Today’s Scrip-Bit   17 October 2022 Proverbs 14:34.

Proverbs 14:34.       Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is the reproach (shame, disgrace) to any people.

‘Monday, oh Monday, why do you keep jerking my chain eh? Every week is the same thing;  when I’m just getting accustomed to the paltry two day weekend off, you suddenly show up and want me to go back to work. Doesn’t that seem somewhat unfair – a lousy two days off after consecutively working five?’ 

And what does Monday reply? ‘Tough my brother! But them’s the breaks! I didn’t devise the system; I’m just doing what I’ve been programmed to do, and the sooner you learn to do what you are told to do, the better off you will be.’ Hn! And Monday is certainly right. He didn’t invent the system we currently live under, and the sooner we learn to live by God’s Word the better off we will be. Let’s put it this way nuh, we couldn’t be any worse off than we are now, living by the dictates of mankind and the evil prince of darkness. 

But if we don’t like the path of destruction we’re currently running on, then the only other option, and the wisest of them both, is to turn back to Almighty God, to heed His wonderful Word, so that in the end, we can have eternal life with Jesus, rather than the hellfire and damnation promised to Satan and his evil cohorts. And these words of wisdom from Cousin Sol in Proverbs tell it exactly like it is. ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is the reproach (shame, disgrace) to any people.’ (Prov. 14:34) 

Or as the scholars put it: ‘’National righteousness and national sin have opposite effects: exaltation versus reproach.’ And that’s the indisputable truth my fellow believers. We’ve seen it all down through history, especially in the story of the Jews; when they were righteous, following God’s edicts, they were prosperous and exalted, but when they foolishly and pridefully turned away from God’s standards, they surely felt the shame and disgrace through war, some natural disaster like famine and drought or captivity. I don’t know if any other city in the world has ever been besieged, captured or burnt to the ground as often as Jerusalem. 

And it’s obvious that right now our Western society is on that same foolish and prideful path of reproach, for we’re anything but righteous, and are certainly experiencing worldwide calamity. For if the truth be told, we’ll be forever known as one of the most prosperous and knowledgeable societies that ever existed, but also as one of the most evil, wicked and ungodly ones. 

And right now we’re on the brink of disaster, of destroying ourselves, with all the talk of nuclear warfare that’s currently being bandied about. As President Biden of the U.S, said recently, not since the Russian and U.S. standoff, during the Cuban crisis, in the early 1960’s has there been this much nuclear armament production and nuclear war threats. The sad part is we all know that the first nuclear device detonation will probably mean the end of mankind, even the earth, for all the nuclear powers will be quick to protect themselves by firing their own weapons. 

Look at the catastrophic destruction those two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan during the Second World War caused nuh, and since then the power of nuclear weapons has increased several fold. So just imagine nuclear bombs going off all over the world. What a cataclysmic situation! And don’t think that only a few nations have weapons of mass destruction, many nations do, some that we don’t even know about, but who will certainly show up on that day of Armageddon.

Now, if you didn’t believe Cousin Sol’s words earlier on, then listen to how he says it this time nuh. ‘By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.’ (Prov. 11:11) Yes friends, it’s left to us, the upright, the righteous in Christ, to try and protect our world from the disastrous evil and ungodliness that currently has it in a death-like stranglehold. But time is also of the essence, for who knows what will happen tomorrow. That means we have to gather in Christ-like unity and turn things around as quickly as possible. 

And it’s not so much a matter of knowing what to do, because as Christians, we all know what is expected of us, it’s just that we haven’t done it, thus the world has gotten away from us, and embraced the suffocating darkness of evil and ungodliness. But it’s not too late, with the omnipotent help of Jesus, and our sincere efforts, we can still turn things around and prevent the total disaster awaiting us on the current path we’re unwisely treading. However, it all begins with prayer, supplication and thanksgiving to the Creator of the universe. And there’s no better time to do it than right now! 

So, altogether, let’s offer up our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to Almighty God, seeking His marvellous grace and mercy on our uncertain lives and disaster-filled world. ‘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!’ 

Ah my fellow saints, we’ve prayed and asked for forgiveness, but if we truly want to see the Lord’s grace and mercy, it now behooves us to do the next part, turn from our evil ways. Much LOVE!

