best intentions | SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 37:3. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (feed on his faithfulness).

Well friends, the ole fella’s been up and about early. I even went out to my favourite store, Walmart and bought a new lamp, an LED one to boot. It seems to be working fairly well so far.

And everything outside surely looked and felt fresh and clean because we got some good rain yesterday evening, in fact a real torrential downpour, and later in the night it drizzled for quite some time. And after my after dinner nap, I just lay in bed enjoying the soothing sound of the rain and eventually fell asleep again. Hn! What a life!

But it’s a new day, for which we’re thankful, and will behave in the appropriate manner. And since it’s also Saturday, we’ll look at some quotes from our friend Anselm, who sincerely aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Hear this first one: ‘Be gentle with yourself, you are doing the best you can.’

And most of us are doing our best, but unfortunately we’re not being gentle with ourselves. However, it’s something a lot of us need to learn how to do. We are kind and compassionate to others, but we beat up ourselves over the slightest mistake.

That’s not right friends. Just like the Lord forgives us, and we forgive others, we also need to forgive our selves. We’re only imperfect human beings, and consequently will make mistakes even though we have the best intentions and interests at heart. So please, let’s stop beating up ourselves unnecessarily.

And this next quote tells us that: ‘It might take a year, it might take a day, but what’s meant to be will always find its way.’ And I want to look at that in the context of the Christian life. The Lord has a plan for each and every person that He breathes life into.

That means we all have a destiny and the only person who can stop you from reaching it is you. Once you are walking in God’s plan, your destiny will come true, but believe me, it will certainly take more than a day or a year. (smile)

That leads us to this next quote: ‘Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.’ And it ties in with the last one, where in the Christian context, we don’t believe in chance or coincidence. We believe that everything is worked out through the Master’s will. Therefore, if you’re walking in His will, then your life will change according to the definitive plan that He has for it.

Now listen to this: ‘Happiness comes when we stop complaining about the troubles we have an offer thanks for all the troubles we don’t have.’ And isn’t that the awesome truth my brethren! But it just so happens that in this prosperous, permissive and greedy society, we’re never satisfied with what we have. We always want more, even when we don’t have the time to use or enjoy what we already have.

And talking about troubles, most of the troubles we complain about are petty, immaterial things. Ninety percent of the world would be overjoyed to have our problems. That’s why we should be ever so thankful and joyful for the fairly trouble free lives we live.

And the last quote declares: ‘You don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward.’ And if you’re a Christian, then that will always be the case, because our God doesn’t explain everything to us, but He does expect us to move forward, daily growing in faith, because of His Word and all His faithful promises contained therein. That’s the lot of the believer.

Ah friends, it all depends on one word, ‘TRUST!’ Yeh, when we truly surrender our lives to God and put all our trust in Him, then we’re truly on our way. Listen to these words of Bruh David, a man who lived that trust throughout his life and was well rewarded by the Lord.‘Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (feed on his faithfulness).’

That’s just pure common sense mih breddren! If you’re walking hand in hand with the faithful Creator and Controller of the universe, your life must be on the up side! Look at all Bruh David went through before he became king, but in those trying times he kept on trusting the God of his fathers to look after him…and He did! So much so that Bruh David became Israel’s greatest king and ruler.

And the Lord will certainly do the same with us friends, if we entrust our very souls to Him. Life will not always be a bowl of cherries, but we will come out of the trying times stronger, more mature, more Christ-like, and filled with more faith. That’s just the way it works in the Lord’s economy.

And if you don’t believe Bruh David, then listen to his son, Cousin Sol, whom the Lord made the wisest and richest man in the world because he asked not for riches and long life but for wisdom to rule God’s people.

‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones.’ (Prov.3:5-8)

Oh friends, there we have the recipe for success from two of the most successful men that ever passed through this world, and the foundation is exactly the same: sincere TRUST in Almighty God! Now why would we not use the same foolproof recipe eh? Could it be because we’re just stubborn and prideful and feel we know best…? Much LOVE!

…if you don’t trust your Leader…why are you in His organization…

Proverbs 21:13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Oh Friends, it’s Friday, it’s Friday! Thank God it’s Friday! And the lucky workers around the world, though not always with the best intentions, are thanking God that it’s Friday, and they’re going to have a brief respite from their arduous labours.

