Genesis 15:1. After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Once more it’s Friday Friends, and we’re all singing, ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ gearing up for a joyous weekend. But let’s all be careful that we don’t get too carried away with the joyfulness and cross the border line, where it turns to sin, for that’s very easy to do when we don’t have a good handle on our thoughts and our behaviour.
So to help us have some moderation and keep our eyes on Jesus, let’s chant our Friday Chant. As one harmonious voice now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yeh mih people, in this evil, ungodly world, we need to be on our p’s and q’s at all times. And interestingly enough, I came across a rather appropriate quote this morning, attributed to one Daniel W. Josselyn, which says: ‘Rest is not a matter of doing absolutely nothing. Rest is repair.’
And that’s a fact Friends! Rest doesn’t just, or always, mean doing nothing, but sometimes simply doing other things that will repair and rejuvenate our spirits and bodies. What’s the saying? ‘A change is as good as a rest,’ or something to that effect. So when we hear the word rest, let’s not always jump to the conclusion that it’s time to laze around and do nothing. (smile)
Now let’s look at our Bit. ‘After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.’
Some of the things the Good Book’s talking about here are: Abram being driven down to Egypt because of famine in Canaan. Of deceiving Pharaoh by saying that Sarai was his sister, and the Lord opening Pharaoh’s eyes to the truth, before he could touch her. Pharaoh sending Abram away, back to Canaan, where he and Lot separate. Lot goes to live in Sodom, and as we saw yesterday, the Lord promises Abram the land as far as he could see. (Gen.13:14-18)
Then certain kings come to fight against Sodom and Gomorrah, and Lot and his people are carried away captive. When Abram hears of this, he and 318 of his fighting men pursue the captors, rescue Lot and return all the spoil to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Then he comes upon Melchizedek, king of Salem, ‘the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.’ (Gen.14:18b-20)
Abram later refused the offerings, rewards of the ungodly king of Sodom, just food for his men. ‘I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.’ (Gen.14:23b) That’s a good attitude for us to adopt my brethren, when we are approached by evildoers to participate in their evil doings, or the spoils of their evil doings.
So we can see that Abram lived a very full and interesting later period of life. A time when most of us figure we should just retire from active life and do nothing. But the fact is when we completely retire from life, we die, both literally and figuratively.
Anyway, let’s hear these words from the scholars re our Bit, before we move on to some scriptures. ’15:1. Thy shield and thy exceeding great reward: This chapter introduces the Abrahamic covenant by which God promises him an heir and eventual descendants who will one day possess the land of Canaan. The word ‘shield’ is translated in other passages as “believed.”
Thus God is the object of Abram’s faith and thereby the source of his confidence. The promise of reward is especially significant in view of the fact that Abram had just refused a reward from the king of Sodom. God himself would be Abram’s true reward. (c.f. Ps.127:3)’
Oh Friends, I don’t know if I’m spoiling you, (smile) but here’s what that scripture says: ‘Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: the fruit of the womb is his reward.’ (Ps. 127:3)
It shows the value of relying on God, especially for children, which Abram did, as these passages of scripture show, after God spoke to him in our Bit. ‘And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward (heir) of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one (a servant) born in my house is mine heir. And behold the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad (outside), and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell (count) the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.’ (Gen. 15:2-6)
Yes my brethren, it’s all a matter of belief! And belief leads to obedience, and obedience to righteousness and rewards. And as the scholars so rightly point out: ‘This was not his (Abram’s) original act of faith, but a further evidence of his confidence in God.’
So please, my fellow believers, let’s listen closely to what God is saying to us today, what He’s promising us, if we believe and obey Him, for that’s wisdom at its highest height. Much LOVE!
…behold…to obey is better than sacrifice…and to hearken (listen) than the fat of rams… (1 Sam.15:22b)
Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 November 2013 Genesis 12:2.
