Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 July 2016 Ecclesiastes 6:1

16 Jul 2016 Leave a comment

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

Ecclesiastes 6:1.   There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men.

Oh friends and fellow believers, today is a great day to be alive! And why is that you ask? Because today is not like any other day. It’s filled with wonderful promises and beautiful things to look forward to, like no work, since it’s Saturday… 

And I hear some of you ‘steupsing’ and grumbling in the background, for although there is no outside work to go to, there is a lot of stuff to be done around the house; stuff to clean up from the past week and more to get ready for next week. 

But that doesn’t mean we have to be sour and miserable. Just being alive is a great joy in itself, especially in our privileged circumstances. 

I wonder how we’d react if we didn’t have any money, a roof over our heads, food on our table, a job to go to and no decent clothes to wear? And believe me, there a great many people in our universe, and right in our own backyards too, who are undergoing such desperate and unfortunate circumstances. 

So please don’t bitch and complain because you have some cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping to do. Just stop for a moment and consider what your life would have been like if the good Lord in His mercy and LOVING-kindness had not smiled down on you with abundance and prosperity eh.   Selah. 

Now give Him some thanks and praise for your well-being and promise not to complain again – well at least not for today. (smile) 

And here are a couple of quotes from our friend Anselm, who always aspires to inspire us. They hit the nail on the head re the worldly lifestyle that’s so prevalent today.  The first quote is called ‘In The Mirror.’ And it tells us that: ‘Someone will always be prettier. Someone will always be smarter. Someone’s house will be bigger. Someone will drive a better car. Someone’s children will do better in school.’ 

And the sad part is that we know all of that, we know it’s gospel truth, but yet we still allow the flimsy, insubstantial and ungodly behaviour of the world to corrupt our hearts, souls, bodies and minds with its proud and lustful foolishness – the keeping up with Joneses nonsense!  

And hear the other hit the nail right on the head, rather appropriate quote from our friend Anselm. ‘Cherish…the virtues you possess. At the end of the day, there will always be trickery and dishonesty. But if you are standing on higher ground, and you believe in honesty and integrity, and all that is good, trying at all times to do your best and nothing less, you will surely reap the rewards of virtuous living.’ 

Oh my people that is Christianity 101! We ought to know that backwards and forwards! That’s why Jesus left His comfortable abode in heaven and came down here to earth and sacrificed His sinless life for us – so that we could be empowered to lead virtuous lives and reap its wonderful rewards – salvation and eternal life! 

But because of our inherent sinful nature, and the bright beckoning lights of the world, we continue to allow its worthless things and ways to hold too much sway over us. Please remember that all that glitters is not gold, especially in this fraudulent and deceptive world! 

That brings us to our Bit. ‘There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men.’ More truth friends on the vanity of riches, this time from Cousin Sol, in his capacity as the Preacher! 

And he continues in the next verse. ‘A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth (lacks) nothing for his soul (himself) of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity (futility),  and it is an evil disease (affliction).’ (Eccl.6:2) 

Yes friends, you can be rich as Cousin Sol himself and not be able to enjoy those riches. As the scholars declare: ‘6:1-2. Prosperity is not necessarily good. Accumulation of wealth does not always result in the use of it.’ 

And just look at how many wealthy people have departed this life without being able to enjoy their wealth nuh, while others, even strangers, who hadn’t laboured for it joyfully partake of it. Not only that, but the sad and sorrowful litigation that takes place when a wealthy person dies is so shameful, that it just sullies the name and reputation of the deceased. 

And look no further than the recent death of Prince in his wealthy prime, who left no will, and now so many people are coming out of the woodwork claiming to be entitled to some of the spoil. In the long run, perfect strangers, the lawyers might just end up getting the most of it. 

It’s a good thing that I don’t have anything for anybody to fight over – at least not yet, but it is possible, since my best days are still ahead of me. (smile) And as I’ve always told my children, the day I see them living like cat and dog, I’m going to come back and haunt them. 

Now listen to the Preacher again. ‘There is a sore (severe) evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners to their hurt. But those riches perish by evil travail (misfortune): and he that begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. 

As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a sore (severe) evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? 

