Today’s Scrip-Bit   26 April 2024 Colossians 3:14.

26 Apr 2024 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.

It’s another bright, sunshiny day, this last Friday in April! But just imagine that nuh; April is almost finished. Father Time is certainly waiting on no one, he’s running his race like there’s no tomorrow. And it would be wise if we copied his example and ran our own race as if there’s no tomorrow, for who knows how many, if any of us will be alive to see tomorrow. But be that as it may, the worldwide shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ have been heard around the world, and thus the weekend, plans and promises for it, has become our focus. 

And yes, the weekend is ours to enjoy, but during it, let’s not forget the most important One in our entire lives; Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, for He’s the One who enables us to get health, wealth strength, salvation and eternal life! And all God’s children said a loud and grateful ‘Thank You Jesus!’ Now, since the Lord spared our lives, meaning his mercies and compassions were new this morning, (smile) let’s keep our promise to continue talking about some of the things that the prayer yesterday from the In Touch Devotional triggered. 

And the main thing we found was LOVE, which is God’s most important attribute and has so many appealing and intriguing aspects to it. And above all it was God’s LOVE for us that caused Him to send His only begotten Son Jesus to die for us on the cross of Calvary so that our sins could be forgiven, making reconciliation possible with Him. And, as we saw yesterday, that means we need to reciprocate that LOVE as much as we can. But here are a few other things that that magnificent attribute can and does do. 

On the basic nature of LOVE, Bruh Paul writes in 1 Corinthians: ‘Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.’ (1 Cor. 13:4) In other words, ‘LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind, it is not jealous; LOVE does not brag, it is not arrogant.’ In light of that he writes thus to the Colossians: ‘And above all these things put on charity (LOVE), which is the bond of perfectness.’ (Col. 3:14) And the scholars explain that ‘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.’ 

Meanwhile, Peter says it this way: ‘And above all things have fervent charity (LOVE) among yourselves: for charity (LOVE) shall cover a multitude of sins.’ (1 Pet. 4:8) Now that’s how strong LOVE is my people, when we have it amongst each other, it can help eliminate many sins. Such as James, Jesus’ brother explains. ‘Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth (wander), and one convert him (turns him back); Let him know, that he which converteth (turns) the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide (cover) a multitude of sins.’ (James 5:19-20)  

And don’t for one moment think that the wisest one, Cousin Sol didn’t have that covered long before James and Peter came on the scene. (smile) He most certainly did, as he so rightfully warned in Proverbs: ‘Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.’ (Prov. 10:12) And it most certainly can when it prospers among us my fellow saints. But the problem though is that LOVE, sadly is not as plentiful and prosperous, neither amongst believers, or the world in general, for it to make the big difference it needs to make to set us straight and right with each other and with Almighty God. Thus the heavy price we’re currently paying as hatred, strife, anger and all the negative emotions control our world instead of LOVE. 

That brings us to this last scripture, awakened by the words of the prayer: ‘when tempers start to rise…when anger flares in people’s eyes.’ And unfortunately those words so appropriately describe the current state of our world. Ah friends, this noteworthy scripture from Bruh Paul to the Ephesians warns us: ‘Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place (an opportunity) to the devil.’ (Eph. 4:26-27) Yes my fellow believers, we can get angry, but not do anything to give the devil an opportunity to get into our souls, and don’t let that anger last until we go to bed, because most likely it will disturb our sleep and we’ll awaken with it still plaguing our souls and spirts. 

And let’s not fool ourselves, it’s going to take a real uphill battle, one of much sacrifice and suffering for us to replace the hatred and anger now enveloping our world with the sincere LOVE of God. But with God on our side friends, we all know we can do it. We just have to make up our minds and pull up our bootstraps and move as one body in Christ Jesus! And to help us do that, let’s go to the throne of grace in the prayerful words of our Friday Chant. 

Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for 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. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. 

And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. 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. 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!’ 

But please remember friends, that to gain divine help, WE must set the ball rolling by doing the things the Lord desires, like being good examples of Christian living, and turning from our evil ways. Much LOVE!

…until…and unless the LOVE for God and man…truly awakens in the breasts of men…evil will continue ruling the roost…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   2 June 2022   1 Corinthians 13:13.

02 Jun 2022 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 13:13.      And now abideth faith, hope, charity (LOVE), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (LOVE).

