Today’s Scrip-Bit   10 November 2022 Proverbs 21:13.

10 Nov 2022 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 21:13.       Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

And then it was Thursday! Another glorious day in the life! Thanks be to God! Ah friends, I wonder if most of us realize how blessed and privileged we are to be seeing another day on God’s great earth eh? Yes, we certainly are, since many others did not get that same blessed privilege and we can read their names in the obits. And I’m sure that many of them expected and wanted to awaken this bright sunshiny autumn morn, but unfortunately didn’t. That’s why it’s ever so important to enjoy each and every day that we see the light of God shining through the darkness. 

Now I’m chuckling here as I just opened the Big Library, for the Bible is not simply a Book, but a Library with numerous Books in it. So, I just opened the Library and it opened unto a very interesting and most appropriate word of advice from Cousin Sol. He wisely advises: ‘LOVE not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.’ (Prov. 20:13) And is that ever the gospel truth my people! However you want to take it, literally or metaphorically, too much sleep will eventually bring us despair. But if we get up and get, follow the Lord’s will for our lives, then we will be blessed with untold prosperity. 

Remember Jesus said that He came to die for us that we could have life, and have it so abundantly till it overflows. Well, we can’t get that abundant life by just sitting on our fannies, enjoying our past laurels, expecting it to just happen on its own. No, we have to do something useful in Jesus’ name to get that abundant life. 

And Bruh Paul corroborates Cousin Sol’s words when he tells the Romans: ‘Be kindly affectioned (affectionate) one to another with brotherly LOVE; in honour preferring (giving preference to) one another. Not slothful in business (lagging in diligence); fervent (boiling over) in spirit, serving the Lord.’ (Rom. 12:10-11) Yes friends, that’s the kind of attitude and behaviour we ought to display if we’re true believers in Christ Jesus! 

And by the way, here’s another wonderful tidbit from Cousin Sol. ‘He that LOVETH pleasure shall be a poor man: he that LOVETH wine and oil shall not be rich.’ (Prov. 21:17) So that’s another no-no in the search for the abundant life. Nothing’s wrong with pleasure, wine and oil in moderation, for they are all a reward for our labour, but to focus steadfastly and only on them is a definite disaster waiting to happen. And we all know people, even believers who have fallen into that trap of the devil and are shaking it rather rough. 

Now, the sad and unfortunate thing about our failures and mistakes is that they don’t affect just us, the individual, but it flows right through our families, friends, and associates. They all are affected in some manner by our wrong choices and unwise behaviour. That means it’s ever so important that we be very careful about our lifestyles, and live them as Jeeves was won’t to say, ‘with a modicum of circumspection.’ (smile) And that brings us to this next tidbit I just espied in Cousin Sol’s works. (smile) He says: ‘Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.’ (Prov. 21:13) 

Oh my people, that’s the motto of heaven itself! In other words, we reap what we sow! And Jesus said it this way: ‘Judge (condemn) not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement (condemnation) ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete (use), it shall be measured to you again.’ (Matt. 7:1-2) Yes friends, life is like a boomerang; whatever you send out, good or bad, it comes rocketing back to you eventually.  

But, unfortunately, many of us don’t take that basic concept into consideration when we look for revenge or try to do wrong to someone else. That’s why Bruh Paul said to the church at Rome. ‘Recompense (repay) to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men (have regard for good things)…Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.’ (Rom. 12:17, 21) 

Now my brethren, if we are as wise as we ought to be (smile) that should touch our very hearts and souls and wake us up to the reality of the evil and wrongdoing that’s so pervasive in many of our lives and the world in general. Remember the portrait Jesus painted in Matthew 18 when He spoke of forgiveness, with the servant who owed his master a lot of money but could not repay it, so he begged the master for mercy and the master granted him a complete withdrawal of all debt. 

However, the same servant who was shown such incredible mercy responded by locking up a fellow servant who owed him a pittance. His fellow servants brought the matter to his master’s attention. And the master wailed on the unforgiving servant: ‘O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst (begged) me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had on thee? And his lord was wroth (angry), and delivered him to the tormentors (torturers), till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.’ (Matt. 18:32-35) 

Unfortunately though, forgiveness is not a big thing in our world these days, but the truth of the Golden Rule has always been with us, and will always be. Listen to how Jesus says it nuh. ‘Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.’ (Matt. 7:12) And oh, if we would only live by that rule even a li’l more than we’re currently doing, our world would be such a wonderful place! 

Anyway, it’s Thursday and the Lord has given us tools to try and bring those wise and godly attributes to our fellow man, tools we call our Thursday Blessings. However, they have to be declared (steups!!!) out loud for them to be activated. So, let’s do that right now nuh, in strong and sincere voice. ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! 

I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

Now, let’s go out and use those tools to bring others to Christ, or at least to teach them to forgive and do unto others as they wish others to do unto them! That’s the least we can do. Much LOVE!

…why do we always seek forgiveness and goodness…but are so reluctant to grant them… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ     

Today’s Scrip-Bit   18 June 2022 Proverbs 20:13.

