Luke 18:14. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Oh my beautiful Friends in Christ, we’ve been blessed to see another bountiful day on God’s great earth! Wow! Let’s give Him some thanks and praise for bringing us safely through another dark night of nothingness, into a bright day filled with His LOVE, mercy and forgiveness.
Please pray with me: ‘Oh heavenly Father, we give You thanks and praise this glorious morn, for all that you’ve done, are doing, and plan to do for us in the future. Without Your merciful help and LOVING-kindness we’re like little children, unable to take care of ourselves.
Thank You for helping us through the trials and tribulations of this earthly life. But most of all we give You immeasurable thanks for sending Your only Son Jesus Christ to die for us, so that His blood could wash away our disgusting sins, and bring reconciliation to our cleansed souls.
Oh Father, we LOVE You, and ask that you continue to help us navigate the treacherous paths of this evil world, so that we may continue to walk in Your wonderful LOVE and generous mercy. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.’
Yes Friends, there’s precious little we can do in our own strength, that’s why we need to depend on our Creator for His gracious help. But remember we do have to come before Him with a humble spirit and contrite heart.
For as our Bit so truthfully declares: ‘I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.’
And before we get into today’s scriptures, I’ll remind us once again that there’s nothing the Lord despises as much as pride, arrogance and their foolish cohorts. That’s because they leave no place for Him in our lives. They don’t make us recognize Him as even important, much less the MOST important person in our lives, as He really ought to be. So to deal successfully with our Creator and Provider, it is essential to get pride and it’s evil relations out of our souls.
Now let’s turn to the scripture I want to share on the topic today. And hurray, it’s the last one Friends! So those of you who are tired hearing about pride, you can relax. (smile) And the relevant scripture comes from 1 Peter 5. In the first four verses he’s admonishing the elders of the church to be good examples to Christ’s flock.
Then he turns to the younger generation: ‘Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in (experienced by) your brethren that are in the world.
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish (confirm) strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (1 Pet.5:5-11)
That’s all absolute truth my people! And by the way, some of you might not notice, but I included verses 8-10 that we were supposed to check out in the references yesterday. (smile) So if you didn’t, now you know what it says.
Please note also that Peter today, and James yesterday, both quoted Cousin Sol’s wisdom in their messages. ‘Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.’ (Prov.3:35)
So my wonderful Friends in Christ, please don’t let us get caught up in the foolish power struggles, the status seeking and social climbing, keeping up with the Joneses and all that other prideful stuff that the world offers. It’s much more profitable to just remain down to earth and humble.
Remember though, that humility is not simply the opposite of pride and arrogance, but ‘is rooted in our awareness of limitations and shortcomings in the presence of God and of others. It is reality based….
Humility is rather the virtue that enables us to face the truth about ourselves. We are fundamentally a longing for God; we become more human in relationships not in independence; we thrive in living a virtuous life marked by such virtues as charity, justice, compassion, forgiveness, hope and integrity.’
And all God’s people gave a grateful shout of ‘Praise the Lord!’
Oh Friends, those words on humility come from a booklet ‘A Journey of LOVE; Walking with St. Therese of Lisieux. And if you’re serious about working for Jesus, then you’ll know they are undeniable truth.
And what better way to end than with Jesus’ wholesome advice: ‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly (gentle and humble) in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt.11:29-30)
Now my fellow believers, that’s wisdom at its very apex! So let’s be wise and take it nuh. Much LOVE!
…be everlastingly thankful to Jesus…for without His selfless sacrifice…we’d surely be spending eternity in Hades…with the evil Lucifer…
P.S. Just want to say it’s not entirely my fault that the Bit’s a li’l late. But I was taken up in frivolous conversation by someone for over half an hour earlier on. Hn, hn! But since I promised not to call names, I won’t. (smile) Much LOVE!
Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 August 2013 2 Corinthians 1:3
14 Aug 2013 Leave a comment
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2 Corinthians 1:3. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.
Aye mih Friends, is Wednesday, the middle of the week! How we doing eh? We still standing strong for Jesus? I surely hope so, because that is the only true wisdom that exists in this world. Anything else is foolishness.
So please let’s keep standing strong in and for Jesus, since He is the ONLY ONE who has all the parts to see us happily and joyfully through this evil, unjust, ungodly world.
And it all stems from the hope, trust, and faith that we find when we come to Jesus in sincere adoration and worship. But unfortunately too many of us don’t use the power that we have, we keep on wallowing in the mire of unbelief and mediocrity.
