Today’s Scrip-Bit   17 September 2021 Psalm 63:3.

17 Sep 2021 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 63:3.     Because thy LOVING-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 

It’s the big day of the work week friends – Friday! The day when our spirits finally exhale a huge sigh of relief that work is winding down for a couple days, and hopefully a li’l excitement and enjoyment will enter our lives on the upcoming weekend. But in these unfortunate times of pandemic, strife and all kinds of natural disasters, the chances are not as great as they were a year and a half ago. However, as sincere believers in Christ Jesus, we have an undying, an unending hope that things will turn out right once He is involved. 

And all God’s children declared a loud, proud and grateful: ‘Thank You Jesus for being in my life! Thank You for all that You’ve done for me, including paying my sin debt in full on the cross of Calvary, for giving me your righteousness so that I could be reconciled back to the Father, and have everlasting life with You in heaven when my mortal body is no more for this earth! We LOVE You and give You much thanks and praise! Amen!’ 

And a very good example of that hope and faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the words of Psalm 63 – God satisfies the thirsting soul – written by Bruh David when he was hiding out in the wilderness from his nemesis, King Saul. Bruh David, in his anguish and uncertainty writes: ‘O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary (so have I looked for thee).’ (Ps. 63:1-2) 

That’s what you call hope and faith friends! In the midst of his problems, Bruh David is still concerned with seeking the face of God because he knows that’s his only hope for successfully getting out of those problems. In our time of adversity, do we seek the Lord with an ever-increasing intensity and fervour, or do we get angry and complain about why those problems are happening to us, and why the Lord didn’t prevent them in the first place? 

Ah mih people, I know our first tendency is always to complain, but remember the Lord is the Boss and He moves in mysterious ways, and has a plan for each and every life, and within those plans are times of adversity and hardship that He thinks are necessary to develop our faith and trust in Him. And we can take Bruh David as a good example of that. He was anointed king in his teenaged years, and he did mighty deeds in his early twenties, that had the women dancing and singing, ‘Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,’ (1 Sam. 18:7) but it was not until he was in his thirties, some twenty years after he was first anointed, that he finally became king. 

And during those wilderness years, he experienced a whole heap of trouble, including constantly running from Saul, who wanted to kill him through simple jealousy. And Bruh David had a couple of opportunities to kill Saul, but simply refused to, saying ‘I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ (1 Sam. 24:10) And that’s the same Saul who was trying to kill him for no good reason. No wonder the Lord considered him His friend and a man after His own heart. 

And though he was struggling and suffering in the wilderness Bruh David continued writing in the psalm: ‘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.’ (Ps. 63:3-6) 

Oh friends, what a heart for God Bruh David had. Do we even come close to that? We need to, because it’s only when we truly believe and live our belief that the Lord moves heaven and earth to satisfy our needs and desires. Can we be in the wilderness, hungry, thirsty and afraid and still conjure up thanks and praise for Almighty God? Bruh David did it. He further declares: ‘Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after (close behind) thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.’ (Ps. 63:7-8) There is no remorse or bitterness in his supplication, despite his tough circumstances. 

And then he concludes, with even further assurance. ‘But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion (a prey) for foxes (jackals). But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.’  (Ps. 63:8-11) Oh my fellow saints, what powerful faith and trust! 

And I like how the scholars explain it. ‘Psalm 63. The location of the writing of the psalm is described generally as in the wilderness of Judah. Unlike many of the psalms written in these dire situations, however, this psalm is overflowing with thanksgiving rather than lament and petition. David declares his longing for spiritual renewal (vs. 1-2), he expresses his thankful mood (vs. 3-6), he gives voice to his trust in God (vs. 7-8), and he announces his hope for the future (vs. 9-11). Enemies are mentioned only in passing (vs.9-10).’ 

That is how we ought to live as faithful believers, my brethren. The Lord God Jehovah must mean, and be EVERYTHING to us, and eternal faith and trust in Him and His awesome promises must make our souls burst with praise and thanksgiving, even in our worst adversity. That means in troubled times like we are now experiencing, our faith and trust ought to rise to the top and push our fears and anxieties to the bottom. And the best way to do that is like Bruh David did, in and through prayer. So, let’s take our problems to God right now nuh, as we declare our Friday Chant. 

‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. 

So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks. And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. 

And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! 

Please remember though, that our God isn’t looking for talk from us, but action, so until we truly behave like faithful believers, our prayers won’t be answered positively. Much LOVE!

…talk is cheap…but true faith requires action and sacrifice…                                                                                                                 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 April 2014 1 Corinthians 15:57

24 Apr 2014 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Corinthians 15:57.     But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh Friends, it seems like spring has finally decided to stay sprung! Glory Hallelujah!

