Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 September 2016 Proverbs 3:5-6.

Proverbs 3:5-6.    Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct (make smooth or straight) thy paths.

Aye mih breddren, it’s fellowship day! Glory Hallelujah! So here, in the Lord’s sanctuary, (smile) let’s start it off in the most appropriate fashion nuh with some praise and worship, because our awesome God LOVES nothing more than to hear our sincere and joyful songs of praise and thanksgiving. 

This morning we’ll offer the sacrifice of praise through our wondrous rendition of the old but favourite hymn, ‘All things bright and beautiful.’ And as we raise our voices in glorious song, let’s picture in our mind’s eye, the objects and creations we’re singing about. 

Please sing with me. ‘(Refrain) All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.  Each little flow’r that opens, Each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings: (Refrain) 

The purple-headed mountain, The river running by, The sunset and the morning That brighten up the sky: (Refrain) The cold wind in the winter, The pleasant summer sun, The ripe fruits in the garden, He made them ev’ry one: (Refrain) 

The tall trees in the greenwood, The meadows where we play, The rushes by the water We gather ev’ry day: All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.’ 

And that’s the living truth my people! Our great God made everything! And made them so beautiful too, especially the things and creatures of nature! I do hope as you sang about the birds and the mountains, the rivers, trees etc. that you pictured each one in living colour and appreciated their beauty, because the Lord made them for our enjoyment and pleasure. 

And those who don’t appreciate nature, its beautiful colours, artistry and ingenuity, will never fully understand or appreciate the wonder that is our magnificent God! That’s because ‘Mother Nature’ is God’s outstanding work of art, His greatest, most impressive canvas! 

And having given thanks and praise and admired God’s handiwork, let’s now turn to His word, another aspect of His creation, this one meant for us to follow, to be obedient to, so that we can enjoy everlasting fellowship with Him. 

Listen to the awesome advice of our Bit. ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct (make smooth or straight) thy paths.’ 

Just imagine nuh friends, what a wonderful life we can live if we admire God’s artistry as well as put our sincere trust and faith in Him! Mama Yo! Nothing on earth could be better than that! 

But I guess our sinful nature, plus the lies and deceptions of the evil one stop us from being able to enjoy all that Jehovah God has in store for us. We are fooled by the glitter and glamour that the world offers, when in reality it’s only a façade, a nice looking front for a decrepit, destructive, evil lifestyle. 

Remember friends, all that glitters is not truly gold, and the world cruelly plays on our affection for bright, shiny things and toys.  But my people, the wisdom of the world is not wisdom at all, but utter foolishness. True wisdom is God’s gift. 

As Bruh Paul warned the Corinthians: ‘And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing (persuasive) words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. That your faith should not stand (be) in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.’  (1 Cor.2:3-5) 

That’s why we need to trust in God and rely on Him for our needs. Jesus said it quite plainly that we should first seek God and His kingdom, then all our necessities would be met. (Matt.6:33) 

But man’s wisdom tells us that we should be seeking our needs first. That’s wrong advice my brethren, so if you are currently trying to meet all your needs through your own efforts, then please stop it right now! It’s a fool’s wisdom and only serves to lead us down the garden path where the evil one can gloat at our misfortune.  

Listen to Jeremiah as he expatiates on the theme, ‘Knowledge of God is man’s glory.’ ‘Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise LOVING –kindness, judgement (justice), and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.’ (Jer.9:23-24)  

Remember yesterday we spoke about delighting ourselves in the Lord? Well LOVING-kindness, justice and righteousness are the things we ought to delight ourselves in if we are to please the Lord. 

Now let’s go home with some mightily encouraging words of Bruh David from Psalm 37 – The true state of the wicked. ‘Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement (justice) as the noonday sun. 

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices (schemes) to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil (it only causes harm). For evil doers shall be cut off (destroyed): but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.’ (Ps.37:5-9) 

Oh friends, that’s the best advice we can get this Sunday morning! So please let’s take it all to heart as we go out to fellowship with other believers in the Lord’s sanctuary today, for it’s the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!

…trust and obey…for there’s no better way…to be happy in Jesus…than to trust and obey…

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 March 2016 Psalm 77:13‏‏

Psalm 77:13.   Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?

Well hello there my beautiful fellow believers in the ONE and ONLY Jesus Christ; Lord and Saviour of sinful mankind, Son of God, Prince of Peace, Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, etc. etc….! 

