Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 November 2020 Matthew 7:12.

28 Nov 2020 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Matthew 7:12.     ​Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophet.

Well finally some decent sunshine in my area! Brother! We haven’t really seen the sun in my neck of the woods this past week, just mere dark, cloudy, dreary, wet days, with the occasional ray of tarnished sunshine. Let’s hope this bright flood will last for at a least a couple of days, I’m tired with what they consider the English type weather. (smile) And yes, I know I have Jesus to warm me up and brighten my day, but that doesn’t mean some physical sunshine isn’t nice every once in a while too! 

So since it’s that lazy day called Saturday, let’s turn to the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a brighter tomorrow. And as the new style persists, they are all prefaced by: ‘Positive affirmation you should tell yourself to remind yourself just how awesome you are. I’m calm, happy, and content,’ but I will only reference it this one time. And a gentle reminder that all of that is only possible if you’re in cahoots with Jesus! (smile) And the first quote is an ever so important one: ‘I will not compare myself to strangers on the Internet.’ 

And do we ever need to stop doing that, because it is driving us crazy, especially when the images shown on social media are often outright lies and/or doctored images. We are allowing the practice of body shaming, amongst other negative habits, to destroy our self-esteem and make us dislike ourselves; the way we look, think and behave. That’s utterly foolish my brethren, for who says we need to look like or behave like others eh? If the Lord wanted us to be all alike, He would have made us so. But He wanted us all to be different, to be unique in our own selves, that’s why He created us like we are. 

So it’s a sin against Him, our trying to look like others, most of whom are fakers anyway. Right now, social media is the biggest expletive deleted satanic thing we have in our society. It’s being used for more negative stuff than positive. No wonder our society is in the disgusting state it’s in! Nuff said on that! 

Then there’s this quote that’s contrary to the first one: ‘I LOVE myself fully, including the way I look.’ Now that’s a li’l more like it! But we must also be on guard that we don’t over LOVE ourselves, or in a manner that’s more narcissistic than godly. It’s necessary that we like ourselves because we take ourselves with us wherever we go, and it’s not wise to have a constant travelling companion you don’t like. (smile) 

Remember the premium Jesus placed on true LOVE? He broke down all the commandments to just two: LOVE the Lord God, and LOVE your neighbour as yourself. (Matt. 22:37) That means respecting and caring for your neighbour as you respect and care for yourself. I guess it could be best described by what we call the Golden Rule, more sensitive and commanding words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount. ‘Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophet.’ (Matt. 7:12) 

Yes precious people, that ought to be the rule that we live by; do unto others as we want them to do unto us. But unfortunately that doesn’t hold true in today’s society, we practice the other side of the coin, doing to others what we don’t want them to do to us. Or as the ole people would say: ‘Do so ent like so!’ We obviously don’t like others throwing back to us what we first threw to them! Now why does that surprise us eh? 

That leads us to this next quote: ‘I am enough.’ Now that I believe is a rather disturbing thought and sentence. Why? Because in the first place we by ourselves are never enough! The saying that no man is an island is ever so true. We can’t stand alone and be as productive and useful as God desires of us. Remember why and what He said when He created Eve in the Garden of Eden? ‘And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him (a helper comparable to him).’ (Gen. 2:18) 

Then He formed Eve out of Adam’s rib. If He thought that man was sufficient alone, He would never have made woman to help him. So why do we think that we are sufficient unto ourselves eh? Remember Jesus’ words too about the vine and the branches: ‘…for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:5b) And that’s the gospel truth! And until we all understand that and act wisely upon it, we won’t ever amount to what we were made to amount to! Matter fix! 

And again we have another somewhat troubling quote: ‘I choose to be proud of myself and the things I choose to do.’ Now hopefully all those things are not within the ungodly realm of Satan, but within the godly realm of Jesus! If they are within Satan’s realm, then you should not be proud of them, for why should we ever be proud of evil doing eh? 

But if they are within the realm of Jesus, you can be proud of them, but not to the exclusion of the one who gave you the strength and grace to do them; meaning Christ, through whom we can do ALL things. And in our pride, please, let’s remember these notable words of Bruh Paul to the church at Rome. ‘For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.’ (Rom. 12:3) 

And the scholars offer this interesting explanation of that verse. ‘12:3. The righteousness of God will cause the believer to conduct himself in humility in the local church (vs. 3-8). Paul meets two dangers that the individual faced in the exercise of his spiritual gifts. He might overestimate himself and try to exercise a gift God never gave him. Or he might underestimate himself and fail to exercise the gift God has given to him. Paul shows that God has given each believer specific gifts to enable him to do what God wants him to do. No one is excluded.’ And that’s the indisputable truth! 

However, we must be careful to remember that it’s only through God’s underserved grace that we do all that we do, and not get too big for our britches, like our world has recently gotten, else the Lord will cut us down to size, just like He’s doing right now with all the strife and disasters and sickness He’s allowing in our oh so wonderful, but oh so sinful world! 

