furthering your glorious kingdom | SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 30:5. For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy (a shout of joy) cometh in the morning.

‘Oh what a beautiful morning! Oh what a beautiful day! Everything’s coming up roses! Everything’s going my way!’

Oh my people, I don’t know if those are the right words to that li’l ditty, but they surely are my sentiments this Friday morning; the Friday of our Thanksgiving weekend.

So you can imagine the jumping and shouting of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! It’s the weekend….and a long one to boot! Party time, oh party time! We going to party down the place this Thanksgiving weekend! Thank God for Fridays and weekends yes!’

Ah Lord eh! When we going to learn that we can’t just party away the weekend eh? Our activities must have some semblance of balance if we want to use it wisely. So let’s chant our Friday Chant, which gives us a better perspective on how to use the weekend.

Altogether 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 friends, that’s a much better way to use the weekend, rather than abuse and ruin it by simply partying it all away. And please, this long Thanksgiving weekend, in Canada, don’t forget Granny’s wonderful advice: ‘Sonny boy, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business.’

For it’s at times like these we tend to give Beelzebub a toehold in our lives. And we definitely don’t want do that. So please, let’s all be careful as we celebrate and give thanks to the Lord for His many blessings this weekend.

Now let’s turn to our Bit, which does bring a fresh breath of thanksgiving to our mornings. ‘For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy (a shout of joy) cometh in the morning.’

Yes precious people , so often the nighttime brings severe and excruciating hardship and suffering, but in the bright light of day, things usually don’t seem so bad. Have you ever noticed too, that most of the time we get sick at night, and something about the night doesn’t seem to go well with sickness.

We always tend to feel sicker in the night than in the day. But whatever the reason (s), we need to know that Almighty God is always on the job! He’s always there looking after us, whether He’s annoyed with us or not.

Now let’s check out some other scriptures that corroborate our Bit. First up is a scripture from Exodus, where the Lord gave Moses the second set of tablets containing the Ten Commandments.

‘And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him (Moses) there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.

Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.’ (Ex.34:5-7)

Now that was the Lord speaking of Himself to Moses. So when we speak those words, we’re speaking words of awesome truth. Listen as Bruh David reiterates them.

‘The Lord executeth righteousness and judgement for all that are oppressed. He made known his way unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous (abounding) in mercy (LOVING- kindness).

He will not always chide (strive): neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewardeth us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy (LOVING-kindness) toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.’ (Ps.103:6-12)

Now what can we ask that’s better than that eh friends? Absolutely nothing! Our great God considers each one of us as a unique specimen and treats us all in a unique manner. Now let’s end with some more words from Bruh David from Psalm 63 – The Lord satisfies the thirsting soul.

‘Because thy LOVING-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee, Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow (the best) and fatness (abundance); and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.’ (Ps.63:3-8)

Oh my people, there’s no better place of comfort, rest, safety and security than in the shadow of God’s wings. Please, let’s try our best today to get a comfortable spot under those mighty wings, for that’s the epitome of wisdom. Much LOVE!

…let’s give plenty thanks this thanksgiving weekend…for we do have a lot to be thankful for…

John 14:1. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

And then it was Friday! And obviously there is joy in the work place at the upcoming weekend; the couple of days off from work.

And all around the workers are joyfully declaring: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and slave work done! It done like dinner! The weekend party starting from this evening and going straight through! The weekend is the greatest time! Thank You Lord for Fridays and weekends!’

Ah mih people, it’s understandable how the workers long for the weekend after a stressful week of work, but that doesn’t mean we have to go to the other extreme, where we party the whole weekend away. There needs to be some moderation, some middle ground in our weekend activities. So let’s chant our Friday Chant which gives us a much better perspective on the situation.

Chanting: ‘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 friends, that’s a much better, much more reliable and sensible way to use those two precious days off. But I guess I will have to be preaching that until I die, (smile) because the pull of the partying is getting stronger and stronger as the days get more stressful.

And believe me, they are getting more difficult as the economy continues to falter and people lose their jobs, all to the glory of the bottom line, and the remaining ones are expected to take up the slack for no monetary incentive. That type of situation will obviously cause resentment and stress!

But friends, as faithful believers in Jesus Christ, we must not allow those two negative emotions to permeate our souls and drag us down to unchristian behaviour. Now that’s not easy to do when unemployment and other hard times are staring you in the face.

You’ve got a family to feed and clothe, a mortgage to pay, car payments to make, and all the other numerous things we need to do to just get by in this society. Note, we not even talking about prospering, but merely getting by. So you can imagine the effort and faith it takes for one to prosper as a Christian in these evil and ungodly days.

That’s why our Bit today is so important in a believer’s life. ‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.’

Oh my people, these days we badly need to raise the level of our faith, our trust in Jesus, so that we can stand strong against the enemy and his wicked ways. But we also need to see that faith in action.

As Oral Roberts is reputed to have said: ‘I don’t care how much faith you have, I care about how much faith you release.’

And friends, that’s the basic purpose of faith: having it doesn’t mean much unless you release it. Faith in action is the Christian motto. So if the world is stressing you out today, please take hope and raise the level of your faith by seriously trusting in the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Hear how He continues after our Bit. ‘In my Father’s house are many mansions (dwellings): if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.’ (John 14:2-3)

Oh what a wonderful promise my brethren! Our Leader has gone to prepare a place for us in heaven, then come back and take us to live with Him! Hn! It’s promises like these my faithful believers that we need to sow deep down in our souls and think on them when times and things come against us.

Now listen to what Jesus says later on in that same chapter, as He promises the blessing of the Holy Spirit. ‘But the Comforter (Helper), which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye LOVED me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.’ (John 14:26-28)

Oh my brethren, I know all of that is easier said than done, how difficult it is to raise up the necessary faith when the evil world is banging on your door. But that’s what we need to do, and besides, we also have the wherewithal to do it.

Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would remind the apostles of all that He spoke to them about, and it’s also the same way He operates in our lives, leading and guiding us in wisdom and truth. It is therefore very essential that we pay special attention to what the Holy Spirit says to us.

Nothing’s easy in this life friends, but we already have all that we need to conquer it planted deep down in our souls, we just need to ask the Lord to raise up whatever we need to overcome our negative circumstances. And you know our merciful and ever-LOVING God will answer our prayers if we come to Him in humility and sincerity.

Now let’s close with another faithful and awe-inspiring promise of our Lord and Saviour. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)

Please believe Jesus’ promises my people, because that’s what gives us the belly and backbone to stand strong and steadfast against the enemy in this wicked and sinful world! Much LOVE!

…living for, and following Jesus is not easy…but it sure is satisfying and adventurous…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 October 2016 Psalm 30:5.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 July 2016 John 14:1

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