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

02 May 2024 Leave a comment

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

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…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   3 October 2021   John 6:35. 

03 Oct 2021 Leave a comment

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

John 6:35.     I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

It’s that beautiful day of the Lord again friends – Sunday! And all God’s children shouted a loud, proud and grateful: ‘Glory Hallelujah! All thanks, praise and honour be unto our wonderful heavenly Father, who created us in His marvellous image and blesses us with all we need to see life through, here on earth! We LOVE You and bless Your holy name on this Your day, as we gather to worship You, either physically in your sanctuary or by technological means. 

There’s no distance in prayer nor worship, so it doesn’t matter whether we are together or far away, our prayers and worship still come as one to Your waiting ears and excited, expectant heart! That’s because we know Your great LOVE for us, and Your desire for us to only be blessed and not cursed, as You told Moses way back when. ‘O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever.’ (Deut. 5:29) 

Yes Lord, we know that the cockles of Your heart are warmed when we live the way You desire of us, that’s why today we come to give you an earful of praise and worship. So please listen up Lord and accept our thanks and praise which sincerely come from the depths of our hearts. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!’ 

And our opening song of praise is one we know so well, and sincerely LOVE. It was written in the 18th century by that old rapscallion and slave trader turned slave abolitionist by God’s mighty hand. We’re talking about John Newton (1725-1807), the writer of that other masterpiece, ‘Amazing Grace.’ Today though, we’ll raise our voices in sacrificial praise to ‘How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds,’ another of Newton’s beautiful hymns. That’s God’s mysterious working, where He takes pleasure in turning notorious sinners into amazing saints! Think of Bruh Paul. 

So, in soulful harmony, in an up-tempo riddim, because it’s a song that conveys joy, let’s sing. ‘‘How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear! It soothes our sorrows, heals our wounds, and drives away our fear. It makes the wounded spirit whole and calms the troubled breast; ’tis manna to the hungry soul, and to the weary, rest. Dear name! the rock on which I build, My shield and hiding place, My never-failing treasury, filled, With boundless stores of grace.

 O Jesus, shepherd, guardian, friend, my Prophet, Priest, and King, my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring. How weak the effort of my heart, how cold my warmest thought; but when I see you as you are, I’ll praise you as I ought. Till then I would your LOVE proclaim with every fleeting breath; and may the music of your name refresh my soul in death… and may the music of your name refresh my soul in death…’ 

Ah friends, that was wonderful, because it was indeed sincere, and the name of Jesus sounds ever so sweet to our ears, as He is our Everything! As the song says, He’s our ‘Shepherd, Guardian, Friend, Prophet, Priest and King, my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End.’ The only thing that’s probably left out is ‘Brother,’ and some versions do sing ‘Brother’ instead of ‘Guardian.’ So, when we say He is indeed our everything, it’s certainly no lie! 

And though the song is fairly short it is chocked full of biblical references. So let’s check out a few. We’ll begin with Peter’s confident words to the High Priest. ‘This is the stone which was set at nought of (rejected by) you builders, which is become the head of the corner (the chief cornerstone). Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:11-12) Wow friends! Under those circumstances, what sweeter name can there be to us believers eh? None whatsoever!  

And when the hymn talks about manna to the hungry soul, it refers to the Lord providing manna for the children of Israel in the wilderness in Exodus 16. But when the people brought their arguments to Jesus about Moses giving their ancestors bread from heaven to eat. He calmly disputed them by saying. ‘Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world. Then said they unto him, Lord evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.’ (John 6:31-35) 

Ah mih people, Jesus is indeed manna to our hungry souls, for when we believe in Him, we neither hunger nor thirst spiritually! And we know what Psalm 147:3 says: ‘He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds (sorrows).’ Now, it’s obvious that talking about giving rest to the weary, refers to Matthew 11:28, where Jesus declares His Great Invitation. ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ 

And when we talking about building on the rock that’s Jesus, nobody says it better than Bruh David in Psalm 18. ‘The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength (lit. rock), in whom I will trust; my buckler (shield), and the horn (strength) of my salvation, and my high tower (fortress).’ (Ps. 18:3) You can’t get any more faith and trust than that. 

Now what about Jesus being our priest eh? Listen to the author of Hebrews. ‘Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession (confession of faith). For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched (sympathize) with the feeling of our infirmities (our weaknesses), but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly (confidently) unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’ (Heb. 4:14-16) 

What a wonderful person is our Jesus! He can sympathize with all our problems, yet be without sin. Now that’s an exceedingly good thing, otherwise He would not be able to redeem us. And we’ll do one last scripture, that’s where Jesus considers us friends. He clearly says to the disciples: ‘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. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.’  (John 15:13-15) 

And there are lots more scriptures that we can pluck from the skillfully created masterpiece of John Newton. I would suggest some valuable homework; you look through the song yourself and see what other scripture references you can find. That ought to be an interesting task for a quiet Sunday afternoon (smile). Much LOVE!

…there’s no greater or sweeter sounding name in all the world…than that of…JESUS…                                                                                                                                  

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