Today​’s Scrip-Bit 17 April 2019 Isaiah 44:6.

17 Apr 2019 Leave a comment

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

Isaiah 44:6.    ​Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
 
Well it looks like another dark, cloudy, rainy, windy and stormy day here in Paradise! (smile) Yeh, it rained for much of yesterday, even through the night, and has begun again this morning, just when I have things to go out the street and do! Chuh! First time since I’m here I’ve seen so much rain fall. We’d get the li’l ten seconds drizzle or the two minutes showers, but not continuous stuff like this. 

But the land badly needed it because it was dry and brown everywhere. Can imagine the joy of the golf course owners up the street. You couldn’t use the golf vernacular of ‘greens,’ about it because it looked more like ‘browns.’ (smile) Even the sea is acting up some, as I watch the white capped frothing waves break over the nearby reef, then hurtle onwards, only to dash themselves against the rocky shore! But that’s Mother Nature, and try as we want, I doubt we’ll ever tame her, because she’s of God’s own making! 

That brings us to another important thing we can’t do; create gods for ourselves, or as Isaiah puts it, the folly of idolatry! Yes friends, we’re living in a rather idolatrous world, not so much the worshipping of pagan Gods, but of worldly things, places and people. We’re talking about the cult of celebrity that’s now dominant in our world; people who don’t’ know their A from their E, but we’re flocking to follow their insipid, eccentric lifestyles and ungodly ways. 

And social media is only enhancing the foolishness! We waste so much time on the nonsense, but have no time for the real, One True God, except to try and leverage Him out of our idolatrous society. Yes, these things have some useful purposes, but not when we become addicted to them as we are and place Almighty God on the back burner of our lives, if we even have Him on our stove at all! 

But please listen to the words of the Lord to the idolatrous society of Israel, through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah. ‘Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.’ Oh my people, those are words of absolute truth, as the nation of Israel found out to their utter detriment, when they refused to stop worshipping idols and other pagan gods. 

Listen further to the words of God: ‘They that make a graven image are all of them vanity (useless); and their delectable (precious) things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten (molded) image that is profitable for nothing? Behold all his fellows (companions) shall be ashamed: and the workmen they are of men (mere men): let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.’ (Is.44:9-11) 

Yeh friends, Satan has blinded our eyes and deafened our ears so that we can’t see or hear the nonsense, neither are we ashamed and regretful of the evil and ungodly lifestyle we’re living! And after that passage above, the Lord goes on to vilify the blacksmith, the carpenter and the tree cutter. And as to the tree cutter, the wood he provides, the Lord declares (right ho!): ‘

Then shall it be for man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part (half) thereof in the fire; with part (half) thereof he eateth flesh; he roastest roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: 

And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, deliver me, for thou art my god…And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part (half) of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?’ (Is.44:15-17,19) 

Ah my people, that’s the exact same way we are behaving today, not literally, but figuratively! Now listen closely to the scholars take on those verses. ‘44:9-20. This expose of idolatry is the most taunting in all of the Bible. The prophet Isaiah, serving as the spokesman of Yahweh, reveals the utter foolishness of polytheistic pagan idolatry. The graven image (carved idol) is called vanity (nothing). Delectable things refers to the adornment of the idols with gold, silver and precious stones. 

The prophet announces that the idols themselves are their own witnesses. They see not, nor know. Therefore these inanimate objects are profitable for nothing. Isaiah then berates the workmen (artisans) for designing and constructing their idols in the figure of a man. He exposes the basic fallacy of idolatry, a god made in the image of man. Thus the prophet’s criticism of one who would worship and idol carved from the same tree that he would use for firewood is that he feedeth on ashes.’ 

Ah mih breddren, I can’t add a whole lot more to that nuh, except to remind us that we are spending too much time involved with the artifacts of man, and not enough with our Creator, our God, and that can only bring serious repercussions in the end. Now let’s go home telling the world about our safe and secure position in Christ by declaring (right ho!) our Wednesday Wail. 

With sincere hearts and a strong sense of purpose: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And believe me, that future sure will be glorious! Much LOVE!

