busyness of life | SCRIP-BITS

Jeremiah 15:16. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.

And then it was Tuesday… another day of joy!

Oh Friends, I recently heard a rather beautiful and meaningful song, not sure what is its correct title, or who sings it, but I know that I’ve shared it with you before. However it was so appropriate to the Christian life that I want to share the gist of it once again.

The young lady who sings it declares that her soul is so full of joy that she just wants to shout it out to the world! The Lord has done so much for her that she just wants to let the entire world know about it!

Wow, my people! That should be the state of each and every believer because our generous and ever-LOVING God has done so much for each of us!

But how many of us really portray that supposed joy in real life eh? Not too many, because we’re more taken up by, more concerned with the things that God didn’t do.

Oh my brethren, please remember that God is not there just to answer at our every beck and call. He is the Master and we are the servants, the ones supposed to answer His beck and call.

So I plead with us again today, as I did recently, let’s stop focusing on our troubles or what we don’t have, and instead focus on the things that we do have; in other words let’s count our blessings and not our sorrows. And yuh know what, surprisingly, if we do that, we’ll find that we have many more blessings than sorrows!

And I just finished reading an article by Andrew Wilson on the subject of joy, in the July issue of the In touch Magazine, some of you might have read it, where he advises us to set joy in God as our number one life priority; to make it the first thing we do everyday, so that later on we can spread it around in whatever manner we so desire.

Remember, you can’t give what you don’t have.

And Wilson’s second bit of advice was, in order to get that joy in God on a regular basis, you have to discipline yourself to do so. We have to get happy or joyful in God on purpose with a disciplined attitude.

And he suggests stuff to help in that respect. Stuff like reading the Bible – a no-brainer, he contends. Spending time with those who increase your joy in God. Giving yourself away; that is concentrating on the plight of others rather than our own.

Do as Bruh Paul advises; sing, dance, pray, shout for joy, all the time! Find quiet places and quiet times to just walk and talk to, or rather with God, and speak positively, both to yourself and to others.

Ah mih people, I know we’ll say that all of that is not easy to do, especially with the busyness of life nowadays. But if you want to have a consistently cheerful and joyful attitude and life, then you’ll MAKE the time to do them.

Oh Friends, life isn’t easy, never was, except when Adam and Eve first walked obediently with God in the Garden of Eden. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy what we now have, have joy in this rough and tumble earthly life.

It does have to be in conjunction with God though. For remember that the joy of the Lord is our strength, therefore if we don’t have that joy, then we won’t have any strength. That’s why the evil one always tries to take away our joy, keep us miserable and depressed, because he knows that when we’re like that, we can’t or won’t do much for Jesus.

That brings us to our Bit; wise words of Jeremiah in the time of his personal lament. ‘Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.’

Yes Friends and fellow believers, Jeremiah had a pretty rough time doing God’s bidding among his ungodly people, Israel. But please note what he says, despite all of his problems and misfortune, he found joy in God’s Word, and also in being called by His name.

Oh my people, nothing much has changed since Jerry’s time, except we now have a better understanding of God and His Word through the coming of Jesus Christ. So why are Christians still so miserable, downhearted and complaining eh?

Please, let’s wake up and smell the titillating scent of God’s LOVE and goodness nuh! It’s high time we learn to take the good with bad, for as Job says, you can’t have one without the other in this world. (Job 2:10)

My brethren it’s time for us concentrate on, and to live out the wisdom of Cousin Sol’s research in Ecclesiastes. ‘There is nothing better for a man, than he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good (his soul should enjoy good) in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.’ (Eccl.2:24)

Yes Friends, there is, or can be joy in life and labour, once we see them as God’s gift to us!

So let’s go forth today and live and labour in the joy of God nuh, appreciating His many gifts and blessings, even amidst the many hardships that life brings. Now that is the ONLY wise way to live and enjoy life here on this seriously troubled earth.

And we have a great though sad example of this in the recent death, apparent suicide of actor and comedian Robin Williams. Despite all his wealth and fame, he apparently suffered from serious depression issues. So what’s the point of having all the wealth and glory but we’re still unhappy eh? None whatsoever my people!

It just goes to show that possession of plenty earthly stuff without God leading the way for us, is truly disaster just waiting to happen. So let’s wise up and truly smell God’s goodness! Much LOVE!

…why be foolishly miserable and depressed…when we can be deliriously joyful…by having sincere fellowship with God…

Psalm 15:1. Lord who shall abide (sojourn) in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

And then Friends, it was Tuesday! Unfortunately, the vacation time is winding down. But not to worry, for there’s yet sufficient time to get in whole lot more activities and make many more memories, so that when I’m sitting in my rocking chair in the cold North Country, I can just reminisce and chuckle at the reminiscences.

And that’s what life really is all about yes people; making good memories. For when old age arrives and you physically can’t do much of anything, all you will have then are memories of the way your life was spent. Therefore it’s very important that we make as many good ones as possible.

For as the Johnny Bristol sings in his song of some years ago: ‘Memories don’t leave like people do. They always stay with you. Whether they been good or bad. They’re never something that you had.’

