Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 June 2021 Jeremiah 13:15.

28 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

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

Jeremiah 13:15.     ​Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.

So our favourite day, Monday, has rolled around once again. Some people seem to think that the days are passing very slowly, but friends, I beg to differ. In my opinion, they are passing rather quickly, and consequently I’m not doing as much as I want to – although I did improve some last week. (smile) Look, the year didn’t too long begin, and we are already at the end of June, despite the pandemic and all the other controversy that’s been recently plaguing our world. And before we even turn around, it’s going to be Christmas and New Year’s again! (smile) 

But as they say, time waits on no one. So, if you don’t want to get up and do your thing, make hay while the sun shines, then too bad for you. And I think that is a message the Lord is sending to us in these last days. It is a message which He sent to the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the days of the prophet Jeremiah. 

‘Thus saith the Lord, After this manner will I mar (ruin) the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination (stubbornness) of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle (sash) which is good for nothing. 

For as the girdle (sash) cleaveth to loins (clings to the waist) of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto (cling to) me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name (renown), and for praise, and for a glory, but they would not hear.’ (Jer. 13:9-11) 

Yes friends, back then, though the Lord had told Judah and Jerusalem to cling to Him, to be His people, so that He could raise them up with glory and renown, they blatantly ignored Him and did their own thing, being totally disobedient and ungodly, thus the Lord’s warning that if they didn’t humble themselves and turn back to Him, He would cut them down to size. Remember pride is one of the things that our God detests, since it means we have little or no need for Him. 

As Jeremiah declares later on in the chapter: ‘Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for the light, he turn it into shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive.’ (Jer. 13:15-17) Now that’s a strong warning my brethren! 

And the scholars explain those verses thus: ‘13:15-17. A third illustration ( the first was the marred girdle, and the second filled bottles of wine that were smashed together), concerns a weary traveller in danger of being overtaken by the falling darkness of night. Such was Judah. It must renounce all pride and give God His rightful glory before the final darkness of national catastrophe engulfs it.’ And if you remember rightly, Judah didn’t comply with the warning and were eventually transported away as captives to Babylon. 

Now I beg to put forward the argument that we have also become very prideful, disobedient and ungodly during the last few generations, to the point where we have very little respect for Almighty God and are doing our best to eradicate him from our society. And what’s happened to us during the last fifteen months eh? Doesn’t it seem like what we’ve been going through during that period closely resembles that example of a weary traveller being caught up in the darkness of night? It certainly does. 

Just look at all the ‘sufferation’ we’ve endured, and are still enduring. And we didn’t merely have the shadow of death, but the real thing that took away millions of lives! Then look at our lack of knowledge re the Covid -19 virus and all its variants that’s still plaguing us. Look at the controversy about the value of the vaccine and all the other disinformation that’s flourished on the subject. And fifteen months later we’re really not much further ahead, because of some people’s refusal to comply with the few variables we believe can stop the flow of the virus. 

And in all of this, has our society ever turned to the Creator of the universe and tried to invoke His help? A comparative handful of believers. But the majority of the world has ignored God and continued being dependent on the efforts of mortal and frail mankind. Now, I don’t know if this is the Lord’s way of punishing us for our disgusting pride, disobedience and ungodliness, but I do know that wisdom dictates that we turn to Him in times of trouble, especially if we can’t seem to correct the situation on our own. 

So please friends, let’s do that right now nuh. Let’s turn to our Creator, lift up our voices in sincere prayer, asking for His divine help in this our time of very critical need. Therefore, as one voice, let’s offer up our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

But then again friends, our prayer will only be positively answered if we keep our promise and sincerely turn from our evil ways. So it’s all in our hands now. Much LOVE!

…when is the created ever going to learn…that it cannot diminish or defeat the Creator…                                                                                   

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 11 August 2019 Matthew 6:9.

11 Aug 2019 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 6:9.    ​After this manner pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
 

‘I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.’ (Ps.122:1) Oh my fellow believers in Christ, that’s exactly the invitation I’m offering us this Sunday morning, the Lord’s Day! Yes, it is good and right that we venture into His house on His day to acknowledge His sovereignty, holiness, grace, compassion and mercy towards us, miserable sinning saints that we are. In fellowship with other believers, we are expected to lift our voices in songs of praise and thanksgiving and receive encouragement from listening to His holy Word. 

