Today’s Scrip-Bit   30 December 2022 Colossians 3:14.

30 Dec 2022 Leave a comment

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

Colossians 3:14.       And above all these things put on charity (LOVE), which is the bond of perfectness.

And so we come to Friday…and the shouts of TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ are even louder than usual, because this is another long weekend, and a more party going one too; New Year’s Eve! What a time of celebration the end of 2022 will be! It’s been a tough, unexpected, uncontrollable year, but we’ll make sure and close it off with joyful expectations for 2023. (smile) But please my people, don’t expect 2023 to be any better than 2022 unless we work to make it better. It’s going to be another tough year, but hopefully not as tough as this past one. 

And it’s only going to improve if we believers do as Bruh Paul warned the Colossians way back when. As we said yesterday, we have to actively put on the new man, leave all our old behaviour behind and put our sincere trust in Christ Jesus: ‘Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond (slave) nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.’ (Col. 3:11) Yes friends, that’s the attitude we believers need to adopt in this new year. 

And as always, after giving us the theory, Bruh Paul gives us the practical lessons. (smile) In this case, he says: ‘Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies (tender mercies), kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering (patience); Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.’ (Col. 3:12-13) 

Oh my people, that is the only way our lives and that of Christ’s church will ever improve, regardless of what kind of year we have! We absolutely need to take on those virtues and qualities that lead to peace and ‘bowels of mercies’ or heartfelt compassion. None of us has arrived, or become so mature that we don’t need these lessons. 

And thus, the scholars explain: ‘As the believer is developing these virtues, he must be forbearing and forgiving toward his fellow church member. For his Christian brother is also in the process of acquiring the virtues of verse 12 and therefore retains some flaws, deficiencies, and weaknesses. Hence the need of forbearance and forgiveness.’ 

And that’s all so true my brethren! We all still have flaws and some residue from the old man; therefore we all need to have patience and forgiveness towards each other as we all are in the growing and maturing process of Christian living. Without that forbearance and forgiveness, it will all fall back into the shambles it currently is! And please remember how Christ forgave us! That alone should encourage us to be patient with and forgiving to others! Now that’s not all, for Bruh Paul continues the lesson in putting on the new man. (smile) ‘And above all these things put on charity (LOVE), which is the bond of perfectness.’ (Col. 3:14) 

And is it ever! Here’s how the scholars explain that verse. ‘Charity is LOVE, here called the bond of perfectness. LOVE is the crowning grace completing the list of virtues required for perfectness or spiritual maturity. As a “bond” it binds all other virtues together in harmony and unity.’ Wow! And it’s the gospel truth! No wonder we say that LOVE makes the world go round! And the lack of LOVE in our world today is what’s making it not go round as smoothly as it ought. 

Therefore, in Bruh Paul’s words: ‘And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.’ (Col. 3:15) Yes friends, ‘the peace of God is the harmony and concord created by God among His people. And when that rules in our hearts, it means that whatever course of action that brings peace and harmony is the course to be taken by disagreeing believers.’ Then too, Bruh Paul highly recommends: ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.’ (Col. 3:16) 

Oh what wonderful advice my faithful brethren! And the scholars tell us that ‘When believers are forbearing, forgiving (vs. 13), and LOVING (vs. 14) toward one another, when peace reigns among God’s people (vs. 15), then the church is fertile soil for the blessings produced by the word of Christ.’ There’s so much truth in that my people! And it’s one of the main reasons why today’s church is so infertile; too much petty bickering, envy and jealousy, which makes for a divided and therefore weak church! 

Meanwhile, Bruh Paul closes this section with these words. ‘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) That’s the clincher my fellow saints! Doing all we do in Christ’s name, with thanks to our heavenly Father! Without that, nothing will work! And the scholars reinforce that by saying: ‘The beneficial influence produced by the indwelling word of Christ is not only to affect public and private worship (v.16), but it is also to control all areas of Christian life.’ 

Glory be my people! That tells us that the Christian life is a complete entity in itself. It does have different parts, but all must be lived out before one can claim perfectness or spiritual maturity. And that’s what we’re aiming for in the upcoming year of 2023 my fellow saints; a heightened maturity! We might not get to be perfect, but we must improve our level of Christ-like behaviour, if our world is to become any better than it currently is. Matter fix! 

Now, let’s go home declaring (yeah!!!) our Friday Chant asking the Lord for His divine help to do all that we said needs to be done. As one voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the confusion and anxiety caused by the pandemic and our many other serious problems. We can’t fix them on our own Lord, so we desperately need your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, without further serious setbacks. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe. 