But what’s the purpose of having all that power which emanates from Jesus; all those wonderful promises, all the faithfulness, compassion, mercy, grace and LOVE, if we don’t use them productively? None whatsoever!
That brings us to our Bit: ‘Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.’
And isn’t that the God-awesome truth my brethren? It surely is!
And Bruh Paul continues: ‘Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble (tribulation), by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.’ (2 Cor.1:4)
Yes Friends, God comforts us in our trials and tribulation so that we can comfort others going through their own periods of adversity.
Now here’s what the scholars say about those two verses. ‘Blessed (Gr. eulogetos), “well spoken of”) is used in the New Testament of God, (e.g. Eph.1:3). It is a term of adoration and praise.
The Father of mercies: The mercies in view here include everything from deliverance from the world, sin, and Satan, to participation in sonship, light and life. But the force is even more than this. The stress is that the Father is characterized by mercy (cf. Ps.86:5; Dan.9:9; Mic.7:18)’
Oh Friends, please take a moment to read those scriptures because they give us a very good picture of the wonderful God that we serve and of His attribute termed mercy.
Let’s remember though that His main attribute is LOVE, and that everything else springs from that LOVE; a LOVE that is shown to us through His mercy, grace and forgiveness, and above all the sending of His Son, Jesus to die as a sacrifice for our sins, so that we could be reconciled to Him, receive salvation and eternal life.
Wow! What an awesome God we worship my people! There’s no other supposed God who offers His subjects, no not subjects, but His children such wonderful gifts. That’s why His LOVE still endures, and will endure forever!
Oh my brethren, in this crazy, troubled and wrong-directioned world, there’s no better hand to hold on to than that of Jehovah God! If you think All State has good hands, that’s a joke compared to what the Lord of All Creation has.
So, as expected of true believers, let’s hold our heads up high nuh and live a life that magnifies Jesus, and glorifies God the Father, through the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, by bringing lost souls to Him for saving and LOVING.
And this is admirably borne out by Bruh Paul’s greeting to the Ephesians: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in LOVE.’ (Eph.1:3-4)
Ah Friends, I’ll say it again: What a mighty and magnanimous God we serve and worship!
The sad part though is you’ll never know it unless you surrender your will and all else to Him. And I’m talking here from personal experience, because everyday I experience His LOVE and faithfulness in some manner or other, just like all those who sincerely believe and trust and live for Him.
And in closing, I want to remind us, just in case we forgot (smile) that in Christ Jesus there’s no quitting, regardless of how hard life gets. There’s just no quitting because that word is not found in the dictionary of a true believer. That means if you don’t have the word, then you can’t do the action.
So let’s just stand strong together in Jesus’ Name and bring the world to His feet in proper reverence and respect, as is our bounden duty. What did Jesus say about that? ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:35)
So fellow believers, may our great, wonderful, generous and ever-LOVING God, bless and keep us safe from all harm. And may He also shine His awesome countenance on us, so that we can be filled with the overflowing LOVE and Peace that flows from His majestic and magnanimous grace.
This we pray, in the holy name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by the shedding of whose blood, we have been cleansed, made whole and right with the Father. Amen. Much, much LOVE my people!
…no one comes to the Father…but through the Son, Jesus Christ…and that’s the gospel truth…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 August 2013 Philippians 4:13
06 Aug 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: affirmation day, appreciative crowd, awe, believe, believe in Jesus, biblical affirmations, blessings, bright future, calypso monarch, Calypso showcase, courage, dog eat dog world, ears have not heard, evil, eyes haven't seen, faith, faithfulness, fend off Lucifer, gospel truth, government you deserve, Harbourfront, He is faithful that promised, heart-warming, holy spirit, hope, I can do all things, if god is for us, Jekyll and Hyde, Jesus Christ, laughingstock, LOVE, loving kindness, Macoumere Fifi, magnanimous god, mercies, people perish, personal fiefdom, pilgrim's journey, planet earth, power struggles, prophetic vision, reassurance, religion, restraints, reverence, rewarder, shenanigans, spirituality, strength, theology, things God hath prepared, things of the world, through Christ who strengthens me, times of trouble, Toronto's mayor, truth, who can be against us, wisdom, without wavering, write indelibly
Philippians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me!
