a wave of the sea | SCRIP-BITS

1 John 2:15. LOVE not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man LOVE the world, the LOVE of the Father is not in him.

And it’s a cool, wet Tuesday morning in my area. Summer seems to have come in with a cool, wet mentality, for we haven’t had any real hot days as yet, and the rain’s been fairly plentiful.

Oh we had a doozy of a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, with all the glorious effects of Thor’s hammer and the beautiful strobe lights of his fellow god. (smile)

But would you believe that thereafter, it turned into a wonderful day of sunshine and warm weather. And then around four o’clock this morning the rains came cascading down again.

Oh the vagaries of the climate these days eh! Let’s hope that this doesn’t morph into a rather hot and dry summer as time goes by. But here is something that’s reminiscent of the weather, and also of too many of us supposed Christians.

When I read it I chuckled because a lot of us behave this way. It comes from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin and is simply titled ‘Divided Heart.’

Please pray with me. ‘Lord I am so often tormented By my lack of clear direction – So often disturbed By my divided heart. I am like a little child Who wants to rock her doll And jump rope at the same time. I want to obey You in part If I can choose the area of obedience.

I want to be real except at those moments When compromise is more appealing. I want to be half-motivated And half-satisfied with things as they are. I want to walk a straight path If now and then I can enjoy A few side trips into the far country.

I don’t want to be a miserable sinner But neither do I feel excited About being a saint. I want to be partly Yours And partly my own. But in the secret chamber Of my divided heart I am so often disquieted By the pointed question: “Why do you so foolishly Mix weeds with seeds?”

And that’s a question many of us need to ask ourselves my believing brethren, since we apparently haven’t really and truly surrendered our souls to Christ. We want to have one foot in the spiritual world and when it suits us, one in the carnal, fleshly universe.

But that’s not wise my people, and our God won’t put up with it. He wants ALL of us, or nothing at all. We can’t run to Him when we choose, and then run to Lucifer when it’s convenient for us.

In effect we still have too much of this evil world in us, as the Bible Promise associated with that poem and our Bit for today declares. ‘LOVE not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man LOVE the world, the LOVE of the Father is not in him.’

Yes, I know friends, that true Christianity is not an easy row to hoe, but if we truly surrender our all to Christ, He will, as He has promised, give us the wherewithal to hoe it.

Why do you think He put the third Member of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit to dwell in us eh? As we saw yesterday, it’s to lead and guide us along the straight and narrow path that leads to the Father.

But as we also saw yesterday, the Holy Spirit won’t invade our space unilaterally, He waits to be invited to sincerely lead and guide us. And right within our Bit, lies the crux of our problem: We still LOVE the fleshly, carnal things of the world too much.

And as the scholars explain: ‘2:15. LOVE not the world is a command implying that action now in progress must cease: “Stop LOVING the world!” There is, of course, one sense in which Christians should LOVE the world, since God Himself did and does (John 3:16).

But in the sense of pledging personal loyalty and devotion of one’s whole being and means, Christians are to “LOVE” God first and foremost (Deut. 6:5; Mark 12:30).’

And just to further bring home the point to us, we’ll quote the immortal words of Moses to the Israelites way back when. ‘’Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.’ (Deut.6:5)

Now that hasn’t changed at any time down through the ages my people. And when Jesus’ detractors facetiously asked Him what was the greatest commandment, He reiterated the awe inspiring words of Moses, as you can read in Mark 12:29-30.

So I don’t see how we expect the Lord to approve our fence-sitting, for that is being double-minded, and James warns us that ‘He that wavereth (is doubting) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (James 1:6-8)

Good Christians, we need to forsake the things of the world and cling to the things of God, if we truly want to see the abundant blessings of God in our lives. That’s all there is to it!

So let’s go home in truth and in spirit declaring our Tuesday Mantra. With one sincere voice now: ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’

And if that’s truly whom we are, then let’s go out and let the world know it nuh my brethren, as Jesus so dearly desires of us. Much LOVE!

…one simply cannot LOVE God and Lucifer…at the same time…that’s a true impossibility…

Proverbs 8:17. I LOVE them that LOVE me; and those that seek me early (diligently) shall find me.

