Today’s Scrip-Bit   31 August 2022   Proverbs 29:18.

31 Aug 2022 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 29:18.      Where there is no vision (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast of restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

And on this 31st day of August in the year of our Lord 2022, I want to wish a Happy 60th Independence Day to that fabulous twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the land of my birth! Now, the Jamaicans think they are the biggest and hottest thing since sliced bread, and they are good, I can talk from personal experience because that’s where, as the old people would say, I turned man, some fifty something years ago, but friends, there’s a quality in Trinbagonians that no one else in the world possesses. 

It seems like God put a spirit of mirth in the people of those twin islands in the sun! They have a sense of partying right at the front of their minds that no other nation has, always ready to make or play mas, and an instant camaraderie with anyone who wants to play along. It doesn’t take long to become friendly with a Trinbagonian. But their greatest gift is the expressing of heifer dust! Oh, nobody in this world could express heifer dust (S.T) like a T&T denizen! ( smile) Just go to any event, be it private or public, and once you hear heifer dust spilling out, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s a Trinbagonian! And if you have any Trinbagonian friends, you’d know that was the gospel truth. 

I don’t know why, but that truth stands out for me in one particular situation. Many years ago, I went to a local football (soccer) game in New York City, and was never more amazed when I heard the same sort of B.S. spilling out of the upper stands like you would hear in places like the Queen’s Park Oval or any soccer pitch in T&T. I don’t know why that surprised me, since I know we carry our traits with us wherever we go. I guess because it sounded so refreshing and unusual to hear it in the big city of New York. (smile) 

Anyhow, we all know that it’s been sixty hard years of slogging since independence, but we’ve made many improvements to the land and to the people, and let’s pray that with God’s grace we can do even better in the future. Now, please note I said with God’s grace, so that means we have to sincerely turn back to the God of our forefathers in worship and lifestyle, because we certainly cannot do it without Him on our side! Happy Independence Day T&T! 

That brings us to this word of warning from Cousin Sol in Proverbs. ‘Where there is no vision (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast of restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov, 29:18) And that’s more gospel truth my people! As the scholars explain. ‘Vision refers to the divine revelation received by the prophet. Morality is based on adherence to God’s revealed will.’ 

You see it in Moses being sent to teach the children of Israel how the Lord wanted them to live, and how quickly they moved away from the law while Moses was up on Mount Zion collecting the Ten Commandments. They found he was taking too long to come back down so they inveigled Aaron: ‘Up, make us gods (a god), which will go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of Egypt, we wot not (know not) what has become of him.’ (Ex. 32:1) And Aaron took all their gold jewelry and made them a molten calf to worship. And you can read how they displayed a complete lack of appreciation for God by worshipping the golden calf in the rest of Exodus 32. 

Then, later on, there’s the significant difference as offered by the Good Book in 1 Samuel, where it states: ‘And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious (rare) in those day; there was no open vision.’ (1 Sam. 3:1) In nations where God’s law isn’t upheld, where there is no moral restraint, the people run amok, do their own thing, apostasy is rampant and encouraged, like we’re seeing in today’s world. 

The scholars tell us, re that verse from Samuel. ‘The severity of Israel’s apostasy (cf. Judges 21:25) caused a dearth of God’s revelatory work. The condition was perpetuating and self-defeating (cf. Prov. 29:18). By God’s grace, the prophetic institution would receive renewed impetus and standardization in the person and work of Samuel. (cf. 3:21; 19: 20) It’s indeed terrible when a nation, a society, a people, don’t know and/or practice God’s word. 

And that reference from Judges brings it all to light. It says: ‘In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ (Judg. 21:25) No wonder the country was in such a sad state. And, unfortunately, that’s the way our world is currently trending; everybody wants to do their own thing, there’s no absolute right or wrong, except what we choose to acknowledge. And we can’t truly say that there’s been no prophetic revelation in the land, because there has been. God made Jesus the revelation of His will and word for all time. 

Listen to the author of Hebrews. ‘God, who at sundry times (in many portions), and in divers manners (many ways) spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds (ages): Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged (cleansed) our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.’ (Heb. 1:1-3) 

Yes friends, the Father has sent the Son to reveal Himself and His word to us. As the scholars explain: ‘The author immediately shows that Jesus Christ, as the agent of God’s revelation, is far superior to the Old Testament prophets. Their message was fragmentary and incomplete. It came bit by bit through visions, dreams, events, and direct communication as men were ready and able to receive it. Christ’s revelation is climactic and complete, because He is the Son and because His is the message for the last days. His incarnation initiated the end time, and it will be fulfilled when He returns to earth to reconcile and restore all things. (cf. Acts 2:16-17; 3:19-21; 1 Pet. 1:20).’ 

So, technically speaking, we don’t need any new revelation about God and His law, because we already have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in His Son Jesus Christ! And then we have preachers teaching us His word, so what else do we need to live right eh? As someone once said; what we need is a good boot in the tail, to make us wake up and take notice of our sad and sorry lives. And believe me, if the current atmosphere of disease, economic distress, climate change, a scourge of natural disasters, and the many other problems we’re currently enduring, don’t make us wake up and turn back to God, then we’ll not only perish spiritually, but eventually, also physically. 

