Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 May 2014 Luke 21:19

22 May 2014 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Luke 21:19.     In your patience possess ye your souls.

Oh Friends, it’s Thursday, the day before the big day, Friday, when we’ll be finally blessed with a couple days off from our labour! So let’s enjoy and celebrate this wonderful day with a shout of thanks and praise to our heavenly Father.
 
And all God’s people rose up with joy and delightedly proclaimed: ‘This is the day the Lord our great God has made. We SHALL rejoice and be glad in it! Amen!’ And so let it be my people.
 
Ah mih breddren, our God is something else yes. And this small testimony I’m about to offer here, just proves that His Word doesn’t lie.
 
James tells us: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not (without reproach); and it shall be given to him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (not doubting). For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.’ (James 1:5-6)
 
Well Friends, I got up this morning and there are currently a few negative things happening in my life that I can’t understand why they are happening, for in the natural, everything should be hunky dory.
 
Well since I got up I’ve been talking to the Lord about them, asking for some wisdom and understanding. And lo and behold, just now, when I read yesterday’s Bit, as I usually do before writing today’s, I got the answer in a news flash.
 
Ah Friends, I couldn’t help but laugh as the answer just hit me from the words of the Bit. And I’m still laughing as I write this. And they say the Lord isn’t real, isn’t alive and kicking and moving in mysterious ways? Chuh!
 
Well I’m here to testify that they are oh so wrong. Because our God is indeed alive and kicking, and kicking real hard too, and He does answer prayer in all forms and fashions, as He sees fit!
 
And as I keep saying living for Jesus is not easy, but it certainly is interesting and exciting. I finally discovered that what’s happening is a test of my spiritual maturity. Yuh see, I have to be careful of what I write and/or say, because the Lord oftimes turns right back and tests me on those things.
 
So a word of warning Friends; be very careful in what you say, or ask for, or testify to, for it will no doubt boomerang right back on you. Ah Lord eh! I’m still laughing…
 
But let’s move on to our Bit, the challenging and encouraging words of Christ our Saviour: ‘In your patience possess ye your souls.’
 
Oh Friends, I know I said that yesterday was the last day for this Bit, but unfortunately, or rather fortunately (smile) there was so much stuff to say that I couldn’t get in all the scripture I wanted to. And remember, I don’t want to overburden us with too much stuff to ponder on at once. (smile)
 
And these are also important passages of scripture, so I just didn’t want to waste them, not bring them to your attention. So without further ado, let’s delve deeply and meditatively into them.
 
The first one comes from James, talking about patience in affliction. ‘Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman (farmer) waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
 
Be ye also patient; stablish (establish) your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh (has come near). Grudge (grumble) not one against the other, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take thy brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
 
Behold, we count them happy (blessed) which endure. Ye have heard of the patience (perseverance) of Job, and have seen the end of (intended by) the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful (compassionate), and of tender mercy.’ (James 5:7-11)
 
Yes my people, our God is indeed compassionate and full of tender mercy to those who wait patiently and endure whatever comes against them in His name!
 
Now here’s a word from the scholars: 5:7-8. The coming of the Lord: Few doctrines concerning Jesus Christ are taught in James. His vicarious (deputed, substitutionary) death and resurrection are omitted, yet Christ’s return is cited to encourage patient endurance. Early and latter rain: Farmers in Palestine absolutely depended on two rainy seasons, late fall and mid-spring, for their crops.’
 
And we’ll end with another awesome passage of scripture on patience, this time from Peter, as he talks about the example of Christ’s suffering. Listen up carefully and closely now my fellow believers.
 
‘For this is thankworthy (commendable), if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongly. For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted (beaten) for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with (commendable before) God.
 
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile (deceit) found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again (in return); when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.
 
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes (wounds) ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop (Overseer) of souls.’ (1 Pet.2:18-25)
 
Ah my fellow believers, if that doesn’t put a dart of sorrow, repentance and wanting to do better in our hearts, then I don’t know what will. Jesus suffered so much for us, that we ought to be willing to suffer a little to bring His Words, His story to the heathen, ungodly world in which we currently live.
 
Please, as true followers of the risen Christ, let’s attempt today to improve our walk of faith, of LOVE, enduring any suffering, affliction, trials and tribulations that might come our way, with the same stoic, God-granted assurance and confidence that He displayed. For that is the wisdom of the ages! Much LOVE!
 
