Romans 6:5. For if we have been planted together (united) in the likeness of his death, (certainly) we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
TGIM mih people! (smile) Yes, thank God it’s Monday and the breath of life is still flowing through our bodies, although times might be a bit on the rough side! We need to believe that while there is life, there is indeed hope for things to get better. And that supreme assurance, that undeniable optimism cannot be found in any other place or person than our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ; the sinless Son of God, who sacrificed His life for us. Ah friends, that sacrificial undertaking gives us so much encouragement for the future, especially when we take His awesome resurrection into account.
As Bruh Paul put it to the church at Rome, when talking about freedom from sin’s power. ‘Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like (just) as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together (united) in the likeness of his death, (certainly) we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:’ (Rom. 6:3-5)
And isn’t it wonderful to know my people that once we’re baptized into Christ, become His true followers, that everything that’s happened to Him will also happen to us! We’ll die with Him, but then too we will rise again, just like He rose again, and be with Him forever. Now if that doesn’t give us great hope for the future, then I don’t know what will nuh. Yes friends, baptism joins us to Christ at salvation, through the Holy Spirit, we become one with Him, and therefore we are expected to do our best to act like Him. He’s to be our example. Consequently, we’re expected ‘to walk in newness of life.’
As the scholars explain it: ‘We should live our everyday lives manifesting resurrection life; free from sin’s control.’ Oh my people, resurrection life begins in the here and now, not after we’re dead and buried! This is where we have to start preparing for heaven. Start storing up our treasures there so when we get there we’ll have a full and healthy treasure chest. We can’t just go there empty handed and expect to reap enormous benefits. (smile) Remember the motto of heaven’s economy is you reap what you sow. So we must begin living the good and righteous life from right down here on earth.
Remember the words Jesus taught us to pray: ‘Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’ (Matt. 6:10) That basically means we have to pray for God’s will and implement it here on earth, like it’s implemented in heaven. Or as the scholars expound: ‘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.’
Remember too friends that God’s avowed purpose is to have all of us conform to the likeness of His wonderful, obedient, well behaved Son, as He raises us from glory to glory. So we do have work to do down here, not on our own, but always with His divine help. The Lord sacrificed His Son for us, and He expects us to follow Christ’s lead and sacrifice on His behalf too.
Yes, we have salvation and resurrection and all the wonderful promises of heaven, but we have to first make the effort, the decision to come to Jesus and then live the way He desires of us. Salvation is free through grace, but the rest of the ride requires us to pick up our cross and follow Christ, fulfill the purpose and plan the Father has for our lives.
And since we’ve said above that prayer brings us into conformity with God’s will, then let us go to Him through that wonderful medium nuh. Let’s bare our hearts and souls to Him through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. As one voice now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world.
We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have 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, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, 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!’
And I do hope that our hearts were sincere else the Father won’t answer our prayer. Much LOVE!
…without plenty sincere prayer and repentance…earth will never even vaguely resemble heaven…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 December 2020 Psalm 121:2.
07 Dec 2020 Leave a comment
by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a good understanding, against the rich and mighty, awe-filled reverence towards God, awesome grace and mercy, divine retribution, fight for the poor and downtrodden, gives us thought for pause, god moves in mysterious ways, have all they that do his commandments, he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, I will greatly praise the Lord, I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, in a quandary, in this wicked perverse world, Jehovah Rapha, keeps us on the right track, make me to understand, merciful forgiving God, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my help cometh from the Lord, my well has run dry, no coherent subject to comment on, praise him among the multitude, sincere repentance, so shall I talk of thy wondrous works, teach me O Lord, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the God who heals, the Lord is thy keeper, the Lord shall preserve thy going out and coming in, the way of thy precepts, the way of thy statutes, those that condemn his soul, turn from our evil ways, which made heaven and earth
Psalm 121:2. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.
Oh friends, the ole fella’s in a bit of a quandary this morning; he doesn’t know what to talk about, he has no coherent subject to comment on, like my well has run dry. (smile) These things do happen to the best of us at times. However, as I was leafing through the Good Book, the Psalms in particular, I came upon some verses that seemed to be just made for today. They’re all from different psalms, but something about them just touched me and I got the great idea to put them forward for our understanding and knowledge today. And I hope that all of them, or even just one touches our hearts this Monday morning and gives us thought for pause and ‘ponderation.’ (smile)
So here goes. The first verse comes from Psalm 109 – A prayer for the punishment of the wicked – from the pen of Bruh David. After wishing divine retribution on his enemies, he boldly declares (yeahh!): ‘I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn (are judging) his soul.’ (Ps. 109:30-31)
My question is, are we praising the Lord greatly amongst the multitude of the heathen, among the numerous evildoers in our world? And do we believe that the Lord will fight for the poor and downtrodden against the rich and mighty? If our hearts are right, the answer to both questions ought to be a loud and proud: ‘YES!’
The next verse comes from Psalm 111, where the psalmist proclaims with certainty: ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.’ (Ps. 111:10) Now that’s the very essence of life my people!
And to show it’s oh so true, Job made that declaration in Job 28:28, and Cousin Sol makes the same declaration, not once, but three times; in Prov. 1:7, Prov. 9:10, and Eccl. 12:13. So there must be a whole lot of truth to it. That leads to the question, do we fear the Lord? Do we possess that awe-filled reverence toward the Lord God Almighty; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Hopefully we will all shout out another loud and proud: ‘YES!’
And then we move on to that great Psalm 119, where the author desires of the Lord: ‘Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works….Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.’ (Ps. 119:27, 33-34)
Wow mih bredrin! Those are the kinds of things we ask of the Lord when we have wisdom, when we reverence Him with our whole hearts, soul and being, because those are the things that keep us on the right track in this wicked and perverse world. And yuh know what’s next, (smile) the question of whether we desire those right-living things of the Lord? And I hear another loud and proud shout of: ‘YES, WE DO!’
Glory be mih people! That’s why we can conclude with these awesome words of the psalmist, as he talks of God’s sustaining power in Psalm 121: ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills (mountains), from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.’ (Ps. 121:1-2) Yes friends, our help comes from nowhere or No One else but the Lord God Jehovah!
And as the psalmist continues: ‘He will not suffer thy foot to be moved (slip): he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper (protector): the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve (keep) thee from all evil. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.’ (Ps. 121:1-8) And do we believe all of that? ‘YES!’
Good! Then in awe-filled reverence and wisdom, let’s look to the Lord for the help that we desperately need today nuh. Let’s cry out to Him for succour and sustenance through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, for we desperately need His assistance. So altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world.
We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have 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, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance, and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, 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!’
Now please remember, the state of our hearts, if they are filled with true repentance, will decide the Lord’s answer. And who would have ‘thunked’ it eh – I didn’t have anything to say. (smile) Our God surely does move in mysterious ways. That’s why He’s such a great and wonderful God! Much LOVE!
…only when we look up…will help come from above…