Proverbs 26:11. As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, it’s another beautiful day in the life! Wow! Praise the Lord! Yes, praise our wonderful God for it, because regardless of the suffering, the hardship, the heartache, the pain and illness we may be experiencing, we still know for sure that our God is good and fair and just, and He will not allow us to handle more than we can bear. And furthermore, whatever He brings us to, He’s faithfully promised to bring us through. And all God’s people declared a loud and joyful: ‘Glory Hallelujah! For the Lord He is indeed good to the undeserving children of men!’ Oh my brethren, that’s the basic beauty of the omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient Deity we serve and worship! And now, here’s one of those inspiring, positive, uplifting prayers from Dr. Robert H. Schuller’s Hour of Power Devotional, to get us started on the right foot for the day. It’s a prayer of joy, optimism and great expectations that today we’ll do well in the service of our Leader and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Pray with me: ‘Thank you, Father, for the beautiful surprises you are planning for me today. So often in my life, when it looked like the day would be dismal, depressing, and dark, an unexpected burst of golden sunshine exploded through a black cloud sending inspiring shafts of warm, beautiful sunshine into my life. Father, it is happening now! I can already feel the power of your LOVE, through Christ my Lord. Amen.’ Yuh know Friends, it truly amazes me, that I’ve been reading that Devotional for a few years now, but every time I come to one of those uplifting prayers that I share with you, it just seems like I’ve never see them before. It’s the same thing with the Good Book; every time you read it, you discover something new. That happened to me recently while reading Job. I discovered that his friends had actually come and sat down seven days and nights with him in the dust and ashes of his grief, without saying a word. It’s only after that, they began to rag on him about his supposed sins. (Job 2:13) That brings us to our Bit: ‘As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to (repeats) his folly.’ Ah Friends, that’s so true of so many of us today, it’s not funny! Just like a dog goes back and plays in its vomit, it seems very difficult for too many of us to learn from our mistakes, and thus we keep repeating the same ones over and over. As Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) likes to say, you can’t keep on doing the same thing and expect different results. Now listen to Peter, as he talks about false teachers and those who once knew God, but fell from grace and again became entangled in the shoddy, disgusting affairs of the world. ‘For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned (returns) to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.’ (2 Pet.2:21-22) Oh mih breddren, is that ever so true! I guess it’s where the saying, ‘you can take the mud from the pig, but you can’t take the pig from the mud,’ comes from. And we do it all the time. Jesus washes and cleanses us of our sins, but we then let the wily Lucifer tantalize us with his glitzy but empty and useless worldly things, and we fall right back into the mire of sin again. And a good example of that from way back when is Pharaoh, when Moses comes and asks him to let the Jewish people go, but Pharaoh refuses. It took something like (10) ten disasters upon his land and people, before Pharaoh agreed to set God’s people free. And my people, the worse thing that can happen to us when we’re undergoing tribulation or making serious mistakes is a break in the action, where we get a little relief from our misery. That unfortunately often gives us the wrong message, and causes us to continue our folly. That happened to Pharaoh after the plague of frogs, when Moses cried out to the Lord about it. (Ex.8:12-13) The Good Book declares: ‘But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite (relief), he hardened his heart, and hearkened not (did not listen) unto them; as the Lord had said.’ (Ex.8:15) Likewise do we my fellow believers, usually to our subsequent hurt. Pharaoh foolishly suffered through another five plagues after that, before he finally saw the light. And we’ll end with an interesting scripture from the hymn of praise in the day of salvation per Isaiah, re the foolishness of the wicked. ‘Let favour (grace) be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.’ (Is.26:10) Yes Friends, such is the deceitfulness and stupidity of the wicked, that even though Almighty God shows them favour, pours out His grace on them, they will not learn righteousness but continue their wicked ways. Please my people, let us not be numbered amongst that sorry, unfortunate lot. It’s a fool’s folly! And followers of Jesus are anything but fools; wisdom is our middle name. Much LOVE!…a wise man learns from his mistakes…but a fool continues in his foolish ways…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 February 2013 Proverbs 26:11
19 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: affairs of the world, beautiful day, christianity, cleansed of our sin, day of salvation, deceitfulness, dog's vomit, dr robert h schuller, fall from grace, false teachers, fool's folly, glory hallelujah, Jesus Christ, learn from mistakes, omnipotent god, Pharaoh, pig from the mud, plagues, power of LOVE, Praise the Lord, repeating mistakes, saviour jesus christ, Thank you Father, the way of righteousness, uplifting prayers, warm sunshine, wisdom
Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 February 2013 John 11:35
18 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: Advocate, enemy's taunts, evil, faith, glorious kingdom, god, incredible aura of LOVE, intercessor, Jesus laments, Jesus wept, jobs, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, outpouring of grief, rejuvenation of spirit, right on, sweet harmony, tears, TGIM, Thank God it's Monday, ungodly world, unison, wiles and lies
John 11:35. JESUS WEPT.
Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 February 2013 Jeremiah 5:25
15 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: be joyful always, blessings, curses, death, disobedience, divorce, eternal separation from God, famines, fellowship, fun, further God's kingdom, God's natural blessings, homelessness, iniquities, introspection, Jesus has defeated Lucifer, joy, Lent, magnanimity, mercy, negative stuff, pay a price, poverty, rebellion, refreshed soul, relaxation, removing God from society, rest, serve, sickness, sins, spend time with God, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the Lord is our strength, wages of sin, worship, wretched truth
Jeremiah 5:25. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday! And suddenly I’m inundated by silence? No ‘TGIF’s! No ‘Thank God is Friday!’ Why is that eh? Is it because it’s the first Friday in Lent that we’ve lost our enthusiasm for the weekend? That shouldn’t be so my Friends. We should be happy and rejoicing every Friday, whether it’s Lent or not. That’s because the rejoicing is for the end of the labouring week. We finally have time to rest and relax, and spend even more time with our heavenly Father, than we do during the work-week. And anytime we get the chance to spend more time with the Father, oh mih people, that’s a serious cause for rejoicing! So let’s not stop being joyful, whatever the circumstances, for remember the joy of the Lord is our strength, (Neh.8:10) and if we allow the ‘thiefing’ Lucifer to steal it from us, then half of our life is lost. Remember Lucifer can’t take it unless we allow him to. In fact he can take nothing whatsoever from us unless we let it go, for he has no power over us, since Jesus has already won the war and defeated death, the grave and hell, Lucifer’s domains. So having all of that in mind, let’s enthusiastically chant our Friday Chant to get us in the right frame of mind for this first weekend in Lent. Like one big choir now: ‘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 let’s keep that fire burning all weekend please Friends! Get introspective, but with a good demeanour, not the sour, draggy, despondent, woe is me attitude so many of us believe is called for during Lent. Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.’ Oh my people, my people, those words are even truer today than they were when Jeremiah spoke then about Judah. And why are the good things withholden from us? It says right there in the Good Book: ‘But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone (departed).’ (Jer.5:23) And isn’t that more wretched truth again! In the last generation we have removed God so far from our lives that a great portion of the society has no idea of whom He is or what He stands for. And the sad part is that despite all the turmoil in our lives, we insist on further removing God from the small space He now occupies, instead of running to Him with open arms and repenting of our folly. As the scholars’ say of Judah’s rebellion: ‘Theirs was a stubborn willfulness that could only be termed utter folly (v 21). Accordingly, their lives are marked by deceit. Therefore, they have deprived themselves of God’s natural blessings. (cf.Deut.28:15-68)’ And that chapter of Deuteronomy is where the first 14 verses deal with blessings, and the remaining 54 deal with the curses that will ensue for disobedience. Oh Friends, that should be a telling tale to us today, because foolishly and proudly we have also deprived ourselves of God’s natural blessings through our constant rebellion and disobedience. Listen to the basic blessings of which we have deprived ourselves: ‘Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season; he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’ (Jer.5:24) Please note the many horrible natural and man-made disasters that have been striking our tragic world in unusual numbers over the last few years. Also the widespread famine, poverty, homelessness and sickness that’s uncharacteristically overtaken our world at the very height of its powers. No other generation on the face of the earth has ever been as advanced as ours, yet our world is suffering in the same areas of our prowess, much more than some of the lesser advanced generations ever suffered. We just have to look at the enormous strides we’ve made in agriculture, wealth, construction and medicine, to shake our heads and sadly wonder why in all those areas we’re still suffering immensely, when there’s no real need for it. And why is that, you wonder my brethren? Jeremiah gives us some insight into the problems by telling us how Judah turned from the Lord. ‘They say, if a man put away (divorces) his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall (would) not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lain with (violated). In the ways thou hast sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s (harlot’s) forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.’ (Jer.3:1-3) Ah Friends, that should speak severely to our consciences, because we have behaved, and are still behaving just like Judah did. But please remember the disastrous punishment they received; their cities devastated, and their people taken away captive to other lands. The Lord might not use the same punishment for us, but we WILL be punished if we continue in our rebellion and disobedience! And if you look around, you’ll see a whole lot of unusual negative stuff already happening in our society. So please let’s start paying serious attention to what’s happening around us, for the Lord is no respecter of persons or societies, and if we’re continually disobedient we’ll eventually pay. But the good news though is that with our wonderful and magnanimous God, while there’s life, there’s always hope. And that hope can be found in Jeremiah 3:4. ‘Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth?’ Yes Friends, if we cry unto the Lord in sincere repentance and change our wicked ways, and once again begin worshipping and serving Him in word and deed, then He’s merciful and magnanimous enough to forgive us. It’s our ONLY HOPE my people. And it’s the wisest bit of wisdom we can ever attain in this evil, ungodly world. So let’s get to it nuh! Much LOVE!…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…otherwise he’ll surely suffer the wages of sin…death…eternal separation from Almighty God…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 February 2013 I Corinthians 13:1
14 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: 1 corinthians 13, Ash Wednesday, christianity, clanging cymbals, Corinth, fasting, joy, Lent, lenten introspection, LOVE is the greatest, LOVE Revolution, motives of our hearts, sounding brass, speaking in tongues, spiritual happiness, spirituality, the LOVE of God, the Way of LOVE, Valentine's day
1 Corinthians 13:1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not LOVE, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling (clanging) cymbal.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY
Oh Friends, what a juxtaposition! Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season, where Christians are expected to pray, meditate and fast, in an attempt at introspection and getting closer to God. Today though, it’s Valentine’s Day; a day of celebration of LOVE, all be it with an emphasis on the romantic kind. But I guess as B.J. Thomas says in his old song; ‘A little bit of LOVE, is better than NO LOVE at all.’ And believe me Friends, there’s nothing that our confused, misled, troubled and misguided world is crying out more for than REAL LOVE! It’s somewhat sad though that this day of LOVE, although not a Christian holy day, has been so badly commercialized, just like some of the Christian holy days; for example, Christmas and Easter. But I suppose in this world where commerce and money trumps everything else, that’s to be expected. And in a sense, it does help the economy, so let’s not lose our joy over it. For you know my people, joy, that spiritual happiness we acquire when Jesus comes into out lives, is supposed to be a constant in a believer’s every waking and sleeping moment. So although this season of Lent invites us to be more serious about God, contemplating all that Jesus suffered and sacrificed for us, it in no way ought to detract from our joy of being a believer, a child of God, blessed with salvation and eternal life. When Jesus was in the wilderness fasting, His demeanour was obviously subdued, but I’m sure He did not lose His joy in His heavenly Father’s LOVE. Most likely it’s that joy which kept Him going. And neither should we lose our joy Friends. Lent and Valentine’s day are not mutually exclusive, especially if we’re pouring out the true LOVE of God from our hearts to our LOVED ones. For as our Bit so rightly proclaims: ‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not LOVE, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling (clanging) cymbal.’ And that’s the gospel truth my brethren! If we don’t have true LOVE, regardless of all the other good things we might possess, we are just loud, useless mouthpieces. And here’s some info from the scholars on that verse. ‘Tongues of men and angels: Such was the association of tongues speaking in pagan worship at Corinth. When a priest or devotee spoke in tongues, it was considered that he spoke the language of the gods.’ Unfortunately today some of us still believe that. So please let’s not make the Lenten Season, a droll, sad, unhappy one. It should be serious but that doesn’t mean unhappy as so many of us tend to believe and behave. And please don’t fast just because the season calls for it, or because everybody’s doing it. The purpose of fasting is to help you empty your body and soul of worldly things, which helps make a better spiritual connection to God. But not all of us are good fasters. I for one am a poor faster. But then again we have to consider how long we’re going to fast for. There’s nothing that says it has to be all day or all night. So if you feel you should fast, just do whatever you’re comfortable with. Fast for as long as you can handle. The Lord will understand. And don’t get all religious and penitent and look miserable and let the whole world know that you’re