Today’s Scrip-Bit   15 March 2023 Matthew 6:21.

15 Mar 2023 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 6:21.       For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Well friends, we’ve come full circle around again to another Wednesday, the middle of our work week. Some of us look forward to Wednesday as a sort of harbinger of Friday, that magic day when labour ceases for most of us. Yes, just two more days to go. But Wednesday, in and of itself is a very good day. It has all the new mercies and compassions that the other days have, and it also gives us another chance to get closer and more intimate with our Creator and to make a much needed difference in our crazy, turbulent world.. So please stop looking at Wednesday, just in terms of Friday. (smile) 

And to show how special Wednesday can be, this morning we’ll open with the words of Bruh Paul to the church at Ephesus, a greeting that’s unlike any other greeting. So listen up, pay attention. My fellow saints, all over the world where this missive is read or heard, ‘Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be (worthy of praise is) the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.’ (Eph. 1:2-3) 

Yes friends, Bruh Paul has deemed the Lord as being worthy of much praise because of the spiritual blessings He has put aside for us in heaven, through His Son, Jesus Christ. And what are those spiritual blessings that are in our names in heaven. Here are a few of them, as noted by the scholars. 

The first one is the Christian’s citizenship, which is listed in Bruh Paul’s letter to the Philippians, when he advises them to imitate him and not others who ‘are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is their shame, who mind (set their minds) on earthly things. For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence we also look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.’ (Phil. 3:18b-21) 

So, if we follow Christ, sincerely, the first thing we’re assured of is citizenship in heaven with Him. The scholars also note that our High Priest is in heaven. ‘Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into (through) the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched (sympathize) with the feeling of our infirmities (weaknesses), but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly (confidently) unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’ (Heb. 4:14-16) 

Wow! What a wonderful high priest we have in heaven my brethren! One who can identify with all of our faults and frailties. It certainly does help to be able to go to Him and know that He will understand whatever we’re going through. Then there’s our hope. As Bruh Paul puts it in his missive to the Colossians. 

‘We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the LOVE which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:’ (Col. 1:3-6) 

And I like some of the scholars’ explanations of those verses. As per vs. 4, they say: Evidence of a person’s faith is Christ Jesus is his LOVE…to all the saints.’ And we cannot deny the truth in that statement. Then as per vs. 5, they explain that ‘Hope is salvation, as it refers to the object for which one hopes. While Word of truth of the gospel could be rendered as “the message of the gospel which is true.” This is meant to contradict the Colossian heresy: unlike its false teaching, or “vain deceit” (2:8), the gospel is true indeed. 

And then in vs. 6, they explain that ‘The universal spread and effectiveness of the gospel verify the assertion in verse 5 that it is the truth. The Colossian heresy is merely local; while the gospel has come to the Colossians, it has gone beyond them in all the world. And it bringeth forth fruit; that is, when embraced by faith, the gospel produces godly character and noble conduct in its converts.’ Let’s hope that’s true of us my people. 

Then we have our ‘inheritance’ which Peter talks of thus: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively (living) hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.’ (1 Pet. 1:3-5) 

Ah mih people, salvation begins a new stage of life for us, and we have that certain hope because it’s guaranteed by the death and resurrection of Christ. and our inheritance is imperishable, cannot rust, be tainted by moth, stolen or ravaged by the passing of time. And it’s securely preserved and guarded in heaven for us by our heavenly Father. Wow! Now why would I choose to bow down and worship any other god eh? No way Jose! 

And lastly, we have our treasure stored up in heaven as spoken of by Jesus. ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt (ruin), and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt (ruin), and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ (Matt. 6:10-21) And I do hope we’ve taken Jesus seriously and laid up our treasures in heaven rather than down here on earth, for it’s all safe and secure up there. 

So you see friends, some of the spiritual blessings we have laid up for un in heaven by the Father through Christ, and which are ‘being progressively dispersed to us on earth in accord with our need and Christian growth.’ We couldn’t have a better life than that friends. That’s why it’s wise to hook up with Jesus and stay hooked up! Now for those of us who have done that, let’s go home declaring (yeahhh!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus! 

Altogether now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And one last bit of encouragement. If we endure to the very end with Christ, then that future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…if living for Christ brings heavenly blessings…why live for Satan which brings hellish curses… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ         

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   11 September 2021 Mark 11:22.

11 Sep 2021 Leave a comment

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

Mark 11:22.     Have faith in God.

Then it was Saturday…and life keeps moving on regardless! Yes friends, despite what we say, do or think, life is moving on, and it will move on, because that’s what it was programmed to do by its omnipotent Creator. And until He decides that it’s time to curtail life, there’s nothing the creation can do to thwart it. So, having made that indisputable fact clear, (smile) let’s go out then and enjoy life nuh, live life to the full, live it abundantly, as Christ Jesus died to have us do. For there’s no sense in trying to change or disrupt stuff over which we have no power. 

