Today’s Scrip-Bit   1 January 2022 Philippians 2:5.

Philippians 2:5.     Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Well, it’s 2022 now my brethren, and I want to wish us all in this most favoured Scrip-Bit family a blessed and happy New Year! Some things will change, but most of life will remain the same, and with Jesus dwelling in our souls and bodies, we will be able to handle whatever comes against us, just like we handled it this past year! All glory be to God my people, for His goodness and mercy to us, sinful children of men! 

And like I’ve been saying over the last few New Year’s days, the only resolution we need to make is to get closer to Jesus! Like He promised: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33) Like Bruh David says in Psalm 37 – The true state of the wicked: ‘I have been young , and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed (descendants) begging bread.’ (Ps. 37:25) And that’s the indisputable truth my fellow believers! No righteous believer in Christ will ever beg for bread! 

And Bruh Paul’s words to the Philippians reinforces that quite well. ‘But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 4:19) And if all of that doesn’t raise your passion for Christ this New Year’s morning, then I don’t know what will! (smile) Now, since it’s Saturday, let’s turn to the quotes that our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. 

And the first one tells it exactly like it is: ‘There are greater things to be achieved in every new year, and each and every one must prepare themselves to be great, not by words of the mouth, but by a lot of sacrifices.’ And that’s the glorious truth friends. As they say, actions speak louder than words! You can’t deny that. And if we really want to live for Jesus, this year of 2022 is going to call for Christians to make a lot of sacrifices in Christ’s name and do numerous actions that will raise His presence in this evil and ungodly world. 

Remember Jesus said that if we don’t deny ourselves, give up our will, take up our cross and follow Him, we are not worthy to be called His disciple. (Matt. 16:24) Living for Jesus friends, means making sacrifices for Him, even to the ultimate sacrifice of giving up our life for Him. But thankfully, in our Western society, going to the ultimate sacrifice is not necessary, although it is in some other societies around the world, and those believers there do exactly that. 

But out here in our wonderful and entitled society many of us won’t even sacrifice a broken fingernail on Christ’s behalf, but yet we expect to get showers of blessings, and live high on the hog. It won’t happen friends. The only way that Jesus will be glorified in our currently ungodly world is by His followers making much sacrifice, and not the easy, but the tough kind! 

That brings us to this next quote: ‘The control centre of your life is your attitude.’ And that’s no lie. Your basic attitude towards life in general, and Christ in particular, controls what you will and won’t do. So, if you have an arrogant, evil, ungodly attitude or mindset, then those are the things to which you will gravitate. On the other hand, if you have a kind, LOVING and godly mindset, you will gravitate to the things of Christ. And this year, my fellow believers, more than ever before, our premier task is to get the unbelievers to change their mindset to one that values and believes in Christ Jesus, for that’s the only way our world will ever improve. 

And our problems won’t go away, or even be lessened, until, and unless more of us get together under the glorious umbrella of Christ. Remember Bruh Paul’s entreaty to the Philippians? ‘Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same LOVE, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem the other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but everyman also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ.’  (Phil. 2:2-5) 

Yes friends, we all need to come to the thinking of Christ; humble, obedient, LOVING, compassionate and considering the welfare of others more than ourselves, if we ever hope to better this world. That leads us to the next quote: ‘To succeed you have to believe in something with such passion that it becomes a reality.’ And as most of us know, that’s the awesome truth! You can’t succeed at ANYTHING, unless you are so passionate about it, that in your mind and actions, it’s like it has already come to fruition, already become a reality. 

And I believe a good analogy is what Jesus said in this Beatitude: ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.’(Matt. 5:6) Yes mih people to achieve anything, we must be that passionate over it, like we’re hungering and thirsting for it. And that carries us right into the following quote:  ‘No alarm clock needed. My passion wakes me.’ Now that’s all a part of the same equation; to succeed takes great passion. So much so that we don’t even need an alarm clock to wake us up in the morning, our passion for our project does that automatically. 

And the last quote puts it all together: ‘A great leader’s courage to fulfil his vision comes from passion, not position.’ Oh my brethren until we realize that a leader’s position is not merely a state of power but one of enormous and constant passion, we will never be ready for a leadership role. And the best example we have of that is our Leader, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who withstood all the sacrifice, resentment, rejection and punishment He had to bear, because He was truly passionate about saving us, about saving a sinful mankind, and that was the only way it could be righteously and justly done. 

