Luke 19:10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Oh Friends, at long last it seems we’ll be getting a short reprieve from the bitterly cold day time temperatures we’ve been having. Thank the Lord! Our temps are supposed to rise above the freezing mark, be on the plus side for the first time in what seems like ages.
But even that good news of a few days of warmer, no less cold temps, is fraught with danger, as there are warnings of heavy rainfall in the offing, and combined with melting snow, flooding is a serious possibility. Ah Lord eh! It seems that our weather no longer goes about its business smoothly and with some conformity to what we expect, but is just jumping here there and everywhere, as it pleases.
Just look at the recent terrible and highly abnormal snowstorms in the U.S, and the disastrous flooding over the pond in Britain, where some places have been under water since early December. Mama Mia! And we’ve already had our big ice storms and heavy snowfall, so all in all it has been a winter of much precipitation, and there’s still a few weeks of it left to endure.
And if, as it’s widely believed, that our actions are mostly to blame for the greatly fluctuating and unpredictable weather patterns, then all we can do right now is grin and bear it.
But I also have some great news my people; we don’t have to bear it alone, for Jesus is here to help us do so! In the first place, as He says in our Bit: ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’ And we were definitely lost in a world of darkness before His coming.
But even after saving us there, He still holds out to us the Great Invitation: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (gentle and humble): and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt.11:28-30)
What truthful and highly appreciative words my brethren! And for all those who have not yet availed themselves of that wonderful invitation, I’d strongly advise that you do so as soon as possible, in fact right now, for when you do, you will truly feel as though a great burden has been lifted off your shoulders.
Anyway, let’s turn to the remainder of scriptures which supports Christ’s contention that He came to earth to save us, so that we can finish that topic today. And the first passage comes from Acts, where the apostles are again before the high priest and Jewish Council, for deliberately disobeying the warnings to stop preaching Christ crucified. This, after they had already been incarcerated, warned and set free.
‘Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of those things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.’ (Acts 5:29-32)
Oh Friends, that’s the testimony of Jesus’ disciples! It must have taken a lot of guts to get up before the Jewish rulers and speak so disdainfully of them, but they could not have denied the things they saw and experienced in the company of Jesus. And on their truth, we can base our faith without fear, and with awesome trust.
Now hear Bruh Paul, later on when Barnabas and himself were at Antioch. He’s talking about how Israel moved from being ruled by judges to kings. ‘And afterward they (the Israelites) desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of (for) forty years.
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. Of this man’s seed (descendants) hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.’ (Acts 13:21-23)
Oh my fellow believers, there can be no doubt re that line of reasoning, for it’s all recorded right there in the Good Book!
And we’ll end there for today, since inclusion of the other scriptures will definitely make the Bit too long, and I do have a sincere appreciation for your busy lives. (smile)
But please, let’s ponder, consider and meditate upon all that we’ve said today, then with God’s help, let’s try to bring our lives into obedience with His will, for that’s wisdom at its zenith. Much LOVE!
…what’s our earthly duty…to LOVE Our God…LIVE Our Faith…and SPREAD His Holy Word…
P.S. On editing the Bit, I found it much shorter than I originally thought. Glory Hallelujah! (smile) Much LOVE my fellow believers in Christ! And please have a blessed day, walking and talking with our Saviour!
Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 February 2014 Luke 19:10
18 Feb 2014 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: accepting Jesus, aggressive, almighty god, angel of the Lord, appeased the evils, awesome truth, bad beginnings, baptizing, bring forth a son, call his name Jesus, cramp, drama, early morning horrors, earthly actions, elixir of sleep, eternal life, eternal separation, eternity, evil one, fool's wisdom, foolish spirit, foundational concept of the gospel, free and easy salvation, free gift, from their sins, full bladder, glory hallelujah, God's will, God's Word, good endings, gospel of Matthew, gospel truth, grace of God, heart-warming, heaven, hogwash, holy spirit, ignorance, indisputable, Jehovah Saves, Jesus Christ, Jesus' purpose for coming to earth, John the Baptist, Joseph, lead and guide, Lord and Saviour, lost, Loving Father, Lucifer, mention of Jesus' name, miserable, New Testament, penny section, refuse to accept, refuse to be saved, rejecting Jesus, repenting of sins, rest, River Jordan, salvation, save, save his people, saving grace, saviour, scriptures, settle in our souls, sinful condition, sinful destination, sleep, Son, spoil our day, take away the sin of the world, that which is lost, the Lamb of God, to save sinners, to seek and to save, to work with God, tossed and turned, unwise moves, war-like, wisdom, wisdom of the ages, wise and good Spirit
Luke 19:10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Oh Friends, I greet you all this snowy morning with the piece of wisdom that ignorance is a helluva thing yes! (smile) And that’s no lie, it’s the gospel truth!
Now hear the reasons for my assertion. Sometime after two o’clock this morning, I was summarily awakened by a cramp in my left thigh. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as some I have, but as I swung my legs off the bed to attend to the cramp, I also realized that my bladder was full. So I got up and hobbled to the bathroom.
Don’t laugh, because that was a good hobble, some day’s I can’t even hobble, I’m more like the hunchback of Notre Dame. Unfortunately though, by the time I had appeased the evils in my body, I found that the sleep had left my eyes.
Now this is where the ignorance comes in. In spite of being wide awake, I insisted that it was too early for me to get up, so I went back to bed, where I tossed and turned, devoid of the elixir of sleep, foolishly telling myself that though I couldn’t sleep, I was getting valuable rest.
Steups! What hogwash! And the sad part is that when I did get up, it was much later than I had planned. Chuh! And that’s why the Bit is somewhat late.
Ah Friends, the evil one will do those sorts of things to us, or rather will lead us to make those sort of unwise moves, so he can spoil our day. But with the grace of God, I’m choosing to believe the cliché that bad beginnings make for good endings. Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Hallelujah indeed! If I had listened to the wise and good Spirit instead of the foolish, evil one, I wouldn’t have put myself through those early morning horrors.
But thankfully our wonderful and LOVING Father in heaven saw how lost and miserable we were in our sinful condition and sent His beautiful Son, Jesus Christ to save us, both from ourselves and the ole crook Lucifer.
As Jesus so assuredly says in our Bit: ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’
And yuh better believe my people, that there are many of us, in fact, way too many of us who are still lost, and worse yet, refuse to be saved, even though Jesus went out of His way and provided free and easy salvation, through simply repenting of our sins and accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour.
Hn! But I’m not here to preach… Chuh! It’s amazing how that word preach likes to flow from my pen, although I insist that I’m not a preacher. (smile) Anyway, I’m not here to talk or teach about that this morning. Yeh, I’m more of a talker and teacher than preacher. Shut up my children! No noise from the penny section! (smile)
What we’ll continue doing today, in this last message on the topic of Christ coming to save us, is look at scriptures which proclaim and/or attest to that fact.
Oh my brethren, I need to retract one thing in that statement. This doesn’t seem to be the last message on Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth! Why? Because I was just checking to ensure that I had exhausted my supply of scriptures on the subject, when the Holy Spirit led me to a whole bunch more.
Yuh see Friends, when you’re sincerely trying to work with the Lord, He does lead and guide you to His Will and to His Word. Sorry for those of you who like to move on to a new Bit every day. But sometimes we need to hear certain things in the Word, again and again, for them to truly settle in our souls.
And we’ll begin our scriptures today with a most important verse from the gospel of Matthew, where the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph and tells him about the serious piece of drama that was about to be enacted in His life, and consequently the world.
‘And she shall bring forth a son, (referring to Mary, his betrothed) and thou shalt call his name JESUS (Saviour): for he shall save his people from their sins.’ (Matt.1:21)
Oh my fellow believers, nothing could be clearer and more explicit than that! Jesus was coming to earth as a SAVIOUR!
And the scholars explain that verse thus: ‘1:21, 22. Call his name JESUS: The name of the child Jesus (Heb. Yehoshua) means “Jehovah Saves.” This points to the very purpose of Christ’s coming into the world – to save sinners.