fasting, like the ole hypocrites and them. But look bright and fresh and continue showing the joy of your spirit and excellence in your work, as Jesus did. And if you can’t fast, I guess you can give up something you cherish for Lent. But there again I find myself in a quandary, for the Lord has also cut me right back to the minimum of activities, so I don’t have anything to really give up. He’s gradually weaned me off horses, making music, and other kinds of writing, except the Bit. I guess then I’ll just have to pray and meditate more, and show more LOVE. (smile) Right now I’m supposed to be doing a 12-hour fast for some blood tests, which to me is a big problem, cause it makes my gas problem even worse than it is. And to add to my misery, the daylight lab hours don’t coincide with my night owl tendencies. Anyway, hopefully I’ll get around to it soon, and not do like I did before, postpone it for over six months. That’s one of the reasons why I never discovered my cancerous prostate sooner, for though I didn’t need to fast for that particular test, it was listed on the requisition to be done at the same time as those that needed fasting. But above all my people, please let’s remember that whatever we do, to do it unto God and not man, because He’s not so much interested in the outward manifestation of our conduct, but more in the secret motives hidden deep in our hearts. Anyway Friends, be it too commercialized or not, today is Valentine’s Day, so, even if we do nothing else, let’s go out and spread LOVE; the LOVE that God has for us, and the LOVE that we have for our friends, families and neighbours. There’s no doubting that LOVE makes the world go round. Wish we could have Valentine’s Day every day. (smile) And why not eh? As far as Jesus is concerned everyday is a LOVE day, therefore all our days should be ones of LOVE. Consequently, let’s work seriously towards that goal nuh people, since our world so badly needs a LOVE Revolution, and only we believers are in a position to get that revolt going. And the exercise for the day is to read the LOVE Chapter – The Way of LOVE – 1 Cor.13, from which our Bit is taken. Ponder all it says, then let’s try to bring our individual lives into concert with it over the Lenten season. What a fitting exercise my brethren, to purge ourselves of all our unloving ways and feelings. (smile) Much LOVE!…and now abideth faith, hope, LOVE…these three…but the greatest of these is LOVE… (1 Cor.13:13)
Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 February 2013 Luke 6:9
13 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: Christian walk, controversy, do evil, Easter, eternal life, fasting, glory hallelujah, introspection, judging by appearances, justice, lawful to heal, Lent, LOVE, meditation, peace, prayer, principles, resurrection, righteous judgement, Sabbath Day, Sabbath made for man, Sacrifical Lamb, salvation, stand up for right, time of reflection
Luke 6:9. Then Jesus said unto them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
Today’s Scrip-Bit 12 February 2013 Luke 6:9
12 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: afraid, belly and backbone, bounden duty, Carnival Tuesday, Christian walk, Christianity means action, Church of Christ, civic responsibility, evil doings, forgiveness, goodness of heart, help the needy, hypocrisy, Lord of the Sabbath, LOVE, mamby pamby, mercy, opposition, Pharisees, pretty costumes, Sabbath Day, soft, soldiers, spinless, stand up for right, time bomb, walk the talk
Luke 6:9. Then Jesus said unto them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
Aye Friends, getting old is a helluva thing yes! Yesterday morning after writing the Bit, out of the goodness of my heart, and my civic responsibility, (smile) I decided to at least clear the snow from my porch and the walkway. But would you believe that after about ten minutes out there, having only cleaned the porch and the steps leading down to the walkway, I began coughing? What really annoyed me is that I had been cough free for the previous two days. Well that coughing situation put paid to all my heartfelt goodness and civic responsibility, especially when the snow on the walkway was almost a foot high. If they wanted to charge or fine me for not clearing the walkway, then so be it, but I surely wasn’t going to continue doing anything that made me cough! What knocked me for a further six, was that later in the evening, after a short nap, I got up and felt this terrible pain in my right arm and shoulder. I had to laugh, because I had been fine all day. But them’s the breaks! (smile) Now that got me to thinking that if I was in T & T, taking in the wonderful sights and sounds of Carnival, I wouldn’t be having any stupid aches and pains and coughs. I wouldn’t be able to jump and prance, like I used to, but the old bones would have been warm, flexible and relaxed in the hot sun. Chuh! Anyway, today, Tuesday, is the day for the real Big Mas, where all the pretty costumes and their wearers come out to parade and play. Let’s hope and pray that everything goes off okay for all the pre-Lenten celebrations around the world, and no serious disasters or evil doings mar the festivities. And we’ll continue with our Bit from yesterday: ‘Then Jesus said unto them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?’ Ah Friends, what a potential time bomb of a question back in those overly strict and religious times! Now yesterday in the background leading up to the Bit, we saw where Jesus reminded the Pharisees of Bruh David and his men eating the holy bread in the temple meant only for the priests, when they were hungry and on the run from Saul. (1Sam.21:1-6) After that ‘He said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.’ (Luke 6:5) Obviously the Pharisees weren’t thrilled by that remark either, but they let it ride. Listen to the scholars comment on that verse. ‘Having already asserted His prerogative, like God Himself, to forgive sins (Luke 5:20), Jesus now assumes the right to interpret the Old Testament in a way far different from that of the religious leaders of His time.’ So true my people! And that’s the background to this later Sabbath when Jesus enters the synagogue and teaches, as He is won’t to. On this particular day though, a man with a withered right hand is present among the listeners, and as usual the hypocrite scribes and Pharisees are watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, to get something to accuse Him of. And though Jesus knew their thoughts, He nonetheless tells the man with the withered hand: ‘Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.’ (Luke 6:8) Now my brethren, you must admire Jesus’ for that; putting His belly and backbone into play, fully knowing the confusion His actions would cause. But knowing that He was in the right, He did what He had to do. Oh my fellow believers, how often do we stand up like Jesus for what is right eh, in spite of the opposition we know will come against us? I’m afraid I’ll have to say not too often, or rather not often enough, otherwise the church of Christ and His dictates wouldn’t be as maligned, unimportant and shunted aside as badly as it now is. Remember as followers of Christ we weren’t called to live an easy, problem free life, but to battle the evildoers and their actions, to be soldiers in this wicked, godless world. And soldiers only win battles when they stand strong in their convictions and fight with plenty belly and backbone for what they believe is right. And sadly my brethren, I believe that’s one area in which we’re falling down today. Christ’s followers have become soft and mamby pamby. We lead the good, relatively soft, easy life and don’t want to, or are afraid to put it in jeopardy by stirring up things, even when we see stuff happening that’s not right. Granted we all can’t be strong like Jesus, but if we’re truthful, we will all acknowledge that we can surely do better than we’re currently doing. So Friends, I’m asking us for the umpteenth time, if we really do LOVE Jesus and want to follow Him and make His church a worthwhile institution in this evil world, let’s pick up the slack in our Christian walk nuh. We need to be much better examples of His LOVE, mercy and forgiveness than we are. We need to bring the level of our actions up to the level of our talk, and even higher, because we can’t belabour people about Christ and His goodness when they are sick, hungry, naked and homeless. Remember Christianity is an action movement, and like Jesus we need to help the needy satisfy their physical wants and needs before we start preaching to them. You can see that’s how Jesus operated, and if we do likewise, we’ll certainly draw many more unbelievers to Him, which is one of our main purposes here on earth. And if some of us don’t want to hear that truth, then too bad yes! We’re no better than the hypocrite Pharisees! Sorry if I went off on a tangent there, but it aches my heart to see the way we supposed Christians, followers of Jesus Christ are behaving so spineless and afraid, so without true LOVE and compassion in a hurting world, where everybody’s looking, fearfully searching for something to hold on to, a something that can only be found in Jesus, a something that we have but are not sharing the way we should. Please Friends, let’s be serious about our bounden duty here on earth and fearlessly do it nuh, with the ever-faithful promises of Jesus and His certain assurance that we have to stand strong on. Only then can we consider ourselves true Christians, true followers of Jesus. Much LOVE!…to simply talk about Jesus…and not do the necessary actions…called for by that talk…is pure hypocrisy…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 11 February 2013 Luke 6:9
11 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: Bomb Competition, Carnival Monday, Drunk or sober mind yuh business, human-rights, humble servants, lasciviousness, Lucifer's wiles and lies, Mardi gras, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, Ole Mas, orleans mardi gras, snowstorms, spirituality, sure conquerors, taunts, the Sabbath, vibrant atmosphere
Luke 6:9. Then Jesus said unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
