Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 January 2013 Proverbs 1:10

17 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 1:10.      My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
 
Oh Friends, another day in our earthly pilgrimage is dawning, bright and beautiful in some physical locations, dark and dreary in others. But yuh know what; in all the hearts that know and LOVE Jesus, the day is dawning bright and beautiful with a sure promise of great things to come, regardless of the physical surroundings. Now today, I want to share a few quotes re virtual reality and the real reality, from this book I’ve been reading, ‘The Incredible Power of Grace – When God’s Assurance Becomes Your Own,’ by Roland R. Hegstad. Oh my brethren, in this modern age of almost instant communication, we’ve become so caught up in computers and all they represent, especially the chance to play in cyberspace and fantasize in what’s termed virtual reality. And as computers become more important, more invasive in our lives, unfortunately a by-product is that we tend to forget, lose sight or understand what is true reality. Author Hegstad advises that to truly understand what’s happening, we have to define our world in small frames of reference, like a photographer does when taking a picture. That frame can only hold so much information, but it’s invariably a true reflection of what’s there. He says: ‘In short, to define reality correctly, we must frame our world through the viewfinder of God’s Word – a viewfinder that reminds us that virtual reality is banishing face-to-face, heart-to-heart communication and friendship that God desires us to share.’ (Page 104) And isn’t that the REAL truth Friends? Virtual reality causes us to lose the reality of interacting with each other on a truly human, face to face basis. It’s become so silly and widespread now to see a group of supposed friends sitting together without any conversation between them, because they are all so busy texting or doing whatever on their communicating devices. Sometimes they can even be sitting together and texting each other rather than talking. How silly is that eh? And the sad part is that’s all most of our young people know and are accustomed to! Oh my people, I believe as author Hegstad does, that our world is quickly losing touch with the real reality and replacing it with the virtual stuff, which is not, and can never be the genuine article, but will always be a mere approximation. And do we want our lives to be ruled by mere approximations? I think not! So please, let’s not get so caught up in the cyberspace and the virtual realities of this world, that we lose sight of who and whose we are. As author Hegstad points out: ‘In God’s vision reality is something more than virtual: it’s a Person, a Person with nail-pierced hands: it’s adoption into the family of God, taking His name and becoming part of His own indestructible heredity.’ (Page 108) That therefore means, ‘Reality has a face! Reality is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ! And we are reality because we are created in His image. We are not just actors on a galaxy-sized Hollywood set. Here and now, we are God’s children. For the child of God, reality is never freedom from individuality, but freedom at last to be finally and fully oneself.’ (Page 114) And ‘When we lose touch with the reality that is Jesus Christ, we also lose self-identity – the concept of who we really are: here and now God’s son; here and now God’s daughter; here and now part of His own indestructible heredity; here and now LOVED beyond comprehension.’ (Page 106) Ah mih people, computers have their uses, as tools, but sadly, because of the world’s forceful push, we are allowing them to invade and control the very essence of our lives. In many ways, they are doing what our Bit so rightly advises against. ‘My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.’ Yes my brethren, this communication and information age is playing serious havoc with our lives. Granted, it gives us more opportunity to spread the Word, but by the same token it also provides more opportunity for us to be grossly mislead. And believe me, a lot of us are being seriously misled, duped and scammed by plenty of the stuff out there in the cyberspace and virtual reality worlds. We need to take much of it with plenty grains of salt. The most important thing in our lives is still, and will always be the WORD OF GOD! Now here’s a passage of scripture that describes God’s instruction to the Israelites, in terns of our Bit, re idolaters, way back when. ‘If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom (you cherish), or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh (near) unto thee, or far off from thee, from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent (yield) unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him. But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be the first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die, because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more such wickedness as this is among you.’ (Deut.13:6-11) Oh Friends, it does seem a bit harsh, but it’s God’s Word and shows how serious He is about His supremacy and enticements to sin, especially worshipping idols and other so-called gods. So my people, in this mad rush to cyberspace and virtual reality, let’s not forget what is truly important in our lives – the WORD OF GOD – for if we do, we’ll certainly pay a hefty penalty for it – eternal separation from Almighty God. Much LOVE!…remember the first Commandment…Thou shalt have no other gods before me… (Ex.20:3) 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 October 2012 Deuteronomy 31:6

29 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Deuteronomy 31:6.     Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
 
