Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 February 2018 Psalm 27:14.

17 Feb 2018 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 27:14.  Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. 

Awright friends, it’s Saturday…lazy time for some, but lots of housework for others… and then there’s disaster recovery for others. 

Yes, our good friend, natural disaster has reared it’s ugly head again, at least twice this week; earlier on when cyclone Gita, a category 4 storm, tore through the Polynesian island nation of Tonga, and yesterday when another major earthquake of some 7.2 magnitude and an aftershock of 5 point something, hit the area around Mexico City. Luckily the damages weren’t nearly as bad as the one they experienced last year. 

They say disaster usually comes in threes; and of course we had the shooting rampage at the High School in Florida earlier on this week too. And what’s heightened the anger down there is that the Sheriff’s Dept. reportedly had numerous calls about the shooter over the last few months.

The FBI also apparently had a tip on their Hot Line about him recently, and yet nothing was done by either agency to both remove and help him. And then we wonder why these things happen. Ah Lord eh! But ours is not to wonder why, but to do and hope not to die! 

Now since it’s Saturday, let’s take a look at the quotes our friend Anselm graced us with this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And the first one says: ‘The most successful people reach the top not because they are free of limitations, but because they act in spite of their limitations.’ 

And there’s a lot of truth to that, for if you look at many successful people, they overcame a whole lot of limitations to make it to the top. And if you truly want to be successful, you can’t afford to let limitations stop you, otherwise you’ll never fulfill your dream. 

And the next one says: ‘People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.’ Now that can be a bit contentious, because if you’re talking about fulfillment and happiness through the world’s carnal and evil system, then your are definitely lost! 

However, if you’re walking on the road to happiness and fulfillment with Jesus…oh my brethren, then you’re definitely on the right track! Because only through Jesus can we ever find the joy and fulfillment that lasts and earthly lifetime…and then forever… 

And the last quote is also one that provides room for some contention. All it says is: ‘Life is too short to wait.’ Well to a certain extent that’s true, but more so in the physical realm of the world, where haste and speed is everything. But in the spiritual realm of God’s world, waiting is everything my people! 

It’s essential that we wait on God’s timing, for if we don’t, our whole life can go haywire in no time at all. That’s why there are so many admonitions in the Lord’s word about waiting on Him, one of the most famous being our Bit. ‘Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.’ 

Oh friends, what marvellous advice from Bruh David! And nobody knew better than him, about waiting on the Lord. Look at how long after he was anointed to be king, and the number of trials and tribulations he went through before he finally ascended to Israel’s throne. 

He could have tried to make it happen in his own schedule, but I assure you, it would either have never come true, or been and abject failure, but definitely not the glorious reign he enjoyed under God’s timing. 

And today, I just want to remind us of a few of the many scriptures that advocate waiting on God. Let’s begin with this one from Cousin Sol, on the matter of revenge. ‘Say not thou, I will recompense (repay) evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.’ (Prov.20:22) In the first place we should not be seeking revenge, for the Lord has said that’s His job. 

Now hear Isaiah in his song of the redeemed. ‘And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.’ (Is.25:9) 

And we all know the famous scripture from Isaiah 40. ‘But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’ (Is.40:31) Plenty of us quote it, but not enough live by it. 

And then there is this astute reminder from Jeremiah in his Lamentations: ‘The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lam.3:25-26) 

And we have this command from Jesus to the disciples re waiting in Jerusalem. ‘And being assembled together with them (Jesus) commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.’ (Acts.1:4-5) 

And some fifty days later the Holy Ghost baptized them with tongues of fire on the Day of Pentecost. Yuh think if they had disobeyed Jesus and moved on they would have received the Holy Ghost and been able to set the table for the dispensation of the gospel all over the world? 

Not on your life. If they hadn’t obeyed, we would probably never have heard of Christ and His wonderful, free offer of salvation and eternal life, and thus been forced to associate with Lucifer and his evil cohorts in Hades. What an awful and frightening thought! 

And though it’s getting pretty long, (smile) I still want to throw in this gem from Bruh David, because it covers all bases. ‘Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices (schemes) to pass. 

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil (it only causes harm). For evil doers shall be cut off (destroyed): but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.’ (Ps.37:7-9) 

Yeh friends, it’s not always easy to wait on the Lord, but it is the wise and sensible thing to do. Much LOVE!

…the Lord is NEVER late…His timing is always…PERFECT…

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 May 2016 Joel 2:28

15 May 2016 Leave a comment

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

Joel 2:28.   And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.

