Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 March 2014 Daniel 2:20

Daniel 2:20.    Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.
 
Ah Friends, at last it seems like we’re going to have a brief respite from the exceedingly cold temps that’s been overwhelming us the past few weeks. This weekend promises to be above freezing – not all that much- but anything above freezing is surely welcome. (smile) Praise the Lord!
 
But who knows how long that will last eh? However, as true believers, we need to take whatever comes against us in our stride, faithfully believing in God’s promises that He will never leave nor forsake us (Heb.13:5), and to work out all things for our good when we walk in obedience to Him.  (Rom. 8:28)
 
Therefore, let’s stand tall, and though the weather or other things might be getting to us, let’s just look to Jesus as He desires. It’s not always easy to do, but do it we must. And how did Jesus handle His earthly problems? Basically by not worrying, doing what He was supposed to do, keeping in close contact with the Father, and trusting Him to make things right. And so should we, my brethren.
 
Now hear are some respectful communication guidelines that we can all use. I got this from my pastor at a recent Advisory Board Meeting, and was guided to share it. Apparently it has been copyrighted by Eric H.F. Law in 1995. It’s laid out in acrostic form, and the letters spell RESPECT, but because of our format we have to do it otherwise.
 
And it says: ‘R = take RESPONSIBILITY for what you say and feel without blaming others. E = EMPATHETIC listening. S = be SENSITIVE to differences in communication styles. P = PONDER on what you hear and feel before you speak. E = EXAMINE your own assumptions and perceptions. C = keep CONFIDENTIALITY. T = TOLERATE ambiguity because we are not here to debate who is right or wrong.’
 
Now they all are useful parameters, though I have a slight problem with the last one, tolerating ambiguity, since sometimes you do need to make decisions and distinctions as to who or what is right and wrong. But I do believe that if we put those practices to work, our communication skills will improve a whole lot. Now that includes communication with Almighty God too. (smile)
 
But it’s time to turn to our Bit: ‘Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.’ Yes Friends, wisdom and might are among the numerous strong points of our wonderful God!
 
And today we’ll continue looking at scriptures which uphold Daniel’s contentions. Let’s begin with Job, when he answers his supposed friends’ harsh accusations, acknowledging God’s omnipotence in the process.
 
‘With him (God) is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding. Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up (imprisons) a man, and there can be opening (no release). Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.’ (Job 12:13-16)
 
And oh my fellow believers, there’s absolutely no doubt about the power and wisdom of our majestic and magnificent God to do all those things!
 
Now listen to the psalmist extol the Lord from Psalm 147: ‘Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite (Lit. innumerable). The Lord lifteth up the meek (humble): he casteth the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God.’ (Ps.147:5-7)
 
Now that’s exactly what we ought to be doing my brethren – giving much praise and thanks to our ever-LOVING, merciful, forgiving, wise and powerful God!
 
And Jeremiah proclaims in his prayer: ‘Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard (too difficult) for thee: Thou showest LOVING-kindness unto thousands, and recompensest (repay) the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them:
 
The Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, Great in counsel, and mighty in work (deed): for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.’ (Jer.32:17-19)
 
Jeremiah really poured it on quite thick there. (smile) But it’s all gospel truth, my people!
 
And this testimonial wouldn’t be complete without a word from Bruh Paul. To the Roman church, he declares: ‘O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.’ (Rom.11:33-36)
 
And as we LOVE to do whenever possible, we’ll give Jesus the final word on the topic. In His teaching us to pray, He concludes: ‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.’ (Matt.6:13)
 
Yes my brethren, our God is the great I AM, the Head Honcho, El Numero Uno, Number 1 in all the universe! Let’s NEVER, NEVER forget that! Much LOVE!
 
…if Jesus says that the Father is the GREATEST…then it must be so…since He cannot lie…
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 December 2013 1 John 1:9

1 John 1:9.    If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
 
Aye mih bredden, I never expected these wonderful promises of our ever-LOVING, merciful, forgiving, gracious, omnipotent God to take up so many days nuh! And we’re only on the second one, with quite a few more to go through.
 
