SCRIP-BITS

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.
 
Oh Friends, ‘I, I am blessed! I want to tell the world, that I, I am blessed!’ 
 
Yes my people, last night in one of my late night sessions, I heard that tune by Mello G, one of my favourite reggae songs. And apparently it reverberated and resonated through my mind during those restful hours of sleep, because I got up this morning still singing it. I took that as a sure sign that I was expected to share it with you on this chilly Tuesday spring morning.
 
And to further solidify that theory, when I went outside just now to put out the garbage, I heard the birds singing it too. (smile) So if these lesser creatures can recognize their blessings and give thanks for them, why can’t we, God’s greatest creation eh?
 
So please sing the chorus with me: ‘Oh we, we are blessed! Let’s shout to the world, that we, we are blessed! Yes indeed, we are truly, truly blessed!’
 
Yes my brethren, if you can read these words and mentally process them, then you are indeed blessed! The roofs over our heads, the clothes on our backs, the food on our tables, the fruit of our loins, our children, the jobs we go to which allow us to earn money to provide those necessities, those all indicate that we are greatly blessed!
 
The freedom to worship Jehovah God, all of that shouts out blessings and blessedness my brethren! For there is a very large portion of the earth’s population who can’t say those things at all.
 
So please, let’s gratefully appreciate them nuh, instead of simply taking them for granted and abusing them, and learn to share our good fortune, our godly empowerment with the less fortunate, and stand up strong and fight to keep those rights that our forefathers fought so long and hard to get, but which the cruel, evil and greedy enemy now wants to take away from us!
 
Wow Friends! That certainly came in a sudden burst of inspiration! (smile) Now here is this touching story entitled ‘The Truant,’ from the One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin.
 
It says: ‘What does God do with a truant who plays hooky from her heavenly Father? What are the options? One thing is sure: He doesn’t pamper her. He knows she needs to stretch her spiritual muscles. He doesn’t shout, “Get up, foolish child!”
 
She’s so covered with mud she can’t move. He doesn’t condemn her, because His promise is “There is therefore now no condemnation.” In the end he does what He always does for any half-demolished child of His: He unlocks her handcuffed spirit with His key of infinite LOVE.
 
He checks her fluctuating heart with its spiritual irregularity. He gives her a fleeting glimpse of things as they could be. He accepts her confession. He thoroughly cleanses her, then He holds her close to His tender heart. He restores her joy and empowers her to obey.
 
Suddenly she knows with great gladness that her one safe fortress is the centre of her Father’s will. At least so it is with one truant child: me.’
 
And Friends, that story is ever so true! It’s repeated thousands of times a day by our wonderful heavenly Father! No other supposed god does anything like that. They put you through even more misery for your sins and shortcomings.
 
But not our wonderful God! When we confess our wrongdoings, He instead cleanses us and shows us LOVE and compassion! And yet so many of us still refuse to obey and faithfully serve Him. What foolishness, what lack of wisdom, my people!
 
And the Bible promise that’s quoted for that story is our Bit for today. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
 
Oh my fellow believers in Jesus Christ, those are just more beautiful truths that ought to empower and uplift us, to encourage us to keep on faithfully following our wonderful Lord and Saviour! But they obviously don’t do that for a large part of our population, who prefer to follow the sinful path of the prince of darkness.
 
Now listen to the verse after our Bit. ‘If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.’ (1 John 1:10) More unfortunate truths again my people!
 
And the scholars offer these interesting explanations on those verses. ‘1.9. This is a restatement of verse 7. We ought not to deny our sins (v.8), but rather to confess them before God. This opens the door for His forgiving and cleansing light to purify our hearts. Unrighteousness is another way of saying “sin”. 
 
1:10. To deny one’s sinfulness (v.8) or sins is not just to deceive oneself; it is to make God a liar by denying His word. Both Old and New Testaments stress the universality of man’s sin. (e.g. Job 4:17; Ps.14:3; Is.53:6; Rom.3:10-18, 23).’ 
 
Yes Friends, that’s all gospel truth: ‘For we have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God.’ (Rom.3:23)
 
So, after hearing all of that, we have no good or real reason not to believe in and serve the omnipotent, omniscient, omni-present God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. None whatsoever! Unless we’ve lost our minds and literally gone mad.
 
Sadly though, it seems that a lot of us have succumbed to that dreaded illness, because too many of us have chosen, and are choosing to follow the worldly, lustful ways of Beelzebub, the prince of darkness, rather than the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Master and Giver of Light and Eternal Life!
 
The wonderful thing about our God though, is that we can always get another chance! While there is His breath of life in our mortal and sinful bodies, there’s always hope for His forgiveness.
 
But please be warned, there isn’t time to waiver and sit on the fence, because Jesus is coming back in majesty and glory at any time! And when He does… all bets are off!
 
So please be wise and get yourselves straightened away with Him today; better yet, RIGHT NOW! That is the wisdom of the righteous! Much LOVE!
 
…let us be wise…be prepared…for we know not when…the last train bound for glory…will be steaming out of the station…and if we’re not on it…hn!…then crapaud smoke we pipe…