doubleminded man | SCRIP-BITS

Proverbs 4:7. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

And the clock ticks…and the seconds, minutes, hours and the days roll by…until they come to Monday…then they just seem to stop, to hang there in mid-air, as though everything suddenly gone in limbo! Oh how we wish that were true eh and we didn’t have to get up and get out and begin a new work week!

And for many of us it’s actually true because this is Carnival Monday, the beginning of the yearly bacchanalian festival in several parts of the world the two days before Ash Wednesday…but nothing to touch the Ole Mas celebration in T&T this Monday morning!

That is where you get real down and ‘dutty’ (dirty), playing in any ole and dirty looking costume, but making sure yuh ketch a steelband coming down the road beating a sweet bomb tune, so you and yuh lady and yuh friends and them could carry on in the street, wine down in the road, carray yuh body any ole how, (ramajay), and just get on bad and disgusting. (smile)

Well that use to be ole mas, don’t know what it morph into these days since I don’t take part in it again. Don’t even know if they still have Bomb Competition – the steelbands beating some favourite tune as they come out on the road Monday morning, vying for Best Bomb Tune. And ah laughing here as I remember some of them ole times.

But leh we move on yes, because some people have to go to work, and they even more distraught than ever because they missing carnival in T&T. So to help us all this Carnival Monday, let’s belt out we Monday Morning Battle Hymn, even if we heart not truly in it, and we mind somewhere down in T&T misbehaving in the road. (smile)

All together 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!’

And yeh friends, ah know we feeling better after that, but still…we’d rather be somewhere else partying, making a fool of we self, in the hot weather. But them’s the breaks, so we just have to grin and bear it and get out there and labour in Jesus name. Yeh, reminisce li’l bit every so often, but doh daydream the day away on the people work nuh, because then you’ll be stealing their time and Jesus wouldn’t approve of that. (smile)

Break the spell by telling yuhself that if God spare yuh life, next year Carnival not going to catch yuh up here in this cold weather, but in some warm, tropical climate playing a serious mas, and then seriously start saving yuh money and vacation time from now! And since I know plenty of you won’t like my suggestions, I’m turning to Cousin Sol to pass on a father’s wisdom. Hope you’ll listen to him, cause he was once the wisest man in the world.

‘Hear ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments and live.

Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline (turn away) from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: LOVE her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.’ (Prov.4:1-7)

Yes my brethren, wisdom, knowledge and understanding are the most important aspects of living a fruitful and sensible life. And how do we get all that? Friends, it begins with this warning from Cousin Sol: ‘The fear of the Lord (reverential awe) is the beginning of knowledge (principal beginning): but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ (Prov.1:7)

Ah mih people, until and unless we revere the Lord God Almighty, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, true wisdom, knowledge and understanding will NEVER be ours. Why? Because that’s where it all comes from!

As James says: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not (without reproach); and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (not doubting). For he that wavereth (doubts) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (James 1:5-8)

Yuh see friends, a wise life all has to do with reverence for God, blended with sincere trust and faith in His Word, His promises and plans for our lives. And Cousin Sol ends that li’l speech by declaring (right ho): ‘Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou doest embrace her. She shall give to (place on) thine head an ornament of grace, a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.’ (Prov.4:8-9)

Yes my people, that’s how powerful and important true wisdom and understanding are in our lives. We talking about that wisdom and understanding which comes from and through God, not the worldly stuff. So stop with all the horrors about carnival! Now that we finally see the light nuh, leh we go and do the people work and forget about carnival, because that is what Jesus expects of us. (smile) Much LOVE!

…thinking too much about mas…is not a sign of true wisdom…(smile)

Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 April 2013 1 Corinthians 1:22

1 Corinthians 1:22. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom.

And then it was Friday… And the whooping and hollering began: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! The weekend’s here at last! Thank God! Thank God! Thank God!’ Yeh Friends, that’s the kind of enthusiasm and relief that a Friday brings to our world. It’s a joy untold at a small window of rest from the rigours of the daily commute and other incidental headaches involved in labouring for massa. But that doesn’t mean we have to go overboard with the celebrations. Certainly not! We still need to control our lives with a modicum of circumspection, to keep it in line with the edicts of Jesus, our guide and helpmeet. And to help us do that, let’s chant our Friday Chant. And I don’t have to tell us to do it with vim and vigour, because that comes ever so naturally on a Friday, with the weekend in sight. (smile) Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ And now that we have the right perspective on the use of the weekend, let’s turn to our Bit. ‘For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom.’ Yes Friends, it’s the same one as the last few days, because there’s still one incident regarding signs with Jesus that I want to highlight. And that comes after He cleansed the temple, made a whip of cords and ran the ole crooks and them out of His Father’s house, which they had turned into a raucous flea market, carrying on illicit trade and unashamedly gouging the people. Actually not much different to today’s merchandising behaviour. Now I like that incident because it shows that Jesus wasn’t no soft touch, no mama’s boy, He had manly parts, and when the situation called for it, He also wasn’t afraid to use them. He could rise to the occasion and be as physically tough as anybody else. And after He’s scolded them about making His Father’s house, a house of merchandise, (John 2:16) the Good Book declares: ‘Then answered the Jews and said unto him, what sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear (raise) it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.’ (John 2:18-22) Oh my brethren, we’re certainly lucky that we were not amongst the first Christians, who understandably were scared and confused, and had to wait until Jesus rose from the dead, and the Holy Spirit descended upon them at Pentecost, to really understand and have a fairly clear picture of what Jesus was all about. Thankfully we now have the Good Book and all the heart-rending tales of our faith down through the ages to peruse and understand at our leisure. But there again, too many of us are not making good use of the materials and of the wisdom that’s been handed down to us. Now our Bit declares that the Greeks sought after wisdom in olden times, and everybody should do that. But unfortunately the wisdom the Greeks sought was the wisdom of man. However, the proper wisdom to seek is that of divine interpretation. And there’s only one single, solitary place to find true wisdom, as James so wisely advises us: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not (without reproach); and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (not doubting). For he that wavereth (doubts) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (James 1:5-8) Yes my fellow believers, it’s only from our great God that true wisdom can be gained by man. But then we have to ask for it in faith, without any doubts, sincerely believing that He who has promised is faithful to deliver it all. (Heb.10:23) And also, as the scholars maintain, verse 5 ‘is not a blanket promise of wisdom for any situation. In the context of life’s trials, it probably speaks of the believer being granted (1) wisdom as to the reason for his trials and (2) wisdom to endure them.’ In any case, we still have to go to God and ask for whatever we need. So Friends, please let’s get ourselves together today and faithfully approach our wonderful, generous, kind and LOVING God, asking Him for truth and wisdom to guide us on our earthly journey in these tumultuous times. Now that my brethren, is indeed the wisdom of the wise. Much LOVE!…only when God fills the secret chamber of our souls…can true wisdom be obtained…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 4 March 2019 Proverbs 4:7.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 April 2013 1 Corinthians 1:22

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