Psalm 64:1: Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
Well hello there you beautiful people of God! How goes it with you on this wet, rainy Tuesday in almost mid-June? I sincerely hope that there are many more positives than negatives in our lives.
But whatever our circumstances this day, I trust and pray that we’ll be dealing with them in the best way possible; that is in humble reliance on Almighty God, for He is absolutely the BEST person for us to consult on EVERYTHING in our lives, be they good or bad.
Well it’s been raining in my area since yesterday morning, and though the showers of blessings are welcome, like most things, too much of them is no good. Moderation in all aspects of life is the key to successful living.
And in regards to too many showers of blessings, please note the serious flooding currently plaguing several countries in Europe, and send up some prayers for their well-being.
And talking about prayers, here’s this one from Dr. Schuller’s Hour of Power Devotional, re wanting to LOVE ourselves and consequently others, which takes great courage and fortitude. He offers this prayer that can lead us to a new life, also suggesting that we pray it everyday for thirty days.
‘Christ – here is my brain – think through it. Christ – here is my face – glow through it. Christ – here are my eyes – look at people through them. Christ – here is my heart – LOVE people with it.’
Now that’s really surrendering, truly giving ourselves over to God! And if we’re serious about learning to LOVE, then we’ll genuinely embrace it with hungry hope and steadfast faith.
And we’ll continue in the vein of prayer with our Bit, from another great man of God, Bruh David, as he cries out in anguish, re plots and punishment. ‘Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer (meditation or complaint): preserve my life from fear of the enemy.’
Now that’s something we all could cry out!
And Bruh David continues with his heartfelt plea: ‘Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection (tumult) of the workers of iniquity.
Who whet (sharpen) their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words. That they may shoot in secret at the perfect (blameless): suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.’ (Ps.64:2-4)
Oh Friends, one of the things I LOVE about Bruh David is that he wasn’t ashamed, afraid or too proud to open his hurting and anguished soul to God, to cry out to Him for help, regardless of his kingly estate here on earth, because he knew that the God of his fathers was much higher than him, and was also very faithful to those who sincerely trusted in and sought Him.
And because our God is unchangeable, nothing is different my people, except us, except our attitude to Him. We’ve grown too proud to cry out to God for help. We’ve foolishly adopted the world’s ways of looking first to ourselves, friends, families, neighbours and supposed experts. And it’s only when all of those fail to come up with a plausible solution that we turn at last to Jehovah God, and then expect Him to expedite a solution right then and there.
But that’s a fool’s wisdom my Friends!
The Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the FIRST one we should turn to in each and every circumstance, NOT the last! Then if He wants us to consult others, He’ll guide and direct us thus.
And I’ll repeat that for all the hard ears people (smile): In each and every situation, GOD MUST ALWAYS COME FIRST! And that’s the gospel truth!
Now let’s look at some other passages of scripture that corroborate the importance of prayer. First up is Bruh David’s cry in Psalm 55 against deceitful friends. ‘Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn (wander) in my complaint, and make a noise (moan noisily);
Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity (bring down trouble) upon me, and in wrath they hate me. My heart is sore (severely) pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.’ (Ps.55:1-8)
Oh Friends, I never intended to include all of that scripture nuh, but after reading it a couple times, I realized that it only conveys the true rending of the heart in its fullness, its entirety. And I know that many of us can definitely understand and identify with those hurtful circumstances, for there’s nothing like being betrayed by a trusted friend.
But the problem is that too few of us go to God with our prayers and supplications, trusting instead to the vain and proud ways of man. Please remember the psalmist’s wise advice: ‘It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to put trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.’ (Ps.118:8-9)
Hopefully though, these few words of mine (smile) and the scripture involved therein, will encourage us to go to God FIRST in ALL situations, because that’s where the heart of true wisdom lies.
More on this topic tomorrow, provided God’s in favour. Till then my wonderful brethren in Christ, let’s lift up ALL our hopes and fears to heaven in sincere prayer.
And may the good and great God that we serve, our Creator and Provider, bless and keep us safe from all harm, and give us His awesome peace that our simple minds cannot begin to comprehend! Much LOVE!