And the last quote says: ‘I let go of all that no longer serves me.’ And that’s what we all need to do! And I’ll give us just two scriptures on that subject. The first is this, more words of Bruh Paul to the church at Rome. ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ (Rom. 12:2) Yes friends, if we intend to live for Jesus, then we need to give up all that the world holds highly, and seek God’s righteousness first of all, by first transforming our minds, because that’s where all the major battles are fought. 

And lastly, let’s remember Bruh Paul’s words to the church at Philippi! ‘But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung (rubbish), that I may win Christ.’ (Phil. 3:7-8) Yeh friends, Bruh Paul gave up all his many educational and religious credentials to know Christ! He even considered them rubbish in the end. 

Now let’s remember that God prizes humility above pride, but we still need to have a delicate balance between both. So let’s go home with these words of Bruh Paul ringing in our hearts, minds, bodies and souls nuh. ‘I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 3:14) We couldn’t do any better. Much LOVE!

… a good and successful life…all hinges on…being in sync with Jesus… 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 September 2020 Romans 12:3.

16 Sep 2020 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Romans 12;3.     ​For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Yeh friends, it’s Wednesday once again…and getting over this hump is a crucial aspect of our work week. Once we do, we see it as a done deal rather than as a challenge that Monday, the start of the week, seems to throw out. But let’s remember that when Christ is sincerely in our lives, we are up to and ready for each and every challenge that the evil world sends our way, for He is our strength, and with Him running the show, we can do all things that need doing! Glory be my fellow saints in Christ! 

And I believe that this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin gives us a good idea of how to suit up ourselves for the challenges of life. It’s titled ‘Sane Estimate.’

Please pray with me: ‘Lord, help me to face with honesty And genuine appreciation The talents and abilities You have given As special gifts to me. Give me a sane estimate of myself. Neither exaggerated nor mud-crawling. Just sane, as Your Word admonishes. May I be joyfully satisfied With Your unique plan for me. When at times I’d secretly LOVE to ride On a colourful float Beautifully adorned Waving to cheering crowds Smile at me, Lord. With a twinkle in Your eye Remind me again That somebody has to build the float.’ 

Yeh friends, somebody has to build the float before we can ride on it in the parade waving to cheering, festive folks! And ofttimes that somebody has to be us. The Lord has made each of us in His own image, but with unique differences and talents which we need to be able to successfully complete the also unique plan He’s made for every one of His creation. 

And the Bible verse associated with that poem is also our Bit for today; the immortal words of Bruh Paul to the church at Rome: ‘For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly that he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.’ (Rom. 12:3) 

Oh my people, so many of us in this current world need to take that advice so badly because so many of us think much more highly of ourselves than we ought to! Boasting and self-aggrandization has unfortunately become a way of life in our modern society, and its evil tentacles even reach out and embrace supposed believers, who ought to know better. Sadly too, we also have the believer who behaves like a ‘mud-crawling’ animal, not thinking enough of him or herself, and thus wallowing in the mire of self-pity and not functioning the way Christ expects. 

But neither state is what the Lord planned nor desires of us. And I guess that’s why Bruh Paul wrote to the Galatians, re his meeting with the apostles in Rome. Some of them seemed to think little of Bruh Paul, neither did they impress him (Gal. 2:1-6)

‘But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually (worked effectively) in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty (worked effectively) in me toward the Gentiles. 

And when James, Cephas (Peter), and John, who seemed to be the pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen (Gentiles), and they unto the circumcision (Jews). Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward (eager) to do.’ (Gal. 2:7-10) 

Yuh see friends, especially in high circles, and the church is no exception, there is great susceptibility to think more highly of ourselves and not enough of others, which causes us to make a mess of God’s plans. But thankfully James and John and Peter, the stalwarts of the then church recognized Bruh Paul’s God-given grace to take the Word to the Gentiles, and only reminded him to remember the poor which is a vital part of Christ’s ministry, something that he was already eager to do.

The two groups of believers had been entrusted with the very same gospel, but to two different groups of people. So it really doesn’t matter to whom God’s grace leads us, once we recognize the leading and fervently obey it. As Bruh Paul later wrote to the church at Ephesus: ‘There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.’ (Eph. 4:4-7) 

Yes my brethren, the church is one body, speaking of Christian unity in the oneness of Holy Spirit, Father and Christ. It is the same ONE GODHEAD who gives to all of us, but who gives different gifts individually, to do the work He’s planned for each individual. So there is unity, as well as diversity in the church, because of the different gifts, but ALL of it is endowed with grace, spiritual energy from the One God so we can perform our God-given tasks successfully. 

And these wise words on the subject from Cousin Sol make a good going-home present (smile). ‘It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search (seek) their own glory is not glory.’ (Prov. 25:27) Then there’s this: ‘Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.’ (Prov. 27:2) And with those awesome words of wisdom throbbing vibrantly in our hearts, bodies and souls, let’s go home declaring (ah Lord eh) our Wednesday Wail, letting the world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus. 

Altogether now, in strong voice, with sincere hearts: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

Oh yes mih people, if we stick to Christ like white on rice, (smile) and endure to the end, then the future will indeed be unimaginably glorious! Much LOVE!

…God ALWAYS gives us the grace…the spiritual power…to do whatever He asks of us…