But that’s a-okay, because they are all very integral parts of our faith, of both our earthly and heavenly lives. And without them… Hn! I refuse to even think about that option, for in our serious sinfulness, we would have been destroyed long ago.
 
So please, let’s be wise and plod on in faith and trust as true pilgrims, as those promises teach us about the divine truth and wisdom contained in the Word of Almighty God. And today we’ll see the perfect example of our Bit, lived out in a believer’s life. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
 
Yeh Friends, that perfect example of the real life working of our Bit is to be found in none other than Bruh David. 2 Samuel 11, tells us about his seeing the beautiful Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, lusting after her, lying with her, then plotting to have her husband killed in battle.
 
Most of the populace were none the wiser, but Almighty God saw his abominable sin and sought justice as is His wont. Remember that saying that what is done in darkness, is often brought to light. So in 2 Samuel 12, the Lord sends the prophet Nathan to Bruh David with some nansi story about a rich man having a visitor, and instead of killing one of his many sheep to serve his visitor, took the pet lamb of his neighbour.
 
Oh Friends, yuh see how our Lord can be even more devious than us when it’s called for. Now when Bruh David hears Nathan’s story, he’s furious at the rich man.
 
‘And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely (deserves to) die. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’ (2 Sam.12:5-6)
 
But can you imagine Bruh David’s chagrin when Nathan says to him: ‘Thou art that man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things (much more).
 
Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.’ (2 Sam.12:7-9) 
 
Yeh mih people, Nathan dressed down Bruh David real good and proper in the Lord’s name!
 
And as the scholars’ so rightly note: ’12:5-7. How easy it is to see the sins of others without applying the scriptural standards to ourselves (cf. Matt.7:3-5)! David called for the full weight of the law to be applied (cf. Ex.22:1)’
 
That last reference deals with the stealing of animals and the repayment. But the scholars’ statement is gospel truth! We’re always quick to pass harsh judgements on others, but never apply the same standards to ourselves, as Jesus points out in the first reference (Matt.7:3-5), quick to take the splinter from someone else’s eye, without removing the big beam from ours.
 
But sadly, the Lord wasn’t done with Bruh David, for Nathan continued with his rebuke. ‘Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
 
Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil (adversity) against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ (2 Sam.12:10-12)
 
What a fiery dart to Bruh David’s heart mih breddren! And yuh better believe that the Lord was very serious.
 
For as the scholars’ tell us: ’12:10-11. These judgements came to pass literally in the sins of his own household (ch.13), the rebellion by his own son Absalom (ch.15), and the civil war that followed (chs.16-20). David was never to fully know rest again.’
 
Oh Friends, you can read those referenced chapters for yourselves and realize the truth of the scholars’ words. But thereafter, because of his gross misconduct, Bruh David was always embroiled in some sort of strife or disagreement, a lot of it within his own family.
 
It just goes to show my fellow believers that the Lord is very serious about His Word, re promises, and disobedience. Bruh David was king, and should have known better, especially since the Lord had blessed him so much, showered him with such worldly abundance and LOVING-kindness. A better example was expected from him.
 
Likewise, the Lord expects better examples from us, His adopted children. We can’t afford to preach one thing, then go out and do something entirely different, thus bringing disrepute upon the Lord and His righteousness.
 
Unfortunately though, we do it all the time, and that is why so many hold Christians up as the biggest hypocrites on the planet. And oftimes they are quite right.
 
So Friends, to day let’s sit down and consider our individual circumstances and see if there be any serious faults in us nuh. And if there be any, let’s immediately confess them to the Father, and sincerely ask for His mercy and forgiveness, for that is the very essence of wisdom and wise living.
 
So until we meet again tomorrow, the Lord in favour, let’s try our best to walk in the revealed light of Jesus, and not wallow in the sinful darkness associated with the world and Lucifer, its evil leader. Much LOVE!
 
…please remember that…disobedience ALWAYS brings…unwanted, unfathomable consequences…
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 April 2013 Psalm 119:169

Psalm 119:169.     Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord: give me understanding according to thy word.
 