…God created prayer so that His hurting children could commune with Him…come to Him for succour in times of need…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 11 June 2013 Psalm 64:1
11 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a fool's wisdom, anguish, beautiful people of God, betrayal, bitter words, confidence in man, courage, deceitful friends, fear, fear of the enemy, fears, flooding in Europe, fortitude, God comes first, God is unchanging, gospel truth, hear my prayer, hear my voice, hopes, Hour of Power, humble reliance, humble reliance on God, hurtful circumstances, key to successful living, LOVE people, man of God, moderation, new life, O God, oppression, peace, plots, preserve my life, proud, punishment, rainy Tuesday, rending of the heart, secret council, Selah, sharp tongues, shoot in secret, showers of blessings, simple minds, sincere prayer, steadfast faith, succour, surrender, terrors of death, the world's ways, times of need, trembling, trust in the Lord, trusted friend, vain ways of man, vein of prayer, wings like a dove, workers of iniquity
Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 May 2013 Matthew 27:46.
26 May 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: abominable sins, assigned role, atonement, betrayal, bitter vinegar, Calvary, cat o nine tails, close confidante, correct our wrong attitude, crown of thorns, dignity, Eli Eli lama sabachthani, every knee should bow, every tongue confess, excruciating torture, fortitude, gall, ghastly day, Golgotha, gory sight, hail the king, honour, Jesus christ is Lord, Jesus cried, King of the Jews, LOVE, Lucifer, mocked, obedience, place of the skull, reverence, scourging, separation from His Father, Simon of Cyrene, slapped around, spat on, spirituality, unblemished Lamb, unfair judges, unfair trails, were you there, when they crucified my Lord, why hast thou forskaen me, worship
Matthew 27:46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Oh Friends, ‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there, were you there, were you there when they crucified my Lord?’
Thankfully Friends, the answer to that question is NO! None of us was there, but judging from the reports outlined in the Good Book, it must have been a gory sight on a ghastly day. I’m ever so glad that I didn’t witness it in person, because I doubt I could have handled it. Just reading about it now, two thousand years later, is bad enough.
That brings me to a subject I don’t think many of us even consider; that’s the ignoble and excruciating torture that Jesus suffered for us; mentally, emotionally and physically.
Put yourselves in His position nuh Friends. Can you imagine being betrayed by one of your closest confidantes for money, then having to go through the unfair trials that Jesus did, being shuffled from one court to another, from one egotistic, unfair judge to another? And that’s the good part.
What about being slapped around, spat on, then being mocked by having a purple robe put around you, and a crown of thorns placed on your head? And I’m sure that crown wasn’t just placed, but jammed down on Jesus’ head, then a crowd of jeering soldiers bowing before you and crying out: ‘Hail, the king of the Jews!’
Just think about the scourging He received nuh. Think about those sadistic blows of a cat-o-nine tails raining down on His very human back. Could you handle it, with the various pieces of metal, etc, attached to the whip, just tearing away at your flesh with every lash? And then the march up to Calvary in such sorry state, bearing His cross. Hn! The only redeeming feature is that the tormentors enlisted Simon of Cyrene to help Jesus carry the cross.
Then when you’ve come to the ugly, hard-scrabble hill and gully called Golgotha – even the name, place of the skull, causes sordid thoughts – they lay the cross on the ground, then lay you down on it and nail your hands and feet to it. And yuh better believe it wasn’t the nice, clean, smooth, refined nails that he have nowadays, but the large, rough, crude pieces of metal of a bygone era. And I’m sure the ‘nailer’ wasn’t being kind or trying to inflict as little pain as possible, most likely the exact opposite.
Then they lift up the cross with you nailed to it, plant it in the hard, rocky ground, and leave you there in the hot, midday, desert sun, for your life to slowly ooze away in enormous pain and anguish. And when you say you’re thirsty, they give you gall, bitter vinegar to drink.
And all through this hateful and painful fiasco, they keep taunting you. If you’re God, then take yourself down from the cross. You saved others, now save yourself nuh. And to add to the shame, they crucify you between two vagabonds, deserving of crucifixion. Then just be to be sure you’re dead, they pierce your side with a spear, after you’ve visibly given up the ghost.