And then it was the first day of the week – Sunday – the Lord’s Day…Glory Hallelujah! That means it’s time to get our weekly God-fix! And that’s meant in a positive manner.  It’s time to hie thee to the Lord’s sanctuary and raise the roof, or if it’s outdoors raise heaven’s roof, with songs of praise and worship, of adoration and awe and reverence to our wonderful Creator! 

And the good thing about all that is that it’s not a one way street. In return we will receive God’s peace and confidence, His encouragement and assurance, His strength and steadfastness so that we can successfully face the workday world for another week. 

And all God’s children gave out a delightful and grateful shout of ‘All praise and thanks be to our awesome God, who was, who is, and who always will be! Bless His holy name! Amen.’ 

And friends, today is a special day in the life of believers; it spells the formal beginning of Christ’s church; it’s the day of Pentecost, when the beginning of God’s promise in our Bit was fulfilled. ‘And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.’  

Before this, the Spirit of God worked from the outside, came upon believers individually, temporarily, often to perform some special work. But after that, the Lord’s Spirit was going to work internally, in a permanent manner. It would come upon each and every believer and dwell within them as soon as they believed; accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. 

And that promise from Joel was also renewed by Jesus just before His ascension, when He told the disciples: ‘And, behold I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry (stay) ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.’ (Luke 24:49) 

And the scholars explain that verse thus: ‘24:49. Here is the source of strength for effective evangelism. The promise of my Father stresses that the Spirit’s coming is not an afterthought, but an integral part of God’s eternal will. Endued conveys the picture of one being clothed with God’s enablement. Waiting is part of necessary preparation for the reception of God’s guidance and sanction.’  

And that is exactly what the disciples did; they waited in Jerusalem until they were clothed with God’s Holy Spirit, His enablement!  

Now listen to Luke describe the Day of Pentecost: ‘And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord (purpose or mind) in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  

And there appeared unto them cloven (divided) tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.’ (Acts 2:1-4) 

Oh how great is our God, my brethren! For as Jesus also told the disciples before His ascension: ‘For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.’ (Acts 1:5) And so said, so done! 

Now let me see if I can paraphrase an important distinction made here by the scholars. ‘2:4. Though verse 4 mentions only the filling with the Spirit, both the filling and the baptism occurred. Christ promised that the baptism would occur (1:4-5) and Peter later affirms that it did happen at Pentecost (11:15-16). 

The filling and the baptism are two different works performed by the Holy Spirit. Note their contrasts: (1) Following Pentecost every believer receives the baptism of the Spirit (1 Cor.12:13); hence the New Testament never commands the Christian to receive it. But the filling of the Spirit is not experienced by all believers, and so is commanded (Eph.5:18). 

(2) The baptism is permanent, happening but once and for all. The filling is ongoing, occurring continuously as seen in the present tense imperative of Ephesians 5:18, that is, “Keep on being filled.” The verse commands: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (riotousness): but be filled with the Spirit.” 

The filling of the Spirit is the controlling influence of the Spirit within the believer. Such control is neither universal or unending, thus it must be commanded and does recur within the believers (cf.4:8,31) The baptism is the act by which Jesus, through the Spirit, at conversion brings the believer into relation with Himself and makes the believer part of God’s people, the church. The filling is the continuous experience within the Christian whereby the Spirit, who already indwells him, keeps control over his life.’ 

Ah mih people, I know that sounds somewhat confusing, but if you take your time and read it, you will eventually understand what it’s all about.  (smile) 

And we’ll conclude with some of what happened after the Holy Spirit came upon the early church. ‘And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad (this sound occurred), the multitude came together and were confounded (confused) because every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? 

And how hear we every man in our own tongue (language or dialect), wherein we were born… Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt (perplexed), saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.’ (Acts 2:5-8, 11-12) 

Oh my fellow believers, that must have been a rather tumultuous day in ole Jerusalem! When you hear a bunch of uneducated Galileans speaking about God in your own language, it must give you pause for wonder. And you can’t blame those who thought that the Christians were somewhat inebriated either.  

So today, please, let’s sit and ponder what the Holy Spirit has done, is doing and has promised to do in our lives. And above all let’s try and keep our souls continually filled with Him, and thus let Him control us, for that is the epitome of wisdom! Have a blessed day of Pentecost! Much LOVE!

…what’s there to control and baptize us and keep us filled with Christ…the Holy Spirit…