Today’s Scrip-Bit 20 December 2014 Hebrews 4:12

Hebrews 4:12.  For the Word of God is quick (living, alive), and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of (able to judge) the thoughts and intents (intentions) of the heart.

Aye mih breddren in Christ! Warm greetings to all and sundry this glorious Saturday morning before Christmas, before the birth of our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! 
 
Yeh Friends, it’s just another five days before the most celebrated birth in all of human kind! I hope you all are excited and enthused about the occasion, because if that miraculous incarnate birth had not taken place, then there’d be no cross, no atonement for sins, no reconciliation with God, nor the saving grace of salvation and eternal life.
 
So let’s give our most magnificent and magnanimous God a great big shout of thanks and praise for sending His only Son Jesus Christ to be our sacrificial Lamb, and consequently, our Leader, our Lord and Saviour, our Prince of Peace and our Immanuel!
 
And all God’s people declared a grateful, enthusiastic and resounding chorus of: ‘Thank You Father God! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! Thank You ever so much for Jesus, and all that He stands for! Help us to remember and greatly appreciate the reason for the season of Christmas; the birth of Your only Son!
 
And please keep on granting us your blessed mercy and grace each and every day, so that we can keep on honouring Your Holy Name and glorifying You to all the ends of the earth! This we pray in Jesus’ name! Glory Hallelujah to the newborn King, the newborn Son of God! Amen!’
 
Oh mih people, I don’t know if you all realize how heartwarming and gratifying writing those simple words of thanks and praise to Almighty God can be nuh! True joy, LOVE and reverence reverberate in my heart and soul like a plucked stringed instrument, because I know that our great God delights in our praise and worship!
 
There’s nothing that warms the cockles of His heart like our sincere and delightful acknowledgement of His awesome power, His majestic presence and His most endearing personality!
 
Consequently, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to share this beautiful and most appropriate poem from the One Year Book of Bible Promises called ‘The Book of All Books.’
 
Please pray it with me now: ‘Lord, I am overwhelmed As I read Your living Word. What power, what pungency I find within its pages. It stirs me, burns within me It challenges me, invigorates me And often disturbs me. When I obey its commands The results are what You claim: Darkness becomes light Crooked places become straight
 
The more I seek, the more I find. Within its pages, God I see beyond mere philosophy I see beyond a neat package of ethics. I crash head-on with a living Person The One who makes all things new. No other book can claim as much.’
 
Wow mih people! Wow! That’s all I can say to such resounding truth! There’s definitely NO ONE like our magnificent, magnanimous and merciful God! We don’t even have the words in our vocabulary to do justice to His description. And in truth, how could there ever be another One, another Deity of such magnitude eh? Now that might just be the only impossible feat in all the world!
 
And the promise on which that poem was based is also our Bit for today. ‘For the Word of God is quick (living, alive), and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of (able to judge) the thoughts and intents (intentions) of the heart.
 
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in (hidden from) his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do (must give account).’ (Heb.4:12-13)
 
Yes Friends, Bruh Paul is making some mighty statements there! And I believe that the Book of Hebrews had to be written by Bruh Paul, or someone eerily similar to him, for there are two many of his trademarks therein. But that’s another sermon for another day. (smile)
 
Right now, let’s address ourselves to some explanations. And the scholars offer us a lot. ‘4:12-13. For the word of God: The reason given for one’s careful scrutiny of his life involves the reality that God is intently scrutinizing it. His word is quick (living).
 
This word is first in the Greek and is the emphasis. God’s Word is not old or archaic; it is alive. It is not inept or inactive; it is powerful (active). It reaches into the inner secrets of man’s mind to discern even his thoughts and intents. Likewise, God’s eye sees man as though he were naked, unable to hide behind excuse or pretense.’
 
Then, re the Immaterial Part of Man, they offer: ‘4:12. The writer here draws an interesting parallel between the joints and the marrow, which have different functions, yet both are part of a human’s bone structure. Thoughts and intents are also two distinct activities, yet both are activities of the mind.
 
And while the soul and spirit are distinct in function, both have an immaterial character. When considering the nature of humanity, we must realize a person is a two-part being, that is, with body and soul. But in activity or function the body, soul, and spirit of a person each has a different function.
 
Paul desired that his converts’ “whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess.5:23). (First Reference, Gen.2:7; Primary Reference, 1 Thess.5:23;cf, Prov.4:23).’
 
