Habakkuk 2:4. Behold, his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday! Friday the 13th to boot! ‘So what?’ shout the believers in Jesus. ‘We don’t care because we don’t believe in that Friday the 13th nonsense. That’s just demon worship!’
Wow! Mih people hot to trot today sir! And that’s the way it should be Friends. As far as we are concerned, everyday is the same generally speaking, a special gift from Almighty God with new blessings, mercies, our daily bread and His unconditional LOVE!
We don’t need any satanic stuff to ‘confuffle’ our already ‘confuffled’ minds.’ We’re just glad that it’s Friday and we can shout out loud ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! The weekend’s here at last. Slaving for massa done for two days! Praise the Lord!’
And I’m also praising the Lord for getting me in to see my dentist yesterday evening to begin some work on a root canal, because the tooth was just paining everlasting over the last few days. Now it’s just sore, and every time my tongue or jaw touches it, or I try to blow my nose, I feel a jolt of pain. But it’s surely much better than the constant pain I was feeling before. I guess I’m also eating soft food for the next couple days, since I can’t chew on that side.
Ah Lord eh! When is not one thing, it’s always something else! Just hope I don’t do any further damage to it, before I go back to finish the work next Thursday. But whatever happens, I know I can count on the Lord to look after me. Steups! My bottom teeth just touched the top ones and a lovely pain was immediately generated. Let’s hope this ends by tomorrow yes.
And having said all of that, let’s chant our Friday Chant with much gusto, so that we can remember and understand how to use the weekend.
Altogether 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.’
And now that we have the right perspective in grasp, where we go out bright and fresh on Mondays, instead of tired and miserable, let’s turn to our Bit. ‘Behold, his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.’
Ah mih breddren, that’s such an encouraging and heart-warming scripture! And as we’ve seen, it’s been used quite a lot in the New Testament to prove the theory of justification by faith. Now yesterday I wasn’t able to wrap up the series as I’d planned because of some scholarly explanations that I thought important. Hope they help us to better understand the scripture, because that’s why I include them.
Now let’s continue with the scriptures that we didn’t get in yesterday. And we’re going to begin with some of Bruh Paul’s wise words to the Galatians. ‘For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
But that no man is justified (declared righteous) by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, the man that doeth them shall live in (by) them.’ (Gal.3:10-12)
Oh Friends, you can count on Bruh Paul to use the Old Testament to promote the New! In the above verses he first quotes, Deuteronomy 27:26. Then in the second, our Bit from Habakkuk. And in the third, Leviticus 18:5.
Now here are some explanations from the scholars. 3:10. As many as are of the works of the law refers to all who rely upon obedience to the Mosaic Law as the means of winning divine approval (salvation). To be under the curse is to be subject to God’s wrath and condemnation. Continueth is explained by to do, which means “to obey.”
The recipient of divine wrath is every one, who, believing salvation can be obtained by meritorious works, fails to obey the law perfectly. Complete obedience to the law is impossible for sinful man (Acts 15:10; James 2:10). All then, who attempt to secure salvation by this route are doomed.
3:11. The last part of this verse means, “He who is just because of his faith shall live,” that is, forever.
3:12. This verse declares that the law is a matter of performance, not of faith; it is a principle of doing, not believing.’
That’s a fact Friends, for we all know that mere doing, though good, without faith and belief in Jesus Christ, it is of no use in terms of salvation and escape from divine wrath.
And we’ll end with these wise and encouraging verses from Hebrews. ‘Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience (endurance), that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry (delay). Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition (destruction); but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.’ (Heb.10:35-39)
Yes my people, it’s all about steadfast faith, enduring patience, unswerving belief in Jesus, and overwhelming confidence in Almighty God! Those are the basics for saving our sinful souls. And in sincerely seeking them, there’s wisdom here on earth, and eternal rewards in heaven.
Now who wouldn’t want those things eh? Only a fool! Much LOVE!
…the fool say’s there’s no God…but when life strikes him down…his first words are…Oh God…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 September 2013 Habakkuk 2:4
13 Sep 2013 Leave a comment
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Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 June 2013 Philippians 2:8
03 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
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Philippians 2:8. And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 May 2013 Revelation 22:14
27 May 2013 Leave a comment
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Revelation 22:14. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 May 2013 Matthew 27:46.
