oh my soul | SCRIP-BITS

Isaiah 44:6. Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

Ah mih people, I woke up joyfully singing it this morning, even though I did not get much sleep, so I took it as a sign that we should open with some of it. (smile) So please sing with me: ‘Bless the Lord oh my soul, Oh my soul, Worship His holy name. Sing like never before, Oh my soul, I’ll worship Your holy name.’

One more time, cause when it’s so nice, you’ve got to sing it twice. (smile) ‘Bless the Lord oh my soul, Oh my soul, Worship His holy name. Sing like never before, Oh my soul, I’ll worship Your holy name.’ And yes friends, that’s exactly what we should all be doing, or have already done, this glorious Wednesday morning that the Lord has so graciously seen fit to allow us to see.

Bless His holy name my people! Bless and exalt it because He is the ONE and ONLY ONE! He said so Himself in His Word, through His prophet Isaiah, and He does not lie; His Word is truth; the ultimate truth!

Listen to His awesome Word and let your hearts be set free by its amazing truth: ‘Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.’ Mamacita! What a powerful, factual and undeniable statement that is my believing brethren!

And the scholars explain that thus: ‘44:6. In verse 6 the prophet emphasizes the oneness of God by stating that beside me there is no God. Yet at the same time, the prophet distinguishes between the Lord the King of Israel and his redeemer the Lord of hosts. The personal name ‘Yahweh’ is used of both the King and His redeemer, the one referring to God the Father and the other referring to God the Son.’

We can see that even way back then the Lord was setting the stage for coming of His most wonderful Son! And believe me, there’s no better stage manager in all the world than the Lord our God. You just have to read the Good Book and see how He set up everything right to the nth degree from creating the world to saving it!

But getting back to the Lord being the ONE and ONLY GOD, He continues to make His point, reasoning thus: ‘And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, (who can proclaim it? Then let him declare it), and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them.

Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? Ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.’ (Is.44:7-8)

Oh friends, I don’t know of any other nuh! (smile) They are a lot of pretend ones, but they have no power whatsoever. And how can a man bow down and worship something inanimate that he’s made with his own two hands eh?

And even if you worship the wind, the birds, the sun, the moon, the stars or some other aspect of creation, like you, they were created by the ONE TRUE GOD; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and none of them can do anything on their own, their apparent power is all wrapped up in what the Lord, the King of Israel gave and still gives to them!

So worshipping any other supposed God is pure folly! And as the Father said it to, and through Isaiah, so did the Son, Jesus Christ, say it to His beloved disciple, John in his vision on the island of Patmos, where he was exiled. ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.’ (Rev.1:8)

And even around God’s throne everlasting praises are being sung spelling out His might and majesty and holiness. ‘And the four beasts had each of them six wings about them; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest (cease) not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.’ (Rev.4:8) Oh my people, heaven is constantly ringing with the Lord’s praises!

As John writes: ‘And when those beasts (living creatures) give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created (by your will they exist).’ (Rev.4:9-11)

Can you imagine that scene mih breddren? A rainbow around the throne of heaven, with the Lord sitting there looking as beautiful as ever, and thunder and lightning, and the beasts singing and the elders worshipping…pure merriment mih people!

So if they can sing the Father’s praises so continuously in heaven, why can’t we lesser mortals sing His praises some too down here on earth eh? Why are we so stingy with giving Him His rightfully deserved praise eh?

Because we are selfish and don’t truly believe that He is who He says He is. But that will only lead to our eventual chagrin my friends. So please, let’s wake up and smell the roses, or the coffee, or whatever will open our eyes, minds and souls to the reality that the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the ONE and ONLY TRUE GOD in this wonderful universe He created!

And having settled that, (smile) let’s go home declaring (steups!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know our wonderful position in Christ Jesus. All together now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!

I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’

And if you sincerely believe it, then please stick steadfastly with it, because one day, we too shall be singing and worshipping the Lord in heaven! Much LOVE!

