death that comes with the approach of our winter days. As believers though, we ought to be getting more mellow, thoughtful and quiet of spirit from having experienced and survived life’s ups and downs, plus being more mature in the Word of God and faith in Jesus Christ. At that advanced stage of maturity, we should be able to declare with supreme confidence, as the psalmist does in our Bit: ‘The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles (coastlands) be glad thereof.’  Yes Friends, the Lord God Jehovah does indeed reign over all the earth! He is far above all the other supposed Gods! There is none else like Him, therefore we, His amazing creation, should rejoice and be glad. Now hear the body of evidence on which the psalmist bases His awesome proclamation: ‘Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgement are the habitation (foundation) of his throne. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. The hills (mountains) melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory. Confounded be all they that (Let all be put to shame who) serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.’ (Ps.97:2-7) Ah mih people, what other deity can match the might and power, the omnipotence of the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob eh? NONE whatsoever! Thus we should be worshipping and praising Him much more than we do. Instead of bowing to man made idols and giving in to fleshly lusts so avidly promoted by Lucifer and his evil cronies, we ought to do as the psalmist advises: ‘Give (ascribe) unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear (tremble) before him, all the earth. Say among the heathen (nations, gentiles) that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be (is firmly) established that it shall not be moved (shaken): he shall judge the people righteously.’ (Ps.96:8-10) Oh my Friends, if we were ever to do that on the grand scale the Lord both desires and deserves, what a truly wonderful place our world would be, instead of the evil, ungodly earth we now inhabit. And here’s an insight into that problem from the booklet ‘Keys to Happiness’ that I mentioned yesterday. ‘If Christians would associate together, speaking to each other of the LOVE of God, and of the precious truths of redemption, their own hearts would be refreshed, and they would refresh one another. We may be daily learning more of our heavenly Father, gaining a fresh experience of His grace; then we shall desire to speak of His LOVE; and as we do this, our own hearts will be warmed and encouraged. If we thought and talked more of Jesus, and less of self, we should have far more of His presence. If we would but think of God as often as we have evidence of His care for us, we should keep Him ever in our thoughts, and should delight to talk of Him and to praise Him.’ And that’s the gospel truth my brethren. If believers would think and talk more about God and the things of heaven than the temporal, earthly, unimportant stuff we concern ourselves with, then we’d find ourselves in much greater and beneficial communion with our wonderful, LOVING, kind and generous Maker. Fellow believers, all I can say in closing, is ‘Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance (for the memory) of his holiness (His holy name). (Ps.97:12) That’s our bounden duty! Much LOVE!…LOVE the Lord…with all thy heart, mind, body and soul…that is the first commandment…

Oh Friends, we’re alive and kicking on what promises to be another beautiful autumn day. Wow! So let’s give our great God some thanks for that privilege and blessing nuh. It’s the least we can do to show our genuine appreciation. I’m currently reading a little booklet called the Keys to Happiness, written in the late 1800s, by whom it doesn’t say, but is it ever well written, with beautiful, somewhat old-fashioned language, but very insightful into the Word of God. I’ll have to start sharing some of those insights… Oh, here’s one right now dealing with prayer and thanks. ‘Let us not be always thinking of our wants, and never of the benefits we receive. We do not pray any too much, but we are too sparing of giving thanks. We are the constant recipients of God’s mercies, and yet how little gratitude we express, how little we praise Him for what He has done for us.’ Oh my people, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll readily admit that failing of not thanking God sufficiently for all that He’s done for us. But there’s no time like the present to make a change. So let’s faithfully promise ourselves to try and be much more thankful for the Lord’s blessings and mercies. And God’s biggest act of blessing and mercy is sending His only son Jesus to die for us on Calvary’s rugged cross, to wipe away our sins and reconcile us to Him. As the Keys to Happiness so poignantly declares: ‘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.’ Yes Friends, our God must really LOVE us plenty and hold us in extraordinarily high esteem to offer His Son’s life as a sacrifice for us undeserving sinners. For that we should be everlastingly grateful and should embrace Him with abundant joy and thanksgiving, boldly accepting Christ as our Lord and Saviour and steadfastly affirming His words in our Bit: ‘I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.’ We believers know that as an awesome, infallible truth, and yet we don’t take it to heart as seriously as we should. And the sad fact is that long before Jesus came, the Lord was offering free mercy to all. Hear Isaiah tell it: ‘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.’ (Is.55:1-3) What a wonderful and generous offer! And yet the majority of people refused to take Him up on it. Why eh? Are we so afraid of free stuff? I doubt it. We just don’t want to give up our freedom of choice and our sinful ways. But with the Lord as guide, our lives will be much better off than trying to be our own keeper. After Isaiah, Jesus came and made His proclamation. Sadly with the same result…a minority of takers. But Friends, this is the very basis, the very foundation of our eternal lives. There are only two options here yuh know; eternal death and darkness with Beelzebub, or eternal life and light with Jesus. What does the evil one promise eh? Nothing but death and damnation in the dark underworld of Hades. Now listen to Jesus’ promise. ‘Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on (strike) them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed (shepherd) them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears (every tear) from their eyes.’ (Rev.7:15-17) And all God’s people shouted in joyful gratitude: ‘All thanks and glory be to the Lamb that was slain for us! He is indeed worthy to be praised!’ Oh my brethren, our choice is as clear as day. Please, let’s grab it now, before it’s too late, then share it with others who have never heard the promises or refused to believe them before, because this is truly a life determining decision. We can’t afford to lose even one precious soul to Lucifer, for Jesus will be very displeased and disappointed in us. And we certainly don’t want to feel His displeasure. So let’s get moving nuh. Much LOVE!…as for me and mine…without hesitation…we will gladly accept the promises of Jesus…