26 May 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: abominable sins, assigned role, atonement, betrayal, bitter vinegar, Calvary, cat o nine tails, close confidante, correct our wrong attitude, crown of thorns, dignity, Eli Eli lama sabachthani, every knee should bow, every tongue confess, excruciating torture, fortitude, gall, ghastly day, Golgotha, gory sight, hail the king, honour, Jesus christ is Lord, Jesus cried, King of the Jews, LOVE, Lucifer, mocked, obedience, place of the skull, reverence, scourging, separation from His Father, Simon of Cyrene, slapped around, spat on, spirituality, unblemished Lamb, unfair judges, unfair trails, were you there, when they crucified my Lord, why hast thou forskaen me, worship
Matthew 27:46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Oh Friends, ‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there, were you there, were you there when they crucified my Lord?’
Thankfully Friends, the answer to that question is NO! None of us was there, but judging from the reports outlined in the Good Book, it must have been a gory sight on a ghastly day. I’m ever so glad that I didn’t witness it in person, because I doubt I could have handled it. Just reading about it now, two thousand years later, is bad enough.
That brings me to a subject I don’t think many of us even consider; that’s the ignoble and excruciating torture that Jesus suffered for us; mentally, emotionally and physically.
Put yourselves in His position nuh Friends. Can you imagine being betrayed by one of your closest confidantes for money, then having to go through the unfair trials that Jesus did, being shuffled from one court to another, from one egotistic, unfair judge to another? And that’s the good part.
What about being slapped around, spat on, then being mocked by having a purple robe put around you, and a crown of thorns placed on your head? And I’m sure that crown wasn’t just placed, but jammed down on Jesus’ head, then a crowd of jeering soldiers bowing before you and crying out: ‘Hail, the king of the Jews!’
Just think about the scourging He received nuh. Think about those sadistic blows of a cat-o-nine tails raining down on His very human back. Could you handle it, with the various pieces of metal, etc, attached to the whip, just tearing away at your flesh with every lash? And then the march up to Calvary in such sorry state, bearing His cross. Hn! The only redeeming feature is that the tormentors enlisted Simon of Cyrene to help Jesus carry the cross.
Then when you’ve come to the ugly, hard-scrabble hill and gully called Golgotha – even the name, place of the skull, causes sordid thoughts – they lay the cross on the ground, then lay you down on it and nail your hands and feet to it. And yuh better believe it wasn’t the nice, clean, smooth, refined nails that he have nowadays, but the large, rough, crude pieces of metal of a bygone era. And I’m sure the ‘nailer’ wasn’t being kind or trying to inflict as little pain as possible, most likely the exact opposite.
Then they lift up the cross with you nailed to it, plant it in the hard, rocky ground, and leave you there in the hot, midday, desert sun, for your life to slowly ooze away in enormous pain and anguish. And when you say you’re thirsty, they give you gall, bitter vinegar to drink.
And all through this hateful and painful fiasco, they keep taunting you. If you’re God, then take yourself down from the cross. You saved others, now save yourself nuh. And to add to the shame, they crucify you between two vagabonds, deserving of crucifixion. Then just be to be sure you’re dead, they pierce your side with a spear, after you’ve visibly given up the ghost.
Now Friends, do you think you could handle all of that without uttering a single peep from all the pain and inhumane suffering, or not beg for mercy and recant? Most of us would have been dead before we even set out for Calvary.
But Jesus bore it all with great dignity and fortitude, because that was His assigned role, the role he was born to play. And if He hadn’t played it to the fullest, billions of sinners, billions of His Father’s greatest creation would have ended up in the labyrinth-like dungeons of Hades with that foolish fool Lucifer, who just like us today, didn’t realize what a good thing he had going as a high ranking angel in heaven.
The only thing that caused Jesus to cry out, not that He didn’t feel the physical pain, was the separation from His Father. That cut Him to the quick, hurt Him to the core, as he declares in our Bit. ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’
The scholars describe it thus: ‘Here we have the high cost to Christ of His atonement for our sins, who was accursed of God as our sin-bearer (cf. 2 Cor.5:21; Gal.3:13) and suffered the agony of spiritual death for us.’ So true Friends, so true.
