Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 December 2012 Psalm 11;5

Psalm 11:5.     The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
 
One more morning, one more day Friends, to enjoy the wonderful blessings of our marvellous God, down here on Planet Earth. And all believers said: ‘Praise the Lord!’ Yes my people, it is right and meet to give thanks and praise unto the God who cherishes, protects and provides for us. That means we ought to at least utter a simple thank you, when we arise on mornings, because without the Lord’s help and guidance we’d be cast adrift upon a wide and stormy sea of life, filled with countless difficulties. It is only through the working of His Holy Spirit in us, that we’re able to do the things we do, and enjoy the life we lead. However the Lord’s set it up that we can’t enjoy and appreciate the good life without adversity. As they say, you can’t appreciate the sun, until you’ve experienced rain, neither prosperity until you’ve suffered want. And the first part of our Bit reminds us of that. ‘The Lord trieth (tests) the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.’ Yes my brethren, the Lord puts all His children through tests, to find out what we’re made of, and consequently build our character, the idea being to make us as Christ-like as possible, because Jesus is the epitome of godliness, the standard against which we have to measure up. Obviously we’ll never be able to measure up to Him, but that’s the direction the Lord wants us to pursue. And unfortunately, the more you desire to walk with God, the more plentiful and difficult will be your tests. Look at how the Lord tested faithful servants like Noah, Job, Abraham, Moses, Bruh David, and even Jesus Himself. And we’ll look at some of Abraham’s testing today, because I think he had the most tests, as well as the harshest and most difficult, spread out over the longest period. In the first place, the Lord commanded him to leave his family in Haran when he was 75 years old, to go to goodness knows where. ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.’ (Gen.12:1-2) And Abraham didn’t argue, but with what was later termed faith, took his nephew Lot and his family and followed the Lord’s guidance into the land of Canaan. Over the years, all sorts of mishaps befell Abraham, but he stuck with the Lord, and despite his problems, the Lord kept on enriching him. Eventually, the Lord promised him a son from his wife Sarah in their old age.  (Gen.18) It took twenty something years for that promise to be fulfilled in Isaac. Then the Lord put him to the biggest test. ‘And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt (test) Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. and he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou LOVEST, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.’ (Gen.22:1-2) Now in the natural, that didn’t make any sense, for how could Abraham become the father of many nations if he sacrificed Isaac, upon whom the promised depended? But nonetheless, as we read in Gen.22, Abraham did as he was told, and set out with Isaac. My Friends, please note Abraham’s answer to Isaac’s question as they depart. ‘Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering…. (Gen.22:7-8) Now here comes the really interesting and nerve racking part. ‘And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here I am. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.’ (Gen.22:9-12) Oh my brethren, how many of us would have even considered that directive, much less obeying it without a fuss? Not too many really. But obviously Abraham had dealt with the Lord long enough to know that God was faithful to His promises, and if He promised a multitude of descendants through Isaac, then something would have to give before he was sacrificed. And something did give. The Lord stopped Abraham, and instead provided a ram caught by his horns in a bush for the sacrifice. ‘And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh (the Lord will provide).’ And that’s where the term ‘the Lord is our provider’ comes from. Oh my brethren, I sincerely hope that we can be encouraged by Abraham’s story, because listen to the outcome: ‘And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of the heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed (descendants) as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.’ (Gen.22:15-18) Yes fellow believers, wondrous things like that occur when we listen to God’s directive and faithfully obey Him. Please let’s go out and do just that today, thereby showing our wisdom and understanding. Much LOVE!…to obey is better than sacrifice…and to hearken (listen) than the fat of rams… (1 Sam.15:22)
 
 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 September 2012 Psalm 89:15

Psalm 89:15.     Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.
 
And the Lord said: ‘Let the day dawn, let the SON shine forth His brilliant light so that my people will be released from the darkness of their evil ways and walk in the light. And they will no longer be called the children of darkness, but the children of LIGHT!’ And He called that day Monday. Yes Friends, it’s the beginning of the new work week, so let’s be up and at ’em! As the Father so graciously blessed us with favour and the breath of life, let’s rise up and walk in the all encompassing LIGHT of Jesus nuh, so that the whole world will know that we are His followers, His faithful servants. And all God’s children said a loud and glorious ‘Amen!’ Yeh, I know some Mondays it’s hard to get up and get going, but that’s exactly why Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in us; to help us accomplish those undesirable or difficult tasks. And the Father has said that in time of difficulty, really at any time at all, we’re very welcome to call on Him for assistance in His Son’s name. So Friends, let’s do that now by singing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn in loud voice, with as much enthusiasm as we can muster. 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!’ Oh my people, did you hear the angels applauding our song? And did you see the big smile on Jesus’ face, as He raised His right hand in solidarity with us, and proudly declared: ‘Way to go mih breddren!’ Yes, Friends, that’s the kind of stuff that happens in heaven when we come before the Lord with praise and thanks and asking for help in sweet song. Our Bit solemnly proclaims it: ‘Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.’ Now I definitely did not plan to spread this Bit over four days, but everyday I was guided to more stuff that I could not turn away. Yesterday we noted that a lot of advice re singing the praises of God was found in the Psalms, but we never got around to them. So let’s do that today, starting with Psalm 92, superscripted; Praises for the Lord’s goodness. And it opens thus: ‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High: To show forth (declare) thy LOVING-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night. Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery (lute or lyre); upon the harp with a solemn sound. For thou Lord hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.’ (Ps.92:1-4) Now listen to Psalm 95, A psalm of praise to the great God: ‘O Come let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms (songs). For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.’ Wow Friends, words of absolute truth and wisdom! And if you didn’t believe those, listen to Psalm 98; Praise to God for his salvation: ‘O Sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory…Make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise (break forth in song), and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp and the voice of a psalm (sound of a song). With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord the King.’ (Ps.98:1,4-6)  Yes my people, that’s how God’s children should praise Him. And there are many more Psalms that advise such action, but right now let’s turn to Bruh Paul’s strong advice to the Ephesians on musical worship. ‘And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (dissipation); but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.’ (Eph.5:18-21) Wonderful advice! But do we do that my brethren? Yes, to a certain extent, but definitely not enough. Instead we sing a lot of the nonsense that the world considers music. Nothing’s wrong with singing some of that, but in many cases, those songs are derogatory towards God’s Word and His Will. And we’ll end appropriately with words from the Song of Solomon. ‘For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of the birds is come, and the voice of the turtle (dove) is heard in our land.’ (Song 1:11-12)  Yes Friends, even the birds know that they ought to give thanks and praise to their creator in sweet song for all the wonderful blessings He’s lavished upon them, so how much more should we, His finest creation. Unfortunately though, our winter is about to start, so many people will soon be singing the winter blahs instead (smile). However my brethren, let’s contemplate all that we’ve read today, and with a righteous passion burning in us, go out into the evil, ungodly world and walk amongst the heathen hordes, as proud, dedicated and worthy followers of Jesus, loudly singing His praises, so that the unbelievers will soon be breaking down our doors to also find peace and prosperity, joy and harmony, salvation and eternal life with our Lord and Saviour. I pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen! Much LOVE my awesome Friends in Christ!…how can we truly LOVE Jesus…if we don’t sing His praises in joyful song eh…