Oh Friends, the ole fella actually went out yesterday afternoon. Wow! Strange things do happen at times yes! (smile) My young daughter came and picked me up in her fancy SUV and took me down to a Calypso showcase of local talent at Harbourfront, a multiple events place on the Toronto Waterfront.
Oh, it felt so good to be chauffeured for a change, and in style to boot, instead of always being the chauffeur. Some of you might be able to appreciate and understand the feeling, as you’re in the same boat. But it’s nice to be able to gaze around and see the myriad of things that you don’t, or shouldn’t see when you’re driving.
Anyway, I missed the first half of the show, but what I experienced was excellent and it had a good and appreciative crowd. The backing band, Ossie Gurley, was nice and tight, but as it should be, the reigning Calypso Monarch of Canada, Macoumere Fifi, stole the show with her rendition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a caricature of the Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, and his brother Doug, who seems to be the de facto Mayor, as he cleans up, or tries to clean up his brother’s mistakes.
They behave as though Toronto is their personal fiefdom, but sadly have become a laughingstock around the world because of their unwise shenanigans, and consequently the city has suffered a serious decrease in believability.
But as they say, you get the government you deserve, and where there’s no prophetic vision, the people perish, because they cast off all restraints and do their own thing. And that is exactly what’s happening in the good city of Toronto today. The leaders are behaving like buffoons, being more divisive and argumentative and involved in power struggles, rather than doing the jobs they were elected to do.
Anyway, we’ll pray for them and leave them in God’s hand, because only He can change the hearts and minds of those He created. And furthermore, He’s decreed that today be a day of Biblical Affirmations; pieces of scripture that we can write indelibly in our hearts and souls that will help us fend off Lucifer when he attacks us, or just generally in times of trouble.
Remember we had affirmation day a few weeks ago. Now we’ll run through some more scriptures that are useful to keep us strong and steadfast in faith. And we’ll begin with our Bit, which generally correlates all our endeavours. ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me!’
Now Friends, that is undeniable truth! That’s simply because it is the power of Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit working in us that enables us to handle all and sundry situations, regardless of what they might be. Without that power of Christ’s Spirit enabling us, we wouldn’t last very long in this evil, dog eat dog world.
And listen to these words of ultimate wisdom from Cousin Sol nuh. ‘Commit thy works (roll on the Lord thy works), and thy thoughts shall be established.’ (Prov.16:3) Now there’s no doubting the substantial truth in that verse my brethren.
And what about this reassuring verse from Jeremiah eh? ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope).’ (Jer.29:11)
Oh Friends, from that we ought to draw immense assurance, because the Lord has spelled out His plans for us, plans which are full of hope and a bright future.
Next up is this powerful verse from Hebrews. ‘Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)’ (Heb.10:23) Ah mih breddren, how can that not calm our souls re the Lord’s faithfulness eh!
And we also need to hear this other verse from Hebrews, which deals with our faith and faithfulness. ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb.11:6)
And that my people, is the gospel truth of all gospel truths! For if we don’t have faith and believe that God is who He says He is and does what He says, then we’ll be shut out of the Lord’s mercies, blessings and LOVING-kindness.
Now hear these words of Bruh Paul to the Corinthians, based on Is.64:4 and 65:17. ‘But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that LOVE Him.’ (1 Cor.2:9)
Wow! Oh my fellow believers yuh hear that? We can’t begin to understand or even imagine what our mighty, magnanimous and LOVING God has prepared for those who LOVE and serve Him with reverence and awe!
And we’ll end with this most appropriate scripture from Romans: ‘What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (Rom.8:31)
And the answer to that question my Friends is a loud, defiant and definite ‘NOBODY!’
Now my people, let’s ponder those scriptures and write them in our hearts, so that in the day and time of need, we can raise them up and find the strength, wisdom, faith, assurance and courage to stand tall and walk proudly on this our pilgrim’s journey here on planet earth.
For that my brethren is the absolute wisdom of and for these perilous times! Much LOVE!