Now, for those of us who are trying to live right, let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our wonderful 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 now, a gentle reminder, that if we endure to the end, that future we’re looking forward to, will be even more glorious than we can ask or imagine. So please, let’s allow that to encourage us to stick with Jesus nuh! Much LOVE!

…we did not create ourselves…and thus cannot be a law unto ourselves… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​              

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 February 2021 Hebrews 12:6.

15 Feb 2021 Leave a comment

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

Hebrews 12:6.     ​For whom the Lord LOVETH He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Oh mih people, is J’ouvert morning! So we sing: ‘Mas, mas! Play mas! Mas in yuh mas! Play mas! Ole mas!’ Yes it’s Carnival Monday in T&T, time for plenty fete, much wining and drinking, plenty pretty costume and half-naked women too as Carnival rolls around for 2021. But yuh know what? Unfortunately, because of the Covid-19 virus, there’ll be no official carnival this year. Who would have ‘thunked’ it eh? And the Police are adamant that they will have no nonsense in the streets, no fetes and liming or any such gatherings. 

According to the newspapers, one high ranking Police official said there must be no paint, powder or mud on the streets… What? So how yuh going to play ole mas eh? (smile) No drunken sailor awash in baby powder; no jab-jab, no red-devil all painted up, blowing His whistle ‘pay the devil;’ no pan on the avenue either? The police officer also claimed that some foolish people are planning to come out for J’ouvert, but those who intend to “test the waters”, they will “drown”. 

Tough words from Babylon. I certainly wouldn’t want to test them, but it is a given fact that some brave, or foolish Trinidadian (take yuh pick) going to ‘test them waters.’ Some die hard fanatic going to claim: ‘No mas! Deh crazy?’ And then come out to prove their point. Make no doubt about it, the police will be busy, because Trinbagonians won’t take their lack of mas very easy and polite. When coming to their carnival, T&T has never been known to be the quiet, obedient type, so my bet is that they going to give Babylon a run for their money. (smile) 

And I searched for a while to find a scripture that could be used in this scenario. Finally, the Lord led me to this one about His discipline. From the author of Hebrews, who quotes Cousin Sol from Proverbs 3:11-12. ‘Ye have not yet resisted unto blood (bloodshed), striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children (sons), My son, despise not thou the chastening (discipline) of the Lord, nor faint (be discouraged) when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord LOVETH He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.’ (Heb. 12:4-6) 

Yes precious people, the Lord is a disciplinarian, and there’s nothing wrong with that, as the scholars explain. ‘12:6. Whom the Lord LOVETH, he chasteneth: God’s principle of disciplining His own people is completely congruous (in agreement or harmony) with human practices. This quotation from Proverbs 3:12, stating God’s practice, corresponds to the commands God gave to fathers. “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that LOVETH him chasteneth him betimes (promptly)” (Prov. 13:24; cf.22:15, 23:13). LOVE and corporal punishment are not incongruous (incompatible); they are two complimentary and necessary aspects of training.’ 

Ah friends, all of that is oh so true! But unfortunately, our world has gotten so soft and fearful that many of us refused to discipline our children, consequently we have ended up with a lot of undisciplined, entitled, rowdy, selfish, unmannerly children in this generation. And please remember that chastening doesn’t mean abuse, or even necessarily corporal punishment, but it certainly means holding children accountable and finding some useful punishment in cases of gross disobedience. 

Hear how the author of Hebrews continues. ‘If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then ye are bastards (illegitimate) and not sons.’ (Heb. 12:7-8) Oh, we have certainly bastardized a lot of our children by not chastening them for whatever mistaken reasons. 

‘Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence (respect): shall we not much rather be into subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure (what seemed best to them); but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.’ (Heb. 12:9-10) 

Yes my brethren, we respected those earthly fathers who disciplined us according to their timetable, so why won’t we accept God’s discipline eh, which is meant for our betterment, so that we can be partakers of his holiness? That’s a very good question? And the answer might just be that we are naturally rebellious and don’t like to be disciplined. But hear this last verse which sets the table right. ‘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.’ (Heb. 12:11) 

And that does bring the matter to a head: chastening never seems good when it happens, but it’s always useful in the future. In hindsight, many of us parents would now admit that the chastening we received in our youth was indeed beneficial in our older years, so why did we spare the rod and spoil our own children eh? And why are we also disobedient to God eh when He only has good things planned for us? I don’t have answers to those questions, but I do know that the first requirement to fix any of them is going to God in prayer and baring our souls before Him. 

So let’s do that right now nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. As one voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the many natural disasters that now seem more prevalent than ever. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control. 

And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’ 

Now we just have to wait and see the Lord’s response, while being obedient and patient. Much LOVE!

