Today’s Scrip-Bit   8 December 2021 Psalm 139:23.

08 Dec 2021 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 139:23.     Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my (anxious) thoughts:

Well, the wet, white stuff drizzling down out there, has my area white and slushy and messy. (smile) And you know that once man gets into something he just naturally makes a mess of it. The white stuff looks beautiful when it’s untouched by mankind, but after that…Chuh! It’s totally ugly! Anyway, with Christ in our lives, we can see anything, even the ugliest of the ugly, and it will look beautiful to us. That’s just how much His presence in our lives can accomplish. But before we can get to that state, or stage of mind, we first have to go through a metamorphosis, as described by this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Poems with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, aptly titled ‘Turnabout.’ 

It says: ‘God, for so long I thought that by praying I could change Your mind. Often I prayed Fervently pleading Until I felt Emotionally pulverized. Then I gradually began to grasp That the purpose of prayer Is to find Your mind and let You change mine. Little by little The turnabout is renewing me. Slowly I begin to feel A settling quietness. I wait while You woo me To Your will, dear Lord. I wait until my thoughts Harmonize with Yours. For in my deepest heart Despite my guarded resistance I somehow sense That what You want from me Is stupendously more Than anything I could Dream or wish or want For myself.’ 

And that’s the gospel truth friends! Our great and wonderful God wants way more for us than we can even think or imagine, but we keep belittling ourselves. And until we sincerely and seriously come to realize His awesome plans and intentions for our lives, we will always fall way below our God-given potential. And the first step towards that goal is to realize that the purpose of prayer is not to change God’s mind, but to change ours, to bring our will into harmony with His. Remember He’s Number One, that means His will must be first and foremost in our lives. 

And even when we realize this, the turnaround doesn’t happen overnight, not even quickly, because it’s something we’ve got to become accustomed to, that must become a habit for us to successfully complete the metamorphosis. As the poem says: ‘Slowly I begin to feel A settling quietness. I wait while You woo me To Your will, dear Lord. I wait until my thoughts Harmonize with Yours.’ Yes my people, in all our dealings with our heavenly Father, a period of waiting is necessary. He can change us overnight, if He so desires, but then we would not appreciate the change like we should. 

Please note the butterfly; he begins life as a caterpillar, but he knows that flying is his ultimate end, and though he’s eager and anxious to fly, he knows that he must go through a period of waiting, of being a slimy, creeping, crawling caterpillar before he changes into a beautiful butterfly. And he also knows that the change from crawler to flyer is not going to be an easy one, involving many complications, but then too, he is willing to undergo that painful change from caterpillar to butterfly, so that he can achieve his divine destiny. 

Now that’s how we ought to be my brethren; willing to go through the changes, slow and painful though they may be, so that we can accomplish God’s divine plan for our lives. And the Bible verses upon which our poem is based are good, solid, meaningful ones from the pen of Bruh David, from that marvellous Psalm 139 – titled ‘The everlasting presence and power of God.’ They are the last two verses, where he pleads: ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my (anxious) thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’ (Ps. 139:23-24) 

Wow mih people! What an awesome request! But it’s a state to which believers must strive to attain. A state of mind where we can confidently and seriously ask the Lord to check our hearts and deal with any negative or evil stuff that’s buried deep within. Only when we can do that, will we have attained to a state of grace that allows us the freedom to come and go to God without any fear or anxiety, because we know that He will not judge or punish us, but meet us right where we are with His amazing LOVE and mercy. 

Yuh see how Bruh David was always in God’s face, regardless of the wrong things he might have done? That’s why God could call him His friend and a man after His own heart. He always came to Him with His problems, was constantly praising and talking to Him. That’s how we ought to be. As Bruh Paul said to the Thessalonians: ‘Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ (1 Thess. 5:16-18) 

That is what the Lord wants of and for us. To come to Him in prayer on each and every matter, big or small, being joyful and giving thanks, knowing that He’s in control and will eventually make all things right in our lives. But that depends on the levels of our trust in Him and our surrender to His divine will. And those can only grow over time, as we increasingly feel more comfortable with going to Him with all our problems and seeing His work in our lives. 

And if we want to see that ‘Turnabout’ in our lives then we must begin doing the things it takes as soon as possible, like right now! (smile) Because the longer we wait to begin, the longer it will take to happen, and we’ll miss out on a whole lot of good things in between. Yes friends, I can guarantee, that when you get comfortable with going to God on all matters, your life will change for the better. Oh…it might also get harder, but you will also be able to handle the difficulties better. (smile) That’s God’s promise. And He is faithful that promised. End of sermon. 

