Today’s Scrip-Bit   2 May 2024 Psalm 92:1.

Psalm 92:1.       ‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

Oh friends, at long last, warm and sunny days seem to be here again! Thank the Lord! It’s about time we felt some of the sun’s awesome heat to warm our cold hearts, souls, bodies and minds after this long winter season. Granted, it wasn’t that cold, but still the chilly, damp weather is what really gets into the bones and causes all sorts of illnesses and emotional downturns. But with summer seemingly on the way, there is a li’l more LOVE and joy in the society, although not as much as we so badly need. 

And today we’ll take a look at a couple of scriptures about giving thanks to our great God, for all that He’s done on our behalf. And the first scriptures come from Psalm 92, aptly titled  ‘Give Thanks to the Lord.’ So please read with me: ‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth (declare) (steups!!!) thy LOVING-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery (lyre or lute); upon the harp with a solemn (harmonious or melodic) sound. For thou Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.’ (Ps. 92:1-4) 

Oh my fellow saints, it’s so obvious that the Lord deserves our thanks, both morning and evening, and even during the daytime because of His unfailing goodness and mercy to us each and every day! And if, as the psalmist says he has made us glad through His work, then there’s even more reason to give Him praise and thanks! 

And Psalm 147, titled ‘Sing Praise to the Lord,’ gives the same message. ‘Praise ye the Lord (shout Hallelujah): for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely (beautiful). (It surely is!) The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds (sorrows). He telleth (counts) the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite (limitless).’ (Ps. 147:1-5) 

More indisputable truth my brethren! Our God is both great and good, therefore He necessitates praise from His people! Unfortunately though, His people don’t thank him as much as they ought to. Some of us only give thanks on Sundays when we go to church, others don’t even remember to give thanks at all. But please remember as Jeremiah says: ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.’ (Lam. 3:22-23) 

Oh friends, our wonderful God deserves amazing praise and thanks for the simple reason that we are still alive today, through His great mercies and faithfulness. You know how many people didn’t wake up this Thursday morning? Many! Why? I don’t know. But I’m sure some of them did not waken today because they were not in the habit of giving the Lord the thanks and praise He so richly deserves. It’s mind boggling that we can call on the Lord for all the stuff we want, but when we get it, we forget to give Him thanks and praise. 

My people, we should be thanking our God all through the day: for every good and positive move we make; for every scrape or negative situation that He gets us out of. Praise should be a continual thing in the hearts and lives of the true believer. Why do you think Bruh Paul highly advised us through his letter to the Philippians to ‘Be careful (anxious) for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God.’ (Phil. 4:6) And to the Thessalonians, he said: ‘Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ (1 Thess. 5: 16-18) 

Yes my fellow believers, giving thanks and praise to Almighty God is essential in our daily lives, it’s His will for us. One of the reasons He created us is that we could praise and worship Him, and reciprocate his wonderful LOVE like all the other heavenly hosts. He didn’t just make us to beg and badger Him for lustful, ungodly stuff, as some of us seem to think from our ungrateful and rebellious attitudes. Heartfelt thanks is essential for the believer if he or she expects to receive all that God has in store for them. And I don’t know how else to say it but like that. 

Anyway, enough preaching for today.  And the Bit is already late because I had to go down to the hospital for some tests this morning, so let’s keep it short and sweet. (smile) And since it’s Thursday, it means declaring (chuh man!!!) our Thursday Blessings very generously given to us by the Lord to do His earthly work. So as one strong and sincere voice: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! 

I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And having made that declaration (awright!!!) it’s now our duty to go out and generously use those blessings, so that others can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…a heart glowing with praise and thanksgiving…is the believers best friend…

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ

Today’s Scrip-Bit   18 August 2022   Psalm 147:5.

Psalm 147:5.      Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite (cannot be measured).

And the week keeps moving right along to this new and sparkling day of Thursday, where all God’s mercies and compassions are also new. Yes friends, it’s a new batch of those wonderful things that our great and merciful God has brewed up afresh this Thursday morning, since we’ve either used up yesterday’s batch, or He just doesn’t like to use leftovers on a new day. (smile) But whatever the reason, we ought to give Him much thanks and praise for being the awesome God He is! A God of LOVE, Mercy, Forgiveness, Grace, Justice and Righteousness, Salvation and Eternal Life, all in one! 