Placed early in the New Testament, this statement becomes the foundational concept of the gospel. Jesus, by His very name and nature, is the Saviour.’
Yes Friends, even Jesus’ name conveys the message of saving and salvation! So why are so many humans still so reluctant to receive and accept His saving grace eh? Even to the point of getting aggressive and war-like when they hear His name mentioned! Who knows? I guess we all have our various reasons for rejecting Christ’s free gift of salvation and eternal life.
But Friends, I’m here to tell us that whatever reason you choose for rejecting Jesus, it’s a fool’s wisdom, for ONLY Jesus, the Son of God, begotten before every and anything else in this world, can save us from our sinful destination of eternal separation from Almighty God! And that’s definitely not going to be a nice place to spend eternity!
And we’ll close with this magnificent scripture from the John the Baptist, where he was baptizing the repentant at the river Jordan. ‘The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29)
That my people, is the indisputable, most awesome and heart-warming truth! Please accept it as such, and gear all your earthly actions towards it, for in it lies the wisdom of all the ages. Much LOVE!
…just sit and contemplate for a moment…where you’ll end up if you reject Jesus…certainly no place like heaven…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 February 2014 Luke 19:10
16 Feb 2014 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: avowed purpose, awe, Bible, business dealings, central theme, Christendom, Christian programmes, come to destroy, compassionate, defiling, dwell richly in our souls, exalt, faith, faith comes by hearing, fellowship, fire and brimstone, glorify, glory hallelujah, go in faith, go in love, god will go with you, God will guide you, God's children, good morning, grace, grateful, great importance, healthy, hear the Word, Jerusalem, Jesus, kernel statement, like persuasion, little ones, lost, lost sheep, LOVE, meditate on, never be afraid, one lost sinner, parting blessing, peace, perish, Pharisees, physician, ponder, power of God unto salvation, praise, presence, publican, reach out to others, rebuked, rejoices, repentance, reverence, righteous, sacrifice of praise, salvation, Samaria, Samaritans, save, save sinners, scribes, searching, searching Herdsman, self-righteous, shepherd context, show you believe, sick, sinners, steadfast, strong, Sunday, tax collector, teach, testify, thanksgiving, the Lord's Day, the Lord's goodness, the Son of man, the will of the Father, the Word of god, to seek, true, undeserving sinners, where two or three are gathered, worship, write indelibly in our hearts
Luke 19:10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Well a good Sunday morning to all you Friends and fellow believers out there in Christendom! It is the Lord’s Day, so please let’s treat it as such; with reverence and awe, with praise and thanksgiving, with worship and fellowship.
Let’s get out and fellowship with those of like persuasion… and even with those of a different persuasion, for once Jesus is the focus of our attention, we simply cannot go wrong. Remember He specifically said that wherever two or three are gathered in His Name, that He would certainly grace us with His wonderful presence. (Matt.18:20)
And if by chance, or design, you can’t get out to fellowship with other believers and hear the Word, then turn on your television set and tune in to one of the many Christian programmes where the Word is boldly preached and listen to it attentively. Because to know the Word, you must hear it, and how can you hear it without a preacher? (Rom.10:14-15) For as Bruh Paul proudly proclaims: ‘So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ (Rom.10:17)
And just supposing you don’t have a T.V… Well then get out your Bible and read it aloud to yourself, for there’s plenty of power in the spoken Word. Note that God SPOKE the world and all therein into existence. It wasn’t any abracadabra, simi-dimi stuff. The important thing though my brethren, is that the Word of God comes into contact with your very soul, on this, His day.
That brings us to our Bit: ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’
And all God’s children gave out a loud and joyous shout of “Glory Hallelujah! All praise to the Lord for His goodness to us undeserving sinners.’ And well we should all be grateful and offer the sacrifice of praise my brethren, for without Jesus coming to search for and save us, we’d still be lost.