Oh my brethren, please let all of that percolate in our souls, bodies and minds today and thus bring us to a better understanding of God’s Word. Please let it encourage us, build our faith and raise our level of maturity in Christ. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
 
And please excuse the lateness of the Bit, the ole fella was tired and somewhat under the weather, so I decided to sleep in some this morning. But as they say; better late than never. (smile) Much LOVE my beloved brethren in Christ Jesus!
 
…until you truly know and adore Jesus…your joy and peace will be severely limited…

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 12 February 2014 Psalm 57:5

Psalm 57:5.   Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
 
And the extremely cold weather rolls on my Friends! Thankfully though, without any further precipitation, for there’s nowhere left to pile it. It’s already piled high everywhere since the last snowfall.
 
But these constant daytime temps of minus double digits are a bit much. We can understand it at nights, but for heaven’s sake, in the daytime we need a break Lord! Hopefully the Lord will hear my plea and answer with some reprieve from this unusually cold weather.
 
Anyway Friends, I got up sort of early this morning, but just could not get out of bed, so the Bit will be a tad late, not as late as yesterday though. (smile) You all have to feel the ole fella’s pain and give him a bligh, a break.
 
As this quote, attributed to one of our many David Thomas’ so eloquently states: ‘Unselfish and noble actions are the most radiant pages in the biography of souls.’ 
 
Oh yes my people, that is the gospel truth! It’s exactly what Jesus did when He unselfishly and very nobly gave His sinless life as a sacrifice, as propitiation for our disgusting sins. And that’s exactly how He wants all His followers to behave; noble and unselfish.
 
It’s not always easy to do, but with Jesus’ help we can certainly do more than we’re currently doing. And here’s and easy one to begin your day right; forgive the ole fella for his human frailties. (smile)
 
However, we also have a wonderful Bit – sorry, all of them are wonderful! ‘Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.’
 
Oh my brethren, those heartfelt words come from Bruh David’s Michtam (Contemplation) while hiding in a cave in the wilderness from his arch-enemy Saul. And I guess he had lots of time for contemplation.
 
Psalm 57 is a prayer for deliverance. And please note my fellow believers, as always, Bruh David begins his prayers with acknowledgement of God’s power, His goodness and mercy and his own trust and confidence in the Almighty.
 
‘Be merciful unto me O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast (passed by). I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up (snaps at or hounds me). Selah.  God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.’ (Ps.57:1-3)
 
Oh my people, is that the way we begin our prayers, by acknowledging the power and majesty of our heavenly Father, by remembering the good things He’s done for us in the past and letting them strengthen our faith and trust that He will continue to look after us in the future?
 
Well if we don’t, then we ought to. That shows God that we are truly trusting, we’re not shallow and only interested in our personal well-being, we know and appreciate His awesome power and capabilities. 
 
And just as a living example, how would you feel if one of your children, or anybody you cherish continually came asking for help without some admission of your previous assistance and goodness to them eh? 
 
Would you be pleased if they just jumped right in and said they wanted this and needed that? I doubt it. The same way our heavenly Father needs to see that we’re not just selfishly using him for our base purposes.
 
And although Bruh David is in serious danger, it’s only after he acknowledges the God of his forefathers, that he states his predicament in the verse before our Bit: ‘My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.’  (Ps.57:4)
 
Then he proclaims our Bit: ‘Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.’ 
 
Yuh see Friends, even though Bruh David’s life is on the line, he’s between a rock and a hard place, he still trusts and exalts the name of the God of his fathers.
 
Chuh! I was just further delayed for almost ten minutes by my security company wanting to update some stuff, then needing to shut down and restart the computer so that the updates could take effect. These things always seem to happen at such inopportune times, but that’s the nature of the beast.
 
Anyhow, like we trust our security companies to get it right with our computers, do we trust and exalt our great God when difficulties and hard times come against us, like Bruh David did?
 
We ought to, because He’s the ONLY ONE who can truly bring us out of our troubles, unscathed, the way we like to come out of them, like He did Daniel in the lion’s den, (Dan.6:14-28) and his buddies in the furnace of blazing fire. (Dan.3:8-30)
 
But we must remember that that’s not always possible, for some of these trials and tribulations are tests to see if we can hold up under the strain of life, if our maturity is such that we’re ready for another level of promotion.
 
But if we are bruised and battered, please remember that our God is also the greatest Comforter and Healer there is, ever was, and ever will be. And He WILL NEVER leave us to suffer unnecessarily.
 
And with those words of awesome wisdom, (smile) we’ll end today’s message. Much LOVE!
 
…the God of heaven and earth…our Creator and Provider…is our end all and be all…we need no one else but Him…