…to believe in Jesus…is certainly more assuring and heart-warming…than believing in the things of the world…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 July 2013 1 Thessalonians 3:12
01 Jul 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: abound in LOVE, anger, battle hymn, british north america act, Canada Day, Christ-like behaviour, Christian nation, coherent answer, deception, discernment, discrimination, drunk or sober mind your business, enthusiasm, fraud, fruits of righteousness, glorify God, glorious kingdom, God's standards, gossip-mongering, holy spirit, hope, humble servants, increase in LOVE, incredible aura of LOVE, ingrates, invade our souls, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, lies, light a fire, LOVE Revolution, Lucifer, Monday Morning, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, morally pure, praise of God, pray for the church, prayer, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, resentment, roaring lion, spiritual armour, sure conquerors, the day of Christ, things that really matter, true wisdom, useful purpose, vim and vigour, weary souls, wicked taunts, wickedness, without offence, worthwhile things in life
Well Friends, it’s Monday once again… And a joyous shout comes from near and far: ‘Thank God it’s Monday; Canada Day and no work to go to! Happy Birthday Canada! Way to go! You’re still the best big country in the world to live in, bar none!’
Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 June 2013 Titus 3:8
28 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
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Titus 3:8: This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Oh Friends, there’s nothing nicer than awakening in the early morning hours to the gentle sound of rain falling outside! That happened to me earlier on, and it was a tad difficult to get up out of the warm, cozy bed, as I lay there listening to ‘the rhythm of the falling rain; pita pata, pita pata.’ (smile)
But I eventually forced my self to get up, like I might have to force myself and go out in the rain and turn off the lawn sprinkler system, that’s just spurting away like crazy out there, while the rain is falling. Now it’s not supposed to come on if the rain’s falling, but I can’t curse it today because I’m not sure if it came on before the rain began to fall. I know though that when I went to bed around 2.30, no rain was falling.
Anyway, I’ll give it a few more minutes, and if it doesn’t turn off automatically, then I’ll go and turn it off. Oh, the headaches that these supposed modern conveniences cause eh! I believe the guy was here up to yesterday trying to time it properly.
But Friends, here’s the good news, it’s Friday! And all the voices rose like one: ‘Yes, oh yes! TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! The weekend’s here at last! What a blast it’s going to be!’
And in Canada it’s certainly going to be a blast, except for those unfortunately flooded out in the Western Provinces, because it’s the long weekend when we celebrate Canada Day, our Independence, on Monday. So you can imagine what it’s going to be like, especially if it’s sunny and warm.
I finally had to go outside and turn off the sprinkler, if only to minimize the real risk of flooding, because who knows when the rain will stop, plus stopping an unnecessary increase in my water bill, which has gone up a fair amount since the sprinkler system was put in.
Anyway, summer madness will definitely be on display this weekend, so let’s see if we can keep it in check a little by chanting our Friday Chant, which gives us a better and brighter perspective on how to handle it.
All together now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yes my brethren, we have to enjoy the couple days off, but as Jeeves would say, ‘with a modicum of circumspection,’ so that Lucifer doesn’t even find one li’l pinhole in our spiritual armour, that he can use to cause us to go against God’s will.
But instead that we should do as our Bit tells us. ‘This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.’
Yeh Friends, it’s the same Bit as the last two days because there’s some useful information from the scholars that I thought was important to share with you. It’s on the topic of regeneration, which we read about yesterday.
‘Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed (poured out) on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That we being justified (declared righteous) by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope (strong confidence) of eternal life.’ (Titus 3:5-7)
Now, per the scholars: ‘Regeneration refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in the salvation experience that produces new life in the believer. To express this concept, Jesus used the expression “born again” in His conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:3-7). Regeneration is the work of God, through the Holy Spirit, of placing in one who has faith a new nature, capable of doing God’s will.
The Holy Spirit is the agent or divine workman of this regeneration. His instrument is the Bible, which is likened to a hammer that judges sin (Jer.23:29), a mirror that reveals sin (James 1:23), a sword that defeats Satan (Heb.4:12), and a lamp that guides the believers (Ps.119:105).
Illustration: People are instantaneously “born again,” the moment they trust Christ as Saviour (1 Pet.1:23). Application: Christians should be careful to cooperate with God in growing as children of God after they are regenerated, or given new life. (First Ref. John 3:3; Primary Ref. Titus 3:5; cf. Eph.1:15)
Oh Friends, what greater gift can we be honoured with eh? None really!
Just ponder it for a Selah moment nuh: To be able to move from a situation of eternal death and damnation immediately to one of salvation and eternal life, simply by believing in Jesus, that He’s the Truth, the Light, the Life and the ONLY Way to God.
What a most blessed opportunity that is! One that we as believers have wisely taken hold of, but also need to share with others, because it’s the greatest gift ever bestowed on mankind, and right now too many people have not heard about it, so they’re still living in darkness, seriously threatened by eternal death and damnation, because they don’t know better.