…only through the acceptance of Jesus…will blind eyes be opened…and deaf ears made to hear…

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 November 2015 1 John 5:21‏‏

25 Nov 2015 Leave a comment

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

1 John 5:21.    Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Oh Friends, I don’t know how I’m going to do this nuh, most likely very slowly, but the Bit has to go out come rain, sleet or snow. (smile) 

The long and short of the story is that I went into the concrete jungle (Toronto) yesterday, on my birthday, no less, to have a procedure done on my ‘arthritically’ challenged right shoulder. 

Now everything went okay, I took the bus and the train like the last time I ventured into the city.There was some pain in the shoulder, but nothing to worry about. 

However later on in the night when the local anesthetic had worn off… oh brother, did that shoulder ever give me beans! The good-looking, young, white female doctor that did the procedure did say that I might have some discomfort. 

Hn! But this was certainly much more than discomfort. I couldn’t move it to do anything without an agonizing pain coursing through my body. Even at rest the shoulder was still pulsing and throbbing. And when I did go to bed, sometime after 2 a.m….Hn!…it was pure agony. 

I just couldn’t find a comfortable place to rest my arm. Every time I thought I’d found one, a couple seconds later, the pain flared up. And believe me Friends, I have a decent pain threshold, but this pain is something else. 

I’m chuckling here now, because when I make a mistake, I just back up and type over again, because going up to the mouse to correct it is not a treat. Surprisingly though, I can move my fingers over the keyboard okay, but moving my arm away from my body is another story. 

Anyway, when I finally realized the enormity of the situation, I took a pain killer, but it obviously wasn’t enough, because a couple hours later I had to come downstairs and get a couple more, and shortly after five the constant throbbing and pulsing eventually eased up. 

But moving my hand was still painful. And believe me, I knew that that too would pass, and that the Lord wouldn’t give me more than I could bare, but it was so agonizing and temperamental that I eventually cried our for solace from our heavenly Father. I guess between Him and the painkillers they finally worked. I couldn’t even walk and allow my arm to swing, I had to keep it anchored to my leg. 

Thankfully, the worse seems to be over now, though I still have a hard time moving the old arm. Glory to God! Ohhh! I just went to the mouse and the pain shook me up. But I can only grin and bear it.So you can see the kind of birthday I had. (smile) 

Anyway, enough about my problems. It’s Wednesday, that means it’s time for our Wednesday Wail. So let’s wail nuh, enthusiastically and convincingly. All together now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! 

I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

Yeh mih people, in spite of the excruciating pain, I am glad to be alive this Wednesday morning, just looking forward to a glorious future with Jesus. I do hope that you are too, because there’s nothing as rewarding as hanging out with Jesus in this earthly life. 

But to do that successfully, we have to do what our Bit says. ‘Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.’ Now that in general is an enormous task, but even more so in our society of plenty eye candy and sinful stuff, that calls out to our fleshly nature. 

Here’s how Jeremiah said it in his prophecy against Babylon. ‘A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up; for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon (insane with) their idols.’ (Jer.50:38) 

Oh Friends, Jeremiah could have been talking about us, because we are indeed a land of graven images and very insane with our idols. A good example of that is the pedestal on which we’ve put our cell-phones and other new technological toys. 

Too many people just can’t operate without them. They have to be constantly checking this and checking that, from one social media site to another. I doubt the Lord is taking very kindly to this explosion of technological idolatry in which we’re currently engaging. 

Oh yes, they do have a very useful purpose, but when you can’t do or live without them for even a few minutes, then you are crossing the line. 

And we’ll end with some wise words from Bruh David in his psalm of thanksgiving: ‘Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; show forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared (held in reverential awe) above all gods. 

For all the gods of the people are idols (worthless things): but the Lord made the heavens. Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.’ (1 Chr.16:23-29) 

Yes Friends, that is exactly what we need to do in this godless, extremely sinful and idolatrous society we’re currently living in. And unfortunately, until we return to genuinely worshipping Almighty God, the Creator and Controller of the universe, the society will just keep going downhill. 

So my fellow believers, let’s ramp up our efforts to stop the idolatry and sinfulness in whatever way we can nuh, for it is our bounden duty to do so, and we haven’t been doing such a good job, that’s partly why it’s as bad as it is. Much LOVE!

…only by seriously meditating on God’s word…and obeying His commandments…can our society return to prosperity and success…