Today’s Scrip-Bit   17 April 2024 Psalm 141:3.

17 Apr 2024 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 141:3.       Set a watch (guard), O Lord, before my mouth; keep (watch over) the door of my lips.

And just like that, the sunshine has disappeared, and a rainy day has foisted itself upon us. But because we have Jesus, we roll right along with whatever punch the world, or the devil chooses to throw at us! And helping us to do so are some more of those scriptural tidbits we call acclamations, like this one: ‘My God will supply all of my needs through His riches in glory through Christ our Lord and Saviour!’ (Phil. 4:19) And indeed He will, if we live the life He desires of us. And this one is oh so necessary for so many of us: ‘Set a watch (guard), O Lord, before my mouth; keep (watch over) the door of my lips.’ (Ps. 141:3) 

Yes friends, in this talkative, lying, fraudulent, gossipy world, believers most definitely need to watch what they say, as our words can get us in very serious trouble. Remember what Cousin Sol says in Proverbs: ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that LOVE it shall eat the fruit thereof.’ (Prov. 18:21) Oh my fellow believers that’s the gospel truth, those of us who LOVE to blabber will certainly suffer for it. Remember too that old saying, you shall eat those words? And all of us have seen it come to pass in our lives when we’ve spoken some unkind or unnecessary words. 

And again, Cousin Sol reminds us in Proverbs: ‘He that keepeth (guards) his mouth keepeth (preserves) his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.’ (Prov. 13:3) And no, it’s not easy to control our tongue, for as James so wisely discourses: ‘And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members; that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature (our existence); and it is set on fire of hell.’ (James 3:6) 

And as the scholars explain: ‘The tongue is a system (world) of iniquity that sets on fire the whole course of life, and is even set on fire by Satan (cf. 3:15) That means the tongue causes a whole lot of problems in our individual, lives as well as our world. What causes wars and rumours of wars, etc. etc. talk and the lawlessness of our tongues. And that reference above there is important enough for us to take it up from verse 13. James writes, concerning earthly and heavenly wisdom: ‘Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge (has understanding) among you? let him shew out of a good conversation (conduct) his works with meekness of wisdom (that his works are done with meekness of wisdom). 

But if ye have bitter envying and strife (self-seeking) in your hearts, glory not (don’t boast), and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish (demonic). For where envying and strife is (self-seeking exist), there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated (willing to yield), full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.’ (James 3:13-18) 

Yes my fellow saints, our tongues can be used for good or evil, but it all depends on which one we choose to use them for. Yuh see what happens when we allow Beelzebub to use our tongues; strife and envying, bitterness and boasting take place. But when we allow the Lord to set a watch upon our lips, His heavenly wisdom comes down to us and we seek peace, goodness, righteousness without partiality or hypocrisy. Now isn’t that the better way? It certainly is! But unfortunately in this current version of our world, one that’s so evil and ungodly, Satan has the upper hand when coming to the tongue, for so many lies, deceitful practices, strife, hypocrisy and partiality are present that it’s brought our world into a total scene of chaos and disaster. 

And social media and the new darling of the public AI (Artificial Intelligence) are just encouraging the lies and misdirection that’s already so widespread on the earth. Then, unfortunately, those of us who know better, Christians, are not pulling our weight, not helping to reduce the garbage that’s circulating in our world, but some of us even add to it by spreading gossip and stories that we know nothing about, instead of trying to limit the foolishness that’s been so easily spread abroad, and also flourishes, or as the word says, goes viral within seconds. 

Oh my people, my people, we have a big task ahead of us, trying to sow peace and righteousness on the earth, and we might never accomplish it until Jesus returns, but the important thing is that we try; we try to turn things around as best we can. But therein lies the problem, not enough of us are willing to try. We just want to sit back and enjoy the fruits, the entitlement that we can get from doing nothing. And to a certain point I can understand that reasoning, because trying to make a positive difference means hard work, sacrifices and other stuff our flesh detests. 

