Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 January 2020 Psalm 146:2.

01 Jan 2020 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 146:2.    ​While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
 

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR !

Well we’re wishing all and sundry a Happy 2020 indeed! Yes 2019 was sort of rough for many of us, but we’re definitely going to keep keeping on in 2020, fighting the good fight, hoping for, and by our strong faith, eagerly expecting the best! Our God is a good God, so why shouldn’t we expect the best from Him eh? No reason whatsoever! And I hope that you all had a wonderful New Year’s Eve celebration last night, but didn’t give the evil Lucifer any room to raise his ugly head in your affairs. My celebrations were minimal, but I did get to bed rather late, hence the tardiness of the Bit. (smile) 

But most of all, I hope that we ALL made the significant resolution to walk with Jesus even closer in this new year, this new decade! Why? Because it’s the most significant and productive resolve we can ever have in this life. If He’s truly the Way, the Truth and the Life, then who else can you follow and be successful eh? NOBODY! So let’s wake up and smell the roses, the coffee, whatever will put sense and wisdom in our heads, and help us to get as tight as possible with Jesus this year my people. 

Remember, He is the great ‘butterer’ of our bread, the one who enables us to get true wealth and success! He is also a maker and keeper of wonderful promises, the giver of second chances and new beginnings. So on this first day of this new year of 2020, let’s celebrate all of God’s goodness with this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, appropriately titled ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!’ 

Please pray with me: ‘This very first day Of the fresh new year I sing a new song – A joyful, exalted song! With Israel’s sweet singer I exclaim: “How good it is to sing God’s praise How delightful and how right.” The volume increases The tempo accelerates. With glorious anticipation I shout a rousing welcome To the up-and-coming days. The future cannot daunt me Every inscrutable mystery Becomes a consolation of joy For with You in control, dear God The worst may happen but the best is yet to come.’  

And isn’t that the God awesome truth my faithful brethren! The Best is yet to come for all true believers in Christ Jesus! Wow! What a way to begin this new year with high and glorious expectations and a rousing shout of joy, knowing that our Most Venerable Father God is still on the throne, running things, with His most able assistant and right hand man Jesus in the wings watching over our every move and step, providing heavenly and angelic hands to guide us and keep us from falling. And all God’s people gave a loud and proud and grateful cheer of: ‘Hallelujah! The Lord is great! Great and most worthy to be praised in all the earth and heavens! Amen!’ 

And thus our Bit for today is the same as the Bible Promise for our poem; the magnificent words of the psalmist as he declares (yeah!) the blessedness of  trusting God. So please sing with me in loud and sincere voice: ‘Praise ye the Lord (shout Hallelujah). Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.’ (Ps.146:1-2) Yes my people, praising our great God is indeed wisdom of the highest order! 

And that’s not all, the psalmist continues his wise advice: ‘Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man (a human being), in whom there is no help (no salvation). His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.’ (Ps.146:3-4) What gospel truth my brethren! Mankind really doesn’t have much to offer because he was made from the dirt and that’s where he eventually returns when the Lord recovers his breath of life. 

But hear the ultimate wisdom nuh: ‘Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.’ (Ps.146:5) Mamma Mia! What an awesome bit of advice and everlasting truth! The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the ONLY ONE worthy of worship! 

Why? Because Hs is the ONE ‘Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: Which executeth judgement (justice) for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth (gives freedom to) the prisoners: The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord LOVETH the righteous: The Lord preserveth (watches over) the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down (makes crooked).’ (Ps.146:6:9) 

Now friends, if you can show me another deity who does all of that, plus give us Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, then I’ll certainly bow down and worship him. But until then, I’ll stick with the One I know, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, because there simply is not another capable of His mighty deeds, amazing compassion and unconditional LOVE, neither is there any other who can provide salvation. End of story! 

Now let’s go home declaring (yeah!) our Wednesday Wail, with much gusto and sincerity, letting the world know in no uncertain terms our awesome position in Christ. As one 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 people, what a truly glorious future that will be if we persevere and endure in strong faith till the end. Much LOVE!

