Matthew 3:17. And lo a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Ah Friends, it’s another day in the heartache of Hurricane Sandy and associates. It seems the heartless, and thus the evil spirit of capitalism is showing up now in New York and New Jersey, where some people are taking further advantage of the already terribly disadvantaged by selling hard to get gasoline for up to fifty dollars a gallon, while it’s selling in the gas stations for under five dollars. And no doubt some of the die hard advocates of capitalism will consider that proper behaviour; make a buck or several bucks wherever you can, regardless of the hardship your customers are suffering. Thankfully, that’s not the way of Jesus or His genuine followers. I’m sure though, that some of those gouging their fellow man will nonetheless consider themselves Christians, because they claim to believe in Jesus, when in fact they are simply crooks. But as we constantly read in the Good Book, the wicked will get their comeuppance eventually. Enough talk about crooks though, and man’s inhumanity to man. Let’s talk instead about Jesus, who advocates Peace and LOVE, Good Health and Happiness for all mankind to share. And all God’s people shouted a joyful: ‘Glory Hallelujah! Praise the name of Jesus, the Lamb that was slain for us!’ Yes Friends, that’s exactly whom we’re referring to. And what does our Bit say about Him? ‘And lo a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ This particular incident occurred when Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. John at first refused, claiming that Jesus should be the one baptizing him. (Matt.3:14) However, Jesus persuaded John, saying: ‘Suffer (allow) it to be so now: for thus it becometh us (is fitting for us) to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered (allowed) him.’ (Matt.3:15) Jesus knew that he had to be baptized to fulfill the prophecies that had been spoken of Him by the prophets like Isaiah. Now here are some thoughts on that scripture from the scholars. ‘Jesus sought this outward identification with John’s ministry to fulfill all righteousness. By identifying Himself with those He came to redeem, Jesus inaugurated His public ministry as the Messiah. In regard to the Jewish religious observances, such as synagogue worship, attendance at feasts, and payment of the temple tax, Jesus always met the duties of a faithful Jew.’ The next verse then opened up a whole new chapter in the annals of man’s history here on earth. ‘And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.’ (Matt.3:16) Yes my fellow believers, the heavens were opened and numerous prophecies were fulfilled on that most momentous occasion! And not only that, but the Father also acknowledged to all and sundry, His complete trust in, and sincere appreciation for Jesus, through our Bit that comes after. And this is what the scholars have to say, re that scripture. ‘In the process of His baptism, Jesus went up…out of the water, the prepositions suggesting that He was completely in the water and came up out from it, again indicating immersion. The descending of the Spirit of God fulfilled the predicted sign to John in order to indicate the true Messiah (cf.John 1;33, Is.11:2). The dove was a symbol of innocence and purity (cf. Matt.10:16) and served as an ideal symbolic representation of the Holy Spirit. The voice from heaven is that of the Father, giving His verbal approval to the ministry of His beloved Son. There can be no doubt that all three persons of the Trinity are actively involved here as distinct persons of the Godhead. The Father speaks, the Spirit descends, and the Son is baptized.’ Oh Friends, I couldn’t have said it any better myself. (smile) Now let’s check out a couple of scriptures that provoked all that action. We’ll begin with Isaiah, who had the most to say about Jesus. In chapter 11, he boldly declares: ‘And there shall come forth a rod (shoot) out of the stem (stock or trunk) of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow (bear fruit) out of his roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.’ (Is.11:1-2) And on that auspicious day my brethren, in the muddy Jordan, the Spirit of God, did rest on Jesus! For further confirmation of those facts, let’s turn to the Gospel of John, where he talks about John the Baptist thus: ‘The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me (ranks higher than me): for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record (witness), saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode (remained) upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record (testified) that this is the Son of God.’ Wow! What powerful scripture my people! And we’ll end with some wise words of the scholars. ‘The baptism of Jesus serves as proof of His deity to John. The Holy Spirit came on Jesus and remained to assist him in His baptismal work. Before Jesus’ baptism, John knew Him only as a good cousin, not as the Lamb of God. Not until he saw the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus did John realize that He was the Son of God.’ That’s enough for us to ponder on today my people. So please read and inwardly digest all that stuff which will surely help us to understand some of the intricacies of the Good Book concerning our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, through whose selfless sacrifice, our salvation and life eternal have been guaranteed. Much LOVE!…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 November 2012 Matthew 3:17
10 Nov 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: baptism, capitalism, eternal life, evil spirit, glory hallelujah, good health, gouging, happiness, holy spirit, Holy Trinity, LOVE, my beloved son, peace, salvation, selfless sacrifice, the Lamb of God, the Messiah
Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 June 2012 Acts 1:5