And they won’t know better unless somebody tells them the Good News. And that somebody is us, Friends, the church of Christ!
Please remember Jesus’ last directive to the disciples: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt.28:19-20)
Yes my fellow believers, that’s our job, our bounden duty! But we can only accomplish it by first thinking the right things, affirming Christ-like stuff, then going out into this evil, ungodly world and putting them into action.
Please, let’s live up to the promise we made when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour nuh; that is truly LOVING our wonderful God, sincerely LIVING our Christian faith, and faithfully SPREADING the Lord’s Word!
That my brethren is definitely wisdom and Christian ethic at their highest levels. And Jesus desires nothing but excellence from His followers. Much LOVE!
…to act like a true believer…our thoughts must first be in sync…with those of Jesus…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 June 2013 Hebrews 11:1
19 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: bertolt brecht, blessings, christian belief, conviction, eagerness, enhance, expectant hope, faith, hebrews 11 1, Higher Power, hope, joy, joy in jesus, learning, Lucifer's lies, manna, mature, mercies, patience, perseverance, personal experience, positive realziation, promises, quality of life, rejoice and be glad, rest assured, see for yourself, spirituality, strengthen, the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for
Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Oh Friends, another day is in the offing! I know that many of them seem mundane, same old, same old, but that’s just another one of Lucifer’s lies, to make us lose our joy in Jesus by seeing a brand new day.
So don’t listen to his lies, for every day is brand, spanking new, with different stuff involved, and as we all know, each is chocked full with mercies and blessings, manna for God’s people. So how can it not be fresh and exciting eh?
Therefore my brethren, let’s all rejoice and be glad in it, keep our spirits up, because our wonderful God has lots of new stuff planned for us today! Rely on, rest assured in His promises that He will never leave nor forsake you; that whatever He brings you to, He will bring you through, and that He will work out all things for your good eventually.
Wow! What a plethora of promises! And all God’s people shouted a loud, appreciative, heartfelt, ‘Praise the Lord! Amen!’
And I want to tease and test us here with a quote from one of my old devotionals, attributed to Bertolt Brecht, (1898-1956) the famous German poet and playwright, which says: ‘Never believe in faith, see for yourself! What you yourself don’t learn, you don’t know.’
Now at first reading that seems totally at odds with our Christian belief, which places great emphasis on faith. But when you look at it from another perspective, the learning aspect makes sense, because the quote isn’t panning faith, but instead extolling learning.
And the fact is, that our faith can only grow, if and when we learn about Christ and His requirements. No wonder we mature more perfectly in Christ when we learn the lessons of life for ourselves. People can tell us useful and important stuff, as well as we can learn from their examples, but the greatest learning tool, the greatest teacher was, is, and always will be personal experience!
And why is that eh? Simply because we oftimes don’t believe until we see, feel and/or experience stuff personally. That’s just the nature of the human animal.
And as a quote at the end of the devotional so wisely declares: ‘Learning strengthens my faith – in my Higher Power, in others, and in myself. I can use that greater faith to enhance and strengthen the quality of my life.’
And that’s gospel Friends! In this life we should never stop learning, for the more we learn, the more adept and mature we become as regards life. That is what keeps us healthy, wealthy and wise! (smile)
Now that brings us to our Bit; one of the famous and well known verses in the Good Book. ‘Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen.’
Ah mih people, what a perfect play on words! But before we get into what they actually mean, let’s note that the major words in there are ‘hoped for.’ So faith is first of all based on hope. If we don’t have hope, we cannot have faith.
Now let’s see what Bruh Paul says about hope in his letter to the church at Rome. ‘For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then we do with patience (perseverance) (eagerly) wait for it.’ (Rom.8:24-25)
Yes Friends, that tells us that faith is definitely based on, and involves things that we cannot see, because if we can see them, why hope for them eh? But we can also note that once we have faith or trust in something or someone, and are hoping for stuff based on that faith or trust, once that hope comes to pass, then our faith is built, raised to another level, and it gets a little stronger with the positive realization of each expectation of hope.
By the same token, if we don’t see the realizations of our hope, if they turn out negatively, then our faith dies a little each time. So the long and short of the story is that if we don’t have faith, then we can’t look forward to anything with eager patience.
But Glory Hallelujah, when we do have faith, when we acquire it, for it must be acquired, then we become more assured, more confident, absolutely believing that having faith was the right thing to do!