And the crier, cried: ‘Oh Friends, oh Friends, it’s Fridayyyy! Labour soon done! The weekend’s here!’ And all God’s children gave a joyful shout: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! Glory Hallelujah! Ah can’t wait to enjoy the weekend!’ Yuh know Friends, it’s amusing to see the very different responses brought about by Fridays and Mondays in our crazy world. The first brings joy because work will cease for a couple of days, while the second gets us all upset, sad and blue because we have to go to work. What does that say about the attitudes of our society eh? That we’re lazy, don’t like work, gotten too comfortable, even though work is what keeps a roof over our heads and food on our tables? I really don’t know, but the important thing is that we find a better balance between our reactions for the end and beginning of the workweek, or else we’ll be forever miserable; too high on Fridays, and too low on Mondays. And the only way to do that is to get in agreement with our God, do as our Bit says: ‘Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord: give me understanding according to thy word.’ Yes Friends, without true understanding, as it pertains to God’s Word, which according to the scholars, here means ‘an all embracing term for God’s revelation in any form,’ we are truly lost, like a weary traveller in the wilderness with no food, water, or sense of direction. That’s because God’s Word gives us spiritual food, which includes direction and meaning to live this earthly life successfully. As the psalmist continues in this section – I have longed for thy salvation – ‘Let my (prayer of) supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word. My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes. My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts. I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgements help me.’ (Ps.119:170-175) Oh my people, it’s all about God’s Word! We need to delve into it; read, mark and inwardly digest it, so that we can lead the life Jesus desires of us. But the catch 22 is that we can only do it with God’s help, through His Holy Spirit. Now for us to better understand what the psalmist is talking about, here is a glossary of some of the terms he uses. ‘Law (torah) comes from a verb meaning “to teach,” and thus came to be applied to a wide range of revelation, from an individual directive, to the entire Pentateuch. -5 Books of Moses. It emphasizes that God has taught us in His Word what he requires of us. Testimonies (‘edot) emphasizes the content of the Word as that which God has testified of Himself and His will. Precepts (piqudim) refers to instructions from a superior regarding the duties of those under him, in this case from God to man. Statutes (huqim) is related to a verb meaning “to engrave” and thus implies permanent and unchangeable regulations. Commandments (mitswot) is a word assuming the authority of the commander and the inherent necessity of obeying the content of the charge. Judgements (mispatim) or ordinances refer to decisions God has made as a judge in order to make earthly behaviour conform to His heavenly standard.’ Hope that helps us to better understand the Word. (smile) I hem and hawed about including the meanings of the terms, but common sense won out in the long run, since we can’t understand stuff when we don’t know their meanings in the context of what we’re reading. Yes my brethren, understanding is the key! No wonder the psalmist declares early on in the Psalm: ‘Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of (meditate on) thy wondrous works.’ (Ps.119:27) And again in verse 144, he states: ‘The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.’ (Ps.119:144) And using the definition of testimonies above, that means that whatever God has testified of Himself and His will is absolute truth, and will not change, just like He doesn’t change! Oh Friends, the simple truth of the matter is that life won’t have much meaning until we really understand what our great and LOVING God is all about. That’s why Bruh David could boldly proclaim in Psalm 145, his song of praise – The Lord is gracious – ‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding). One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of (meditate on) the glorious honour (splendour) of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible (awesome) acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly (eagerly) utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.’ (Ps.145:3-7) Words of infallible truth my brethren! And now, let’s end as Bruh David declared, and sing of the Lord’s righteousness and goodness by chanting our Friday Chant. No I didn’t forget it. (smile) All together now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ Yes Friends, let’s enjoy the weekend in the right perspective! Much LOVE!…without a true understanding of God’s Word…mankind is doomed to an inferior life…  P.S. Sorry for the lateness of the Bit, but the hemming and hawing about including the meanings of the words above, took up more time than I had bargained for. But I definitely think it was worth it. Much LOVE!
 
