Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 December 2012 Proverbs 8:32

 

Proverbs 8:32.     Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.
Oh Friends, our God surely does move in some mysterious and wonderful ways yes! Yesterday, after I finished writing the Bit, one of my uncles came to visit, then took me around town to straighten out some stuff. Now I had intended to go back to Tobago yesterday afternoon, however on Thursday when I bought the tickets to come to Trinidad by the ferry, I could only get one ticket for the return trip on Friday because of the weekend rush to go to Tobago. I could not even get a flight to Tobago on Friday, because all the planes were booked too. So the plan was go down to the ferry docks and do the stand by thing. But as the Lord would have it, I spoke to a couple friends and family by phone and they weren’t too thrilled that I had come to Trinidad for what amounted to only one day. Anyway, the long and short of the story is that I decided to  spend another day in Trickidad. And was it ever a wise decision, because after I checked into the Capital Plaza Hotel, within walking distance to the ferry docks, we had a delightful lunch in the hotel’s restaurant with one uncle and his wife. Then another uncle showed up, one I had lived a bachelor’s life with some forty years ago, and we all sat down in the hotel’s foyer/bar area talking, laughing and reminiscing about old times. Meanwhile, a cousin was trying to get two tickets for the boat today, Saturday, which was reputedly also sold out. Eventually it was happy hour in the hotel and it got busy. But we were in the right place at the right time. (smile) Then I got a call to go down to the docks to get the ferry tickets. So the uncle with whom I lived ‘bache’, walked down to the docks with me, about two or three hundred yards along one of the main thoroughfares, Wrightson Road, with the Friday afternoon traffic in full swing. During the walk more reminiscing took place, but this time private stuff that we couldn’t share with the other family members. Hn! It sure has a lot of that! (smile) By the time we got back, a cousin had shown up, so you can imagine the commotion. And we stayed in the hotel foyer/bar area until 7 o’clock, only leaving because we had to come up and change to go to a Parang party that a friend had invited us to. The party was good, but we could not do it the justice it deserved since we were quite tired. Imagine there being a lot of food and drink, but me only picking at little bits of food, cause I’d been eating all afternoon and didn’t have my after lunch nap. Didn’t get home until minutes to twelve. And when I awoke, around 6.30, it was to a rainy, dreary-looking Saturday morning, with a crummy view of some big buildings over the street, blocking out most of the docks, and a construction site right down in front of me. But overall Friends, it was a delightful day! Thank You Lord! And I have some more people coming to visit me this morning, that’s why I can say from personal experience that our Bit is one of absolute truth. ‘Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.’ Oh my people, how long are we going to let Beelzebub deceive us into following the ways of man and this evil world eh, which only leads to destruction, rather than that of Almighty God, which causes us to be immensely blessed, both now and in the hereafter? Following Beelzebub’s wiles and lies is a fool’s wisdom my Friends! Now listen to the psalmist, as he tells us the true story: ‘Praise ye the Lord (shout Hallelujah). Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon the earth; the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth (stands) forever.’ (Ps.112:1-3) Now my brethren, is there anything in Lucifer’s manifesto that can match those wonderful promises? Absolutely not! For Lucifer’s pleasures are fleeting and superficial, while those of Jehovah God have substance and last forever. Now hear James tell it: ‘But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed (what he does).’ (James 1:25) Oh my people, Lucifer or his cohorts can never make a truthful declaration like that! And these are the scholars’ comments on that verse. ‘The perfect law of liberty probably refers to the teachings of Christ and His Apostles. This law is perfect since Christ brought to completion the teachings and work of the Mosaic Law (cf. Matt.5:17-20; Rom.10:4). It is a law of liberty because it frees from the principles of sin and death (Rom. 8:2-3; Gal. 5:1,13). James also describes it as the royal law (2:8) for it is the law of the Messianic King (cf. Gal.6:2)’ Now, from the world’s most famous sermon, that from the Mount, listen to Jesus declare the awesome truth. ‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.7:21) I can’t add anything more to that Friends, except these observations of the scholars. ‘Not everyone professing Christ is genuinely saved. Even the outward verbal acknowledgement of His lordship is in itself not enough to save the unbeliever apart from true repentance and faith. A genuinely saved person is one that doeth the will of my Father, the Greek present tense suggesting that he is continually living in obedience to the will of God as the normal course of his life.’ There it is Friends in black and white! Spouting a lot of God centred stuff doesn’t automatically make you saved, you have to truly repent and then live in obedience to the Father after that. Therefore people, let’s sincerely aspire to not only talk the Christian talk, but even more importantly to walk it. Otherwise, we’re just fooling ourselves. Much LOVE!…But be ye doers of the word…and not hearers only…deceiving your own selves… (James 1:22)
 
 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 August 2012 Psalm 112:1

Psalm 112:1.     Praise ye the Lord (Hallelujah). I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.
 
