So right now, in this turbulent time, let’s come before the Lord and ask for His help, as we pray our Covid-19 Monday Morning Battle Hymn, in strong voice, with sincere hearts. ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive, and hopefully haven’t contracted the virus that’s causing havoc around our world. Despite the crucial lockdown, those of us considered essential, still have go to work, and we’re somewhat fearful, because we have no idea, how, when and where the virus might strike.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction. Please show us how to successfully handle this scourge that’s plaguing the earth, and help the scientists to find a positive solution, a sure antidote to it as quickly as possible.
And for those who have already contracted the virus, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them Father. Show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
Now we just have to do like Bruh David says: ‘Wait (in faith) on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait (in faith), I say, on the Lord.’ (Ps. 27:14) And when we have faithfully waited on the Lord, you know what will eventually happen? We will sing the song of praise of the redeemed, like Isaiah writes: ‘And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.’ (Is. 25:9)
Oh friends, there is no better feeling than having waited faithfully, eagerly and expectantly for God’s promise, to be fulfilled in His time, and then having it come to pass. And all God’s children declared a loud and grateful: ‘Praise the Lord! Bless His holy name; now and forever!’ And do we ever need to do that as often as possible, since He is indeed very worthy to be praised! Now hear these words of further encouragement from Cousin Sol: ‘Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.’
And isn’t that the gospel truth friends! For as the scholars explain: ‘13:12. Hope deferred depresses, but its fulfillment revitalizes.’ That’s an indisputable fact! When our dreams and hopes don’t come true, we tend to fall into bouts of depression. But when they come to pass…oh boy…the joy that they bring is overwhelming. That’s why friends, we need to do like Zechariah advises: ‘Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render (restore) double unto thee.’ (Zech. 9:12) And you know who is the stronghold He speaks of? Zion’s future King; Jesus Christ!
Oh my people, our ONLY true help in this time of crisis is the Creator and Controller of our Universe, the Lord God Almighty, in conjunction with His Son, Jesus Christ, the name above all names, who redeemed us by His sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary, and His Holy Spirit, who works His miracles in our souls and spirits! So please, this Monday morning, in this time of pandemic, let’s not lose hope in our great God and His faithful promises. Instead, let’s ramp up our hope, and do like Bruh Paul wrote to the church at Rome:
‘Let LOVE be without dissimulation (hypocrisy). Abhor that which is evil; cleave (cling) to that which is good. Be ye kindly affectioned (affectionate) one to another with brotherly LOVE; in honour preferring (giving preference to) one another; Not slothful in business (lagging in diligence); fervent (boiling over) in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient (persevering) in tribulation; continuing instant (steadfastly) in prayer; Distributing to the necessity (needs) of saints; given to hospitality. Bless (speak well of) them which persecute you: bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.’ (Rom. 12:9-15)
And don’t tell me we can’t do those things friends, because they are all a part of basic Christianity, a part of the foundation, the example Jesus laid down for His church to follow! And believe me, we, the church of Christ, need to do them more than ever in these cruel and trying times, if we desire and expect to have any hope of survival. Much LOVE!
…and now abideth faith, hope, LOVE…but the greatest of these three is…LOVE… (1 Cor. 13:13)
SCRIP-BITS 
Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 November 2017 Proverbs 13:12.
18 Nov 2017 Leave a comment
by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a musical storm, a tree of life, accepting responsibility, accomplish any goal, Anselm's quotes, asaph, Atlas, blessings, comfort zone, David Rudder, depressed, diehard fans, discipline, feel good, feel terrific, forum, gone astray, gospel truth, gratification, greedy times, Hammerson Theatre, hang your hat, hope deferred, jam session, Jesus Christ, kaiso, Let there be light, Lord and Saviour, lost, LOVE, makes the heart sick, mash up the place, name of the game, natural outgrowth, negative things, on top of the world, power in words, prerequisite, raise your children, refreshes, revitalizes, rewards, sincerity, singing praises, soca, social commentary, success, tear it down, the happiest people, the power of hope, truth, try something new, West Indian atmosphere, when desire comes, while there is life there is hope, zest for life
Proverbs 13:12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
Oh friends, welcome to a wet Saturday morning! But I can assure you that last evening it was a hot, tropical time in the Hammerson Theatre of the Living arts Centre in Mississauga, as Bruh David and Friends, a tight, great sounding band, mash up the place! They tear it down with a musical storm of pure ‘Madness,’ of soca and kaiso!