Now to pull all of this together, let’s hear some comments from the scholars’. ‘Verse 1 (our Bit), is not so much a definition of what faith is, as it is a description of what faith does (cf. 11:6). Two truths concerning its activity are stated here.
First, faith provides substance (Gr. hypostasis). Though broad in its usage, this Greek word normally has the meaning of “assurance” in the New Testament (cf. 3:14; 2 Cor.9:4; 11:17) and this seems to be the best sense here.
Second, faith provides evidence (Gr. elegchos). It is evidence in the sense of proof that results in convictions. The difference between assurance and evidence would be minimal were it not for the phrase qualifying each: of things hoped for and of things not seen.
The first involves future hope; the second involves present realities that are unseen. The first includes the hope of the resurrection, the return of Christ, and the glorification of the saints. The second involves unseen realities, such as the forgiveness of sin through Christ’s sacrifice and the present intercession of Christ in heaven. Hope is faith relating to the future; conviction is faith relating to the present.’
Ah mih people, I do hope (smile) that it’s not all too confusing, and that you glean some useful understanding about faith and hope, how they interact and all that they stand for, because it’s very important to our Christian beliefs.
But as we said at the beginning, we need to keep learning, for that’s the only way we’ll mature. So please keep on reading the Good Book, keep on learning, keep on hoping and having faith in Jesus Christ, for all your realizations will turn out positively. Much LOVE!
…the good things about faith and hope are…they apply both to the present and the future…as well as tangible and intangible stuff…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 5 June 2013 Hebrews 10:23
05 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: Amen, awesome greatness, blessings, boring death, bounden duty, bountiful mercies, Christian faith, christianity, confidence, discouragement, don't waver, dr schuller, evil conscience, exciting life, failure, faithful God, fellowship, forgiveness, glorious morn, glory, God's promises, God's providence, good works, gospel truth, have hope, heart-moving prayer, high priest, hold fast to our faith, Holy Place of God, hope, inspiration, largesse, last trumpet, LOVE, loving kindness, mangnanimous God, mercy-filled lives, power, praise and thanksgiving, praise the Most High God Jehovah, reciprocal encouragement, shame, spendour, spiritual food, stir up LOVE, strength, success, thankful mood, the blood of Jesus, unbelievable opportunities, weakness, wonderful grace, worship and glorify God
Hebrews 10:23. Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
And then it was Wednesday, my beautiful Friends in Christ Jesus! Meaning that another new and glorious morn is in the offing, bringing with it exciting and unbelievable opportunities to enjoy the everlasting and bountiful mercies, goodness, blessings, forgiveness and LOVING-kindness of our magnificent and magnanimous God!
And the hearts of God’s people were so touched by those sentiments that they erupted in unison, in one loud voice: ‘Oh praise and sanctify the Most High God Jehovah! He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who dwells in the high heavens, but unstintingly pours out His wonderful grace on His adoring people, the children of men, here on earth!
Yes mih people, that’s the kind of adoration our Creator, our Provider and most generous, LOVING and faithful God deserves, each and every day of our blessed, mercy-filled lives!
In truth, there are really no words in the human language to truly describe the awesome greatness, splendour, largesse and LOVE of our God, but we do have to try and make do with what we have, because it’s our bounden duty to worship and glorify Him and spread His glorious kingdom to all the ends of the earth, so that when the last trumpet sounds, not a single soul of His creation will be lost to mammon.
And all God’s children declared a loud and glorious shout of ‘Amen! And again we say, Amen!’
Ah mih breddren, the ole fella just seems to have gotten up in a real praising and thankful mood this morning. (smile) But that’s really the way we ought to be each and every day. So let’s endeavour to pick up our praise and thanksgiving, starting today nuh. We’ll undoubtedly enjoy much better, much happier lives if we do that.
Now here’s a prayer from Dr. Schuller’s Hour of Power Devotional that will certainly help us to do that. It’s titled, ‘I Will Move.’
Pray with me: ‘Lord, I want your heart to be in my heart. For in you I come alive, moving ahead from boring death to exciting life! In your promises, I will move from discouragement to hope. In your pardon, I will move from shame to glory. In your power, I will move from weakness to strength. In your providence, I will move from failure to success! Thank you, Lord. Amen.’
Oh Friends, what a beautiful, heart-moving prayer! I sure hope that it gets all of us worked up for Christ this morning!
