Job 9:1-2. Then Job answered and said, I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s a tad tired this morning. I don’t really know why, because I’ve had lots of sleep. I was even late in getting down here to write the Bit. But you know what, in my time of need there, I asked the Lord to help me put on my spiritual armour, because I realized that the enemy was coming strong against me.
Then I declared one of the affirmations on my desk, that I can do EVERYTHING through Christ who provides new opportunities for me each and every day, and I’m not settling for where I am now, but reaching out, stretching myself and pursuing what God has put in my heart. So now, through the working of the Holy Spirit, I’m bubbling over and ready to go. (smile)
Oh Friends, believe me, we do serve and worship a most wonderful God! And He’s put it in my heart this morning to give us the monthly reminder to check and see how we’re doing in our New Year’s Resolution to walk with Him in a stronger, more LOVING and trusting relationship for this year of 2013.
So please let’s check on that, and however we’ve done over the past month, prayerfully ask the Lord to help us improve, because I know that NONE of us have yet reached that plateau, that maturity where we don’t need to grow anymore.
In fact, I strongly doubt if any of us will ever reach such ‘heightful’ heights in this earthly life. So good luck… Chuh! I keep forgetting that there’s no such thing as luck with believers in Christ, that it’s all God’s planning and His blessings! So may He bless us all as we review our ever-growing intimacy with Him.
Now let’s turn to our Bit where Job acknowledges God’s justice. ‘Then Job answered and said, I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God (how can a man be righteous before God)?’
Oh Friends, it’s IMPOSSIBLE for a man to be justified with God! For He is a supreme, immortal, infinite Being, way above the finite, mortal, inept sinful man we represent.
And as Job continues: ‘If he will contend with him (one wished to argue with him), he cannot answer him one of a thousand (one time out of a thousand). He (God) is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? (Job 9:3-4)
Absolutely NO ONE my Friends! For NO MAN can match wits or strength with His Creator, Almighty God! That’s like the created becoming greater than the creator, a usually unheard of circumstance.
And as the scholars say of Job’s questions: ‘Job complains that one cannot argue with an infinite God about justice; God could ask a thousand unanswerable questions.’ And isn’t that the gospel truth my people!
It’s also interesting how Job’s buddy Eliphaz puts forth that same question when he rebukes Job earlier on. ‘Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker? Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly (error):
How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? They are destroyed (broken in pieces) from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any (anyone) regarding it. Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? They die, even without wisdom.’ (Job 4:17-21)
Ah mih people, in spite of so much evidence to the contrary, yet so many of us weak-fleshed mortals, still try to fight against God, who’s been around since the beginning of time, and will still be on his mighty and glorious throne till eternity.
Now listen to Eliphaz again, as he further reproves Job in a later chapter. ‘What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold, he (God) putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?’ (Job 15:14-16)
All of that my brethren is unquestionable truth! Man in his natural sinfulness cannot be righteous with God!
It’s only by the most generous grace and LOVING-kindness of Jehovah, through the sacrifice of His holy and innocent Son, Jesus Christ, whose shed blood paid the debt for our abominable sins, that we are even able to stand in God’s presence. And until we truly realize that my people, we’ll always be on the outside of God’s heaven, tearfully and despondently looking in.
So Friends, let’s ask God to help us stop thinking more highly of ourselves that we actually are nuh. We were formed from the dust of the earth, and through the holy breath, breathed in to us by the Most High God, we were given life.
Consequently, whenever He chooses to remove that breath of life from our frail bodies, we have absolutely no say in the matter. Then right back to the dust of the earth from which we were created, we will return.
Therefore let’s sincerely honour and worship the great God, the Creative Creator who created us to be in a LOVING relationship with Him. That, my people, is the wisdom of the ages! Much LOVE!
…to live this earthly life…and NOT LOVE Almighty God…is a fool’s wisdom…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 September 2013 Job 9:1-2
10 Sep 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a fool's wisdom, abominable sins, affirmations, almighty god, angels, argue with God, blessings, born of a woman, breath of life, bubbling over, Creator, crushed before the moth, despondently, destruction, dust of the earth, earthly life, Eliphaz, error, ever-growing intimacy, folly, fought against God, foundation of dust, frail bodies, God's justice, God's presence, God's wise in heart, gospel truth, holy breath, holy spirit, honour, houses of clay, improve, infinite God, infinte Being, iniquity, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, Job, justice, justified with God, loving kindness, LOVING realtionship, man, match wits, mighty in strength, monthly reminder, more just than God, mortal man, Most High God, most wonderful God, need to grow, new opportunities, New Year's resolution, of a truth, on the outside looking in, perish, plateau of maturity, prayerfully ask the Lord, prospered, pursuing what God's put in my heart, religion, righteous before God, sacrifice, saints, serve, sinful man, sinfulness, spiritual armour, spirituality, tad tired, tearfully, the ole fella, theology, time of need, trust, trusting relationship, unanswerable questions, unquestionable truth, walk with god, wisdom, wisdom of the ages, wonderful god, worship
Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 March 2013 Daniel 11:32
27 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: action, awesome truth, believers, blooming flowers, buzzing bees, Christ, covenant, death defeated, Easter Sunday, eternity, ever-LOVING God, exploits, faithful, flattery, flora and fauna, followers of Christ, glory hallelujah, Good Friday, green grass, holy spirit, Holy Week, ill-gotten gains, leave a mark, LOVE Revolution, make a difference, Most High God, new life, only true God, Praise the Lord, prophecy, rejuvenation, resurrection, sacrifice, scripture, singing birds, sound mind, spirituality, spring, strength, sunshine, the Good Book, unity, wickedness
Daniel 11:32. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.
Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 February 2013 Psalm 5:9
24 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: bitterness, choke hold, christianity, cursing, destruction, faithfulness, fallen creation, forgiveness, generosity, God's faithfulness, heartaches, heavenly hosts, human condition, justice, loving, mercy, misery, mornng by morning, Most High God, new mercies, pain, praise and thanksgiving, religion, sadness, saviour jesus christ, sincerity, spirituality, tears, testimony, trust, truth, worship
Psalm 5:9. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
And yet another glorious day in the life begins my Friends, so let’s start it with some thanks and praise nuh. Let’s sing a verse of the old hymn that could probably be called ‘Old Faithful’ because it’s been around for a long time and whenever we sing it, it also regenerates our faith in the faithfulness and trustworthiness of our Wonderful God. Sing with me: ‘Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All that I needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.’ And isn’t that the awesome truth my fellow believers! We can all attest to the faithfulness of God in our lives; in the past, the present, and if we continue clinging to Him, also in the future. He’s just that kind of LOVING, trusting, generous and merciful God to all those who serve and worship Him in truth and sincerity. And all God’s people loudly and joyously declared: ‘All praise and thanksgiving be unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who made the earth, heavens, and all therein, and who controls it with LOVE, mercy, justice and forgiveness! Oh Lord, we your humble servants truly LOVE You, and this Sunday morning we bless and praise Your Most Holy Name! Amen.’ Oh Friends, did you see the big smiles on the faces of our heavenly Father and our Saviour, Jesus Christ as those heartfelt prayers reached up to heaven? Even the heavenly hosts were smiling and adding their own ‘Praise the Lord! For He is good and merciful and forgiving!’ Ah mih bredden, if there could only be such smiles and happiness down here on earth, instead of the many frowns, heartaches, sadness, tears and pain that currently envelop our world, that have us in an ever tightening choke hold. But I guess that’s the price we have to pay for being a fallen creation. And sadly, we’re not helping the situation by consciously steering our lives to the sinful side of our nature, instead of the righteous and godly side. We all have that pocket in our souls permanently reserved for our Maker, which nothing or no one else can fill, but unless we consciously venture to fill it with Him, our lives will end up a total mess. And if you don’t believe me, just take a look around at our society with so many people hurting and searching for relief from their many sorrows. Unfortunately though, they are searching in the wrong places, heading in the wrong direction. They’re turning to manmade aids; drugs, booze, shrinks etc, which are not helping, but making them worse, increasing their pain and sorrows. Ah Friends, there’s only one antidote for the human state, one prescription to ease his pain and suffering: that’s Almighty God, his Maker and Controller! And until we realize that and turn back to Him in droves, just like we’ve turned away in droves, the human state will remain one of exceedingly vile, evil, ungodly conditions. Tragic loss, pain and ‘sufferation’ will continue to be his unenviable lot. That brings us to our very appropriate Bit: ‘For there is no faithfulness (uprightness) in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness (destruction); their throat is an open sepulchre (tomb); they flatter with their tongue.’ And isn’t that the undeniable truth about the state of our society my fellow believers? It sure is! Now let me share a testimony of our Lord’s delightful faithfulness. When I began writing today, I had no clue what I was going to write about. I had not even opened the Good Book to look for a Bit. I just had the verse of the ‘Old Faithful’ Hymn written on a piece of paper, and contrary to my usual method of writing, where I do a rough copy on paper first, I just began writing on the computer and the words and ideas just flowed, so I continued, until I got to the unenviable lot of humans. Then I began chuckling, asked the Lord to guide me to an appropriate Bit, and opened my Bible. And, lo and behold, according to His great faithfulness, I found one in less than five minutes. Just goes to show Friends, that if we genuinely seek our God, we’ll find Him, and He will answer our prayers, especially where it pertains to His Word. Now let’s turn to some thought provoking scripture to corroborate our contentions. This comes from Bruh Paul’s writing to the Romans. ‘There is none righteous, No, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre (grave); with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ (Rom.3″10-18) Oh Friends, doesn’t that describe our world to a T? It certainly does. Bruh Paul uses his vast knowledge of the scriptures, using various bits and pieces to highlight our insufficiency and sad, degenerate state. Listen to the scholars comment on that passage. ‘Paul quotes scripture to prove universal guilt. Scripture, not Paul, is the judge. See Psalm 5:9; 10:7; 14:1-3; 140:3; Isaiah 59:7-8’ Those are some of the scriptures Bruh Paul uses in that very revealing section of Romans. And rather appropriately, just as we began, we’ll end with a glowing testimony from Isaiah on the Lord’s faithfulness. ‘O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.’ (Is.25:1) And that’s the gospel truth my brethren! So let’s go out now and do as that great prophet just said; praise and exalt the name of the Most High God Jehovah, for it is right and meet so to do. Much LOVE!…only in the faithfulness of our heavenly Father…can man put absolute trust…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 September 2012 Proverbs 17:13
13 Sep 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: blessings, evil, good, greed, indifference, kindness, moral consciousness, Most High God, puppets, summer's day, thankful, unstable weather, wickedness, winter
Proverbs 17:13. Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.