…our human minds are too small…to fully comprehend…the constant joy in heaven…but if we believe the promise…one day we surely will…

Isaiah 55:1. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Oh Friends, I’ve gotten the message! Yes, you already know that today is Friday, because I can hear your joyful shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! And thank God that work soon done for another two big days! Bless the Lord, oh my soul, for that short bit of freedom from weary toil and labour!’

Ah mih people, I know how hard some of us work to make a few dollars which never seem to be enough in this ever inflationary world. But please don’t despair, for our great God will be with us, if we be with Him, and work everything out for our good.

Now that also means not abusing the weekend with strictly riotous living, but also engaging in some fellowship, rest and relaxation to rejuvenate our souls and continue the cycle come Monday morning.

Oh, oh! I know that right now many of you don’t even want to hear about Monday, but it’s the reality of our situation, and the sooner we face up to it, the sooner we’ll have peace on the subject. Otherwise we’ll continue to unwisely vacillate, be washed one way, and then the other, like the tide on the beach’s edge.

So to help us keep everything in proper focus, let’s chant our Friday Chant, as loudly and gloriously as we were just singing ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!

As one sincere and harmonious body 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 Friends, please keep that in mind as you go through the weekend, so that you don’t overdo it, then stumble and fall. And to further help us with all that we’re dealing with, we have this wonderful Bit that we’ve been studying for the last couple days.

‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.’

Oh mih breddren, every time I read that verse of scripture, it just reminds me of how magnificent and magnanimous a God we serve and worship! Wow! There’s NO other being in the universe either able or willing to provide such a marvellous and miraculous service to those in need!

But as we’ve been saying, a lot, in fact too many people are forsaking God, foregoing His free gift of grace in all areas of their lives. Why? Only God alone knows for sure! Instead of wisely seeking God’s everlasting favour and LOVING-kindness, they are foolishly turning in droves to the idols and crooks and deceivers of this world.

Yes my brethren, too many of us are still stupidly running behind the material things of this world, spending hard earned money for that which isn’t really important, and labouring to accomplish goals that don’t truly satisfy our spirits.

It’s clearly discernible from our basic attitudes, where we already have a whole lot of stuff, but we keep on wanting more and more, even though the increase doesn’t do us any real justice, but that’s the way the world works, so we do the same thing.

But please remember Friends, we’re only supposed to be IN the world, NOT a part of it.

Jesus even prayed to the Father on the subject on our behalf. ‘I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil (one). They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them (set them apart for Your purposes) through thy truth: thy word is truth.’ (John 17:15-17)

Oh my people, what will it take for us to truly wake up and realize that we’re going down the wide and winding road that leads to eternal separation from Jehovah God eh? Look at the sad state of our world nuh!

No institution, even Christ’s church is running smoothly. All of them are filled with wickedness, greed, envy, jealousy, resentment, anger, incompetence and corruption!

And the sad part is that it’s all done so blatantly these days. Very few of us take the trouble to hide our evil doings, because it has now become more or less the norm around our evil and ungodly world.

How Jesus’ heart must pain Him when he sees what we’ve come to! I’m sure He must often regret ever sacrificing His holy, sinless life to pay for our disgusting, abominable sins because we don’t seem to truly appreciate it, the way we’ve upped the sin level of our world.

But Friends, please pay close and serious attention to these immortal and true words found in the Book of Revelation. ‘And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst (who thirsts) of the fountain of the water of life freely.

He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful (cowardly), and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers (sexually immoral), and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.’ (Rev.21:6-8)

Oh mih people, that’s a very serious warning! One which we should all take to heart if we believe that the Good Book is indeed God’s Word, in truth and in deed.

If we do, then we need to shape up immediately, else when the hammer falls on judgement day, we’ll be looking at eternal death. And believe me, all the false glitz and glory of this present world are definitely not worth such an ignominious end! Much LOVE!

…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…or he will eventually pay…a rather exorbitant price for his disobedience…eternal separation from Almighty God…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 4 September 2019 Isaiah 44:6.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 March 2014 Isaiah 55:1

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