Proverbs 17:17. A friend LOVETH at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Oh Friends, our God is into His mysterious workings with me today. Earlier on, I was reading my Bible, the one I got from my mother, and I happened to come across this bookmark that asked the age old but very important question ‘What is a Friend? Here’s the answer it provides: ‘A friend is someone very dear who shares your hopes and dreams, who shows you that the grayest day is brighter than it seems, A friend will bring you happiness that lasts a lifetime through – I know, for that’s the kind of friend I found when I met you.’ I had a Selah moment – then excitedly said to myself, ‘But that’s Jesus they’re talking about!’ For that’s the kind of friendship He brings to our lives when we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour! And believe me, the words to that old but blessed and BELOVED Hymn ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus,’ immediately rose up in my soul. I couldn’t remember all the words at the time, so I checked them out just now, and here they are: ‘What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Ev’rything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Ev’rything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our ev’ry weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden, Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Saviour, still our refuge; Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In his arms He’ll take and shield thee; Thou wilt find a solace there.’ Oh my people, who could want for a better Friend than Jesus eh; the most powerful Being in existence, Master of all He surveys, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Creator and Controller of the universe and all therein, yet humble and LOVING enough to befriend the worthless and ungrateful children of men? How could it not be a wonder and a blessing to associate with such a magnificent and majestic Being! He fulfills the words of our Bit to the nth degree: ‘A friend LOVETH at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.’ The scholars claim: ‘A true friend has unquenchable LOVE that is not diminished by adversity.’ And that’s the gospel truth people! It brings to mind the human friendship of Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi, when their men folk die in a foreign land and Naomi plans to return to her people and tells Ruth to go back to her own. ‘And Ruth said, Entreat (urge) me not to leave thee, or to return (turn back) from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me. When she (Naomi) saw that she (Ruth) was steadfastly minded (determined) to go with her, then she (Naomi) left speaking unto her (didn’t try to dissuade her any more).’ (Ruth 1:16-18) Now that’s a wonderful illustration of friendship! And for that ‘stick-to-itiveness’, the Lord rewarded her with being the great grandmother of Bruh David, a member of the line from whom Jesus was descended. Wow! Doesn’t our God write wonderful scripts! Oh fellow believers, though Jesus is Lord and Master of ALL, He is still capable of being a Friend; the ‘BESTEST’ Friend ever, as the young people would say! Please also look to Him as such, and whenever you need a friend to talk to, or just to sit quietly with, please turn to Him, for there’s NO ONE like Him; a Friend in need and a Friend in deed, One who promises never to leave or forsake you, to help you bear all your burdens, give you salvation and eternal life. And you can be sure He’ll never bad talk you behind your back or spread all your heartfelt secrets abroad, as so many supposed human friends do. (smile) Yes my brethren, Jesus is the Friend of all Friends! Please turn to Him in your time of need, and you’ll be surprised at the awesome friendship you’ll develop, and quickly too, once you bare your heart to Him. And this is not hearsay people, but personal experience. I’m reminded of last summer when I was sick and we’d sit down on my front porch during the midnight hours and reason. And yuh know what, while I sat on the chair on the porch, Jesus would always sit on the step below me. That’s how humble He is in His friendships! So please turn to Jesus RIGHT NOW if you need a faithful friend, and you’ll never experience one moment of regret. I guarantee you that! One note of caution here. Not because Jesus is all powerful and otherwise, means that being His friend will automatically make life easy for you, and you’ll just sail through it without a problem. On the contrary, you can be sure that he’ll always tell you like it is. He won’t mince words and only tell you what you want to hear. If you’re wrong, He’ll so inform you, but in His masterful, non-demeaning, non-judgemental way, with the utmost of care, consideration and LOVE. Just like our earthly friends sometimes need to give us a blast to make us smarten up, Jesus will do the same thing, just in a less controversial and belittling manner. Oh my people, I can’t begin to tell you the privileges, benefits, blessings, etc. etc. that comes from having Jesus as your personal ‘BESTEST’ Friend! You have to experience it to really understand the peace, calm, warmth, joy and understanding He brings into our lives, when we allow Him to walk this rugged earthly journey with us! Trust me, it’s real, and it’s beautiful! I wouldn’t lie to you on something as important as this. Till next time then, please walk with Jesus beside you, every step of the way. That’s the only way to successfully navigate this earthly journey. Much LOVE!…looking for a real true Friend…then try Jesus…He’s undoubtedly the ‘BESTEST’ there is…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 March 2012 Proverbs 17:17
