Ecclesiastes 12:14. For God shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
And then it was Friday – a wintry Friday! There’s already some precipitation on the ground in my area – not much, but precipitation nonetheless. And who knows what’s going to follow eh; snow or freezing rain, or a combination of both? Anyhow we cut it, if the weather people are right, today’s going to be a dangerous day.
So please people, let’s all take very good care as we go about our business outside, for the weather conditions will not be ideal… Hn! And we don’t want any accidents or misfortunes just before Christmas. So if you don’t HAVE to go out, then DON’T GO OUT! Words of true wisdom Friends. (smile)
I also noticed that the weather warning somewhat dampened our usually glorious shout of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ But with prayer and care, we ought to make it safely through another winter’s day.
And to top it all off, let’s chant out Friday chant, with joy and gladness, simply because we’re alive and kicking, have jobs to go to, and live under the umbrella of a mighty, magnificent and magnanimous God!
So my brethren, let’s chant: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Now let’s get that perspective firmly grounded in our beings, so that we can live it out over the weekend. And do we ever need stuff like that to keep us on the straight and narrow, especially when we have a Bit like today’s: ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’
Yeh mih people, all our words and actions WILL indeed be judged on the big day! But as the saying goes; to be forewarned is to be forearmed. So now that we know what’s going to eventually happen, we have no excuses for making bad, or wrong, or evil decisions and choices.
Yesterday we saw the Preacher telling us to sow diligently in the mornings, then in the evenings, hold out our hands expectantly, in faith, because we don’t know which seed that we planted will prosper. But then again, in our rejoicing, we also have to pay attention to the many dark days of trial and struggle that will surely come during our lifetimes. It’s a fine balancing act my brethren! That’s what life is.
Now hear this wise advice from the preacher to the young. Oh if many of us had heard it when we were young!
‘Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways (impulses) of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes (as you see to be best): but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement. Therefore remove sorrow (vexation) from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth (prime of life) are vanity.’ (Eccl.11:9-10)
And isn’t that the awesome truth my people! When we are young, we feel the world’s our oyster, and we can do whatever we want to, without fear of repercussions or consequences. But that’s a deceitful conception, propagated by evildoers, for as we are seeing, God will one day judge all that we ever did here on planet earth.
And please note the scholars’ take on the situation. ‘Once again the exhortation to enjoyment is put in the imperative mood. Here the appeal is particularly addressed to the youth to admonish him to enjoy life before the onset of the feeble years described in 12:1-7.
Verse 9 can hardly be taken in a hedonistic sense, because the controlling factor in the youth’s enjoyment is said to be God’s judgement. Rather, it is a warning against a life misspent in self-indulgence.’
Oh Friends, the sooner we learn these lessons, the better off we’ll all be! For yesterday we saw Jesus declare the truth of the judgement day. (Matt.12:35-37) Now listen to Bruh Paul in his first missive to the church at Corinth, talking about real judgement.
‘For I know nothing by (against) myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest (reveal) the counsels (motives) of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.’ (1 Cor.4:4-5)
Ah mih people, more words of divine truth, which will do us a lot of good to hear and inwardly digest!
And here’s an interesting note from the scholars’. ‘4:4. I know nothing by myself (lit. “I know nothing against myself”). This sort of total commitment gave Paul the authority to make such a statement as “be ye followers of me” (cf. 1 Cor.4:16; 11:1).’
Yes Friends, let’s be followers of Bruh Paul nuh, as he was a follower of Jesus! We certainly can’t go wrong if we follow his example. Much LOVE!
