Genesis 17:1-2. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God (El Shaddai); walk before me, and be thou perfect (blameless). And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
Oh Friends, is Sunday morning! Hear them church bells ringing nuh! Is we deh calling yes, saying: Come and worship, praise and thank Him; Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour; our Prince of Peace; our Emmanuel; the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, to whom every knee shall one day bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord indeed, to the glory of God the Father!
What an awesome, divine, undeniable, indisputable truth my people! And all God’s children shouted ‘Praise the Lord!’
And continuing on with God’s promises to Abram, we see from our Bit, that thirteen years after Ishmael is born to Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian maid, the Lord comes back to Abram with the promise of giving him a multitude of descendants. ‘And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God (El Shaddai); walk before me, and be thou perfect (blameless). And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.’
Ah Friends, I wonder what went through Abram’s mind eh? Did he think thoughts like: ‘But Lord you promised me that some twenty three years ago, and still nothing has happened. I only have this child by Hagar which doesn’t seem to fit your plans. How long am I supposed to wait eh? Sarai and I are getting older and closer to death everyday.’
The important point here though my fellow believers is that despite what Abram felt or thought, his response to God’s promises was certainly respectful and reverential. The Good Book describes it thus: ‘And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many (a multitude of) nations. Neither (no longer) shall thy name any more be called Abram (High, Exalted Father), but thy name shall be Abraham (Father of a multitude); for a father of many nations have I made thee.
And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. and I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed (descendants) after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed, the land wherein thou art a stranger (of your sojourning), all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’ (Gen.17:3-8)
Oh Friends, what a weighty set of promises to lay on a hundred year old man eh! Now to us it might seem like a lot, but back in those day men lived for hundreds of years and continued fathering children. (Gen.11:10-32) Even Abraham’s father, Terah must have sired him around age 130, since Abram was 75 when he left home and Terah died at 205 years old. (Gen.11:32)
So here’s poor Abram, God has piled up the promises: He’s changed his name from Abram to Abraham. All sorts of royalty will come from him, and the land of Canaan would belong to his descendants in perpetuity, and El Shaddai will be their God. Abraham’s mind must have been spinning. But God wasn’t done, He finally adds the clincher.
‘And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in (throughout) their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token (sign) of the covenant betwixt me and thou.’ (Gen.17:9-11)
Ah Friends, the stakes were now getting higher. As a sign of the covenant with God, Abraham, his male descendants and all other males born or dwelling in their community had to be circumcised. At eight days old every male child had to be circumcised. And anyone who wasn’t circumcised would be considered cut off from God’s people, a breaker of the holy covenant. (Gen.17:12-14)
Hear how the scholars put it: ’17:9-14. Abraham’s part in the covenant-making process was circumcision, which God established as a sign of the covenant to indicate that his offspring were uniquely dedicated to God. (Ex. 4:24-26; Rom. 4:11). A Hebrew who failed to observe this rite would be cut off from the covenant community. Circumcision was to serve as an outward sign of inward dedication to God. In itself it (circumcision) was neither efficacious, nor unique to Israel.’
Now Friends, that wasn’t all that God laid on Abraham that day nuh: ‘And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah (Princess) shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of (by) her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time next year. And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.’ (Gen.17:15-22)
Oh my brethren, can you imagine your reaction to God laying all of that on you at one time? Mama Mia! But such was the strength and faithfulness of Abraham, that although he laughed and doubted in his heart that Sarah would eventually produce a son, nevertheless after the Lord left him, he took all the males in his household, including Isaac and himself, and they were circumcised according to the sign which God, declared would be the sealing of the covenant. That’s surely indicates great faith and trust.
Anyway Friends, enough for today. Let’s read, mark, ponder and inwardly digest what we’ve read and heard, because it’s important that we know where and how our faith came about.
Much LOVE!…if we don’t know where we’re coming from…where our roots lie…then how can we know where we’re going…what kind of fruit we shall bear…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 November 2013 Genesis 17:1-2
17 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: Abraham, Abram, almighty god, blameless, breaker of the holy covenant, church bells, circumcision, covenant, dedicated to God, descendants, devine, El Shaddai, Emmanuel, everlasting covenant, every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, faith, faithfulness, father of many nations, foreskin, fruit, fruitful, glory to God, Hagar, indisputable, inward dedication, inwardly digest, Isaac, Ishmael, Israel, Jesus Christ, King of Kings, land of Canaan, laughter, Lord and Saviour, Lord of Lords, mark, mother of nations, offspring, outward sign, ponder, possession, praise, Praise the Lord, prince of peace, promise, read, respectful, reverential, roots, royalty, Sarah, Sarai, sign, sojourning, stranger, strength, thanks, token, trust, truth, undeniable, worship
Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 November 2013 Matthew 5:14
10 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: abuse, almighty god, atrocities, belief, Bible, bounden duty, Calvary's cross, Catholic Church, christianity, compassionate, confidence, conquer the heathen, corrupt things, dark world, death, destruction, die a thousand deaths, divine wisdom, divisions, eternal life, evil doers, evil ways, faith, flavour, flood, foolishness, forgiveness, glorify God, God's favour, good for nothing, good news of Christ, good works, grace, grace of God, heals wounds, heaven, hypocrisy, inhumanity, Jesus, Jesus' work, lack of understanding, laid waste, let your light shine, light of the world, Lord and Saviour, LOVE Revolution, Lucifer, Martin Luther, mercy, naivety, negativity, new beginning, Noah, one true God, Peace and Love, persecution, personal relationship, petty grievances, preservative, prosperous land, redeeming work, Reformation, religious attitudes, salt of the earth, salvation, show of love, therapeutic remedy, things of God, trodden underfoot, trust, trust in God, unbelievers, unity, war, wonder of wonders
Matthew 5:14. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Ah Friends, our world is in such a sad state of disrepair and confusion, it hurts to the very core. There are so many more negative than positive happenings, that when you look around all you can see is man’s terrible and ever increasing inhumanity to his fellow man. Not too long ago, it was reckoned in millions, but now it’s counted in billions.
