comfortable living | SCRIP-BITS

Hebrews 10:23. Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

Oh brother, I can’t believe it’s Thursday already nuh! The week’s flying by so fast, it gets sorta blurry! (smile) And was yesterday ever a strange sorta day. In my area we had intermittent periods of sun and rain, until in the early evening hours the sun finally prevailed. But Toronto seemed to be completely different. They apparently had long periods of steady rain that resulted in severe flooding in several areas.

And today it looks cloudy out there again, plus I’ve got to go into the city for a doctor’s appointment. What a life! But what to do eh? Nothing but put our sincere trust and hope in Jesus and believe that He will do as promised; meet all our needs through His riches in glory. (Phil.4:19) That’s what our faith is all about people, and it’s in times of adversity and trouble that we need it to show up in large amounts.

Consequently, I want to share two interesting and reassuring quotes. The first one is comprised of these wise words reputedly attributed to Grady Nutt (1934-1982) a Southern Baptist minister. It says: ‘God should be a resource in the struggle, not a way around it.’

And is that ever so true my fellow believers. We ought to use God to help us get through the adversity rather than as a way to get around it. But in these days of easy and comfortable living, no one wants to go through anything, we all want to avoid, to go around it. But the truth is that it’s only when we go through stuff with God that we really grow and mature in our faith.

And the second quote is from a Daily Bread Devotional footnote that dispenses these words of wisdom: ‘The best reason for hope is God’s faithfulness.’ Oh my people, my people, that is indeed gospel truth! Our God is so wonderfully faithful that there’s nothing we can’t face when we place our hope and trust in Him! All praise and glory be to Him, my faithful brethren! If we were even one smidgen as faithful as our great God, what amazing changes would take place in our troubled world!

That brings us to these intriguing and most interesting, uplifting and reassuring words of scripture found in the Book of Hebrews. ‘And having a high priest (Jesus) over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)’ (Heb.10:21-23)

Oh friends, if there’s anything I can personally testify to it’s God’s faithfulness, because that’s the only way that I can write this Bit everyday. He called me to do it, and without His faithful help to do His work, I’d be lost without a prayer and /or a hope. But through His faithfulness, His guidance and assurance, I come down here every morning, not knowing what I’m going to write about most days, but eventually write more than I can ask or imagine.

Like today, I only had the beginning and the end, absolutely nothing in the middle. But look at how much I’ve written. And most of the time it does make sense. (smile) And those of you who are mature in faith know what I’m talking about, because you’ve put in the time and effort and patience and waiting and seen Him work wonders on your behalf.

For you young believers though, you just have to take our word for it and go up to bat assuredly with your great God, for that’s the only way you’ll ever discover His true faithfulness. You’ve got to go through the fire with Him and experience Him bringing you out like the three Hebrew Boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, without even the smell of smoke on you. (Dan.3:27)

Yes mih people, faith and faithfulness are works in progress, you’ll never stop needing them and having to grow in them until the day you go over to the other side. And don’t think that just because you seem mature in faith that you’ve conquered it all nuh, because the more you grow in faith and get promoted, the more the Lord will test you.

Oh we don’t want to hear that, but it’s an unavoidable fact. We like to think that once we reach a certain level, we’ll free from all temptations and tests and troubles, but Bruh Paul’s words to the Philippians seem to contradict that. ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil.1:6)

So friends, that seems to mean until we die or Christ comes back we’ll be growing and becoming more Christ-like every day. That’s the Lord’s plan, and once He begins it, He won’t stop until we go home to Him, so we’d better be prepared to face adversity and negative stuff throughout our lifetime. And the best way to do that is through hope, faith, trust and surrender in Almighty God.

As Cousin Sol so wisely puts it: ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.’ (Prov.3:5-6) There’s no wiser advice in all the world my brethren, so please let’s take it to heart as we go home declaring (yeh!) our Thursday Blessings. Out loud now, because a blessing is not truly a blessing until it’s declared.

‘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 every Thursday I have to warn us that those blessings are not granted for us to selfishly hoard, but to generously share with the less fortunate, with those who don’t know Christ. So let’s go out and do just that nuh, and thus warm the cockles of Jesus’ heart. Much LOVE!

