Today’s Scrip-Bit   17 June 2022 Deuteronomy 8:18a.

Deuteronomy 8:18a.      But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth,

Finally friends, it’s that day we’ve all been waiting for, and a bright, sunshiny, warm one too. (smile) So let’s all shout it together nuh. After three; one, two, three: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ Surprisingly, it’s one of the few things we don’t have to beg our fellow beings to thank God for, they just seem to do it automatically, even non-believers utter the slogan, as though coming to the end of the work week is such a heavy load off our shoulders. 

And yes, sometimes it can be, but generally speaking we should be thankful for seeing every day, for having jobs to go to, and all the other good things that the Lord has granted us, for many didn’t wake up to see today, many don’t have jobs to go to, or enjoy all the other benefits we enjoy in our prosperous society. 

But there’s one thing we ought never to forget, as Moses said to the children of Israel when they would come into their prosperity in the Promised Land. ‘And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish (test) his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.’ (Deut. 8:17-18) 

Yes friends, it’s only through the goodness and mercy of the ever-living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that we have the ability to amass wealth and become prosperous! And why is that you ask? Simple. It’s because as Bruh David writes in Psalm 24: ‘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).’ (Ps. 24:1-2) 

And that’s the gospel truth my people! That is if you believe in the one God Jehovah. But yuh know what? Even if you don’t believe in Him, it makes no difference whatsoever, for He did speak the world into existence and formed us puny, fragile and finite humans from the dust of the earth, where we shall all eventually return when our short sojourn on this earth is done. 

The only difference is that the spirits of some of us who believe in and walk according the dictates of His Son, Jesus Christ, will go to dwell with the Lord until eternity, while the spirits of those who don’t believe will end up in the lake of fire ‘prepared for the devil and his angels,’ to be damned and destroyed forever! 

That’s where Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats; with goats on the left hand and the sheep on the right, and welcome those on the right hand saying, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ And all of that can be found in Matt. 25:31-46. Please read it asap, so you can grasp the seriousness of the situation. 

But it’s time to go all the way back to Moses talking to the Israelites, so we can get the true gist of what it entails to be living for God. After telling them about the Lord being the one who allows them to get wealth, Moses continues: ‘And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord hath destroyed before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.’ (Deut. 8:19-20) 

Oh my people, Moses didn’t mince words, and whenever they strayed from the God of their forefathers, they suffered greatly, just like every other nation down through history that became great through God’s empowerment, then forget about Him when they reached the pinnacles of their glory. Just like we are doing in our society today; foolishly trying to rid it of its Creator and Provider. 

No wonder our world is going to hell in a handbasket, filled with hate, strife and all the other negative things of the demonic enemy. That’s what happens when you refuse to obey the voice of the living Lord God Jehovah and follow dead man-made idols that can’t do a solitary thing to change your life for the better, only for the worse. 

But then again, the Lord God Jehovah is so wonderful, so merciful and gracious that He’s made a way for us to come to Him if we ever change our minds. That’s through the awesome option of prayer. So please, let’s take a hold of it right now nuh and through our Friday Chant go to Him for help in these terrible times of apostasy and lack of LOVE! 

Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. 

So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks. 

And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

Now, we keep the promises we’ve just made, and then wait on the Lord’s response. That’s the ONLY way! Much LOVE!

…how can you disobey your Creator…and expect to prosper eh…for there are serious consequences to disobedience…just ask the Israelites… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​          

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   1 October 2021 Psalm 24:1.

Psalm 24:1.     The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein.

Can you believe it’s already October my friends? That means the beautiful colours of autumn will soon be upon us…including the chilly days that come with it. (smile) And what’s amazing is that with all the problems we’ve encountered, the year has still gone rushing by without a care for our serious worldwide predicament. It seems to be saying to us that it can’t wait around for us to fix our problems, it has to be about the Father’s business. If we want to stay mired in hatred, strife and anger, then that’s our misfortune, it has nothing to do with the moving forward of the days and the seasons. 