And I like how the scholars explain it. ’19:10. The words, seek, save, and lost all appear elsewhere in Scripture in a shepherd context. This verse may be taken as a kernel statement of the central theme of Luke. Jesus is the compassionate, searching Herdsman who seeks to save those who can by no means save themselves.’
We surely can’t my brethren! Now today I want to share some scriptures where Jesus states His avowed purpose in coming to earth. And He does it several times, in several different ways.
Let’s begin with when He talks about lost sheep. ‘For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.’ (Matt.18:11) Then He goes on to explain about a shepherd having an hundred sheep, but one gets lost and he leaves the ninety-nine and goes searching long and hard for the ONE LOST SHEEP, and rejoices greatly when he finds it. (Matt.18:12-13) ‘Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.’ (Matt.18:14)
Oh Friends, yuh see the great importance the Lord attaches to even ONE LOST SINNER! Consequently, if there had only been one single sinner in the entire world, the Father would still have sent Jesus to save him.
Now let’s turn to a time after Jesus had eaten with a publican (tax collector) called Levi. (Luke 5:27-29) The scribes and Pharisees are questioning Jesus as to: ‘Why do ye eat and drink with publicans (tax collectors) and sinners? (Luke 5:30) That’s because the Pharisees thought it was beneath them, defiling to have business dealings with tax collectors like Levi, much less to eat with them.
‘And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole (healthy) need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’ (Luke 5:31-32)
As the scholars explain: ‘5:32. Jesus is of course not dealing with the question of whether there are in fact righteous people who need no repentance. By ‘righteous’ He refers to the Pharisees, who thought they were righteous, and thus felt they had no need to repent. They were truly self-righteous.’
In any case, if you came to save sinners, then you obviously need to hang out with them, otherwise how would you teach and testify and bring them to repentance eh?
And we’ll close with this instance where Jesus is headed for Jerusalem, but while passing through Samaria is rejected by the people there. At this perceived slight, James and John want to call down fire and brimstone on the heads of the Samaritans. (Luke 9:51-54)
‘But he (Jesus) turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.’ (Luke 9:55-56)
Ah mih breddren, that’s enough stuff for us to ponder today, to meditate on and write indelibly in our hearts. Please, let’s allow the Word of God to dwell richly in our souls, for ‘it is the power of God unto salvation.’ (Rom.1:16)
And here’s a parting blessing I got from my church in Tobago. ‘Go now in Peace – Never be Afraid. God will go with you each hour of every day. Go now in faith steadfast and strong and true. Know He will guide you in all you do. Go now in LOVE, and show you believe. Reach out to others, so all the world can see. God will be there watching from above. Go now in Peace, in Faith and in LOVE.’ Much LOVE, my fellow believers!
…once you know Jesus…you can’t help but LOVE and glorify and exalt Him…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 February 2014 Luke 19:10
15 Feb 2014 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: blessed, blessings, cesspool of evil, christianity, compassion, compassionate heart, confession, eternal life, faith, faithful, fellow believers, folly, glory hallelujah, God's great earth, gratitude, guilty of wrongdoing, harmonious relationship, Jesus Christ, lord jesus christ, lost, LOVE, loving, repentance, repentant, revere, salvation, Saturday, seek and save, sin, sinners, son of Abraham, thanks and praise, the Lamb that was slain, trust, ungodliness, ungodly world, win win, wisdom, Zaccheus
Luke 19:10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
And then it was Saturday! Yes Friends, another blessed day on God’s great earth, another day of blessed pilgrimage, of doing His great work! Wow! We truly are blessed my people! Please give our God much thanks and praise for helping and encouraging us in whatever plan He has drawn up for our earthly lives.
And remember to thank Him too for promising never to leave or forsake us. That’s a major building block of our faith, something that keeps us steadfastly anchored in our Christian beliefs.
And never forget that He is ALWAYS FAITHFUL, thus we also need to be faithful, if we’re to live and work with Him in a harmonious, win-win relationship. Ah mih people, there’s so much we have to thank our wonderful God for, that I could go on and on forever. (smile)
But the most important things we can ever thank Him for are the gifts of salvation and eternal life!
