Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 February 2019 Joel 2:21.

03 Feb 2019 Leave a comment

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

Joel 2:21.   ​Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.
 

Here it is friends, Sunday, the first and best day of the week! Time to rest as well as time to fellowship with other believers in the house of our omnipotent God! Glory be my people! There’s no greater honour and privilege than giving God glory, praising Him and exalting His holy name with other believers! 

Some of us look upon it as work, as an unnecessary burden and a hindrance to our worldly way of life, but for your information my brethren that’s the main reason God created us in the first place; to worship Him, to pay Him obeisance in all that we do. So let’s cut out all the rigmarole nuh, and if we’re physically able, let’s get ourselves to church sometime today and praise and worship and adore and exalt our most wonderful God! 

Now let’s get the proceedings going with this wonderful song written by the English clergyman Phillip Doddridge in the latter half of the 18th century. It’s a song we all know and LOVE, especially this gospel arrangement by Edwin Hawkins, recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers back in the late 1960’s, eventually becoming an international hit and a gospel music standard. 

So friends, let’s lift our voices, our eyes and hands, our hearts and souls to heaven as we worship God with the rather appropriate words and sentiments of ‘Oh Happy Day!’ And don’t forget to make the call and response sweet, for though the words are meaningful they are mostly repetitive, and it’s that back and forth communication that truly livens up the song. 

So enough talk, let’s sing: ‘Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed) Oh, when He washed (When Jesus washed) When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed) He washed my sins away (Oh, happy day) Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) (Repeat) He taught me how (He taught me how) To watch and fight and pray Watch and pray And live rejoicing every day Every day 

Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) When Jesus washed  (When Jesus washed) Oh, when He washed (When Jesus washed) When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed) He washed my sins away (Oh, happy day) Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) He taught me how (He taught me how) To watch and fight and pray Watch and pray And live rejoicing every day (Good God) Every day 

Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) Oh, it’s a happy day (Oh, happy day) Oh, Lord (Oh, happy day) Mmm, good God (Oh, happy day) Oh yeah (Oh, happy day) Mmm, oh (Oh, happy day). Oh, happy happy dayyyy…!” 

 Oh friends, oh friends, that was wonderful! All heaven was singing and dancing with us! It’s one of those songs that you can’t help feeling in your soul and responding favourably to it. And don’t think that the Father wasn’t swaying and singing too nuh, because there’s nothing He likes better than a good song of praise! Bless His holy name! 

And there’s no doubting that the day Jesus died on the cross was indeed a happy day for us, because as the song says, He washed all our sins away, paid our sin debt in full! Wow! And if that isn’t cause to be happy, I don’t know what is nuh! Yes my faithful brethren, forgiveness of sins is the greatest gift that we can ever receive! And Jesus in His amazing LOVE and selflessness provided it for us! 

Note He sacrificed His sinless life for us, bore our sins on the cross at Calvary so that we could have His righteousness and be reconciled to our heavenly father, from whom we were then estranged through the partition of sin. Therefore we ought to gratefully and gracefully accept His offer and continuously show our thanks by living sincerely for Him and His cause. How could we do otherwise eh, after all He’s done for us? 

He died for us, taught us how to watch and fight and pray and live rejoicing everyday…yes friends every day! Now isn’t all of that stuff to be joyful about? It surely is! And we’d certainly be foolish and unwise if we didn’t accept it as such and be joyful about it all! We have absolutely no reason to be unhappy and dissatisfied with the Lord, for He’s lived up to every promise He’s ever made. 

Look at what He promised the Israelites in our Bit through the prophet Joel after they had come back to Him in repentance. ‘Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.’ And He most certainly did! The greatest being the unconditional LOVE He bore us and expressing it through Jesus, which gave us the forgiveness of sins, and then salvation through His amazing grace! And I’ll say it again; NOTHING can be greater than that friends! 

Hear how Moses blessed the tribes of Israel before his death. ‘Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency (majesty)! And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee (submit to you): and thou shalt tread upon (tread down) their high places (places of pagan worship.’ (Deut.33:29) And that’s exactly what happened to Israel when they were obedient to the Lord. 