Now, for those of us who are sincerely working on our turnabout, let’s go home declaring (awrighttt!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus. Altogether 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 yuh better believe, that if we endure until the end, that future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…the best habit we can ever form…going to God on every matter…prayerfully, joyfully and thankfully… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 October 2018 2 Corinthians 5:17.

06 Oct 2018 Leave a comment

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

2 Corinthians 5:17.    ​Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (new creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

 

Ah, a rainy Saturday morning, just right for sleeping in! Yeh, woke up to find showers, or rather drizzles of blessings watering the land. And I know that many of you are going to take this opportunity to sleep in this morning, as the mind is saying: ‘Chuh! Forget all the household chores yes! Forget the groceries yes! There’s enough stuff in the fridge for another day!

Snuggle up next to your significant other and enjoy their human warmth, which is like no other warmth in the universe! Just pamper yourself today; rest and relax and smell the coffee gurgling away in the coffee-maker downstairs.’ 

And that ties in quite nicely to our first quote from our friend Anselm, whose quotes we review each Saturday, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow.  He says: ‘You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.’

Yeh friends, that’s absolutely true! Earthly life is very short in comparison to eternity, so we don’t need to get all uptight and worried, just mosey along confidently and enjoy all the stuff the Lord has placed down here for us to enjoy. 

And that leads us to this next interesting quote: ‘I think being in LOVE with life is a key to eternal youth.’ No doubt about that my brethren! When we LOVE life, it keeps us young and sparkling! We smile a lot, are contented a lot and have much less resentment than those who struggle with life. For it’s really the negative emotions we harbour and display that really drag us down and make us old before our time. (smile) 

Now listen to this quote: ‘You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.’ I don’t necessarily agree with that, because the changes needed are sometimes small and very doable within the existing model. And just look at our current situation, where everyday we have a new model of something; oftimes they are no better than the old one, but inevitably they make the old ones obsolete. 

And look at the amount of different models we have of human societies! People are trying to change them from both inside and outside, but they’re not getting any better. Some of the old models worked much better than the new ones. Look at the French Revolution, and the Communist Revolution in Russia. Neither made life any better. In fact both were more cruel and inhumane than the previous models. 

And there’s much truth in this next quote: ‘People can cry much easier than they can change.’ For sure, for sure! Crying comes much easier than changing because ‘Our dilemma is that we hate change and LOVE it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.’ What insight into our human nature! 

We all want things to change for the better, but we hate to go through the tough changes that change always brings. As the quote says, we want it to get better while staying the same. That’s because change takes us out of our comfort zone, into one we don’t know, and might not like. But friends, change, whether for good or bad, always means changing something in our lives. 

Look at the butterfly nuh, look at its metamorphosis; how it creeps along like a snail for a while, then sheds its reptile-like skin and suddenly transforms itself into a beautiful butterfly! I’m sure it’s no easy task to shed that skin, but it knows the rewards that will come from making such a painstaking change. 

And so it is with us friends, we all are changed, go through our own metamorphosis, when we come to know, LOVE, and work for Christ. As Bruh Paul says to the Corinthians in our Bit: ‘​Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (new creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’ And that’s gospel truth my people! 

When we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour we just become entirely different people! We stop living by the carnal lusts of the flesh, by the evil and sinful ways of the world. We are first changed on the inside by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us, then others gradually see those changes manifested on the outside as the Holy Spirit begins to work Christ-like ways in us. We embrace a totally new way of life; a Spirit filled life. 

As Jesus told the disciples once when they were murmuring about His teaching: ‘It is the spirit that quickeneth (gives life); the flesh profiteth nothing: the words I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.’ (John 6:63)

Yes friends, the flesh is basically worthless, because it eventually dies and returns to the dust from which it was made. However, the spirit lives on forever; either in hell fire and damnation, or in heaven with our Triune God. 

But that distinction can only be made by an earthly decision to accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Believe me people, it’s the wisest decision you can ever make in this earthly life, because failure to do so, will bring the worst fate possible to a human soul; eternal separation from Almighty God for ALL of eternity! 

And believe me, that’s a long, long, long…exceedingly long time! So please make that oh so wise decision today nuh; right now, because the Grim Reaper can come calling at any time. And once He comes, it’s too late! Much LOVE!

…don’t put off for tomorrow…what you can do today…it can mean hell fire…instead of heavenly bliss…