Today’s Scrip-Bit   28 February 2022 Proverbs 25:11.

28 Feb 2022 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 25:11.     A word fitly spoken (spoken at the right time) is like apples of gold in pictures (settings) of silver.

Oh friends, how good and how pleasant it is to awaken on a Monday morning to bright sunshine and dry ground, despite the cold temperatures. (smile) It’s hard enough to get oneself together to go back out to labour on a Monday morning after an energetic weekend. You don’t need to be fighting the elements as well as the traffic jams, in your desire to make a dollar, so you can keep a roof over your head and food on your table.  

And since it’s physically bright and shiny and we also have Jesus with us providing His spiritual light, we ought to be in good humour and be excited to spread the good news of our Lord and Saviour to all we meet today. There’s no reason whatsoever for us to be afraid, embarrassed or ashamed of telling others about the wonderful life we now enjoy with Christ as our King, His indwelling Spirit as our Guide and Leader, all to the glory of God the Father! Praise His holy name my people! 

And no, we don’t have to go ranting and raving about Jesus, but we must be careful how we introduce Him to others, since His name is very controversial in all the earth. And sometimes we even need to let our actions speak louder than our words. Somebody once said something to the effect that we should only use words when it’s absolutely necessary. And that’s true, if we can only bring ourselves to do it, since ‘actions work more forcibly on the mind than precepts.’ (smile) 

That brings us to these apt words of wisdom from Cousin Sol in Proverbs, where he declares (chuh!!) ‘A word fitly spoken (spoken at the right time) is like apples of gold in pictures (settings) of silver.’ (Prov. 25:11) And is that ever the gospel truth my brethren! Timely words can be ever so important, encouraging and uplifting to one’s soul and spirit. The scholars put it thus: ‘A timely and fitting word is precious and pleasing.’ 

And that’s no lie! For we have all been receivers of timely and fitting words at some time in our lives, and have found them to be indeed precious and pleasing. Unfortunately though, this current age in which we are living, especially with the advent of and ferocious spread of social media, timely and fitting words are becoming ever fewer and further between, because we now can talk and share our unwanted and unnecessary opinions with much greater ease than ever before. 

We no longer pick and choose our words, but just spout or tweet, or write whatever we feel with no compunction whatsoever to hold back or even think carefully about what we’re saying. So, our society has just become a cacophony of talk, a continuously loud, discordant noise, with everybody talking at the same time, but very few listening, or paying much attention. That’s just the way she goes today my people! We will certainly go down in history as the very first of the ever so talkative generations who talked a lot, but said nothing of much use. 

And Cousin Sol felt the need for timely talk so much, that he said the same thing earlier on, though in a slightly different way. ‘A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season (at the right time), how good is it!’ (Prov. 15:23) It is very good my friends, no ifs, ands or buts about that! If only a handful of us would shut up for a moment, just stop talking about the things we know nothing about, our world would become a much quieter and more peaceful place. 

Yes, it’s a lot of the foolish talk that’s currently going around which is stirring up the negative behaviour and thinking that’s ever so prevalent in our world right now. Oh, and don’t forget, we also need more talk and action about Jesus too! Less foolish and negative talk, and the increased spread of more information concerning Jesus! Wow! What a wonderful world we would then have! (smile) It’s true though my fellow saints. We all know that. If we sincerely live the way Jesus desires of us, we will have a modicum of peace, joy and LOVE in our world. 

But since Satan’s currently running the show, evil and wrongdoing are on the upswing. However, we faithful believers need to try and tamp down Satan’s overwhelming presence by lifting up the name of Jesus. That’s our bounden duty! So please, let’s get serious about doing our duty nuh, as good soldiers and ambassadors of Christ, and if we want to provide a better world for our children and our descendants. 

And the first step in any interaction with Christ is prayer. So, let’s go to the throne of grace with confidence, but humility, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, and place our desires before Jehovah God, the Creator and Controller of the universe. As one voice: ‘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 now friends, it behooves us to be wise, to consider all that we’ve just promised, and put it all into positive action, so that our heavenly father can look down on us with pleasure and provide that divine grace and mercy we so badly need. Much LOVE!

