Well my people, it’s a rather wet and windy day in my neighbourhood, and most likely in some of yours too. But yuh know what? Through the awesome power of the Holy Spirit which indwells us, we can both enjoy and make good use of the somewhat negative circumstances! Wow! Give our Lord and Saviour much thanks and praise for the enjoyment of life that’s been made ours through His magnanimous sacrifice at Calvary’s cross nuh, for He is fully deserving of it!
To tell the truth, because of our limited and finite minds, we can’t even come up with a truly ‘gratitudinous’ (smile) answer to His sacrifice, so great is the price He paid for our spiritual freedom! But nonetheless, we’ll muddle along with our limited vocabulary because all He really desires is simple praise and thanks and obedience.
And just to show how great a relationship is possible with our wonderful God, check out this marvelous poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. It’s titled ‘Beautiful Things Happen!’ And indeed they do when we partner with Jesus!
Please pray with me: ‘O God Such beautiful things happen When I meet You day by day In quietness and confidence. There is a deep inner wholeness And the assurance of Your guidance. I am not so easily disturbed by changing circumstances. I am less dependent on others And more dependent on You.
My eyes may be full of tears But my heart is full of joy. In discovering Your hidden treasures I learn how deeply I am treasured by You. When day by day I am responsive To Your whispered secrets You do more for me in one day Than I could do for myself in a lifetime.’
Glory to our great and most wonderful God my faithful brethren, because that is the gospel truth! Our Lord does more for us in one day, than we could ever do for ourselves in a whole lifetime! That’s why we ought to treasure and exalt and praise and be obedient to Him! But my favourite line in the poem is ‘I learn how deeply I am treasured by You.’
Ah mih people, the Lord certainly treasures us yes, because when we were still sinners, God showed His awesome and unconditional LOVE for us by sending His only Son Jesus Christ to die for us so that we could renew a right relationship with Him! (Rom.5:8) How touching and heartwarming is that eh? Very! Only a truly caring personality would make such a sacrifice! And our God is caring, if nothing else!
And that’s surely borne out by Jesus’ comments: ‘For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.’ (Matt.18:11) And also in His parables about the lost, sheep, coin and son: ‘I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just (upright) persons, which need no repentance.’ (Luke:15:7)
Oh friends, that just goes to show how much our Godhead treasures even the lost, in fact they don’t want to lose even a single soul to the evil one. And now we come to the scripture passage on which the above poem is based, and which is also our Bit for today.
From the ever-encouraging words of Bruh David in his evening prayer of trust in God. ‘Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn (grain) and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.’ (Ps.4:7-8)
Oh precious people, that’s the living truth! When we surrender our souls to the perfect trust of God, such joy and gladness permeates our souls, more than even in the time of harvest when we reap the benefits of our labour. And thus we can lie down and sleep in peace, without any worries about what’s’ happening in the world and our individual lives, since our great God, in His awesome trustworthiness keeps us safely under His broad wings, like a mother hen does her chicks!
Thus the psalmist concludes in Psalm 97, re the Lord is far above all gods. ‘Ye that LOVE the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance (for the memory) of his holiness (His holy name).’ (Ps.97:10-12)
Oh my fellow saints in Christ, that is wisdom of enormous proportions! So please let’s be wise and do it nuh. And we can begin right now by declaring (steups!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know who and whose we are! In strong, sincere voice now:
‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’
So let’s go out and share Jesus’ amazing LOVE and friendship with others, as He’s asked us to do nuh. Much LOVE!
…if you’re a believer…and there’s no joy in your heart…then something’s seriously wrong…talk to the Lord about it…
P.S. It’s short and sweet today! Give the Lord thanks for that! (smile)
SCRIP-BITS 