Oh Friends, I was just sitting here asking the Lord to give me a good intro for today’s Bit, because I couldn’t come up with anything on my own, when suddenly this question popped into my mind. I’m going to ask it of all of us believers. When last have we sat down, leaned up or stood up or even laid down somewhere quiet with Jesus and really talked to Him, truly unburdened our hearts to Him, right down to the smallest detail, and have Him just listening, nodding and occasionally asking a leading question or giving us some insight into our problems? I’m not sure when last I did that, and I sure hope you all are better than me in that respect. I know I did it a lot last summer. Maybe that’s because my prostate cancer surgery had me more or less housebound for a couple of months. But I remember many a night I’d sit out on my front porch, mostly in the late hours, and Jesus would sit on the step below me, never above, and focus His full attention on whatever I was saying to Him, whether it was about my pain, my family, my finances, or the troubles of our ungodly world. But one thing, He was always attentive to my words and my feelings. And yuh know Friends, after those little tete a tetes, (sorry, couldn’t get the accents properly) I remember my spirit always being refreshed, my faith renewed and strengthened, regardless of the problems, because Jesus reasoned them out so simply and straightforwardly to me. But somehow, this year I don’t remember enjoying any of those small but serious chats with Jesus. I guess, since I’m more or less healthy now, I just got too busy with the affairs of the world, or simply figured I didn’t need Him that much again. What a sad mistake my brethren! And obviously my great loss too! Oh my people, please, I implore us not to ever get too busy or important to engage in that kind of heartening, enlightening conversation with Jesus. When we forgo genuine conversations with Jesus, we lose big time. And I’m not talking about prayer here, but just conversing with Him as a Friend, which is indeed one of the many portfolios He holds in our lives. And that’s another great thing about walking this earthly life with Jesus; He’s at once our Lord, Saviour, Advocate, Sibling and Friend! And I have to laugh yes, because from not knowing what to write, that one little seed, that grain of thought flowered into all that talk. (smile) However, let’s turn our attention now to our Bit: ‘Praise ye the Lord (Hallelujah). I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.’ Now that Friends, is wisdom of the highest order! And why so many of us neglect to follow it sincerely is a mystery to me. Hear what following our Bit leads to: ‘His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth (stands) for ever.’  (Ps.112:2-3) Now how many of us don’t want that for our friends, families and ourselves eh? We all want it, but apparently expect to get it without doing what it takes, not only to get it, but also to keep it; reverencing the Lord God Jehovah, plus delighting in, and doing His will. Instead we follow the rules of the world and try to kill ourselves working to amass whatever it is we desire, when there is indeed a better way; that prescribed by Jesus. Remember His promise that if we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first, have that as our main priority, all the earthly things will be given to us, because our heavenly Father knows we need them. (Matt.6:33) And Friends those sentiments are found throughout the Good Book, even before Jesus declared them. Listen to just a couple instances. The longest chapter in the Bible begins with this declaration: ‘Blessed are the undefiled (blameless) in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.’ (Ps.119:1-3) Now why wouldn’t we follow those directives eh, especially when Psalm 128, the rewards of faithfulness, proclaims these great rewards? ‘Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands (fruit of thy labour): happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides (in the heart) of thine house: thy children like olive plants (luscious and plentiful) round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.’ (Ps.128:1-6) Oh my people, that isn’t rocket science, just basic common sense with a little wisdom thrown in for good measure! If our omnipotent Creator promises to bless us so greatly when we walk according to His will, why aren’t many many more of us doing it? Oh, I forgot, common sense doesn’t rule, or even exist anymore in these unrighteous times. But the foolish wisdom, as we saw yesterday, is now in ascendance, the same one that’s leading us down the broad highway to death, destruction, eternal separation from God, and eternity in Hades with Lucifer. Hn! The sad part Friends is that we all have to make individual decisions as to whom we’ll follow, and too many people are making the wrong one, opting to follow the sinful, unreliable, unpredictable world, rather than the true and seasoned plans of Jesus. I urge us all to get wise, get smart, get some common sense, whatever it takes and try to sincerely follow Jesus, for He is truly, the Way, the Light, the Life and the Truth of this dark, sorrowful world. Much LOVE!…that trite, age old adage…he who doesn’t hear will eventually feel…still holds true even today…
 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 July 2012 Proverbs 24:28

Proverbs 24:28.    Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.
 
