Today​’s Scrip-Bit 23 March 2019 Joshua 1:8.

23 Mar 2019 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Joshua 1:8.   ​This book of the law shall not depart out of (shall be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
 
Well it’s a big Saturday morning in the springtime, but it’s cold as ever, like a puppy dog’s nose, (smile) something like minus 5 or 6 in my area. And before we go on, let’s make one thing perfectly clear, the idea that because a date on the calendar says that the Spring Equinox has arrived, does not mean it suddenly gets warm! That is pure foolishness and fallacy yes! (smile) It’s still so and so cold – all like yesterday when the wind lent its support to the cold, though it was a bright and sunshiny day! 

And the wind itself played havoc with my area yesterday, from late afternoon into the middle of the night, just howling like crazy every few minutes, having stuff creaking and clanking and whatever, leaving homeowners hopeful that no part of their houses or property got damaged by it. But it seems to have settled down now, and no serious damage seems to have been done in my area. Thank God for small mercies yes! 

Anyway, since it’s Saturday let’s take a gander at some of the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week, in his noble attempt to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And I laughed when I first read this one: ‘If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.’ I suppose that’s because we refer to opportunity as knocking on a door, and it only knocks once and that sort of thing. 

So it’s only logical to assume that if opportunities aren’t making themselves available, then the problem might be that there is no door for them to knock on. In that case the sensible thing to do will be to build a door for them to knock on! (smile) 

And the next one says: ‘I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that will not work.’ Now that is the way we have to view our mistakes and supposed failures! We can’t ever give up, or stop trying, because in truth, failure is not failure until we stop trying, and that idea is found nowhere in Jesus’ philosophy. 

So if you’re a believer, you can’t ever give up or stop trying; you’ve got to keep moving ahead, learning more about Christ and becoming more like Him every day, moving from glory to glory. Praise His holy name! 

And this next quote segues nicely with the others: ‘The secret of getting ahead is getting started.’ Yeh friends, we can’t get anywhere until we begin going somewhere! Likewise, we can’t make any progress in our projects and/or ambitions until we begin doing stuff related to them. Everybody wants to write the great American Novel, but no one will ever do so, until and unless they begin writing it. As the Chinese Proverb so eloquently puts it: ‘The longest journey begins with the first step.’ Matter fix! 

This upcoming quote is also quite relevant to our everyday lifestyle. It says: ‘To create more positive results in your life, replace ‘if only’ with ‘next time.’ So true my people, so true! We have a bad habit of saying, ‘if only so and so had happened,’ moaning about some past circumstance. But that only gets us in the negative stream of life. What we ought to be saying is ‘next time, I’ll do so and so.’ Try and keep it in the positive stream of the future. We’ll all be better for it. 

And the last quote declares (right ho): ‘Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.’ Gospel truth that my brethren! It’s like the saying goes, give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. But teach him how to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime! 

And I want to put that into perspective with the Lord’s Word: If I just tell you about it, most likely you’ll forget about it shortly thereafter. If I teach you about it, you’ll remember it for a longer period of time. However, if I involve you in the whole process, then you’ll probably learn more than in the two previous scenarios, because you are hands on in the situation, getting down and dirty with the subject matter. 

 Consequently friends, it is all well and good to go to church and hear sermons, but most of us, by the time we get in the parking lot have forgotten what the sermon was about, although we clapped and said numerous ‘Amen’s’ during it.’ And that’s no lie! (smile) Now, if we then go home and read up the scripture that the sermon was based on, we’ll have a better idea on what the pastor was talking about. 

But better still, if we sit down and begin to contemplate, meditate, think seriously on those scriptures, then eventually we will really know them. That’s the only way to truly learn the Word my brethren! We need to get totally involved in it, seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit, asking Him to talk to our hearts about it, show us how it affects or can be successfully made a part of our lives. 

Please remember friends that scripture is a guideline for our lives, and until we make it such, it will be of no real use to us. Knowing it and not putting it to use is a complete waste of time. We’ll never get ahead until we begin living our earthly lives by the heavenly values found in the Lord’s Word!  

