Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 May 2018 1 Corinthians 3:13.

16 May 2018 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 3:13.    Every man’s work shall be made manifest (become evident): for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try (test) every man’s work of what sort it is. 

Ah friends, more glorious weather is in the offing in my area, but in a couple of other parts of the world, that doesn’t seem to be a likelihood. Apparently the ash from the Hawaiian volcano is still causing problems and the North East coast of the U.S. has been battered by a wicked wind and hale storm, leaving thousands without power. 

Brother! That area of the U.S has certainly taken a pounding this year. Let’s keep hoping and praying and doing whatever we can to help, because we never know when we’ll find ourselves in such a disastrous situation. 

And today I want to share some words attributed to John Maxwell, pastor, author and famous leadership expert. I think I might have shared them before, but if so, they are indeed worthy of being repeated again. (smile) And here John talks about dreams and positive attitudes. 

‘A dream without a positive attitude produces a daydreamer. A positive attitude without a dream, produces a pleasant person who never makes any progress. A dream, together with a positive attitude produces a person with unlimited possibility and potential.’ 

And isn’t that the living truth friends! You can’t have one without the other and be successful. So from today, let’s start putting our dreams together with our positive attitudes nuh, so that we can become people of unlimited possibility and potential. 

The Lord has put many dreams and desires in our hearts, and He has also given us all the tools to bring them to pass. It is now our duty to blend and meld whatever is necessary to produce the good works that God has planned for us to do in this life. 

That brings us to our Bit. ‘Every man’s work shall be made manifest (become evident): for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try (test) every man’s work of what sort it is.’ 

Yes my brethren, come the judgement day our works will be tried by fire to see what they were made of. Hence before our Bit, Bruh Paul writes: ‘According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. 

But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, stubble (straw);’ (1 Cor.3:10-12) 

Yuh see friends, the ONLY sensible foundation for us to build on is Jesus. But even then it’s very important what materials we use to build on Jesus. There are a lot of different things we can use, but we have to be sure that whatever we use can withstand the fire come that fateful day. 

And the scholars offer these explanations: ‘ 3:13. The day is the day of the judgement seat of Christ (cf.4:5; 2 Cor.5:10). Fire is figurative for judgement, more specifically, the absolutely righteous judgement of God. Fire is used here to denote, not enlightening power, but consuming power. Of the six types of material mentioned (vs.12), three are combustible and three are incombustible. See also Deuteronomy 4:24; Malachi 3:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Hebrews 12:29).’ 

And friends, I’d strongly suggest you look up those last four scriptures, I just did, and they surely convinced me of the awesome firepower of our God. So for our works to last we not only have to build upon the foundation that’s Jesus, but also build with incombustible material, meaning, strong serious, worthy work. 

For as Bruh Paul continues: ‘If any man’s work abide (endures) which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by (through) fire.’ (1 Cor.3:14-15) 

And the scholars explain: ‘3:14. Reward (lit. “wages,” cf. 3:8): Of course even the “wages: mentioned here are entirely a gift of grace (cf. 1 Cor.9:17; 2 John 8; Rev.11:18).’ ‘3:15. Saved: Such a one does not suffer the loss of his salvation, but the loss of reward. The stress in this entire passage is not on a person’s relationship to Christ, but on service to Christ.’ 

That’s good news in a sense friends! If our works don’t hold up, we’ll still be in heaven, just somewhat the poorer! (smile) But I know that ALL of us will like our works to stand the test of time and fire, we don’t want to be the poor relations in heaven, therefore we will ALL endeavour to build on Jesus with time tested, incombustible materials. 

And to help us do that, let’s go home declaring our Wednesday Wail, letting the world clearly know our position in Jesus. In loud voice and sincere heart 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 that future ever be glorious my believing brethren! Much LOVE!

…now he that planteth…and he that watereth…are one…and every man shall receive his own reward…according to his own labour… (1 Cor.3:8)

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 February 2015 Psalm 62:12

26 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 62:12.  Also unto thee O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest (rewardeth) to every man according to his work.