And I say that because there’s finally some green colour appearing in the previously dead looking brown grass, the temps are staying fairly standard between 7 and 12 degrees Celsius, and when I got up just now I heard some birds singing their early morning praises to their Maker!

 

How wonderful eh! It’s so refreshing and revitalizing to hear the birds singing praises, because they are ever so faithful in it. Sometimes I think the Lord should have made us like the birds, without a mind of our own, for then we would have been much more faithful than we currently are.

 

Unfortunately though, the trees don’t seem to be buying into this optimism that spring is finally getting serious about coming, for there is not one single green bud on any of them. They all still dancing stark naked in the oftimes brisk and cold spring wind.

 

We believer in Jesus Christ however, are filled with oodles of optimism, through, and for the LOVE of God! We are so filled with it that it’s overflowing, and consequently filling others with the wonderful news of this Easter Season, where Christ so triumphantly rose from the dead – Mama Mia! – and in the process defeated the twin evils of death and the grave, and therefore the ruler of Hades, Lucifer.

 

Oh Friends, this Easter Thursday morning, let’s put a big smile on our faces, and release the immense joy that’s in our hearts and souls with a song of praise to our Maker nuh!

 

Like the birds, let’s show Him our great appreciation for designing, putting into action and successfully carrying out His incredible plan of reconciliation, which so LOVINGLY brought us back into right standing with Him.

 

Please pray with me now: ‘Dear heavenly Father, You are so wonderful to Your sinful, undeserving children! We continually make You sad and mad at our misdoings, but You just keep on LOVING us! You keep on granting us Your awesome forgiveness, mercy and grace, blessing us with stuff we definitely don’t deserve.

 

Oh Father, this morning we’re here to tell You that we truly LOVE You! We sincerely worship and adore You! We do magnify Your Holy Name and give You much thanks and praise!

 

Oh gracious Father in heaven, we are especially grateful and thankful for Your most wonderful Son Jesus, who became our Lord and Saviour on that first Easter Sunday two millennia ago, by sacrificing His holy life to pay for our abominable transgressions.

 

Oh Father, we are truly sorry that You had to put such trials and tribulations on Jesus for our sakes, but we know that You are a just and righteous God and cannot just pardon sin; a price, including death and the shedding of blood must be paid for it.

 

And You LOVED us so much, considered us so worthy, that You gave Your Only son, Jesus Christ, the ONLY sinless soul beside Yourself, to pay for our sins!

 

Oh heavenly Father, You know that we can NEVER repay You for that awesome, unconditional LOVE, but we will try our best to live lives down here on earth that will magnify You. Lives that will continue to grow in the holy character of our Saviour Jesus, thus glorifying Your great Name and furthering Your glorious kingdom. We pray this on the blood of Jesus that was shed for us on Calvary’s cross. Amen!’

 

Oh mih people, mih people! What the Holy Spirit can do in your soul eh! I have to chuckle here, because I never intended to even have a prayer, much less such a long one. But as usual, the Holy Spirit guided me there. In any case, it is right, and also our bounden duty to pray and give thanks and praise to our heavenly Father, especially at this Easter season, when He so faithfully caused us to be reconciled to Him!

 

And believe me Friends, that is no small undertaking or unimportant event! In fact it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to mankind! If our wonderful, ever-faithful and ever-LOVING Creator didn’t care so much for us, we’d still be wallowing in the misery of our dreadful sins, headed for eternal death and damnation in the foul and vile company of the prince of darkness, Beelzebub.

 

For remember, as the Good Book so pointedly states: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through (in) Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom.6:23)

 

But then Bruh Paul further clarifies the situation to the Corinthians, and consequently us: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave (Hades), where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 15:54b-57)

 

Yes my fellow believers, don’t ever forget those memorable, momentous and most important words of our Bit! Let’s plant them deep, deep, deep in the inner recesses of our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, because that is indeed why we are able to laugh, sing and shout ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ this Thursday morning two thousand years after Jesus gave us that everlasting victory!

 

Wow! What a mighty God we serve and worship my brethren! 

 

So as we prayed above, and Bruh Paul so timely reminds us: ‘Therefore my BELOVED brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain (futile) in the Lord.’ (1 Cor.15:58)

 

Absolutely not my fellow believers! So please, let’s stand steadfast and strong this morning, and all the remaining days of our lives, confident in the glory and victory of Jesus Christ! Much LOVE!

 

…oh how could we not LOVE Jesus…the sinless One…who made our sins His own…and LOVINGLY set us free…to some day dwell with Him in heaven…and always faithful be…