And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to return backsliders to your fold, show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic, the bubbling discontent and dissatisfaction in our land, as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And all our pleading will be useless, unless we get serious and do what we know we need to do! Much LOVE!

…one can only be a new man…by divesting oneself of the old…and putting on the new… 

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 February 2019 Colossians 3:13.

13 Feb 2019 Leave a comment

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

Colossians 3:13.   ​Forbearing (bearing with) one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
 

And the snow has stopped falling – at least for the time being! Who knows what’s next eh? But what to do, nothing but grin and bear it as best you can. It’s not like we don’t expect snow to fall in winter, but yet we complain so much when it does! (smile) 

Anyway friends, we not going to talk anymore about the weather, I have to go out the street and do some stuff today, so we’ll just leave it all in the Master’s hands, to carry me and bring me back safely. I do hope though, that the fellow we’ve already paid to clean our driveway will come and do so before I’m ready to go out. End of complaining! (smile) 

Now let’s move on to the topic for the day; a rather important one in the lives of ALL believers, and one which we don’t do as well as we should, we’re talking about ‘Forgiveness.’ And that’s the title of the reading from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. 

It says: ‘Forgiveness. What does it do for us? In an amazing way it creates a fresh beginning. It lifts us out of the tangled seaweed of resentment. A miracle is performed! It may not happen in a moment or a day. We may have to forgive at six o’clock on Monday and start over again at two o’clock on Tuesday. 

There is no magic wand to simplify forgiveness. Forgiveness is a deliberate setting of our will, often with no emotional high whatsoever. But once having genuinely forgiven, our soul is washed clean. We walk in dignity again. We sense a new vitality. We’re no longer concentrating on hurts; we’re concentrating on God. If we would only forgive, our lives would undergo transformations beyond our highest expectations. 

Above all, Jesus Christ would be exalted, for it is His forgiveness that makes the difference. Forgiveness is a beautiful word. It is God’s word passed to us to use freely, joyfully. When we ask for the gift of forgiveness, God always says yes. He gave His Son to make us free, and forgiveness is the key to freedom.’ 

And isn’t that the gospel truth friends; we can’t be free until we’ve been forgiven…and we have forgiven! That’s just the way the Lord set it up! And the most important thing we need to know, understand and get deep down in our spirits is that forgiveness is not merely for the forgiven, who oftimes don’t even know or care, but forgiveness most of all is for the forgiver! It’s for us above all else. Because it sets us free from resentment and all the other negative emotions that can occur through a spirit of unforgiveness. 

Hear how Bruh Paul puts it to the Colossians nuh, when talking about the Christian virtues. ‘Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies (heartfelt compassion), kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; Forbearing (bearing with) one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.’ (Col.3:12-13) 

And the scholars have an interesting explanation of that last verse. ‘3:13. The fact of believers being urged to assume the virtues of verse 12 signifies that none has yet “arrived” spiritually. As the believer is developing these virtues, he must be forbearing and forgiving toward his fellow church member. For his Christian brother is also in the process of acquiring the virtues of verse 12 and therefore retains some flaws, deficiencies, and weaknesses. Hence the need of forbearance and forgiveness.’ 

That’s simple common sense friends, all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, therefore we need to be compassionate and forgiving of each other’s faults and weaknesses, just like Christ forgave us. And so many of us forget that oh so important fact; that Christ forgave us, that’s why our sin debts have been paid and we’re heaven bound. 

But foolishly and selfishly and arrogantly we refuse to forgive others while we go with hypocritical hearts to God crying out for forgiveness for our own deficiencies. That’s so wrong my brethren. And Jesus made that quite clear early on in His ministry. Note in the prayer that He taught, which we call the Lord’s Prayer, the second to last line says: ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’ (Matt.6:12) And it means just that; as we forgive, so we will be forgiven! 

And Jesus made it even clearer a couple of verses later: ‘For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.’ (Matt.6:14-15) It couldn’t be any clearer than that friends! 

So let’s get some wisdom and common sense going in respect of forgiveness nuh, because we only hurt ourselves when we don’t forgive. No one says it’s always easy, but with God’s help we can ALWAYS accomplish it, no matter how long it takes! 

