Acts 1:5. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Oh Friends, it’s a new day and we’re still alive and kicking! Wow! Praise the Lord! Now here’s an interesting prayer to start our days, taken from Dr. Robert H Schuller’s Daily Devotional, attributed to Norman Grub (1895-1993) an American missionary, statesman, writer and theological teacher. It says: ‘Good morning Christ. I LOVE You! What are you up to today? I want to be part of it! Thank You God. Amen!’ Isn’t that nice Friends; simple and straightforward? For sure! I believe that’s the kind of prayer the Lord truly appreciates, because though it’s so short and simple, it still fulfills all the necessities. It glorifies Him with LOVE; is humble, yet confident, and displays a whole lot of enthusiasm and preparedness to do whatever Jesus desires. Oh my people, are we displaying those properties in our prayers to our ever-LOVING God? I sure hope so. Now let’s continue looking at the wonderful workings of the Holy Spirit, beginning with the heart warming promise of Jesus in our Bit: ‘For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.’ And even more compelling and heart warming was the fulfillment of that promise on the Day of Pentecost! Now today, I want to share two Old Testament examples of the Spirit being used on particular individuals, and also a couple more instances where the Lord promised it. And the first of those instances of the Holy Spirit on man that we want to share comes from the very important prophet Isaiah. In Chapter 61, where he’s bringing good tidings of salvation to Zion, he confidently declares: ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek (poor); he hath sent me to bind up (heal) the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.’ (Is.61:1) And the Spirit of God obviously had to be on him, especially in those olden times, for him to do such mighty deeds! Now hear Ezekiel after the Lord commissioned him to be a prophet: ‘So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat (anger) of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.’ (Ezek. 3:14) But nuh must Friends! The Lord’s hand is strong upon all whom His Spirit indwells! Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, had a hard time accepting God’s commission, but as always, the Lord’s will prevailed. Please my people, when the Lord comes a calling on us to perform some particular work in His Holy Name, please, let’s not fight it, for we will only cause ourselves unnecessary trouble, grief and heartache, since the Lord will eventually prevail. And I can testify to that from personal experience, for when He approached me about writing the Bit, like Sara, I laughed. But here I am some six years later, writing it with pleasure. Yes Friends, when the Lord says jump, it’s best to ask right away, how high Lord? That’s because the longer you delay and complain, the higher you’ll eventually have to jump. Now here are two more instances from the Old Testament where the Lord promised to send His Spirit upon His people. Yesterday we heard from Joel (Joel 2:28-29) today, let’s listen first to Isaiah declare that the Spirit of God would be in Israel: ‘Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.’ (Is.44:2-4) Then Ezekiel proudly proclaims in his promise of restoration and renewal of Israel: ‘And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you (them); and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances (judgements), and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.’ (Ezek.11:19-20) Ah Friends, yuh see how our wise and mighty God works! Each prophet that arose in Israel, though they brought some sad tidings, they always brought that faithful and everlasting promise of rebirth, of restoration, reconciliation and salvation from the God of their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And note too, how it all dovetailed smoothly and was fulfilled by the coming of Jesus. That was God’s plan from day one! So in light of all those promises and their fulfillment in the earthly pilgrimage and person of Jesus, how can we ever doubt the authenticity and truth of the Good Book eh? Oh Friends, I’ll leave us to ponder that today, and also strongly advise us to get in touch, in close relationship with the Holy Spirit of Christ which indwells us, for He’s there to lead and guide us. However, since He’s not the pushy, aggressive type, if we don’t consciously seek Him out and ask for His wise and godly advice, then follow it, we’ll surely get lost on the highway to hell, taunted by, and falling for Lucifer’s evil wiles and lies. And we definitely don’t want that to happen! So please cozy up to the Holy Spirit today. It’s wisdom at it’s finest. Much LOVE! …we cannot stay on the straight and narrow path…without the Holy Spirit’s help… P.S. The Bit was late, partially because my young daughter called me on the phone this morning and had me gabbing instead of writing. (smile)
Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 May 2012 Acts 1:5
30 May 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: a new day, alive and kicking, close relationship, holy spirit, humility, Pentecost, pour out my Spirit, preparedness to do God's will, rebirth, reconciliation, restoration, start with prayer
Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 May 2012 Psalm 139:1