18 Jun 2022 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 20:13.      LOVE not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

Oh brother, did we ever have some savage winds blow yesterday… all day and into the night. It seems like they wanted to blow away everything, and it did do some damage, but the strange part is that through it all, the sun shone brightly with not a cloud in the sky and people went about their business as usual. And that strong wind looks like it wants to continue today as the trees outside are still having a rough time of it. 

This makes me think that it’s just another factor in the climate change scenario, because I don’t remember ever having so many strong windstorms, especially in the summertime, until the last few years. But recently an intense wind system has become the norm. Anyway, as Cousin Sol says so wisely in Ecclesiastes. ‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven… He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.’ (Eccl. 3:1, 11:4) 

So, let’s not observe the wind or regard the clouds, but do what it’s time for under the heaven this Saturday morning, (smile) that’s checking out the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. The first one tells us that ‘In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.’ Yes, there are 1440 minutes in a day, and when you put it like that, it appears like we have plenty time available to make a good impact for Christ. 

However, in reality, it doesn’t work that way because we need time to sleep and do other functions that aren’t conducive to making positive impacts on others. That means, to be a good ambassador of Christ, we have to use the time left very wisely, we can’t afford to waste even a minute of it, because every minute lost, means a soul possibly lost to Christ. That’s why we have wise sayings like ‘make hay while the sun shines,’ and Cousin Sol’s words from Proverbs; ‘LOVE not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.’ (Prov. 20:13) 

In other words, don’t be lazy or procrastinating, but be up and about, actively producing a positive impact in the world for yourself and Christ. And the next quote says: ‘There is no advertisement as powerful as a positive reputation travelling fast.’ Now that’s very true, but not very easy to do, especially in a slanderous, evil, greedy and strife-filled world like that in which we currently live. But thankfully our friend Anselm has given us some useful pointers in the other quotes that he’s sent us this week, so we’ll just use them to paint a beautiful picture…all for Jesus Christ. 

Before we get to those quotes though, we must make one definite pronouncement, remembering that we can’t do anything worthwhile without Christ in our lives. He said it as plainly as it can be said. ‘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.’ (John 15:5) And if the Son of God, who is the way the truth and the light, the only way to the Father, says that, then it must be true. So the basic foundation of creating a positive and fulfilling reputation is by having Christ in our lives. 

Then, as Anselm says in the next quote: ‘It’s most important that you surround yourself with positivity always, and have it in your mind at all times.’ Yes friends, we can’t do positive things if we are not filled with positive thinking, but positive thinking based on the word of Christ. That’s the crucial aspect of it all. Christ is the most positive thinker there’s ever been, therefore, to think like Him, His word must always be uppermost in our minds. That brings us to the next quote, the next step in the building process. ‘I surround myself with positive, productive people of good will and decency.’ 

Now, that’s possibly the most essential part of the whole building process! Why? Because, although we personally have all the parts necessary for the purpose, we can’t build anything strong and worthwhile by ourselves, without good material, without good folks around us. And though we might prefer them to be Christian like ourselves, they don’t have to be, since there are good, decent hard-working folks out there who are not believers in Christ, and likewise, plenty supposed believers whom you don’t want around you at all. If you get my meaning. (smile) 

That’s how Christ desires us to build our lives and consequently His church; first on the strong foundation of His word, and then with good, positive, productive helpers, for nothing good is ever constructed with poor, negative, lazy help. And I like this last quote, because it is the sum of all that we’ve spoken about so far, it brings all those things into a Christ-like fulfillment. It says: ‘When you are joyful, when you say yes to life and have fun and project positivity all around you, you become a sun in the center of every constellation, and people want to be near you.’ 

Oh my people, that’s the gospel truth! When we’ve taken what Christ has given us, the fruit of the Spirit, and used it wisely, there’s a heavenly joy that rises up in us that nothing or no one can take away from us, and people see and recognize it and want to be continually around us; ‘like a sun in the centre of every constellation!’ Wow! I like that analogy because it blends in beautifully with what Jesus asks and expects of His followers. 

Remember these poignant words of His in the Sermon on the Mount? ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle (lamp), and put it under a bushel (basket), but on a candlestick (lampstand); and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt. 5:14-16) 

Oh my fellow saints, that is what Jesus expects of us, especially in these times of so much fear and confusion! He expects us to be the ones showing a positive outlook to the world since we have all the good things that He’s bequeathed to us, that He’s died for us to have, like forgiveness of sins, peace, LOVE, joy, salvation and eternal life! 

But we are not doing such a good job, because, if we were, the enemy, the purveyor of darkness would not have the death-like grip he currently has on the world. Instead, the harbinger of light; that’s Jesus, would have been in the ascendancy. So please, let’s get to work nuh. Since we claim to be true believers, it’s high time we do as Jesus desires of us, to bring forth much good fruit. We have all the tools, all the necessary credentials…so what’s holding us back eh?  Much LOVE!

…wherefore…by their fruit…ye shall know them… (Matt. 7:20)   

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​