Now let’s go home declaring (right ho) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know our position in Christ Jesus: With sincerity, in loud voice and strong sense of purpose: ‘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 please believe it, that future will be even more glorious than we can ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…forgiveness frees the forgiver…so that Christ can forgive them… 

P.S. I just went upstairs to reheat my coffee, and looked outside…and wonder of wonders, the snow has begun falling again! So who knows what the day will bring eh? (smile) Much LOVE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 February 2017 Colossians 3:13.

09 Feb 2017 Leave a comment

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

Colossians 3:13.   Forbearing (bearing with) one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Ah friends, it’s time to celebrate one more day of life on God’s great earth! Wow! What a privilege! 

Remember, a lot of others did not open their eyes this morning, so there must be a reason we opened ours to the bright and dazzling light of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Glory to God! 

Let’s therefore give Him appropriate thanks and praise for all the new mercies and blessings He’s specially prepared for us for today. 

And all God’s people loudly, heartily and gratefully declared: ‘Thank You Lord for all You’ve done for us, all You’re doing right now, and all You’ve promised to do in the future. We know You are an ever-faithful Deity, thus we praise and bless Your Holy Name! Amen!’ 

Now here is a gem of a quote, I found on my desk this morning. I don’t who or where I got it from, or if I ever shared it before, but it surely is worth sharing over and over. 

Listen closely. ‘Choose the best; shun mediocrity. Mediocrity has a way of shrivelling up enthusiasm. But commitment to excellence taps an incredible source of energy. Elect the best, no matter what the price tag.’ 

Words of everlasting wisdom my people! And they are particularly pertinent to believers, because Jesus expects us to be persons of excellence, and you can only be excellent when you reach out for the best. 

That brings us to our Bit, but let’s start with the seminal verse before it. ‘Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved bowels of mercies (tender mercies), kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; 

Forbearing (bearing with) one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.’  (Col.3:12-13) 

Even greater words of wisdom my believing breddren, since it’s based on God’s basic law, of you reap what you sow. And the scholars have this to say about those verses. 

‘3:12. Put on literally means to “dress oneself” (with clothes); here, used metaphorically, it means to take on or assume certain virtues and qualities. Bowels of mercies means heartfelt compassion.’  

‘3:13. The fact that believers are being urged to assume the virtues of verse 12 signifies that none has yet “arrived” spiritually. As the believer is developing these virtues, he must be forbearing and forgiving toward his fellow church member. 

For his Christian brother is also in the process of acquiring the virtues of verse 12 and therefore retains some flaws, deficiencies, and weaknesses. Hence the need of forbearance and forgiveness.’  

Ah friends, one more reminder that as believers we must always reach for excellence in all our doings. None of us have become spiritually perfect as yet, therefore we all need to forbear and forgive if there is to be unity in Christ’s church. 

And right there you have one of the reasons why Christ’s church is so divided and cantankerous; we refuse to forgive others and instead hold on to the negative emotions of anger, hate and resentment. 

Oh my people, please remember these immortal words of Jesus. ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.’ (Matt.12:25) 

How do we expect Christ’s church to stand if we are so divided and refuse to forbear and forgive eh? It’s just impossible. 

And hear these even more immortal words of Jesus, (smile) which occur in the ‘Lord’s Prayer,’ the sample prayer He gave us, and which most of us pray every day. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’ (Matt.6:12) 

Oh friends, have we gotten so complacent in praying that prayer that we no longer consider the words we speak and what they truly mean? We ask to be forgiven as we forgive. So what does that tell us eh? Only as we forgive, will the Lord forgive us. 

So why are we allowing the nonsense of the world to interfere with our Christian behaviour and beliefs, with our joy, our peace and contentment eh? Let’s wake up and become the people of excellence that the Lord expects of us nuh. That’s the only way we’ll ever defeat the forces of darkness. 

Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings. Who else has such wonderful favour eh? Nobody but us! So let’s use it nuh friends, while remembering that a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone. 

In all sincerity and belief now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! 

I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! 

I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’ 

And the corollary to all that, is let’s remember to bless others like we blessed ourselves. Much LOVE!

…to forgive is heavenly…and to be forgiven is even more heavenly…

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 September 2016 Colossians 3:17.

23 Sep 2016 Leave a comment

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

Colossians 3:17.  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.

Ah friends, welcome to the second day of the 2016 autumn season! Autumn is the beautiful season, where the leaves turn all sorts of red and gold and brown and many different colours in between. 

And would you believe that the tops of a couple of trees in my neighbour’s backyard are already quite yellow and a few others are already turning brown, even though we haven’t had a cold day as yet. 