Oh Friends, the hot times they continue! It’s supposed to be up to something like 35 today in my area, but with showers though. Hn! Showers eh! I’ll believe them when I see them. And talking about showers, yesterday I left out the length of time that the few scattered showers fell in my area. It was less than ten minutes. However, it seems that the City of Toronto itself, as well as its eastern environs had oodles of rain in a very short time period. So much that it caused power outages and flooding in several areas, and some people even got injured by lightning strikes. Let’s pray that they are okay. So while I was belly-aching about the little rain in my area on the western side of Toronto, those folks in the centre and on the other side were complaining about too much all at once. Anyway, here’s something, or rather someone, whom we can all be thankful for. It’s from the chorus of a Caribbean Gospel song I heard on Wack 90.1 FM yesterday morning, during their Gospel Time, between 4 and 6 a.m. Monday to Friday. If you LOVE West Indian Gospel, and to me it’s the BEST – so what if I’m biased about many things West Indian eh – (smile) then tune into Wack 90.1 on your computers in the early morning hours. I guarantee that you will get a wonderful treat of beautiful West Indian Gospel. And the chorus of the song I’m talking about says: ‘Thank God for Jesus! Thank God for Jesus! Thank God for Jesus – Everyday! Thank God for Jesus! He is my Saviour! He is the Truth! He is the Light! He is the Way!’ And all God’s people raised a loud shout of ‘Hallelujah! Amen!’ to heaven. Those are truly words of wisdom and truth mih breddren! And it segues in quite nicely to our Bit: ‘Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.’ Yes Friends, as followers of Jesus, the truth should be on our lips, emanate from our mouths at all times. And not only should it come out of our mouths, but also from our hearts. In fact, if there isn’t truth in our hearts, then how will it come from our lips eh? Remember Jesus’ words to the multitude re things that defile: ‘Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.’ (Matt.15:10-11) So my brethren, let’s work faithfully and diligently at getting truth rather than lies and evil into our souls and minds nuh, because only if we first put it in, can we later get it to come out. Then we have these fateful words of Bruh Paul to the Ephesians, re the new life in Christ: ‘But ye have not so learned Christ. If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation (conduct) the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts; And be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.’ (Eph.4:21-25) Ah mih people, if we’re truly born again in Christ, then truth should be the only thing that comes out of us, because that’s what Christ is all about! Now listen to the Lord thy God, from way back when, speaking through the prophet Zechariah, re things that must be done when the promised restoration of Jerusalem occurs. ‘For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I thought (determined) to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath…and I repented not (would not relent): So again have I thought (determined) in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgements of (for) truth and peace in your gates. And let none of you imagine (think) evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and LOVE no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.’ (Zech.8:14-17) Yes Friends, it’s all there, plain and simple in black and white. And by the way, that’s where Bruh Paul got his words to the Ephesians from, re speaking truth to one’s neighbour. So it’s obvious that things like outright lies, false accusations, slander and blasphemy should not be numbered amongst the traits of a true believer. And the Lord knows that it’s difficult to always stay on the straight and narrow path when such a conglomeration of evil and ungodliness surrounds us, where lies, gossip, half-truths and other erroneous messages proliferate, and can easily lead us astray. But as with everything else in our Christian walk my people, we need to make a conscious and diligent effort to remove the ungodly things from our lives, obviously with the help of the Lord. If we come to Him with transparent hearts and lay all our cards before Him, He will enable us to bear our burdens and resist the evil that’s tempting us. Oh Friends that’s the wise and ONLY way we’ll ever be able to resist and/or avoid some of the many problems that will surely invade our earthly lives! So till we meet again tomorrow, God willing, please go in Peace, Harmony and LOVE, to serve and bless our great and wonderful God! Much LOVE!…when problems bring us to our knees…run to the Lord…and with a sincere heart say…Father, help me please…
 

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