keeping god first place

1 Thessalonians 5:17. Pray without ceasing.

Awright, so the summer heat seems to be over, and though it’s somewhat chilly and pretty windy, on this first lazy-day Saturday of October, the sun is still shining brightly, and that’s the mark of a blessed day for me. Once the sun is shining, I’m contented, be it cold as ever. (smile) There’s something about the bright shining sun that lifts my spirit, that sort of says, all is not lost, the sun still shines.

And our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer quiets my spirit. So, with the sun shining and our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer being spoken, all is right with my world! Well, not quite, because we haven’t yet spoken our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer. But let’s correct that situation right now by doing so.

As one sincere voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’

And my soul gets quiet…as my breathing deepens…my muscles slowly relax…and I feel God’s presence flowing around me in peace and LOVE! And all I can say is thank You Lord! Yes, friends, that’s the awesome power of prayer! When we’re sincere, it can do some amazing feats in our souls and spirits in an amazingly short time.

That’s why Bruh Paul told us to ‘Pray without ceasing.’ (1 Thess. 5:17) It simply means keeping God first place in our minds, and every so often stopping to offer up a prayer, not necessary audibly; either for help in our activities, or simply giving thanks for the divine help we’re currently receiving. It’s an easy and simple way of keeping us focused on our great God throughout the day.

And I guess that’s how Bruh Joseph must have gotten through all those unfair and unjust trials he faced during the early days of his sojourn in Egypt. But keeping his mind focused on the God of his forefathers, allowed him to handle the tribulation with a good attitude, and thus God gave him favour even in the midst of the trials!

Oh my fellow saints, that’s the wonderful kind of God we serve! He looks after us even in the midst of our difficulties, especially when we keep a good and godly attitude, despite our problems. And so, we see how Bruh Joseph finally blossomed into the Grand Vizier or Prime Minister of Egypt through God’s skillful and dramatic machinations, eventually saving Egypt from destruction during the great famine, and also bringing his family down from Canaan to live and prosper in some of the finest lands of Egypt, and grow into the great nation, the seed of innumerable stars that God had promised his forefather Abraham.

Now, after the famine had become so severe and Bruh Joseph had bought up all the land and the bodies of the Egyptians in Pharaoh’s name and made them tenant farmers, having to give the fifth of their produce to Pharaoh, life settled down for a spell. The Bible then tells us: ‘And Israel (the whole family) dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.’ (Gen. 47:27) Yes mih bredrin, when the Lord God Jehovah is on your side, you can grow and prosper at an amazing rate.

And the Word of the Lord continues: ‘And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was and hundred and forty-seven years. And the time drew nigh that Israel (Jacob) must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not I pray thee, in Egypt: But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place. And he (Bruh Joseph) said, I will do as thou hast said. And he (Jacob) said, Swear unto me. and he sware unto him. And Israel (Jacob) bowed himself upon the bed’s head.’ (Gen. 47:28-31)

Ah mih people, I’m chuckling here as I read about Jacob making Bruh Joseph sware not to bury him in Egypt but back in Canaan where his fathers were buried. And why am I chuckling? Because it reminds me of my request to my children to not bury me in Canada, but in sweet Tobago, the land of my birth. Now I have nothing against Canada, I consider it the best big country in the world and am proud to call myself a citizen. But there’s just something about my old bones spending eternity in this cold and unforgiving ground that doesn’t sit well with me. Call me foolish or whatever, but I simply want to be buried in the land of my birth.

There’s a sentimentality about being born and buried in the same land that I like and desire to see happen. I guess the constantly warm and coddling soil of Tobago will serve my bones in better stead, and I’ll be able to revisit my childhood memories. (smile) And don’t go getting the wrong impression, because those childhood days were not always sunshine, lollipops and roses, but like the life I live now in Christ, they certainly were interesting and eventually very rewarding.