As the Good Book so exultantly declares, admonishes and advises (smile): ‘Wherefore seeing (since) we are compassed about  with (surrounded by) so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset (ensnare) us, and let us run with patience (perseverance) the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author (originator) and finisher (perfector) of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Heb. 12:1-2) 

My fellow saints, if we want to be true and sincere followers of Christ, then we have to give up our own desires and follow His; follow His lead, if He is our leader. And remember what He’s called us to do, His last request to His disciples? ‘All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:18-20) 

Now isn’t it time we got serious and do what our Leader asks of us? It certainly is, especially with the sad, sick and sorry state that our world is currently in! Much LOVE!

…if you truly know Jesus…you can’t help but LOVE Him…and LOVE those around you…even when it’s difficult to do… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 February 2021 Philippians 2:2.

Philippians 2:2.     Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same LOVE, being of one accord, of one mind.

And the weekly work dance begins again – for the comparative few that still have jobs. Yes, it is a never-ending cycle, which some of us have learned to handle in what was once considered normal times. But unfortunately, this pandemic, with its lingering and deadly sickness, and all the strife, hatred and resentment that’s currently floating around in our society has a made a mockery of almost everything that we held sacred. 

So where do we go from here eh? Who knows? For there is no consolidated plan that most people agree with, but various bits and pieces of contentious solutions which means that no real progress can, or will be made sooner rather than later. Yes friends, until most of us agree on a workable solution and adhere to it, the virus and its many variants will continue to thrive in our society. 

It must be a solution that’s agreeable to ALL levels of government and a fair amount of the population. We can’t be fighting over the efficacy of the vaccines, whether we have enough, or who is getting them first, or the amount of testing we’re doing, and whether there should be partial, total, or no lockdowns at all. 

And that united front is what’s missing from our current situation. Too much passing the buck, finger pointing and irresponsible behaviour…not to mention the great amount of information and disinformation that’s out there, all claiming to be the gospel truth. As one old song so rightly claimed: ‘Too much, too much confusion!’ And another declared (steups!): ‘It’s just a ball of confusion!’ That’s exactly what our world is like right now friends. 

And it seems like the future might just get worse because we’re heading in the wrong direction; trending in a negative, instead of a positive movement. We desperately need to turn that around asap – or preferably RIGHT NOW! But turn it around, we must, if we expect to be victors over our current circumstances. And how do we do that you ask? As always, I believe the best place to turn to for truth and guidance is the Good Book. So let’s look at some of the scriptures that deal with coming together nuh. 

And the first one occurs after Jesus’ ascension. It says that afterwards the disciples returned to Jerusalem, to an upper room. (Acts 1:12-13) ‘These all continued with one accord (purpose or mind) in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.’ (Acts 1:14) 

Yes friends, at that time it was essential that Jesus’ followers were all on the same page, else they would have been easily disrupted, torn apart. And the same thing applies to us today, both as believers and ordinary citizens, for not much can be accomplished when brethren are not working together. 

And the next scripture states: ‘And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord (purpose or mind) in one place.’ (Acts 2:1) There again we have that divine phrase ‘one accord.’ And it’s of the utmost importance if victory is to be achieved by any group. They claim it is used 30 times in the Bible—once in the Old Testament, 29 times in the New, and 25 of those references are in the Book of Acts alone. That alone should tell us of its importance. 

Then we come to this scripture from Bruh Paul to the contentious Corinthians. ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing (have a uniform testimony), and that there be no divisions (dissensions or schisms) among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement.’ (1 Cor. 1:10) That scripture speaks for itself friends. 

And so does this one from Bruh Paul’s epistle to the Philippians. ‘If there be therefore any consolation (encouragement) in Christ, if any comfort of LOVE (consolation), if any fellowship of the Spirit, any bowels (affection) and mercies (sympathy), Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same LOVE, being of one accord, of one mind. 

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory (selfish ambition or deceit); but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves (regard your fellow Christians as more important than yourself). Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others (be as concerned for the needs and problems of others as for yourselves). Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 2:1-5) 

Oh my people, today we also need to concentrate on harmonious living, just like Jesus did, considering others as important as ourselves. Like Jesus said, ‘LOVE your neighbour as yourself.’ And that’s the ONLY way we will ever conquer the demons that are currently plaguing and terrorizing us. And the ONLY One who can bring us together in such manner is our One, True and Living God! So let’s go to Him in prayer right now nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, asking Him to do just that, so we can conquer our evil enemies in this evil world and bring glory to His Holy name. 

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 many natural disasters that now seem more prevalent than ever. 

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 we have to make the necessary adjustments to our own attitudes, namely sincere repentance, obedience and like mindedness, or one accord, (smile) if we want to see positive results from heaven. Much LOVE!

…none of us alone…is as good as…ALL of us together…