Brother! I can just imagine that’s how it was when the old time Bruh David and his buddies, Asaph, etc. got together and put on a jam session; the music would be ringing out and the people would be singing loud, harmonious praises! Well that’s how David Rudder had the some five hundred of us singing out in the theatre last night.
Now I’ve always liked some of David’s songs, but last night he made me a believer, with the way he arranged the songs and presented them. And you can imagine the cacophony in the place when he buss tunes like ‘Bahia Girl, the Hammer, Trini to the Bone, Madness, etc. etc. I can’t remember them all. And the house was certainly hopping when he ended with ‘Give Praise!’
I don’t know if Hammerson Hall has ever experienced that sort of vibrant West Indian atmosphere, as David and the Band performed for 2 hours straight; something that you don’t see often. And the craving for an encore was so great that he had to come back out and sing for a few more minutes.
Then he stayed after the show, meeting and greeting his many fans, I should say diehard fans in the lobby. I remember mentioning to one fellow down there, that I was never a big David fan, and brother, if yuh see how quickly his wife turned around and looked at me as though I was crazy! (smile)
The difference between David and the other West Indian artists around the place nowadays is that they only singing about girls, wining and drinking, but he is still focused on the way the song style began, as a forum for social commentary and change. Keep it up, mih brother!
Now, since it’s Saturday, we have to turn to that other brother, Anselm, who aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow with his quotes. And he’s got some excellent ones this week. Listen to this first one: ‘The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life.’
No lie, mih people! You can’t truly feel good, until you feel good about yourself, because yourself goes with you everywhere, (smile) and accepting responsibility for our lives is a major key to our success.
And success comes when you ‘Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.’ Ah, the age old story friends. You’ve got to hang your hat a li’l higher than you can reach it. When you feel too comfortable, you never reach for the better fruit that’s a li’l further out on the limb. And that’s when you grow.
And this next quote is gospel truth: ‘Never say anything about yourself you do not want to come true.’ That’s because there is power in the word of God, and in our words. Remember, God spoke the world and all therein in to existence. He didn’t wave a magic wand, but uttered a simple; ‘Let there be light…And there was light…’ That means we should not speak negative things about ourselves, because intuitively and subconsciously our actions and behaviour leads us to them.
Now here is something that explains our problem with the world system. ‘The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term, is the indispensable prerequisite for success.’
Ah mih people, in these turbulent and greedy times, instant gratification is the name of the game; we want everything now for now, even though waiting might bring greater rewards. But please remember there’s always a price to pay for impatience.
And this last quote is priceless. ‘If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.’ Ah friends, so many of us parents have failed to do that, that’s why this generation seems so lost and gone astray. But we can’t give up on them now, we have to keep on trying. Remember while there is life, there is always hope!
That’s why we can say in all truth and sincerity like Cousin Sol in our Bit: ‘Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.’ And is that ever so true! When we lose hope we get depressed and miserable and lose the zest for life.
However, when we regain it… oh boy, it just revitalizes and refreshes us. We feel on top of the world; like we can move the whole world; be like Atlas and bear it on our bony human shoulders. That’s the power of hope my brethren!
So please, let’s never lose hope; especially in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for He is the GREATEST hope there is…and the ONLY One we need in this topsy-turvy world. Much LOVE!
…to hope…to hope…and yet to hope…in Christ…forever and ever…