We all know the story of Zaccheus, the corrupt tax collector climbing a tree to see Jesus because of his challenged stature, (smile) but Jesus calling him down and going to his house for lunch, at which all the supposed righteous turned up their noses, since it was considered beneath their dignity to eat with such gross sinners. (Luke 19:1-7)
But my fellow believers, please note the repentant effect Jesus had on Zaccheus. ‘And Zaccheus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.’ (Luke 19:8)
The scholars explain that verse thus: ’19:8. Zaccheus’s confession reveals a penitent heart. If does not suggest doubt that he is guilty of wrong doing; the only question is to what extent. Leviticus 6:1-5 stipulated that gained money had to be returned, plus one-fifth. A fourfold return was legislated where livestock were concerned. (Ex.22:1; 2 Sam.12:6).’
Now hear Jesus’ answer to Zaccheus’s repentance. ‘This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’
Yes Friends, as Jesus declares in our Bit, He came to seek and save those which were lost, and Zaccheus being one of the lost, was sought out by Jesus and saved after he repented of his wrongdoing.
How valuable and caring is that eh? Very! So valuable that we couldn’t put a price on it, since we were all so lost in a wilderness of sin, drowning in a cesspool of evil and ungodliness, and if something wasn’t done to help us, then we’d all end up in some undesirable place, separated from our Maker for eternity.
And that was just too much for the LOVING and compassionate heart of our Maker to bear. So through that great LOVE for His creation, He eventually sent His Only Son to find and save us.
Ah my fellow believers, what a remarkable time that was! Jesus describes it this way: ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17)
Oh Friends, those are two of the most beautiful and heart-warming scriptures in the Good Book, for they are truly touching in their magnanimity, as well as their LOVE and compassion!
Just imagine what would happen to us, where we’d be, if the heart of our God wasn’t so LOVING and compassionate nuh. As the old people would say – crapaud smoke we pipe. And that’s the undeniable truth, for there would have been hell to pay, quite literally come judgement day, for the majority of mankind.
That’s why I don’t understand, can’t comprehend why so many people who hear about Jesus, simply refuse to accept Him, to come to Him and make Him their Lord and Saviour. Bruh Paul says it best when he talks about the results of justification in his writing to the church at Rome.
‘But God commendeth (demonstrates) his LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now (having been) justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being (having been) reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement (reconciliation).’ (Rom.5:8-11)
Oh Friends, what selflessness on Jesus’ part, for while we were yet sinners, He died for us! And all God’s people declared a mighty shout of ‘Glory Hallelujah! Blessed is the Lamb that was slain for us!’
And Jesus also declared these faithful and true words. ‘Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.’ (John 15:13-14)
And that my fellow believers was not just idle talk, but He also walked His talk, by sacrificing His life on the cross at Calvary so our sin debt could be paid in full. So how then can we reject Him eh? It certainly boggles my mortal imagination.
But then again, I guess that’s why our Creator gave us the power to make choices. However, just like our first father Adam, made a poor choice by eating the forbidden fruit, likewise many of his descendants are making the same foolhardy mistake, being disobedient to God’s will, not accepting His wonderful, free offer of salvation and eternal life that He set up so we could be reconciled to Him, become His children, and dwell with Him in heaven forever.
Oh Friends, it is the height of stupidity, the grossest folly, the total absence of wisdom and common sense to reject Jesus, the Son of the Living God, who sacrificed His sinless life to pay for our abominable sins.
And all who reject Him, do so at their eternal peril. Please don’t be numbered amongst that lot. Much LOVE!