14 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: aberration, Abram, Abram's behaviour, altar, be a blessing, bless thee, calamity, Canada, colour the situation, curse, dust of the earth, eat one's words, evil, expected end, fellow believers, forgiveness, fortitude, future, God's pronouncements, God's reserved space, God's Spirit, great faith, great nation, Haran, Hebron, heir, hem and haw, hope, jesus name, job frustration, lacked for nothing, leading and guiding, lift up your eyes, Lot, make tracks, Mamre, mercy, negatives, nomadic journey, obedience, obey God's dictates, omnipotent god, politics, positives, praise Your Holy Name, promises, pull up stakes, reality, renege on a promise, Sodom & Gomorrah, T&T, Thank You Lord, thoughts of peace, unknown God, words of wisdom, work ethic
Genesis 12:2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.
Ah mih people, once again the Lord has seen it fit to bless us with another glorious day of life on Planet Earth! Isn’t that wonderful? It sure is! And for that let’s give Him a loud shout of ‘Thank You Lord, for being so good to us! We praise You and Bless Your Holy Name. Amen.’
And I won’t get into any long preamble today, (smile) because in this promise there’s a lot of scripture I want to share. Remember we’re currently dealing with the promises of God to man. And today’s promise is one of the greatest promises ever given by our omnipotent God to one of His creations. It’s His call to Abram.
Hear how it starts: ‘Now the Lord had said unto Abram (High Father), Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ (Gen.12:1-3)
Oh Friends, what a great promise for a move of obedience. The Lord called Abram to leave his father’s house in Haran to go out, only the Lord knew where.
However my fellow believers, it’s very important that we study, pay great attention to Abram’s behaviour, his great faith and fortitude, for as believers, the Lord’s constantly leading and guiding us to do things and go places that seem to have no basis in the reality of our situations. But like Abram, once we’re convinced the guidance and direction is of our God, then we need to make tracks and do it.
Now Abram had no way of knowing where the Lord was planning to take him, or what sort of life he was going to have. For heaven’s sake, he was already seventy-five years old, wealthy and quite settled in his ways. The only thing he lacked was a child, an heir from his own loins.
So why would he pull up stakes at that late stage of his life and head out with his whole family and his possessions on some nomadic journey that some unknown God told him to take eh?
On the face of it, the many negatives definitely outweighed the positives. In fact, judging from the outward aspects of the situation, there were no positives whatsoever. But despite all the negatives that seemed to colour the situation, something in Abram made him do it.
I guess the Lord filled that little reserved space in Abram’s soul with His Spirit. The same space that is reserved for God alone in all His human creations.
The promises were indeed enormous, but I don’t know if at seventy-five, with wealth and comfort to last my lifetime, I’d want to journey into the great unknown, just to father a great nation, or to make my name great.
Oh, I’d better shut up here yes, because knowing the Lord’s penchant for making one eat one’s words and for drama, at seventy five, He’ll just find some new mountain for me to climb. (smile)
‘So I’m sorry Lord. I take that back. That was just a slight aberration on my part. Please forgive me. I’ll go anywhere you send me, at any age. Thank You Lord for your mercy and forgiveness. In Jesus’ name I pray.’
Doh laugh nuh Friends, I’ve made that kind of mistake before, and paid dearly for it.
Anyway people, God also made other promises to Abram. When Abram and his nephew Lot separated – remember Lot went with him on the nomadic journey – because the land was too small for all their herds and people to live comfortably.
While Lot went toward the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord said to Abram: ‘Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed (descendants) for ever.
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.’ (Gen13:14-18)
The only problem though Friends, is that Abram was possibly eighty by then, and his wife Sarai around seventy, so where were these descendants like the dust of the earth going to come from eh? But that didn’t seem to bother Abram, he kept on believing in the Lord, having faith in His pronouncements.
Another key point here is how would we have reacted? Right now we know more about God and His strengths, purpose and plans than Abram ever dreamed about, but yet we still hem and haw when God directs us to do simple tasks in His Name.
Can you imagine if forty years ago, He’d told to me to pull up stakes in T&T and go to cold, rough, foreign Canada where I’d make a big name for myself, what would my reaction had been? I doubt I would have just done it. Though, for all you know, He might have purposely engineered the job frustration I felt in T&T, which eventually made me leave.