That means letting go of all our worries, anxieties and negative circumstances. We claim to have faith in the One and Only God Jehovah, and in His Son Jesus Christ, who can enable us to do anything, so please, let’s show more of that faith in our everyday lives nuh. Otherwise, we are making ourselves liars, for in these greatly troubled times, great faith in Almighty God is an absolute necessity. So, as life moves on, let’s move on too, and see what quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week. Help me to wrap my head around them and make some sense of them. (smile) 

And the first one says: ‘Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.’ I guess that’s basically true. You can’t make progress unless you change up stuff in your life, and it sounds logical that if you can’t change your mind you will never change anything, since change begins and ends in the mind. It’s the control centre of our life. But friends, a serious word of caution here, do all the changing you want, but please don’t ever change your mind about believing in Christ Jesus! For without Him, we are nothing! 

And I guess our friend Anselm was on a faith kick this week, because all the other quotes deal with some aspect of faith. So hear this one: ‘Make a space in your life for the glorious things you deserve. Have faith.’ Now I don’t know how much we deserve, if anything, but the Good Lord does shower us with glorious stuff, and we do need faith to believe that He will continue doing so. Remember that several times Jesus chided those around Him for having little or no faith, and after cursing the fig tree that had leaves but no fruit, He told the disciples: ‘Have faith in God.’ (Mark 11:22) 

But what exactly is faith eh? I found this simple but interesting definition on the pushpay.com/blog website by commentator Allison Sakounthong. She says that ‘Put simply, faith is believing in God and trusting in His plan, even when you don’t understand it and can’t see it. As it applies to our life, however, faith is about more than just a feeling, it’s about living it. We live our faith through obedience to God and acts of service.’ And I think that’s as simple as you can put it. It’s all about believing in God and living for Him, with great expectations of good things in our future. 

That’s segues very nicely into this next quote. ‘Patience is not the ability to wait. Patience is to be calm no matter what happens, constantly take action to turn it to positive growth opportunities, and have faith to believe that it will all work out in the end while you are waiting.’ Now that’s all true, but again we have to transfer it to faith and belief in God, since there are a lot of things we cannot make happen on our own, but remember what Jesus said about the camel going through the eye of a needle, as opposed to a rich man entering the kingdom of God? ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’ (Matt. 19:26) 

That’s what we need to believe, with absolutely no doubt whatsoever in our souls, and spirit! Otherwise we will always be lacking something, or even shortchanging ourselves, for it takes great faith to live sincerely for Jesus. Just check out the lives of the great saints before us, like Noah, Abraham, Moses, Job, and our three Bruhs, Joseph, David and Pablo. (smile) And I guess most of you didn’t know that Joseph was a Bruh eh, because I don’t talk about him much. But to be truthful, I believe he was an even bigger example of patience and perseverance than Job. Just look at all he went through as a teenager; from slavery, to prison, in complete innocence. 

But you’ll notice that he never whined or complained about his unfair treatment, and that wherever he was, be it in Potiphar’s house, or in prison, the Good Book tells us that ‘the Lord was with Joseph…’ (Gen. 39:2, 22) Yes my people, Bruh Joseph had a dream of great things from God, but the way it actually played out in his life seemed very contrary to the promise. But he never gave up, he stuck it out without complaints, possibly sensing deep down that there was a good and godly reason for all his unwarranted hardship. 

And that’s what faith in God means: to stand strong and steadfast in your belief, and keep being godly, although the reality of the situation doesn’t match up with your dream. For God doesn’t move us to high positions unless we go through the low ones faithfully. That brings us to this next quote. ‘Sometimes beautiful things come into our lives out of nowhere. We can’t always understand them, but we must trust in them. I know you want to question everything, but sometimes it pays to just have a little faith.’ 

Ah mih people, that’s the contrariness of our great God! Sorry, ‘contrariness’ is not the best word nuh, but I just couldn’t think of it at the time of writing. (smile) I basically mean that sometimes God allows us to go through hardship without any explicit reason, but then He also blesses us with beautiful things, also without any explicit reason. But if we truly know who He is, and how He operates, then those unexpected storms or beautiful sunsets won’t bother us, we’ll take them in stride, knowing that He has a good reason and purpose behind all He does, and as He has faithfully promised, eventually He will work it all out for our good. 

Then there’s this last quote. ‘Believe in a LOVE that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this LOVE there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.’ Oh my fellow saints, we know about that LOVE! We’re talking there about the greatest LOVE EVER! That of our wonderful God for us: The Good Book tells it plainly: ‘But God commendeth (showed) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) 

Now how can ever be a LOVE greater than a Father sending a Son to die for ungrateful, disloyal and disobedient people eh? No way! And though that LOVE is visible right now in our earthly lives, it’s also stored up in heaven for us, as Peter tells us. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively (living) hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.’ (1 Pet. 1:3-5) 

Oh friends, there’s nothing else I can say nuh, except to rally us to the cross of Jesus, for that is where it all begins and ends! And if you don’t come to foot of that wooden cross at some stage of your earthly life, to lay your burdens down and receive Christ, as Lord and Saviour, then your life would have been a total waste! Much LOVE!