…to truly know and revere Jesus…is to have a heart full of LOVE and gratitude…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 January 2014 Psalm 5:3
20 Jan 2014 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: abominable sins, advantageous system, alms, anger, avenue of prayer, believing, blagging, bully, cavorting, charitable gifts, children of God, chronic illness, Cornelius, direct my prayer, disputes, dive through, faith in Jesus Christ, friends, Gentiles, glory hallelujah, God's little Acre, good works, gospel of Jesus, grow to be like Christ, havoc, hear, holy hands, important aspect, in the morning, Jesus Christ, Jewish people, jump off the deep end, learning to swim, life is precious, life's problems, long lost friend, LOVE, medium of prayer, memorial, my voice, O Lord, obedience, path to success, peaceful, personal experience, plunge in, positive, pray everywhere, prayed to God, prayer for protection, prayers, pure life, receive Jesus as Lord and Saviur, resentment, reservations, Roman Centurion, sacrifice, saved, saving grace, sincere prayer, successful earthly life, take life by the horns, tears to my eyes, The Duchess, the Good Book, wings of Love, without wrath and doubting, wonderful day
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh Friends, it’s been another wonderful day on God’s Little Acre! Glory Hallelujah!
Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 January 2014 Psalm 5:3
15 Jan 2014 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: advice, alive and kicking, appliances, attitude of prayer, be happy, begin each day with prayer, behaviour to cultivate, better late than never, boycott threat, complications, Daniel, David, deliverance from death, direct my prayer, disciples, encourage, epistle, faults and foibles, fed the five thousand, freezer problem, friends, get serious about prayer, glory hallelujah, God's grace, greatest power on earth, ground swell, heartfelt, holds us captive, importance of prayer, in the morning, intermittent cough, Jesus, joyfully declare, lighten the soul, look up, LOVE, my voice, negative, new fangled, O Lord, planet earth, plastic, poor-me-one, positive attitude, pray without ceasing, prayer, prayer for protection, pronouncement, Psalm 88, recharge batteries, rejoice and be glad, rejuvenation of spirit, see another day, service charge, sincere prayer, sincerity, sorrowful, spiritual energy, the day the Lord has made, the Good Book, the other side, the power of prayer, tip of the iceberg, troubled world, true believers, truth, year of 2014
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh Friends, once again we have been blessed with God’s wonderful grace, enabling us to see another new day on His great planet earth! Wow! How thrilling that is!
And I know that you all will agree with me, for despite all the problems in the troubled world and our individual lives, very few really are ready to leave here and go over to the other side. There’s something about earth, with all its faults and foibles that still holds us captive.
Perhaps it’s simply because we know what’s here, but aren’t truly sure about what’s on the other side, although they claim it’s much better there.
In any case, since we’re here, and most likely want to be, let’s be happy, and like the psalmist, joyfully declare: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we WILL rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps.118:24) That positive attitude certainly helps more than a negative, sorrowful, poor-me-one behaviour.
Oh by the way, a service man did come yesterday to look at our freezer problem, at an exorbitant service charge. Hn!
Apparently there’s a small plastic cup – no surprise there, for everything’s plastic now – where the water runs through to the icemaker. But whenever that cup gets clogged with ice, and the icemaker calls for water, the water cannot run into the cup and into the icemaker. So as water is wont to do, it finds other channels to run into.
Consequently, by the time he checked it yesterday, everything was clear and free, and the only thing we can do is keep a close eye on it, because there’s no finding out why it happens. Ah Lord eh! And last night we had to turn off the icemaker because the bucket was already full of ice.
And the techie agreed with my contention that the earlier appliances worked much better than these new fangled ones, neither did they have as many complications when something went wrong. Although it gave him more work, he wasn’t thrilled with the new stuff, and suggested that we complain to the manufactures themselves, not to the service people.
But which big manufacturer listens to the small man eh, unless there’s a big ground swell and a serious threat of boycotting their products?
Anyway, that’s enough preamble for today. (smile) Yesterday’s Bit was one of the longest, if not the longest one I’ve ever written, and I promise today’s definitely won’t be as long. So in keeping with that promise let’s get to our Bit from Bruh David’s prayer for protection.
‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
And I was up early enough today to do my prayer thing and still get the Bit to you at a reasonable hour. Glory Hallelujah! And we’ll continue looking at scriptures that show us the importance of prayer, as well as encourage us to get more involved in it.