Well Friends, the big day, Monday is finally here – Carnival Monday to be exact! By the time you receive this, down in T&T, the impatient crowds will already have taken to the streets in droves, with sweet music for J’ Ouvert (the opening), with things like Ole Mas – raggedy, dirty costumes- and the steelbands beating in the Bomb Competition. To tell the truth, I don’t know if they still have the Bomb Competition, because the last Carnival I actually witnessed was thirty years ago. But I do remember standing on the corner of St. Vincent Street and Independence Square listening to Blue Diamonds coming down the road beating their Bomb Tune, Carol King’s old hit, ‘It’s Too Late.’ I guess Mas in T& T must have changed some, so that I wouldn’t recognize some aspects of it today. And though Rio and New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations might be bigger in terms of actual volume of people and size of the parades, there’s a feeling, an atmosphere, a tempo, a vibe, an aliveness in T &T Mas that just can’t be beaten. It is definitely the greatest party in the world! And for those of you will be involved in all the bacchanal over the next two days, please, please remember granny’s ever so important warning: ‘Drunk or sober, mind yuh business.’ And ah don’t care if yuh all tired hearing it, because it’s especially important at this time, for that’s when Jesus’ followers are usually at their lowest spiritual level, but Lucifer is at his brightest and best because there are so many easy marks to be had. And you women, please remember, as Shadow or Nelson said in a kaiso some years ago, that at Carnival time, when men drink and smoke, and with the lascivious feeling in the air, they don’t care who they latch on to, they’re even more animalistic than usual, and nine months later, is you to ketch (catch), and you don’t know is who. (smile) It sounds amusing, but many of you know from personal experience that it’s the living truth! Anyway, it’s Monday and most of us outside of those party hopping places still have to go out and labour for a living, and knowing that we can’t be in those places having fun, just brings down our spirits even further. That’s even truer for those of us in the northern climes who are digging ourselves out of the wicked snowstorms that so viciously assaulted us this past weekend. But with our great God still in control of His universe, and having promised to work everything out for good to those who LOVE and follow Him, we can only do our best, then faithfully leave the rest to Him. So let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with as much gusto as we can muster, and thus give our spirits the rise we need to go out and face the awful weather and evil, ungodly people out there in the evil, ungodly world. All together now: ‘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 hopefully that lifted our spirits enough to at least put a smile on our tired faces. But let’s turn to our Bit now. And you can see it’s a very interesting question Jesus asked of the Pharisees. ‘Then Jesus said unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?’ Unfortunately we won’t be able to get through it all today, but at least let’s get some background on the story. The Chapter begins: ‘And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he (Jesus) went through the corn (grain) fields, and his disciples plucked the ears of corn (heads of grain), and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?’ (Luke 6:1-2) Now according to the scholars, ‘Corn would be a cereal grain such as wheat. Ears were the heads of grain.’ Also, ‘The disciples’ action was not in itself illegal (Deut.23:25), but the oral tradition held that they were breaking the Sabbath.’ And for those of you too lazy to check Deut. 23:25, it basically says that when you pass through a neighbours corn field, you can pluck off some to eat, but you can’t use a sickle to cut it down. That alone shows how much they had varied from the scripture, which said nothing about desecrating the sabbath by plucking and eating some corn if you’re hungry. But Jesus refuted their arguments by telling them about when Bruh David was on the run and was hungry, how he went into the temple and took the show (hallowed, holy) bread which was meant for the priests alone, and divided it between His men and himself. (1 Sam.21:1-6) Thus He used the Old Testament itself, to show the hypocrite Pharisees how their man-made tradition was false. And we’ll end there for today Friends. By the way, those of you who live in my general area, please be careful on the roads this morning, cause freezing rain is coming down, and its resultant icy conditions will make the rush hour traffic very treacherous. So please, let’s take our time and be careful in all we do today, whether we’re partying or going to work, and walk safely with God. Much LOVE!…it’s always better to be safe…than sorry…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 February 2013 Ephesians 2:10