…and the heavens shall declare his righteousness…for God is JUDGE himself… Selah (Ps.50:6)
Today’s Scrip-Bit 20 December 2013 Ecclesiastes 12:14
20 Dec 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: actions, admonish, advice to the young, alive and kicking, awesome truth, bad, balancing act, Bruh Paul, care, cheer, childhood, choices, church at Corinth, consequences, controlling factor, dangerous day, dark days, deceitful conception, decisions, enjoyment, every work, evil, excuses, expectantly, eyes, fear of repercussions, fellowship, firmly grounded, flesh, followers, forearmed, forewarned, freezing rain, Friday chant, fun, futility, generous help, gladness, glorious kingdom, God is judge, God's judgement, good, heart, hedonistic sense, hidden things of darkness, impulses, in faith, jesus name, jobs, joy, judgement, judgement day, justified, life, lifetimes, live it out, LOVE, magnanimous god, magnificent, mighty, motives, perspective, praise of God, prayer, precipitation, prime of life, propagated by evildooers, prosper, real judgement, refreshed in soul, rejoice, relaxation, renewed, rest, reveal, righteousness., secret thing, Selah, self-indulgence, sight, snow, sorrow, sow diligently, straight and narrow, struggle, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, thanks, the Preacher, the world's our oyster, total commitment, trial, umbrella, vanity, vexation, warning, ways, week of work, weekend, words, wrong, youth
Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 December 2013 1 John 1:9
02 Dec 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: adrenalin, alive and kicking, aura of love, be wary, bow, Christ's death, clarion call, cleanse, confess, confidence, Creator of the universe, Cyber Monday, divine provision, earthly behaviour, enemy's taunts, energized, enthusiasm, eternal life, faithful, faithfulness, falter, famiies, forgiveness, friends, glorify, glorious kingdom, God's standard, gospel truth, grace, greedy merchants, Holy Name, holy spirit, human need, humble servants, immortal God, incentive, inroads, invincible, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, jobs, join the fray, judge, judicial standing, just, justice, justification, justified, lead and guide, lies, Lord and Saviour, loving kindness, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, mortals, nature, obedience, Oh Lord God Almighty, on Jesus' behalf, praise, ransom, redemption, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, righteous God, righteousness., salvation, saviour, shop on-line, shop till you drop, sinful disposition, sinful souls, sing with joy, sins, snares and traps, steadfast faith, succumb to temptation, sure conquerors, the glory of God, ungodly world, unmerited favour, unrighteousness, useful purpose
1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Oh Friends, it’s Monday…Cyber Monday! So jump and shout and get on your computers and start shopping on-line, as the greedy merchants would have you do! Shop until you drop!
Ah Lord eh! I hope you all realize though that I’m only being sarcastic, facetious and any other terms that are synonymous with those two. Steups! I have to shake my head in both wonder and disgust, for everyday we’re encouraged to buy more stuff.
And we come up with such foolish names; Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc. And the sad part is that they are all consolidated around some important holiday, which tends to suck the life and true meaning out of the holiday, so that it soon becomes a mere opportunity to spend what we don’t have, and buy what we often don’t need, thereby enriching the already rich.
But please remember Friends, that there’s an immortal and righteous God in heaven looking down on us mere mortals, who will eventually judge us on our earthly behaviour. So please let’s be wary, and don’t fall into the snares and traps of the ungodly world. For we’re only supposed to be IN the world, not OF it.
Anyhow, enough sermonizing from me, (smile) let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with much gusto, so that we can get energized to go out and face the evil world, and be strong enough to repel them.
As one loud clarion call now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Yes mih people, that ought to get our adrenalin flowing and give us the wherewithal to join the fray on Jesus’ behalf!
But just in case we unexpectedly falter and succumb to worldly temptations, it’s very important to know that relief is possible by following the guidelines of our Bit. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
Now Friends, isn’t that a real powerful and heart-warming incentive to believe in Jehovah God? It surely is! For there’s no other supposed deity who displays such LOVING-kindness, and the ONLY ONE, who can do what He did, cause He’s alive and kicking, while all the others are dead and of no use.
We talk about His faithfulness, justice and forgiveness, all truthful facts. Bruh Paul hit the nail on the head when he declared: ‘For all have sinned and come (fallen) short of the glory of God.’ (Rom.3:23) Sadly though my brethren, that sinful disposition has been bred into our very nature down through the ages.
The scholars reinforce this by saying: ‘3:23. For all have sinned: The human need and the divine provision are alike applied universally. Come short of the glory of God: Man can exceed his own standards but never, left to himself, can he attain to God’s standard of righteousness.’
And that’s gospel truth people! However my fellow believers, please listen carefully to what our wonderful God has done for us nuh. ‘Being justified freely (without any cost) by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.’ (Rom.3:24)
Now doesn’t that just make your hearts sing with joy my brethren? It surely ought to. And after listening to how the scholars explain it, I surely hope it does.
‘3:24. Being justified (Gr. dikaioumenoi) indicates being declared righteous. It signifies the believer’s judicial standing before God. Freely: There is no just cause in man to warrant justification. By his grace: Unmerited favour is bestowed through the redemption (release on payment of ransom). Christ’s death is the ransom. The sinner is released on the basis of the ransom having being paid.’
Yes Friends, we only have that marvellous, soul-saving opportunity to be set free from sin, because of the monumental ransom that Jesus paid. Without Jesus’ sacrificial gift of His sinless life, we would have been held in bondage to sin forever, with absolutely NO hope of escape.
