SCRIP-BITS

Hosea 4: 1-2.

Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

Does History repeat itself or what? The prophet Hosea penned those sad words hundreds of years before J.C was born. But just as they were true in Hosea and J.C’s time, they are oh so true today. We have become a Godless people. Everyday more of God’s profile is being erased or eradicated from our society. All the negative,’ un-God-like’ things mentioned by Hosea are rampant in our world. The saddest part though is that our children’s children are the ones who will bear the greatest burden from our descent into un-Godliness, because if we continue our quick, downward spiral, by the time they become adults there will be little, or no trace of God at all, left in the world. So if we want future generations to remember us kindly, we’ve got to change right now, turn back to God. For the children’s sake…Let’s teach them to pray. Much LOVE!

Psalm 32: 10 -11.

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall encompass him about. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart.

I couldn’t say it any better than David: Those who trust in the Lord shall be surrounded by mercy. And if such a powerful, merciful being is covering our back, then there is no need to fear.  Instead, if we live according to his will, there is cause for us to be glad in him…cause to rejoice and shout for joy. So, in unison, after three, let’s praise him and shout for joy people. One, two three… All praise and glory to you Father in heaven! We thank you for the bountiful mercy you bestow on us poor sinners! Amen! That was wonderful people. (Smile) There must be some levity to the celebrations. J.C was a happy, humorous man. Much LOVE!

Job 1: 20-22.

Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshipped. And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Whew! What a mentally and emotionally strong man Job must have been. To have lost most of his family, his possessions and be struck with sickness, and yet be able to rationalize that we came with nothing and will go with nothing, and that it’s the Lords prerogative to give and take, and also to prostrate himself in worship and not blame God for his misfortune. That is how we need to be. When things go wrong, instead of fuming and fretting and blaming everybody else but our selves, we should go to God with our problems. That’s what He’s there for; to comfort and succour us in time of need. So let’s stop trying to do everything our selves, because we can’t. Let’s let go and let God!

James 1: 6 & 8.

But let him ask in faith; nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Hn, hn! This God of ours is certainly something else yes. Since I’ve started doing this Scrip-Bit thing, today is the first day I couldn’t decide what to use. It’s either jumped out at me as soon as I opened the Bible, or I knew what I wanted to talk about from the beginning. However, today, I did not have anything in mind, and looking through the Bible did not help either. A few things stood out, but none really captured my imagination; nothing got the blood flowing. Finally, I just sighed and shook my head, contemplating my indecision…and Eureka! It hit me! Right away I knew He wanted me to highlight indecision, and I immediately remembered the line in James about a double-minded man being unstable. Another instance of His working in devious and mysterious ways. And the dysfunction of indecision is quite true. Whatever it is, to progress, we must make a decision, one way or another. And once we’ve made that decision, let’s stand by it in faith. I hope your decision today is for The Lord…to do his will and sing his praises. Amen!

Sorry about that people. You will get two Scrip-Bits today, but I sent the first one by mistake. That was only suppose to go to my cousin Frank. You’ve got to excuse the ole fella sometimes, cause his brain and computer skills don’t always go in sync. Anyway, here’s today’ bit.

Mark 9: 50.

Salt is good: but if the salt has lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it. Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.

We all know that without salt, many things taste bland and unappetizing, but once we sprinkle a bit of salt on them, a wonderful, ecstatic feeling just jumps into our taste buds. J.C was talking about people who had lost their excitement for living, without which they cannot inspire any one else. A lot of us today are like that; just plodding along. We’ve lost the salt, the spice, the fervour from our spirit. We need to regain that enthusiasm in our Christian walk. If we’re not enthusiastic about our Christian lifestyle, how can we expect others to embrace it eh? So let’s try and regain that fervour, let’s put a little salt in our soul, while maintaining a loving and peaceful relationship with each other. Till next time! Spice it up!

Daniel 10: 11-12.

And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling. Then he said unto me, Fear not Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

What a powerful message! It made Daniel tremble. Although Daniel was going through some tough times in Babylon, far away from home, recognized by a different name, surrounded by a foreign culture, he never forgot the God of his fathers. He still prayed consistently and tried to live right, and eventually his God answered him through the Angel. That’s how we should always operate: In times of trouble we should hold steadfast to the Rock. Even when it seems that all hope is lost, know for a definite fact that He’s hearing our prayers, and at the right time…like Daniel… He’ll reach out to us and say, "Beloved child… Fear not… Stand upright…I am here…I am always here…"  Much LOVE!

Isaiah 33: 15-16.

He that walketh righteously; and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions; that shaketh his hands from the holding of bribes; that stoppeth his ears from the hearing of blood; and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the mountains of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

That’s the Word from the Most High for today. Another occasion on which I just opened the Good Book and that passage immediately jumped out at me. And I guess we can all see its significance. It’s a crying shame that Isaiah said it so many years ago, J.C. reiterated hundreds of years later, and still today, two thousand years later, we are going through one of the most violent and oppressive times in the history of mankind. What’s so difficult for us to understand; that if we deal fairly with each other, He will look after all our needs and after receive us in glory? Much LOVE!

1 John 3: 17 – 18.

But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the LOVE of God in him? My little children, let us not LOVE in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and truth.

Sorry people, I really did not intend to continue the LOVE Theme today, but as we all know, he works in devious ways, and just as I was researching Today’s Bit, I happened to play a Beres Hammond CD, and the first words that shot out at me were, "What’s happening to the world today? It needs a LOVE Injection…" and the rest is history… I had no choice but to go back to 1 John, because that’s exactly what we need in our crazy, misguided, selfish, greedy, violence prone world of today…a LOVE INJECTION. So let’s inject, A VERY LARGE DOSE OF LOVE into our beautiful world, before we completely destroy it and us…God’s beautiful handiwork. As always…LOVE!

1 John 4: 20 – 21.

If a man say, I LOVE God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he LOVE God, whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him; That he who LOVETH God, LOVE his brother also.

O.k., ok. I know some of you are saying enough with this LOVE Theme, but it’s important that we get it right, and Today’s Bit is very apropos. We all talk about our LOVE for God, etc. etc. but then we go out and treat people with scant courtesy. Sometimes I think it is much easier to LOVE God, whom we have not seen – the mind can fantasize anything – than the brother we’ve seen, who uses and abuses us. That reality is often a bit hard to accept. But if we want to be his followers and do his will, we’ve got to LOVE our fellow man, not only in word, but also in deed. So, let’s be strong…let’s LOVE!

1 John 4: 18.

There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in LOVE.

Still with the LOVE Theme. See how wonderful LOVE is: If we live in LOVE, we’re not afraid, therefore our spirit is calm and relaxed, and we do the work God set for us with much greater efficiency. So…Let’s live in LOVE!