And I have to chuckle here friends, because I’ve been writing all of the above with no thought of what scripture we could use to tie it all together. Then I went looking for something in the Good Book, asking the Lord to show me an appropriate one. For a couple minutes nothing happened; my flipping through the word produced nothing useable…

Then Bingo! It suddenly happened. The light went on, and I knew the perfect scripture for out Bit today! Oh, how can I ever doubt the Lord’s faithfulness eh? He doesn’t always make it easy, but He ALWAYS comes through! And the scripture we’re talking about is when the Lord spoke to Joshua, making him the leader of the Israelites after Moses’ death. 

‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (shall be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’  

Ah mih people, it couldn’t get any plainer and more straightforward than that nuh! And here it’s the Lord Himself speaking to Joshua; straight from the horse’s mouth as it were, not secondhand info.

And if the Lord thought it important enough for Him to personally tell Joshua about the importance of keeping the Law, then it’s obviously important for us to follow the same path, for therein we too shall be prosperous and have good success. What more needs to be said eh…? Much LOVE!

…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…else he’ll certainly feel…

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 July 2018 Psalm 24:1-2.

29 Jul 2018 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 24:1-2.   The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods (rivers).

Aye mih people, can you believe that once again it’s Sunday, and in a few hours it will be Monday and time to go back out to work! Ah Lord eh! The days are certainly passing quickly. As the Duchess likes to tell me when I complain about how time seems to be going by so quickly: ‘Stay there, yuh think time’s waiting on you nuh?’ And friends, it certainly isn’t, that means we have to make the best use of it that we can. 

And one of the best uses we can make of our time is to go to church and praise our wonderful God, worship and give thanks in fellowship with other believers. And on that point of going to church, I recently came across and interesting exercise in an article by Russ Ramsey titled ‘The Art of Reverence’ featured in May’s In Touch Magazine. 

In the article Ramsey states: ‘But don’t just go to church; prepare to go to church. Before you arrive ask the Lord to give you a sense of His power and greatness. Ask Him to give you ears to hear and eyes to see. Ask Him to give you a desire to feast upon His Word, to repent, to receive the assurance of His pardon, and to come to the Lord’s Table spiritually hungry. Remember, God is the audience of our worship.’ 

Now that’s how we should really approach going to church my breddren! So let’s start doing stuff like that nuh. Just as so many of us prepare ourselves physically with clean bodies and clean, good looking clothes, let’s prepare ourselves spiritually too nuh, that way we will derive much more satisfaction from visiting the Lord’s sanctuary and participating in all the activities that take place therein. 

Now let’s open the proceedings with a song of praise to soften our hearts and prepare it for the Lord’s Word. And today we’ll sing a traditional American spiritual song with which many of us old fogies are quite familiar. (smile) It’s titled ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands.’ And He certainly does! 

Apparently the song was first published in 1927, but became an international pop hit in 1957-58 in a recording by English singer Laurie London, and over the years has been recorded by many other singers and choirs. So let’s follow suit now and belt it out in heartfelt enthusiasm and sincerity nuh. 

‘He’s got the whole world in His hands He’s got the whole world in His hands He’s got the whole world in His hands He’s got the whole world in His hands He’s got the wind and the rain in his hands. (Sing three times) He’s got the whole world in his hands. He’s got the itty bitty baby in His hands (sing three times) He’s got the whole world in His hands He’s got a-you and me brother in His hands (sing three times) He’s got the whole world in his hands. 

He’s got you and me, sister, in his hands. (sing three times) He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got everybody here in his hands. (sing three times) He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands He’s got the whole world in His hands He’s got the whole world in His hands.’ 

Yes my people, the Lord God Almighty has the whole world and everything in it in His omnipotent hands. Unlike the false god Atlas who carried the world on his shoulders, like it was a heavy burden, our true and living God carries His awesome creation in the palms of His hands both to protect it and enable Him to see all that’s happening in one glance and make whatever alterations He needs to, so that His long term plan will eventually come to fruition in His time. (good sentence -smile) 

And Bruh David confidently proclaims that God owns and controls the earth in our Bit: ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods (rivers).’ And if anybody should know, it’s Bruh David, since he had such a close relationship with God, being known as His friend and a man after His own heart. 

And if you don’t believe Bruh David, peradventure you might believe the Lord Himself. Listen to the message He gave Moses on Mt. Sinai to give to the Israelites, when he went up there to get the Ten Commandments. 

‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar (special) treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.’ ((Ex.19:4-5) 

And Moses reiterates that message in Deuteronomy. ‘Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.’ (Deut.10:14) Yes friends, the universe and all therein belongs to Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Lord and King, which means we ought to pay much more respect to it as well as to Him, if we want to survive hellfire and damnation that will eventually befall the unbelievers. 