Yes friends, that is the magnificent Being, Deity, and God we serve! Now one would be extremely foolish to serve and worship any other! 

However, as sad as it is, there are many, too many on His planet earth who serve and worship other non-gods, foolishly placing them above the ONE who made the heavens, the earth and all therein. 

To them we can only say, ‘that’s madness,’ in a decent and LOVING manner now (smile), try to tell them about our great Saviour Jesus, who sacrificed His holy and sinless life on the cross at Calvary to pay for our sins, theirs included, and bring us once more into the eternal fold of His Father, Jehovah God. 

But even more importantly, while telling them all that, we should endeavour to live the kind of LOVING, caring, compassionate, forgiving and peaceful life that our Lord and Saviour espouses. For as they say, more flies are caught with honey than with vinegar. 

Yes my believing brethren, we cannot afford to brow beat the unbelievers, as so many of us do, because that will only turn them away. Best we lure them to Jesus with our sweet words and positive actions. 

Hn, hn! And I have to chuckle here friends, because I don’t know where all of that just came from, because I didn’t plan it. But came it did, and it does make wonderful sense, providing a useful template for us all to follow in our earthly relationships. 

Now it’s a beautiful Wednesday in Paradise, unfortunately my last, so let’s wail our Wednesday Wail with much enthusiasm, sincerity and conviction. 

As one proud and loud wailer 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!’ 

And I will add another ‘Glory Hallelujah’ to that my brethren, because I’m so thankful for being alive in sweet Tobago on such a beautiful day! Glory to God my fellow believers! Now how can I look back at the past and dwell in it eh, when there’s such a glorious future to be had with Jesus? 

Remember we’ve got to keep looking straight ahead, so we can create straight furrows, for as Jesus says, he who looks back is not worthy to be in the kingdom. And we all see what happened to Lot’s wife when, against the Lord’s directive, she looked back as they were hurrying away from the godly devastation that was Sodom and Gomorrah; she became a pillar of salt. (Gen.19:26) 

We obviously wouldn’t want any such calamity to befall us, that is why we have to keep on worshipping and serving the Lord of the Universe, who provides us with sufficient to meet our earthly needs. 

That brings us to our very timely Bit. ‘Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?’ 

Ah mih people, as per the second half of that sentence, there are so many scriptures to show the might and power of our God, that I don’t even know where to begin. But as they say, the best place to begin is at the beginning. 

So let’s consider how He made the universe and all therein nuh. He spoke it into existence. Note, He used mere words to create the universe, not any kind of heavy or busy action, just simple words. How much more powerful can we get eh? And if you don’t believe me, you can read all about it in the first chapters of Genesis. (smile) 

And note how He made man too eh: by simply forming him from the dust of the ground, then breathing His own spiritual breath of life into him. Up to now no other supposed deity or even the brilliance and ingenuity of present man can do that. 

Look at how He brought His chosen people, Israel out of Egypt nuh. Starting with the mind games He played with Pharaoh, the nine plagues and the killing of the Egyptians first born, from which the Jewish Passover was derived. You can check that out in Exodus chapters 7-10. 

Then look at how He got the Egyptians to give and lend their jewels to the Israelites, so that when they finally left Egypt after four hundred and thirty years, many of those under tough bondage, they left very wealthy. (Ex.11:1-3) All praise and glory to our great and powerful God! 

And what about the crossing of the Red Sea eh? Who else could have caused the simple stretching out of Moses’ hand over it, to part and allow the Israelites to cross over on dry land eh? Then when the Egyptian army tries to pursue them, Moses again stretches out his hand over the sea, and the water rushes back together and drowns the entire army? (Ex.14:21-30) 

The Good Book ends that chapter with these words. ‘And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared (stood in awe of) the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses.’ (Ex.14:31) 

Aye mih people, that’s just the beginning of God showing His awesome might and power! We’ll continue with it tomorrow, the Lord in favour, because I doubt we can stand to hear about all of our God’s mighty works in one sitting; it’s liable to boggle our frail and simple minds. (smile) 

And our homework for today is to sit and ponder how mighty is our God, and seriously consider why we, or anyone else, would even consider serving and worshipping any other deity. Much LOVE!

…Elohim…O Elohim…God of exceeding strength and mighty power…