03 Jun 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: Ananias, baptism, fellowship, holy spirit, Lord's Day, mysterious workings of the Lord, new blessings and mercies, praise and thanks, Saul of Tarsus, why persecute you me
Acts 1:5. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
And a fine Sunday morning to all you believers in Jesus Christ, wherever you are! I hope you are excitedly looking forward to all the new blessings and mercies the Lord’s planned for us today. And if you celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday, that you intend to go and fellowship, celebrate the Lord’s Day with other believers; offer thanks and praise and receive encouragement that builds our faith. Let’s forget what happened yesterday and start a clean page today, with improvements in as many areas of our lives as possible, thus satisfying the Lord’s desire for us to reflect a little more of Jesus’ character each and every day. And we can’t do that without the power and guidance of His Holy Spirit that so conveniently indwells us, which Jesus so generously promised in our Bit, before His Ascension. ‘For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.’ Now today I want to look at another dramatic instance of the Spirit in operation. However, before doing that, let’s hear from the scholars, re the Personality of the Holy Spirit. ‘The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity – equal with the Father and Son in essence, separate in person, and submissive in duties. Since one major aspect of God’s nature is that He is a person, it follows that the Holy Spirit is a person. The Scriptures clarify this by ascribing the attributes of personality to the Holy Spirit, addressing Him as a person, describing the personal actions of the Holy Spirit, and ascribing masculine pronouns to the Holy Spirit (John 14:17; 16:13) Illustration: Ananias and Sapphira lost their lives in a foolish attempt to deceive the Holy Spirit. This was because He is a divine person who is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. Applications: Because He is God, the Holy Spirit is worthy of receiving believers’ adoration, LOVE, and worship; also the Christian can engage in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. (First Ref. Gen 1:2; Primary Ref. John 14-16) Oh Friends, please read the scriptures the scholars identify, so that you can better understand what they’re talking about. And if you don’t know the story of Ananias and Sapphira; they were a married couple in the early days when the church was becoming communal in all things. They sold their earthly possessions but under reported their gains, and both dropped down dead after lying to the apostles about it. ‘But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?’ (Acts 5:3) Then when Sapphira came up with the same story, he said: ‘How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt (test) the Spirit of the Lord? behold the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.’ (Acts 5:9) So said, so was it done! Please note whom Peter accused them of lying to; the Holy Spirit, because that’s the Person of the Trinity who deals with our everyday, earthly matters. Read the whole story in Acts 5:1-11. Now let’s turn to today’s main protagonist; Saul, -Saul of Tarsus. Remember we first came upon that name when they stoned Stephen to death in Jerusalem; ‘the witnesses laid their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.’ (Acts 7:58) Saul, the great persecutor of the brethren. ‘And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter (murder) against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired (asked) of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this (the)way (believers), whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.’ (Acts 9:1-2) But lo and behold, on his way to Damascus, he was suddenly blinded, both literally and figuratively by a brilliant light from heaven, which caused him to fall to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him: ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou Lord? and the Lord said, I am Jesus who thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks (goads, prods). And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.’ (Acts 9:4-6) Ah mih breddren, yuh see how the big, bad, bully boy Saul was easily tamed by Jesus! And not even Jesus in the flesh, but Jesus in the Spirit! That just goes to show how powerful the Spirit is in its own right! So literally blinded by the light, Saul had to be led by his companions to Damascus. ‘And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.’ (Acts 9:9) Then the Lord, in His mighty and mysterious workings called upon a disciple in Damascus named Ananias (a common name among Jews, not to be confused with the Ananias and Sapphira story) and instructed him to go and meet Saul, who was expecting him to come and lay hands on him and restore his sight. But even Ananias queried the Lord because of Saul’s terrible reputation as a persecutor of the church. (Acts 9:10-14) ‘But the Lord said unto him, go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes (something) as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith (at once), and arose and was baptized.’ (Acts 9:15-18) Oh Friends, what else do we need to convince us of the Holy Spirit’s enormous power eh! If it could bring the mighty Saul to his knees so easily, how can we try to fight against it in our puny, less than stellar lives? So as I’ve been advocating all along, let’s get in touch with and stay intimately connected to the Spirit of Jesus that dwells within us. It’s wisdom to the wise! Much LOVE!…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 May 2012 Acts 10:38
15 May 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: anointing, baptism, branches, doing good, fatigue, Gentiles, God with us, holy spirit, home sweet home, jesus of nazareth, leadership, my beloved son, old broom, power, revelations, vine, wherever you lay your head
