practicality | SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 50:15. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

And then it was Wednesday; a bright and shiny, but somewhat cloudy day! (smile) I know it sounds somewhat confusing, but the sun is shining and there are a few grey clouds hovering overhead.

However, the important thing is that the Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is shining as brilliantly as He always does. There’s never an element of cloudiness in Him! Praise His holy name!

And so, in honour of His constant faithfulness, I want us to begin today by singing this soulful ditty I heard the Hour of Power choir and congregation singing last night. I don’t know it personally, but the simplicity and practical nature of the song touched my heart and made me want to share it.

So let’s get soulful and sing: ‘Jesus is all the world to me, My life, my joy, my all; He is my strength from day to day, Without Him I would fall. When I’m sad to Him I go.No other one can cheer me so; When I am sad he makes me glad, He’s my friend.

Jesus is all the world to me, I want no better friend. I trust Him now, I’ll trust Him when Life’s fleeting days shall end. Beautiful life with such a friend, Beautiful life that has no end; Eternal life, Eternal joy, He’s my friend!’

Oh what wonderful sentiments my brethren. And as I said earlier, I just LOVE it’s simplicity and practicality. And besides, there’s truly no better friend than Jesus; He is able to satisfy all our needs, calm all our fears and comfort us in the deepest and darkest times of our lives! No human being can do all that for us.

And to further honour and glorify Him, as well as lift our spirits, let’s declare our Wednesday Wail nuh with plenty enthusiasm, and sincerity.

Wailing: ‘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!’

Oh my people, my people, how beautiful it is to be alive on this glorious morn, feeling the breath of God coursing through my body as I look forward to the wonderful future that Jesus has planned for us, if we stick to the programme that He’s outlined! It doesn’t get any better than that friends!

No wonder our Bit seems so appropriate. ‘And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’ Yes my fellow believers, it’s all about glorifying Jehovah God, our Creator and heavenly Provider!

And we do that by living the life God has set before us, doing so in faith and sincerity, and in times of trouble, crying out to Him for succour so that He can uplift us and further glorify His holy name. Oh what a wonderful Deity we serve and worship my people!

Now let’s turn to some scriptures that corroborate our Bit. And to begin, we’ll go all the way back to the days of the prophet Samuel, when he lead Israel to repentance.

‘And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange (foreign) gods and Ashtaroth (images of Canaanite goddesses) from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines.’ (1 Sam.7:3)

Oh friends, that is exactly what we need to do in this current evil and godless world. Like the Israelites back then, we’re worshipping all sorts of idols and false gods, thus our world is quickly going to hell in a hand basket. And the only thing that will save it is repentance and a sincere return to serving and worshipping the One and True Living God; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

Yuh see how all the other societies that abandoned Him and worshipped other gods fared? There was never any true peace, just constant war, destruction and despair. Now why do you think our society would be any different, suffer a different fate eh?

Yes, our God is a merciful and gracious, forgiving and LOVING God, but He’s no push over, He’s very serious about whatever He says. And He’s said several times in His word that if you don’t serve and worship Him, you’ll be destroyed. So I don’t know where we’ve gotten this foolish idea to abandon God, kick Him out of our society, and then expect to prosper. Steups!

Ah friends, it’s up to us believers to bring about that repentance. It’s not going to be easy, but with God’s awesome help we can do it. Remember we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

And we’ll end with this appropriate passage from Job, where his buddy Zophar reproves him. ‘If he (God) cut off (passes by), and shut up (imprisons), or gather together, then who can hinder (restrain) him? For he knoweth vain (deceitful) men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

For vain (empty-headed) man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt (when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man). If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch forth thine hands toward him; If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles (tents).

For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shall not fear. Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away. And thine age (life) shall be clearer (brighter) than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.’ (Job 11:10-17)

Yes my brethren, though Zophar was wrongly ragging on Job, believing that some hidden, serious sin caused his tribulations, his advice was right on. An omniscient God could clearly see man’s sin, and if he confesses and repents, the Lord will forgive Him and make his life better.

Now that is what we need to do in this ungodly world; bring about confession and repentance, so that our beautiful world can be lifted up, be without spot and without fear. That’s the wisdom of the age! Much LOVE!