Oh my wonderful Friends in Christ, yesterday turned out to be a beautiful summer’s day in my area, with a warm but not too hot sun, a cool, refreshing breeze and cloudless blue skies. Wow! A perfect summer’s day in any language! And today promises to be a day of the same high calibre. All praise and thanks be to our Most High God Jehovah! Some of you might not understand my enthusiasm for what you consider a normal, ordinary day. But up here in the northern climes we have to cherish and relish those days like gold, since the winter weather will be soon upon us, and the days will become so short and oftimes so dark that you can’t even see the sun, much less feel its warmth. And with the weather being so precarious and unstable these days, you can’t predict with any real surety, what it will be like from one day to the next. So those of you, who have constant sunshine and warmth all year round, please be very thankful for it eh! Don’t add yourselves to the already teeming ranks of those who disregard our Bit. ‘Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.’ I meant there, that God’s giving you good days, but you’re treating His blessings with callous indifference, simply taking it for granted. Ah mih people, evil has become so ingrained and prevalent in our society in the last thirty or so years that it’s mind-boggling. So much so that we take a lot of evil stuff for granted and just do them without thinking. Simply put, the moral fabric of the entire world has just plumb gone to hell in a bucket! When there’s no proper evaluation or even consensus over right and wrong, good and evil, what else can we really expect eh? Some of the things we do now without any pricks of conscience, thirty years ago we wouldn’t even have contemplated them, much less put them into action. Friendship, or what passes for friendship, is not as strong as it once was. We make all sorts of promises just because they are convenient, without ever intending to keep them. We boldly and blatantly curse our parents, leaving them to suffer avoidable pain and sorrow in their old age, being less warm and kind to them than in any other generation in history. We use today’s fast and busy society as an excuse to just dump our parents in an old people’s home and basically forget about them, visiting them once in a blue moon. As our Bit says: How can we not suffer the burning pangs of evil, when we repay kindness with wickedness? That’s our God’s universal and everlasting prescription for such unjust, unrighteous behaviour! In Psalm 109, A prayer for the punishment of the wicked, Bruh David says it thus: ‘For (in return for) my LOVE they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my LOVE.’ (Ps.109:4-5) Yes Friends, just look at all the fraudulent acts that have recently been unearthed, where thousands of people have lost their life savings and retirement money to evil schemers, many of whom were relatives and/or close friends. Consider the failure of the big banks, through greed and excessive remuneration to the top echelons. People put their money in the banks and these other schemes in good faith, and what do they get in return? NADA, NOTHING! The same goes for our greedy and untrustworthy politicians and civic officials. They can’t seem to do anything that’s right and good because they have little or no backbone and are thus been played like the proverbial puppet on a string by the evil ringmasters. But Friends, they will all get their comeuppance eventually, and I can assure you it won’t be good, because our God is keeping score and will repay them when the time’s right! Many have already succumbed to ill health, suicide and jail, their families humbled and shamed, while many are still living in dire fear of being caught. Evil has no place to run and hide Friends, please remember that. Whatever is done in darkness will eventually come to light and the perpetrators, or their families WILL pay. Many of us have suffered evil at the hands of those we trusted or treated with a good and righteous heart, only to be cast adrift later on with an unholy ‘see you later alligator’ attitude and wave off. I can tell from personal experience that those things do hurt very much my people, but sometimes we just have to grin and bear them. I like how Bruh David says it in Psalm 38; the prayer of a penitent heart: ‘But mine enemies are lively (vigorous), and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is (that is good).’ (Ps.38:19-20) Yes Friends, it hurts the most when we have gone out of our way to do the good and right thing, then get suckered for it. But as Peter so rightly advises: ‘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, neither be troubled.’ (1 Pet.3:14-15) I know that’s hard to do Friends, but it’s the way Jesus wants His followers to be. Remember He suffered immeasurable unfairness and evil for our sakes, and never complained. We are called to do likewise, and with His help, through His Holy Spirit, we can indeed leave the evil hurts we suffer to God to rectify. That’s wisdom at its zenith. Much LOVE!…the pilgrim’s journey is long and arduous…but with Jesus stoking the fires of his heart…he is able to withstand…and eventually overcome…
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