Today’s Scrip-Bit   27 December 2021 Hebrews 9:27.

Hebrews 9:27.     And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgement. 

You know it’s laughable that many people don’t know Jesus, and don’t want to know Him either, but they are quick to grab on to the public holiday that His birth has fostered, this Monday in late December. Yes friends, because we celebrated Christ’s birthday on the weekend, which is a normal time off, most workers don’t have to go to work today. And if they do, they receive double and triple time pay and all sorts of other benefits they don’t usually get. But they still don’t want to hear of or acknowledge our Lord and Saviour. 

That’s okay though, because they will eventually pay a serious price for that repudiation of God’s Son, the One He sent to save us from our abominable sins. Many people laugh and mock us when we talk about the eventual consequences of not believing in Jesus and having Him as your Lord and Saviour, conjuring up all kinds of different endings for this earthly life. But yuh know what? If what Jesus says isn’t true, then it doesn’t matter, you would have lived a good life anyway, refraining from sin and evildoing. 

However, supposing, just supposing what Jesus says is true eh, and you don’t accept Him, you will end up eternally damned and separated from Almighty God! What will you do then eh? The sad part is that you won’t be able to do anything, because then it will be too late to change your mind. Once the breath of life has been drained from your earthly body you can’t make any more decisions. And also, if Christ comes back before you die and you haven’t yet accepted Him, then you are also SOL, out of luck. 

Remember Jesus’ parable about the rich man and the beggar Lazarus? The rich man lived high on the hog while he was alive, while Lazarus sat at his gate, with dogs licking the sores all over his body, eating the scraps from the rich man’s table. However, when they died, the tables turned, the rich man went to hell, while the beggar was ‘carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom,’ meaning heaven. 

‘And in hell he, (the rich man) lift up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham. Have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he (the rich man) said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 

Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.’ (Luke 16:23-31) 

And that very fact is borne out by Jesus having risen from the dead, with said news being spread all over the world, and yet so many people are still refusing to believe in Him. Now, that my people, is why we encourage you to accept Christ as soon as possible, like right now, for none of us know exactly when we will depart his earthly life or when Christ will return. Either scenario could happen sooner than we expect, so there’s really no time to lose. The sooner you make that wise decision, the better off you will be. 

You have so much to lose, but even so much more to gain! Because, as the author of Hebrews specifies in his writing: ‘And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgement. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look (eagerly wait) for him shall he appear the second time, without (apart from) sin unto salvation.’ (Heb. 9:27-28) Yes friends, we all must die once, then face God’s severe judgement, reserved for the wicked and unsaved. 

However, if we are saved, then we will go to heaven, and face God’s judgement re our earthly works and our motives, and will only lose rewards, not our eternal destiny with Christ. And yuh see how the evil enemy and his fellow evildoers have brought the earth to its knees with all the calamity we’re currently facing? My fellow saints, there is only ONE way to counteract that evil, and that’s by going to God in prayer, seeking divine help and restoration. 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!’ 

So what’s it to be eh friends? Are we going to turn from our evil ways so that God can heal our land and forgive us? The ball’s in our court now my people, let’s use it wisely nuh. Much LOVE!

…Christmas…the birth of Christ…is only the beginning of our wonderful salvation story…we should strive to hear more… 

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 31 March 2020 John 14:27.

John 14:27.    Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
 

And another day has bitten the dust…But our world is still alive, though somewhat discombobulated; scarred and scared by the ole Coronavirus, since not enough good, but still too much bad and ugly is happening. And is it ever a good thing that we believers know the Truth, and that the Truth will set us free! Glory to God! A few places are holding their own, but many, like the U. S. are now exploding because of too late precautions. And I understand that mih people in J.A will be under lock and key from tomorrow… 

Hn! Ah talking about a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. And believe me, I know what that is like, having experienced it way back in 1970 with the Black Power Riots in T&T. The voluntary stay at home now is bad enough, but when you can’t be seen in the streets at all during certain hours, that’s a horse of a different colour, especially if the military and the police are out looking for curfew breakers. But not to worry mih bredrin, our good God has it all under control. We just have to obey our leaders, stay home and practice safe routines, and come to Him in sincere prayer with heartfelt repentance for our myriad number of ghastly sins. 

