Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 April 2021 Psalm 139:14a.

17 Apr 2021 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 139:14a.     ​I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:

Saturday, Saturday! Thank God that lazy day called Saturday is here! Yes friends, Saturday has arrived…and we’re happy, despite the tighter lockdown restrictions we were handed in our province of Ontario yesterday. Ah Lord eh! When will it all end? The vaccines don’t seem to me making much of a difference, because every day we’re hitting record highs in new cases of the covid virus, be they the regular one or the variants. And no one seems to understand why this is happening. So, the only recourse is to lock down tighter. 

But again, that will only work if people responsibly adhere to the rules, which they have not been doing in the past, and why the virus has been proliferating for so long, until it had a chance to rework itself and become even more dangerous. But friends, the one constant in it all is the amazing presence of Christ Jesus in our lives! That has not changed, so as the song says, let’s keep Jesus shining through us, and together with Him, we’ll shine over the whole world, and let His glory fill the land. 

And since it’s Saturday, we need to check out the quotes that our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Now they all seem to be centred around personal image and improvement, so obviously they will have some overlap. And the first one says: ‘Be yourself. An original is so much better than a copy.’ And is that ever the awesome truth! Have you ever noticed when you make a copy of something, it’s never as good as the original? 

Well that also applies to our lives. We come off much better when we let our real selves show and not try to be a copy of someone else. And that’s all the Lord is asking of us – to be who He created us to be, not try to be someone else. That’s why He made each of as a unique specimen and not copies or clones. As Bruh David says in Psalm 139: ‘I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right (very) well.’ (Ps. 139:14) 

Consequently, this next quote speaks very well to the first. ‘Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.’ Truer words were never spoken my people! We must be true to what God made us, and whatever we do, make sure we put our very heart and soul in it, because our heavenly Father always expects the best of us. And if we find that we can’t put our hearts sincerely in something, then we should not get involved in it. As Bruh Paul told the church at Colossae, re Christian virtues and advice for domestic life. ‘And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.’ (Col. 3:17) 

And the scholars offer this explanation on that verse. ‘3:17. The beneficial influence produced by the indwelling word of Christ is not only to affect public and private worship (vs. 16), (where he admonishes them to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with grace in their hearts to the Lord), but it is also to control all areas of a Christian’s life.’ 

And later on, Bruh Paul advises the slaves and servants thus: ‘And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.’ (Col. 3:23-24) Yes friends, even slaves and servants were to perform their menial tasks wholeheartedly, doing their best, because they were not doing it so much for their earthly master but for the heavenly One, who promised them the reward of salvation in their Christian faith. 

That brings us to this quote: ‘If you’re searching for that one person that will change your life, take a look in the mirror.’ Now that’s something we should do everyday friends. Take a good look in the mirror and try to discern who or whom we really are! Everything in our lives begins and ends with us. We can’t expect others to improve our lives if we don’t first put in the effort and energy to do it. As the old saying goes; no one can make you happy but yourself. 

Just look at all the toys and conveniences we have in today’s modern world, but so many of us are still bored and miserable. That’s partly because we are expecting, looking for other things and people to make and/or keep us happy. But if we can’t first find happiness within ourselves, then we’ll never find it anywhere else. 

And the next quote fits nicely into the framework. ‘You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first.’ That should be obvious my brethren. We can’t give away something we don’t have, be it money, time, talent or LOVE! That means we first have look after ourselves, to grow in us, or our lives, whatever it is we want to share with others. So if it’s money; then we have to work to get some. With time, we must arrange our schedule so that we have some to spare. And for talent, we have to learn, or improve ourselves in whatever area we desire to help others. 

But you know the amazing thing about wanting to share LOVE: you need to do all of the above, especially spending time with the Master of LOVE, Jesus, and learning from Him and His word! Oh glory be mih people! As Jesus says, the two most important things in this world are to LOVE God with everything you have, and to LOVE your neighbour as yourself. (Matt. 22:37-40) And as we were just saying, if you don’t have LOVE for yourself, how can you give it to anybody else? But Jesus can teach us! 

And the last quote tells us: ‘Be proud of who you are, and not ashamed of how someone else sees you.’ Now that’s the gospel truth friends! Far too many of us are ashamed of ourselves for stupid, worldly reasons! God might be disappointed in us, but He’s never ashamed of us. So why do we allow mortal men like ourselves, to make us feel ashamed eh? Granted, some of us may be down on our luck, for whatever reason, but that’s no reason to be ashamed. Remember what Bruh David said; we’re ALL fearfully and wonderfully made, unique creatures of God’s sophisticated engineering, so there’s no need to be ashamed. 

