our sins could be forgiven

Hebrews 10:23. Let us hold fast to the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).

Well, the beautiful sunny days look like they have ended on this last day of the work week, as we shout: TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ Yes, friends, it cloudy and windy and the presence of some kind of precipitation is in the air. But as we know, all good things must end sometime or the other, no good nor bad thing lasts forever. That’s why we have such strong belief and faith in Christ Jesus, because He has promised to be always with us in our every circumstance, and to eventually work them all out for out good! And the Good Book tells us that He who promises is faithful to deliver on His promises.

Wow! That’s why the author of the Book of Hebrews so candidly laid it out for us, when he wrote: ‘Let us hold fast to the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).’ (Heb. 10:23) Yes my people, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is indeed faithful to His every promise, He has never reneged, and will never renege on even one! That’s why we need to be strong and steadfast in our faith and hope in Him, for He is the ONLY ONE in whom we can put our total trust, and surrender our entire being to. Praise His holy name you faithful saints! Praise the Lamb that was slain so that we could be forgiven of our abominable sins! May He reign in glory for ever and ever! Amen!

Ah mih bredrin, the Christian life is tough, for it’s not easy to have strong and steadfast faith in Christ and then grow more faithful and righteous like Him every day, because that’s what discipleship calls for, and it’s what the Father expects of us. And the sad part of it all is that we only grow in faith through suffering and hardship, through trials and tribulation. That means to be a lifelong believer, you will always be faced by some problem or the other. Life will NEVER be clear sailing all the time, in due course, inclement weather will undoubtedly arrive at your doorstep. And only when we have that assured faith in Christ, will we ever be able to handle it.

The truth of the matter is that the more problems you encounter, the more your faith grows and the easier it gets the next time around. And I know that’s no consolation, but it’s the truth! (smile) But these encouraging words of Jesus do make things a tad easier. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)

Yes my fellow saints, Jesus has indeed overcome the world, by defeating hell, death and the grave and rising on the third day, and thus has also given all believers the victory. We now just have to endure the tough times this world has to offer, and to assist us in that endeavour, He’s generously given us His Holy Spirit to be our Guide, Comforter, Helper and Reminder of His truth, so that we can live the abundant life that He died for us to have, beginning right here on earth.

Give Almighty God the praise for all He’s had Jesus do on our behalf! That’s why Bruh Paul in his first letter to the church at Corinth, could write thus: ‘God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (1 Cor. 1:9) And later in that same letter, he wrote these words of encouragement: ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13)

The problem with that verse though is too many of us focus on the word ‘escape.’ However, in the Lord’s vocabulary, ‘escape’ doesn’t always mean literal escape. Many times it means, enabling us to go through the tough circumstances, not bypassing them completely. Yes, sometimes, God will allow us to escape certain things completely, but more often than not, He will give us the strength and the wherewithal to bear the temptations, because in doing so we will grow and mature in our faith, and that’s His plan for each and every one of His born again children.

And since we’re not doing as well as we ought to in these difficult and ungodly times, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, and ask for divine help to do better. Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land.

We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’

And my fellow saints, I’m sure the Lord sometimes chuckles when He hears our prayers for help, prayers which include the very thing(s) we need to do to get it. Like above there where we say: ‘And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set.’ Now that’s exactly what we need to get divine help, set a better example than we’re currently doing! Much LOVE!

…faithful is he that calleth you…who also will do it… (1 Thess. 5:24)

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2 Corinthians 5:7. For we walk by faith and not by sight.

And another summer Sunday is upon us, my dear friends in Christ! And you know that calls for praise and worship and thanksgiving to Almighty God, our Creator and Provider; the One who LOVES us unconditionally, LOVED us so much that He sent His Son to die on our behalf, that our sins could be forgiven and we could be adjudged righteous in His holy and glorious name. That’s why we praise and give Him thanks every Sunday.