And there’s lots of truth in the advice to begin each day with prayer. Bruh David and Daniel (6:10) did it, and in Psalm 88, a Maschil (Contemplation) of Heman the Ezrahite, a cry for deliverance from death, the psalmist also proclaims: ‘But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent (come before) thee.’ (Ps.88:13)
Now we already know that Jesus got up very early every morning to go out into a quiet place and pray. (Mark 1:35) But that wasn’t the only time He availed Himself of the power of prayer. And we have a good example of that after He fed the five thousand, (Matt.14:15-22) and sent His disciples over to the other side of the lake by ship, then went off by Himself to pray.
‘And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart (by Himself) to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.’ (Matt.14:23)
Apparently after using up all that spiritual energy, He needed some recharging of His batteries, some rejuvenation of His Spirit. And believe me Friends, nothing recharges or rejuvenates us like sincere prayer!
Now let’s move on to Bruh Paul. Oh my brethren, I don’t know if anyone has spoken about the importance of prayer more than him! In every epistle he encourages his readers to pray. And his most astounding pronouncement on the subject is simply this: ‘Pray without ceasing.’ (1 Thess.5:17) Plain and straightforward my people!
The scholars dissemble the verse thus: ‘The Greek word here rendered without ceasing is used in secular literature to denote a man suffering from an intermittent cough – one that is not continuous, but occurs at intervals. Just as the individual has the tendency to cough, though does not always do so audibly, so the believer ought to remain in the attitude of prayer though not always praying audibly.’
Therefore Friends, as true believers, we ought always to have that attitude of prayer about us, though not necessarily praying aloud. It’s a most wonderful behaviour to cultivate. And as promised, we won’t ramble on any more today.
But my brethren, that’s only the tip of the iceberg concerning prayer in the Good Book. However we’ll leave you to ponder those few verses today. Don’t want to complicate your busy minds and lives more than they’re already complicated. (smile) .
But please, please, let’s get serious about prayer in this important year of 2014 nuh, both for others and ourselves, because it’s the greatest power on planet earth, when entered into with heartfelt sincerity. Much LOVE!
…there’s nothing like prayer…to lighten the believer’s soul…
P.S. Aye mih people, the Bit will most likely be plenty late tomorrow, because I’m going out of town this evening, and I don’t know when I’ll find the time to write it. But rest assured that once I’m alive and kicking, you will receive it. It’s just a matter of when. And as they say; better late than never. (smile) Much LOVE!
Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 December 2013 Isaiah 33:22
25 Dec 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: angel Gabriel, annals of history, bad, Bethlehem, birth of our Saviour, blessed, carpenter's family, Christ the Lord, Christmas, conspiracy, Counselor, Everlasting Father, favour, fear not, fellow believers, forgiving, Galilee, glorious night, glory hallelujah, good, good tidings, gospel, grateful appreciation, great joy, hail, Hark the herald angels, heavenly hosts, heavenly song, highly favoured, Holy Ghost, House of David, immaculate conception, Immanuel, incarnate son of god, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, Joseph, Judea, judge, judgement, justice, king, lawgiver, light and life, LOVE, Luke, magnanimous, manger, mankind, Mary, memorable moment, merciful, mercy, Messiah, mighty god, momentous, Nazareth, newborn king, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, peace on earth, ponder, praising God, prince of peace, promise, pronouncement, reason for the season, reconciliation, rejoicing, righteousness., salvation, saviour, second birth, shepherds, sign, singing, son of god, Son of the Highest, throne of David, uproar, virgin, Wonderful, zeal of the Lord
Isaiah 33:22. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, he will save us.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
And the congregation raised their voices in heavenly song: ‘Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconcile. Joyful all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With the angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn king.’
Yes my beautiful fellow believers, on this awesome day, some two thousand years ago, our King, Jesus Christ was born! And all God’s people gave a mighty and grateful shout of ‘Glory Hallelujah!’
What a momentous and memorable moment that was in the annals of history! So momentous, that since then it’s been creating an unbelievable uproar amongst mankind; some bad, but most of it good.
