disarray | SCRIP-BITS

John 6:48. I am that bread of life.

Welcome to another Saturday morning on God’s great earth my friends! Hope it finds us all in fine spirits, and if not, by the time we are finished here, I know those spirits will have miraculously been lifted by the Holy Spirit that indwells us, as we talk about God; His holy word, His unconditional LOVE, His freely offered grace, His undeserved mercy, His never-ending forgiveness, and His eternal faithfulness!

Now that alone should lift our spirits this Saturday morning my people! Wow! What a majestic, magnificent and magnanimous God we serve my fellow believers! I don’t see how any of us can stay depressed and downcast for very long with such a Supreme Being watching over and taking care of us.

It’s just not possible if we concentrate on all the wonderful attributes of our God, instead of the prevailing unfortunate or uncomfortable circumstances surrounding us.

And my Christian brethren, I have the right medicine for what we’re talking about. It’s contained in a recent quote from our friend Anselm, who always aspires to inspire us. And this time I think he’s done a heck of a job.

Listen to this quote. ‘When we do what we can, the LORD will do what we can’t. FAITH hears the inaudible, sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible!!! Feed your FAITH, and your doubts will starve to death.’

Oh my people, my people, what glorious, indisputable, gospel truth! Faith is that good my brethren. That’s why they say it can move mountains and work wonders. What did Jesus say to His disciples when they asked why they were unable to cast out a demon?

‘Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove (move); and nothing shall be impossible unto you.’ (Matt.17:20)

Yes friends, it only takes a little faith to do plenty things, and just as that little mustard seed grows into a big tree, so can our faith, if we’ll allow it do so by reading and meditating on God’s word, through fellowship with other believers and personal prayer…but first we have to believe.

Without belief nothing happens in the spiritual realm of Jesus. And that is borne out by our Bit. ‘I am that bread of life.’

It’s a simple, but true statement, but Jesus had a most difficult time getting His people to believe Him. In spite of all the signs and wonders and miracles He did, they still refused to believe. But they certainly wanted the physical bread they thought He was offering them.

Steups! Those long ago Jews, especially the leaders, were certainly a hard-headed, stubborn bunch of people. Just look at how their forefathers behaved in the wilderness although the Lord was looking after them.

Sadly though, we have a lot of unbelievers around today too. In fact too many of the world’s population are unbelievers, that’s partly why our world is in such complete disarray and strife is pandemic.

Anyway, let’s look at a couple of scriptures that corroborate our Bit. First up is this verse from Bruh Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, where he is saying that justification is not of the law.

He solemnly declares: ‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of (by faith in) the Son of God, who LOVED me, and gave himself for me.’ (Gal.2:20) Yes friends, Bruh Paul was not living by the law again, but through faith in Christ.

Listen to this explanation from the scholars’. ‘2:20. To be crucified with Christ means the believer has been freed from the law and from the ruling power of sin that was aroused by the law. Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me is interpreted: “And I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Since the believer has been freed from the law and sin, the old sinful life no longer asserts itself as formerly.

Instead, “Christ liveth in me,” that is, Jesus cultivates within the believer (Paul) His own desires, virtues, character, and power, thus morally transforming him and working through him in others. Paul lives his current Christian life by the faith of (in) the Son of God, that is, by depending on Him for strength and all necessities.’

And so should we my people, if we are true believers in Christ. Now hear how Bruh Paul tells it to the Colossians. ‘Set your affection (mind) on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.’ (Col.3:2-4)

Ah my fellow believers, it’s truly time to stop concentrating on, and being preoccupied with earthly things and look to things in heaven instead, since we have been reborn in Christ, who now sits in heavenly places.

And the scholars’ explain. ‘3:3. Your life is hid with Christ in God (or, “Your life is deposited with Christ, who is in intimate relation with God.”) As all wisdom and knowledge reside in Christ (2:3), so the believer’s new life is stored up in Him.

This means that the Christian life belongs to the spiritual or heavenly real. Jesus is in intimate relation with God; so are His followers. Since the Colossians now belong to the heavenly realm and are intimate with God, they should seek those matters and interests pertaining to heaven and not to earth.’

So friends, what’s it to be eh? Are we going to live our lives in and for Christ, as a new creation, or are we going to let the law and its sinful attributes turn us back to our former ways?

I do hope that we’ll ponder all that we’ve said and then make the wise decision to live in and for Christ! Much LOVE!