Like Abram, I was doing well, lacked for nothing in the Government’s job, except job satisfaction, with all the foolish politics being played in higher places hampering the work I was hired to do. And since my mother was already in Canada, I figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to get here.
But it hasn’t been easy, and the job satisfaction hasn’t really been any better. At least in T&T we don’t pretend to have this great work ethic, as they do in Canada. In T&T I would certainly have had a much easier and possibly more successful life.
So Friends, please be careful of what you wish for, of the frustration you find in what you have or do, because in many cases, what you rush off to, is much worse than what you left behind.
Anyway my brethren, with those words of wisdom, we’ll close for today. I have to chuckle because I never planned to get into my situation, but the Spirit just brought it to mind, and it just seemed to fit naturally. In any case I couldn’t have got in all the scriptures I wanted today, so God willing, tomorrow we’ll continue looking at Abram and all the promises God made him.
Till then, please let’s listen closely to whatever God is saying to us, and obey His dictates, because He knows the plans He has for us, ‘thoughts of peace, and not evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope). (Jer.29:11) That’s a divine promise, so please let’s be wise and heed it. Much LOVE!
…our omnipotent God…has NEVER…and WILL NEVER renege on a promise…since He can do whatever He promises…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 November 2013 Psalm 118:24
07 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: affirmations, awe, awesome truth, be glad, born again, chains break, Christ's Church, Christian, complaining, Controller, Creator, Detroit, disputing, divisions, faith, faithful, fear, feeble-minded, fools despise wisdom, footsteps of Jesus, forgiveness, fortitude, God is good, God working in us, God's Spirit, God's will & purpose, gospel truth, grief, grumbling, heaven, hope, hope in God, Hour of Power, immovable, Jesus' presence, joy, joy of the lord, knowledge, Lamentations, learn to know God, life's not fair, mercy, miserable, obedience, power to get wealth, promises, prosperity, provider, quarrelling, reconciling, rejoice, rest in God, reverence, right tone, salvation, saved soul, shootout, spiritual walls, strength, strong, targets, testing, tests, Thank you Jesus, troubles, truth, unconditional LOVE, understanding, victims, wait pateintly, wild wild west, without me you can do nothing
Psalm 118:24. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Aye mih people! What’s cooking this glorious new morn in the fall of November 2013? I hope it’s all good. But just in case it isn’t, please don’t panic, just get yourself to rest quietly in God, and He will most definitely see you through.
Now it might not be right away, or in a manner that you like, but remember He’s smarter than us and has plans for us which include a myriad of testing. And if we pass those tests, then He’ll most certainly uplift us. Wow! That wasn’t how the rough draft went nuh, but that’s how the Spirit orchestrated the final copy. (smile)
Now let’s briefly touch on a shootout in East Detroit yesterday, where apparently two cars pulled up in front a barber shop, a known gambling den, and opened fire, reminiscent of the days of similar shootouts in the Wild Wild West. Two people in the barbershop were killed and nine others were wounded. Ah Lord eh!
And as you can see, we’re slowly but surely moving up the ladder, from one person shooting, to several involved in the gunfire. I’m not going to get into it though, just ask that we pray faithfully, diligently and constantly that the nonsense will soon come to an end, because until then, we’re all potential victims and targets. Nuff said.
And to dissipate that negativity, let’s hear an intriguing and interesting poem from Gramps Schuller (Robert H. Schuller), taken from his Hour of Power Devotional.
And this poem is titled: ‘Learn to Know God – Dear Jesus, I’ve got to get to know you better: Please help me! I can feel my spiritual and emotional walls crack. I can hear old chains break. I can feel my heart opening like a heavy door whose ancient seals have just begun to break.
I can sense the footsteps of Jesus walking into my life. I am beginning to experience the joy of a soul that is being saved, a life that is being born again. Thank You, Lord! Life’s not fair, but God is good. Amen.’
Yes Friends, I’m sure we can all hear those old chains breaking, our hearts opening, and sense Jesus coming more fully into our lives, which consequently are now seemingly being reborn and filled with the joy of His presence. Mama Mia!