Now recently I was thinking about all the punishment that Jesus had to bear for our abominable sins, and it struck me that the Father really extracted a terrible price from Jesus on our behalf. It got me to wondering if I could ever allow that to happen to my only and very BELOVED Son. I don’t think so.
But that just goes to show how righteous and just the Father is. Above all, justice must be served, for the wages of sin is death, (Rom.6:23a) and to avoid that eternal fate, a sinless, unblemished Lamb had to be sacrificed, and Jesus was the only One who met that high criteria. But I was also thinking that the Father didn’t have to be so rough on Him, make it so excruciating and torturous. Obviously He thought otherwise.
That brings me to two points I want to make. The first is that sin is a very serious matter, and truly disliked by God. He dislikes it so much that He went to such great lengths to provide a way out for us. Secondly, He must really LOVE us a whole heap to put both Jesus and Himself through so much pain and tribulation to redeem us.
And thirdly – I guess I have three points and not two. (smile) Thirdly, that we’re such a bunch of no good, ungrateful wretches, that after Jesus met such an ignominious and shameful end so that we could be reconciled to the Father, we still have the ‘boldfacedness,’ the gall to question His sacrifice, doubt His truth and make derogatory remarks about Him. Steups!
Oh Friends, we should be so grateful and thankful, that we’d be falling all over ourselves to not even put one foot wrong, to honour, LOVE, worship, obey and revere Him! Look at how we make obeisance to earthly rulers who only oppress and suppress us. But to the One who’s done the ‘MOSTEST’ for us, we ignore, defame and try to remove Him from our society. How sad…
But my brethren, I’m begging, pleading, imploring us to change, to correct our wrong attitude today, right now, this very minute! Let’s truly begin to honour Jesus for the unselfish sacrifice He made for us. Let’s praise and glorify Him, spread His Holy Name throughout the entire world, as He asked us to do, be exceedingly glad to be His followers, and not be ashamed, as some of us are, for He is indeed worthy to be praised and glorified.
And please note this about the Father; He faithfully rewards obedience to His Word and Will. And Jesus was nothing but obedient during His earthly sojourn.
That’s why Bruh Paul could confidently and unhesitatingly proclaim to the Philippians: ‘Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things (those) in heaven, and things (those) in earth, and things (those) under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil.2:9-11)
Now that’s the gospel truth my brethren! So please, let’s live like we really believe it nuh. It speaks of both wisdom and gratefulness to the zenith. Much LOVE!
…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…just to think of what Jesus did for me…makes this earthly life all worthwhile…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 May 2013 Proverbs 29:22.
18 May 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a furious man, abundant wisdom, an angry man, anger, bickering, bitter pills, bitterness, busyness, charcoal, coal-pot, coals, contented, contention, forgiveness, God's handiwork, happy, human-rights, impatience, LOVE, mercy, mistrust, molten lava, nature, negative emotions, obedience, peace, petty actions, prince of darkness, resentment, rumours of wars, satisfied, selflessness, spirit of LOVE, spirituality, stirs up strife, strife, transgressions, troubles, wars, worthwhile attributes
Proverbs 29:22. An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.