…glory be…our Redeemer lives…and we live in Him…and through Him…and for Him…

Psalm 119:11. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Oh Friends, once more our gracious God has seen it fit to bless us with another day of life on planet earth. For such a wonderful blessing we ought to be most thankful, since a large number of our fellow earthlings, for whatever reason (s) have not been so gifted.

The breath of life is one of the most important blessings we have received from our Creator, and too many of us take it for granted, and are most surprised on that fateful day when we don’t open our eyes. (smile)

So please, every morning that you open your eyes to a new day, please remember to give the Lord genuine thanks for allowing you to witness another sunrise, or even another rainy, gloomy day, for every day, many who don’t arise, would have given all they possessed just to see another day, regardless of how it turned out. And you know that there’s nothing our God likes better than our heartfelt thanks and gratitude for His blessings.

That brings us to an interesting sentence hiding under the guise of a Danish Proverb. ‘The sky is not less blue because the blind man doesn’t see it.’

And really my people, we can’t find any fault with that statement because it is the truth. But Friends, the same thing can be said about our lives. The choices most of us make don’t change the reality of the world around us.

We can choose to be optimistic, caring, giving and joyful, or to be angry, resentful and despair of the world’s goodness. But none of that will truly change the world; it will still be whatever it is. However, our choice will either make us broken and sad, or optimistic and enthusiastic. It all depends on how we choose to view the world around us.

And I strongly advise that choosing the optimistic and enthusiastic route is the much better one for true believers, in fact for every single soul on planet earth, because it gives us hope, despite what is actually happening around us. Hope that God is with us, and that ALL His promises will be faithfully fulfilled in His time, if we are obedient to His will. Hope is also contagious and helps us to encourage others.

But where can we find that hope that sustains us in all kinds of weather eh my brethren? In God’s Word of course! Listen to the psalmist as he asks that question, then wisely declares the answer. ‘Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.’ (Ps.119:9)

‘Elementary my dear Watson!’ as our renowned sleuth Sherlock Holmes would say. Unfortunately though, in this modern world, reading the Good Book and following its dictates has fallen into great disfavour. But then we wonder why our lives and the world around us are in such a terrible state. Hn!

Now hear how the palmist continues: ‘With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.’ (Ps. 119:10-11)

Oh what words of wisdom my Friends! If only more of us would sincerely allow those desires to permeate our hearts and souls, we’d all be much better off. I particularly like the expressed intentions of our Bit: hiding God’s Word in our hearts, so that we don’t disobey Him. How resourceful my brethren!

But before we can hide His Word in the uttermost depths of our being, we first need to READ IT!

That however is where the problem comes in. It’s awfully hard to get people, even sincere believers, to read the Good Book on a consistent basis these days. But that’s the only way we’ll ever know what it says, and be able to hide it in our hearts.

We have all sorts of excuses why we can’t read the Word regularly, like being so busy and otherwise. But Friends, that’s pure hogwash, pure heifer dust! We find time to do all sorts of other stuff of much less importance. Don’t tell me if the Lord was important enough in your life that you couldn’t find a fifteen minutes or half an hour each day to study His Word.

And note I said STUDY, not merely peruse, or give a cursory glance through. Like all the other stuff we need to study to enhance our careers, so too we need to STUDY GOD’S WORD, so that we can know what it says and be obedient to it!

I’m tired with all the business and busyness we claim to have. Something must be wrong with me then, because I don’t seem to have that much business or busyness, but I still have to consciously make the time to read the Word, or else my time will be taken up with much less important things.

Friends, we DON’T FIND TIME, we MAKE TIME, especially when it comes to God’s Word!

And most of us would be surprised to find that our lives would blossom ever so brightly, if we just made the time to spend a few minutes everyday poring over the Word. Yes my brethren, please remember that the Good Book is our guide to earthly living, and if we don’t pay serious attention to it, then we WILL go astray.

And I don’t have to tell us that that is the gospel truth, because it is highlighted right before our very eyes; the total disarray in which our world now finds itself, because it has ceased making the Word of God its guide.

Oh my people, I can only encourage us to read and follow God’s Word, every individual has to take the responsibility upon him or herself to do so or not. Remember though, that you will also have to bear the consequences of whatever path you follow. Much LOVE!

…to truly find our way on our earthly pilgrimage…to not get lost in the darkness of this evil world…it’s essential to read and follow our guide book…THE HOLY BIBLE…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 July 2016 John 6:48

Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 June 2014 Psalm 119:11

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