Today’s Scrip-Bit   24 October 2022 Romans 8:37.

Romans 8:37.       Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that LOVED us. 

Oh gee, it’s Monday! Chuh! Another day of repetitive and non-uplifting work… But wait, please note that it’s also another day of enjoying God’s awesome mercies and compassions, that are created brand new for us each and every morning! And believe me, with those powerful, encouraging and confidence building tools of God in our tool kit, we can handle anything that comes against us, have a positive, godly attitude regardless of the situations in which we find ourselves. 

Remember Jehovah’s promise through the prophet Isaiah a long time ago. ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of (from) me, saith the Lord.’ (Is. 54:17) Now that’s a mighty promise, and since we are the Lord’s servants, then it’s still applicable to us today. And those are the kinds of encouraging and uplifting scriptures that we need to write indelibly in our hearts and minds so that we can recall them when the times get rough and our spirit and confidence are lacking. 

Then there are these magnificent verses from Bruh Paul explaining to the church at Rome, the marvellous unbreakable bond we have with Almighty God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He confidently writes: ‘Who shall separate us from the LOVE of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom. 8:35-37) 

Oh my faithful brethren, what uplifting and confidence building verses! Yes! In all these things we are indeed more than conquerors. Though the enemy tries to overcome us they just can’t because they don’t have the power nor the authority for Christ has already won the victory over hell, death and the grave, leaving Satan a toothless lion with only a loud growl, but no real bite since he can’t inflict any damage with just gums. (smile) Oh, by the way, verse 36 above comes directly from Psalm 44:22. 

And I like this simple explanation on ‘we are more than conquerors,’ offered by an article on the gotquestions.org website. It reads: ‘To be more than conquerors means we face the trials of life with the certainty that we are not alone. We have a mighty Father who fights for us. We approach the darkest valleys with confidence, knowing that nothing can happen to us that is not permitted by our LOVING Father for our good (Psalm 23:4; Romans 8:28). 

We have His promise of eternal life (John 3:16;Titus 1:2; 1 John 5:11) and the presence of Almighty God every moment of every day until we see Him face to face (Psalm 139:7-12; Deuteronomy 31:8; Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20). No sin of ours and no attempt of the enemy can steal the LOVING care of God from our lives, and that makes us more than conquerors through Christ who LOVES us.’ 

So true my people, so true! And don’t forget to check out those scriptures referenced above, because they too are also powerful and encouraging verses that keep us strong and confident in the Lord. But Bruh Paul’s not done. He continues his missive to the Romans, delving even deeper into the subject, leaving us in absolutely no doubt on the matter. He says: ‘For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Rom. 8:38-39) 

Glory be my people! Bruh Paul leaves no stone unturned. In the first few verses he addresses the earthly things and trials that can beset us, then in the last two, he deals with the spiritual aspect of the situation. And isn’t it joyful and faith-building to know that NOTHING whatsoever can separate us from God’s LOVE? Indeed it is! 

And the scholars offer their two cents worth on the subject by saying that ‘We cannot be separated from God’s LOVE, because it is set forth in a person who is God Himself, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. God’s desire to redeem believers cannot be frustrated, because He is infinitely greater than any potential enemy. His plan will be realized because it is His purpose. (Rom. 8:28).’ And all of that’s gospel truth friends, so for our sake, our peace of mind and salvation, we had better believe it! 

And just for added protection (smile) let’s add this other uplifting promise from our omnipotent God, this one when the Lord called Jeremiah to be His spokesperson. He told him in no uncertain terms. ‘And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.’ (Jer. 1:19) More food for spiritual strength my people! (smile) And can we ever use all the help possible. And when yuh talking about help, well brethren, there’s only one place to go: to the throne room of heaven with confident, sincere prayer. So let’s do that right now nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. 

Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please 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!’ 

And after asking for divine favour through prayer, it’s then wise to keep whatever promises you’ve made, for as Cousin Sol says as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes: ‘When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it: for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.’ (Eccl. 5:4-5) No wonder Cousin Sol is considered the wisest man who ever lived. (smile) Much food for thought today friends, please don’t let it go to waste. Much LOVE!

…if you sincerely believe in God…then God won’t let you down… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ            

Today’s Scrip-Bit   30 July 2022 Romans 8:31.

Romans 8:31.      What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Well, well, well…if it isn’t lazy Saturday! But let me tell you a li’l ‘secrat’ (smile) as my young daughter said when she was small. I think it’s more tired Saturday than lazy Saturday oui! That’s because I never got home from the Pan Festival until 2.30 in the morning. What an example of very poor planning and communications! The show, and by the way it turned out to be just a showcase of Pan talent, not the usual competition. Anyway, the doors were scheduled to open at six o’clock and the show begin at seven. Hn! 