But what about our spirits eh? What about the power, wisdom and LOVE we have from our great God? What about the sacrifices our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ made for us? Are we just going to allow them to be in vain? I certainly hope not. That’s why I’m pleading with us to begin making a difference, strengthening our backbones so that we can sacrifice some of our pleasure and leisure to fight the good fight of peace and righteousness in Jesus’ name. Now it’s up to us to get out into the world and be shining beacons of light and salty and tasty elements of peace and righteousness, as Jesus desires and expects of us. Remember, that’s our bounden duty as disciples of Christ! 

Now, let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our amazing and invincible and position in Christ Jesus. as one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 for good measure, if we endure right down to the very end with Jesus, then that future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine. So let’s be wise and plan to meet at the very end nuh, so that we can enjoy that glorious future together! Much LOVE!

…a word fitly spoken (spoken at the right time)…is like apples of gold…in pictures (settings) of silver…(a timely and fitting word is precious and pleasing)…(Prov. 25:11)

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ

Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 July 2016 Hebrews 12:11

22 Jul 2016 Leave a comment

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

Hebrews 12:11.    Now no chastening (discipline) for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised (trained) thereby.

And all over God’s great earth, on this blessed Friday morning in July 2016, the joyful cry of the working class rises like a touching, soulful song to heaven! 

‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the workweek is almost over! Thank God that the weekend is upon us, bringing freedom from mental and physical slavery for two big days! We can do whatever we want to do without massa looking over our shoulders! Thank God for Fridays and the weekend!’ 

Yes friends, it is a viable cry, but we must still be careful about doing what we want over the weekend. We can’t just behave like leggo beast and give the enemy a chance to invade our souls. We need to always be wary of his deceitful tactics to gain entrance to our souls and his evil intent, to wreak havoc there. 

Instead, let’s chant our Friday Chant that gives us a better perspective on the use of the weekend. All together 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.’ 

Ah mih people, the way we handle the weekend sets the tempo and standard for our new workweek. Unless we are fresh and reinvigorated, we won’t be able to do a good job for Jesus when the time comes. So please be careful and handle the next couple of days in appropriate godly fashion. (smile) 

Now here’s a beautiful quote attributed to one George Elliston (1883-1946), a female American journalist and editor who bequeathed a large sum of money to the University of Cincinnati to open a chair in poetry. At some stage of her life, she reputedly proclaimed: ‘How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it.’ 

And isn’t that the gospel truth my brethren! When kindness touches a day, there’s nothing left but for it to indeed be beautiful, because kindness comes from the heart of God! Oh how our world is dying from unkindness and desperately waiting and desiring to experience much more kindness amongst God’s greatest creation, mankind. And until we achieve that experience, our world will continue to be topsy-turvy, dangerous and deceitful. 

But my people, thankfully there’s a saving grace, if you can call it that, displayed in the words of our Bit. ‘Now no chastening (discipline) for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised (trained) thereby.’ 

Yes friends, we can count on our heavenly Father to chasten, to discipline us when we step out of line and follow our own devious devices and plans. Oh, I know from personal experience that it’s not a welcome decision, but it seems to be necessary for our eventual growth and maturity in Christ Jesus. 

Anyway, there’s not much we can do about it, except try to give the Lord as few instances as possible to chasten and discipline us. Now let’s continue looking at some scriptural examples of how important chastening is to God. And nobody spoke on it more often than Cousin Sol. 

Listen to him. ‘Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with a rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.’ (Prov.23:13-14) 

Now I know some of you will be up in arms over those statements, but I’m only quoting the Good Book. And as much as you might dislike punishing your children, yuh better believe that God will punish us, like children, for disobedience. Not necessarily with a rod of correction, but in some manner that He deems suitable. 

Now hear what the Lord said to Bruh David when He made His covenant with him. ‘And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 

I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes (strokes) of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I put away before thee.’ (2 Sam.7:12-15) 

Yes friends the Lord was speaking there about the rise of Cousin Sol. And please note the serious warning about chastening for disobedience, because it hasn’t changed one iota since then. 

So my fellow believers, in closing, I just want to remind us that although we don’t like chastening by God, because in the short term it seems a bit on the rough side, be assured that in the long run it will be to our benefit. Our God does NOTHING in our lives that’s not for our benefit. 

