Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 September 2018 John 10:11.

John 10:11. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
 

Ah friends, sorry for the Bit’s lateness, but I went to bed late, got up late, and had a few things to do before I began writing. But the good news is, here I am at last! Glory! Glory! (smile) 

 Oh isn’t it just great to be alive? To be able to laugh and sing, run and jump, (not me… just yet), and even cry once in a while? It surely is, especially when we are living with and working for our wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Oh praise His holy name my faithful brethren; exalt the name that’s above EVERY other name, to whom ALL knees MUST eventually bow! 

Yeh, that’s our Messiah, our Prince of Peace, our heavenly Advocate, Our Burden Bearer, Our Comforter, in fact our Be All and End All, our EVERYTHING! Wow! Are we ever so blessed to have a Leader of such awesome proportions! Let’s give Him the thanks and praise He deserves…and all day long at that! 

Yeh, the ole fella’s in a joyful, exclamatory mood this morning! And why not eh? I just got some most excellent news; news that my heart problems have improved…Glory to God! And I’m now medically fit to travel…Oh mih brethren, that’s the best news ever! 

It’s been almost three years that I’ve been parked up here without the ability to get on an iron bird. But yuh know what, as I keep saying our God is ever so faithful, because many a day I’ve lain in my bed and looked through my window at the iron birds coming and going to and from the nearby airport, wondering when I’d be able to get on one. 

And the Good Lord has always quieted my heart by promising that one day, in the not too distant future, He will lift the medical limitations and free me from this onerous bondage… And now He has done just as He has promised! Bless His holy name! So in light of that extraordinary faithfulness, why wouldn’t I just offer up my whole heart and soul, thanks and praise to Him eh? No reason whatsoever my people! 

But enough of my excitement…let’s get on with the Bit. It’s Saturday, that means we need to look at some of the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week. And we do have a whole slew of then this week, all dealing with change. And we will begin with this one: ‘If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less.’ 

I’m not so sure about that nuh, because the human animal is so eccentric and confusing, and dislikes change so much, that a lot of us will probably prefer to be irrelevant rather than to change. That leads us to this quote: ‘The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.’ 

Now that I definitely disagree with! In my many years and much trial and testing on God’s earth, I’ve usually found that the price of change is usually much higher than the price of standing stationary. In particular the effort that one has to put out to make whatever change is necessary. That’s why so many people just stay the same way in the same place. 

That’s why this next quote is the living truth! ‘Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.’ Now that’s exactly why so many of us resist change, even change that’s obviously in our best interest! Change just doesn’t come easy. And this one mirrors the truth of the last. ‘The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.’ And so it has my brethren… though not always for the better! 

That brings us to the last quote: ‘I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.’ And isn’t that that the undeniable truth people? Unless our world changes, and drastically too, and also towards Jesus, until we stop trying to drive God out of our society and instead, embrace Him with all our hearts, souls, bodies and minds, our world will just continue sinking inexorably, relentlessly into the muck and mire of Lucifer’s evil empire. 

And that is not what our Saviour came to earth and suffered so much for. That’s definitely not why He suffered such pain and humiliation and eventually gave up His sinless life on that wooden cross at Calvary. If He wanted us to become part and parcel of Lucifer’s evil empire, He would have just remained in His cozy corner in heaven enjoying all the exotic delights provided by His Father. But He sacrificially gave all of that up to come and save our sinful souls. 

Remember friends, Lucifer is the master of thievery, lies and deception, an evil genius in leading mankind astray. Just look at how he deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden, and he’s still doing it to us to this day. However Jesus declared, and proved it too: ‘The thief cometh not, but (except) for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.’ (John 10:10-11) 

And there is absolutely no doubt that that’s what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary; give His sinless, holy life on behalf of our abominable sinful souls, so that the Father could justifiably forgive us and reconcile us to Himself. So why are we still foolishly running behind Lucifer and his evil, lustful, carnal, ungodly way of life eh? A way of life that will only lead to eternal separation from our heavenly Father; the worst fate that can ever befall a human soul! 

I don’t know the answer to that nuh friends, but I am surely trying my best to stay away from that end result…and I sincerely hope that you are trying to do the same, because that’s the ultimate in wisdom! Much LOVE!