Now Friends, do you think you could handle all of that without uttering a single peep from all the pain and inhumane suffering, or not beg for mercy and recant? Most of us would have been dead before we even set out for Calvary.
But Jesus bore it all with great dignity and fortitude, because that was His assigned role, the role he was born to play. And if He hadn’t played it to the fullest, billions of sinners, billions of His Father’s greatest creation would have ended up in the labyrinth-like dungeons of Hades with that foolish fool Lucifer, who just like us today, didn’t realize what a good thing he had going as a high ranking angel in heaven.
The only thing that caused Jesus to cry out, not that He didn’t feel the physical pain, was the separation from His Father. That cut Him to the quick, hurt Him to the core, as he declares in our Bit. ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’
The scholars describe it thus: ‘Here we have the high cost to Christ of His atonement for our sins, who was accursed of God as our sin-bearer (cf. 2 Cor.5:21; Gal.3:13) and suffered the agony of spiritual death for us.’ So true Friends, so true.
Now recently I was thinking about all the punishment that Jesus had to bear for our abominable sins, and it struck me that the Father really extracted a terrible price from Jesus on our behalf. It got me to wondering if I could ever allow that to happen to my only and very BELOVED Son. I don’t think so.
But that just goes to show how righteous and just the Father is. Above all, justice must be served, for the wages of sin is death, (Rom.6:23a) and to avoid that eternal fate, a sinless, unblemished Lamb had to be sacrificed, and Jesus was the only One who met that high criteria. But I was also thinking that the Father didn’t have to be so rough on Him, make it so excruciating and torturous. Obviously He thought otherwise.
That brings me to two points I want to make. The first is that sin is a very serious matter, and truly disliked by God. He dislikes it so much that He went to such great lengths to provide a way out for us. Secondly, He must really LOVE us a whole heap to put both Jesus and Himself through so much pain and tribulation to redeem us.
And thirdly – I guess I have three points and not two. (smile) Thirdly, that we’re such a bunch of no good, ungrateful wretches, that after Jesus met such an ignominious and shameful end so that we could be reconciled to the Father, we still have the ‘boldfacedness,’ the gall to question His sacrifice, doubt His truth and make derogatory remarks about Him. Steups!
Oh Friends, we should be so grateful and thankful, that we’d be falling all over ourselves to not even put one foot wrong, to honour, LOVE, worship, obey and revere Him! Look at how we make obeisance to earthly rulers who only oppress and suppress us. But to the One who’s done the ‘MOSTEST’ for us, we ignore, defame and try to remove Him from our society. How sad…
But my brethren, I’m begging, pleading, imploring us to change, to correct our wrong attitude today, right now, this very minute! Let’s truly begin to honour Jesus for the unselfish sacrifice He made for us. Let’s praise and glorify Him, spread His Holy Name throughout the entire world, as He asked us to do, be exceedingly glad to be His followers, and not be ashamed, as some of us are, for He is indeed worthy to be praised and glorified.
And please note this about the Father; He faithfully rewards obedience to His Word and Will. And Jesus was nothing but obedient during His earthly sojourn.
That’s why Bruh Paul could confidently and unhesitatingly proclaim to the Philippians: ‘Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things (those) in heaven, and things (those) in earth, and things (those) under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil.2:9-11)
Now that’s the gospel truth my brethren! So please, let’s live like we really believe it nuh. It speaks of both wisdom and gratefulness to the zenith. Much LOVE!
…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…just to think of what Jesus did for me…makes this earthly life all worthwhile…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 December 2012 2 Timothy 2:1
07 Dec 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: a good soldier of Christ, Canada, Christ's work, endurance, endure difficulty, eternal life, fortitude, Friday chant, fruitful path, glorious kingdom, joy and gladness, joyful time, lethargy, persevarance, rewards, salvation, strong in the grace of Jesus, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the best big country, worthwhile task