Ah Lord eh! And the atrocities taking place in our supposed civilized world are innumerable and real, real… Hn! I can’t seem to find a word worse than atrocious nuh, so I guess atrocious it is. And the sad part is that many of these atrocities are being committed in the name of some god or the other. And wonder of wonders, all these gods are supposed to be deities which exude peace and LOVE as their main platforms!
Chuh! I guess that’s what I get for reading the newspapers, because they’re simply littered with all the negative aspects of our world, since that’s what is considered worthwhile news today. Very few of the relatively few good things happening in our world are ever reported.
I have to stop here and chuckle yes Friends, because when I was growing up, I could never understand about the constant warfare reported in the Bible and the History Books. And, fortunately or unfortunately, I still don’t understand them, or those happening today. I don’t see what real or useful purpose they serve, for it’s all death and destruction.
So you won the war, big deal! Numerous amounts of your citizens are dead, including your friends and family, your once proud and prosperous land is laid waste… But you won the war, so that makes you a mighty conqueror!
Steups! Pure foolishness Friends! I think I’ll just remain in my lack of understanding and naivety yes. (smile) The Lord might have been wiser though to let all of mankind perish in the flood, because even with that new beginning through Noah and his family, it didn’t take us long to revert to our truly evil ways, and it seems that since then, each generation has gotten progressively worse.
We claim that the Lord made us to have a good personal relationship with Him, but how much of humanity is doing that eh, even amongst the ones that do know about Him? The corrupting things of the world are having a much greater impact on mankind than the things of God, which do not corrupt.
So where does that leave us, eh mih breddren? It leaves the proportionate few who sincerely believe in the ONE TRUE GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of LOVE, mercy, grace, forgiveness, salvation and eternal life, to work harder at spreading the good news of Christ and His redeeming work.
Oh Friends, we definitely and desperately need to outwork and outshine Lucifer and his evil hordes, if we truly desire to bring success to Jesus’ LOVE Revolution. To do that though, we need to develop an extraordinary amount of unbelievable faith to be able to put up with all the abuse, persecution and negativity thrown at us by the numerous evil doers of this world.
We need a faith as talked about by Martin Luther (1483-1546) the German minister who played a large part in bringing about the Protestant Reformation a few centuries ago. Now when I went on the Net to check out the dates of his birth and death, I happened to come across the same quote that I planned to share, but in a slightly different form. I considered trying to put them together, but couldn’t get it to work properly, so I’ll just give us both versions.
Version 1, from my Devotional. ‘Faith is a living and unshakeable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.’
And version 2, from the Net. ‘Faith is a living, bold trust in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favour that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it.’
Wow! Oh my fellow believers, which ever version you choose, it sure calls for a lot of faith! And right now it’s also obvious that our faith is still too small to successfully conquer the heathen. Without great faith, Martin Luther would not have had the ability to fight the Catholic Church, to stand strong and bring about the Protestant Reformation, which was, and still is, possibly the biggest change in religious attitudes since Christ birthed Christianity.
And Friends, with the great power that evil doers currently possess in our world, it will take a great upheaval, something akin to the Reformation, to bring the heathen to Christ. That’s where the LOVE Revolution comes in my people. We have to put on the greatest show of LOVE the world has seen, since Jesus sacrificed His sinless live on Calvary’s cross, for us to get the world’s attention and cause them to want what we so joyfully possess, to come to Christ to gain salvation and eternal life.
And I’m sorry, but the truth be told, we’re definitely not doing such a good job at it right now. There are too many divisions, too many petty grievances, too much hypocrisy, and simply not enough unity for unbelievers to take us seriously.
So what’s the answer eh mih breddren? We just have to get serious about doing Jesus’ work, to dig down deeper in our souls, find ways to strengthen out faith and trust in Almighty God, so that we’re willing to die a thousand deaths on His behalf.
That means Friends, we need to be two things. The first is to be a bright and genuine reflection of our Bit. ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.’ For as Jesus explains: ‘Neither do men light a candle (lamp), and put it under a bushel (basket), but on a candlestick (lamp stand); and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.’ (Matt.5:15)
And secondly, we truly have to be the salt of the earth! Why is that, you ask?
Listen to Jesus, and all of this comes from the Sermon on the Mount. ‘Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour (flavour), wherewith (by what) shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.’ (Matt.5:13)
Yes Friends, salt adds flavour to our food, acts as a preservative, heals wounds and salt water is the best therapeutic remedy in the world. That means we have to be bright and flavourful, compassionate, comforting, healing wounds, whether physically or psychologically, add taste, flavour and light to our bland, tasteless, dark world.
Yes my people, unless we are the true salt and light of this God-forsaken world, then things will just keep going downhill, which we certainly cannot afford to let happen.
So therefore we need to take Jesus’ advice very seriously. ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.5:16)
And that my fellow believers is divine wisdom straight from our Leader, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. So please let’s put it into action as soon as possible nuh. It’s our bounden duty. Much LOVE!