Now we all know that our West Indian reference to time is poor, but this one took the cake. The doors didn’t open until after seven, and the show didn’t begin until nine. And with nine bands to play two songs each, they had to skip the intermission. Can you imagine loud pan music, in particular Afro-Pan, blasting in the heart of ole Toronto after one in the morning. They must have friends in City Hall and Police Headquarters yes. (smile). But despite all the poor management, we did hear some good pan. 

The pansides were small though and with many junior members, possibly because of the pandemic and lack of time to rehearse properly. But the reigning champions Pan Fantasy, brought their big side and their ‘A game and blew them away again! That alone was worth going to see. Enough on pan now though, let’s hope next year we’ll get back to the competition format, for that really brings out the best in all of us. 

So, finally, let’s see what interesting quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And this first one tells it true. ‘Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.’ Oh, it’s always best to begin right where you are and do what you can with what you have. Wishing and hoping for better things and times won’t make it so. The important thing is to get some action going, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem. 

And to drive the point further home, let’s think about how our heavenly Father takes us, and begins with us, right where we are, even when we are at rock bottom. Yes friends, He reaches down, stoops down and gathers us up and begins molding us into the perfect image of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ right there. He doesn’t wait for us to improve before He takes us in. Likewise, it’s best for us to always begin right where we are, and do something useful with whatever we have. 

And if you sincerely believe in Him, and ask for His help, you’ll be amazed at what that small, insignificant beginning could become with His hands on your shoulders and His Spirit in you. That brings us to the next quote: ‘The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.’ Oh my people, with Almighty God on our side, that question is immaterial, for NO ONE is going to stop us when God is rooting for us! As Bruh Paul so emphatically wrote to the church at Rome. ‘What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (Rom. 8:31) 

Not a single soul! And that’s the living truth! Because, as Bruh Paul further proclaims: ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom. 8:37) Wow mih bredrin! There’s no greater encouragement possible than simply knowing that Jehovah God is on our side, in league with us. As they say: You and God are a majority! And there’s no disputing that. With the most powerful force in the universe on your side, anything is possible. 

That leads us to this quote: ‘If you continue to think the way you’ve always thought, you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got.’ Now that’s ever so true! You can’t keep thinking the same way and expect to get different results. As the old people would say; You can’t plant peas and expect to reap corn. It’s simple, you reap what you sow and nothing else. So, if you want to get better results, you have to change your thinking because it all begins and ends in the mind, the battlefield of our souls. It’s where all the arguments are made and the decisions formed. 

Therefore, to get positive results you must have a positive mindset, and there’s no better positivity than that that can be gained from Christianity, from the Master of Positivity, Christ Jesus! He wrote the book on the subject, the Bible, where all things are possible if you believe in Him. He said it quite plainly to the father of the boy with epileptic seizures. ‘If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.’ (Mark 9:23) And that’s the major problem we are having in our world today; not enough sincere and serious belief in Christ Jesus. That’s why our world is falling apart, one brick at a time. 

Oh, we are all waiting for things to change. But when are they going to change and how eh? We have to change them and the sooner the better. That’s why this next quote is so important to us today. ‘Don’t wait for your feelings to change to take the action. Take the action and your feelings will change.’ That’s right! Feelings are flimsy and unreliable, they can change in a moment’s notice without any good reason. So we can’t depend on them to bring us around to whatever action we desire to happen or accomplish, we need to get into the action first, and when we do, then feelings will follow. 

Yes my people, too many of us are currently living by our feelings, and our feelings are letting us down because of all the sadness, strife and disaster that’s surrounding us. But when we put our trust in Jesus, feelings fly out the window, because we now have a solid, rocklike foundation on which to build, to grow our lives, not fleeting, unreliable feelings. Jesus is the most reliable foundation in the world. Now, I can tell you that until I’m blue in the face (smile) but you’ll never know it for sure, until YOU begin to build on Him. 

Oh friends, it’s all about a personal relationship with Jesus! Yes, you can tell your family and friends about Him, but until they get personal with Him, it won’t matter at all. That brings us to this last quote: ‘Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.’ Words of awesome wisdom my fellow believers. That’s exactly what Jesus did on His earthly sojourn, for everything was stacked against Him, but He persevered in the face of rejection, of tribulation and disbelief, even to the point of death. As the Good Book says: ‘And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself , and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil. 2:8) 

Yes, my fellow saints, Christ came to earth to do a job, and He did not allow anything or anyone to stand in His way of accomplishing the Father’s will and purpose. Likewise, we ought not to allow anything or anyone to stand in our way of doing the Father’s will for our lives. We must always put our best foot forward, even when it seems like the whole world is against us. But, please, let’s remember that working for Jesus will always bring some rejection and hardship, but perseverance in His name, will always bring us out on the winning side! So, as His earthly ambassadors, let’s sincerely commit to stand our ground and do His bidding with diligence, excellence, perseverance and true belief! Much LOVE!

…life was not meant to be a bed of roses…for even roses have thorns…  

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

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