…if God could display so much LOVE…mankind ought to display much more faith…                                                                                                      

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 January 2021 Ephesians 1:3.

06 Jan 2021 Leave a comment

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

Ephesians 1:3.     ​Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

And then it was good ole Wednesday, the day that gets us over the hump in our work week, that is for those of that are still working. By then we have become acclimatized to the rigours of the work week and have settled down in our spirits, knowing that we can’t get away from it all, if we want to make a living. What a wonderful thing that we have Jesus to encourage and energize us as we go through the ups and downs of this evil and cruel world! 

Can you imagine the state of our livers right now in these dismal, controversial and calamitous times, if we didn’t have Jesus to hold on to, to be our rock and place of refuge, our safe shelter from the storm? Brother! It would be like the bleak, damp, winter days that we’re currently having in my area, with no sunshine whatsoever, just a grey and dark hood over the land, with nothing to inspire soul, body or spirit. But as Bruh Paul says to the Ephesians: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.’ (Eph. 1:3) 

Yes friends, our God is indeed worthy of blessings, of much praise and thanks, because He has blessed us, conferred unimaginable benefits upon us. And as the scholars ask, ‘When did He do this? Probably in eternity past (cf. vs. 4-5).’ And I’ll quote those verses here for convenience. ‘According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in LOVE. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children (as sons) by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.’ (Eph. 1:4-5) 

Ah precious people, it’s so wonderful to know that we have been chosen long ago to be God’s children and heirs through Christ Jesus, who, through His sacrifice made it possible to become holy and righteous and in right relationship with the Father. And what’s amazing is that the Father did this out of His own LOVE and caring for us, greatly desiring to offer us His grace and mercy so we would not die an eternal death, but live with Him in eternity, for ever and ever. Yes, we need to remember that it was all God’s doing and show the appropriate thanks and gratitude by living a life that’s worthy of and appropriate for a believer in Christ Jesus. 

As Bruh Paul said to the church at Rome: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) Can you imagine any other supposed god doing that for a bunch of ungrateful, disobedient people? Not on your life! But Yahweh, Jehovah God, the Deity we worship did it, because of the magnanimity of His soul and Spirit, the awesome LOVE He had for His most precious creation. Wow! 

And turning back to our Bit, talking of the spiritual blessings conferred on us, the scholars ask: ‘Where are these blessings located? In heavenly places, that is, in heaven. As the Christian’s citizenship (Phil. 3:20), high priest (Heb. 4:14), hope (Col. 1:5), and inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4) are all “in heaven,” as his treasure (Matt. 6:20-21) and affection (Col. 3:1-2) are to be “in heaven,” so also the Christian’s blessings are “in heaven.” These spiritual benefits were granted to the believer and are retained in heaven for him, being progressively dispersed to him on earth in accord with his need and Christian growth.’ 

Oh my people, as we grow in spiritual maturity, we receive more of our heavenly blessings here on earth. It’s like the money we save in the bank; when we need it we take it out. And yuh know what? It was all done through Christ Jesus! Yes, from day one, the Father planned to bless us through His magnificent Son. That was just how it had to be to be done, so it would be authentic, be just and right as demanded by His holy, righteous and just position as judge of the universe! So none of it is an accident, but a well prepared and thought out plan designed to meet all the needs, desires and commitments of all concerned. 

Bless His holy name my fellow saints for being so kind, considerate and compassionate, when we didn’t even deserve one iota of His LOVE, grace and mercy! So why we do refuse to bow down and worship Him eh? Why are we so enamoured with and are so desirous of worshipping a fallen angel, who has nothing of substance to offer but eternal death and damnation, a mere creation of God, just like us, who couldn’t defeat God, but was kicked out of heaven for rebelling against His Creator? 

Do we think that with us in tow, he can now defeat God eh? Hn! Friends, God is the Creator and Controller of this universe, and NOTHING happens in it unless He allows it. I don’t know why that’s so hard for us to accept, especially when our frailties, weaknesses and mortality show that we are no match for the Almighty. 

Friends, it should be oh so clear that we are fighting a losing battle by trying to turf God out of our society. He made it and controls it, and He’s not going anywhere. Look at how long we’ve been trying to resist His word and invitations, thousands of years, and yet still they are here with us today, stronger than ever. Shouldn’t that tell us something? 

Yes! That it’s a waste of time fighting God. And it’s best, as the ole saying goes: ‘When yuh can’t beat them, join them!’ That makes so much sense in these trying and disastrous times my people, since as our efforts are meeting with no success whatsoever. But as they also say, ‘you can only lead a horse to water, but you can’t make Him drink.’ Let’s hope that I have at least led us to Christ, and once we get there, I know that He will do the rest. (smile) 

So for those of us who are truly interested, let’s go home now declaring (awright!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our wonderful and most enviable position in Christ Jesus! Altogether now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! 

I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And my brethren, please remember that if we endure until the end, our future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine! That’s the promise of Jesus!Much LOVE!

…step out in faith…trust in Jesus…and you won’t regret it…