And it’s quite right. The Lord has set the times of the seasons, which means nothing whatsoever will stop them from doing His bidding. I certainly wish the same could be said of His greatest creation, mankind. But no, with the free choice the Lord gave us, instead of being obedient to His word and desires, we have become proud, arrogant, ungodly, stubborn, prone to sin and disunity. And yet we wonder why we have so many problems. 

Ah mih people, who knows how, when, or even if the numerous problems that are now facing us will ever be healed, or brought to some kind of resolution? Every day seems to bring with it a new disaster, be it natural or man-made, and the contentious questions concerning things like the pandemic, climate change, racial inequalities, political disagreement, homelessness and poverty are no closer to being solved. In fact, the temperature is heating up, with more entrenched attitudes and disagreeable words being spouted in a harsher and more strident manner with each passing day. 

It’s a blessing that we have the Lord God Almighty, our Creator and Controller of the universe still on His heavenly throne keeping an eye on things yes. For without His steadying hand on the tiller, we would most likely have already sadistically devoured each other. Thankfully, His plans for the world don’t seem to call for a complete annihilation of mankind, although we are drawing closer to such a possibility everyday with the warlike words and attitudes we continually display. 

It would be good though for all of us to take a moment and read these marvellous and truthful words of Bruh David as he outlines them in Psalm 24 – The king of glory. He confidently proclaims: ‘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).’ (Ps. 24:1-2) 

Now those are facts we cannot dispute my fellow believers. The Lord brought the world and everything within it into existence from nothing, through His magnificent power and planning. Thus, everything belongs to Him, despite what we foolish humans seem to think. And He will not allow anyone or anything else to take it away or control it. Remember what He said through the prophet Isaiah: ‘I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.’ (Is, 42:8) 

Yes friends, our God is very protective of what is His, and no one or nothing will take the glory and praise that He is entitled to for the creation and maintenance of this world. And I like how this commentary on the subject from the Christianity.com website reads. ‘God founding and establishing the Earth through such a careful degree of meticulousness is so inspiring and comforting. It reveals more about God’s passion and love for the Earth. The Earth is His masterpiece and like an artist, He crafts it and maintains what is His.’ 

Oh my people, even the unbeliever, if he sits quietly and contemplates the universe and all therein, will realize that despite its complexities and idiosyncrasies, and without any apparent overseer, it runs ever so smoothly, like a well-oiled machine. That ought to bring some serious appreciation for the power and majesty of its Creator. We believers already have that great appreciation, that’s why we praise and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, its Creator. For the world did not just appear from nowhere, but careful thought and much planning went into it, before the Lord spoke it into existence, and before He made man in His own image, out of the dust of the earth. 

So yes, man has messed up the universe, but our heavenly Father still keeps an eye over it, because it’s His, and He doesn’t want us to completely destroy it, because He has a plan to restore and renew it some fine day. In the meanwhile though, we believers must try and bring some semblance of peace and LOVE to a greatly divided world; that’s the Lord’s desire. 

He sent His Son Jesus to save us because He didn’t want to lose us to sin and Satan. But that doesn’t mean He will not judge the wicked harshly, those who refuse to believe in His Son, and consequently in Him. Please think about the final judgement and eternal separation from God, that entails being thrown into the lake of fire with Satan and his evil cronies. (Rev. 20:14-15) 

Unfortunately, many of us think of that as a joke, but friends, God doesn’t make jokes in His word. It is the awesome truth! Whatever it says has happened, is happening and will happen! So please get serious about your eternal future. There are only two options: heaven and hell. And I am sure you don’t want to go the latter. That means we must begin right now, talking to God and making our way straight with Him through prayer and obedience to His word. 

Therefore, as one voice, let’s go to Him through our Friday Chant and ask for His help. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. 

So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks. And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. 

And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

Now let’s go out and live the words ‘trusting faith,’ and ‘faithful believers,’ if we want our prayers to be positively answered. Much LOVE!

…the Lord doesn’t want to lose any of His creation…but He won’t rescind our free choice…                                                                                                                                

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8     

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

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…