‘Saturday, O glorious Saturday! What shall we do this Saturday eh? Take a walk in the park, or a drive out into the country and admire God’s handiwork in nature? Visit the open air markets and country fairs? Or just sit at home and do nothing, relax, take a break from the madding crowd that’s out and about this weekend?’ Oh Friends, there are any number of things we can do today, but there’s just one proviso to whatever it is we intend to do; make sure it includes Jehovah God, for without His active involvement, our actions have the sure potential to turn into disasters. And here’s an interesting quote from an anonymous source. ‘When you dig another out of trouble, you find a place to bury your own.’ And that’s oh so true, my people! I’ve experienced it, and so have many of you. When you help someone with their troubles, yours just seem to naturally fade into the background, at least for the time that you’re helping the other person. Then you’re more concerned with the unfortunate plight of your fellow man, than with your own. But this act of helping must be done out of selflessness, and not merely because it’s the right thing to do, or it will make us look good. That’s because helping others is an integral part of our faith and our general mission in life as followers of Jesus. We have to do it from a spirit of LOVE and obedience. Remember the Good Book tells us that Jesus spent His days going about doing good and healing people, (Acts 10:38) and so too should we. But unfortunately that’s not always possible on account of the negative attitudes some of us hold, as our Bit so wisely points out. ‘An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.’ That’s the gospel truth Friends, as many, or most of us can attest to, since we’ve been there and done that. Oh my fellow believers, anger is a dreadful poison. It’s possibly the most potent weapon in Lucifer’s arsenal, since so much negativity flows from it. Just look at all the turmoil and strife in the world right now; the many wars and rumours of wars, the mistrust and contention, most of it can be traced right back to anger. And too often that anger has been passed down through the ages, constantly simmering and flowing out like molten lava from a volcano. It’s so prevalent that in many cases the ones involved in the strife today couldn’t tell you why there’s such antagonism between their neighbours and themselves, just that it has always existed. And the sad part is that oftimes it began over some petty action or remark, but the human spirit is so aggressive and warlike in its natural state that the strife has been handed down through numerous generations. Friends, I’m putting it to us today that that’s no way to live! Unfortunately though, our world is currently programmed to produce anger: what with the sorry downturn in all areas of our once so prosperous lives, the busyness and inherent impatience born of that same busyness, as well as the egotistical pride and selfishness that’s running rampant. It’s a veritable breeding ground for instability, lack of self-disciple and control. And an angry man is certainly an unstable man. When we’re angry is the worse time to make important decisions, for then our out-of-sync emotions are in control instead of our reason, and we’re liable to do all kinds of crazy, negative things. That means, as the second half of our Bit points out, we’re liable to engage in much wrongdoing, since then it’s the prince of darkness who’s controlling our sprits and not God or wise reason. Cousin Sol wrote an interesting analogy earlier on in Proverbs 26. ‘As coals (charcoal) are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.’ (Prov.26:21) And there’s a whole lot of truth to that statement Friends! Most of the young people nowadays won’t even know what coals or charcoal are. I don’t even know for sure how the coals was made, since I was a town boy (smile) and we just bought the ready made coals to fire up the coal-pot. I just know that it was made from burning wood in some form and fashion. And a lot of people would contend that food cooked on a coal-pot or wood fire, tastes sweeter than that cooked on a stove, that’s why so many people are enamoured of their barbecues. But as far as I know the new fangled coals used in barbecues is somewhat different to what we grew up with in the West Indies. But just as coals and wood are very combustible, likewise a bickering, contentious, unreasonable person has a great tendency to cause or kindle strife. And what does strife do? Just cause negative things like bitterness, resentment, hatred, anxiety and fear to creep into our souls and set up shop. And once we have those negative emotions festering in us, we can never be satisfied, contented or happy, and will therefore be unable to lead a productive life based on the teachings and principles of Jesus. And Friends, that’s definitely no way to live this earthly life! It’s rough enough without us making it rougher. That’s why it’s so important to stay away from strife, anger and all the bitter pills they produce, as well as the people who like to induce them. Listen to this guideline Cousin Sol gives on the subject. ‘A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife (contention).’ (Prov.15:18) But my people the only sure way to avoid and/ or control that negativity caused by those emotions of darkness is to immerse ourselves in the body of Jesus; accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, read His Word, learn His statutes, and try to live our lives using His earthly sojourn as our example. When we do that, then the myriad of negative emotions won’t have any place in our lives. Instead, worthwhile attributes like peace, LOVE, mercy and forgiveness will reign supreme in our souls. So please, let’s seriously consider today, what part anger and its negative counterparts play in our lives, and penitently ask the Lord to help us get rid of them, so we can walk in the brilliant light of His Son Jesus Christ. Therein lies abundant wisdom! Much LOVE!… the best way to avoid the dangers of anger…truly LOVE our God… sincerely LIVE our Faith…and diligently SPREAD His Word…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 May 2013 Isaiah 26:13
17 May 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: apostasy, British Commonwealth, confusion, damnation, death, deliverance, dominion over us, drunk or sober, fellowship, Friday chant, frogiveness, glorious kingdom, God never changes, God's Sovereignty, great god almighty, humbled themselves, humility, hymn of praise, let our hair down, long weekend, longevity, mercy, negativity, obedience, Old Testament, one true God, other gods, prosperity, Queen Victoria, relaxation, repentance, rest, reverence, sonny boy, starting prescription, sufficent fun, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, times of celebration, transgression, turmoil, wrath, yoke of burden
Isaiah 26:13. O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday, the day that heralds the coming of the weekend! And a mighty shout rises from the people: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! Thank Him that work will soon be done for another week! Thank You great God Almighty!’