…until the followers of Jesus truly become…the salt of the earth…and the light of the world…His church won’t make serious inroads into Lucifer’s camp…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 November 2013 Mark 6:50
06 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: adversaries, adversity, afraid of life, allergies, antagonistic behaviour, apparition, ashamed, be not afraid, be of good cheer, Bethsaida, buffoons, bully-boys, changed his tune, Christian ways, comforting words, confess, confounded, crack cocaine, deceit, disgrace, do not be dismayed, encouraging words, ever-faithful promises, evil, evil world, fight the good fight, fighting tooth and nail, five loaves, five thousand, followers of Christ, forgiven, ghost, glorify God, gospel truth, help, in vain, inappropriate behaviour, incensed, Jesus Christ, Jesus' miracles, Jesus' sacrifices, laughingstock, live by faith not by sight, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, LOVE of God, mark of true believers, misdemeanours, more than conquerors, overcome the world, palsy, peace, perish, personal fiefdom, positive, pray, prayer, public drunkenness, real leader, resign, restoration of Israel, right hand of righteousness, rights, scaredy cats, separate us, sins, stand strong, steadfast faith, strength, strenthening one's spirit, strive, suffer persecution, take comfort, Toronto mayor, treachery, tribulation, two fishes, under the weather, undesirables, uplifting, victory, walk on water, we get the government we deserve, won the battle
Mark 6:50. For they all saw him, and were troubled. and immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s a bit under the weather this Wednesday fall morning. I got up from a good sleep with my nasal allergies acting up some, which caused my spirit to fall a tad, but the Bit has to go out under any circumstance… except death obviously. (smile)
And I have no doubt that the Lord will enable me to write something sensible that will encourage His followers and glorify Him.
And we’ll begin with the latest story that’s making world headline from Toronto; that’s the inappropriate, ‘unmayoral’ behaviour of Toronto’s Mayor, Rob Ford.
I have to shake my head and sigh, ‘Ah Lord eh.’ That’s because for several months now there’s been talk et al about a video showing him smoking crack cocaine with some youngsters from the Somali community, his hanging out with other undesirables, drunkenness in public and a host of other misdemeanours.
Obviously he claimed that none of them were true. But apparently yesterday he changed his tune and confessed to the crack cocaine smoking.
This deserves another heartfelt sigh and ‘Ah Lord eh,’ for all that the two Ford boys, the mayor and his brother Doug, a councilman, have done since they were elected two years ago, is cause untold and unnecessary controversy and make the city a laughingstock around the world with their antagonistic behaviour.
I stopped paying much attention to them long ago because they behave like a pair of arrogant, bully-boy buffoons, and then they get on their radio talk show and make matters even worse. It even seems that brother Doug is the de facto mayor, because in all the nonsense, you’ve heard more from him than the supposed mayor.
They both should resign, but neither of them seems to have even considered that action. And sadly, it’s been said that Rob Ford has a good chance of again winning the mayor’s position in an election scheduled for the not too distant future.
The good Lord forbid! Then they’ll truly feel that the city is their personal fiefdom and commit even worse actions. But just remember Friends, that we always get the government we deserve. And that’s enough of the foolish Fords. I’ve spent more time on them than I’d planned.
Let’s get to something more important, positive and uplifting like our Bit. ‘For they all saw him, and were troubled. and immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.’
Yes mih Friends, powerful and encouraging words from a real leader, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
He spoke those words to His disciples when He came walking over the water towards them, as they were fighting to stay afloat and alive in their little boat amidst a terrible storm.
All of this happened after He’d fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes. He then compelled the disciples to get into the boat and cross over to Bethsaida, while He sent away the multitudes, then went up into a mountain to pray.
Please note my people, that everyday Jesus got up early and prayed, strengthening His Spirit, before intermingling with the crowds. He also took time to refresh His Spirit in prayer after engaging the multitudes. We would be wise to do likewise; pray before and after our engaging the world and all its evil, deceit and treachery.
It’s amazing and also interesting that after seeing Jesus do the feeding miracle earlier on, the disciples were still terribly afraid when they saw Him walking on the water towards them. In their abject fear, they believed it was an apparition, a ghost. That’s until Jesus spoke those gentle, encouraging and comforting words: ‘Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.’
Oh Friends, it wasn’t the first or last time that Jesus said those comforting words, ‘Be of good cheer.’ He first said it to a man sick of the palsy (paralyzed), lying on his bed, before He healed him. ‘Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.’ (Matt.9.2b)
And He repeated it again in His famous words to the disciples, and by extension us: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)
Oh my people, we couldn’t ask for more encouraging and comforting words than those! But yet we’re still afraid of life and what the world brings against us. If we weren’t, we’d be fighting tooth and nail to change our disgusting, deteriorating, evil world. But unfortunately Lucifer and his wicked bully-boys have us scared of what they’ll do to us if we stand up and seriously fight for our Christian ways and rights.
Oh my brethren, as true followers of Christ, we cannot go around living a scared and half-hearted life! Jesus has already given us the victory, we now have to accept it, and behave as though we’ve won the battle, remember we live by faith and not by sight. Otherwise all Jesus’ sacrifices on our behalf would be in vain. And we certainly don’t want that to happen.
The fact of the matter is that long before Jesus even came to earth, many times the Lord instructed His people not to be afraid. Listen to these powerful, encouraging and comforting words from Isaiah, talking of the final restoration of Israel.
‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded (disgraced): they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.’ (Is.41:10-11)
Ah mih breddren, what else do we expect our God to do eh – come and hold our hands and lead us like little children? Chuh! We’re big children, full of talk in good times, but we behave like ‘scaredy’ cats when adversity arises.
Oh Friends, I’m imploring us today to get rid of that fearful attitude and scared mentality. Instead let’s staunchly accept and believe the ever-faithful promises of our Lord and Saviour like true believers should.
As Bruh Paul tells Timothy: ‘Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.’ (2 Tim.3:12)
But then he encourages the Roman church with these words. ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom.8:37) And that’s the gospel truth people!
Oh my fellow believers, we shall suffer adversity here on earth, but through the steadfast faith and strength in the promises of Jesus, who’s already conquered the world, we too shall conquer our adversity and adversaries. Please take comfort in that and let’s stand strong and fight the good fight in His Name. That’s the mark of true believers! Much LOVE!