…of all the necessary attributes for living a truly Christian life…patience might just be the most important and all encompassing…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 October 2012 Proverbs 4:7

17 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Proverbs 4:7.     Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 
 
Oh Friends, as always, we like to open with some thanks and praise to our Most Gracious God for causing us to see another beautiful day on planet earth. We all know that life in general isn’t easy, there are, and will always be plenty of ups and downs, but hopefully, when we stand faithfully with God, the ups will be more plentiful than the downs. It’s just the simple law of averages, a basic fact of life which states that the more times you go up to bat, the greater your chances are of hitting a home run. So please, let’s not falter and/or get weary when the rough times assault us, when they just seem to keep coming one after the other. Remember that they are often tests from our wise and wonderful God to see if we are ready for promotion. And if we handle them with strength and confidence in His faithfulness, then our faith will definitely increase and most likely the Lord will bless us with some kind of promotion. So please, let’s stay strong and faithful, regardless of whatever comes against us. Now in the last few days we’ve been talking about the evil stuff that’s cropping up on the Internet, in particular the cyber bullying, criminal blackmail of the young girl Amanda Todd, who recently committed suicide over it. I hadn’t planned to say anything more about it, but I read about another development from that story that I thought it necessary to share. It seems that one diligent lady discovered the name and workplace of one of those disgusting persons who were writing negative evil stuff about the girl. This woman called the man’s employer in Toronto with the information and he was subsequently fired. The woman claims she didn’t really want him to get fired, but at least shamed and reprimanded. Now she is also receiving some nasty e-mail, although the majority of the responses seem to be positive. Oh Friends, I hope all this stuff is making a difference in what you’re thinking about posting on the Net, for a lot of it, even the seemingly innocuous, harmless stuff can eventually come back to haunt you. And on another point of interest, you also have to be careful what you ask the Lord for, since He’ll seldom just drop it in your lap without any work on your part. And in today’s ‘From off my wall’ section, we have a very good example of that. Tacked very prominently to the wall on the right side of my office is a foolscap page with this information written by my young daughter in big, bold, black and red letters. ‘The Wisdom of Solomon. The Strength of Samson. The Patience of Job.’ Ah mih breddren, some years aback, in my spiritual naivety, I apparently asked the Lord to give me those things. Looking back now, I’m sure He sadly chuckled and said: ‘Poor boy, you really don’t know what you’re asking or setting yourself up for nuh, because it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to come by anyone of them, and you’re asking for all three.’ No doubt, some of the stuff I’ve since experienced came about because of that genuine but naive request. I’m not sure I’d ask for all three now, since I know what it takes to achieve any of them, but like the spilt milk, it’s too late to change my mind. But the good thing Friends is that with the Lord’s help, I believe I’ve made some decent headway in at least two of them; the wisdom and patience aspects. At my age, and with all the aches and pains in the old body, it’s doubtful I can acquire the physical strength of Samson, but I certainly am working on acquiring the spiritual strength necessary to walk faithfully with God. Please pray for the old fella, that the Lord doesn’t make it too hard for him. (smile) And I’m chuckling here, because I don’t have a Bit to tie all this together. I’m sure though that the Lord will guide me to something appropriate, as I take a break to look now. So soon come! Aye Friends, I’m back in less than five minutes. It seemed that all of the preceding stuff had wisdom as its theme, so I looked for a Bit on that topic, and came up with this most appropriate one: ‘Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.’ See, the Lord does keep His promise to help us in times of need! And do we ever need wisdom in this evil, foolish, ungodly world that we live in! Yes Friends, if we need to get only one attribute on this earth, wisdom is the one to get, because once we have that, we’ll know how to handle all the other matters of life, for from wisdom flows understanding and everything else. As Cousin Sol further explains: ‘Exalt her (wisdom), and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to (place on) thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver thee.’ (Prov.4:8-9) There is no doubting of wisdom’s ability to do just that my people! Cousin Sol further declares in Proverbs 16: ‘How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!’ (Prov.16:16) Yes Friends, wisdom and understanding are of such great importance, more so than the riches of this world. And we’ll end with the answer to the burning question that everyone so desperately desires to know i.e. how does one get that wonderful attribute called wisdom? It’s easy Friends, no rocket science involved at all. Listen to James tell it like it is: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not (without reproach); and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (not doubting). For he that wavereth (doubts) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (James1:5-8) And that Friends, is how we go about getting wisdom. Please, let’s seriously consider our state of wisdom today, make the necessary changes, and then passionately seek it. Much LOVE!…our souls were made to seek wisdom…but to find wisdom…one must first seek Jehovah God…