 Well… ‘The party’s over my Friends. It’s time to call it a day…’ Chuh! And as the old saying goes, ‘an end to all fine things must be.’Yeh mih people, the ole fella’s stay on Paradise ends today. How heartbreaking! (smile) But them’s the breaks! It’s time to go back and face the real world now, and leave this fairy tale world behind.

‘But I LOVE this fairy tale world,’ I protest. The Lord answers, ‘Yes I know that, but I have other things for you to do right now.’ And as an obedient child of the Father, I quietly acknowledge, ‘Yes Lord, I know, and I will submit to your will and go back and face the cold with faith and trust in your everlasting wisdom and heavenly guidance.’ What else can I say eh my brethren? Nothing really.

Now here is this timely quote from my One More Day Devotional, Daily Meditations for People with Chronic Illness. It is attributed to Eva Rose York (1858 –after 1935) Canadian composer, organist, teacher and editor. One of the first female composers in Canada.

Eva Rose writes: ‘I shall not pass this way again; Then let me now relieve some pain, remove some barrier from the road, or brighten someone’s heavy load.’

Very worthwhile words and sentiments my Friends and fellow believers in Jesus Christ! And that is exactly what we are all called to do; brighten someone’s day, and lighten their load if we can. If it’s only with a smile or a kind word.

And that quote segues very nicely right into our Bit from Psalm 62 – God only is my rock and my salvation, immortal words of praise and thanks from Bruh David to Almighty God. Let’s begin with the verse before our Bit, so that we can get a better idea of the context of the passage.

‘God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest (rewardeth) to every man according to his work.’

And that’s gospel truth my brethren! We are, and will be rewarded for whatever work we do down here on earth, be it good or bad. And though the Lord is indeed merciful, He will not allow us to get away with continual disobedience, punishment of some kind will be definitely in the offing.

Anyway, I don’t have much time to ramble on this morning, as I have to finish packing, so let’s get straight to some scriptures that uphold the truth of our Bit. (smile) And we’ll begin with the words of Jesus, as He foretells His passion to His disciples.

‘For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.’ (Matt.16:26-27) There you have it Friends, straight from Jesus’ mouth. So if He says so, who are we to doubt it eh?

Now listen to Bruh Paul as he admonishes the church at Rome, as he tells them that to judge others is to condemn oneself. ‘But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds;

To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious (self-seeking), and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile.’ (Rom.2:5-9)

Oh Friends, there it is again in black and white. We will reap what we sow, be greatly rewarded for our good deeds on God’s behalf, and suffer punishment for our unrighteousness. And here are some explanations on those verses from the scholars.

‘2:6. In this parenthetical discourse setting forth the controlling principle of God’s judgment, Paul explains how and why God will judge, and how He can judge both Jew and Gentile and be completely fair in the process. The controlling principle will be according to…deeds because deeds give incontrovertible proof of what is in the heart.’

‘2:7-10. For the regenerate the judgment will result in eternal life; for the unregenerate it will result in indignation and wrath. To the Jew first: Unbelieving Jews will have prominence in condemnation, believing Jews will have prominence in reward.’

And we’ll end with more words of Bruh Paul, this time from his first missive to the Corinthians, who were bickering about whom they should follow, Apollos or Bruh Paul and letting them know instead that Christians are co-labourers.

‘Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his labour. For we are labourers together with God (God’s fellow workers): ye are God’s husbandry (field), ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.’ (1 Cor.3:8-10)

Yes my people, we are all co-workers with God in His ministry of spreading the Word. We might plant and build, but let’s be very careful about why, what and where we plant and build, and above all remember that it is God who grants any increase that we might get. It is not simply of our doing. That is wisdom of the highest order.

So let’s go out today and plant and build in Jesus’ name with the excellence, truth and LOVING-kindness that He expects of His true followers. Much LOVE!

…to work for, and with Jesus…is man’s greatest privilege…and brings forth his greatest joy…