Oh Friends, blessed greetings on this cold, wet, uninspiring Monday morning! (smile) And plenty thanks be to our wonderful God also, He who so LOVINGLY looks after all our needs! I do hope that all of us who are slated to receive some of ‘Frankenstorm’ Sandy’s wrath have battened down our hatches and made good preparations to withstand the onslaught. Meanwhile, for those of you who have already experienced its ravages, I hope and pray that you are being strong in faith and doing your best to get yourselves back together again. And the rest of you, please pray some righteous, earnest, heart-felt prayers that Sandy doesn’t do nearly as much damage as he or she is scheduled to do. Now Sandy hasn’t even gotten close to me as yet, and I’m already experiencing a bigger leak than normal in the laundry room of my basement. Ah Lord eh! And to make matters worse, the wind and rain is not allowing my fix-it-all guy to get up on the roof, where we suspect the problem lies. But if that’s the biggest damage I suffer, then I’ll gladly live with it. And remember Friends, in the simple, but oh so wise words of the old sage – this too shall pass. So let’s invoke our Bit right now to help us in our time of anxiety. ‘Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.’ Yes Friends, fear is a major factor in all of our lives these days, it’s just that some handle it better, through FAITH and PRAYER, than others. And with that in mind, this first day of our new workweek, when many are afraid of the pending calamity, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, so that our fearful, lazy, bluesy spirits can be lifted, that they may soar like eagles heavenwards together with our prayer, and embolden us, regardless of the circumstances we face, to go out into the unfriendly, ungodly world and make a significant mark for Jesus. All together now, as the harmonious earthly choir that we are. (smile) ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ There we go my People! All of heaven was pleased with our heady effort! No excuses now for not getting out in a good, strong, faithful, courageous frame of mind. Oh, before we go any further, let me apologize for a typo yesterday. When I quoted the Lord’s command to Joshua, that His Word should constantly be in his mouth, I associated it with Josh.1:9, instead of Josh.1:8. Mea Culpa! Ah Friends, when sin came into the world, it brought fear with it; a sad lack of confidence in many aspects of our lives. But the caring and understanding Deity we serve and worship, realized our human frailty and gave us an outlet to conquer fear through His Holy Word. And throughout the Good Book, especially in the Old Testament, there are numerous examples of God’s assurance to His chosen people. Possibly the most reassuring of all God’s assurances on fear is when Pharaoh’s army was about to overtake the Israelites as they approached the Red Sea, on their journey out of centuries of bondage in Egypt. Although they had witnessed the calamities that the Lord had rained down on Egypt because of Pharaoh’s refusal to let them go, they nonetheless cried out in great fear to Moses, saying it would have been better to remain in slavery in Egypt than to die in the wilderness, cruelly slaughtered in their helpless state by the Egyptian army. But what was Moses’ response? ‘And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation (deliverance) of the Lord, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace (be quiet).’ (Ex.14:13-14) And we all know how the Lord instructed Moses to lift his rod over the Red Sea, and it was parted, allowing the Israelites to walk over on dry land. However, the Egyptian army was totally annihilated when they tried to cross over, as the Lord rejoined the waters. Up to this day Friends, I believe that’s the most awesome miracle the Lord’s ever done, both in terms of emotional drama as well as sheer physical size. I’ve forgotten the exact figures quoted by people who studied the situation, but it required several miles of space between the waters for some two million Israelites, plus all their animals and household belongings to cross in one night. Now Friends, if you had personally experienced such a miracle, would you have ever had any further doubts in the amazing power, strength and LOVING-kindness of the God of your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? I’d hope not. But unfortunately the Israelites were so fickle and faithless that they complained all the way to the Promised Land, even though the Lord miraculously led them by a pillar of fire at nights, and a cloud by day and also provided food (manna) and water for them along the way. Then when they finally arrived at the border of the Promised Land, they were too scared to go over the Jordan and fight for it, as the Lord instructed. They listened to ten of the twelve spies they sent to reconnoitre the land, who claimed that though the land was fruitful and prosperous, the inhabitants were too big for them to conquer. That’s why they wondered in the wilderness for forty years until all of the generation that had left Israel had died. ONLY Joshua and Caleb, the two spies who voted to go in and fight, ever set foot on the Promised Land. Even poor Moses, after so much struggle with the Israelites, was only allowed to see it from a far off hill, because of his disobeying God’s order to talk to the rock and not strike it at the waters of Meribah-kadesh. (Num. 20:11-13) Ah mih people, such is the negative effect of fear. Please, let’s not allow it to conquer us. Much LOVE!…the only thing that conquers fear…FAITH IN ALMIGHTY GOD…