We can always turn to God for His faithful help. Just look at Bruh Paul’s life, how he turned from destroying believers to lifting them up, with Christ’s help obviously, to the point where he could boast. ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.’ (Rom. 1:16) 

And what better scripture to close with than this one from Christ Himself. ‘For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.’ (Luke 9:26). Yes friends, Jesus, as always, puts it in plain language. If we refuse to stand up for Him now, then, when He comes in all His glory, He won’t bother with us either. That just seems fair, doesn’t it?Much LOVE!

…human beings are God’s greatest creation…let’s truly reflect it in our earthly lives nuh…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 July 2020 2 Corinthians 10:12.

25 Jul 2020 Leave a comment

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

2 Corinthians 10:12.     ​For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise.
 

Welcome friends, neighbours and Scrip-Bit family to a glorious Saturday, one filled with so many promises that we couldn’t enjoy or accept them all, even if we tried! Wow! But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to accept and enjoy as many as we can, because that’s why our great and wonderful God showered us with them on this glorious summer morn! So let’s make a special effort to do it nuh, especially on a lazy Saturday like this one, let’s action our wonderful acclamation: ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we WILL be glad and rejoice in it!’ 

And the first order of business is to check out the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Oh brother, we have a full slate of some interesting quotes and I don’t know how to arrange them so we can get the best benefit. Like Anselm trying to tax mih ole brain. Oh chuh! Let’s fly the seat of our pants. (smile) 

We going to start with this one: ‘If you don’t have time to do it right you must have time to do it over.’ Ah mih people, I don’t know how many times my mother directly told me or intimated that it was in my best interest to do it right the first time, because I’d only have to do it over again, and you often don’t have the time to do it over again. And our quote suggests that when we don’t do it right the first time it’s because we have time to do it over again. But I think that’s just a tongue in cheek statement, (smile) because it’s ever so important to try and do it right the first time. 

Let’s pay serious attention to our doings nuh, else we’ll end up like this next quote describes: ‘We are too busy mopping the floor to turn off the faucet.’ Yeh, so often we try to fix the result of the problem, rather than the problem itself. That’s not wisdom, and it’s happening more and more everyday in our confused and busy world. Too many of us don’t take the time to think through stuff before we rush out to fix it. 

But here’s this wonderful quote that explains it all. ‘The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity of like is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give.’ 

Oh, isn’t that beautiful and ever so wise my brethren! And that last sentence is key. As Jesus proclaimed: ‘Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom (pocket). For with the same measure that ye mete withal (use) it shall be measured to you again.’ (Luke 6:38) Yeh friends, however we give, generously or grudgingly, it shall be given back to us, like a boomerang. In other words, like Uncle Charles (Charles Stanley) says: ‘whatever we sow, we shall reap, more than we sow, and later than we sow.’ Just had to throw that in there. (smile) 

And that brings us to this interesting quote that we all know: ‘Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.’ And that’s for certain sure, because the Lord seems to like using sinners, broken people to accomplish His biggest deeds. Just look at people like Bruh David, Moses and Bruh Paul and the father of nations, Abraham. All of them had speckles on their lily-white skin. That’s just for comparison purposes, to heighten it. (smile) But they all did great things for the Lord, and I guess that’s a point He LOVES to make: use broken people to do big deeds in His name. 

Like the story of the two pots a woman used to carry water every day; one was perfect, the other cracked and thus leaked out half the water by the time they got home. Two years into situation, the cracked one complained about its failure to do its job properly, but the lady pointed to the beautiful flowers on the side of the road of the cracked pot. She knew of the pot’s flaw and had planted flower seeds on his side which he watered as they went along. 

And as the Bible.org website so wisely reasons: ‘Each of us has our own unique flaws. We’re all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father’s table. In God’s great economy, nothing goes to waste. So as we seek ways to minister together, and as God calls you to tasks He has appointed for you, don’t be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of beauty in His pathway. Go out boldly, knowing that in our weakness we find His strength, and that “In Him every one of God’s promises is a Yes.” 

Oh Mama Mia! What words of divine wisdom! And that’s why we badly need to adhere to this last quote: ‘Be yourself: everyone else is already taken.’ Oh so true! But in this follow fashion world, too many of us are trying to be like other people, who themselves don’t even know who they are. Just look at the nonsense that social media is causing, re shaming each other because of our size, supposed, beauty, race, colour, creed, whatever have you. People are even committing suicide because of the foolishness. 

But friends, God made us to be who we are. He knows all of our weaknesses, flaws and imperfections because that’s how He made us, and that’s what needed for the special plan and purpose He has for our individual lives. So we don’t need to be anybody else but ourselves. Remember Bruh Paul’s warning to the church at Corinth when he spoke of his spiritual authority? ‘For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise.’ (2 Cor. 10:12) 

Oh friends, it is good to follow seemingly godly, good and righteous folks, but we should not let their behaviour affect us to the detriment of the plan that God has for us. In the long run, we need to be whom He has made us to be, regardless of our flaws, if we truly desire to reach our destiny! Much LOVE!

…comparisons among men…reeks of the devil’s influence…