…let’s up the ante in 2020…by walking closer to, and with God…each and every day…it’s true wisdom…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 January 2017 Galatians 5:16.

14 Jan 2017 Leave a comment

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

Galatians 5:16.   This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Ah friends, the ole fella must be getting better yes, because I woke up this morning and actually felt for a cup of coffee! Glory Hallelujah! 

That does say something, since I haven’t been drinking any since I left the hospital. The couple cups I had earlier on, just didn’t sit right, so I just left it alone. But this one actually tastes good. Glory to God, my taste buds are being revived! 

And in honour of that, this chilly and gloomy Saturday morning, here is a poem from Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional titled ‘Beauty!’ 

Please pray with me. ‘Thank you, Father, for filling the world with beauty. I thank you for the beauty of life, the beauty of LOVE, the beauty of children, and the beauty of old people. I thank you for the beauty of Christ and for the beauty of any life when Christ is invited through the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Father, that you have made my life beautiful too. Amen.’ 

And I don’t know about you all nuh friends, but the Lord has indeed made my life beautiful! I can plainly see it after that scary, life threatening moment a couple of weeks ago. 

You never seem to truly appreciate something until you almost lose it. And yuh better believe, I am very appreciative of life right now, regardless of the state I’m in! And it’s all to the glory of God! 

Now here is an interesting quote from our friend Anselm, who aspires to inspire us. This one says: ‘Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.’ 

And is that ever so true friends! A lot of us are clock-watchers, especially when it comes time to quit work and go home (smile) but you’ll notice that despite the circumstances surrounding it, the good ole clock just keeps on ticking on its merry way to wherever. 

Likewise, Christians are not to let our circumstances stop us from ticking on for Jesus. It will not always be easy to do, but if the Father has brought us to it, He will bring us through it, that’s His faithful promise. 

However, we also have to do our part in the partnership between Christ and us. It’s not a one-way street. Thus the advice of Bruh Paul to the Galatians: ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.’ 

Yeh mih people, to walk with God, means to walk in His Spirit, so that our carnality doesn’t come to the fore. 

Listen to this explanation from the scholars. ‘5:16. Walk in the Spirit (i.e. “live by the Spirit”): Christians are to live with the Spirit’s help. How does one “live by the Spirit”? (1) The Christian must believe that the Spirit is with him, having been sent by God into his heart (4:6). (2) In every spiritual confrontation the believer must yield to the Spirit, that is, submit his own desires to those of the Spirit. 

(3) One must depend on the Spirit for help, enabling him to live a God-pleasing life (v.5). (4) The believer should anticipate the effects of the Spirit’s help in his daily life. The believer who “lives by the Spirit” will not fulfill (accomplish, carry out) the lust (strong desires) of the flesh (sinful nature).’ 

Ah mih breddren, I know all of that sounds hard and confusing, but it is the basis of our Christianity. We can’t live on the fence, it’s either Spiritual or carnal, fleshly living, and the first only comes by working constantly and continually at it, with God’s help. 

Please realize friends that true spirit living doesn’t come overnight, but like everything else in life takes practice and time to develop and mature. 

And the reason for Bruh Paul’s admonition in our Bit is: ‘For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.’ (Gal.5:17) 

Yeh friends, it is a controversy within our souls. And the scholars tell us: ‘5:17. One’s sinful human nature (flesh) and the Holy Spirit lusteth against one another, that is, they have desires and yearnings contrary to one another. 

The Christian then is a battlefield, having desires to do good and evil. The outcome is that ye cannot do the things that ye would: the flesh seeks to thwart the Spirit, who, in turn, attempts to frustrate the flesh’s evil desires.’ 

But you know what friends, it’s not really a tug of war, because once we’ve made up our minds to live by the Spirit, we consciously try and remove sin from our lives, so that the flesh doesn’t have much hold over us, and we can just go on sincerely and seriously ticking for Jesus. Now that is wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!

…each tick and tock of our spiritual clock…means one more point for Jesus…Glory to God…