Now that is all well and good, but what we do with the brief respite from work is also important. We cannot just waste it on riotous and dissolute living, but need to use it to replenish our strength; mentally, physically and emotionally.

So let’s chant our Friday Chant, which gives us the right perspective on how to use our oh so valuable weekend. All together now, in full voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.

Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’

Now that’s a much better and wiser way to use our days off! And on another important note Friends, today is not only Friday, but also VALENTINE’S DAY; a day on which we celebrate LOVE!

And though it’s been highly commercialized, like almost every other important day, and is more or less viewed as a day for romantic LOVE, it’s still a day when we reach out and touch others.

And any day we do that is indeed a great day! For reaching out and touching others, showing some kind of LOVE is so badly needed and in such short supply in our greedy, angry, resentful and ungodly world!

And it really doesn’t matter all that much what kind of LOVE we touch others with nuh, once it’s TRUE LOVE, it goes a long way towards bringing peace, justice and equal rights to our unjust, war-like and oppressive times.

So today my brethren, when we think of LOVE and giving, let’s not only remember those nearest and dearest to us, with flowers, chocolates and whatever else the commerce peddlers throw at us, but more importantly, let’s stop for a moment and consider our Bit.

‘Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.’

Oh Friends, that is just another angle of the universal principle on which our just, merciful, gracious, forgiving, LOVING and sovereign God built His universe; whatever you sow, the same shall you reap. That means, generally speaking, whatever we do, will be done back to us.

So if the poor cries out to us for help and mercy, and we ignore them, at some future date, when we too cry out for help and mercy, we will not be heard, but also ignored. It’s a simple principle – tit for tat.

And our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ made it quite clear to us when He declared: ‘Judge (condemn) not, that ye be not judged (condemned). For with what judgement (condemnation) ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete (use), it shall be measured to you again.’ (Matt.7:1-2)

And as the scholars explain: ‘7:1-4. Judge not refers to an unfavourable and condemnatory judgement. This does not mean that a Christian should never exercise judgement of any kind under any circumstances. The point being made here is that we are not to judge the inner motives of another.

We are not to render a verdict based on prejudicial information. Nor are we to use ourselves as the standard of judgement for with what…ye mete (measure) you shall be judged. That ye be not judged refers to the ultimate judgement of God rather than our own judgement.’

Oh mih breddren, what’s so hard to understand about all that eh? Nothing at all! It’s like we say: it takes two to tango; two hands to clap; one hand can’t wash itself.

Yes my fellow believers, one of the most important words in our human vocabulary, regardless of the language, is ‘help.’ And one of the most important phrases is ‘help each other,’ for without somebody’s help, NONE of us can ever hope to prosper and succeed. That’s why the phrase ‘no man is an island,’ has also been coined.

The Lord God Jehovah didn’t make this world merely as a bunch of selfish, self-supporting individuals, but as a group of people who are supposed to work together, to help each other along life’s dark, winding and lonely road.

Unfortunately though my fellow believers, our world is littered with the poor, needy and oppressed, and it’s our bounden duty to help them however and whenever we can.

Remember it was the poor, the needy, the lost, the sick, the suffering and the oppressed that Jesus came to save, and it was those types that He hung out with, much more than the rich and famous. And if we’re to be His true and worthwhile followers, we need to do the same things He did.

So today, on Valentine’s Day, this Day of LOVE, I’m asking us all to remember those who are not as fortunate as us. Pray for them, as well as try to help at least ONE unfortunate person. Bless them with something, or in some way that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ can interpret as genuine caring and LOVE.

Remember the rich and powerful don’t give two expletives deleted about the poor and downtrodden, so it’s up to us believers to help them out of their misery.

Please, let’s make a serious, sincere and generous effort to help someone today. That’s not only godly wisdom, as well as our bounden duty, but also a godly act, which we’ve all committed and promised to make our life’s work.

So please, let’s start keeping our promise nuh, for it’s not wise or healthy to make promises and then not keep them. Much LOVE!

…therefore all things…whatsoever ye would that men should do to you…do ye even so to them…for this is the law and the prophets… (Matt.7:12)

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 August 2018 Psalm 37:3.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 February 2014 Proverbs 21:13

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