Today’s Scrip-Bit   7 June 2024 Revelation 22:12.

07 Jun 2024 Leave a comment

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

Revelation 22:12.        And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be.

And that distinctive weekly shout has gone out all around the world: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! Just let me at that weekend!’ Ah mih people, we do LOVE our weekends, because they belong to us, not to any employer, and we don’t have to get up early to go to work, nor face frustrating traffics jams to get there, then spend the whole day with people we don’t like, or who don’t like us, then face more irritating traffic jams to get back home, tired as a dog. No, the weekend is ours; sanctified as such. (smile) But we still have to get through Friday. No problem! Apparently since we have a free day to look forward to tomorrow. 

How wonderful it would be if we could look forward to Christ and His salvation the same way, meaning, we’d have no problem living fully for Him today! That’s a major problem though with believers; for with Christ we can only look to today, that makes it difficult to live sincerely and fully for Him. But just imagine the rewards and benefits we’ll be having in  heaven with Jesus nuh. Remember what He says in Revelation: ‘And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be.’ (Rev. 22:12) 

That means Jesus can come at any time, like the proverbial thief in the night, and when He comes He will be rewarding people for their work on His behalf. So, if we want to get good rewards, then our work must be good. It’s as simple as that! And there is talk of rewards for working on Jesus’ behalf all though God’s Word. Let’s check out a few, like this one from Isaiah, where centuries before he spoke about the Lord’s coming with rewards. 

‘Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand (in strength), and his arm shall rule for him: behold his reward is with him, and his work (wage) before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.’ (Is. 40:10-11) What a beautiful picture my brethren of Jesus’ coming and the work He will do. Doesn’t that just lift your spirits and increase your faith? It ought to, since it was prophesied long before the actual coming of Jesus. 

Now, here’s this scripture from Hebrews that speaks directly to our point.. ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him (God): for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb.11:6) Yes friends, it’s ever so necessary to believe that God exists and He rewards those who diligently seek Him. That’s from the famous chapter on faith, with people like Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph not knowing or seeing what lay ahead of them, but nonetheless placing their total trust and faith in the Lord God Almighty when He directed them to do things they knew not how to do, or to go places, not knowing exactly where they were going. 

And they were all greatly rewarded by Him for their diligence and faithfulness. The same thing applies to us today, as Jesus says in the gospel of Luke. ‘But LOVE your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again (in return); and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is merciful.’ (Luke 6:35-36) 

However, at this current time in the world’s existence, rather unfortunately, the words ‘mercy and merciful’ are not well known, nor are their fruit much extended like our heavenly Father desires. What a pity! For if they and their fruit were better known and extended, then there would not be as much strife, greed, hatred and selfishness as there currently is on God’s great earth! 

And James, Jesus’ brother, adds his two cents worth to the mix, when he writes in his epistle: ‘Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that LOVE him.’ (James 1:12) Ah my fellow saints, all throughout the Good Library, the Bible, the indisputable truth of God’s Word, are deeply embedded promises of rewards, righteousness and all kinds of other goodies for expending one’s time and talents on the Lord’s behalf. Let’s hope that with today’s revisiting of some of those scriptures that our hope and faith will be renewed and lead us to better fulfill God’s plan for our lives. 

Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, seeking divine aid to help in these desperate times of need. Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. 

And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

Lastly, let’s remember these very significant words from our prayer: ‘the example, we, your faithful believers set.’ And then go out and be very good examples, so others can see the benefits of believing in Jesus and follow our example. That’s the first step in receiving divine aid! Much LOVE!

…many more salty…light filled…true disciples of Christ…is what our world badly needs…RIGHT NOW…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 February 2015 Psalm 62:12

26 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 62:12.  Also unto thee O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest (rewardeth) to every man according to his work.

 Well… ‘The party’s over my Friends. It’s time to call it a day…’ Chuh! And as the old saying goes, ‘an end to all fine things must be.’Yeh mih people, the ole fella’s stay on Paradise ends today. How heartbreaking! (smile) But them’s the breaks! It’s time to go back and face the real world now, and leave this fairy tale world behind.

‘But I LOVE this fairy tale world,’ I protest. The Lord answers, ‘Yes I know that, but I have other things for you to do right now.’ And as an obedient child of the Father, I quietly acknowledge, ‘Yes Lord, I know, and I will submit to your will and go back and face the cold with faith and trust in your everlasting wisdom and heavenly guidance.’ What else can I say eh my brethren? Nothing really.

Now here is this timely quote from my One More Day Devotional, Daily Meditations for People with Chronic Illness. It is attributed to Eva Rose York (1858 –after 1935) Canadian composer, organist, teacher and editor. One of the first female composers in Canada.

Eva Rose writes: ‘I shall not pass this way again; Then let me now relieve some pain, remove some barrier from the road, or brighten someone’s heavy load.’

Very worthwhile words and sentiments my Friends and fellow believers in Jesus Christ! And that is exactly what we are all called to do; brighten someone’s day, and lighten their load if we can. If it’s only with a smile or a kind word.

And that quote segues very nicely right into our Bit from Psalm 62 – God only is my rock and my salvation, immortal words of praise and thanks from Bruh David to Almighty God. Let’s begin with the verse before our Bit, so that we can get a better idea of the context of the passage.

‘God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest (rewardeth) to every man according to his work.’

And that’s gospel truth my brethren! We are, and will be rewarded for whatever work we do down here on earth, be it good or bad. And though the Lord is indeed merciful, He will not allow us to get away with continual disobedience, punishment of some kind will be definitely in the offing.

Anyway, I don’t have much time to ramble on this morning, as I have to finish packing, so let’s get straight to some scriptures that uphold the truth of our Bit. (smile) And we’ll begin with the words of Jesus, as He foretells His passion to His disciples.

‘For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.’ (Matt.16:26-27) There you have it Friends, straight from Jesus’ mouth. So if He says so, who are we to doubt it eh?

Now listen to Bruh Paul as he admonishes the church at Rome, as he tells them that to judge others is to condemn oneself. ‘But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds;

To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious (self-seeking), and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile.’ (Rom.2:5-9)

Oh Friends, there it is again in black and white. We will reap what we sow, be greatly rewarded for our good deeds on God’s behalf, and suffer punishment for our unrighteousness. And here are some explanations on those verses from the scholars.

‘2:6. In this parenthetical discourse setting forth the controlling principle of God’s judgment, Paul explains how and why God will judge, and how He can judge both Jew and Gentile and be completely fair in the process. The controlling principle will be according to…deeds because deeds give incontrovertible proof of what is in the heart.’

‘2:7-10. For the regenerate the judgment will result in eternal life; for the unregenerate it will result in indignation and wrath. To the Jew first: Unbelieving Jews will have prominence in condemnation, believing Jews will have prominence in reward.’

And we’ll end with more words of Bruh Paul, this time from his first missive to the Corinthians, who were bickering about whom they should follow, Apollos or Bruh Paul and letting them know instead that Christians are co-labourers.

‘Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his labour. For we are labourers together with God (God’s fellow workers): ye are God’s husbandry (field), ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.’ (1 Cor.3:8-10)

Yes my people, we are all co-workers with God in His ministry of spreading the Word. We might plant and build, but let’s be very careful about why, what and where we plant and build, and above all remember that it is God who grants any increase that we might get. It is not simply of our doing. That is wisdom of the highest order.

So let’s go out today and plant and build in Jesus’ name with the excellence, truth and LOVING-kindness that He expects of His true followers. Much LOVE!

…to work for, and with Jesus…is man’s greatest privilege…and brings forth his greatest joy…