I guess the trees know something that we don’t, so like the ants, which are busy in the summer gathering their winter victuals, the trees are also making early winter preparations. 

And who says God’s universe isn’t great eh? The trees and the other living things know by instinct when to do what, meanwhile, mankind, the supposed great thinking machine, oftimes doesn’t have a clue. 

Anyway, I know many of you couldn’t care less about how nature operates naturally (smile), all you’re interested in is today’s Friday and you can joyfully shout: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! The weekend’s upon us at long last! It’ll soon be playtime! Thank God for Fridays and the weekends oui!’ 

Oh friends, the weekend will continue to be the bane of our existence until we learn to use it properly, with moderation in all aspects of our doings. Now let’s chant our Friday Chant which gives us good guidance on how to apply ourselves over the next couple of days. 

As one now: ‘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.’ 

Yes my brethren, that is the better way! And it ties in very nicely with our Bit. ‘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.’ 

Words of awesome truth and wisdom, my people! ALL we do and say, ought to reflect the characteristics and virtues of Christ, in thankfulness to Almighty God! 

In other words, we must try to always walk in the footsteps of Jesus! Oh, I know those are exceedingly big steps for us to fill, but with Gods help and our faithfulness and sincerity and perseverance, we can accomplish a sufficiently high calling. 

And today we’ll check out the Christian virtues that Bruh Paul spoke of before our Bit. ‘Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies (tender mercies), kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; 

Forbearing (bearing with) one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 

And above all these things put on charity (LOVE), which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.’ (Col.3:12-15) 

Oh my people, those things are so important in a Christian’s life that Bruh Paul included them in almost all of his epistles. Now here are some explanations from the scholars on those verses. 

‘3”12. Put on literally means to “dress oneself” (with clothes); here, used metaphorically, it means to take on or assume certain virtues and qualities. Bowels of mercies means heartfelt compassion.’ 

‘3:13. The fact of believers being urged to assume the virtues of verse 12 signifies that none has yet “arrived” spiritually. As the believer is developing these virtues, he must be forbearing and forgiving toward his fellow church member.

For his Christian brother is also in the process of acquiring the virtues of verse 12 and therefore retains some flaws, deficiencies, and weaknesses. Hence the need of forbearance and forgiveness.’ 

‘3:14. Charity is LOVE, here called the bond of perfectness. LOVE is the crowning grace completing the list of virtues required for perfectness or spiritual maturity. As a “bond” it binds all other virtues together in harmony and unity.’ 

‘3:15. The peace of God is the harmony and concord created by God among His people. It is to rule. The Greek verb means to act as an umpire who makes decisions in an athletic contest.

Thus, let the peace of God rule in your hearts means that when believers are at odds with each other, whatever course of action best maintains peace and fosters harmony is the course to be taken.’ 

There it is my people! And I do hope that we all now have a better understanding of what it means and takes to be a true Christian, and to therefore grow and mature in Christ-like behaviour. 

Remember all that we’re going through, is meant to bring us closer to a true reflection of Christ. Our wonderful God desires to see the image and behaviour of Christ in ALL of His people, that is the eternal goal. 

So as we go about our business today, please let’s take time to think about what we do and say, be quick to hear and slow to speak, and make sure that all our words and actions positively and LOVINGLY reflect the true image of Christ, for then we’ll be showing true wisdom and Christian behaviour. Much LOVE!

…LOVE…the crowning glory of God…

 

 

   

Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 February 2015 Colossians 3:13

07 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Colossians 3:13.    Forbearing (bearing with) one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Well mih people, is Saturday – serene Saturday! And that description didn’t come from me, but from the duchess. We were sitting outside on the verandah this morning having coffee, and I was admiring the beautiful, peaceful, tranquil scenery, when all of a sudden she pops up with the word ‘serene.’ And it is indeed a very apt description. I was trying to send a couple pictures of the serenity, but I couldn’t figure out how to attach them. That just shows my lack of ability in the new communications revolution. (smile) But I’m not annoyed. I’m happy with what I can do.

Now I’m this late because I promised the lady to take her to get some fish this morning between 9 and 10. So we headed out around nine something for Mt. Irvine where the best fish is supposed to be. We went yesterday evening but they didn’t have what the lady wanted, but said that we should come back today.

But as the Lord would have it, this morning there was still none of what the lady wanted – king fish or red snapper – and you couldn’t talk her into anything else. So we decided to go down to another fish place in Lambeau.