And we’ll end with Bruh David’s take on the subject from Psalm 144: ‘Happy is that people, that is in such a case (state): yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.’ (Ps.144:15) And if Bruh David was saying that long before Jesus came, can you imagine how much better it got when Jesus came? Oh friends, if I have to read and spell that for you, then you don’t really believe nuh! Much LOVE!

…true believers in Jesus…ought to be constantly rejoicing…and showing it too…simply because of the wonderful gifts He’s given us…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 April 2018 Matthew 5:16.

07 Apr 2018 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 5:16.    Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Well a good morning to all my couch potato Scrip-Bit friends! (smile) Oh I know many of us cannot afford that luxury because there are oodles of things to be done around the house; stuff that we couldn’t or can’t do during the workweek. 

But please find some time to just laze around and do absolutely nothing but laze around, it does help to replenish the soul. We cannot be busy every second of every day. For even God rested after every day when He was creating the world. He could have done it all in one fell swoop, but He chose to take His time and do it right, and so should we. 

And since it’s Saturday, we ought also to consider some of the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And here is the first one: ‘When it rains, look for rainbows. When it’s dark, look for stars.’ 

I guess that makes sense since oftimes rainbows and stars are used by God to communicate with us, and even if there is no serious communication involved, they still lift our spirits by their natural beauty. 

And then there is: ‘Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.’ And that’s basically true, because regardless of how good or bad your situation or circumstances are, ONLY you can make yourself happy. If you don’t want to be happy, no one can do so, and likewise, if you truly want to be happy, no one or nothing can stop you. 

Now hear this next quote: ‘Surround yourself with people who get you.’ And I take it that he means people who understand you and what you plan to do. Yes friends, it’s of the utmost importance that we surround ourselves with people who think like us and are willing to go the extra mile to help us get where we want to be. 

We can’t afford traitors or naysayers, else our projects won’t flourish. And please, don’t forget when you are reaping the rewards to share them with those who’ve stood by you through thick and thin. A lot of us tend to take all the glory for ourselves and forget those who helped us get to the top. 

And the last quote says: ‘If you want to give light to others, you have to glow yourself.’ And that’s gospel truth my brethren! You can’t give away something that you don’t have. So if you want to show someone the way, you must have a light yourself to lead them, otherwise it will be just the blind leading the blind. 

That brings us to our Bit; the awesome proclamation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ 

Oh glory to God my people! That is what we were created to do; glorify God, and we can only do that by being true to our Christian way of life. And Jesus based that on two basic tenets, namely: being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And what does He mean by that? 

Well, salt is possibly the most useful item in all of our society. It gives food flavour, acts as a preservative, melts coldness and heals wounds. Thus it is a good description of a Christian’s relationship to the world around him. And when you are born again, receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, all those elements are expected to play a major part in your life. 

However as Jesus says earlier on: ‘Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour (flavour), wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.’ (Matt.5:13) 

Yeh friends, if we are supposedly born again and are not behaving like salt, then we are of no use to the kingdom of heaven; more of a hindrance than a help. And sadly, that’s how a lot of us believers are looking and living today; salt less. That’s why so many others are turning away from Christianity. Our brand of Christianity has lost its flavour and purpose. 

The same goes for being the light of the world. Jesus proudly declared of His believers and followers: ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle (lamp), and put it under a bushel (basket, but on a candlestick (lampstand); and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.’ (Matt.5:7) 

Ah my fellow believers, sadly, today our faith seems to have lost it’s light, or we are hiding it under a bushel, because too many people are holding, viewing Christianity in a rather hypocritical manner. Our lives are not reflecting the light and LOVE of Jesus as they should. Our heavenly Father is certainly not being glorified the way He ought to be. 

And it’s all our fault. God has given us all the tools to do the job, but we, for whatever reason, simply aren’t doing it properly. There’s no rush of people flocking to Jesus, while many are walking away. We’ve got to stop that out flow and begin having the unbelievers knocking down the door of Jesus to get in close to Him, just dying to have what we have. 