So please, on this first Saturday in October of 2023, let’s all take a few lazy-day Saturday moments to reflect on our lives and promise ourselves, that from here on in, we’ll do our best to live the good and godly life that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ desires of us. It’s the least we can do in return for all the agony and suffering He experienced, so that we can enjoy God’s immense grace, through the gift of salvation and eternal life! Much LOVE!

…to pray to Almighty God…and yet to pray…it’s one of man’s greatest privileges…

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John 15:4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Well friends, Friday is here, and another long weekend is in the offing! Glory Be! I think we should have Christmas and New Year’s falling on a Monday every year yes, that would give us two long weekends back to back. (smile) But we all know it’s not going to happen, so let’s just enjoy it while we have it.

And meanwhile some of us are still tired after the Christmas celebrations, and the three days of work, but now we have to get ready for the big New Year’s Eve bash, where the bubbly flows like water and people don’t know their A from their E and are hugging and kissing everyone in sight, crying out ‘Happy New Year’ as though everything will change in that one day.

But no such luck, because as soon as we sober up, we’ll go right back to our old, nasty, sinful ways, forgetting whatever resolutions we might have made. And there’s no better time to introduce Granny’s warning, because New Years is the time of the biggest drinking bash.

So friends, please remember ‘Drunk or sober, please mind yuh business,’ because when we overdo it, that’s when we get into serious trouble with Lucifer and subsequently our God, and sometimes the consequences of such error can be suffered for a lifetime. So please be careful, don’t give the devil any chance to break into our spiritual armour.

And as always, the ordinary workingman is wearing his passion on his sleeve, as he declares: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui! We only work three days this week, and if yuh see the massa face when he have to pay us for the whole week…that was such a joy to behold… and next week going to be the same thing because New Year’s falling on the Monday. And is the party ever going to be rocking this New Year’s Eve? It surely is!

Plenty nice women, good food in abundance, good music and enough waters to drown a heard of elephants. Mama Yo! And is not the cheap bubbly we drinking nuh, but the expensive one. Yuh have to go first class at New Year’s! So let’s get ball rolling from now nuh…Party! Party! Party! We going to mash up the place this New Year’s Eve! Thank God for Fridays and them long weekends yes!’

And believe me friends, a lot of what the workingman is saying there will unfortunately come to pass this New Year’s weekend and Beelzebub will be in his glee, since when we drink up the waters, too many of us turn stupid and do nonsense. But please, this weekend I implore us to stay sober and run our race properly, don’t give the enemy a chance to inveigle himself into our affairs.

Anyway, let’s chant our Friday Chant, which gives us a better perspective on how to spend the weekend. 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.’

Yeh mih breddren, whatever the celebration, we followers of Christ still have to keep our wits about us, keeping God first place in our hearts and souls. For if we don’t, we can seriously jeopardize our relationship with the Holy Trinity, and that’s not a very wise move.

No wonder Jesus warned the disciples in our Bit: ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.’

And those are words of everlasting truth friends. Without Jesus we can do nothing! He is the one from whom we draw all our sustenance. Therefore, if we are not in Him and He in us, then we’re nowhere. Like the branches of a vine draw their power to produce fruit from the main vine, so do we draw our power to produce good fruit from our close and wonderful relationship with Jesus.

And Jesus continues His analogy of the vine. ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto (for) you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.’ (John 15:5-8)

There we have it friends, plain, simple and straightforward as Jesus is wont to put it. The only way to bear good fruit and glorify God is by being a disciple of Jesus. And that means letting Him live and work in you, so you can draw His life-giving power and carry out His wishes and duties. There’s no other way my brethren.

So at the end of this tumultuous year of 2017, let’s sit down and ponder our relationship with Jesus nuh, see if He is truly in us, and we in Him, and if we’re bearing any good fruit. And whatever the answer might be, let’s turn to our heavenly Father and ask for His help to improve our witness, because we all have room for improvement. Much LOVE!

…walking hand in hand with Jesus…is the only wise way to do this earthly life…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 October 2023 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 December 2017 John 15:4.

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