Portia faces life | SCRIP-BITS

Genesis 43:28b. And they bowed down their heads and made obeisance (prostrated themselves).

Oh my my, it’s Monday! So what? It’s just another day, except that most of us have to get up and go back out to work after a relaxing and/or a party-hearty weekend. (smile) But that’s nothing new, it’s been happening ever since the devil was a li’l boy, so I don’t see why we get anxious about it every week. With Jesus and His Holy Spirit as our Guide and Leaders, plus the fires of confidence built up in our bellies from Sunday worship, it’s a sure thing that we can handle any and every Monday like the champions we were made to be. So, let’s get out there and do just that nuh! End of Sermon!

Now let’s reconnect with the exciting and intriguing story of Bruh Joseph. We last saw him when his brothers came down the second time with his younger brother Benjamin. And when Bruh Joseph saw Benjamin, he told his steward to take them to his house, for they would have lunch with him that day. Now the Good Library describes the situation thus: ‘And the men (Joseph’s brothers) were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time we are brought in: that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us as bondmen (slaves), and our asses (donkeys).’ (Gen. 43:18)

And there’s definitely nothing wrong with that reasoning under the prevailing circumstances. But being Jacob’s sons, they were not quite innocent in the games of life. The Good Library continues: ‘And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: and it came to pass when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.

And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. And he (the steward) said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon (the brother that was in jail) out unto them. And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet, and he gave their asses (donkeys) provender (feed). And they made ready the present against Joseph came (for Joseph’s coming) at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.’ (Gen. 43:19-25)

Oh friends the suspense as well as the fear must have been very palatable around them, for although they now knew how the money got in their sacks, they still couldn’t fathom the reason behind it, nor why they had been invited to lunch, at Bruh Joseph’s house, and all they could probably see were further problems down the line. But they had no choice but do like Portia and face up to life. That’s a reference to an old radio soap that ran many moons ago in T&T called: ‘Portia faces Life’ (smile)

‘And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.’ (Gen. 43:26) Yes friends the great dramatist, Jehovah God, reminds us one more time of the truth of Bruh Joseph’s dream, with his brothers again prostrating themselves before him. Bruh Joseph must have had a small inner chuckle at that, because it was the same dream that got him sold into slavery in Egypt some twenty years previously. And I believe that’s just the Lord’s way of telling us to never refute someone’s dream out of hand.

‘And he (Joseph) asked them of their welfare (well-being), and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads and made obeisance (prostrated themselves).’ (Gen. 43:27-28) There we have that bowing down again. The Lord just won’t let us forget it. (smile)

‘And he (Joseph) lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made haste for his bowels did yearn upon his brother (his heart did yearn for his brother); and he sought where to weep; and he entered his chamber, and wept there.’ (Gen. 43:29-30) And it’s quite understandable that Joseph’s heart yearned for his brother, his mother’s other son, for when he left home at around seventeen, Benjamin was a young pup, but now he was a big, strapping man in his twenties.

Ah mih people, life hands us so many unexpected twists and turns that it’s only with the help of the Good Lord that we can ever expect to navigate them successfully. That’s why it’s necessary for us to go to the throne of grace right now, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to seek God’s divine help with our many earthly problems. So as one sincere voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.

Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us 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!’

Oh, my fellow saints, we just said it ourselves; if we want to receive divine help, then we’ve got to turn from our evil ways and sincerely seek God’s face. That’s the only way! Much LOVE!

…when the storms of life surround us…turn them over to Jesus…for He is the only true Storm Calmer…

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Philippians 1:10. That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.

Blame it on the rain! Yes friends, we can blame my late arising on the rain…well partly, because I went to bed around 3 a.m and could not fall asleep for a little while. But I was up earlier on…and then I heard the soothing sounds of the rain falling outside, and entranced by it, I rolled over – mind you, just for a minute more, to enjoy its delicious flavour… And wonder of wonders, it lulled me back to sleep! Now that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it! (smile)

And since we’re already late, let’s get straight to our Saturday theme, looking at quotes our friend Anselm sent us during this past week, as he sincerely aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Hear this first one: ‘Well-being can only happen from within you.’

That’s a fact! Regardless of our outer circumstances, be they good or bad, that sense of satisfaction, of happiness, if you will, can only come from within us. Just look at all the wealthy and powerful people who lack inner contentment nuh. And then there are so many poor who have it. It’s all because of how we view our circumstances and handle them. And obviously with Jesus as your Guiding Light, you’ll do even better.