And as He has promised, eventually, everything will be worked out for our benefit. Remember though, that it will all happen in His time, not ours, and that’s the cut-tail part of it all. We hate to wait, and the Lord doesn’t hurry! And if yuh doh believe me, then just try it and see nuh! (smile) Oh my people, this virus business is indeed a serious matter, but too many of us are letting it get us too afraid, depressed and daily losing hope. But now is the time when we believers ought to be on the ascendance with our strong and wonderful faith! 

It’s not the time for us to wilt like faded and dying roses, as so many of us are doing, because the world needs that awesome faith we have more than ever now! Now is the time for us to stand up and really show our true colours; be the amazing salt and light of the world that Jesus desires of us! And yuh know what? If, we believers, with all of our supposed faith in, and awesome promises of God, become fearful and lose hope, what will be the response of the unbeliever be eh, of the rest of the world, who don’t have what we have? Utter chaos and confusion! 

That’s why, as a group, Christians need to stand strong and steadfast, take the matter seriously, but don’t panic and give assurances to the unbelievers. It’s at times like these when we can do our best evangelical work, bringing others to Christ, by the staunch and steadfast examples we set. Jesus knew that we’d face trials and tribulations, thus His encouraging and reassuring words. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In this world ye shall have tribulations: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) 

And a lot of us quick to quote those words, but when the time comes to put them into actual action, like now, too many of us falter and fail. If we falter now friends, it means that we don’t have sufficient faith and trust in our God, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that’s supposed to dwell in us and lead and guide us in godly righteousness. We obviously don’t hold Jesus’ many assurances of ‘FEAR NOT!’ in high regard. Remember, courage is not the absence of fear, but of doing stuff while afraid, with the power of the Holy Spirit assisting us. 

And what about these words of Jesus eh? ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) It doesn’t seem as though we are taking those words seriously either. And what if some of us die? We all have to go sometime. As the Good Book says: ‘And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement.’ (Heb. 9:27) Now don’t get me wrong, very few of us are ready to, or want to die right now, including me, but the truth is that  none of us have the power or authority to prolong our lives, so when the Grim Reaper comes a calling, we just have to go, whether we want to or not. 

The one proviso necessary though before that time comes, is that we go with Christ as our Lord and Saviour tucked away safely and deeply in our hearts. So once you truly have Jesus as the Light of your life, there’s no need to fear death, for what we call death, the physical aspect, is merely a leaving of our physical body behind, with a glorious continuation of life on the other side, in the spiritual plane, with Jesus. Oh friends, just like Christ died once, on our behalf, we can only die once, but with Him in our hearts, we are assured of a resurrection just like Him. 

And thus let’s hold on tight to this somewhat obscure and unknown verse of scripture: ‘So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look (eagerly wait) for him shall he reappear the second time without (apart from) sin unto salvation.’ (Heb. 9:28) So my faithful brethren, instead of dwelling on the worst case scenario in these trying times, let’s instead focus on the big picture nuh; the Second Coming of Christ with the beautiful promise of salvation in His wings! That’s the wise way to handle this current situation, and it will help us to stand strong and steadfast as prisoners of divine hope. 

Now let’s go home showing our mettle nuh, by declaring (yeahhh!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know who and whose we are. In strong, fearless voices, with sincere hearts: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world.  Amen!’ 

And now, the natural consequence of that declaration (steups!) is to action it in whatever safe way we can. Much LOVE!

…sincere HOPE in Christ…is the ONLY antidote for fear… 

P.S. Yeh, it’s somewhat late, due as usual to my penchant for late nights, (smile) but I like it…and I hope you do too. Much LOVE!