…God gave us free will…so that we could willingly enter His fold…but it seems to have backfired… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 31 July 2019 Joshua 1:8.

Joshua 1:8.    ​This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
 

Aye friends, today looks like it’s an ‘achy, breaky day!’ Yeh the ole back’s aching some, but I believe that’s just because I spent too much time in the bed last night. I went to bed fairly early, by my standards, (smile) that’s why I’m up so early. But just like the weather that seems somewhat gray and cloudy, with no sunshine yet, but will eventually morph into a beautiful day, my old bod will eventually get itself together and become the wonderful human creation that the Lord created it to be! 

Wow! What faith and belief! (smile) But what else can I declare eh and be truthful to what I preach? It’s like the man said, doctor, heal thyself! I keep talking about positivity and faith, so I have to show it, if I want anybody to believe me. Anyway, here is one of the first quotations that I ever posted on my office wall, many, many moons ago, and now hardly ever notice it. What else is new eh? (smile)  

But as I was coming down the stairs just now to begin writing, the Holy Spirit just dropped it into my mind to share today. Obviously I don’t know where I got it from, or who reputedly wrote it, I just know that it’s the awesome truth. ‘A man, or woman, who is self-reliant, positive, optimistic, and undertakes his or her work with the assurance of success, magnetizes their condition. They draw to themselves the creative powers of the universe!’ 

You can’t dispute that friends, simply because it’s true! Anytime you begin a project, you must believe that it will be successful, or most likely it won’t be. That’s not to say that when you believe its success that it will automatically happen. It’s just that God aligned the creative powers of the universe to be more attuned to positivity than negativity. So the first step to success always depends on your thinking positive, successful thoughts. And if you don’t believe me, try it. (smile) 

But when we talking about success my brethren, there is only ONE WAY to be truly assured of it! And that’s the age-old words of the Lord to his servant Joshua, when He assigned him to lead the Israelites after the death of Moses. ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ 

Oh my people, the Lord didn’t mince words, He spoke it out loud and clear: to have true success you must live by His Word! And that hasn’t changed one iota since then. Jesus even came and strengthened it, when He admonished: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.’ (Matt.6:33) 

So you see friends, true success comes not from struggling and fighting and being overworked, like the world thinks, but from simply living faithfully to God’s law. And I guess that’s why a lot of supposed Christians are not very successful, because we only give lip-service to God’s law and instead allow the bright, fancy baubles and worthless things of the world to distract us, even though we know better. 

Remember Jesus desired us to be in the world, but not a part of it. We can live comfortably in it, with His assistance, but we don’t have to do all that the world says or does! That’s the only way we will ever bring about any successful and sustainable change in this evil and ungodly world. But unfortunately too many of us believers are behaving exactly like the world wants us to. 

And sadly, oftimes, if you check out a crowd of people that supposedly contains Christians, you’d be very challenged to tell them from the unbelievers, because too many of them will be behaving like the heathen! And that’s just the reality of the situation; we talk a good talk, but don’t walk a good walk! That’s why the world is in such a terrible state. 

Can you imagine what a wonderful world we’d have if even a minority of believers would start truly behaving like believers? We’d turn the world upside down! We’d have Jesus’ LOVE Revolution running things, rather than Satan’s evil cabal that’s now in control. 

But friends, that all depends on believers working together and living by the Good Book. And unfortunately neither of those things seems to be happening at this time. There’s more division and disunity in Christ’s church than ever before, and the evil of the world is in the ascendance right now, and doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. 

But let’s not give up hope my people! We can still make a big difference if we truly want to…and with Jesus as our guide and leader, remember, anything is possible. But we have to want to do it, and get together to do it, else it won’t happen! And that brings us right back to the Lord’s words to Joshua: ‘Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ (Josh.1:9) 

Oh friends, I just LOVE that verse, because it reminds me of God’s faithful promises, and thus builds my faith, makes me feel strong and able to do whatever He calls me to do! So today, let’s all draw strength and faith from it nuh, and promise ourselves to live a better Christian life than we’re now living. And there’s no doubt that all of us can come up higher in Christ’s playbook. So having said all of that, let’s go home now declaring (right ho!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know our wonderful position in Christ. 

All together now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And will it ever be glorious…just like Jesus promised! Much LOVE!

…the Lord God Jehovah created the world…through His Word…and He…will also have the Last Word…