Then there’s this: ‘Are you riding the wave of life or are you being crushed by it?’ Now that’s a very good question my people! Are we handling life like an animal trainer handles unruly animals; with confidence and strength, but also with some compassion? I assure you that if you don’t take a tight hold on the reins of life, it will take a tight hold on you, for life is advantageous, and will never miss a chance to put you down.

So it’s our responsibility to do like Portia, and stand up strong and face life. And there I’m talking about an old radio drama from way back when, called ‘Portia Faces Life.’ And unless you’re up there in age, and possibly come from T&T, most of you won’t know it, but in the days before television down there, it was real popular, like the soaps we have nowadays, and it just became a cliché for standing up and facing life head on.

Consequently, ‘If you have a strong purpose in life, you don’t have to be pushed. Your passion will drive you there.’ That’s true to a great extent. Usually your passion will push you forward if it’s in agreement with your purpose. But for many of us, our purpose and passion often don’t gel. Let’s say the Lord calls you to do one thing, but you have a passion for something else.

And I’m a perfect example of that! My passion was never to write scriptural stuff, to write yes, but not write on the scriptures. However God seems to have made that my purpose and so I had to develop a passion for it. Now it comes almost naturally. We’ve got to get our ying and yang lined up before we can make real progress.

And let’s not forget those memorable words attributed to Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), the 30^th President of the U.S.A, serving from 1923-1929. He reputedly said: ‘Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.’ Take from that what you will, but it’s gospel truth! (smile)

And our final quote from our friend Anselm wisely advises us to ‘Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.’ And is that ever so true, especially in this new world, where mediocrity is seen as something so great, where you have so many superstars! We use the word super for every li’l foolishness or person doing really mediocre stuff nowadays.

The age of celebrity attention is hard upon us, and the sad fact is that most of these supposed celebrities and supposed superstars don’t know their ‘A’ from their ‘E.’ They have no class whatsoever! Yuh see how they dress? Sloppy and dirty! But that’s style! Utter Foolishness! And they don’t know how to behave either. Just look at the sad, uninviting spectacles of so many of their lives!

And sadly these are the very people that we have our very culpable children looking up to as heroes and mentors! Steups! And then we wonder why our children turn out so wishy washy and spineless! Ask any of them about any of the new fads on social media, or about social media itself, and they can answer you in an instant! But ask them anything about God, and they don’t have a clue!

And who’s to blame? We the parents because we have given up our God-given responsibility to train up our children in a godly atmosphere and have allowed the world and all its evil perpetrators to bring them up instead. And then we wonder why we have so many li’l demons and devils on our hands! And if you don’t believe me, then go take a look in the mirror! (smile)

But this sad state of affairs is very near and dear to my soul, and it just hurts my heart to see the way our society, our young people are falling lower and lower in everything. What use to be a ‘C’ mark in our days, is now and ‘A’, so how can our society be improving eh, if our standards keep falling eh?

However, when we sincerely decide to partner with Jesus, then our behaviour, etc, etc, has to be excellent, because that’s all He deals in! Listen to what Bruh Paul told the Philippians in talking to them about thanksgiving and prayer. ‘That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.’ (Phil.1:10-11)

Yeh friends, as true believers we have to pay serious attention to things that really matter, the vital and worthwhile things in Jesus’ realm, not the trivial things of the world! That means we need to have diligence and excellence as our goals, because that’s what Jesus expects of us!

Hear how Cousin Sol puts it nuh as he calls us to wisdom. ‘O ye simple, understand wisdom (prudence): and, ye fools, be of an understanding heart. Hear; for I speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing forward (crooked) or perverse in them.’ (Prov.8: 5-8)

Now, if the wisest man ever said that, who are we to doubt him eh? (smile) Oh my people, there is much truth in the saying that while there is life, there is always hope, so please, I implore us, let’s never give up trying to right our wrong world nuh! We’ve already made a mess of it, but we can’t afford to let it fall any further into the mire of evil and despair. So with Jesus’ help, let’s stand up strong and do some cleaning up nuh! It will benefit everybody! Much LOVE!

…it warms the cockles of Jesus’ heart…when He sees us…exhibiting diligence and excellence…in His name…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 September 2023 Genesis 43:28b.

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