And all the true followers of Jesus declared a mighty shout of: ‘Thank You Jesus! Thank You for saving us, and reconciling us to the Father! We LOVE You and praise Your Holy Name!’
Oh mih people, that’s exactly how we ought to move! And today I was moved to make it and Affirmation Day; one just filled with li’l bits of scripture that we can raise up from the depths of our souls and use whenever the need for strength, hope, faith and fortitude arises.
And as you can see, our Bit: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it,’ is certainly one of those affirmations that we can affirm everyday, especially when we first arise from sleep. It truly sets the right tone for our day; rejoicing in the fact that the Lord has granted us another day on Planet Earth.
It might be rough down here, but I doubt that many of us are yet ready to give it up for heaven’s golden aisles and pathways. (smile) And to increase that rejoicing factor, let’s move on to Nehemiah, where he sincerely reminds us that ‘the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ (Neh.8:10)
Now that’s undeniable truth my brethren! For you’ll notice that 99.9 % of the time, if you’re not filled with the Lord’s strength, you’re usually miserable and feeble-minded. That’s because God’s Spirit is not working properly in us.
So let’s turn now to those famous Lamentations of poor, ole Jeremiah, and check out where he confidently declares, even in the midst of his lamenting: ‘The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.’ (Lam.3:24)
Bingo my brethren! That strikes right at the heart of our fear and joy! Hoping in the wonderful and mighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the BEST thing, the BEST attitude a human being can ever adopt! For remember, He’s our Creator, Controller and Provider, the one who gives us the power to get wealth and prosperity in this earthly life, provided we are obedient to His dictates. (Josh.1:8-9)
Now here is another big one Friends, one of the biggest and most important, from the wise pen of Cousin Sol, where he confidently proclaims: ‘The fear (reverential awe) of the Lord is the (principal) beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ (Prov.1:7)
Ah mih people, without that understanding and knowledge of God we’re really powerless to do anything, because all things in His universe begin and end with Him. Remember too Jesus’ words to the disciples, re the vine and the branches: ‘for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:5b) Words of awesome truth people!
And as Bruh Paul also told the Philippians: ‘For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of (according to) his good pleasure.’ (Phil.2:13) Yes Friends, it is God working in us the desire to do His will and also the actual accomplishment of His purpose.
But then Bruh Paul warns them that to truly accomplish God’s will and purpose, they needed to ‘Do all things without murmurings (grumbling) and disputings.’ (Phil.2:14)
That means, my fellow believers, no grumbling or complaining about our difficulties and trials, which will invariably come upon us when we do God’s will, and above all, quarrelling amongst ourselves is strictly prohibited.
Hn! Bruh Paul’s head must be sadly shaking up in heaven everyday as he beholds the terrible murmurings, disputings, divisions and futile, petty quarrelling that daily engulfs Christ’s church.
And now we’ll close with one more affirmation from Jeremiah’s Lamentations. ‘It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lam.3:26)
Oh Friends, that’s the indisputable, unchallengeable, undeniable, gospel truth! So despite our troubles and the grief in our souls, please, let’s promise ourselves to wait patiently on the Lord, with hope in His salvation, quietly rejoicing, for He is indeed faithful that promised. Much LOVE!