Acts 10:38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Ah Friends, we back, back home to our cluttered basement office, in our medium sized house in the north country. (smile) No more balconies in little mansions atop high hills, with cool breezes and lush gardens to titivate the senses. Now it’s books, papers, pictures and all kinds of other stuff surrounding me. But yuh know what? It’s HOME! And I’m comfortable, like the old broom that knows all the corners. It also fits me like a hand in glove because it’s of my making. As the elderly limo driver that brought me home from the airport last night so wisely noted: ‘That’s why it’s called HOME SWEET HOME!’ And that’s the living truth mih people! Be it ever so humble or ever so grand, wherever your heart and soul are comfortable, wherever you lay your head most nights of the year, that’s HOME! One more thing mih people; please don’t expect any extraordinary revelations or words of untoward wisdom from me today, since the ole fella’s in somewhat rough shape. I had to go back to the airport at 2.30 this morning to meet the Duchess, so I didn’t get to bed until the wee hours. In fact I had to put in a most heroic effort to get up just now because I didn’t want any more complaints about the Bit arriving later and later. Hn, hn! Yuh see the sacrifices your ole father makes for you, mih big daughter! (smile) The caffeine hasn’t kicked in yet either. Instead I burned my mouth with the very first sip. And the strange thing about vacations is that when you get back, you’re as tired as ever. You went away to rest and relax, but you usually return home even more fatigued than when you left, and you now need some time to recover from the holiday. I can testify to that right now. But what a way we ‘funnicurious’ eh! But the worst part is all the stuff that’s piled up for you to do in the few days you’ve been away; the snail and e-mail, the bills, the phone calls… Chuh! This 21st century life too busy yes! Anyway, enough of my preamble, let’s see what our Bit has to say. And it’s the same one as yesterday: ‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.’ Those my Friends, were the truthful, factual words of Peter, when he preached to the amazingly receptive Gentiles at the house of Cornelius the centurion in Caesarea, explaining to them in a clear and concise manner how the whole scenario of Jesus, the gospel, salvation and eternal life came about. Yesterday we jumped the gun and looked at the middle section, how Jesus went about doing good and healing the sick and oppressed because it suited my immediate purpose. Today we’ll look at the first part: ‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power:’ Oh Friends, we all know of that great moment in time when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan: ‘And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened (torn open), and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ (Mark 1:10-11) That was effectively the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, where the Holy Spirit of His heavenly Father empowered Him to do the Father’s will. Without it, He would not have been able to do all those wonderful, miraculous things He did. Likewise Friends, without the marvellous Spirit of Jesus constantly coursing through our bodies and souls, we are unable to do much of anything. As Jesus so clearly stated to His disciples: ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:5) And that’s the gospel truth Friends! Without the empowering Spirit of our Saviour flowing through us, we’re helpless! Unfortunately though, a lot of believers either don’t know, understand or accept this fundamental, foundational truth of the Christian life. And it’s of the utmost importance that we know, understand and accept it, because just like Jesus was relatively powerless without His Father’s Spirit, we can’t do anything without the Spirit of Jesus. It’s therefore very critical to our well-being my brethren that we allow the Spirit of Jesus, which comes to dwell in us when we believe in Him, to lead and guide us on our earthly pilgrimage. We have to consistently listen to and be led by it. And not only when it suits our individual purpose, but even more so when it doesn’t fit into our personal agenda. I’m chuckling as I realize that my writing this Bit right now is a very good example of that, because I certainly didn’t want to get up when I did, but the Lord woke me up when He thought it was time. Now though I could have gone back to bed, most likely I would have just tossed and turned because of my reluctance to follow the Spirit’s lead. As I keep saying Friends, working for Jesus is not a bed of roses, but it’s always interesting and adventuresome, and above all else, He ALWAYS empowers us to do whatever He asks of us. My writing this Bit this morning is a perfect example of that. Judging from the way I felt when I began, I never expected to write such a coherent Bit, but as I went along, the ideas began to flow in an exceedingly helpful manner. Do you think that was my brilliance? Definitely not, since my brain was all fuzzy with tiredness and sleep! So Friends, in closing, I just want to exhort, encourage, admonish, whatever the word that best conveys the extreme importance of living in harmony with the Spirit for all believers. That’s because the Spirit of Jesus is the true mover and shaker in the lives of all His followers, and without our submission to it, our faith is essentially useless. Consequently my brethren, please let our relationship with the Spirit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ be the significant thought we ponder on today. More on this tomorrow, if Almighty God so favours. Till then, please walk safely, peacefully and LOVINGLY with Him and all those with whom we come into contact. Much LOVE!…the only way to truly fathom Jesus…is through the working of His Spirit which dwells in us… P.S. Hopefully it won’t be as late now that I’m back home daughter. (smile) Much LOVE!
SCRIP-BITS 