2 Timothy 2:1. Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.’
Oh Friends, it’s Friday, and I’m hearing more ‘TGIF’s’ and “Thank God it’s Friday’ than I’ve heard for a little while. I guess we’re all beginning to catch ourselves and regain our joy after all the natural disasters we’ve recently suffered. It’s also the Christmas season, when we celebrate the most important birth ever, that of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and that’s always a joyful time. Today, December 7th, is also an important day in my life, because it marks the 40th anniversary of when I stepped off a plane at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, to begin life as a Canadian. But just imagine that nuh! It’s been forty, long, hard, but interesting years I’ve lived in the cold North Country. Wow! If you’d told me when I landed that cold December day in 1972, that I’d still be here after forty years, I would have laughed and said you were crazy. But here I am, after all that time, and though Canada has been somewhat rough, what with the weather and all the other inconveniences of life, it has taught me a lot, things that I might not have learned had I stayed in the West Indies. I now know, that if I can survive and prosper here, I can do the same anywhere in the world. And though Canada is slipping, like so many of the developed countries, it’s still the BEST big country in the world! Way to go Canada! And all God’s Canadian people said a loud and grateful ‘Amen!’ The major problem though is that too many of us believers are sitting on our fat, comfortable fannies, enjoying the laurels of yesteryear, expecting them to last forever, without any more hard work or sacrifice. But Friends, I’m here to tell us that only hard work and sacrifice keeps us at the forefront of anything, be it a simple game or a big country. And to help us remember that, and to write it in the depths of our souls, where we need it most, let’s chant our Friday Chant, with much gusto. As one loud, harmonious 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.’ Oh my people, hopefully that will help us be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, as Bruh Paul tells Timothy in our Bit: ‘Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.’ And my brethren, we need to do just that, if we truly desire to follow Jesus and enlarge His righteous kingdom. In part, this entails: ‘And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.’ (2 Tim.2:2) And though that’s a very worthwhile task, it’s never easy, for we’ll experience opposition once we speak the name of Jesus, as He says in John 15:20. Oh my people, especially in these most wicked and sinful end times, we badly need endurance, perseverance, fortitude, plenty belly and backbone to be able to stand strong and do Jesus’ work. As Bruh Paul tells Timothy: ‘Thou therefore endure hardness (hardship), as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.’ (2 Tim.2:3) Now that is an area in which I believe we’re seriously falling down. Christians these days are a bit too comfortable in, and preoccupied with the ways and material wealth of this ungodly world. We’re also too lethargic when coming to proselytizing, finding all sorts of mamby pamby excuses for why we’re not doing a better job for Christ. But please note Bruh Paul’s reminder to Timothy. ‘No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.’ (2 Tim.2:4) That means fellow believers, we cannot afford to get caught up in the trifling, mundane, petty, greedy, envious, ungodly, war-like affairs of this world. We need to keep our eyes of faith steadfastly focused on Jesus and the job He’s called us to do. ‘Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evildoer, even unto bonds (chains); but the word of God is not bound (chained). (2 Tim.2:8-9) Bruh Paul is here citing examples of two people, Jesus and himself, who suffered real hardship for the cause. And though most of us will never be asked to withstand the hardship and pain those two endured, we will all be required to come up better that we’re currently doing. To improve our work for Christ, means we also have to improve our knowledge and understanding of His mission. Just like in other aspects of life, believers are expected and need to grow daily in knowledge and understanding of the Word. A stagnant, non-growing believer is to all intents and purposes, a dead believer. That means we have to learn to do as Bruh Paul says in verse 10. ‘Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s (chosen ones) sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.’ (2 Tim.2:10) Yes Friends, we the saints of glory in Jesus Christ, have to bear our burdens in this evil, corrupted world with patience, endurance and perseverance, which we can only do with the help of the Holy Spirit that indwells us, plus diligently committing the Word to our hearts and minds, and glorifying God with much prayer, praise and thanksgiving. As I keep saying, walking strong with and for Jesus, is not an easy row to hoe, but when we do it with joy and gladness, it’s certainly interesting, exciting and adventurous. So today, let’s all take stock of our soldiering on Christ’s behalf, and then make whatever changes are necessary to improve it. Only then will we be walking the true and fruitful path to freedom, salvation and eternal life. Much LOVE!…working for Jesus is difficult…but the rewards are definitely worth it…
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