Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 April 2013 Malachi 3:10

02 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

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

Malachi 3:10.    Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
 
Oh Friends, on this Resurrection Tuesday morning, the ole fella’s coming out shouting: ‘I, I am blessed. I want to tell the world, that I, I am blessed!’ 
The man Melo G sings that song, and says that if you have a roof over your head, shoes on your feet, clothes on your back and food on your table, then you’re indeed blessed. And mih people, I have all those things, therefore I must be blessed! Most of us also have them all, that means you too are blessed! So we can all sing: ‘We, we are blessed. Let’s tell the world that we, we are blessed!’ And that’s the gospel truth Friends! So please don’t forget it. When things aren’t looking so good, remember that we’re more blessed than 90 percent of the world, and that 90 percent will very gladly take what we have and be exceedingly grateful. Now here’s a most pertinent quote for this time of year, attributed to the famous American Poet, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). It says: ‘Spring is a happiness so beautiful, so unique, so unexpected, that I don’t know what to do with my heart.’ And that’s oh so true! Those of you who have never experienced the deadness and deadliness of winter, won’t be able to understand the depth of emotion that spring brings. It’s such a refreshing joy, such newness of life, with everything growing, just springing up, being alive again, the air filled with all the beautiful sights, sounds and smells of a renewed, resurrected Mother Nature. It’s just like this season of Easter, with Jesus rising triumphantly from the grave after a winter in Hades. (smile) Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat (food) in mine house, and prove (test) me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.’ Ah Friends, though our Bit has been in existence for donkey’s years (smile), it still causes serious contention even to this day. The first mention of tithes is when Melchizedek the king of Salem blessed Abraham, when he was still Abram, after he’d fought off the heathen kings who had besieged Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding area. (Gen.14:1-16)  ‘And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes (a tenth) of all.’ (Gen.14:18-20) And since this is such a misunderstood subject, I guess we should include some explanation on that scripture from the scholars. ‘Melchizedek king of Salem probably was not a theophany (a visible manifestation to human kind of God or a god, or simply the appearance of God) but an actual king of Jerusalem or Salem (cf.Ps.76:2). He typifies Christ and His priesthood according to Psalm 110:4 and Hebrews 7. He is a priest of the most high God. It is interesting to note believers besides Abram and his descendants in this limited account (chs.12-50). He gave him tithes of all: Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek, indicating Melchizedek’s superior priesthood, since Levi (Israel’s high priest) was considered to be in the body (seminally) of Abram when he paid tithes to Melchizedek (Heb.7:9-10).’ But the whole tithe scene seems to have really unfolded when the Lord appeared to Jacob at Bethel and blessed him, and he in return promised: ‘And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth (a tithe) unto thee.’ (Gen.28:20-22) And we all know how the Lord blessed Jacob after that, with much goods and many offspring and changed his name to Israel, from whom the many (12) tribes of Israel were descended. Later on, for those same 12 tribes of Israel, it became an unchangeable edict in the laws Moses gave to the Israelites from God. ‘And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy: it shall not be redeemed.’ (Lev.27:30-33) Oh fellow believers in Christ, yuh see how adamant the Lord was about the givings of His people! And the scholars’ have a good explanation to all of that. ‘The tithe, comprising 10 percent of all the produce, is regarded as the offering due from the people to the true owner of the land (God) (25:23). If the tithe were to be redeemed, the normal 20 percent premium was to be paid to the priests. This chapter points out that holiness is more than a matter of divine call and correct ritual. It actually requires the total consecration of a man’s life to God’s service. It involves giving oneself, one’s family and all of one’s possessions to God.’ And isn’t that the living truth my brethren? It sure is! It’s also interesting that the law dictated if you try to redeem your tithe, you have to pay a 20 percent premium. It’s just like our mortgages or most contracts we sign today; (smile) we have to pay extra to get out of them early, or just to get out of them period. Oh my people, our God doesn’t want merely a part of us, the part that we find it most convenient to give, but He wants ALL of us! And so it should rightfully be, because He’s our Creator, our Provider, our Protector and our Saviour. In fact He determines EVERYTHING about our lives! That means we can’t just be part-time believers and followers as so many of us seem to think and try to be. Anyway Friends, time and space are upon us, so we’ll end here for today, and continue tomorrow with this most interesting and very controversial topic, with the Lord’s consent of course. But believe me, it’s a tried and true formula! Till tomorrow then. In the meantime, please, let’s ponder our personal situation re tithes, and see how we match up to it, and try to match up as best we can. Remember we can’t fool our omnipotent, omniscient, omni-present God. Much LOVE!…the Lord knows our substance…and blesses us in proportion to our giving to His holy church… P.S. Oh Friends, please excuse the lateness of the Bit. It’s long but very informative and I spent more time editing it than I’d intended to. Plus I had to run outside just now and put out the garbage, since I heard the garbage truck tooling around in the neighbourhood. But lo and behold, what do you think greeted me out there; snow flurries. Hn! And this is supposed to be the third week of spring. But them’s the breaks! We just have to grin and bear it, while rolling with the punches. (smile) Much LOVE! 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 November 2012 1 Chronicles 17:16