…disobedience…ALWAYS has…negative consequences… 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 February 2015 Deuteronomy 16:17‏‏

13 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

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

Deuteronomy 16:17. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.

And then it was Friday… and the jamming began: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! Carnival Friday to boot! Is going to be one big ruckus in the town this weekend! Mas for so! Mas in yuh mas! Play mas! Yes, thank God is Carnival Friday oui, and we going to party down the place!’

Oh Friends, that’s not me, but the vibe of the general population and the thousands of visitors who’ve come to enjoy the spectacle, the bacchanal, of two days – Monday and Tuesday – of partying in the streets like leggo beast. Better them than me yes. My days for all that nonsense done. I can’t handle it physically, and in my opinion the standards have fallen so drastically, that it turns me off.

It’s no longer a display of beautiful, innovative costumes, but mostly nakedness and wining. The music doesn’t thrill me any longer either, for that too has degenerated to simply ‘hands in the air’, and ‘jump and wine.’ As far as I am concerned, the whole substance of Carnival has now been downgraded to an even more ungodly spectacle than it ever was.

And it seems that a lot of Christians over here usually go to religious camps and retreats at Carnival time. Anyway to each his own! I’ll just spend my time in my serene retreat in Tobago; possibly go out the street for Ole Mas on Monday morning, but not much else.

So let’s chant our Friday Chant to give us a better perspective on how to use the weekend. As one 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.’

That’s how we ought to handle the weekend my brethren! Now re adventures; yesterday I didn’t have any really. I just went to the beach, Store Bay, where it was nice and calm, with beautiful light green water. The duchess wasn’t feeling too hot, so she stayed in the car, while I enjoyed the therapeutic waters and did some walking along the golden sandy beach.

Oh the beach was packed with people, and therefore umbrellas and beach chairs, you could hardly find space to walk between them. I just don’t like how Store Bay has become so commercialized. But I guess that many of the locals make their living from the tourist traffic.

After the beach, we just came home, the duchess cooked some food, then retreated to her usual spot on the deck. Uh oh! On the way home from the beach we stopped at a wine store in a small plaza nearby. I didn’t go in, but when the duchess came back, was she ever excited. She raved about the opulence of this wine store; with its comfortable, upscale chairs, like in your living room, etc.

She had never seen anything like it in any other wine store in all her travels. I had to laugh, the way she was carrying on, but when the duchess raves about something, it must be fairly decent, because her standards are pretty high. One day I must go into this wine store myself and check out its opulence.

Later in the evening, as we were sitting on the deck, watching the sun go down, not so spectacularly because of a heavy cloud cover, I was harassing her about the beauty and tranquility of the scene, when she surprised me by suddenly saying; ‘It’s i-d-y-l-l-i-c!’ spelling the word idyllic for me.

Hn, hn! I almost died laughing from her introducing the word by spelling it. And Friends, the word ‘idyllic’ fits the surroundings to a T! It’s truly idyllic! And like the duchess is on a roll, for she came up with ‘serene’ the other day, then with ‘idyllic’ yesterday, and I’m supposed to be the wordsmith.

And children, I understand that you all are worried about getting me to come back to the cold North Country. But on that point, I think it’s the duchess you should be worried about, for a little while after hitting me with ‘idyllic,’ she hit me with another gem, telling me that it was her greatest pleasure to wake up and open the front door every morning and look out on the serene, idyllic scene.

I think it’s gotten to her more than me. She can definitely handle it! (smile) Anyway, when it got dark, we came inside and watched some of the Carnival activities on the television till bed time. That’s one good thing about down here, a lot of the shows are broadcast live on the television. And that’s possibly where I’ll view the majority of my mas.

Now it’s time for our Bit, dealing with another basic law of God’s kingdom. ‘Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.’

Oh Friends, I can’t begin to tell us how true and important that principle is in the eyes of our God! We want Him to give to us, and He does, but He also expects us to give some of what He’s so generously blessed us with to others less fortunate.

And just like with forgiving, if we don’t give, He won’t give to us. It is therefore in our best interest to share His bounty with others not so blessed. And besides, He gives us more than enough for ourselves, so that we have enough to share.

Now let’s check out some scriptures that show the giving, the generosity of our wonderful and magnanimous God. Remember yesterday we said that God is the ultimate giver, and you can’t outgive Him. Listen to these scriptures that support those truths.

In Psalm 85 – God has removed His anger from Israel – the sons of Korah wisely and truthfully declare. ‘Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps (make his footsteps into a way).’ (Ps.85:12-13)

Then Bruh Paul, in his first missive to the Corinthians, when they were arguing about whom they should follow; Apollos or Bruh Paul, tells them straight up: ‘I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.’ (1 Cor.3:6-7)

Now that’s gospel truth my people! Everything we have, belongs to and comes from God. He is the giver of ALL things! Please let’s remember and ponder on that, as we go about our business today. It will only enhance our lives and godliness. More on that tomorrow, God willing. Till then, please go with God, for He is the best guide and protector there is! Much LOVE!

…giving from the heart…is one of the best ways to receive favour and blessings from Almighty God…