And in the British Commonwealth of Nations, this shout is going to be even louder today, because it’s a long weekend in celebration of Queen Victoria’s (1819-1901) birthday on Monday. She reigned for some 63 years, from 1837 to her death, longer than any other British monarch. The current Queen Elizabeth I believe has just hit her sixtieth year on the throne.
Anyway, that means many people won’t be going back to work until Tuesday, which brings us the need for Granny’s warning: ‘Sonny boy, remember, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business.’ (smile) Yes Friends, we have to be very careful when we we’re celebrating this weekend, because it’s usually in times of celebration, when we let our hair down, that the ole scoundrel Lucifer manages to finagle his way into our souls and cause us to disobey God.
But luckily we have a starting prescription for that problem, our Friday Chant. So let’s chant it now and set the right tone for the upcoming weekend. ‘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.’
Now remember Friends, that’s only the opening prescription. You also have to take other stuff like praying, reading the Good Book and fellowshipping with other believers, if you want to keep away the wiles and lies of the enemy this long weekend.
And we seem to have a rather appropriate Bit to help us do that, taken from Isaiah’s hymn of praise for Israel. ‘O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.’
Yes my brethren, it’s high time to cast aside all the other gods, worldly idols and images which have kept us away from the ONE TRUE GOD, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! For without a doubt, that disobedience is what’s ruining our lives in this modern age.
And remember too that our God, His Word and dictates never change. So if He said long ago, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me,’ (Ex.20:3) then that admonition still prevails today. And we’ll consider a pertinent example from the Old Testament of how our God works when we don’t obey.
It’s in the time of Rehoboam, Cousin Sol’s son, who reigned after him. Foolishly, Rehoboam increased the yoke of burden on the people, and eventually those of the kingdom of Israel rebelled against the house of Bruh David. But Rehoboam continued reigning in the kingdom of Judah.
Now this is the telling passage. ‘And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.’ (2 Chr.12:1) So you can imagine the apostasy and the sinful living and whatever that went on then.
But Friends, as the old people were wisely wont to say; ‘time longer than twine.’ And as usual, they were right, for as the Good Book declares: ‘And it came to pass that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord.’ (2 Chr.12:2)
Yes my brethren, the Lord did not allow Judah to go a whoring forever, just for five years. ‘And he (Shishak) took the fenced (fortified) cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them,
Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, the Lord is righteous. And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying,
They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know (distinguish) my service and (from) the service of the kingdoms of the countries.’ (2 Chr.12:4-8)
Oh Friends, our God doesn’t make jokes over His sovereignty! Please remember that. He might put up with our shenanigans for a while, but sooner or later He’ll take us to task. As in Rehoboam’s case, Shishak took away all his treasure, even the gold shields that Cousin Sol had made, leaving Rehoboam to make shields of brass, and not very many either, as the Good Book describes. (2 Chr.12:9-11)
So my fellow believers, unless you’re thoroughly blind, you can see that a lot of the negativity, the turmoil and confusion that’s currently engulfing our world is a direct result of our constant and wilful disobedience to God’s Word. We have to band together and bring the world back to its Creator. For He’s very willing, able and exceedingly glad to grant mercy and forgiveness to those who turn to Him in sincere repentance.
A fact that’s proven by this scripture. ‘And when he (Rehoboam) humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.’ (2 Chr.12:12)
So if we want things to start going right with our world again, we have to cause and/or encourage, repentance, humility and reverence to be brought before Almighty God. Now that’s certainly wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!
…the equations are simple…obedience to God’s law equals prosperity and longevity…disobedience to it equals wrath, death and damnation…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 May 2013 Psalm 40:6.
15 May 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: amazing, awesome, broken spirit, burnt offerings, christianity, contrite heart, divination, forgiveness, glory, God's people, God-given day, going backward, grace, Living Lord, majesty, mercy, might, obedience, obey my voice, our great God, Praise the Lord, psalm 40, sacrifices, Samuel, Saul, shiver of joy, shout of joy, sin offering, soul smile, state of confusion, stubbornness, theology, total obdience, turmoil, weather service
Psalm 40:6. Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering has thou not required.