Gospel truth my brethren! Memories never leave us. When all else fails, memories will still be there. So let’s try and make as many good ones as possible nuh. Now let’s see what good ones I made yesterday. (smile)

Oh, in the early morning hours, some wicked wind and rain lashed my little area – twice to be exact. And what amused me was that in between each episode, the sun came out in all its fiery splendour. Also, around lunch time some friends from Canada came to visit. They are only here for about three days.

Then in the afternoon, I went down to Store Bay for my daily constitutional. I believe the last time I mentioned that, I said testimonial, but it was really constitutional I meant. And that’s simply something good that you do for yourself on a fairly regular basis.

But lo and behold, as I entered the change room at Store Bay, I saw a man sitting there buckling the straps on his sandals. His face seemed familiar, but his cap was hiding the upper portion of his face. So I looked closer at him, only to realize that it was another old friend from Canada, one whom I hadn’t seen in ages, although we don’t live far from each other in the North Country.

But the busyness of life and the disgusting weather often keep people apart for long periods of time. You might talk to them regularly on the phone but hardly ever see them.

Anyway, as the Lord would have it, his wife, daughter and himself were just finished bathing and were planning to drop in on us on their way home. So we just visited right there, since they were only in Tobago for the day.

Nothing much happened after that. I got my dip, said some thanks to a couple of people who had been instrumental in safely securing my bag last week, stopped in the grocery and a food place, then came home and relaxed as best I could with the stupid headache still bothering me.

A couple pardners dropped by for a short visit later in the evening. But other than that it was quiet, had an early night because of the headache, which unfortunately is still bugging me some, almost two days later. I guess though, as the old people would say; after one time is two, since I hardly ever have headaches, especially ones of this magnitude and length.

But for whatever purpose the Lord’s allowing it, I just have to get a grip and keep on doing what I have to, knowing that eventually He will make all things right. And those are the good memories I made yesterday. (smile)

Now let’s see what the Lord wants me to write on biblically speaking, today? And Friends it seems like He wants us to focus today on the important question of: ‘Lord who shall abide (sojourn) in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?’

Yes my fellow believers, that’s an interesting and also very important question! Who is worthy to serve in the Lord’s tabernacle, what are the qualifications necessary for that awesome job?

And Bruh David answers the question he just posed in the following two verses. ‘He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up (receives) a reproach against his neighbour.’ (Ps.15:2-3)

Oh Friends, that means that the person who serves in the tabernacle must have personal purity. But all those things also pertain to the ordinary Christian. EVERY follower of Christ needs to walk uprightly, work righteousness and speak truth from their hearts. It’s all a part of the Christian make up and character. Neither can we be spreading deceit and false rumours with our wicked, hard to control tongues, or doing evil against our neighbours.

As Bruh David also asks in Psalm 24, the King of glory: ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? (Ps.24:3)

And his answer is basically the same: ‘He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity (to an idol), nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.’ (Ps.24:4-5)

Unfortunately though mih breddren, those characteristics are in very short supply these days, even amongst supposed believers! That serious drop in moral standards and otherwise, are why our world is now such a troubled, evil, disaster-prone and calamitous place.

The attributes of good character and personal integrity have sadly lost their position of high standing and importance. They are no longer considered necessary aspects of human life. These days fraud, corruption, deceit, unfaithfulness, selfishness, pride and greed rule the roost.

And it’s sad that many of us believers dabble too much in such unchristian activity, instead of being the ones to uphold the Christ-like character and integrity. That brings us back to Psalm 15, where Bruh David continues his discourse on the qualifications for working in the Lord’s sanctuary.

One ‘In whose eyes a vile person is contemned (despised); but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.’ (Ps.15:4-5)

Yes my people, those are all qualifications that the ordinary but serious believer also needs to possess. We ought not to uphold the works of the unrighteous, but remember they are also God’s creation. And furthermore, at times we also behave unrighteous, and we surely don’t want others to despise or condemn us then.

We need to honour those who reverence God, and promises and vows should be taken seriously, neither should we take advantage of the already disadvantaged. But unfortunately all the negative aspects of those things are rampant in our troubled, misguided world. Like the constant and severe oppression and suppression of the poor and needy and the insatiable greed of the wealthy.

Oh my brethren, those things should not be happening on such a large scale. And it is our responsibility, the responsibility of the true and serious believer, first to eradicate those negative things from our own lives, set a proper example, then try and eradicate them from our immediate circle and surroundings, then keep moving up to the higher levels of our society, and finally the world.

That’s our bounden duty Friends, for nobody else has any real and serious interest in the overall betterment of mankind, which is what Jesus came to do, and what His followers ought to be doing!

Therefore, please let’s ponder our individual situations today, re the things we’ve talked about, then, with the Lord’s help obviously, try to make the necessary improvements. And even for those who are already fairly decent, there is always room for improvement.

Let’s make Jesus proud of us nuh, by living the kind of life He desires of His followers. That’s heavenly wisdom my people! Much LOVE!

…until believers improve their own performance…the unbelievers will rule…and the world will remain in shambles…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 12 August 2014 Jeremiah 15:16

Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 January 2014 Psalm 15:1

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