Ah friends, the sun is out, but even more importantly, the Son is out in the ole fella’s soul, body and spirit! Wow! And do I ever need Him this morning as the aches and pains are running somewhat rampant from all the physical activity involved in going down to the Ex last night to check out the David Rudder show.
And it was a grand show; beautiful lighting and wonderful music from an excellent band composed of mostly local musicians! David is also an excellent performer. He went on at 8.30, and with the obvious encore didn’t finish until 10:15. And the fans LOVED him, because he is a personable and engaging raconteur, does a lot of talking and encouraging in his songs. And though the rain began drizzling around 9:15, it never stopped the Madness of the party!
And you can imagine the crowd response when he sang some of his many hits like, Hammer, Bahia Girl, Calypso Music, This is Madness, Islands in the Sun, and ended with his anthem, Give Thanks! I never got home until around midnight, and after doing the usual bedtime routing didn’t get to bed until after one. Thus the tardy awakening and consequently the lateness of the Bit. (smile)
But here is an interesting quote that we can all use, from Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) a Protestant Lutheran Pastor, and theologian, who was active in the German resistance to the policies of Hitler and Nazism. ‘The essence of optimism is that it…enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not abandon it to his enemy.’
What an eternal truth that is my people! And more so for Christians than anybody else because we have the best earthly life and eternal heavenly future planned out by our wonderful God for us! Jesus died partly so that we could have life here on earth, and have it abundantly (John 10:10), then He promised that he was going back to heaven to prepare a home for us and would eventually come back and take us with him there.
And if you don’t believe me, then listen to Jesus Himself. ‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions (dwellings): if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.’ (John 14:1-3)
Oh my faithful brethren, what an awesome promise! And we all know that our Godhead ALWAYS keep their promises! So why are so many of us so negative and unoptimistic eh? Being a follower of Jesus is the best cause for optimism in this evil and ungodly world. Too many of us are fearful, anxious and unsure about our lives and earthly situations, but Jesus has on several occasions told us to be otherwise.
Remember two of His favourite words were ‘FEAR NOT!’ And in our Bit He tells us quite plainly: ‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.’ How much more can He say eh? But He does say more. (smile) Hear Him when He promises the disciples the Holy Spirit. ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27)
That’s why Christians should always be the eternal optimists! And this definition of an optimist is both excellent and true. ‘An optimist, regardless of personal problems, is eager to arise in the morning – to get to work, to be with friends or family, to live the happiness of the day. People are drawn toward optimists, for their joy shines on everyone around them.’
And that’s exactly how we believers ought to be! But in actual fact, would that be a good description of our current lives? That’s for each of us to know and work out with God. But please remember Jesus said that we should let our light shine before men, so that they could see our good works, and thus glorify our heavenly Father. (Matt.5:16) Well friends, we can’t do that unless we truly believe in Him and are joyfully optimistic about our future.
And I’ll quote us one more encouraging scripture from Jesus: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) Oh mih breddren, mih breddren, how else and how often must Jesus say it for us to believe it eh?
He has already given us the victory by conquering hell, death, the grave and Satan through His sacrificial death and awesome resurrection, we just have to keep the victory going now, and we can only do so by resisting the wiles and taunts of the evil one and being strong and optimistic in Jesus!
And I certainly hope that what we’ve said today has raised all our optimism levels, and set us on a path where our lights can shine brightly and we can make a true and useful difference in the world as Jesus so greatly desires. And He has shown us His own optimism by not only dying for us, but also by giving us His wonderful Thursday Blessings so that we can do His earthly work.
And since they don’t work unless we invoke them, let’s declare them all now, in loud, clear, sincere and optimistic voices. As one now: ‘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!’
Yeh mih people, that’s the way Jesus wants us to declare His word and blessings. Now let’s go out and do the most important part; share them with the less fortunate…Remember now, don’t hoard them, share them as generously as He has shared them with us. Much LOVE!
…‘life is an adventure of choices to be lived…not an ordeal to be survived…I choose…optimism…and joy…’
SCRIP-BITS 
Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 November 2017 Proverbs 13:12.