…it is overwhelming combination of…hope…faith…joy…mercy…forgiveness…promises… and unconditional LOVE…from a most faithful God…that keeps a Christian…strong and immovable…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 November 2013 Matthew 5:11
01 Nov 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living Tags: alienation, balanced lives, belief in Jesus, blasphemed, blessed, bring God into the mix, Christ's Second Coming, Christian, company, dangerous, desolate, divisions, divisiveness, ease the pressure, ever-faithful God, every knee should bow, every tongue confess, evil, evil cohorts, exalted, falsely, for Christ's sake, Friday chant, gather together as one, generous help, glorified, glorious kingdom, God's mysterious ways, God's promises, good weather, Halloween celebrations, harbinger, hate, heathen lands, heavy load, herald, interesting, Jesus Christ, Jesus is Lord, jesus name, Lord and Saviour, loving kindness, Lucifer, mental and emotional persecution, merciful and healing God, monotonous, need to belong, no problems, obedience, persecute, persecution, personal testimony, physical persecution, pipe dream, prayer, prisoners of hope and faith, reality, relaxation, reproach, rest, revile, right perspective, separate, showers of blessing, slander, slaving for massa, Son of man, spirit of glory, stand steadfast, steady diet, stewards of God's grace, suffering, sufficient fun, take it in stride, tedious, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the church's history, the greatest tool in the universe, the weekend, trials and tribulations, unfortunate brethren
Matthew 5:11. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Oh Friends, what a glorious day this Friday 1st of November 2013 will be…! Albeit possibly in other areas of the world, just not in my neck of the woods, because we’ve had rain since early yesterday morning. It’s not like we’ve been inundated with heavenly showers of blessings, but more like a steady diet of drizzle and wind, with the occasional heavy downpour.
That certainly put a damper on the Halloween celebrations yesterday! Now was that our God moving in one of His mysterious ways? Hn! Who knows? It makes me wonder though. (smile)
But yuh know what, I’m still going to join those shouting, ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday,’ because Friday is the herald, the harbinger of those two momentous days known as the weekend, those days of no slaving for massa.
And you never know, what can happen, my area can be flooded later with sunshine and 15 degrees weather, if the weather people are right. And because we’re such strong prisoners of hope and faith, we will believe for good weather later on. (smile)
For now though, let’s celebrate Friday, by graciously chanting our Friday Chant, which gives us the right perspective on how to handle the weekend.
As one now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yes mih people, on the weekend we need to get our lives in balance, in sync with both our worldly and godly obligations, so that we can be fully prepared to go back out on Monday and began the cycle all over again. I know it’s tedious and monotonous, but when we cheerfully bring God into the mix, we are able to handle it with NO PROBLEMS. (smile)
And I sincerely hope that we’ll still be smiling after reading today’s Bit: ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.’
Yeh mih breddren, just because we’re believers in Jesus Christ, we will be reviled, persecuted and have all manner of evil done to and against us!
The scholars explain it thus: ‘5:11. Again, Jesus warns that men shall revile you, and persecute you. This became true during His own ministry, in the lives of the apostles, and throughout the history of the church. The persecution spoken of here is twofold. First, it involves a physical pursuing of the persecuted, and second, a personal attack of slander against them.’
Oh Friends, being a Christian is often a rather heavy load, as we can see from all the persecution that fellow believers are suffering in other lands. Now we will suffer some here for calling Jesus our Lord and Saviour, but nothing like the ‘sufferation’ of those in the heathen lands.
So please let’s make it a daily matter to pray for those rather unfortunate brethren, pray that our merciful and healing God will both ease their suffering and give them the strength to stand steadfast and true in their belief in Jesus. As we said yesterday, that’s the least we can do for them.
And remember again that prayer is the greatest tool in God’s universe. So let’s not stop until all God’s children are free to serve and worship Him as they please, in their own lands.
And on a point of interest, here’s how Luke records that Beatitude. ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach (revile) you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.’ (Luke 6:22)
Yuh see Friends, it’s not only physical persecution that believers must suffer for Christ’s sake, but also things like alienation, and separation from other men’s company. And sometimes the mental and emotional persecution are worse than the physical kind.
But since we were all made by God with this great need to belong, Jesus has provided His holy church as a refuge for all those who believe in Him, to gather together as ONE, so that we can fellowship together and thus ease some of the pressure from our earthly trials and tribulations.
And though right now, that oneness is more like a pipe dream than a reality, taking into account all the divisions and divisiveness currently reigning in Christ’s church, we still have places where we can meet and talk, pray and worship and celebrate the goodness and LOVING-kindness of our great God.
So my people, I’m imploring us to hang in there when things get rough, as they oftimes do and certainly will. Please hold on tightly to all the wonderful promises that our ever-faithful God has given us. Remember too, that He is faithful, even when we are not.