All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness. Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely (fitting) for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun (in which he toils) all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion (heritage).’ (Eccl.5:13-18) 

And the scholars tell us this re those verses. ‘5:13-17. Wealth is easily lost and is therefore an unsure foundation for life.’ ‘5:18-20. Enjoyment is a gift of God, and man should be motivated by the brevity of his own life to experience it.’ 

Ah friends, Cousin Sol was the richest man in the world, and if he could declare that riches wasn’t the end all and be all, then who are we to say him nay eh? So please, let’s not run down riches, but if it does come, let’s enjoy it, though with a modicum of circumspection, for that’s wisdom at its heavenly best! Much LOVE!

…the only sure bet in this world is…JESUS CHRIST…

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 August 2014 John 15:5

27 Aug 2014 Leave a comment

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

John 15:5.    I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
 
Aye Friends, is mid-week Wednesday! That means we’re halfway through the workweek. Only a couple more days to go before some freedom time…

And all God’s people prayerfully declared: ‘Glory Hallelujah! Thank You Saviour Jesus! Thank You for all you’ve done, all you’re presently doing, and all that you’ve promised to do in the future! Right now we need some more of your LOVE, mercy, saving grace and strength to keep persevering and walking worthy of You.
 
Please enable us to be worthy ambassadors of your kingdom as we face the evil world that surrounds us. Help us to be in it, but not of it, as You desire. This we pray in Your glorious name! Amen.‘
 
Now here is what we can do to help ourselves. Here is a prayer for success from Dr. Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power Devotional. I believe I’ve shared it already, but that was probably a year ago, and no prayer is ever too trite or unimportant not to be prayed again. And I believe we need this one right now.
 
Please pray with me: ‘As I become a success with your help, Lord, let me never forget that what I am is more important than what I do. Faith stimulates success. Hope sustains success. LOVE sanctifies success. So I cannot and I dare not succeed without your power, peace and pressure in my life, Jesus Christ. Amen.’
 
Yes Friends, in a nutshell, we need all those things to be successful, but remember the Number One ingredient for true success, is the warm and LOVING presence of Jesus in our hearts, souls, bodies and minds.
 
Regardless of what the world advocates, without Jesus as our guiding light and His Word our principal guidebook, we’ll never obtain true success.
 
That’s why Jesus drilled it into the disciples’ heads: ‘Now ye are clean through (because of) the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
 
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:3-5) 
 
And that’s the gospel, gospel truth my people! Without Jesus in our lives, we can’t do much at all. That’s why it’s so necessary to stay close to Him, to consult with Him through the Holy Spirit that indwells us, as to how to go forward successfully with the divine plan He has for each of our lives.
 
And we’re not talking about success as the world sees it, with the physical accumulation of wealth, power and celebrity status, but as Jesus sees it, with righteousness, LOVE, mercy and forgiveness, because that’s the only real, true and lasting success there is; everything else fades away eventually.
 
Bruh Paul describes our helplessness thus to the Corinthians. ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God.’ (2 Cor.3:5)
 
And no truer word has ever been spoken my brethren! That’s the gospel truth in another nutshell! (smile)
 
And Jesus went on to warn: ‘If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto (for) you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.’ (John 15:6-8)
 
And we all know that the fruit Jesus is talking about here, is what Bruh Paul so vividly describes to the Galatians: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith (faithfulness), Meekness, temperance (self-control); against such there is no law.’ (Gal.5:22-23)
 
And we shall end with some wise and choice words from Hosea when he entreats Israel to return to the Lord, as we very much need to return to Him today, in these sad, strife-filled, ungodly times.
 
Thus says the Lord: ‘I will heal their backsliding, I will LOVE them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots in Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
 
They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine, the scent (remembrance) thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir (cypress) tree. From (In) me is thy fruit found.
 
Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall (stumble) there in.’ (Hos.14:4-9)
 
Yes Friends, the only way to bear good fruit is to have Jesus as our riding partner, have Him riding shotgun for us, as they did on the stagecoaches in the days of the wild, wild West, where a man with a big shotgun rode upfront, beside the driver as protection from marauders.
 