…nothing can separate us from the LOVE OF GOD…which is in Christ Jesus our Lord… (Rom.8:39b)
Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 November 2013 Matthew 5:12
03 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: be exceeding glad, bedrock, bitter, Christ's body, Christ's sufferings, Christian living, Christians, church, church bells, coming together, common enemy, dinosaurs, divide and conquer, divisive, drifitng apart, everlasting life, faith, faithful, fellowship, fiery trial, forces of evil, foundation, fragmented, gifts, God's mysterious workings, godly decisions, going to church, growth, happy, heaven, help of Jesus, in sync, intelligence, Jesus Christ, joy, living church, living faith, living truth, logic, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, majestic glory, momentous times, negative experiences, omnipotence, patience, persecuted prophets, persecution, positive work, quarrelsome, rejoice, resentful, rewards, salvation, spiritual growth, spiritual maturity, spiritually dead, stand strong, suffer for Jesus, temptations, testing, the bells toll, Togetherness, trials, trials of life, victory, worship
Matthew 5:12. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Oh Friends, the church bells are tolling this beautiful Sunday morning! They’re tolling to invite us to fellowship and worship as the body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ down here on earth! Wow! What a special benefit and honour to be numbered in that most august society!
Many of you may remember growing up with the church bells pealing every Sunday morning and evening, calling all the faithful to the house that Christ built. I remember them quite vividly, because I lived only a couple minutes walk away from St. Andrews Anglican in Scarborough, Tobago, and I’d use them as a time piece, listening for when the last bell begin to toll, then I’d hustle off to get there just in time.
There were either two or three tollings, I don’t remember, but back then, when the bells pealed, you knew that almost the whole community was getting ready to go to church, regardless of their denomination. Unfortunately though, church bells tolling as a means of inviting the faithful to worship is now a thing of the past, like prehistoric dinosaurs.
The youth of today don’t even know that church bells existed, for there are very few around now, and even fewer toll, and likewise, even fewer attend church regularly. But my brethren, going to church and fellowshipping with others of like faith, is exactly one of the things Jesus had in mind when He commanded us to ‘Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’
That’s because it’s much easier for believers to rejoice and be exceedingly happy, in spite of persecution, when they are gathered together worshipping and praising Almighty God, whether it be in a church, a house, a thatched hut, a cave or in the open air. Togetherness is the bedrock, the foundation of Christ’s body! No wonder we’re not making the progress we should, since that body is so fragmented, divisive, quarrelsome and resentful of each other.
But Friends, it’s virtually impossible for us to stand strong in the face of persecution when we’re not in sync with each other. That only gives the forces of evil an excellent opportunity to further divide and conquer us. For as logic declares, a group can usually stand stronger together against a common enemy, than a single individual.
And my people, coming together is one of the things we desperately need to concentrate on, if we’re to ever survive the challenges and persecution that the evil world powers are plotting against us. And even as a group, we can’t do it without the omnipotence of Jesus working in and amongst us. So please, let’s seriously concentrate on coming together, rather than drifting further apart nuh. That’s the only hope we have of strengthening and growing Jesus’ LOVE Revolution.
And I have the perfect quote for that from an article I read earlier on in the Anglican Newspaper, November 2013 edition. I copied it for use at some future time, but in God’s mysterious workings, (smile) that time seems to be now. It’s written by Bishop Patrick Yu, on the subject of inviting people to church.
He writes that ‘Growth is actually the sign of all living things, including a living faith and a living church!’ Now that’s gospel truth my people! If we’re not growing in faith and fellowship, then to all intents and purposes, we’re spiritually dead.
Anyway, enough sermonizing from me for today. (smile) Let’s get to the scriptures I faithfully promised you yesterday. And the first one deals with the first part of our Bit: ‘Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven:’
Peter puts it this way: ‘Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as (to the extent that) ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.’ (1 Pet.4:12-13)
Yeh Friends, it’s definitely not an easy concept to grasp and then hold on tightly to, but we do need to believe that when we suffer for Jesus’ sake, we’re part of His suffering. Therefore, when He comes back in all His majestic glory, then we too shall participate in the overwhelming joy during those momentous times!
And James say it thus: ‘My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (various trials). Knowing this, that the trying (testing) of your faith, worketh (produces) patience.’ (James 1:2-3)
Short and sweet eh Friends! (smile) What a way we doing a lotta smiling today mih breddren! But that’s just the way it ought to be, if we’re exceedingly glad.
Now here’s what the scholars have to say: ‘1:2-3. In this epistle on Christian living, James opens with a most crucial topic: the trials of life. These verses describe the various testings – whether from the world and Satan, or from God – into which godly Christians fall (Gr. peripipto). These “negative” experiences are to be accepted with great joy, not for the sake of the trial itself but because of the positive work God can accomplish through the testing.
The words in verses 2 and 3 (temptations and trying) are often regarded as virtually synonymous. If this were true, then the trials themselves would produce spiritual maturity. But they do not. Often, testings make Christians bitter instead of better, with no spiritual growth occurring. The Greek word for “trying” (dokimion) might be better translated as “approving.”
It is not merely one’s presence in such trials but one’s victory over them that brings spiritual growth and maturity. Those Christians whom God can use the most are those whom God has bruised the most.’
And all God’s people said a low, unenthusiastic ‘Amen,’ because they know that’s the living truth, and it’s hard for the flesh to handle!
But enough for today Friends, I don’t want to stretch your intelligence and busy lives by running on too long. (smile) So let’s ponder all that we’ve said and heard, then make some good and godly decisions, in as many areas as we can, obviously with the help of Jesus. Much LOVE!
