SCRIP-BITS

2 Chronicles 24:20.    And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.
 
Oh Friends, it’s day 2 of 2013, and for many of us the common grind and daily task begins again today. But can I plead one heartfelt plea with us? Please, as this Christmas and New Year seasons wind down, please let us not go back to the crude, rude, unmannerly, resentful, disgusting way we’ve been treating each other in the past year. It’s just not becoming of us, my people. For once in our life, let’s allow the goodwill and fellowship of the season to continue right through the New Year nuh. We don’t have to hug and kiss, or even like everybody we come into contact with, but we can surely have a more civil tongue in our heads and more pleasant demeanour. That doesn’t cost us anything, but it shows the true heart of Christ. As I said yesterday, there’s only one New Year’s resolution our entire world needs to make, and that’s to purpose a closer walk with Jesus! And being kind and considerate to our fellow humans is the first step in that direction. As the great philosopher Plato reputedly said eons ago; ‘The beginning is the most important part of the work.’ And that’s no lie Friends! I can attest to that just in writing the Bit everyday. The biggest hurdle is to get started. But once I do, everything comes together smoothly. And I’m sure most of you can also attest to the universal fact that making the first move in anything, always takes the most effort and courage. The Chinese Proverb puts it this way: ‘The longest journey begins with the first step.’ That’s also undeniable truth! So if we really want to have a closer walk with Jesus this year, it means we have to begin at the beginning, for though it’s the hardest part of the process, it’s also the most important. For to accomplish anything, we have to begin somewhere, sometime. Now does that get me any marks as a philosopher? (smile) From the lukewarm response, I’d guess not. But it’s the truth anyway. Now turning to our Bit: ‘And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.’ Oh Friends, I believe this will be the most important Bit of this year 2013, because it’s where we take stock of ourselves and those connected to us, of our individual society and of our world. It’s when we seriously try to turn the tables on the evil spirits and people who are currently controlling our lives and our world and ruining them. And what amazes, as well as disturbs me, is that the answer to all our problems is so easy, it’s right before our very eyes; turning back to having a true and sincere faith in Almighty God and having Him play significant roles in our individual lives and our societies. But for some unexplainable reason we seem afraid and/or reluctant to do it. But I do know it’s the right thing for us to do. It’s the only action that will get us out of the sad state we’re currently mired in. But unfortunately, right now, most of us seem to be listening to a different tune from Lucifer and his evil cronies, and thus they are now holding sway. Believe me though, my brethren, if only we, the church, the body of Christ could get back to working AS ONE, instead of fighting each other, we’d eat up, defeat the enemy in no time at all. But it’s the foolish divisions among Christ’s people that allow Beelzebub’s minions to rule the roost. The enemy is successfully using the old divide and conquer tactic on us. But unless and until the mostly petty and unimportant dissensions and differences are seriously addressed and worked out between Christ’s people, His church will not attain any real victory here on earth. But the devil’s in the details; reducing things like power struggles, streamlining doctrines, etc. etc. It’s always the selfish, power hungry, have to be right attitudes that spoil the show. And sadly, that’s not the attitude championed by Christ. It’s time Friends, for us to put up, or simply shut up. It’s time for Christ’s church to come together, to form a cohesive group, preaching what Christ preached, not what we want to preach or hear. If this doesn’t happen very soon, the church is just going to get more fractured and lose what little authority and acceptance it has left. And it’s only true believers, those who are willing to make the sacrifice, like Jesus did, who will affect or cause positive change in the evil doings of our world. But until we work together as ONE, that will never happen. Oh please, my fellow brethren in Christ, I’m appealing, pleading, begging, whatever action it takes, for us to get real serious about our faith, to get together and fight for it, otherwise we’re going to eventually lose it. Just look at some of the other faiths nuh, who though they worship dead and incompetent gods, their great belief, courage and zeal has them fighting tooth and nail to promote their unrighteous cause. Meanwhile, we, the Christians, who supposedly worship the ONE and ONLY TRUE GOD, fight amongst ourselves, sit on our laurels, seeking individual fame and glory, and refuse to make the effort to seriously come together and make a concerted effort to win the world for Christ, as He so humbly asked us to do. Oh Friends, I’m chuckling here, because this is one of those times when I was led to just get on our case about our dissensions and divisions, our inactivity, our hypocrisy, and all the wrong and bad things in the church, as we know it. Ah Lord eh! When will we learn my people, when will we wake up to the reality that life’s passing us by, and that our efforts are both lacklustre and insufficient? I don’t know if my pleas will make any difference to anything, but Friends, somebody’s got to cry out for unity between Christ’s people and His church, or else we’ll all just keep on going down to hell in the hand basket of petty divisions, of evil and worldly lusts we’ve chosen to put ourselves into. In closing, I just hope and pray that the Lord will take us to task this notable year of 2013, and put it in our hearts to truly be an example of righteousness to the unbelievers, as well as the believers, because they too need proper examples to help them guide their lives on the right path. But Friends, most of that can, or will never happen unless we start to truly LOVE our God, truly LIVE our Christian Faith, and truly SPREAD the WORD of God, as we ought to. Much LOVE!…may the good Lord convict our hearts and minds…at the start of this New Year…RIGHT NOW…to walk ever closer to Him…and thus increase and glorify His righteous kingdom…Amen…