2 Corinthians 1:2. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Aye Friends, whoever says that our God isn’t something else, doh really know Him nuh. Listen to this story: A couple days ago He worked a magic on me, a nice magic obviously, and now would you believe that He wants me to testify to it. Hn, hn! But you know, since I try to be obedient as much as possible, I am going to testify, though not simply out of obedience, but more so out of LOVE and gratitude for God’s awesome goodness, and as usual, He was just in time. Anyway, the story goes like this. That day I guess I was feeling somewhat tired and low down, plus the weather was sort of wet and damp, and to make matters worse, my old bones were acting up with the arthritis, so I was having a bit of a pity party, day dreaming about the wonderful weather in Tobago. And right at that momentous moment in time (smile) the duchess called me from downstairs to pick up the phone. And lo and behold, it was one of my sisters in Jamdown (Jamaica) calling to wish me a Happy New Year and also to tell me that my niece and nephew from Tobago had just had dinner with them. And I don’t have to tell you all what that caused – my joy was most thoroughly renewed! And who says that our God isn’t a real great God eh? Foolishness! Much thanks Sister Audrey! I’m sure she didn’t even know that she was then being used by the Most High to revitalize me. And some of you must be wondering how come I have sisters in J.A. But they must be my sisters since some forty years ago, when I was living there, their parents took me in when I had no place to go, and the family showered me with plenty, plenty LOVE, a true action of Jesus. Thanks so much Aunt Amy and Uncle Aubrey. I won’t even venture to think what would have become of me, if the LOVE of Jesus hadn’t penetrated your hearts and caused you to take me in. And as I keep saying Friends, we miss the best part of our God when we don’t see His wonderful actions in our daily lives. Ah sorry for you people who don’t look for Him in the everyday situations, and thus cannot appreciate what He does in the ordinary, day to day moments, but the Lord has done so much ordinary magic in my life that He’s made me a sure believer. Unfortunately, most of us keep looking for big miracles, which are obviously few and far between, when we should be looking for the small ones, which happen almost everyday. However, from today, RIGHT NOW, I want us all to look for and thus enjoy those smaller moments of magic, cause that’s when we truly come to know, appreciate and LOVE Him. I also want us to be serious about our New Year’s resolution to increase the level and intensity of our LOVE Walk with Jesus. That means being more committed in thought, word and action to the LOVE REVOLUTION we’re trying to foment. Oh Friends, I guarantee that if you all really tried to get closer to Jesus, you’d be amazed at the good changes that will start taking place in your lives. Then you’d start to believe more. In other words, you’d be growing in faith. And that’s the name of the game my people: believe… experience… more belief… more experience, at an even higher level… faith grows even stronger… with righteousness not bad at all… and you just keep growing until He’s ready to call you home. In fact, once you come to really know Jesus, you never stop growing because there’s such an awesome amount of stuff to learn about and from Him. And that Friends, is my testimony for this Tuesday morning, early in January, in this new year of 2013 with its promised watershed, unexpected, and most interesting happenings. Ah mih people, if we can’t find joy in the Lord, then something’s wrong. But here’s our Bit: ‘Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.’ And like Bruh Paul, I’d like to wish us all that this morning. That greeting came to be his signature at the beginning of almost all of his writings, beginning with that to the Romans. ‘To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Rom.1:7) The scholars explain that thus: ‘Called to be saints. This tells how they got to be saints, namely by way of God’s call (cf. 8:30). Grace is the typical Greek greeting, whereas peace is a traditional Hebrew greeting. Note Paul’s greeting in his other epistles, for this characteristic expression of Paul.’ And re our Bit, here is the scholar’s note. ‘Grace to you and peace: for Paul, grace always precedes peace. Peace is subsequent and comes because God’s grace has been received by faith. Nothing brings this peace as much as the undiluted gospel of God’s grace (cf. Eph.2:14; Phil.4:7; Col.1:20; 3:15). From: The single preposition ‘apo’ links the Father and the Son in an indissoluble union, thus pointing to the deity of Christ.’ And all God’s children declared a loud and grateful, ‘Praise the Lord!’ Now Friends, we’ll close with the words to the chorus of another li’l reggae ditty I recently heard that are most appropriate to our Bit today. It’s called ‘Beauty for Ashes, and is sung by Germaine Cowan. Please sing the chorus with me: ‘Beauty for ashes, In a shower of grace. Hope for tomorrow; It’s a bright and brand new day. He took away my sorrow. Put a smile on my face. Beauty for ashes, In a shower of grace.’ Isn’t that just plain beautiful and filled with so much gospel truth my brethren! Let’s ponder on those things today nuh, let’s consider the many instances where our wonderful God has taken our ashes and given us beauty in return. Let’s start looking for His glorious presence in our everyday lives, because that’s where He wants to be and is mostly to be found. Much LOVE!…And of his fullness…have all we received…and grace for grace…(graced heaped on grace)… (John 1:16)
Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 January 2013 2 Corinthians 1:2
08 Jan 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: arthritis, Beauty for Ashes, family, grace and peace, growing in faith, Jesus Christ, Love of Jesus, LOVE Revolution, LOVE Walk, magic, righteousness., Shower of Grace, testimony, Tobago
Today’s Scrip-Bit 12 December 2012 Psalm 118:8