Well, it looks like the real hot days are gone for the rest of this week. And, on this Provincial Election Day in Ontario, we are back to barely crossing the twenty degrees mark, with a cool breeze continually blowing. The truth be known, it’s not quite summer as yet, so those past few really hot days are merely a harbinger of the days to come. (smile) 

And just now, while skimming through the Good Book looking for a topic to talk about, I came upon this wonderful chapter, one that is near and dear to all our hearts, and I immediately knew that my search was ended. (smile) It’s the scripture we call the Chapter of LOVE or the Way of LOVE! And believe me friends, do we ever need that thing we call LOVE, true brotherly or ‘agape’ LOVE, in this strife-filled, immoral, evil and ungodly world of ours. A world where everything else but LOVE seems to exist in great proportions. 

And the thought is that if we talk about it today, some will rub off on us and thus help create a better, more Christ-like world (smile) So let’s hear what Bruh Paul had to say to say on the subject, to the church at Corinth in his first letter. ‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (LOVE), I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging symbol.’ (2 Cor. 13:1) And do we ever have plenty of those in our society today, who claim to speak in tongues, in the language of God, but are truly only clanging cymbals, only making a setta blooming useless noise because they don’t have any true godly LOVE in their souls. 

Then Bruh Paul continues: ‘And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (LOVE) I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity (LOVE), it profiteth me nothing.’ (1 Cor. 13:2-3) 

Oh my people, yuh see the great emphasis that’s put on LOVE? It’s so great that even if you have all of the other supposed attributes of God, but you don’t have that main one of LOVE, then you don’t have anything, you’re nothing, all that other stuff profits you nothing! And sadly, our current world is filled with those kinds of people, who claim to have all the God-given attributes, but lack the most important one, that’s LOVE! And how do we know that eh? Because their actions don’t show it. For LOVE is an action word! It’s all about doing, doing what needs to be done, not talking up a great storm of nothing, making a set of noise but not really doing anything useful or LOVING. 

Now here is how Bruh Paul characterizes true LOVE. ‘Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (LOVE) envieth not; charity (LOVE) vaunteth not (does not brag on) itself, is not puffed up (arrogant). Doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no account of evil). Rejoiceth not in iniquity,  but rejoiceth in the truth. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity (LOVE) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail (cease); whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away (cease).’ (1 Cor. 13:4-8) 

Oh friends, it’s true that LOVE like that as described by Bruh Paul is indeed difficult to come by, but as Christians, as faithful believers in Christ Jesus, it is our bounden duty to try and acquire as much of it as possible, because that’s the only way our world and that of our descendants will ever improve. And the only way we can increase our LOVE quotient is by sticking as close to Christ as possible, because He is the reservoir, the fountainhead of LOVE! 

And please note that Jesus didn’t just talk LOVE, but showed it in His everyday actions, especially by His sacrificial death on the cross for a bunch of ungrateful sinners! And sadly, two thousand years later, even with the greater knowledge we have of God and His Word, of His attributes and His desires, so many of His creation are turning away from Him at this crucial time of strife, hatred and the burgeoning of evil. 

I don’t know what else to say or do nuh my people, so that I can impress the importance of God’s agape or brotherly LOVE on the health and future of our world, which Satan now holds in a death-like choke hold. We are going under friends, there’s no doubt about it, and if we keep on following this path of destruction that we are currently on, it’s only a matter of time before our world implodes or explodes. And believe me, the only thing available to turn our situation around before it’s too late is the quick rising, the improvement of our LOVE situation. 

That’s why Bruh Paul closes the chapter with these memorable words of truth. ‘And now abideth faith, hope, charity (LOVE), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (LOVE).’ (1 Cor. 13:13) And that’s the gospel truth my fellow saints, LOVE is the greatest; that’s why God made us and why He sent His Son to save us. Bruh Paul said it thus to the church at Rome. ‘But God commendeth  (demonstrated) his LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) 

And Jesus made it known to all and sundry: ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 3:16) And it’s not like the Lord didn’t give us the necessary tools to do His earthly work. He did, and very generously too. And those tools are encompassed in what we call our Thursday Blessings. 

So, let’s declare them now so that we can activate them. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 every day! Amen!’ 

That means we have all we need to go out now and do God’s will. So please let’s do that nuh. Our God, our children and our world deserve our stepping up to the plate and being better people. Much LOVE!

…only a great dose of agape LOVE…provided by Christ’s followers…will ever bring joy to our sad, misguided world… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​