10 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: climate change, created in God's image, enduring truth, everlasting mercy, factual evidence, God's fold, God's workmanship, godly creation, good people, good works, morally re-created by Christ, pre ordained by god, reconciled to God, salvation, selfish reasons, spiritual birth, spiritual mould, The Lord's our creator, universal peace, vagaries of the weather, works of God's hands
Ephesians 2:10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ah Friends, the weather is bright and cold in my neck of the woods. The roads are fairly clean too, but the banks are overflowing with snow. However, what annoys and mystifies me about this weather is that tomorrow, Monday, we’re supposed to have rain and a high around 7 celsius, then Tuesday, it’s back to freezing temps again. No wonder people get so sick with this constantly varying temperature from one day to the next. And don’t tell me it doesn’t have anything to do with climate change, because in my forty odd years in Canada it’s never been as up and down as this. Yet there are numerous people out there, many for selfish reasons, who still doubt the factual evidence that the climate around the world is changing, has become unstable and unreliable. We won’t even worry to get into the whys’ of the situation, because everywhere people are experiencing unusual climatic conditions. But though the unseasonal vagaries of the weather may beset us in unfortunate ways, there’s one thing that will remain stable and unchangeable; that’s the godly creation created when Jesus comes into our lives, and how we’re expected to behave after that. Listen to our Bit: ‘For we are his workmanship (creation), created in Christ Jesus unto (for) good works, which God hath before ordained (prepared) that we should walk in them.’ Yes Friends, receiving Christ causes us to be placed in a special spiritual mould, whereby our lives are then channelled towards good deeds which the Lord had long ago prepared for us to do. Here’s the scholar’s interpretation of that verse. ‘For verifies the assertion of man’s good works having no part in obtaining salvation (that only comes by grace through faith, vs. 8). Workmanship refers not to our original or physical birth, but to our spiritual birth: what we are spiritually in the good sense is due to God, not ourselves. Created in Christ unto good works means “having been (morally) re-created by Christ Jesus for good works”; that is, Jesus remade our spiritual lives so that we could then do good works. The apostle’s thinking is this: since the Christian has been given spiritual life for the purpose of doing good works, there could have been no good works by him prior to conversion that would merit salvation. Good works follow – do not precede – salvation.’ What we have to realize Friends, is that though the Lord began with Israel as His chosen people, from day one His intention was to have all His creation eventually come under His protective wings, through the church of Christ, for we are all the works of His hands. If you read Isaiah 19, you’ll see that the Lord promises at some stage that Egypt, Assyria and Israel shall live in peace under His righteousness. The last two verses of the chapter declare it thus: ‘In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land; Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.’ (Is.19:24-25) This signals a time of peace amongst those constantly war-torn lands, though it might not happen until the second coming of Christ. But if the Lord promised it, then it WILL happen. Bruh David in Psalm 100 – A call to praise the Lord – reminds us of our roots. ‘Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.’ (Ps.100:3-5) And that’s the living truth Friends, so we had better pay attention and follow it! That means whether we’re good or evil, the same hands created us all, and wants us all to come to Him through salvation, by believing in His Son, Jesus Christ. I like how Hosea says it, re the restoration of Israel. ‘And I will sow her unto me (for myself) in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people; Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.’ (Hos.2:23) Yes Friends, the Lord is expecting all those whom He created in His own wonderful image, and who have turned away from Him, to return to Him, where they will find LOVE, mercy, peace and forgiveness. This is possible with no other supposed god, only the magnanimous and ever-LOVING God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So why don’t we make that most important and memorable decision today, to accept Christ as Lord and Saviour, so that we can be reconciled and most heartily welcomed back into God’s fold, where we can then do the good works that He’s prepared for us from time immemorial? It’s the only spiritual decision that makes sense in this evil, ungodly world in which we live, a world that’s crying out for all the good things of God, especially good people doing good deeds. Let’s step up to the pate today nuh my brethren and accept our God-given responsibilities. That’s what followers of Christ are expected to do. Much LOVE!…it’s impossible to truly LOVE Jesus…and not truly desire to do good deeds…in His name…
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