…for whom the bells toll…for all mankind…why…so that they can come to Christ…to acknowledge Him as Lord and Saviour…and receive the free…but oh so wonderful gifts of salvation and everlasting life…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 November 2013 Matthew 5:12
02 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a child of God, Abraham Isaac and Jacob, be exceedingly happy, Beatitudes, blessedness, chomping at the bit, complacent, constant communication with God, delving into God's Word, dispossess, eroded, eternal destiny, eternal glory, everlasting peace, evil powers, exult, faith, false accusation, fear, forces of evil, forefathers, free to worship, freedom, glorious kingdom, gospel truth, great is your reward in heaven, heathen, Holy Name, Jesus Christ, joy, living by faith not by sight, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, Lucifer, make a positive difference, mature faith in Christ, minions, New Year's resolution, one true God, peace, persecuted the prophets, persecution, prayer, pro-active, promises, rejoice, repercussions, reproach, resolutions, revile, rewards, Sermon on the Mount, slander, standing steadfast and strong, take freedom to worship for granted, the messenger, try and change the world, ungodly earth, vigilant, walking with Christ, writing the Word in our souls
Matthew 5:12. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Oh Friends, do you realize that in a mere 2 months we’ll be into the new year of 2014? This year of 2013 has really passed by quickly, and today I’m asking us to check on how we’ve done on the main New Year’s Resolution we made back in January; the promise to walk more closely and sincerely with Jesus than we did before. I’ve also been encouraging us to reflect on it every month rather than at the end of the year. That way we have time to catch up on and/or make amends to any aspect(s) on which we we’ve been lagging.
And what about the resolution we made last week eh; the one to try and change the world a little bit everyday? Have we been doing anything about that? I surely hope so. And if you have, then you’re also working on the first one, because making a positive difference in this crazy, troubled world everyday, is indeed walking closer with Christ, since that’s exactly what He did, and also desires of us.
Anyway, your reactions and answers to those questions above are between you and our heavenly Father. I am just the messenger, so please don’t shoot me. (smile)
And today we’ve come to the last part of the Sermon on the Mount that deals particularly with the Beatitudes. Today’s Bit: ‘Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you,’ follows from yesterday’s.
That Beatitude informed us: ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.’ (Matt.5:11) And we saw how many believers are being persecuted, even unto death, for just believing in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.
Now none of that is easy my people, but Jesus is telling us that we should rejoice and be exceedingly happy when we’re persecuted for following Him. Why? Because our reward for standing steadfast and strong in faith down here on earth, will be great in heaven; also that’s how the heathen and false believers persecuted the prophets that came before us.
Now that last part is certainly true as the Good Book records all the persecution the early prophets endured, including Jesus, and the general church after that. But Friends, standing strong in the face of persecution, especially if and when it’s unfair, is definitely not that easy. And the promised rewards way up in heaven at some later date, doesn’t make it any easier for most of us, because we’re still living by sight and not by faith as we ought to.
It’s only when we have a real strong, steadfast and mature faith in Christ, will we be able to truly consider those rewards in heaven, against the persecution here on earth. And that can only come with time, constant communication with Almighty God, delving deeply into His Word, writing it indelibly in our souls, then trying to live by it.
And Friends, we’re so lucky out here in the Western world to be able to freely worship the ONE TRUE GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob without any fear of serious repercussions, but many others in distant lands are not so fortunate. And please, please, I sincerely implore us not to get too lost in that freedom which we now take for granted, because if you haven’t noticed, it’s being slowly eroded by the evil powers that be.
At this juncture in our evolution, the LOVE Revolution, we need to stand up even firmer and stronger against the forces of evil, so that we don’t lose what our forefathers gave their very lives for; the right to worship in freedom and peace. And that’s no joke Friends, because more and more everyday, prayer and God are being removed from schools and public places.
Therefore it’s imperative that we stop being as complacent as we are about it, and instead be very vigilant and pro-active if we don’t want to lose those rights. For remember, whatever freedom that’s been won, can always be taken away, and the evil minions of Lucifer are just chomping at the bit to take away our freedom to worship.
Now listen to the scholars’ interesting take on our Bit. ‘5:12. Rejoice is the command that grows out of the blessedness of the believer. The phrase, ‘Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad’ means even more, exult! Great is your reward in heaven focuses attention on the eternal destiny of all things. If God is as real as He claims, if the Bible is true, if heaven is to be gained, then no temporary earthly trouble or persecution can dispossess the child of God of joy in the prospect of the eternal glory that lies ahead.’
And that’s gospel truth my brethren! But as we’ve said above, it won’t just happen automatically, we have to work seriously and consciously on it.
Now I have some scriptures to share, but they’ll make the Bit too long, so we’ll address them tomorrow, our great God in favour. In the meanwhile, please let’s concentrate on truly following Jesus, doing the things we know we ought to do, so that we can gain all those rewards laid up in heaven for us.
And may the Lord bless and keep us, cause His wonderful countenance to shine upon us, and give us His everlasting peace and divine wisdom, so that we can greatly glorify His Holy Name and further His glorious kingdom down here on this wicked, ungodly earth. Much LOVE!
…to successfully handle persecution…we must focus steadfastly on what Jesus has done for us…and on the heavenly rewards He’s promised…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 November 2013 Matthew 5:11
01 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living Tags: alienation, balanced lives, belief in Jesus, blasphemed, blessed, bring God into the mix, Christ's Second Coming, Christian, company, dangerous, desolate, divisions, divisiveness, ease the pressure, ever-faithful God, every knee should bow, every tongue confess, evil, evil cohorts, exalted, falsely, for Christ's sake, Friday chant, gather together as one, generous help, glorified, glorious kingdom, God's mysterious ways, God's promises, good weather, Halloween celebrations, harbinger, hate, heathen lands, heavy load, herald, interesting, Jesus Christ, Jesus is Lord, jesus name, Lord and Saviour, loving kindness, Lucifer, mental and emotional persecution, merciful and healing God, monotonous, need to belong, no problems, obedience, persecute, persecution, personal testimony, physical persecution, pipe dream, prayer, prisoners of hope and faith, reality, relaxation, reproach, rest, revile, right perspective, separate, showers of blessing, slander, slaving for massa, Son of man, spirit of glory, stand steadfast, steady diet, stewards of God's grace, suffering, sufficient fun, take it in stride, tedious, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the church's history, the greatest tool in the universe, the weekend, trials and tribulations, unfortunate brethren
Matthew 5:11. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Oh Friends, what a glorious day this Friday 1st of November 2013 will be…! Albeit possibly in other areas of the world, just not in my neck of the woods, because we’ve had rain since early yesterday morning. It’s not like we’ve been inundated with heavenly showers of blessings, but more like a steady diet of drizzle and wind, with the occasional heavy downpour.
