The Utmost Necessity for Believers to Patiently Wait in Faith on Almighty God! Part 2.

Isaiah 40:31a.        But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;

Oh mih people, it’s Wednesday, our second wind day! And it’s a beautiful, warm sunshiny day in my neighbourhood. However, we’re on the late bus today, because our Wednesday morning group at church has reconvened after the summer hiatus, and then, as usual, I had to run a couple of errands afterwards. (smile) But it’s not too bad because we know what we’re talking about as God spared our lives to see another marvellous day on Planet Earth. 

Yes, as we promised yesterday, we’re continuing to look at scriptures on that ever important attitude of waiting on God. It’s not an easy task, but it’s oh so wise and beneficial. When we wait on God, we get the best of what He has to offer…and when we don’t, we get second rate stuff, or no stuff at all. And we’ll begin with one of the big scriptures on the subject of waiting, another one from the prophet Isaiah. 

When talking about the Greatness of God’s Might, he confidently proclaims: ‘Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint (weak); and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint  and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’ (Is. 40:28-31) 

Oh friends, what a glorious scripture that is! What a promise it contains for waiting on God! Wow! If we wait on God we can walk and not be weary, as well as soar like eagles, because He strengthens us and enables us to walk in His might and power! Now there’s nothing better than that! However, it all depends on our waiting on God for His timing. And yes, sometimes we can force an issue and have it come out all right, but the truth of the matter is that it never comes out as good as if we wait for God’s time to do it. 

And we see Bruh David advising that we wait on the Lord in several psalms. Listen to this from Psalm 25: ‘O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait (in faith) on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause (deal treacherously). Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation: on thee do I wait all the day.’ (Ps. 25:2-5) 

And then in that magnificent Psalm 34, Bruh David testifies: ‘This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want (lack) to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing …The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them shall be desolate (condemned).’ (Ps. 34:6-10, 22) 

Yes my fellow believers, if we trust in the Lord, then we will wait upon Him, and then we shall not be ashamed of anything and want for anything. That’s His faithful promise! Now hear these verses from the end of this other mighty psalm, Psalm 37. Bruh David declares: ‘Mark the perfect (blameless) man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.’ (Ps. 37:37-40) 

There again trusting in the Lord and therefore waiting on Him will bring redemption and deliverance! And there are many more scriptures about waiting on and trusting in God, but we’ll end with this one from James, Christ’s brother, as he talks about the Value of Patience and Prayer. He writes: ‘Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman (farmer) waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish (establish) your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh (has come near).’ (James 5:7-8)  

Yes friends, we need to build a solid attitude of patience like farmers have, and keep waiting in faith on God, for that is one of the best ways to show our faith and acknowledge His sovereignty. Now, let’s go home declaring (yesss!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus! 

As one strong and sincere 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 there’s a codicil to that promise, which says, those who endure right to the very end with Jesus, will have an even more glorious future than we can ever ask or imagine. So please, let’s be wise and endure right the end with Christ nuh, so that we can be a part of that glorious future together! Much LOVE!

…to wait…to wait…to wait in faith on the Lord…that ought to be the Christians’ motto…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 February 2021 Proverbs 18:21.

Proverbs 18:21.     Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that LOVE it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Oh friends, come join with me this cold but bright and sunny winter morning to magnify the Lord nuh, for He is ever so good to us! Yes, He woke us up this morning with a new set of mercies and compassions and a strong breath of life so we can do His divine bidding. That’s more than enough to give Him much thanks and praise. 

So as the Good Book decrees: ‘O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together….The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want (lack) to them that fear him.’ (Ps. 34: 3,7-10) 

Yes my people, that is the indisputable truth! Those who reverence the Lord God Jehovah are protected and want for nothing that’s necessary to live this life. But the onus is upon us to reverence Him. It just doesn’t happen on its own; energy and effort have to be put into it. 

And one of the most important things for believers to do, especially in these uncertain and disastrous times is to speak God’s Word, to be positive and constantly remind ourselves that we are children of the Most High God and thus blessed and favoured, sanctified, justified, reconciled, forgiven and the host of other blessings we receive when we honour Him. 