Now here are some encouraging words from Peter, as he talks about us being good stewards of God’s grace. ‘If ye be reproached (insulted) for the name of Christ, happy (blessed) are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of (blasphemed), but on your part he is glorified.’ (1 Pet.3:14)
And all God’s children gave a mighty shout of: ‘Let the name of our great God be praised and glorified!’
Yes my fellow believers, when we are persecuted for Christ’s sake, we need to take it in stride, for He’s suffered so much for our sake. And because He was obedient to the Father, He was lifted up, exalted above all else in the universe.
So ‘That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) things in heaven, and (those) things in earth, and (those) things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil.2:10-11)
Likewise my believing brethren, when we stand strong in the face of all that Lucifer and his evil cohorts throw at us, the Lord God Almighty will also exalt us.
Please believe it today, and let’s write it deep in our hearts, minds and souls, let it strengthen our faith, for the days they are becoming more dangerous and desolate, as the Second Coming of Jesus approaches. Much LOVE!
…knowing Jesus…and living for Him…doesn’t necessarily make life easy or hard…but it surely makes it interesting…that’s my personal testimony…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 October 2013 Psalm 19:14
08 Oct 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: actions, autumn morn, Bathsheba, be acceptable in God's sight, believe in Jesus Christ, blessings, bounden duty, bow, broken spirit, burnt offering, Calvary, catalyst, children, contrite heart, crucifixion, desires of our hearts, encouraging words, endeavours, eternal thanks, eternity, everloving, evil, fat of rams, forgiveness, Friends in Christ, fruitful, God's bright and shining light, God's omnipotence, God's supernatural presence, God's unconditional LOVE, godly thoughts, good, gracious, grateful, holy spirit, honour and glory, important aspects of life, innocent blood, innocent Son, inspiring, Jesus Christ, LOVE, manna, mature in faith, meditation, meditation of my heart, mercies, merciful, my redeemer, my rock, no need to fear, obedience, old rugged cross, praise God's holy name, prisoners of hope, propserity, purgatory, reconciled, redemption, repentance, righteousness., sacifices of God, sacrifice, salvation, sincerity, sins, steadfast believers, thankful, thanks to God, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, time immemorial, times of need, to listen, truth, unsavoury relationship, Uriah, walk of faith, wealth, Word of God, words, words of my mouth
Psalm 19:14. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength (my rock), and my redeemer.
Oh my beautiful Friends in Christ, I’m here to remind us that this glorious, but somewhat chilly Tuesday autumn morn in early October, is being brought to us courtesy the Almighty God Jehovah; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
And furthermore, He’s also the God who causes His bright and shining light to surround us; His unconditional and everlasting LOVE to enfold us; His omnipotent power to protect us and His supernatural presence to keep careful watch over us.
So with all those important aspects of life being taken care of, there’s absolutely no need to fear what the evil Lucifer and his evil cohorts can do to us, for our great God is ALWAYS with us, and that means, all is well.
And all God’s grateful children shouted: ‘Thank You Lord! We LOVE You and praise Your Holy Name! Amen!’
And remember too my people, that it’s the Lord God Jehovah who also gives us new mercies, blessings, forgiveness and manna every single day! He’s also the ONE who cause us to be prosperous, to get wealth, to beget children; children who will be strong in the land, children that will stand at one’s gate and rebuke and resist the enemy!
And above and beyond all that Friends, the Lord God Almighty is the ONE who created us, and also redeemed us from purgatory, where our abject sins had us headed, by sending His most holy and innocent Son, Jesus, to be sacrificed on that old, rugged cross at Calvary.
He selflessly and LOVINGLY did it all, so that we could be reconciled to Him, to be considered holy in his sight, worthy to come before Him, not of our own accord, or of our works, but because of the innocent blood of Jesus, shed at His crucifixion!
And all God’s people, all true believers in Jesus Christ, rose up, and boldly declared with a mighty shout of joy: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, we praise and worship You in sincerity and truth! We bless Your Holy Name, and give you eternal thanks for the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus Christ, to whom we bow in all honour and glory! Amen!’