That certainly put a damper on the Halloween celebrations yesterday! Now was that our God moving in one of His mysterious ways? Hn! Who knows? It makes me wonder though. (smile)
But yuh know what, I’m still going to join those shouting, ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday,’ because Friday is the herald, the harbinger of those two momentous days known as the weekend, those days of no slaving for massa.
And you never know, what can happen, my area can be flooded later with sunshine and 15 degrees weather, if the weather people are right. And because we’re such strong prisoners of hope and faith, we will believe for good weather later on. (smile)
For now though, let’s celebrate Friday, by graciously chanting our Friday Chant, which gives us the right perspective on how to handle the weekend.
As one 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 mih people, on the weekend we need to get our lives in balance, in sync with both our worldly and godly obligations, so that we can be fully prepared to go back out on Monday and began the cycle all over again. I know it’s tedious and monotonous, but when we cheerfully bring God into the mix, we are able to handle it with NO PROBLEMS. (smile)
And I sincerely hope that we’ll still be smiling after reading today’s Bit: ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.’
Yeh mih breddren, just because we’re believers in Jesus Christ, we will be reviled, persecuted and have all manner of evil done to and against us!
The scholars explain it thus: ‘5:11. Again, Jesus warns that men shall revile you, and persecute you. This became true during His own ministry, in the lives of the apostles, and throughout the history of the church. The persecution spoken of here is twofold. First, it involves a physical pursuing of the persecuted, and second, a personal attack of slander against them.’
Oh Friends, being a Christian is often a rather heavy load, as we can see from all the persecution that fellow believers are suffering in other lands. Now we will suffer some here for calling Jesus our Lord and Saviour, but nothing like the ‘sufferation’ of those in the heathen lands.
So please let’s make it a daily matter to pray for those rather unfortunate brethren, pray that our merciful and healing God will both ease their suffering and give them the strength to stand steadfast and true in their belief in Jesus. As we said yesterday, that’s the least we can do for them.
And remember again that prayer is the greatest tool in God’s universe. So let’s not stop until all God’s children are free to serve and worship Him as they please, in their own lands.
And on a point of interest, here’s how Luke records that Beatitude. ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach (revile) you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.’ (Luke 6:22)
Yuh see Friends, it’s not only physical persecution that believers must suffer for Christ’s sake, but also things like alienation, and separation from other men’s company. And sometimes the mental and emotional persecution are worse than the physical kind.
But since we were all made by God with this great need to belong, Jesus has provided His holy church as a refuge for all those who believe in Him, to gather together as ONE, so that we can fellowship together and thus ease some of the pressure from our earthly trials and tribulations.
And though right now, that oneness is more like a pipe dream than a reality, taking into account all the divisions and divisiveness currently reigning in Christ’s church, we still have places where we can meet and talk, pray and worship and celebrate the goodness and LOVING-kindness of our great God.
So my people, I’m imploring us to hang in there when things get rough, as they oftimes do and certainly will. Please hold on tightly to all the wonderful promises that our ever-faithful God has given us. Remember too, that He is faithful, even when we are not.
Now here are some encouraging words from Peter, as he talks about us being good stewards of God’s grace. ‘If ye be reproached (insulted) for the name of Christ, happy (blessed) are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of (blasphemed), but on your part he is glorified.’ (1 Pet.3:14)
And all God’s children gave a mighty shout of: ‘Let the name of our great God be praised and glorified!’
Yes my fellow believers, when we are persecuted for Christ’s sake, we need to take it in stride, for He’s suffered so much for our sake. And because He was obedient to the Father, He was lifted up, exalted above all else in the universe.
So ‘That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) things in heaven, and (those) things in earth, and (those) things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil.2:10-11)
Likewise my believing brethren, when we stand strong in the face of all that Lucifer and his evil cohorts throw at us, the Lord God Almighty will also exalt us.
Please believe it today, and let’s write it deep in our hearts, minds and souls, let it strengthen our faith, for the days they are becoming more dangerous and desolate, as the Second Coming of Jesus approaches. Much LOVE!
…knowing Jesus…and living for Him…doesn’t necessarily make life easy or hard…but it surely makes it interesting…that’s my personal testimony…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 31 October 2013 Matthew 5:10
31 Oct 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: Beatitudes, blessed, brainwashed, candies, children, christ jesus, Christian calendar, common sense, costumes, daily prayer, dangerous stuff, divine wisdom, don't be afraid, easy money, encouraging words, enduring suffering, evil, evil doing, evil machinations, faith, for Christ's sake, for righteousness sake, friends, glory hallelujah, goblins, God's goodness, good cheer, Halloween, heartfelt prayers, holy spirit, Jesus Christ, just, killjoy, kingdom of heaven, lead and guide, liable to err, live godly in Christ, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, loving kindness, money making day, most powerful tool, needles, nitty gritty, overcome the world, pagan rites, peace, persecuted, persecution, petty things, pick sense from nonsense, prayer, pumpkins, reward, righteousness sake, sins, spread the word, standing steadfast and strong for Jesus, stigma, sufferation, suffering, talk the talk, testimony, trials, tribulation, troubled world, true believers, unjust, walk the walk, well doing, wisdom, wishy-washy, witches
Matthew 5:10. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Oh Friends, it’s the last day of October, can you imagine… But that also makes it Halloween Day. Steups! Just look at how the pagan rites have been inculcated into our Christian calendar nuh!
And it’s only been used as another money-making day by the merchants; candies, costumes and pumpkins. And the uglier and more evil looking your costume, the better dressed you’re considered!