…as for me and mine…we will definitely follow Jesus…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 August 2018 Psalm 33:12.

Psalm 33:12.   Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Wednesday, glorious Wednesday! Let’s hope it’s not as hot as yesterday though. Brother! That was really a scorching one in my area! And I had to go out in it twice and do stuff that I had been putting off, but could not afford to put off any longer. That just teaches you to stop procrastinating and adhere to the saying, ‘Don’t put off for tomorrow, what you can do today.’ 

But yuh know what? Let’s enjoy the day yes, even if it’s another scorcher, because come next week, after Labour Day and the cold front comes in, we’re going to be complaining about the cold weather. Hn, hn! But I guess that’s the nature of the human animal, especially when it’s comfortable in its surroundings. And as John Maxwell tell us: ‘Circumstances don’t make you what you are, they reveal who you are.’ And isn’t that the awesome truth. 

Just imagine if we were living through the enormous hardship of most of the world’s population, and not in the cozy, comfortable and well-fed confines of Western Society? Can you imagine how we’d cry out and complain? Hn! Just look at how we behave now when some li’l, petty thing goes wrong, and how we behave towards those who don’t have very much in our prosperous, but ever so unequal society. Steups! 

The top 1% owns 90 something percent of the wealth and power, while the remaining 99% have to get by on the measly portion that’s left. But that’s our lifestyle, and we nicely term it capitalism. But it’s simply pure selfishness. And selfishness seems to be so deeply ingrained in our lifestyle, that we can’t even recognize it for what it truly is. 

Ah friends, I don’t know how to do it nuh, but we definitely need to find a more egalitarian, more people friendly and sharing kind of society if we want to keep it buoyant and prosperous. Just look at the sudden rise of charitable organizations, food banks and soup kitchens in these prosperous times nuh, of working families that can’t make ends meet!  

Those were things you only heard about during the tough times of depression and war. But unfortunately, today they are a major part of our society. Ah Lord eh! As the man says, our circumstances certainly reveal who we are. And the revelation is that our society is not a very nice, sharing, generous or godly one. End of Sermon! 

And would you believe, when I began, I didn’t know what I was going to write about! (smile) Thank You Lord!  And you know why our society is so topsy turvy, confusing and strife-filled? Because we have forsaken the Lord God of hosts! We are trying to drive Him out of our boundaries and out of our lives. But is that ever so foolish my brethren! Just listen to what the Lord Himself had to say on that matter. 

First of all, through Moses, He said to the Israelites when He so miraculously brought them out of bondage in Egypt. ‘Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure (personal property) unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.’ (Ex.19:5) Please note that last phrase friends, for all the earth and everything therein is indeed the Lord’s because He made it and keeps it going. 

And note this even more important passage that Moses tried to drum into the stubborn heads of the Israelites. ‘But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.’ (Deut.8:18-19) 

Yes my brethren, it was the Lord God Himself that gave Israel the ability to get wealth. And you’ll notice that each time they turned away from Him their society suffered serious mishap. But when they turned back again, He forgave them and renewed their prosperity. 

Friends, the same thing is happening in our society today. When we were mostly a God-fearing people, He enabled us to become overwhelmingly prosperous. But now that we’ve gotten too big for our breeches and think we no longer need Him, our society is quickly and sadly going downhill, falling into a horrible pit, into the miry clay and the only way for us to rescue it is to repent and once again become a God-fearing nation. 

As our Bit so wisely states: ‘Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.’ Yes friends, that’s gospel truth! We’ve seen that not only with Israel, but all down through history, where great nations crumbled when they felt they no longer needed God to survive and be prosperous. And unfortunately the same thing is happening to us today. 

Please, I implore us to not allow history to repeat itself where we are concerned. Let’s not forget the Lord our God! But for that to happen, we believers have to get up NOW, and do whatever it takes to cause Jesus’ LOVE Revolution to once more proliferate in our society, instead of Lucifer’s evil and hate based organization! That’s the only way we will be saved from God’s upcoming destruction! Nuff said! 

Now for those of us who are actively working on the LOVE Revolution, let’s go home letting the world know our position in Christ, by enthusiastically declaring our Wednesday Wail. In strong voice: ‘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 is that future ever going to be glorious! More than we can ever ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…without Almighty God in our lives…we have no meaningful life…