And that can only be done if we believers pull up our socks, get serious about our faith, renew the saltiness of our spirits and remove the basket that’s hiding our wonderful light, the light of Jesus from the world. And with the help of Almighty God, we can certainly do it. 

So today, I’m imploring us to get with the programme, and get on the good foot, so that we can do our bounden duty; glorify our great God. Much LOVE!

…true believers ought to be like lighthouses…standing sentinel in the dark…to lead weary travellers to the light that’s Jesus…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 November 2017 Psalm 36:7.

25 Nov 2017 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 36:7.   How excellent (precious) is thy LOVING-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

And yes, it’s cloudy, it might even rain, but you know that doesn’t detract in the least from the light and LOVE in our Christian hearts deposited there by our Leader, our Friend, our Brother, our Lord and Saviour, our Advocate, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ! 

Oh what a mighty man is our Jesus! He just had to be with the many hats He wears in our lives. So how could we do anything but LOVE Him eh? It would be most unworthy and ungrateful of us, especially in this Thanksgiving time. 

That brings us to our Saturday feature, Anselm’s Quotes; quotes from a brother who sincerely aspires to lead us to a better tomorrow. And the first one addresses what we were just talking about. ‘Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.’ 

Oh friends, there’s no better way of living this life than with an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving, for that’s the way God expects us to live. And doing so, just energizes our Spirits and allows more favourable things to keep happening. 

The second quote declares that ‘Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event.’ And if you truly expect to win, then you had better have the optimism and winning picture in your mind’s eye, otherwise the winning might not come to pass. 

That’s because a large part of winning is mental, of seeing yourself in the winners’ circle. And what’s the point of doing something if you don’t expect to be successful at it eh? None whatsoever! 

And this last quote says it all. ‘If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it’s moving you away from your goals.’ Simple logic friends. (smile) Your actions and efforts can only carry you one way, hopefully in the direction you desire. 

But yuh know people, the wisest and best way to achieve any kind of success in this life is by following the gospel truth words of Bruh David in our Bit. ‘How excellent (precious) is thy LOVING-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.’ 

And why wouldn’t we do that if God is our Creator and Provider eh? Because we’re too full of ourselves, possess too much pride and arrogance, foolishly believing that our success has been wrought solely by our hands. Hogwash! Heifer dust! NOTHING is ever done without God’s help or hindrance! 

And the psalmist truthfully declares it in his opening remarks of Psalm 92 – Praises for the Lord’s goodness. ‘It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High: To show forth (declare) thy LOVING-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, 

Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery (lute or lyre), 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 work of thy hands.’ (Ps.92:1-4) 

Yeh friends, it’s ONLY through the work of God’s hands in the background that mankind can ever be successful! Please, let’s remember that and give Him the kind of praise and thanksgiving, glory and gratitude that He deserves nuh. For if He doesn’t get the exaltation He believes He deserves, He is just liable to leave us to do it all on our own, and the wise ones know that we can’t do much of anything on our own. 

And Bruh David knew that, that’s why when he was suffering in the wilderness, running from Saul and his many enemies, he could write in Psalm 63 – God satisfies the thirsting soul. ‘Because thy LOVING-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow (the best) and fatness (abundance); and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.’ (Ps.63: 3-7) 

Ah mih people, if a man on the run from murderous enemies in a dry and thirsty land can sing the praises of our God so loudly and marvelously, then there must be lots of truth to his words, since his situation is definitely not a joyful or pleasant one. 

So what’s it to be eh friends? Shall we follow the Lord, or shall we follow our own animal instincts? It’s an individual choice we all have to make, and make soon too, because once Christ returns, it will be too late. 

But yuh know what, as Joshua said so long ago, when he put the same question to the Israelites; ‘but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ (Josh.24:15d) 

Yes friends, I have yet to see any good reason to do otherwise. Hope you feel the same way too, for that is wisdom of eternal proportions! Much LOVE!

…to sincerely follow Jehovah God…should be a no-brainer…if one believes His holy word…