On the way through Carnbee though, I decided to stop at an old school friend’s home, knowing that he had been sick with some foot problems when I saw him last year. The foot’s somewhat better this year, but due to his diabetes it’s giving trouble to heal properly.

Anyway, as we were leaving, he began to regale us with the story of a young man coming through his open door late one night some months ago, ostensibly to kill him. The fellow asked if his name was so and so, and he replied no. He refused to tell him his name because it was quite close to the name the fellow was looking for. In fact the three guys in the posse had stopped at the wrong street. The fellow with the name they were looking for lived a couple streets further down the road.

To cut a long story short, after some feeling out words had passed between them, and seeing the gun under the fellow’s jacket, he set aside his fear and grabbed up his grandmother’s long sword-like knife which was near to him, and jumped up and accosted the intruder, fear and the power of God lending strength to his lame feet.

Eventually though, the intruder backed down and backed out, but as he was going down the stairs, my friend said he felt the urge to just stick the knife in his neck, but wisely he didn’t. Meanwhile, one guy was below his house and the other on his back steps, outside the door, guarding any areas of escape.

Ah Lord eh Friends, yuh see what can happen when yuh sitting in yuh own house minding your own business in these evil times! He almost got shot through mistaken identity. Apparently three guys had come up from Trinidad to make the hit. It’s surely getting like the Wild Wild West, like the early lawless days of the last century.

Anyway, after that I went down to the fish market in Lambeau, where again there was nothing the duchess wanted. So we came back home, about eleven, had breakfast, bake and saltfish, then I obviously had to rest a spell after such an energetic morning. (smile)

And Friends, like we’ve been talking about compassion for the last few days, today we’ll talk about forgiveness, another big virtue we desperately need in this evil, cruel, unforgiving world. And after reading this morning’s take on the subject from the One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings from Ruth Harms Calkin, I just couldn’t leave it out.

Listen closely to these words of indisputable truth from the passage titled ‘FORGIVENESS.’  ‘Forgiveness. What does it do for us? In an amazing way it creates a fresh beginning. It lifts us out of the tangled seaweed of resentment. A miracle is performed! It may not happen in a moment or a day. We may have to forgive at six o’clock on Monday and start over again at two o’clock on Tuesday.

There is no magic wand to simplify forgiveness. Forgiveness is a deliberate setting of our will, often with no emotional high whatsoever. But once having genuinely forgiven, our soul is washed clean. We walk in dignity again. We sense a new vitality. We’re no longer concentrating on hurts; we’re concentrating on God.

If we would only forgive, our lives would undergo transformations beyond our highest expectations. Above all, Jesus Christ would be exalted, for it is his forgiveness that makes the difference. Forgiveness is a beautiful word. It is God’s word passed to us to use freely, joyfully. When we ask for the gift of forgiveness, God always says yes. He gave his Son to make us free, and forgiveness is the secret key to freedom.’

Oh Friends, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a better, more compact exposition on forgiveness. All of it is absolutely true. Forgiveness is not for the other person or persons, but for you, for us the forgiver! You can be bearing unforgiveness in your spirit and the other person doesn’t know about it, or doesn’t care, so you’re not doing them anything.

You’re just hurting yourself, and the unforgiveness, if kept for a long time, will definitely turn into resentment and then bitterness and hatred. Meanwhile the unforgiven is going about their business like nothing’s happened. You are the only one who’s feeling the negative effects of your actions.

Therefore Friends, it’s absolutely necessary that we do as the promise for the above passage from Bruh Paul says in our Bit and the lead up to it, if we want to have peace in our souls. ‘Put on therefore (dress oneself), as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies (tender mercies, heartfelt compassion), kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering.

Forbearing (bearing with) one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.’ (Col.3:12-13)

Ah mih people, words of absolute wisdom and truth! And yuh know what? We’re going to stop there for today, so that we can all go and ponder, meditate upon, and consider all that we’ve said today and see how it applies to us.

Please, let’s take this to heart and seriously check out ourselves, for a lot of the negative and unfortunate things in our lives are direct consequences of unforgiveness. Much LOVE!

…unforgiveness only hurts or kills the unforgiver…not the unforgiven…

P.S. Oh Friends, through a little perseverance and godly guidance, I eventually managed to attach some pictures of serenity in Paradise for the people I send the Bit directly to by e-mail. Unfortunately I couldn’t do the same for you who read the blog.  Much LOVE!