In fact, life today certainly resembles the days of the Wild West, where law and order was very difficult to keep, where everybody taught it right to do their own thing.
 
So my people, let’s get out there and show them what true believers are really like nuh, by living with Jesus in our hearts, and showing by example, the fruit of the Spirit that we’re successfully bearing. That’s wisdom of the highest order! Much LOVE!
 
…to dress for success…you must have Jesus residing in you… 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 December 2012 Ecclesiastes 5:13

06 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ecclesiastes 5:13.     There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
 
Oh Friends, I thought I was improving on all fronts yes, but was I ever wrong, for yesterday I suddenly developed some pains in my left side. I believe they come from strained muscles, caused by lifting up our heavy suitcases several times on Monday, no doubt in the wrong manner, in the rush to get about. Then my ole back began to act up too. They have me walking like a true old man, with mincing steps and halting gait. (smile) The strange thing though is that this all happened almost two days after the travel, with no prior warning. But you know what Friends, I have the ‘rightest’ antidote for all those aches and pains right here, and I’m going to share it with you. It’s taken from the Hour of Power Devotional by Robert H Schuller, and titled, ‘A Prayer of Hope.’ Please pray it with me, because we all need that wonderful energizing emotion called HOPE. ‘I have a strong, serene feeling that God is planning something good for me today. I cannot explain it, but I have a deep feeling that wonderful things are in store for me. I am expecting God to surprise me with His tender mercy. He will turn my hurts into halos. He is guiding my life in such a way that whatever happens to me will prove to be a beautiful blessing. Thank you, Lord. Amen.’ Now doesn’t that make us feel better? It sure does, even by just lightening our emotional load a tad. That brings us to our Bit, taken from a passage called the vanity of life. ‘There is a sore (severe) evil which I have seen under the sun, namely riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.’ Oh my people, those are indeed wise and truthful words from Cousin Sol! And he continues to warn us thus: ‘But those riches perish by evil travail (misfortune): and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a sore (severe) evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.’ (Eccl.5:14-17) Oh my brethren, we all know that we brought nothing in to this world and will take nothing with us when we leave, yet we continuously create this great desire to accumulate earthly wealth, too often just for the sake of accumulating wealth. But as the scholars wisely note: ‘Wealth is easily lost and is therefore an unsure foundation for life.’ How true that is fellow believers! And Cousin Sol wisely continues his warnings in the next chapter, the vanity of riches. ‘There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth (lacks) nothing for his soul (himself) of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity (futility), and it is an evil disease (affliction).’ (Eccl.6:1-2) That’s a situation we see everyday Friends, yet we still hunger and thirst to achieve those earthly showpieces of wealth. We even go to terrible lengths; kill, deceive, suppress and oppress to achieve them. All to what purpose eh? For as the scholars again so wisely point out: ‘Prosperity is not necessarily good. Accumulation of wealth does not always result in the use of it.’ Instead my people, we should be hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, because that’s where true satisfaction, salvation and eternal life lies. Listen to Cousin Sol again: ‘If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good (satisfied with good things), and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth (a stillborn child) is better than he. For he cometh in with vanity (futility), and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.’ (Eccl.6:3-4) Ah mih breddren, if we do no good in this world, with or without riches, then our lives are wasted. An untimely birth is better than an unsatisfied life. So are we going to take these lessons to heart, and stop running down material wealth, earthly power and influence? I certainly hope so. And just as a gentle reminder, I’ll leave us with the wise words of Bruh Paul on the subject, written long after Cousin Sol’s warnings, but just as powerful and appropriate, especially in this crazy, troubled, evil and misguided world. ‘For the LOVE of money is the root of (all kinds of) evil; which while some coveted after, have erred from the faith (for which some in their greediness have strayed from the faith), and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’ (1 Tim.6:10) Undeniable words of truth and wisdom my Friends! So please pay attention, and today let’s turn our hearts and minds to considering how our personal attitude to the accumulation of earthly wealth fits in with God’s Word. And then, let’s truly try to make it fit better nuh, for from such things are wisdom and understanding acquired. Much LOVE!…at birth, we brought nothing…at death, we’ll carry nothing…so why the unwise desire for endless accumulation during life eh…