But thanks to Jesus’ selflessness, we now have that opportunity to tell the lying, deceitful Lucifer, ‘Bye bye,’ and instead move on to live with Jesus through salvation, in eternal life. What a glorious God we serve and worship! Let’s keep that first and foremost in out thoughts please my fellow believers.
And all God’s people gave a mighty shout of ‘Thank You heavenly Father for sending Jesus to die for us. And thank You Jesus for being obedient to the Father even unto death, when You didn’t have to. We praise and glorify Your Holy Name and bow to You as our Lord and Saviour. Amen!’
Much much LOVE, my fellow believers in Christ!
…only the true Creator of the universe…could have done what He did…to save our sinful souls…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 September 2012 Proverbs 21:2
23 Sep 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: alive and kicking, deceit, defile, discernment, fellowship, gathered together, glorify God, hypocrites, knowledge, praise and worship, right motives, righteousness., Sabbath, sin, strength in numbers, truth, turbulent times, wickedness
Proverbs 21:2. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.
Oh Friends, we’re still alive and kicking this Sunday morning! Wow! Praise the Lord for continuing to keep the breath of life in us, along with all the other goodies He blesses us with daily! And for those of us who celebrate the Sabbath on a Sunday, let’s all endeavour to go to church and get in some invaluable praise and worship with fellow believers nuh. Remember Jesus’ promise: ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name; there I am in the midst of them.’ (Matt.18:20) So please my people, let’s gather together today, as much as possible, and thus allow Jesus to come into the buildings and our hearts in a serious way, so that we can also glorify Him in a serious manner, as we ought to. Remember too that there is strength in numbers, so the more of us gathered in sincere celebration and worship, the bigger footprint we’ll leave, and shadow we’ll cast, both here on earth, and in heaven too. Now here are a couple lines I recently heard in a song – I don’t remember its name or the singer – but these two lines from the chorus struck me as being real meaningful. They claim that: ‘Knowledge is the root of survival. Truth is the way of life.’ And I tend to agree, because if you don’t have knowledge; first of what you want to do, and also of what’s going on in and around you, your chances of survival are slim. We cannot live in a world, especially such a turbulent and troubled one as ours, without knowing what’s happening in it, else we’d soon be swept up and/or away by the evil, ungodly forces that are running rampant right now. And there’s no doubting that for a believer, living in truth is the ultimate lifestyle for us. For if Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH, the LIGHT, and the LIFE, and we’re not living in truth, then we’re just make-believe followers, and have no true calling. And our Bit today talks about just that. ‘Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth (weighs) the hearts.’ Yes Friends, most of us believe that whatever we do is right and thus truthful, and oftimes that’s correct. But in many cases we’re just fooling ourselves and those around us, but not God. That’s because He simply doesn’t take our outward actions as being gospel, since He knows how deceitful and sinful we truly can be. And that’s why He chooses to look at our hearts, at our true motives before dealing with us. As Cousin Sol says in an earlier chapter; ‘All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.’ (Prov.16:2) Or as the scholars put it: ‘The Lord is the great discerner of motives.’ And if the Lord wasn’t smart enough to first check our hearts and spirits, can you imagine the great amount of stuff we’d do and get away with based on wrong motives? But Friends, the Lord created us, and I know of no creation that’s smarter or wiser than its creator. By the same token, I don’t know when some of us will smarten up and realize that, and stop trying to pull the wool over His eyes, because it foolishly hampers our communication and thus the tenor of our earthly lives with our heavenly Father. Even computers that do such miraculous stuff nowadays need to be programmed, guided, told what to do and how to do it, otherwise we’ll end up with the wasteful situation of garbage in, garbage out. And that’s unfortunately what’s happening to a lot of us today, my brethren. We’re filling our lives, our hearts, minds and spirits with the garbage, the wickedness and ungodliness of the world. So what else can we expect to come back out but wickedness and ungodliness eh? Remember Jesus said it’s not what we put into our stomachs, that’s like eating with unwashed hands, that defiles us, because that’s passed out in the draught, but it’s the evil that comes out of our hearts and mouths that defile us. (Matt.15:17-20) And with our basic sinful nature, plus what’s currently happening in the world, we have to be very careful of what we say and do. As Cousin Sol states later in Proverbs: ‘If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth (weighs) the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall he not render to every man according to his works?’ (Prov.24:12) Yes Friends, that sounds like many of us, claiming we didn’t know, when we very well knew. Now we might get away with that on other men, but definitely not with God, for He knows all, and first digs deep into our souls to discern our true motives before compensating or rewarding us for our works. And if the motives aren’t right, then sorry, there’ll be little or no compensation or reward. So Friends, please let’s stop being like the Pharisees; hypocrites, men-pleasers, who put on a nice outward show, making it seem we’re so righteous and wonderful, but on the inside we’re really just stink and evil. Sadly, that attitude is ever so prevalent in these corrupted and troubled times. So please, I implore us to be very careful not to fall in that trap of Lucifer’s, for it will only put us in God’s bad books, a place we certainly don’t want to be. Much LOVE!…only from a truly righteous heart…can a man reap true righteousness…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 July 2012 Revelation 21:4