 
 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 January 2012 Nehemiah 1:7‏

Nehemiah 1:7.    We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgements, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

Well a good Sunday morning to all you beautiful people out there in Scrip-Bit Land! I hope the day has found you in good spirits, and for those who celebrate the Sabbath on Sundays, you have either gone or are preparing to go to church and fellowship with other believers. And for those who celebrate the Lord’s Day on Fridays and Saturdays, I sure hope you fellowshipped with those of your faith, that it was good, you praised and worshipped in genuine communion, and that you are set to endure another week in this evil world, furthering God’s kingdom. Now some of you may recognize our Bit from Nehemiah’s prayer, when he was told in Babylon that Jerusalem was a sad mess; the people were in great distress, the walls were broken down and the gates burned. (Neh.1:2-3) This caused a great sorrow to rise up in Nehemiah’s soul, leading him to fast and pray to the God of his fathers, confessing the many sins of the Israelites against Him over the centuries. Then he gets to our Bit: ‘We have dealt (acted) very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgements (ordinances), which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.’ Oh Friends, words like those have been used throughout all of mankind’s association with the Lord God Jehovah. I’ll quote two here, that of Ezra, the prophet before Nehemiah, who laid the groundwork for Jerusalem’s rebuilding. In his prayer, Ezra said: ‘Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil (plunder), and to confusion of face (humiliation), as it is this day.’ (Ezra 9:7) And the second comes from Psalm 106, where the psalmist declares with great sadness: ‘We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.’ (Ps.106:6) But my brethren, at no time in man’s history has that kind of prayer been more urgently needed than right now when our society is filled with confusion, and our world is on the brink of destruction because we have become so sinful, evil and ungodly. Few generations have been as corrupt, idolatrous and given to worldly, fleshly matters as ours. We have gone out of our way to remove God from public places, schools, and in too many instances our very lives. No wonder our society and our world is suffering such disturbing calamity. Things like poverty, sickness, homelessness, hunger and joblessness are running rampant, even in the supposed first world nations. And why is that? Because the wealth is being hoarded by a few, and the majority are being slowly but surely impoverished. Oh Friends, it’s not the total amount of wealth that’s the problem nuh, but the inequity of its distribution. Those who have are greedy, refusing to share, just piling it up more for themselves and their families, not caring if the masses suffer. Even in the supposed poor nations, the rulers are gratifying themselves, while their subjects live in abject poverty. They are allowing their greed to colour their wisdom, failing to realize that the constantly oppressed, in their desperate state of hopelessness, with nothing left to lose, eventually turn on their oppressors. Oh my people, all around our world today, the rich and powerful are blatantly and unconscionably living high on the hog while the ordinary man sinks deeper in the mire. But check out the Arab Spring of 2011 and our own Occupy Movement; the people are so tired of being oppressed and/or marginalized by the wealthy and powerful that they are rising up. Though not with as much success as expected or needed, for the masters refuse to take off their blinkers, thinking that their arms, armies and lackeys will protect them and allow them to continue their evil, oppressive ways. But everything’s only for a time Friends, and one by one they will eventually crumble before the wrath of the people. Sadly too, many of these evil, greedy masters, claim godliness in their talk, but fail to show it in their walk. Just check out the Republican Primary in the U.S. All the rich men vying for the Presidential Nomination claim to be some sort of Christian, but their actions certainly don’t reflect that. My brethren, the whole thing just boils down to plain and simple disobedience to God’s will. Listen to Moses warning the Israelites re the consequences to disobedience. ‘But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto (obey) the voice of the Lord thy God, to (carefully) observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curse shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.’ (Deut.28:15) And my people, if we read the rest of that chapter, verses 16-68, we’ll see the terrible stuff the Lord allows to happen if we continually disobey His ordinances. Please take out your Bible and read it. Then compare it to the stuff that’s happening in our world today, and if after that you still want to and /or keep disobeying God, then all I can is that I’m truly sorry for you. Our God doesn’t make empty promises. We have seen this from the days of the stubborn, disobedient Israelites right up to our time. But for some reason we seem to think that we’re above those other nations who met a sad fate because they disobeyed the voice of God. Oh Friends, if the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is our Creator, Provider and Protector, as we claim, then why are we so insistent on disobeying Him eh? That’s the million dollar question for us to ponder today. Much LOVE!…he who refuses to hear…he will certainly feel…

 

Next Newer Entries