Now let’s go out and see if we can do as little as possible to deserve His chastening, for that’s wisdom of enormous proportions! Much LOVE!

…to walk this earth successfully…a disciplined life is essential…  

P.S. I think I’ve finally gotten the hang of this new Outlook setup. Glory Hallelujah! Much LOVE!

 

 

 

Today”s Scrip-Bit 26 February 2013 James 3:16

26 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

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

James 3:16.     For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
 
Ah Friends, yesterday has passed, and today is upon us again, with all of God’s new mercies and blessings! And His people offered a loud, ‘Thank you Lord! We praise and bless Your Holy Name!’ Unfortunately though, many of us in the Greater Toronto area won’t be pleased with it, because the weatherman has been warning us for the last few days about another terrible storm coming our way, starting this evening and continuing into sometime Wednesday. The temperature is supposed to be around 4 Celsius, so let’s hope that we are lambasted by rain, rather than the dreaded white stuff, as the weather people seem to expect. It only looks beautiful when it’s undefiled by man. Anyway, as true and strong believers in, and followers of Jesus Christ, we’ll handle it, with His most valuable help. I guess that means some breathing tests I’m supposed to have tomorrow will be cancelled again, like they were last week when the rather inclement weather struck. (smile) These days I’m so tired of the topsy-turvy weather that I’m not going out if it’s bad, unless it’s for some thing very, very important. The tests can wait. It’s not like I’m still sick and suffering from bronchial congestion like I was a few weeks ago. Anyway, enough of my unimportant problems, let’s turn to our Bit, which is way more important. It’s the same one as yesterday. ‘For where envying and strife is (self seeking exists), there is confusion and every evil work.’ And we saw yesterday that that was indeed truth of the highest order, especially in our modern, selfish, evil, godless, idol-worshipping world. Now yesterday we ended by saying that violence and strife are possibly the number one products of our present world. Ah Friends, the crime, violence, and widespread corruption within our nations are heart-rending. And here we’ll use T&T, Trinidad and Tobago as an example. It’s been recently reported that in the first forty something days of 2013, there have been sixty something murders in the twin island Republic of between 1 and 2 million people. And that’s without any major incidents from the recent Carnival celebrations, which the police said was the cleanest and least problematic in years. Now I’m not crying down T&T, just using it as a broad example because I have the figures, for violence is widespread all over the globe. And to bring that point home, right here in ole Toronto the Good, young people, all be it from 15 years old have recently been shooting up each other, in broad daylight too. In fact, young people less than 25 years of age have been recently committing most of the gun crimes. That certainly doesn’t say much about the respect that our young people have for the human life; very little for both theirs and others. And the sad part is that these shootings are over very petty stuff. Most of them can’t even spell their blooming names or even wash themselves properly, but they’re quick to pull a gun over some foolish, petty, imagined slight. Now we won’t even bother to talk about the U.S. which seems intent on returning to the days of the Wild West with its proliferation of legal guns and crimes. Please note that in several states guns are now been legally worn openly. Ah Lord eh! When is going to end? When are we going to understand and wake up to the fact that guns only foster violence? When are we going to truly believe the age-old adage, that he who lives by the sword, and also the gun, dies by the sword and the gun too? As Bruh Paul so rightly told the Corinthians: ‘For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying and strife, and divisions (dissensions), are ye not carnal (fleshly), and walk as men (live according to man)? (1 Cor. 3:3) Yes my brethren, we are indeed carnal, almost totally living by the dictates of man and not God. And unfortunately a carnal mind hinders the growth of the Holy Spirit in mankind. So please, for all our sakes, let’s see if we can’t bring our world around nuh, beginning with our immediate families, to what James describes as the optimal situation. ‘But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated (willing to yield), full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.’ (James 3:17) Oh my fellow believers, that’s the only way we’ll ever turn our strife filled world around and see our children’s children live in harmony, peace and LOVE, rather than anger, bitterness, resentment and the resultant strife that only leads to untold, untimely and unnecessary death and destruction. That’s the wisdom for this age. Much LOVE!…and the fruit of righteousness…is sown in peace…of them that make peace… (James 3:18)