Yes Friends, it’s Halloween; time for goblins, witches, et all! Ah Lord eh!
We start our children from small with the nonsense. And just to show how evil our world has become, nowadays you can no longer send your children trick or treating by themselves, even in your own neighbourhood, since recently so many evil things have been happening to them.
Sadly, it doesn’t even have to be Halloween for our children to go missing, as I received an e-mail last night that a sixteen year old young lady who lives on my street has been missing since last Friday.
And with this Halloween stuff you have to be very careful with the stuff your children collect, because evil people have been putting needles and other dangerous stuff in them. Chuh blast!
Oh Friends, I seriously believe it’s time we do away with this Halloween day and all the evil that it’s come to represent. I know that most likely I’m in the minority on that subject, and some of you might see me as a killjoy, but that’s okay, I can live with that stigma, people have been saying stuff about me since I began showing in mother’s womb. (smile)
But I guess we won’t get rid of Halloween anytime soon because the parents have been brainwashed into it, and the merchants won’t quietly give up such an opportunity to make easy money.
And from all that rambling, I guess it’s easy to figure out that I won’t be participating in the nonsense. Yuh know, on one hand we tell the children that too much candy and sugar is bad for them, but in the next breath we take them out in their evil looking costumes to collect as much candy as they can.
And then we wonder why the children are the way they are! Steups! Let’s just hope the Lord blesses them with the wisdom and common sense – which their parents seem to lack – to go easy on the stuff.
Anyway, I want to apologize for a typo in Yesterday’s Bit, where instead of saying before we ‘can’ enjoy God’s goodness and LOVING-kindness, I said ‘can’t.’ But I know that all you true believers knew what I meant, because you all are wise enough to pick sense from nonsense. (smile)
Just like I said sometime last week about putting our money where ‘out’ mouth is, instead of ‘our’ mouth. That just shows though that the ole fella is very human, and thus liable to err, but hopefully not too often. But enough of this preamble rambling, we have a Bit to deal with.
A Bit which says: ‘Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’
Yeh Friends, we now getting down to the nitty gritty of the Beatitudes! It’s no longer just about being nice and godly, but actually about enduring suffering; physical, mental and emotional, all for Christ’s sake! How do we like them beans now eh?
Most of us won’t like them too much because we just like to have everything nice and easy, no ‘sufferation’ whatsoever. But my people, we need to remember these most memorable and encouraging words of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)
That means we WILL suffer trials and tribulations, in this predominantly evil and troubled world. But we’ve got to bear up under them with a good attitude because Jesus has already overcome the world and all its evil machinations.
That brings us to the scholar’s take on the subject: ‘5:10. As Jesus develops His message, He clearly teaches that such a life cause His people to be in direct contrast to the world in which they live. Therefore He reminds us, ‘Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake.’
The plural use of “ye” in verse 11 indicates that He foresaw this persecution as touching ALL His followers. Notice 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
Oh Friends, it’s rough, but true! The kingdom of heaven is not for wishy washy or ‘fraidy, fraidy’ people. And many of us out here in the free Western world are just that. Meanwhile, other Christians in more restrictive parts of the world, are being persecuted left, right and centre for simply believing in Jesus and wanting to serve and worship Him.
Many of us would cave in if we ever felt that kind of pressure. We’re doing it now without any pressure at all. But millions of believers around the globe are still standing steadfast and strong for Jesus, despite the serious persecution they’re facing! Glory Hallelujah!
And it sure makes me feel bad to see that we out here, who have it so good, are complaining and whining about so many petty and unimportant things, merely talking the talk without walking the attendant walk.
Oh my people, it’s imperative that we at least send up some real heartfelt prayers for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being so terribly persecuted. So today I’m asking us all, during our time of daily prayer, or at any time at all, to pray for our persecuted brethren all around the world.
Remember. prayer is the most powerful tool in God’s great universe!
And we’ll close with an encouraging word from Peter, re the subject of suffering and reward. ‘And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy (blessed) are ye:
And be not afraid of their terror (threats), neither be troubled… For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened (made alive) by the Spirit.’ (1 Pet.3:13-14, 17-18)
Oh my fellow believers, I know it’s difficult to live a good life for Jesus, but He did it for us, and as the scholars say: ‘In the will of God we are sometimes called to suffer for well-doing as a testimony to others.’
And we can certainly do it if we hold close to Jesus and let His Spirit lead and guide us, while raising up all the things we need to truly serve Him, from our spirit, where it’s ALL been already planted.
We only need the power of the Holy Spirit now to bring them to the fore. And that my Friends, is a true mark of divine wisdom. Much LOVE!
…our earthly duty is to…LOVE our God…LIVE our Faith…and SPREAD His Word…let’s start doing that in all seriousness nuh…
P.S. Oh Friends, it’s long, but worthwhile. As Jesus said, we can’t always have it short and easy. (smile) Much LOVE!
Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 September 2013 1 John 5:14
24 Sep 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: angry, believe and receive, blood was shed at Calvary, brothers and sisters, burdens, Christian house, churches, confidence, contrition, criminals, ecpectant faith, enough is enough, excellent standards, faith, fellow believers, fervent prayer, fight back, freedom, God's will, God's Word, godly assurance, heart and soul, heartfelt pleas, heavy heart, holy spirit, human-rights, in the name of religion, injustice, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, justice, Kenya, live our faith, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, mercy, Most High God, murderers, negate our rights, one true God, openly worship Jesus, opiate of the people, oppressed, Pakistan, perpetrators, persecution, positive hearing, prayer, prisoners of hope, put up, repay injustice, righteous, scripture, shut up, sins, slaughter of innocents, Spread God's Word, stand and be counted, stand strong, steadfast faith, stigmatized, suffering, teach our children, terrorists, the prayer of the righteous, troubles, unfortunate friends, unjust persecution, wake up call, war-like actions, wonderful Son, worship, worship jesus christ, yokes
1 John 5:14. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.
Oh Friends, what is our world coming to eh? Everyday now brings some unnecessary slaughter of innocents, all in the name of some religion! Religion is supposed to be the opiate of the people, keeping them nice and quiet, peaceful and law abiding. But unfortunately, in these ruthless and cruel times, it’s doing the exact opposite; stirring them up to war-like actions.