Well friends, it’s that day we all clamour for; Friday, because it means the end of the workweek and the start of the weekend. And for those of us living in this beautiful country of Canada it was a short week because of our Thanksgiving celebrations.

But yuh know what, whether we work five, four, or even three days a week, we’ll still cry out on a Friday: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! No more slave driver looking over mih shoulder. I can do as I please. Eat and drink what I want, when I want.

Don’t have to ask permission to go to the loo, or have anybody looking to see how often I go and how long I stay, as though I’m some little short pants schoolboy. Chuh!

The weekend is MINE! Mine to do as I please! And the wicked and greedy slave master and them be damned! Thank God for Fridays and the weekend! Let’s go and party now!’

And believe me friends, in this modern day and age, sadly, there are still work places that will cause that kind of cry to be echoed by the employees. But that still doesn’t give us the right to just dissipate and waste the weekend in riotous, ungodly living.

We need balance in our lives if we are to live them successfully. And that’s what our Friday Chant seeks to help us do. So let’s chant it with sincerity and truth now nuh.

All together: ‘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.’

Ah mih people, that is a much better perspective, because if we keep on abusing the weekends, then have to go to work tired and grumpy, we’ll soon burn out and get sick and won’t be able to enjoy the weekends again. We’ll end up cutting off our nose to spite our face.

That’s what happens when we overdo anything. Anyway, all I can do is give advice, we all have to make our own decisions as to how we live our lives, and remember we each have to bear the consequences too.

And our Bit gives us some of the best advice possible in this fallen world. ‘I LOVE them that LOVE me; and those that seek me early (diligently) shall find me.’

Cousin Sol is here talking about seeking wisdom, and we’ve seen in the past couple days the earthly benefits of seeking her, and also how God used her from the very beginning to create the universe.

And we all know the scripture where James declares: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not (without reproach); and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (not doubting).

For he that wavereth (doubts) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (James 1:5-8)

Yes my fellow believers, it’s important that when we come to God we’re not doubting, or sitting on the fence, ‘for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb.11:6b)

Now here’s an interesting note from the scholars on verse 5 above, James’ declaration about going to God for wisdom. ‘1.5: This verse is not a blanket promise of wisdom for any situation. In the context of life’s trials, it probably speaks of a believer being granted (1) wisdom as to the reason for his trials and (2) wisdom to endure them.’

So I guess we can’t use this verse as the basis for general but rather particular wisdom. However, there’s also another side to wisdom; the wisdom of seeking Almighty God!

When Jesus promised His disciples the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, He told them in no uncertain words. ‘If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments… He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that LOVETH me: and he that LOVETH me shall be LOVED of my Father, and I will LOVE him, and will manifest, (reveal, show) myself to him.’ (John 14:15,21)

Yeh friends, it’s all about LOVE! And LOVE means being obedient and steadfast. Hear how John puts it in his first epistle.

‘And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the LOVE of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk, even as he walked.’(1 John 2:3-6) John spells it out loud and clear my people!

And the scholars offer these comments. ‘2:3. John writes so that his readers may not sin (v.1). Now he sets forth a characteristic of genuine knowledge of God: obedience to His commandments. This is a major teaching of Jesus.’

‘2:5. Perfected is in the perfect tense. John refers to the decisive and enduring effect of the indwelling LOVE of God. But the test of knowing God’s LOVE is keeping His Word.’

Therefore friends, it all comes down to one word ‘OBEDIENCE!’ We can talk all we want about LOVING God, etc. etc, but it means absolutely nothing, unless we are walking in obedience to His commandments.

So let’s seriously ponder all we’ve said today nuh, let’s search our hearts and see if we are truly walking in obedience to God’s Word. Obviously we won’t be perfect, but we can know if we’re on the right track. And if we’re not, then we certainly can ask the Lord for the strength and wisdom to get on the right track. Much LOVE!

…to be Christ-like…obedient as He was…should be each believer’s sincere goal…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 October 2016 Proverbs 8:17.

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