24 Nov 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

1 Chronicles 17:16.     And David the king came and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?
‘Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday dear Randy! Happy Birthday to you!’ Oh Friends, today is the ole fella’s 65th birthday! Glory Hallelujah! And does our God ever move in mysterious ways, for the last birthday I spent in T&T was my 25th, that’s 40 years ago. Wow! And I couldn’t think of a better place to spend my 65th than in beautiful Tobago, the land of my birth. ‘Thank You Lord! You are so wonderful to me, that I don’t know what else to say.’ Yes my brethren, I can only follow in the footsteps of great men of faith, like Bruh David in our Bit, who when the Lord made the covenant with him, was so overwhelmed, that he could do as the Good Book declares: ‘And David the king came and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto (this far)?’ Now obviously I’m not in Bruh David’s class re the strength of his relationship with the Lord, but I’m trying. And as the scholars so rightly explain of verses 16-27, which we all should read: ‘David again shows himself to be a man of spiritual sensitivity, who was always ready to go to God in prayer, thanksgiving, and praise.’Ah Friends, that’s the hallmark of a true believer: one who’s always ready to humble him/herself before their Maker, regardless of the circumstances. The fact of the matter is that God LOVES ALL His children, but sadly, His children don’t reciprocate that LOVE enough. We’re quick to come to Him when times are tough, when we need something, but in the good times, too many of us forget Him. Bruh David’s actions here are also recounted in 2 Samuel 7; and the words similar to our Bit, in verse 18. But let’s look at two other instances where men of great faith wondered about their worthiness to receive God’s favour and do His work. The first one deals with Jacob, when he was about to reconnect with his brother Esau, years after he’d stolen his birthright. (Gen.27) ‘And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies (LOVING-kindness), and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands (companies).’ (Gen.32:9-10) As we all know, Jacob was an ole crook, a fraud and con artist of the highest order, before the Lord called him to do His bidding. Even in this meeting with his brother Esau, he set up two separate groups of his people, so that if Esau came in foul mood to exact vengeance, one group would be able to escape. But that’s the Lord’s style. He usually calls the most unworthy in man’s eyes to do His work. We see that quite clearly in Moses’ case, an exiled murderer called to lead the Lord’s people to freedom. So when God called him at the burning bush to send him to talk to Pharaoh, his response was one of unworthiness. ‘And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token (sign) unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God on this mountain.’ (Ex.3:11-12) And after that, nobody did any greater work than Moses to glorify God, until Jesus came. Ah Friends, though most of us in the natural feel unworthy to do God’s work, be sure that He knows what He’s doing. And as He told Moses; ‘Certainly I will be with thee…’ the same way He will be with you, for He never gives you a job to do without the requisite tools and His invaluable help. I can vouch for that from personal experienced, for when He floated this Scrip-Bit idea, I laughed and told Him I couldn’t do it because I didn’t know enough scripture. But over the years, He’s certainly shown Himself faithful and has helped me everyday, to grow and to write the Bit. I could never have accomplished the little I’ve done so far in His Name, without His help. Yesterday was a perfect example of that. I went into the mighty metropolis of Scarborough, (smile) to get my Birth Certificate authenticated, so I can renew my T&T Passport, cause I’m not ever giving up my T&T citizenship. Anyway, this was around noon with the temp at 34 C, and I suspect that was in the shade. However, as I entered Scarborough, I found myself in a traffic jam, of all things. But through God’s great mercy, I managed to extricate myself from it and ended up at Fort King George, overlooking the town. Ah my brethren, the old fort not only provided protection from invaders in olden times, and has now been restored to some of its original splendour, but it also provides possibly the best scenic view in all of Tobago; that of Scarborough and its environs, surrounded  by the lovely blue waters in the bay. Then I visited a friend and a family member, whom I hadn’t seen in many years, before going back down town to the Birth Certificate place. Within ten minutes of getting there, I walked out with a new electronically generated one, but had to wait an hour and a half to get an affidavit signed. Then down the hill to the bay road, with more Friday afternoon traffic. Chuh! I guess all over the world Friday afternoons create real traffic problems. By the time we got home, it was almost dark, and the Duchess and I were too tired to walk to Store Bay, so we drove. And don’t worry, I gave my thanks floating cross-like on my back, but this time there was no half moon to be seen in the darkened sky, but instead showers of blessing began falling on my face. Just like playing mas in rain provides a different dimension, so does bathing in the sea in the rain bring a different dimension to the experience. The rain didn’t last long, but it was certainly enough to energize and renew our spirits, so that we could go and hang out later on in Lambeau, with the two wise men, drinking a li’l tequila, to ease the arthritis. (smile) So how can I ever complain eh Friends, when I’ve never done any great works in the Lord’s name, and yet He’s blessing me abundantly? By the way, please pray for one of our Scrip-Bit family, my schooldays chum Harry, who seems to be having some serious heart problems and suffered some complications yesterday. I spoke to him earlier on today, and he was doing better. But a little prayer never hurts, and often helps. That’s it for today Friends. Hopes it makes sense, but as I keep saying, true believers know how to pick sense from nonsense. (smile) Should have been finished long ago, but I’ve had more diversions than normal sitting out here on the porch of my cosy cottage in Store Bay. But since Today is my birthday, I am inclined to be generous. Much LOVE!…three things the Lord LOVES…and expects from His children…sincere prayer, unselfish good deeds, and genuine thanks…   P.S. God just moved in one of His mysterious ways and had my half brother, Haymer, whom I haven’t seen in almost forty years, show up at my cosy cottage. Even more reason to give plenty thanks. Much LOVE!

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