And today we’ll open with a very popular traditional gospel song titled ‘Just a Closer Walk with Thee.’ The precise author of the song is unknown, but obviously there are various theories. One holds that it goes right back to the days of slavery, sung by slaves as they laboured in the fields of the plantations in the Southern States of the U.S. of A.

Another angle claims that Kenneth Morris an American composer, on a trip from Kansas City to Chicago, heard a porter singing the song at one of the train stops where he got off to get some fresh air. At that time, he did not pay much attention to it, but as he continued his trip the song just flooded his mind, and at the next stop, he got off the train and took another one back to the earlier station. He had the porter sing the song for him, and he wrote down the words and music. Then in 1940, after adding some of his own lyrics to add more breadth, he published the song.

Now it does seem that Morris did arrange and publish the song for the first time, but another theory says that happened only after a group of musicians heard a live version in Kansas City and then brought it to Morris’ attention. The long and short of the story though is that it soon became a gospel standard, a Jazz standard and a part of American folk music. However, it is agreed that the first recording was done by the Selah Jubilee singers on October 8, 1941, in New York city.

And now that we have some idea of its history, (smile) let’s sing an up-tempo version, a la Anne Murray, not like the traditional dirge renditions in new Orleans jazz funerals. In full, sweet, harmonious voice, with the appropriate background vocals, let’s offer up our sacrifice of praise to heaven. ‘I am weak but Thou art strong; Jesus, keep me from all wrong; I’ll be satisfied as long As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

(Refrain: Just a closer walk with Thee, Grant it, Jesus, is my plea, Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.) Thro’ this world of toil and snares, If I falter, Lord, who cares? Who with me my burden shares? None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee. [Refrain] When my feeble life is o’er, Time for me will be no more; Guide me gently, safely o’er To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore. [Refrain].’

That’s oh so refreshing my people! There’s nothing better in this life than a steady walk with Jesus. And that all started right at the very beginning when the Lord told the 99-year-old Abram: ‘I am the Almighty God (El Shaddai); walk before me, and be thou perfect (blameless).’ (Gen. 17:1) One translation says: ‘Walk before the Lord in a way that is pleasing to Him.’ And that’s the God awesome truth! We ought to walk before our God and Creator and heavenly Father in a manner that pleases Him, not the lewd, lustful and ungodly way that so many of us walk nowadays.

And the scholars tell us that the title of the song and the lyrics allude to these two verses of scripture. The first one is this popular verse: ‘For we walk by faith and not by sight.’ (2 Cor. 5:7) And that’s a foundational scripture friends, since in the Lord’s economy seeing is not believing, walking by faith and trust in His promises and power is what He expects of us. That’s the realization of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

And the second scripture verse is another popular one: ‘Draw nigh (near) to God, and he will draw nigh (near) to you.’ (James 4:8a) And I want to add this other verse that seems ever so appropriate. ‘Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.’ James 4:10) Yes friends, if we don’t humble ourselves before the Lord, He certainly won’t lift us up, neither down here on earth, nor to heaven. (smile)

Now here is this interesting commentary from the website Hymnary.org. ‘In this song, we acknowledge our human inability to live righteously, but we also express awareness of the grace and strength that God gives us in our daily walk. Even such an esteemed saint as the apostle Paul acknowledged his need for this grace after he asked the Lord three times to remove the thorn from his flesh: “But he [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

And Paul’s response to that was brilliant: ‘Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities (weaknesses), that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

Oh my people, regardless of how mature we are in Christ, it is impossible for us to walk righteously, properly, blamelessly or in a pleasing manner before the Lord without His anointing, His grace supporting us. Please, let’s always remember that. It’s His amazing grace that keeps us walking this earth, and without it, we are done like dinner! That means every day we must give God thanks and ask for His grace to do His will, to walk worthy of Him. Much LOVE!

…only as we walk in faith…will we be anointed with grace…

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SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 November 2023 Hebrews 10:23.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 July 2021 2 Corinthians 5:7.

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