18 Nov 2017 Leave a comment
by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a musical storm, a tree of life, accepting responsibility, accomplish any goal, Anselm's quotes, asaph, Atlas, blessings, comfort zone, David Rudder, depressed, diehard fans, discipline, feel good, feel terrific, forum, gone astray, gospel truth, gratification, greedy times, Hammerson Theatre, hang your hat, hope deferred, jam session, Jesus Christ, kaiso, Let there be light, Lord and Saviour, lost, LOVE, makes the heart sick, mash up the place, name of the game, natural outgrowth, negative things, on top of the world, power in words, prerequisite, raise your children, refreshes, revitalizes, rewards, sincerity, singing praises, soca, social commentary, success, tear it down, the happiest people, the power of hope, truth, try something new, West Indian atmosphere, when desire comes, while there is life there is hope, zest for life
Proverbs 13:12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
Oh friends, welcome to a wet Saturday morning! But I can assure you that last evening it was a hot, tropical time in the Hammerson Theatre of the Living arts Centre in Mississauga, as Bruh David and Friends, a tight, great sounding band, mash up the place! They tear it down with a musical storm of pure ‘Madness,’ of soca and kaiso!
Brother! I can just imagine that’s how it was when the old time Bruh David and his buddies, Asaph, etc. got together and put on a jam session; the music would be ringing out and the people would be singing loud, harmonious praises! Well that’s how David Rudder had the some five hundred of us singing out in the theatre last night.
Now I’ve always liked some of David’s songs, but last night he made me a believer, with the way he arranged the songs and presented them. And you can imagine the cacophony in the place when he buss tunes like ‘Bahia Girl, the Hammer, Trini to the Bone, Madness, etc. etc. I can’t remember them all. And the house was certainly hopping when he ended with ‘Give Praise!’
I don’t know if Hammerson Hall has ever experienced that sort of vibrant West Indian atmosphere, as David and the Band performed for 2 hours straight; something that you don’t see often. And the craving for an encore was so great that he had to come back out and sing for a few more minutes.
Then he stayed after the show, meeting and greeting his many fans, I should say diehard fans in the lobby. I remember mentioning to one fellow down there, that I was never a big David fan, and brother, if yuh see how quickly his wife turned around and looked at me as though I was crazy! (smile)
The difference between David and the other West Indian artists around the place nowadays is that they only singing about girls, wining and drinking, but he is still focused on the way the song style began, as a forum for social commentary and change. Keep it up, mih brother!
Now, since it’s Saturday, we have to turn to that other brother, Anselm, who aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow with his quotes. And he’s got some excellent ones this week. Listen to this first one: ‘The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life.’
No lie, mih people! You can’t truly feel good, until you feel good about yourself, because yourself goes with you everywhere, (smile) and accepting responsibility for our lives is a major key to our success.
And success comes when you ‘Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.’ Ah, the age old story friends. You’ve got to hang your hat a li’l higher than you can reach it. When you feel too comfortable, you never reach for the better fruit that’s a li’l further out on the limb. And that’s when you grow.
And this next quote is gospel truth: ‘Never say anything about yourself you do not want to come true.’ That’s because there is power in the word of God, and in our words. Remember, God spoke the world and all therein in to existence. He didn’t wave a magic wand, but uttered a simple; ‘Let there be light…And there was light…’ That means we should not speak negative things about ourselves, because intuitively and subconsciously our actions and behaviour leads us to them.
Now here is something that explains our problem with the world system. ‘The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term, is the indispensable prerequisite for success.’
Ah mih people, in these turbulent and greedy times, instant gratification is the name of the game; we want everything now for now, even though waiting might bring greater rewards. But please remember there’s always a price to pay for impatience.
And this last quote is priceless. ‘If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.’ Ah friends, so many of us parents have failed to do that, that’s why this generation seems so lost and gone astray. But we can’t give up on them now, we have to keep on trying. Remember while there is life, there is always hope!
That’s why we can say in all truth and sincerity like Cousin Sol in our Bit: ‘Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.’ And is that ever so true! When we lose hope we get depressed and miserable and lose the zest for life.
However, when we regain it… oh boy, it just revitalizes and refreshes us. We feel on top of the world; like we can move the whole world; be like Atlas and bear it on our bony human shoulders. That’s the power of hope my brethren!
So please, let’s never lose hope; especially in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for He is the GREATEST hope there is…and the ONLY One we need in this topsy-turvy world. Much LOVE!
…to hope…to hope…and yet to hope…in Christ…forever and ever…