23 May 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: alive and kicking, enthusiasm for Almighty God, find peace in the Lord, improve our christian walk, peace and togetherness, show Love, stop stressing over petty things, take the bull by the horns, trial of faith, win some souls for Christ
Psalm 139:1. O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, we’re alive and kicking! Wow! The Lord has granted us another day on this beautiful earth! Praise and bless His Holy Name, for He’s so good to us, His undeserving children! And on this Wednesday morning, with all the exuberance and enthusiasm for Almighty God coursing through our hearts, bodies and minds, let’s take the bull by the horns and get out into the evil and ungodly world and win some souls for Him nuh. Let’s show a disbelieving world the true character of Jesus in all our doings today. Instead of showing resentment, anger, hate and strife, let’s advance, put forward LOVE, peace, joy, and togetherness to all whom we come into contact with today! I think that just as the Lord fills us with new mercies and blessings everyday, in the same manner, we should go out everyday with a new, or at least improved attitude, using those same new gifts of grace to improve on our Christian walk of the day before. That means everyday our walk should be more Christ-like. It would be so refreshing and rejuvenating if we Christians could just adopt the kind, friendly attitude of Jesus in most of our daily dealings. We don’t have to let others run over us, or beat us down, but neither do we have to fuss, fume and fight over the many petty things that disturb our souls. And we don’t have to worry either about not being up to scratch, as Jesus-like as we ought to be. The Lord knows our frailties, for as Bruh David says in our Bit: ‘O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.’ Oh yes Friends, the Lord knows all about us, but He wants us to come to Him and acknowledge those frailties and weaknesses, come confidently, but humbly before the throne of grace and ask for His help. And believe me, when we do that, He will look favourably upon us. Remember we can fool others and ourselves, but we can’t fool God, so it’s best just to come clean with Him, tell Him all that’s troubling our hearts. And once we do that, we’ll be pleasantly surprised by the peace that will flow through us. Oh my people, there’s no better way of obtaining peace than by baring our souls to Almighty God! And with those words of wisdom, let’s get back to our Bit, before I get too carried away. (smile) Today I want to share some more scriptures that pertain to it. The psalmist in Psalm 66, the great works of God, states: ‘For thou, O God, hast proved (tested) us: thou hast tried (refined) us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy (an abundant) place.’ (Ps.66:10-12) Yes mih breddren, the Lord’s testing can be rough, but there is always the surety that if we bear up under it, He will bring us out better than before. That’s the beauty of living for and working with Jehovah God! Meanwhile, the prophet Zechariah declares, re the cleansing of Jerusalem: ‘And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and I will try (test) them as gold is tried (tested): they shall call on my name, and I will hear (answer) them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.’ (Zec.13:8-9) Now Friends, that sounds pretty rough, but remember the Lord always helps us go through our trials. Listen to Peter now, who makes it sound a trifle easier. ‘Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness (distressed) through manifold temptations: That the trial (genuineness) of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried (tested) with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing (revelation) of Jesus Christ. Whom having not seen, ye LOVE; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.’ (1 Pet.1:6-9) Yes mih people, our faith will be tried a lot on this earth, but if it’s true faith, then it will not be destroyed even when it passes through the testing by fire. And then, when Jesus comes again, this time in glory, we will certainly be looked upon with praise and honour. Oh Friends, the glory of heaven is definitely worth the hell we often experience here on earth, so please don’t give up, don’t let the temporary afflictions of this life kill your spirit and your faith in Jesus. It’s not always easy to do, but with Jesus’ help we can surely accomplish it. When times get rough, pleas turn to Jesus; cry out to Him for assistance. You’ll be surprised at the help you’ll receive. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed. Remember Jesus knows all about us and our earthly troubles, because he experienced them too. It would surely be wonderful though, if we could all say like Bruh David: ‘Thou hast proved (tested) mine heart; thou hast visited me (searched me out) in the night; thou hast tried (tested) me, and shalt find nothing (evil): I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.’ (Ps.17:3) Friends, I think that’s a worthy goal to work towards. So let’s start today, right now nuh. It could only help our faith successfully go through the fire of testing, and would greatly please our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. Much LOVE!…oh that all believers…could have a faith…that’s successfully refined…through the fires of temptation…
SCRIP-BITS 