Oh my fellow believers, it seems that this morning the Holy Spirit is intent on awakening us to all that our great and wonderful God and Creator has done for us since time immemorial, is still doing, and will continue to do throughout eternity.
So with all those things forthcoming from a gracious, merciful and ever-LOVING God, how can we, mere mortals that we are, not be overwhelmingly thankful and grateful eh? It’s impossible, if we truly believe in Jesus Christ!
And to show our true belief and gratefulness, let’s look at our Bit, which acts as a heavenly catalyst for our earthly endeavours. ‘Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength (my rock), and my redeemer.’
Ah Friends, what positive, inspiring and encouraging words!
Remember we recently did some messages on meditation and found it extremely helpful, if not absolutely necessary, in our walk of faith and LOVE with Jesus? For it’s when we truly sow the Word of God in our hearts, and can bring it to mind in times of need, that we become real powerful, steadfast and true believers.
As we meditate on God’s Word, doing more time as prisoners of hope, we grow and mature in faith. And therefore, our words, which contain much power, either for good or evil, are wholly suitable for a believer to utter.
And throughout all of Bruh David’s writings, you’ll find him either alluding to, or asking God to enable him to have godly thoughts, and thus speak appropriate words. And as followers of Christ, we ought to do the same my brethren.
Now listen to this passage of scripture from Psalm 51, a prayer for cleansing, after the prophet Nathan nailed and chastised Bruh David for the murder of Uriah the Hittite, and then his unsavoury relationship with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba.
He pleads with heartfelt repentance: ‘Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.’ (Ps.51:14-15)
Yes Friends, we must ask the Lord to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, so that we can truly sing forth His praise, and with accompanying right actions, cause the unbeliever to come to Him.
For as Bruh David continues in Psalm 51: ‘For thou desirest not sacrifice; else I would give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.’ (Ps.51:16-17)
Oh my people, that’s the God-awesome truth! Our God doesn’t desire or delight in burnt offerings and other material sacrifices! What He needs from us is a truly repentant spirit and sorry heart! And once He sees that, He’ll be only too happy and willing to grant us the desires of our hearts.
We can’t find a better example of God’s largesse and forgiveness than with Bruh David. So today, please, let’s all open our hearts to Almighty God in prayerful and sincere contrition, so that our hearts, minds and spirits will be in agreement with His Word, and consequently the words that we speak, and the actions we do, will bring Him great glory, glory that He so rightfully deserves.
Yes my fellow believers, let us all go out today and be fruitful in God’s name, as is our bounden duty. Much LOVE!
…to obey is better than sacrifice…and to hearken than the fat of rams… (1 Sam.15:22b)
Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 September 2013 1 John 5:14.
22 Sep 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: challenges, clear conscience, confidence, desolation, difficult times, encouragement, eternal life, exhortation, faith, fear, fellowship, God is for me, God's will, holy spirit, hope, Jesus Christ, lead and guide, Lord's Day, LOVE, method to madness, mysterious ways, obedience, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, petitions, power of Jesus' name, prayer, problems, purpose, right decisions, royal diadem, salvation, scriptures, Spirit of God, strength, terror, thanksgiving, trouble, trust, trust in God, truth, unfaithful man, wisdom, worship
1 John 5:14. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.
Oh Friends, our wonderful God never ceases to amaze me with His mysterious ways! And the latest amazement is that yesterday, for some unknown reason, the old hymn, ‘All hail the power of Jesus’ name!’ suddenly flitted through my mind.
But as always, there’s method to God’s seeming madness, and today I found out the reason for that hymn coming to mind. Since today is Sunday, the Lord’s Day, a day of worship and fellowship, He wanted us to begin our message with some appropriate worship music.
So please sing with me, in strong, sweet, dulcet voices (smile). ‘All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall; bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.’
Yes Friends, Jesus Christ is indeed Lord of ALL! He selflessly sacrificed His innocent life for us: ‘Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name’ (Phil.2:9) For that awesome show of obedience and immense ‘sufferation’ without complaint, the Father raised Him to a place of honour above all others in creation.