24 Jul 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: alive and kicking, all negative things have passed away, awesome promises, believers-happy people, continuing drought, earthly possessions, glory hallelujah, hedging bets, increase in food prices, life and death, new heaven and a new earth, Praise the Lord
Revelation 21:4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Oh Friends, I was planning to tell you all that yesterday was another scorching day in my area, with a strong, hot wind and barely a sprinkling of heavenly blessing late in the evening. But I’ve changed my mind now. (smile) I’m getting tired talking about the weather and ensuing drought which has already caused food prices to increase. So let’s leave that alone and turn to something positive. There’s nothing we can do about the drought or increased prices anyway. And what’s more positive than being alive and able to experience and enjoy another day on God’s great earth filled with his numerous and most delectable blessings? And all God’s people joyfully declared a loud and grateful: ‘Glory Hallelujah! Praise be to our Great God! May He reign forever! Amen! And again, Amen!’ As I said yesterday Friends, believers should be the happiest people on the earth since we have such a wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who not only sacrificed His holy, sinless life for a bunch of worthless sinners, but also is going to provide a wonderful home for our spiritual bodies when our physical ones die and return to the dust from which they were made. And in that glorious home, with Jesus presiding, there shall be no negative occurrences ever again. Wow! And that’s the living truth Friends, because it’s been promised in our Bit: ‘And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’ And given such an awesome promise, it really amazes me that people read and hear about it, yet totally disregard it and all the other awesome promises contained in the Good Book. That’s why I keep saying that true wisdom has disappeared from our society, for any truly wise person would at least place a serious bet on, hitch their wagon to someone like Jehovah God, who’s made all those promises and faithfully brought all the necessary ones to fruition. We already know we can’t take our earthly possessions with us when we die, so why are we still so intent on amassing so much of it eh, only to leave it behind for others to fight over? I’m sure that all individuals on planet earth have experienced an experience which didn’t come from their natural, conscious thoughts or selves. That therefore means that there’s something more to humans than a physical body; some non-physical thing also exists within us. So my question is what happens to that non-physical subconscious element when the physical body dies? Does that die too? Not according to God’s Word! So wouldn’t it make sense to at least hedge our bets and pay some attention to our non-physical side? Of course! But certainly not the way the money-men have been foolishly and unfortunately hedging their bets. You can’t make something from nothing, unless you’re God, and that’s what they’ve been trying to do. Oh Friends, when you hedge your non-physical side with Jesus, and for that matter your physical side too, you CANNOT LOSE, because Jesus has guaranteed a good life in eternity for those who pledge themselves to Him! Now let’s look at some scriptures that uphold our awesome Bit. And what better place to begin than with Isaiah as he speaks God’s words re new heavens and a new earth: ‘For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But ye be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.’ (Is.65:17-19) What a joyful promise my brethren! Meanwhile, in his exhortation to endurance, Bruh Paul tells his protégé Timothy: ‘But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.’ (2 Tim.1:10) Yes Friends, the gospel of Christ is where we need to go to find the good news about life and immortality! And to the Corinthians, Bruh Paul makes these unequivocal statements: ‘For he (Jesus Christ) must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.’ (1 Cor.15:25-26) Oh my people, yuh know what’s happening then? ‘And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death (eternal punishment). And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.’ (Rev.20:14-15) Yes Friends, that will be that, if your name’s not found recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life! You will be eternally separated from God; the worst thing that could ever happen to a spiritual being. So I’m pleading with us, begging us to get serious about our spiritual lives, if we don’t want to be eternally separated from our Creator. And we’ll end with the definitive word on the subject from Jesus. This is what He told the beloved disciple John, in His Revelation: ‘Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.’ (Rev.1:17-18) Oh Friends, please listen to Jesus and act wisely, for your eternal salvation depends on it! Much LOVE!…he who holds the key to the door…is the master of those behind it…
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
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 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…