No wonder the prophet Isaiah lustily declared centuries before, in our Bit: ‘For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, he will save us.’
And today we’ll bypass the ‘lawgiver’ aspect of our God, and instead scan the Good Book for appropriate scriptures that proclaim Him as ‘our king, he will save us.’
And what better place to begin than with the everlasting promise of God’s mercy and salvation. Hear Isaiah tell it as it is: ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ (Is.9:6-7)
And the zeal of the Lord did perform it my brethren! As all the other promises of our omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, magnanimous, merciful, and forgiving God, this came to pass on that fateful Christmas night two millennia ago, when the holy, sinless, incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, was born to a poor carpenter’s family in Bethlehem of Judea.
But yuh know what Friends, even before that magnificent pronouncement, previous to an Assyrian invasion of Israel, Isaiah had specified the way that our King, our Messiah, would be born. ‘Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us).’ (Is.7:14.)
And did this all come about? OF COURSE! The gospel of Luke tells us that ‘the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused (betrothed, engaged) to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail (Rejoice), thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him she was troubled at his saying, and cast (considered) in her mind what manner of salutation (greeting) this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus (Yahweh Is Salvation).
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest (Most High): and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man (I am a virgin)?
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest (Most High) shall over-shadow thee: therefore also that holy thing (one) which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.’ (Luke 1:26-35)
And so it was said…and so was it done! We all know the story of how Joseph was told about the immaculate conception in a dream and went on to marry Mary, and how they went up to Bethlehem to register for a census and how Jesus was born that night in a stable, because there was no room in the inn for them.
And what a glorious night that was my brethren in ole Bethlehem, for all the heavenly host of angels were singing and rejoicing over the birth of our Saviour, and joyfully declared to the shepherds who were out watching their flocks: ‘Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger (feed trough). And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ (Luke 2:10-14)
Ah mih people how mighty and faithful is our God! For all that was prophesied centuries before came together on that first Christmas night to begin the process of our salvation, of our reconciliation to the heavenly Father, through the birth, life, and sacrificial death of His Son Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead on the third day, having defeated the hosts of Hades, to claim His rightful throne, His rightful kingdom, both here on earth and in heaven above. A kingdom that shall NEVER END!
So let’s go home singing His praises nuh. ‘Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, Risen with healing in his wings. Mild he lays his glory by, Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth. Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.’
Great and faithful is our God my people, so please, in grateful appreciation, let’s spend some time today pondering on the mighty promises He made, and oh so faithfully fulfilled. That’s the true reason for this exciting Christmas season. Much LOVE!
…blessed is the season…which engages the whole world…in a conspiracy of LOVE!… (Hamilton Wright Mabie – 1846-1916 – American essayist editor, critic, lecturer)
Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 December 2013 1 John 1:9
01 Dec 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: acknowledged sin, anger, arrows, awesome truth, Black Friday, bones waxed old, brave, Bruh David, caught up, chasten, Christmas, Christmas shopping, chutzpah, cleanse, confess our sins, confession of sins, constancy of effort, Cousin Sol, covers sinss, day and night, death, deceit, deity, disastrous consequences, displeasure, divine instruction, divine wisdom, eternal life, ever-LOVING God, faithful, faithfully, follow Jesus, forgive, forgiven, forsake sins, friends, get lost, gift of God, glory hallelujah, godly promise, godly woman, gracious, groaning, guile, happiness, haunt us, heavenly Father, heavy burden, help, holy, hoopla, idolatry, iniquity, Jesus Christ, Jesus' orbit, just, merciful, mercy, New Hampshire, New Year, New Year's resolution, peace, penitent heart, personal witness, physical, Plymouth, Praise the Lord, prayer, preparations, problems, prosper, psychological, rebuke me not, rest, righteous God, salvation, sanctity of the family, Sears store, shopping, shopping blitz, sorrow, spirit, store owner, stray, thank you, thanksgiving, the world's orbit, time, transgression, truthful, undeserving sinners, unrighteousness, vitality, wages of sin, worship, wrongdoings
1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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