Now let’s look at how our Bit comes about; it stems from a plea to hold to the new faith. ‘Having therefore, brethren, boldness (confidence) to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say his flesh;
And having a high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
And let us consider one another to provoke (stir-up) unto LOVE and to good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.’ (Heb. 10:19-26)
Now what does all of that mean eh? Let’s get some insight from the scholars. First off: ‘Jesus Christ is the new and living way by which believers have direct access into the very Holy Place of God (cf. 4:14; 6:20; 7:25; John 14:6)’
Then: ‘The word translated provoke (Gr. paraoxysmos) usually has a negative sense, as is witnessed by its only other New Testament usage (Acts 15:39). The positive connotation which the word has in the present text means to stir up. It is easy to stir up hatred and godless deeds; it takes much more to stir up another to LOVE and good works.’
And isn’t that the gospel truth my people! We can very easily stir up ourselves and each other to anger and other unfruitful stuff, but doing it for the positive things takes much more work and time.
And finally: ‘Not forsaking the assembling: This admonition involves far more than erratic attendance. It involves the entire worship of Christ and is an outward indication of an inner condition.
The assembling of God’s people provides opportunity for reciprocal encouragement, strengthening, and the stirring up that can be gained form one another. (cf. Col. 3:12-16). It consists of participation in worship and fellowship. The church is a body interacting (1 Cor. 12:14-27); it is not merely a dispensary of spiritual food and medicine.’
And to that Friends, I can only say ‘Amen!’ For it’s something I’ve been trying to instil in us all along; the necessity for fellowship and believer interaction at all levels, times and places in our lives, because it’s from that coming together, that physical and spiritual mixing, we’re supposed to draw strength, inspiration and faith to carry on.
So let’s come together nuh mih people, as Jesus would have us do, to exhort and inspire each other. That’s true wisdom and Christian faith at its everlasting best. Much LOVE!
…when Christians join together in true fellowship…all the hosts of heaven rejoice…
P.S. Oh my brethren, please remember to check out the scripture references given above, because they are for our benefit, further enlightening us as to the meaning(s) of the Word of God. And if you don’t read the scriptures for yourselves, you’ll NEVER truly understand them. And that’s gospel truth! Much LOVE!
Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 May 2013 Acts 2:4
22 May 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a believer's mandate, baptism of the Holy Spirit, be filled with the Spirit, christ jesus, Day of Pentecost, faith hope, fellowship, filled with the Holy Ghost, filling of the Holy Spirit, God's faithfulness, Holy Ghost, hope, indwelling of the holy spirit, righteous path, rivers of living water, speaking in tongues, stir up LOVE, turn to God, water baptism
Acts 2:4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Oh my beautiful Friends in Christ Jesus! How goes it this awesome Wednesday morning eh? I sure hope it’s going as well as possible with all of you. And if by chance it’s not going too good, then please don’t despair, turn to God, cry out to Him, lay your troubles before Him, and He will definitely help you through whatever problems you’re facing. That’s His faithful promise.
Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 May 2013 Proverbs 18:12
08 May 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: awesome truth, balance, believe, believers in Jesus Christ, blessed are the meek, blessed are the poor in spirit, dependence on god, dissatisfied people, don't give up, don't throw in the towel, empathy, faith and trust, faithful God, hanging in the balance, haughtiness, haughty heart, heart of man, holy spirit, honour, hope, horse of a different colour, humility, inherit the earth, invincibility, jealousy, kingdom of heaven, merciful God, mind and spirit, negative circumstances, omnipotent god, pride, question god, reverence God, selfish pride, stand strong, steadfast faith, tranquility, trust in God, unexpected tragedy, vicissitudes of life, weighted stone, wisdom, without warning, worldly pinnacles
Proverbs 18:12. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty; and before honour is humility.