12 Dec 2012 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: changing weather patterns, confidence, deliverance, desperate need, enemies, family, fear, gospel truth, guard your mouth, LOVE, reverence, salvation, saviour, stronghold, supernatural strength, the Lord is worthy to be praised, the Lord's Word, trust, trust in the Lord, wait for the Lord, wisdom
Psalm 118:8. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
Oh Friends, like so many of our other pseudo sciences, our weather forecasting is taking a turn for the worse. That’s possibly because of the abnormal, the changing weather patterns we’re currently experiencing. And I bring this up because yesterday’s forecast for my area was supposed to be sunny and bright. However, shortly after 8 a.m, I went outside to put out the garbage, and lo and behold wasn’t greeted by bright sunshine, but by wet snow! Hn! And though the wet snow didn’t last long, the day was never sunny and bright, but remained cloudy throughout. Unfortunately, so it is with many of our other man made devices and proclamations; they’ve become untrustworthy despite the surge in technological innovation and human intelligence. What a bam-bam! So what do we do now? What choices do we have besides man and the machines he’s created? Only ONE option is left to us Friends, and interestingly enough, the most sensible option at that. Like our Bit advises: ‘It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.’ And all God’s children declared a loud and hearty, ‘Amen!’ Yes my people, the ONLY thing, being, machine or otherwise that we can wholeheartedly trust is the ONE who created us, still cares for us a whole bunch, and also LOVES us unconditionally; that’s Jehovah God! Hear how Bruh David proclaims it in his song of deliverance from the hand of all his enemies, especially his nemesis, King Saul. ‘And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn (strength) of my salvation, my high tower (stronghold), and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.’ (2 Sam.2:2-4) He declares basically the same thing in Psalm 18, but begins it differently: ‘I will LOVE thee, O Lord, my strength.’ (Ps.18:1) Oh my brethren, where else can we get that supernatural strength, trust and wisdom we so desperately need in this ungodly, evil world, but from our Creator? Nowhere else my brethren! The prophet Micah declares our problem today so accurately, that it’s as though he is actually living in these, rough and cruel end times. In his insightful wisdom, he says: ‘Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide (companion), keep (guard) the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.’ (Mic.7:5-6) And isn’t that the gospel truth Friends? It sure is, because the trust and LOVE that was originally found in families, has now deteriorated to its lowest level ever. The family is no longer the backbone of society. In fact our society no longer has a backbone, that’s why it’s so wishy washy, so unreliable, swinging from one end of the pendulum to the other, without any sense of balance or stability, and thus is not worthy to be trusted like it used to be. And just as Micah declared our problem from way back when, he also gave us the solution, from way back then. It’s so simple and obvious Friends, that the complicated minds of men can’t seem to fathom it. ‘Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.’ (Mic.7:7-8) Yes my fellow believers, in these cruel, tough and thankless times, that’s where we should all be putting our trust and confidence; in Almighty God and not in man and his worldly idols. Isaiah said the same thing when talking about deliverance foreshadowed: ‘And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.’ (Is.8:17) What’s wrong with our brains today eh Friends? Why are we so against Jehovah God, the only positive and stalwart Being in the universe, the ONE whose blessings we’ve enjoyed from ages past when we’ve walked in the light of His salvation? And on the other side of the ledger, in times of disobedience, like now, when we’ve suffered His stinging correction, which eventually brought us back to our senses, and back to His wonderful, safe and LOVING fold. Oh my people, what else can I say to make us understand that this is one of the most critical and crucial times in the history of man. It’s a time when we desperately need to turn away from our own devices, as well as the evil, lustful, worldly idols and ways of Lucifer, and return to serving and worshipping, in reverence and faith, the ONE TRUE GOD, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That’s the only solution to preventing our world from both imploding and exploding in the near future, which it will surely do, if we keep following our own devices and the evil ways that Lucifer seeks to put in our hearts. Let’s therefore be wise and stand faithful and strong in Jesus against the physical and spiritual wickedness of the world nuh Friends. As Bruh David unashamedly and confidently declares in Psalm 34, the Lord hears the righteous: ‘O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear (revere) the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want (lack, need) to them that fear (revere) him.’ (Ps.18:8-9) That’s undeniable truth and wisdom Friends! So please, let’s take it to heart TODAY, RIGHT NOW, and leave all our evil, selfish ways behind, putting all our hope, trust, faith and belief in Jesus, who selflessly saved us from eternal death; the Holy Spirit, which leads and guides in all wisdom and truth; and the Father, who dearly LOVES and cares for us, because He is indeed our FATHER, our Creator. Much LOVE!…why foolishly hold on to something that’s not working…that’s constantly dragging you down… when there’s something else that’s been proven to work…and is continually uplifting and encouraging… P.S. Sorry the Bit’s been a tad late the last couple days Friends, but it seems like I’ve contacted the Duchess’ cold, or one of my own, and it’s been playing havoc with my schedule. But don’t worry, it’s not going to stop the Lord’s Word from being noised abroad though. (smile) Much LOVE!
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