And we’ll end with some appropriate words of the psalmist Asaph on the topic. Speaking on God’s behalf, he declares: ‘If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.’ (Ps.50:12) And if the world was ours, we wouldn’t have to tell anybody that we were hungry either, we’d just go and get whatever we wanted. Have a blessed day in fellowship my brethren! Much LOVE!

…the universe was created by God…and contrary to any other opinions…He still owns it…lock, stock and barrel…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 April 2013 Malachi 3:10

03 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Malachi 3:10.    Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Oh Friends, it’s Wednesday morning and I am very unhappy because I just opened my mailbox and found it had all been changed to the foolish, stupid looking and very inconvenient Outlook nonsense. I don’t know who designs these sites, but as far as I’m concerned they should be shot! It’s a very poor use of space and I can’t move anything the way I want to or am accustomed to doing. But I guess we’re at the mercy of the owners of the websites, unless we want to pay for it, so as I keep saying we just have to grin and bear it. I now have to develop a whole new way of working or move to a different provider, which will just be like starting over again. Okay, I’ve had my rant (smile) but I’m still not happy, and since I know the Lord will provide a way, where there seems to be no way, let’s forget them and move on to our Bit. ‘Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat (food) in mine house, and prove (test) me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.’ Oh Friends, yesterday we saw where tithes first came into being; from Abram, to Jacob and then the official law through Moses. Today we’ll look at some more scripture dealing with that very contentious and controversial topic of tithes. First, let’s see how it cropped up in our Bit. The prophet Malachi was talking to his people about the approach of the day of judgement, (Mal.3:1-5) re who would survive it, and what the people needed to do to get on God’s right side. ‘Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein (in what way) shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. (Mal.3:7b-9) Then our Bit comes in, and the Lord continues. ‘And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field (fail to bear fruit), saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome (delightful) land, saith the Lord of hosts.’ (Mal.3:11-12) Now before we go any further, listen to the scholars on those verses (&-12). ‘These Israelites have done what no man should presume to attempt, namely, to defraud God in tithes and offerings. The payment of tithes and heave offerings was a recognition of their subjection to God and that He owned them and all that they had. To withhold the tithe is to renounce the sovereign authority of God and to be guilty of the same sin as Lucifer in the beginning. Pour you out a blessing: The blessings come not because God received His due portion, but because in giving the tithe the believers put themselves in the place of proper obedience and subjection to God. Tithing was clearly commanded in the Old Testament and served as the minimum standard for giving in the New Testament. See Matthew 6:1-4 in the Sermon on the Mount, where true spirituality exceeds the outward demands of the Law.’ Wow! What challenging words! Now here’s the billion dollar question my people. Having taken all that’s been said above, both by the scholars and the Good Book, can the fact that our land is not delightsome today be because of our robbing God, like the Israelites did way back then? Can it be because we’re not giving Him His rightful due, what’s lawfully His, that our countries and our world are plagued by such wide scale negativity and disasters, from economic to physical and spiritual? I want to strongly suggest that there is a direct correlation between our dealing with God and the sad state of our world. How can turning away from Him and desperately trying to eradicate Him from our society and our consciences not have a negative effect on us eh? As He says earlier: ‘For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them.’ (Mal.3:6-7a) And that’s the undeniable truth my brethren! So the logic here is really simple: If we want to have true prosperity, then we have to return to sincerely and diligently worshipping Almighty God, the Creator of the universe and all therein, paying whatever He requires of us from whatever He allows us to have. End of story Friends! If we continue with our current foolish attitude of ignoring God and trying to remove Him from our society, then we’re simply going to continue paying a serious and hefty price for that disobedience. Remember Friends, our God doesn’t change, neither do His laws. So basically all the stuff in the Good Book still pertains to us today, and we’ll be well advised to return to Him, rather than trying to get away from Him. That, my people, is wisdom at its very zenith. More on this tithing subject tomorrow, God in favour. Till then, please let’s all consider our situations, re our personal relationships with God and fellow believers, and try our best to work for a speedy return to worshipping and serving the Most High God Jehovah in truth and deed, per the LOVE Revolution, so that all may be well with our societies and our world, as true wisdom dictates. Much LOVE!…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…else He will certainly feel…