Oh Friends, the days are nicely morphing into each other; warm and sunny, with temps in the high teens and low twenties. It’s about time too! The only problem though is that we haven’t seen any rain for at least a week now. Let’s hope that’s not a harbinger of things to come for the summer. But anyway, as believers in Jesus Christ, whatever comes our way, we’re expected to stand steadfast in faith and bear it with His help through the Holy Spirit. And talking about faith, here’s an interesting quote attributed to Robert Veninga, a U.S. Lutheran Church minister. He says that ‘Faith has a powerful effect in helping people recover a sense of balance, tranquility and hope.’ And that’s an awesome truth my people! But it’s oftimes funny how it works. Usually we might be all faith filled, then some totally unexpected tragedy or disaster occurs in our lives, a la Job, and suddenly we begin to question why such a misfortune happened when we were so righteous. Then we begin to question God, and consequently, unlike Job, our faith level falls and we’re not as sure and assured as we were before the tragedy. But yuh know what Friends? Though reading now at a rather low and precarious level, it’s that same basic faith and trust in an omnipotent and merciful God that gets us through the dilemma, that keeps us hanging on, sometimes even by a mere thread, and eventually restores our trust in God, usually at a higher level too. That’s because once we’ve settled down, accepted our fate, and gone through the fire, we come out stronger, energized, with a more flame resistant mind and spirit. It’s simply the way our Lord works. Negative circumstances have a way of making us stand strong and believe. So whatever rough times you’re going through right now, with your faith hanging in the balance or slowly ebbing away, please don’t give up, don’t throw in the towel. I encourage you to stay with it, even though it seems overwhelming. Remember that our faithful God has promised that whatever He brings us to, or allows to come upon us, He will bring us through it, and will work all things out for the good of those who truly LOVE Him and are called to do His will. (Rom.8:28) That brings us to our Bit, which is a horse of an entirely different colour. (smile) Long time I haven’t heard or used that term. But our Bit today is definitely enlightening. ‘Before destruction the heart of man is haughty; and before honour is humility.’ Now aren’t those gospel truths my brethren? They surely are! But unfortunately our world today is thoroughly consumed with haughtiness and selfish pride, a sin the Lord despises more than most, because it makes Him entirely of no account in our lives. But it’s definitely a fact that when we’re riding high in this ungodly, evil world, we usually have more than a touch of pride and invincibility about us. Even the least proud and haughty amongst us, do feel an increase in their own strength and independence. But as Cousin Sol so wisely points out, and practical experience in life confirms, it’s usually when we’re riding high, with the least respect and dependence on God, that disaster befalls us. You seldom see the man on the low rungs of the totem pole falling any further. But it’s those at the very top, the ones who have no time or use for God, and foolishly figure that it’s their own strength and wisdom that got them to the top, who fall like a weighted stone from the height of their worldly pinnacles. And it usually doesn’t take long either. One day they’re on the top of the heap, revelling in their wealth and power, then next day, sadly, without any warning or empathy, they’re consigned to the garbage heap of life. And as I keep telling my children, be very careful what methods you use to get to the top, and how you behave when you get there, because those same methods will be used to bring you down. There will always be jealous, dissatisfied people who are only too glad and willing to help you fall. As Cousin Sol so aptly puts it: ‘Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.’ (Prov.16:18) The second half of our Bit is also bathed in truth; ‘and before honour is humility.’ And we talking about real honour here Friends, that which comes through the mysterious machinations of Almighty God, not the nonsense, the trumped up pride, the world refers to as honour. Please be aware of one thing my people, the Lord will not lift us up unless we are humble and respectful to Him. As I said earlier, pride and haughtiness keeps Him out of our lives, but humility and reverence endears him to us. Jesus said it quite plainly very early in His ministry, in the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matt.5:3) The scholars describe the ‘poor in spirit are the opposite of the proud or haughty in spirit. They have been humbled by the grace of God and have acknowledged their sin and therefore their dependence on God to save them.’ Then Jesus declared: ‘Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.’ (Matt.5:5) The scholars say that ‘refers again to those who have been humbled before God and will not only inherit the blessedness of heaven, but also will ultimately share in the kingdom of God on earth.’ So Friends, why do we follow the foolish ways of the world eh, when we ought to know better? Even before Jesus came along, Cousin Sol wisely warned us: ‘The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.’ (Prov.15:33) Oh my fellow believers, there is no doubt as to the truth of those statements, and it’s basically why our world is filled with so much confusion and turmoil. Too many of us lack the wisdom to reverence God, while too many of us also have the foolish propensity that leans toward pride, haughtiness and self-dependence. Oh Friends, please let’s wake up and realize that we didn’t make or create ourselves, and as the vicissitudes of life so clearly show us everyday, we don’t control the tempo and circumstance of our lives either. That is all done by the One who created us, Almighty God. So please wake up and smell the roses and remember: ‘The fear (reverential awe) of the Lord is the (principal) beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ (Prov.1:7) Much LOVE!…one cannot be proud, haughty and irreverent towards God…and expect to prosper for long in this earthly life…
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