13 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: adversity, best friends, faith, faithfulness, friend, friend loveth, friendship, grief, happiness, Jesus, never leave or forsake, prayer, rewards, sins, sorrows, spirituality
Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 March 2012 Psalm 78:32
09 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: christianity, faith, fellowship, godly power, israelite culture, lack of faith, lack of trust, miracles, slavery in egypt, thanks to God, ungratefulness
Psalm 78:32. For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
Oh my blessed Friends in Christ, it’s Friday! The end of the workweek is here! And all God’s people declared a lusty shout of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ Whatever tiredness prevailed in their souls, bodies and minds from the week’s struggles was lifted with the thought of the weekend of rest, of fellowship and the praising of God in like-minded company. And to bring all the weekend entails into proper perspective, let’s chant our Friday Chant with godly power. In unison 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.’ Yeh mih people, sometimes the weekend seems busier than the workweek, because we have so much private stuff to do, so that we can get time to go and labour. But instead of worrying too much about the prerogatives of this world, let’s concentrate on those of Jesus and our heavenly home, so that we won’t end up like the Israelites in our Bit: ‘For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.’ It really boggles my imagination when I think about the ungratefulness, lack of faith and trust that permeated the Israelite culture. After the Lord heard their crying about the woeful conditions of their slavery in Egypt, and showed His awesome power by all the plagues He unleashed on Egypt, but not on them. Then when Pharaoh finally allowed them to leave, He found a way for them to leave with a lot of Egypt’s earthly treasure. Furthermore, the Lord parted the Red Sea so that they could get away from the pursuing Egyptian army, then destroyed their pursuers. He kept them away from war by not passing them through the land of the Philistines, led them by a pillar of cloud in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night. And yet they complained about bitter water and no food. So the Lord took care of those in His miraculous ways. But yuh think that meant anything to them. No sir! Neither did they give thanks when He led them to the oasis at Elim. But when they came out of the wilderness of Sin and pitched camp in Rephidim, where there was no water, they quickly got on Moses’ case though. ‘And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me (to death). And the Lord said unto Moses; Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest (struck) the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah (Tempted), and Meribah (Contention), because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted (tested) the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?’ (Ex.17:3-7) Oh Friends, it’s the same way we have behaved in this last generation; questioning both the presence of God and His goodness to us, after he’d made our way to flourish and prosper when our fathers paid Him His deserved obeisance. Like Israel, we have forgotten where our manna and daily bread come from. ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (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.’ (Josh.1:8) Yes my people, that’s where the success of an individual, a society, a nation and a world comes from! And that’s why our society has stopped flourishing and is quickly heading downhill, like a snowball hurrying down to Hades, which is where we’ll end up if we don’t change our evil ways and return to the Lord God who created us, protects and provides for us. It’s not rocket science people, just pure and simple common sense. But I forgot that doesn’t exist in our society again. Please let’s get it back, so that our society, our nation and world will survive, not in iniquity, but in righteousness and prosperity. Much LOVE!…only a fool…or a madman…knowingly spoils his own life…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 March 2012 Psalm 78:32
08 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: abnormal weather, beautiful spring day, faith, god, israelites journey, religion
Psalm 78:32. For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works
Oh Friends, yesterday was indeed a beautiful spring day in my neck of the woods, except for a somewhat blustery wind! And it’s expected to get up to about 12 Celsius again today. What a joy! But I’m still concerned and perturbed by this unseasonable weather, and all the other abnormal weather patterns that we’ve been experiencing around the world for the last few years. I guess abnormal weather is now the order of the day. But thankfully my brethren, we have the ONE and ONLY Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour to rely on, so that whatever comes against us, we can stand up sure and strong in His Holy Name and either defeat it or ride it out! And the true believers offered a sincere prayer of gratitude. ‘Oh thank you Lord, for your LOVING-kindness to the children of undeserving men!’ Oh, if those children of Israel had only been as thankful and true, then the whole course of History would have been changed. Unfortunately though, as our Bit says: ‘For all this they sinned still, and believed not the for his wondrous works.’ Ah Friends, I hope that yesterday we pondered on how those words related to our personal situations, as I asked, and that we made amends with our forgiving and merciful God for any shortcomings thereof. Now let’s continue looking at the Israelites journey. Yesterday we left them enjoying the easy life in the oasis of Elim, without any complaints. But then they entered the wilderness of Sin, a rather appropriate name, for they immediately began to complain against Moses and Aaron, saying: ‘Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots (pots of meat), and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’ (Ex.16:3) Ah Friends, how we like to always have it easy and our way eh! But despite His disappointment at His chosen people’s lack of faith, after all that He had done for them, our God, being such a wonderful Deity, declared unto Moses: ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate (amount) every day, that I may prove (test) them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.’ (Ex.16:4) So the Lord tested them with manna, and they failed, because instead of gathering on the sixth day, enough also for the seventh, some went out to gather it on the Sabbath Day. But they found none, because, as per the Lord’s decree, it was only provided for six days. Obviously this displeased the Lord, and He asked Moses: ‘How long refuse ye (do you refuse) to keep my commandments and my laws?’ (Ex.16:28) Oh Friends, that’s exactly the same question the Lord is asking of us today? When will we stop being so ungodly and return to His fold eh? That’s part of the reason why our world is in such a confused and troubled state. And until we return to a state of godliness and obedience to His commandments, we will continue to live in a confused and troubled state. Thankfully the Israelites eventually learned about the manna. ‘So the people rested on the seventh day. And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.’ (Ex.16:30-31) One more miracle for those unbelieving, ungrateful people. And that doesn’t sound like a bad tasting food either; ‘wafers made with honey.’ But I guess if you have it morning, noon and night, seven days a week, it can get somewhat tiresome. Will we eventually wake up though from our sinful, ungodly, lustful life before it’s too late? I certainly hope so. Now here’s what the scholars have to say about manna: ‘The manna literally means ‘What is it?’ Not only was it remarkable for its size, shape, colour, taste, and variety of uses (Ex.16:14, 23, 31; Num.11:7-8), but especially for its daily appearance at dawn, its tremendous abundance, its strange capacity for breeding worms at the end of each day except the sixth, and its sudden and permanent disappearance as soon as the Israelites entered Canaan (Josh.5:12). It taught the people to look Godward for their daily bread, and it pointed toward the One who claimed to be the true bread from heaven, even ‘the bread of life.’ (John 6:32,35) Oh my people, do we look to our God EVERYDAY for our daily bread, like the Israelites were taught to do, and like Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ (Matt.6:11) I sure hope so, because that’s what the Lord expects from us, and also why He sends us new mercies and blessings every day. It’s all a part of His overall plan to have us trust Him anew each day, so that He can show His genuine and unconditional LOVE for us. Please, let’s accept His LOVING-kindness with joy and thankfulness and do our best to walk in His godly ways, so that He can continue to bless and keep us safe. That’s the only healing medicine for what ails us today my people, so let’s be wise and accept it with gracious thanks nuh. Much LOVE!…it is better to trust in the Lord…than to put confidence in man… (Ps.118:8)
Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 March 2012 Psalm 78:32
07 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: cloud, faith, fire, God's goodness, righteousness., the greatest, ungratefulness
Psalm 78:32. For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
Oh mih people, as I write this, another beautiful day on God’s wonderful earth is in the offing! And I’m serious, for in my area, in the first week of March, the temperature is supposed to rise up around 12 Celsius. And all God’s people in the northern climes emitted a loud and grateful; ‘Thank you Lord! You are indeed the greatest!’ Now Friends, there’s no disputing that our Lord is the greatest, for He truly is, and the initial revelation of today’s high temp is exceedingly wonderful, on the surface, but deep down, what does it really signify? It really signifies that our weather patterns have indeed gone haywire, no matter how some of us try to deny it. For this winter so far, we’ve gotten almost as many warm days with rain as we’ve gotten cold ones with snow. In the thirty odd years I’ve been in Canada, living in the same general area, I’ve never seen this phenomenon before. Meanwhile, consider the numerous tornadoes that ripped through the U.S. this past week. I can’t remember ever hearing about so many tornadoes in quick succession either. And to bring it full circle parts of Europe and Asia were recently hit by cold spells and blanketed with snow like they haven’t experienced in ages. And we haven’t even taken into consideration the warming of the waters in the Arctic and the melting of the icebergs. Putting it all together Friends, I don’t think it portends much good at all. Between our mishandling of the earth’s attributes, and God’s retribution for our disobedience, a period of climate change has been unleashed that can no longer be called subtle. But has it brought us to our senses? Unfortunately NO! And just like the Israelites, our Bit is a disgraceful condemnation of our modern society. ‘For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.’ Now let’s get some pertinent background on the Israelite situation, so that we can better understand our own. Oh my brethren, our God is so concerned about us that we don’t know the half of it. And why am I saying this? Because I just noticed something in the Good Book that I never noticed before, and it moved me. Don’t know if you ever noticed it, but I find it significant enough to mention. When the Lord took Israel out of Egypt, ‘God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent (change their minds) when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed (in orderly ranks) out of the land of Egypt.’ (Ex.13:17-18) But yuh know that made no difference whatsoever, for the Israelites still complained and disobeyed no end while going through the wilderness to the Promised Land, that’s why it took them forty long, hard years, and only Joshua and Caleb from all those who came out of Egypt ever set foot there. The Lord also having promised to lead and guide them, did just that: ‘And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.’ (Ex.13:21-22) He even used the cloud to prevent the Egyptian army camped behind them at the Red Sea from seeing them (Ex.14:20) But they showed no appreciation for that either and instead complained about the army back there ready to slaughter them. The Lord solved that problem by having Moses part the sea, allowing them to cross over on dry land, then engulfed Pharaoh’s army by returning the water to its original position. (Ex.14:21-30) ‘And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared (stood in awe of) the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses.’ (Ex.14:31) But for how long my brethren? Only a short period, for after three days in the wilderness without water their complaints began again. And when they did find water, it was bitter and undrinkable (Marah). ‘And the people murmured against Moses, saying, what shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance (regulation), and there he proved (tested) them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will bring none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.’ (Ex.15:24-26) Now that was the first incentive the Lord gave Israel to be obedient unto Him. ‘And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and three score and ten palm trees: and they encamped by the waters:’ Now at Elim, there were no complaints, not a word of dissatisfaction was heard, because the living at that juncture was beautiful. It was a true oasis; 70 palm trees for shade, and 12 wells of fresh, drinkable water. What was there to complain about? Nothing! But please note Friends, there didn’t seem to be any praise and thanks either. Doesn’t that remind you of us? How we complain when things get rough, but when God is generous with us, and things are going good, we forget to give Him praise and thanks. Oh Friends, that’s our ‘ponderation’ for today; where in our lives have we complained, but where also have we not given thanks for God’s goodness. Let’s try and make some amends for our ungrateful behaviour today. Much LOVE!…to return ungratefulness for kindness…is the mark of the unrighteous…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 March 2012 Matthew 22:37,39
06 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: explode, faith, implode, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, mysterious workings, the LOVE of God
Matthew 22:37,39. Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself.
Aye mih people, a fine Tuesday morning to you and yours! Now we all know that our God moves in mysterious ways, so listen to this mysterious way He worked in me yesterday morning. Just before midday, He sent me this zeppo, this little message, by the Holy Spirit, and the strange thing is that when I sat down and really considered it, what He says makes oodles of sense. And it’s not rocket science either, but plain simple logic and common sense. Well enough suspense, (smile) the theory is…Oh sorry, this is no theory, these are hard, solid facts! Well then, the facts run something like this: Our world is presently in pretty bad shape, and if we don’t do something about it real soon, it’s liable to implode and/or explode. The forces of iniquity are winning the battle right now, but we believers in Jesus know that the powers of darkness are no match whatsoever for the brilliance of our wonderful Lord and Saviour. The iniquity workers, led by that old scoundrel Lucifer, are purveyors of hate, anger, confusion and strife. However, we Christians, led by Jesus Christ, are the purveyors of Peace, LOVE, and Human Kindness. And one thing for sure in this ongoing battle is that the powers of darkness definitely can’t overpower the forces of light. We, the soldiers of Jesus, work with the most awesome weapon ever invented…no, not invented, for you can’t invent LOVE. We, the followers of Jesus, work with LOVE, the greatest weapon ever created! Yes, that sounds better. And it is only a matter of time before the good guys, that’s us believers, come out victorious, because our omnipotent God has imperiously declared that: ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of (from) me, saith the Lord.’ (Is.54:17) He’s also incontestably declared that: ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom.8:37) However Friends, though those promises are wonderful and will be kept, our victories won’t happen by chance, or by just sitting down and wishing them to happen by faith. No! Just like the iniquity soldiers, who work hard to promote and justify their cause, likewise, we, the children of the Most High God Jehovah, have to go out into the fields of evil and sow some good seed, in and with faith. We have to out work and out battle Lucifer’s boys, and right now I believe that they are outworking and out battling us. And that’s not a very good situation for our world my brethren. So since we have the biggest and most powerful bazooka in town, LOVE, let’s get out there and use it nuh mih people. The poor, the sick, the suffering, lonely, lost and oppressed are plentiful out there, yuh know. And they’re waiting to be delivered by us, the helpers of Jesus. Unfortunately we can’t do that by sitting on our comfortable rear ends. It’s certainly going to take a lot of effort and sacrifice, patience, strong faith and fortitude from all God’s soldiers to pull of this LOVE Revolution that He’s planned to save our fast deteriorating world. Oh my Friends, that is the only solution available to us who believe! It’s the only plan that will return our world to its senses and its rightful place, under the outstretched and protective wings of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the ONE, TRUE GOD of this vast universe! Please let’s wake up and smell the roses, or rather the pungent scent of the destruction that’s underway. LOVE is the ONLY WAY TO VICTORY! And as Bruh Paul so wisely told the Thessalonians: ‘But as touching (concerning) brotherly LOVE ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to LOVE one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more.’ (1 Thess.4:9-10) Yes mih people, to change our world, our LOVE Walk has to be ramped up much higher than it currently is. We won’t win any battles, much less wars with the puny attempts at LOVE we’re currently making. If we’re truly to be considered Friends and Followers of Jesus, then there’s only one way to win this ongoing war. As Jesus declared so long ago in our Bit: ‘Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…And Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself.’ Yes people, that’s the winning formula! And since LOVE is an action word, please, let’s put it into serious action nuh. For our children’s sake, let’s do it nuh. Much LOVE!…simply talking LOVE…and not actively walking it…does not any battle win…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 March 2012 Matthew 18:11
02 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: faith, fellow believers, persuasive voice, religion, theology
Matthew 18:11. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
Oh my fellow believers in Christ, it’s Friday! Yes, the weekend’s here at last. But uncharacteristically the shouts of ‘TGIG! Thank God is Friday! aren’t as loud and lusty as usual because we seem to be adding a little more decorum to our Lenten behaviour. (smile) It reminds me of the days when you couldn’t hear a calypso on the radio in T&T – the land of carnival and calypso – during the entire Lenten season, except on St. Patrick’s Day, because they were thought to be too immoral and sinful, inappropriate music for that particular period. Granted some might have been, but the whole genre suffered because of a few. And isn’t that the way life seems to move; where because of a few miscreants, a whole body is negatively labelled and punished? Anyway, we’ve got Jesus – our be all and end all – so there’s no need to worry. With that security in mind, let’s then chant our Friday Chant to get us set for the weekend. In one loud, persuasive voice 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.’ Yes mih people, what a joy it is to believe in a God who LOVED us so much that He sent His only Son to save us worthless beings! Our Bit states it plainly and simply: ‘For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.’ Now it wasn’t Jesus alone who declared this saving grace of His, for Isaiah prophesied it way back when: ‘Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us).’ (Is.7:14) The angel of the Lord also appeared in a dream to Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, while he was wrestling with the problem of a pregnant fiancée, telling him: ‘And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus (Saviour): for he shall save his people from their sins.’ (Matt.1:21) This was done so that Isaiah’s prophecy above could be fulfilled. Now Jesus wasn’t bashful about saying it either for it was the truth and He wanted to make sure that people really understood why He had left His comfortable home in heaven to come to hell on earth. Listen to Him expound on the subject: ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17) And all God’s people raised their heads, eyes, hearts and hands to heaven and uttered a grateful, ‘Thank you Father God for sending your Son Jesus to redeem us from our sins! We LOVE you, and bless and praise your Holy Name!’ What would we have done without Jesus eh Friends? As the ancients would say, ‘crapaud would surely smoke we pipe,’ our eternal lives would certainly be in great jeopardy, having to spend eternity in Hades with Lucifer. Oh what a horrible thought! But thank the Lord there’s Jesus, ever on the lookout for the lost, hurting, sick and oppressed. And He shows this so plainly in Luke 15 where He tells the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, where the shepherd, the coin’s owner and the father of the lost son diligently seek for what they’d lost. And when they’d found it, they rejoiced with their friends and neighbours. It’s only fitting to end with Jesus’ words after each parable: ‘I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just (upright) persons, which need no repentance… Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth…It was meet (right) that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.’ (Luke 15:7,10,32) Oh Friends, are we on the lookout for the poor, hungry, sick and suffering too? If not, then we’re not following in Jesus’ footsteps. So let’s get a right perspective and change it all, so that we can truly deserve to be called Christians – followers of Christ. Much LOVE!…you’re not a true follower…unless you truly follow your leader…
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