And here we are again Friends, alive and kicking on another God-given day here on Planet Earth. My kicking is a bit less than normal though, for I apparently have the cold or my allergies are in full swing, been sneezing and blowing ever since I came down to write. But that won’t stop anything really, just make it a tad inconvenient. And I wonder what’s happening with our weather service. Yesterday it said that today would be rainy in my area, and outside it is raining, but as I turned on the computer just now and looked at the forecast, it says bright and sunny all day with a high temp of 21. Ah Lord eh! But yuh know what? The sun is shining beautifully in many other parts of the world, and although I may not be able to see it, I know for sure that it’s somewhere up there, as it has been for ages, and will continue to be, until our great God decides otherwise. And all God’s people gave a mighty shout of joy: ‘Praise the Living Lord, for He is most worthy to be praised!’ And that’s a veritable fact my people! He is so awesome and amazing in might and glory, power and majesty, that there is NONE like Him, NEVER was, and NEVER will be! And today we have a Bit which tells us exactly what He does not require of us: ‘Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering has thou not required.’ Now that’s as close to the truth as we’ll ever get my brethren! And while looking for a Bit just now, when my eyes beheld that verse, a little shiver of joy passed through my soul (smile) because I knew that it’s something we desperately need to address in this modern society, and that there were several Bible verses that dealt with it. Now let’s look at some of those verses. And I guess the first and possibly best known comes from Samuel, when Saul, Israel’s first king did not completely obey the Lord’s command to totally destroy the Amalekites and all their belongings. Instead Saul kept the king alive and some of the choicest livestock, ostensibly to use as burnt offerings and sacrifices to God. But as Samuel later informed him: ‘Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (divination), and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.’ (1 Sam.15:23-24) Yuh see mih people, Saul lost the Lord’s favour and his kingship by simply not obeying the totality of His commands! That’s what happens when we disobey, or are not totally obedient to the Lord’s directives. Then we have Bruh David solemnly declaring in Psalm 51, his prayer for cleansing, after the prophet Nathan draped him up for his affair with Bathsheba. ‘O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I 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.51:15-17) Yes my brethren, what the Lord desires from us is a repentant heart and spirit coming to him in sincerity and truth, not offering other stuff as atonement for our disgusting sins. From our own hearts, souls and minds is where He expects the regret to come. And I like the way the Lord say it through Jeremiah. ‘To what purpose cometh there to me incense (frankincense) from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.’ (Jer.6:20) Now here’s the last scripture for today. It comes from Jeremiah, from a section dealing with the punishment for Judah’s rebellion. ‘Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put (add) your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices and eat flesh. For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination (stubbornness) of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.’ (Jer.7:21-24) Oh Friends, does that ring a bell? It should, and very loudly too, because it’s the same thing we are doing today! We have not listened to the Lord, in fact have tried to take Him out of our society, and as a result we’re going backward, not forward, with our world and many of our individual lives in a state of terrible confusion and turmoil. And we’ll close with this appropriate explanation from the scholars. ‘These verses do not minimize the importance of the Old Testament sacrifices, but call attention to the necessity of the believer living a life of total obedience and devotion to God. The Scriptures consistently teach that religious observances devoid of spiritual reality are worthless. (cf. 1 Sam.15:22-23; Ps.40:6-8; Is.1:10-20; Mic.6:8) So Friends, today, let’s ponder our individual situations and see if we’re in total obedience to God’s will. And if not, then let’s come before Him with a penitent heart and contrite spirit and ask for His forgiveness, mercy and grace. That’s wisdom at its zenith. Much LOVE!…the three requirement for following God…obedience…obedience…obedience…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 May 2013 Psalm 18:2
01 May 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: awesome truth, benefits, cheap thing no good, cheapness mentality, downsizing, emulate jesus, equal rights, evildoers, exploited, faithfulness, food banks, food kitchens, good thing no cheap, healthy profits, human-rights, justice, Labour Movement, loving kindness, May Day, Maypole, mercy, my deliverer, my fortress, my shield, my strength, obedience, oppressed, outsourcing, poor getting poorer, rich getting richer, surrender, sweatshops, The Lord is my rock, trust, truth, tyranny, wages
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