…you can’t have faith without hope…and hope is that which springs eternal from God…

Proverbs 20:13. LOVE not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

Oh Friends, it’s Monday, that wonderful first day of the work week! And some industrious, well prepared believers began singing: ‘It’s Monday, it’s Monday; time to go to work and make some money, spread some good cheer around and show them Jesus! TGIM! Thank God it’s Monday… and I’m alive and kicking!’

Yes Friends, those individuals were obviously well prepared to meet the coming work week, because their Sunday revolved mainly around God, family, rest and worship. Their spiritual selves have been made ready to deal with whatever comes against them in the next few days.

It’s not they won’t have problems, but since they grounded themselves in God on the first day, that grounding will enable them to rise up over those problems with assurance that Jehovah God is working with them.

Therefore: ‘No weapon that is formed against them shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against them in judgement they shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of (from) me, saith the Lord.’ (Is.54:17)

Unfortunately though my brethren, many of us did not take the time to prepare ourselves positively yesterday, so today we’re a mess; tired, moaning and groaning and complaining about having to go to work. However, there is a short tem remedy, a quick pick me up for that – our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.

So let’s get into it with all the gusto we can muster. As one earthly and harmonious choir now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein!

We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.

Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’

Ah mih people, that sounded somewhat hoarse and scratchy, (smile) but nonetheless it served its purpose, jump starting our engines, and getting our adrenalin flowing. So now let’s make the most of it and get a godly move on nuh.

That brings us to our Bit, a rather appropriate one for what we’ve talked about so far. ‘LOVE not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.’

Truer words have seldom been spoken my fellow believers! Or as the old people would say; ‘sit down never says get up.’ If we are lazy and not industrious, like to lie around and not work, then we shall indeed come to poverty; that could be financially or in our relationships, even our health and our basic attitude towards life.

And it certainly does not reflect a godly or righteous lifestyle! Remember Jesus is all about doing constructive and productive stuff, and His followers ought to be of the same ilk.

This modern day society though, with its wealth and comfortable living, with appliances and gadgets to do many things that humans had to do by hand until recently, certainly lends itself to a more lazy and sluggish lifestyle.

Just think about the proliferation of computers and other communication toys, where we spend more time sitting on our fannies playing with them than physically moving around, like we did before their introduction. That lack of physical movement has obviously contributed to our sedentary lifestyle and thus to the epidemic of obesity that’s currently plaguing our Western world.

What did Bruh Paul tell the church at Rome on the subject? ‘Be kindly affectioned (affectionate) one to another with brotherly LOVE; in honour preferring (giving preference to) one another; Not slothful in business (lacking diligence); fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.’ (Rom.12:10-11)

Yes my people, believers ought to be diligent in all walks of life!

Meanwhile Cousin Sol reiterates our Bit in a slightly different form in the following chapter of Proverbs. ‘He that LOVETH pleasure, shall be a poor man: he that LOVETH wine and oil shall not be rich.’ (Prov.21:17)

It’s hard to argue with those statements my Friends, as we see them lived and acted out in reality and truth in our society all the time. If we concentrate on laziness, pleasure and generally unproductive behaviour, eventually we’ll be brought to nought. And believe me, that’s not a very nice or pleasant situation to find oneself in, since it can lead to things like homelessness and other detrimental behaviour.

And we’ll end with this tidbit from Bruh Paul to Timothy re widows. ‘Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate (left alone), trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that liveth in pleasure (indulgence) is dead while she liveth.’ (1 Tim.5:5-6)

And the scholars explain those verses thus: ‘5:5. A widow deserving of church aid is desolate (has no family to care for her); trusteth in God (lives the Christian life faithfully); continueth in supplications (constantly prays for her support and for the church’s ministry).

5:6. This may be paraphrased, “But the widow who indulges in luxurious living, though physically alive, is spiritually dead.”

Yuh see Friends, the very real danger of living a lazy, riotous, pleasure-filled, unproductive life will eventually bring us to our knees, with the very real possibility of killing us, both literally and figuratively.

That’s not the lifestyle ordained by Jesus for His followers, so please let’s smarten up nuh, let’s get serious about living a true and faithful life for, and in Jesus, because that’s the highest standard of wisdom there is. Much LOVE!

…seek ye first …the kingdom of God and His righteousness…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 September 2014 Proverbs 20:13

Pages

Categories

Archives