Yes! As the psalmist so rightly declares: ‘Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite (cannot be measured).’ (Ps. 147:5) And I’m chuckling here because that was not what I meant to write, but once I got into the description of our marvellous God, I just got caught up and lost in it! Oh, it’s so easy to do that when you truly appreciate your Creator and the Provider of your livelihood. 

Anyway, what I had intended to say was something like this. Have you ever noticed that despite all the happenings in our world and in in our individual lives, the forces of nature never stop carrying out their jobs, they never change from one path to the other? The days keep moving on, the birds keep singing, the flowers keep growing as the bees keep buzzing around them, seasons change from summer to winter and back again, the sun rises in the day and the moon at night, with no interruptions, regardless of the wars, strife, hatred and enormous evil that fills the world. 

That can also be attributed to the amazing power of our God, for His creation of the universe with its beauty and continuity, and oh so intricate workings, still leaves us awe stricken when we truly consider it. That’s also why the psalmist proclaimed that all creation ought to praise Almighty God. So please read with me, these beautiful words from the opening verses of Psalm 148, a psalm of universal praise. 

‘Praise ye the Lord (shout Hallelujah!): Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him from the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise ye him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.’ (Ps. 148:1-5) 

That’s what I’m talking about my people; the mighty power and awesome creativity of our magnificent God. He simply commanded all those things to be made and put in place…and they were! And what I truly like is the following verse, where the psalmist proclaims: ‘He hath also stablished (established) them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.’ (Ps. 148:6) Glory be my faithful brethren! The Lord’s made a decree that will never pass! Wow! Can any other supposed god or idol do that? No way Jose! 

But the psalmist doesn’t stop there, for there are more things than the heavenly beings and bodies to praise the Lord. So, let’s continue reading: ‘Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons (sea creatures) and all deeps: Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour: stormy wind fulfilling his word. Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:’ (Ps. 148: 7-10) Yes, friends, the psalmist then turns there to the things of the earth; even Mother Nature ought to praise the Lord because she is so wonderfully made! 

And no, he hasn’t forgotten God’s greatest creation; mankind, the only thing He didn’t speak into existence but actually made with His two hands! So let’s continue reading. ‘Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent (exalted); his glory is above the earth and heaven.’ (Ps. 148:11-13) 

Now we getting down to brass tacks mih bredrin! The Lord God Almighty deserves the praise of all His creation, especially mankind, whom He’s made in His own image, and gave His breath of life, His Holy Spirit to aid us in living a good and abundant life on His marvellous earth. That’s why the psalmist concludes the psalm with these telling words. ‘He also exalteth the horn (strength, dominion) of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord (shout Hallelujah!)’ (Ps. 148:14) 

Now do we still need encouragement to praise our great God? We shouldn’t after reading of all His mighty works and experiencing His LOVE, mercy, forgiveness, grace, compassion and salvation. But we’re such a disobedient, stubborn and prideful human animal that we take pleasure in using our free will to thwart the Lord’s desires for us. But yuh know what friends, the joke is really on us yes, because we’re not doing the Lord anything by being disobedient and intractable, we’re only harming ourselves. 

Think about it nuh! The Lord is sitting on His fine throne in His marvellous heaven, enjoying life, while we are down here struggling with sin and evil, the punching bag of the enemy, stubbornly refusing God’s LOVING advances, filled with all sorts of good things to make this life and the other more wonderful than we can even imagine. Nothing we do will affect God’s good living, except possibly break His heart for the umpteenth time by stubbornly and foolishly refusing His wonderful gift of salvation and eternal life. 

So, who’s the loser in this whole scenario eh? Definitely not God, the Creator…but we foolish human beings, the created! But thankfully our God is so good, and a handful of us are wise enough to accept His marvellous offer. That’s why, to do His earthly work, He’s bestowed so many undeserved blessings on us. We call them our Thursday Blessings, and it’s time for us to declare them so that they can be activated and show out in our lives. 

Altogether now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! 

I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And having said all of that, let’s go out now and use those blessings to encourage others to come to Christ in all sincerity and truth. Much LOVE!

…let everything that has breath praise the Lord…and even those that don’t have breath…let them also praise Him…for He rightfully deserves the praise… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​