Thus, in Jesus, all our hope, strength, faith and confidence are assured! That’s why John could say so positively in our Bit: ‘And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.’
But that’s not all, as John tells us in the next verse. ‘And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired (asked) of him.’ (1 John 5:15)
That’s gospel truth Friends! Whatever believers ask in His name, according to His will, we have the utmost confidence and assurance that He hears our petition and answers it as He sees fit. Now that last part is something ALL believers ought to fully understand. Not because our request, our petition is in God’s will, means that He will answer it right away. We will receive it when the Lord decides the time is right.
So many of us pray for stuff, and using those scriptures, expect to get them filled right away. Now sometimes, according to the emergency of our situations, that might happen, but generally speaking, the timing has to align with God’s plan.
The scholars have a short but interesting note on those scriptures. ‘5:14-15. Assurance of salvation (v.13) leads to confidence in petition. Effectual prayer is according to his will.’ No doubting any of that Friends!
Now let’s turn to some scriptures that support our Bit. And the first one is a well known quote from Psalm 118, Thanksgiving for the Lord’s salvation. ‘The psalmist boldly and wisely proclaims: ‘It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.’ (Ps.118:8-9)
Now that my brethren, is the undeniable truth! That’s why Cousin Sol could declare in Proverbs 3, Exhortations to obedience: ‘Be not afraid of sudden fear (terror), neither of the desolation of (trouble from) the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken (caught).’ (Prov.3:25-26)
And listen to his later statement. ‘Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken (bad) tooth, and a foot out of joint.’ (Prov.25:19)
And the scholars say this about that verse. ’25:19. Faith is only as good as its object, and an unfaithful man is useless.’
More undeniable truth my people! Anything that has to do with man in the flesh, cannot be trusted, much less taken for granted, for man has no real control over anything, not even over his own life. But when man is linked to, and aligned with the Spirit of God, well then Friends, the impossible things become possible!
And we’ll end with a most appropriate prayer from Dr. Robert H. Schuller’s Hour of Power Devotional. Obviously it’s titled: ‘A Prayer for Confidence.’
Let’s pray it together: ‘It is flowing into me now; for my conscience is clear. I have made the right decision. I am not afraid of problems. I will face challenges calmly and serenely, for God is behind me. He will help me. If I must go through difficult times, He will rescue me.
I feel His Spirit of confidence surging in my heart now. With Him I cannot possibly fail. If God is for me, who can be against me? I have a strong feeling that everything is going to work out just beautifully. Thank You, God. Amen.’
Oh my fellow believers, I sincerely hope that today’s message brings a great measure of encouragement and purpose to our strenuous and burdened lives. I also hope we experience a powerful surge in our hope, faith, strength and confidence in Almighty God, His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the amazing Holy Spirit that dwells within us to lead and guide us down the right path, the straight and narrow one that ultimately leads to heaven. For therein lies the ONE and ONLY true direction to wisdom, salvation and eternal life. Much LOVE!
…if you can’t trust an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God…then whom can you trust eh…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 September 2013 Joshua 1:8
15 Sep 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: action, altar of stones, Amen, Ark of the Covenant, blessngs, Book of the Law, burnt offering, children of Israel, christianity, city of Ai, commonsense, cursing, dangers, darkness, death, destruction, education, faithfulness, father in heaven, fear, fellowship, good success, jehovah god, jesus name, Joshua, judges, knowledge, Law of Moses, levites, living our faith, logic, LOVE, loving god, make thy way prosperous, meditate on God's Word, meditation, Moses, Mt. Ebal, obedience, partnership, peace offering, physical numbers, plague, power, practice what you preach, presence, priests, Promised Land, prosperity, sacrifice, serve, sincere faith, spiritual strength, spreading God's Word, strangers, success, sunshine, thanks and praise, trust, wisdom, wise advice, wonderful god, worship
Joshua 1:8. This book of the law shall not depart out of (shall be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Oh mih people, on this bright and beautiful, though somewhat chilly Sunday morning, let’s give our wonderful God a shout of thanks and praise nuh!
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