Remember the Lord spoke the world into existence. The only thing He made manually or physically was man. That means there is lots of power in our words. Remember Cousin Sol’s warning? ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that LOVE it shall eat the fruit thereof.’ (Prov. 18:21) 

Oh mih bredrin that is something we should try and remember all the time because it’s the absolute truth. Our words can either speak life or death. And these words from Rev. Marcia Martin of the Vian United Methodist Church explain the situation very well. 

‘My dad gave me a piece of advice when I was a know-it-all teenager. He said, “Never say in anger what you don’t mean, because you can say you’re sorry, but you can’t take it back.” Satan can use our tongue to cause division, putting others down, bragging, false teaching, exaggeration, complaining, or just flat out lying. 

It only takes a few words to hurt someone. Wounds heal but they leave scars that never disappear…Your words can either speak life, or your words can speak death. Our tongues can build others up, or they can tear them down. 

An unchecked fire doubles in size every minute. Gossip and false teaching are no different. It’s been said that great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people.’ 

And I don’t need to tell you that it’s all gospel truth, because you already know it. And that’s one of the reasons why our world is in such a dreadful mess these days; we use words without thinking about their effect, sling hurtful words without thinking twice about what’s coming out of our mouths. And just like Cousin Sol says we’re now enjoying the negative fruit of our negative words. 

Remember what James said in Chapter 3 about the dangers of the tongue. He likened it to the rudder of a ship, the small thing that guides the big ship in the direction that the pilot wants it to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small thing that boasts a lot of power. 

‘Even as the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter (forest) a little fire kindleth (sets on fire). And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members (the tongue is so set), that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature (our existence); and it is set on fire of hell.’ (James 3:5-6) 

Yes friends, as the scholars put it. ‘3:6. The tongue is a system (world) of iniquity that sets on fire the whole course of life, and is even set on fire by Satan (cf. 3:15).’ And that’s the living truth, for it’s the tongue, our words, that mainly cause wars and divisions, disunity, resentment, hate, anger and all the other negative stuff that’s so prevalent in our world today. 

And not only in the world itself, but also in the church of Christ. James must have thought that he was writing to our current church which is filled with so much negative, petty stuff, like slander, gossip, false teaching, etc. etc. 

James continues: ‘But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude (image) of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be.’ (James 3: 8-10) 

Oh my people, blessing and cursing out of the same mouth is certainly inconsistent, and should not be mentioned amongst our attributes. And how do we solve the negativity of the tongue? The Lord said it quite clearly to Joshua when He appointed him leader of the Israelites after the death of Moses. 

‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (shall be constantly in) thy mouth:’ Josh. 1:8a) That’s it right there friends! We need to keep speaking God’s word; positive, proactive words, thinking before we speak. If we do that, then our tongues won’t do as much damage to our lives. 

But how do we accomplish that, you ask? The Lord also spells it out for us in the same verse: ‘but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.’ (Josh, 1:8b) It’s not rocket science my people. To constantly speak God’s word, we must constantly read and study God’s word. Simple as that! 

But here is the best part of the Lord’s advice: ‘for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh. 1:8c) Oh fellow saints of Christ, that is the panacea for ALL of our ills! Read and study the word, then speak it, and voila! Success will be ours. Yes friends, true success only comes from sincerely meditating on God’s word and then putting it into action. Nothing less will do! 

So for those of us who are engaged in that wonderful course, let’s go home now declaring (yeahhh!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole wide world know who and whose we are! 

In one strong voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’ 

The next step is easy; we go out and share Christ’s LOVE and friendship! (smile) Much LOVE!

…to tame our tongues…we must have on the yoke of Christ… 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 December 2020 Habakkuk 2:4.

Habakkuk 2:4.     ​Behold his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith.

So what we going to do with this new day called Thursday eh? What we going to do with this snowy morn of Thursday eh my people? Nothing different than what we do with each and every other day. We going to LOVE it, rejoice and be glad in it, give much thanks and praise for it, because it’s a brand new day granted us by our wonderful heavenly Father, a day filled with His wonderful new mercies, compassions, faithfulness and forgiveness! Glory to God my fellow saints in Christ! It’s a brand new day with unlimited possibilities, oodles of opportunities for us to fulfill God’s great plan and purpose for our lives. 