And since there is strength in numbers, it means when we gather together, we are a powerful group, able to move mountains with our faith, but we also spread the joy of the Lord amongst each other, encouraging each other as needed. So please don’t refuse this invitation today, because you never know what wondrous blessings or opportunities the Lord has in store for you in His sanctuary today. 

And even if there is nothing special, you leave there like a preening peacock, (smile) full of confidence and joy in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! And believe me nothing is better than that in this cruel and oppressive world! Glory to the Most High God Jehovah! Ah mih people, like the ole fella getting excited…And why not eh, since Christ is the greatest thing to ever happen to mankind. And if I have to tell you that, then something wrong with yuh faith yes! (smile)

Anyway, putting all of that aside, let’s begin the proceedings with praise and worship. And since we sang the second most popular Bible scripture last week; the Lord is My shepherd, I figured it’s only right to sing the most popular one today, The Lord’s Prayer. So let’s get to it nuh, in strong, sweet, sincere and solemn harmony, so that the Father has no choice but to look down on us with favour. 

‘Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever…for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen!’ 

Yeh friends, short but sweet! And we all know it as the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples. Luke describes the scene thus: ‘And it came to pass, that as he (Jesus) was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’ (Luke 11:1) And the scholars offer this footnote: ‘11:1. Religious communities of the time customarily had their own distinctive prayers. Perhaps the disciples wanted theirs.’ 

And we know what Jesus told them: ‘After this manner pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.’ And He went on to tell them the awesome, far-reaching words that we just sang. It’s amazing how it seems to cover all that our earthly life calls for. But if it comes from Jesus, what else would we expect eh? 

Now the scholars offer some interesting explanations on the prayer, and I’m going to share them. Let’s hope we have enough space. (smile) ‘6:9. The beginning phrase, Our Father, is completely uncommon to the prayers of the Old Testament. The two major elements of the prayer are adoration and petition. Hallowed be thy name addresses the attention of the prayer toward God and reverence for His name and His person. Hallowed (Gr. hagiazo) means to be held in reverence and holy awe.’ 

‘6:10. The phrase Thy kingdom come refers to the eschatological (study of end times) nature of this prayer. Notice that the kingdom is to be prayed for, implying that it has not yet arrived. The kingdom represents the full and effective reign of God through the mediatorial office of the Messiah. The recognition of Thy will be done emphasizes the idea that prayer is to bring about the conformity of the will of the believer to the will of God. Prayer is an act of spiritual expression that brings us into conformity to the very nature and purpose of God.’ 

‘6:11. The section of petitions begins with the request to give us this day our daily bread. Bread (Gr. artos) may be applied to the provision of food in general. The term ‘daily’ (Gr. epiousios) denotes “indispensable.” The concept of daily provision of bread fits perfectly with the Old Testament example of the daily provision of manna to the Israelites while they were wandering in the wilderness. (Ex.16:14-15).’ 

‘6:12. Forgive us our trespasses refers to sins, which are our moral and spiritual debts to God’s righteousness. The request for forgiveness of sin is made here by the believer. In order to be saved one need not necessarily name all his sins, but he must confess that he is a sinner.’ ‘6:13-15. Lead us not into temptation is a plea for the providential help of God in our daily confrontation with the temptation of sin. God does not tempt us to do evil, but we are tempted by our own lusts (James 1:13-14). 

However, God does test us in order to give us the opportunity to prove our faithfulness to Him. He never desires to lead us into evil itself. Therefore if we resist the Devil, we are promised that he will flee from us. The prayer closes with a doxology of praise (expression of praise to God): For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen, which is a liturgical (pattern for worship) ending similar to 1 Chronicles 29:11) Though omitted in some manuscripts, these words constitute a fitting and climactic affirmation of faith.’  

And so it does my fellow believers! I also hope that those explanations give you a better understanding of what our most beloved prayer is all about. I certainly learned a lot from them. And neither did it take up as much space as I expected. (smile) So let’s get ourselves to church sometime today nuh and enjoy fellowship with other believers in the holy presence of Almighty God! That’s my prayer and wish for all of us today! Much LOVE!

…in humble prayer…praise ought always…to come before petition…