…only Christ’s LOVE Revolution can save our sinking world…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 August 2012 James 3:13

James 3:13. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

All hail Friends! The morning sun is rising to bring its light to a dark and evil world, just like the Son rose from the grave in everlasting brilliance to bring us salvation and eternal life! Please give Him some thanks and praise for that, and let’s show our eternal gratitude for His LOVE and selfless behaviour by endeavouring to live earthly lives that truly reflect His character and His desires, for that’s what true followers do. Now that’s a sentence worthy of Bruh Paul’s stylistic manoeuvrings! (smile) And one of the very important things we have to safeguard in this life as believers, is the distinction between true and false wisdom. There is a lot of the latter going around these days, and it’s leading many people down the wrong path – that which leads to death and destruction. So how do we figure out right from wrong wisdom eh? James, in our Bit today gives us a clue: ‘Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge (has understanding) among you? let him show out of a good conversation (conduct) his works (that his works are done) with meekness of wisdom.’ That means my brethren, that whoever is blessed with knowledge and understanding ought to conduct his or herself suitably, ensuring that their works are done in humility. In other words, the wise person must have godly wisdom and then exhibit that wisdom in a practical, humble manner, with truth as their watchword. The scholars claim that ‘One cannot teach what one does not live.’ James then continues: ‘But if ye have bitter envying and strife (self-seeking) in your hearts, glory not (do not boast), and lie not against the truth.’ (James 3:14) And right there is the crux of many our problems my people. We have too much strife; anger, resentment, selfishness, jealousy and greed in our souls, which obviously causes us to be short-sighted, short circuited and thus distort the truth. So we obviously won’t be able to impart the truth in true humility as we ought to. As James informs us: ‘This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish (demonic). For where envying and strife is (self-seeking exists), there is confusion and every evil work.’ (James 3:15-16) And isn’t that the living truth Friends? It sure is, as can easily be seen by the confused, evil state of our world. That’s why in these turbulent times my people, where information, both true and false, is so readily available and can be easily manipulated to suit anyone’s purpose, we have to be very careful to whom we listen, as well as what we listen to, because we can be so unwittingly led astray by sweet-talking lying lips and guileful, snake-charming tongues. ‘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. And the fruit of righteousness is shown in peace of them that make peace.’ (James 3:17-18) Yes Friends, those are some of the attributes we have to seek in a teacher, preacher or anyone who claims to have wisdom, and/or wants to spread the Word. I guess that includes me. (smile) Now I’m certainly not perfect, not at the top of the class either, but I do believe I have most of those attributes in sufficient quantity to do what I do reasonably well. And all praise to God, I’m growing and hopefully getting better with each passing day! As Sister Joyce, Joyce Meyer likes to say, I’m not where I want to be as yet, but I’ve surely come a long way from where I began. And that’s the gospel truth Friends, as some of you who have been with me from the early days can attest to. And that’s one of the things we believers have to recognize so we don’t get too frustrated; we don’t all begin at the same point in our walk of faith, neither do we all mature at the same rate. And we cannot mature unless we read and hear the Word, study it, and fellowship with other believers. No believer can exist in a vacuum all by themselves. That’s why Christ planted His Church, so that we can get together and help each other. Ah Friends, I didn’t mean to go off on that tangent, but it just seemed appropriate. Now getting back to our theme, let’s get some explanation from the scholars. They declare that: ‘Two wisdoms are expounded by teachers. The one from God is pure and promotes peace, ending in righteousness (vv 17-18). But the other is natural and demonic; visible in the teacher as jealousy and ambition (strife, Gr. eritheia). The result of such teaching is evil living and confusion.’ Now thank the Lord that I don’t have a jealous bone in my body! (smile) Oh, I might want what you have, but I won’t begrudge you it, or wish you ill because I don’t have it. And neither is my ambition that excessive that I will manipulate the Word to suit my own purposes. So Friends, you can rest assured that whatever I say, is what I believe to be the truth. Now we’ll end with some words of Bruh Paul to the Galatians, re our topic: ‘For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove (examine) his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden.’ (Gal.6:3-5) Yes Friends, when we think ourselves above moral reproach, with no sympathy for the faults of others, then we begin to get swell-headed. As the scholars conclude; ‘Joy comes not from comparing one’s moral strengths with the weaknesses of others, but in realizing that one measures up to God’s standard by God’s help.’ Let us therefore stop judging and criticising others, as we are wont to do, and instead, help them to come up higher, as Jesus desires. Till tomorrow then, if we find favour with God, may we all go in the peace and harmony that comes from Him, and liberally blesses all who seek to serve and worship Him. Much LOVE!…please check your ego at the door…before entering the halls of God…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 August 2016 Psalm 50:15.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 August 2012 James 3:13

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