Yes, let’s never forget that the Lord has a plan and purpose for every one of our lives and that’s why we’ve been so greatly gifted with the opportunity to see another day. In the immortal words of the prophet Jeremiah, on the Lord’s behalf: ‘I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope).’ (Jer. 29:11) So let’s keep that uppermost in our minds today as seek to do God’s work, to continue building our earthly lives on the good purpose that He’s placed in our hearts. 

And thus we can confidently say: ‘Something good is going to happen to me today! Oh yeah! And something good is also going to happen through me today! Bless the Lord’s holy name my brethren, for He is indeed a good God, full of mercy and compassion, with only the best thoughts toward us, but we spoil it by shrinking and shirking away from Him, because we seem to prefer the lustful and evil pleasures of this evil world above the heavenly treasures He has to offer. So what else can we expect when we neglect to follow His path eh? Nothing but calamity and darkness! Which is exactly what we’re suffering now, simply because we’ve turned away from God and has allowed the prince of darkness to control our lives. 

But friends, if there’s one thing about our great God is that He’s full of forgiveness and mercy, and we need only to repent, sincerely now, and come back into His fold and He will forgive us and heal our land. That’s His awesome promise! And yes, we do need a worldwide Revival; a worldwide LOVE Revolution, if our world is to return to some semblance of sanity. It’s written bold and clear like the tables, the tablets on which God told the prophet Habakkuk to write His vision so that even those running will see it. (Hab.2:2) 

But yuh know what friends, we’re so immersed in our own li’l selfish and greedy, earthly oriented world that we run by the tablets and don’t even see them, much less read the vision. Remember though these words of the Lord to Habakkuk: ‘Behold his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith.’ (Hab. 2:4) And truer words were never spoken concerning this generation, our souls are so full of pride and selfishness that we have no time nor space for God! And that can only lead to calamity like so many other ages and societies have discovered. 

And as I always say, the fledgling nation of Israel might have been foolish to turn away from the God of their forefathers, but whenever they did and then experienced calamity for their disobedience, they were wise enough to turn back to Him and receive His forgiveness and mercy. But we, in this supposed modern, enlightened and knowledgeable age, don’t seem to be wise enough to know on which side our bread is buttered. 

That brings us to Psalm 34 – The Lord hears the righteous – written by Bruh David when he was running from Saul, hungry and unarmed and he went into the temple and ate the shewbread that was meant for priests, then took Goliath’s sword, the one he used to cut off the giant’s head some years before and fled to the land of the Philistines. (1 Sam. 21) 

And I like the superscription at the head of the psalm. ‘A psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech (the priest in the temple), who drove him away, and he departed.’ The psalm says it all friends. When one has narrowly escaped death and is on the run from serious enemies, changes will be forced into your life, either for good or bad. Thankfully in Bruh David’s life they were for good. 

Hear these memorable words he writes nuh. ‘I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened (radiant): and their faces were not ashamed. 

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want (lack) to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want (lack) any good thing.’ (Ps. 34:1-9) 

O yes, we supposed saints of Christ, if we sincerely trust in the Lord our God, reverence and worship Him sincerely we’ll lack nothing. Remember Jesus’ words: ‘But seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33) And it is certainly because Bruh David had a heart for God, that he was able to escape Saul’s wrath. And does our world currently have a heart for God? 

Hn! Absolutely not! We don’t even acknowledge His existence, much less consider Him of any importance! We’re more concerned with kicking Him out of our society than reverencing or magnifying or exalting Him! That just shows how foolish we are to think that the Almighty and Everlasting God, who created the universe and all therein, will just fade away quietly into the sunset because a bunch of evil ingrates He created desires it? Not on your life! 

Oh friends, let’s wake up and see reality nuh. Remember the last time we got so evil the Lord destroyed the world by water. So it means that He won’t allow us to continue our evil doings for ever. At some stage He will get fed up with our evil shenanigans and will intervene and bring us to heel in a very turbulent manner. Who knows if this is the time eh? But whether this is the time or not, it’s high time that we turn our lives and our world around and run back to the protective and comforting arms of Almighty God! Wisdom dictates it. 

Now, for those of us who are sincerely trying to do His will in this evil and calamitous world, let’s go home declaring (yeahhh) our Thursday Blessings that He’s so magnanimously granted us to do His earthly work. As one strong voice: ‘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!’ 

And having said all of that, let’s get to sharing those blessings just as generously and magnanimously with others nuh. Much LOVE!

…a word to the wise…should be sufficient…