Just look at the attack in the mall in Kenya last week, and that on the Christians coming out of church in Northern Pakistan on the weekend! No one, or nothing is safe and sacred anymore from these despicable murderers. They’ll even kill their own, if they think it necessary. And the sad part is that we allow them to get away with it, calling them terrorists, when they’re simply out and out disgusting criminals!
Ah Lord eh! My heart is heavy and angry this morning Friends, but I won’t write what I really want to, because it might not align with God’s Word or Will. I’ll just ask us to keep praying for our fellow believers in so many parts of the world, who can’t openly worship Jesus Christ, who are oppressed, stigmatized and murdered simply because of their faith.
Please pray with me. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, You know that we truly LOVE and worship You. The problem though is that some of us can do it in perfect freedom, but there are millions of Your children who are being innocently and unfairly persecuted for worshipping You.
Father in heaven, we implore You to help them this day. Lessen their burdens, lighten their yokes, help them to gain the freedom of worship that we blessed ones have, and please repay the perpetrators of this injustice, for You’ve promised to repay any injustice done to Your children.
Please, please help them Father, for their suffering is so great it’s now reached a stage where many may even consider giving up the faith, and we know You don’t want that. Please help them to stand strong, under all the oppression. Let Your Holy Spirit enable them to remain steadfast in faith, though their whole world seems to be falling apart.
Oh heavenly Father, we pray all this in the name of Your wonderful Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, whose blood was shed at Calvary in contrition for our sins. Amen.’
Oh my fellow believers, please let’s invoke a few pieces of appropriate scripture on behalf of our suffering brothers and sisters around the world. The first comes from the heart and soul of Bruh David in Psalm 34, titled, ‘The Lord hears the righteous.’ ‘The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.’ (Ps.34:17)
And the next scripture verse comes from Cousin Sol. ‘The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.’ (Prov.15:29)
Then James tells us that ‘The effectual (effective) and fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ (James 5:16b) And I know that there are many truly righteous people amongst us, so we ought to get a quick and positive hearing.
And finally, the most encouraging of all the scriptures, this from Jesus: ‘And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.’ (Matt.21:22)
Oh Friends, we’ve asked, and many are righteous who have done so. Now let’s perform the last requirement; that of believing. Let’s truly believe for God to help those many, many believers enduring injustice and ‘sufferation’ around the world.
And as a gentle reminder, (smile) let’s turn to heaven once more. ‘Father God, Your people are crying out today in all righteousness and faith! Please answer our heartfelt pleas with mercy and justice, on behalf of our unfortunate friends suffering such unjust persecution. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.’
Ah mih people, let’s be prisoners of hope and stand in expectant faith, that our merciful and mighty God will hear our prayers and alleviate the ‘sufferation’ of believers all over His world. Let’s keep praying for them, and at the same time, improve our own faith and strength in numbers in this supposed free part of the world, because the enemy is picking away, bit by bit, at our Christian house.
Like a bunch of wood ants, they’re finding the unguarded spots in our situation and slowly gnawing away at them. Note the absence of prayer in our schools, public places and numerous homes, plus the subtle attempts everyday to negate our rights to worship in freedom.
People of other faiths are coming to our Christian countries and getting rights that trample on ours. Friends, we cannot allow this to continue. At some stage, like RIGHT NOW, we’ve got to stand up and say, enough is enough, and fight back. Otherwise, in a few short years, our situation will surely deteriorate to such that we won’t have the freedom of worship anymore.
This is a wake up call my brethren! I’m therefore calling on all of us who claim to believe in Jesus, to stand up and be counted! Let’s build our churches! Let’s teach our children the Word! Let’s live the Faith we claim to have, and spread the Word of God, which is so powerful that He used it to create the universe and all therein!
Oh my people, these are the days of sad reckoning. We either have to put up and get some serious action going, or shut up! Which one will it be eh? Are we going to have our descendants living in fear, running and hiding to serve and worship the ONE TRUE GOD of this universe? I think not! So let’s get a move on nuh.
And we’ll end with the godly assurance and confidence that comes to us from our Bit. ‘And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.’
Oh my brethren, please let’s not disappoint Jesus, let’s live up to the excellent standards that He requires of us. That’s the only way we can recapture our world and have it turn again to the Most High God Jehovah! Much LOVE!
…if we believers don’t do the Will of God…how else will it get done eh…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 11 September 2013 Habakkuk 2:4
11 Sep 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: 9/11/2001, affect our souls negatively, almighty god, Amen, anger, believers in Jesus Christ, calamitous day, capable hands, Chaldeans, christianity, comforting grace, common sense, cowardly, dastardly deeds, death, destruction, difficult situations, embittered souls, emotional comfort, encouragement, enlightenment, faith, faith-filled, flaming glory, foreshadowing, glorious kingdom, God's arena, God's will, hand in hand with jesus, hate, heavenly Father, Holy Name, human understanding, Jesus Christ, Jesus returns, justification by faith, live by faith, look to heaven, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, loving kindness, moving forward, negative memories, New Testament, obstacles, offer up a prayer, Old Testament, Patriot's Day, peace, peaceful faith, Praise the Lord, promise, prophecies, prophet Habakkuk, proud, religion, repayment, rumours of war, saviour jesus christ, tablets of clay, tarry, the fall of Babylon, the just, theology, totally submissive, trials, undeniable truth, understanding, unfortunate incident, ungodly, vengeance, victory through Christ, wait for it, walk safely, walking hand in hand with Jesus, walking obediently, war, wisdom, wonderful peace, World Trade Centre, write the vision
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