…talk is cheap…but actions are expensive…and it’s time for Christians to increase their spending… on expensive actions…rather than cheap talk… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 July 2019 Matthew 16:24.

22 Jul 2019 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 16:24.    ​If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
 

And the alarm goes off…and suddenly you are catapulted out of a sweet dream…and you steups and get up grumpily mouthing: ‘Chuh Blast! And just as the so and so dream was starting to rock yes! This blooming alarm and work nonsense going to be the death of me yes!’ Ah friends, in how many darkened bedrooms are those kinds of scenes playing out right now eh? Too many! 

Welcome to the real world my people! It’s Monday morning and work is a calling. That place where you earn your daily bread; where you make the dough to keep a roof over your head and food on your table and clothes on your back…oh and the place that enables you to send your children to that expensive and elite private school. Yes, that place is crying out for you to get up and get in your new, expensive chariot and hit the traffic jam, so you can get downtown to the concrete jungle jaded and tired, to begin a new week of the never-ending rat race we so glamourously call work! (smile) 

And so many of us are tired of it, would rather retire to the peaceful and quiet countryside. But that’s somewhat like a pipe dream if we want to keep on enjoying our current lifestyle. And the pressure has become so much that we can no longer handle it all in our own strength. Yes friends we need help, supernatural help!  That’s why we have this antidote for whatever ails you on any workday morning, but particularly on a Monday, which is usually the hardest day of the week to get up. We simply call it our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, where we cry out to out wonderful God for grace and mercy to get out there and fight in His holy name. 

So all together now, let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence and sincerely pray: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. 

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. 

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ 

Yes mih people, how can our compassionate and considerate God ever turn down such a sincere prayer request eh, especially if it’s prayed in His Son’s name? He just can’t! That’s why you’re now feeling the rush of adrenaline and the belated enthusiasm to go to work! The Lord has ordered our guide and helper, His Holy Spirit, which dwells within each believer, to activate the necessary controls to make us bright eyed and bushy tailed, so we can go out into the evil world full of spunk, full of…whatever and vinegar (smile) and fight victorious battles on Jesus’ behalf. 

And all God’s people said a loud and proud: ‘Glory to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! They are indeed the best guardians a human being can ever have!’ And all His saints shouted a glorious ‘Amen!’ So be it!’ But friends, please realize that truly and sincerely serving Jesus is not all wine, song and roses. The test of true discipleship is indeed rough, as Jesus said to the disciples: ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’ 

Tough words those my brethren, but that’s the reality of the situation. If we really want to follow Jesus, we’ve got to sacrifice our wishes and dreams and take up our cross and follow Him. And the scholars have an interesting explanation on ‘Take up: The meaning is “lift up.” It is a stronger word than that used in 10:38 – “And he that taketh not his cross…’ – and implies a lifting of the cross on high, so that all may see it. This is the strongest statement in the New Testament about the disciple’s need to crucify himself, by yielding to the claims of Christ’s lordship over him.’ 

Yes fellow saints, we can’t serve Jesus only in private and expect to get any citations. Remember He said whoever is ashamed of Him and denies Him in public, He will do the same to them before the Father. (Matt.10:33) And sadly, a lot of supposed Christians try to hide their faith through fear of the consequences, but as Jesus also said to one fellow who wanted to follow Him, but desired to go home first and bid his family farewell. ‘No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’ (Luke 9:62) 

Ah mih people, that refers to the way to plough a perfect furrow (row). Once you’ve begun to plough it, you can’t look back or it will not end up in a straight line. As the scholars say: ‘One who makes life’s lesser matters of greater priority than God’s work is of little use to Him.’ Similarly, you’re not ‘suitable’ or ‘usable’ in God’s service if you keep looking back instead of forward. 

And it’s something we say every week in our Wednesday Wail: ‘We’re not looking back, our hands are securely on the plough. We’re looking forward to a glorious future with Christ.’ Now let’s go out and prove that this Monday morning nuh my fellow believers! Let’s show them that we are fit for service to Christ, as we lift our crosses high and honour Him! Much LOVE!

…the true disciple… doesn’t mind sacrificing his desires…for those of Christ…