praise thee | SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 108:5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.

Oh yes friends, I had another first last night, or rather this morning: sitting on my porch, dressed in next to nothing (smile) at minutes to two in the morning enjoying peaceful communion with my Maker! Wow! Is that ever peaceful and nice! What with few lights around and the stillness, except for the highway sounds in the far background! Is it ever a great time to enjoy quiet communion with our heavenly Father.

And He likes it too, because there are fewer distractions available to come between us. Just like they say an empty church has more room for God, likewise, a quiet time offers more opportunity for serious communication with Him. I’d certainly advise trying it sometime. (smile) And since we’re talking about good, quiet times with the Father, then here is a most appropriate poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. This one’s aptly titled ‘Rare Moments of Delight!’

Please pray with me: ‘Because You are God And Your Word is unquestionable There are things I assuredly know Even when my heart is a brambled desert And every ounce of emotion is drained: I know Your LOVE is everlasting I know You will NEVER forsake me Nor will You leave me comfortless I know I may come to You boldly

I know You will teach and instruct me You will guide me with Your eye I know my past is forgiven And my future is secure. But oh, dear God How I praise You for the marvel Of those rare moments When suddenly, without a flash or a sound You add to my knowing The ecstasy of feeling And I am lifted to peaks of delight!’

Wow mih people! Wow! What else can I say eh? It’s one of those peaks of rare and sudden delight that I experienced this morning out on my porch, just me and the Lord alone! And what’s amazing and amusing is that I wasn’t planning on going outside nuh, I just came downstairs to get something to munch on, then as I was coming down the stirs the idea to check out the porch just occurred.

But getting back to the poem, yuh see friends, how many things we are assured of by our heavenly Father, and how many things we are supposed to know for certain? The only problem is that we might know them in our heads, but we don’t action them enough in our hearts, where it really matters! And that’s where our version of Christianity breaks down in these evil and ungodly times. We badly need to action those things in our hearts if we’re to survive and be successful in these very trying and strife-filled days.

Oh, we claim to know that God LOVES us unconditionally, and He’ll never leave us or forsake us, and we can go to Him at any time for comfort and guidance, but most of it is just talk. How many of us actually do that in the good times eh? And even when times get tough, and we seem lost in a fog, plenty of us still refuse to turn to our Creator and Provider because of foolish pride!

But friends, the truth is that our Father who is in heaven truly desires us to come to Him, at any time, for EVERYTHING! He wants to be our difference maker! And if we know all those things that poem says we know, why is there such lack of communication between our Creator and us eh? But enough lecturing, (smile) everybody has to make their own decisions and do what they think is best, but for me and my house, we will follow the Lord! And family, please don’t make me a liar on that point eh! (smile)

Now the Bible verse for that poem is also our Bit for today: ‘Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.’ And that’s exactly how it ought to be my fellow saints in Christ! If God has been so good to us, then we should be exalting and praising and lifting Him up to the high heavens. And the interesting part about our Bit is that the first five verses of Psalm 108 are also the last five of Psalm 57. And Bruh David even thought it important enough that he also made it verse 5 of Psalm 57.

So let’s hear what he has to say in the other verses nuh. ‘My heart is fixed (steadfast), O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory, awake psaltery (lute) and harp: I myself will awake early (awaken the dawn). I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.’ (Ps.57:7-11; Ps.108:1-5)

And until we seriously begin doing what those verses say my people, our witness won’t be worth very much. But our God is so good and gracious and has so much faith in us, (smile) that despite our reluctance to exalt and glorify Him, He has still seen it fit to bless us with the ‘numerosity’ (smile) of our Thursday Blessings. And since they only come into play when we declare them, let’s do that right now nuh, with plenty gusto and confidence.

‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection!

I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’

And lest we forget, or allow the greedy and selfish purposes of the world to blind us, those blessings were not given to us to selfishly hoard, but to share with the less fortunate in our suffering world! So please, let’s do just that nuh, and thus warm the cockles of Jesus’ heart! Much LOVE!

…he that has ears to hear…let him hear…

Psalm 86:11. Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart (give me singleness of purpose) to fear (have reverential awe for) thy name.

Aye mih people, this is an exceedingly good day to rejoice and be joyful! Why you ask? Well I’ll just give you two reasons. The first is that you haven’t seen your name in the obits this morning, (smile) that means you are alive and kicking. Glory to God!

And the second is that we serve a great God who’s so kind and LOVING and generous to us to grant us salvation and eternal life when we believe in His Son, our Lord And Saviour Jesus Christ, and walk in His will. Consequently, we just can’t help but LOVE Him back with all our hearts, minds, bodies and souls.

Now, I think those are two excellent reasons to rejoice. So let’s declare it nuh, in the words of the psalmist: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ (Ps.118:24)

Ah friends, we Christians are the most joyful people on planet earth! And to help us stay that way, here is some encouragement from Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional, titled ‘My Walk.’ I believe I’ve shared it before, possibly a year ago, but these prayers never get old or stale and can be shared again and again.

Please declare it with me. ‘O God, I’m inspired. For you have just impressed this truth into my mind. The most powerful force in the world is a positive idea in the mind of a believer who is walking in your will! I now reach forth my life and say; “God, put my life into the centre of your will.” Amen.’

Oh my faithful brethren, there isn’t a wiser move we can ever make in this ungodly and evil world than to put our life in the centre of God’s will! He is the Creator of this universe and all therein, the fountainhead of all power and energy, so with whom else should we align ourselves eh? NOBODY else…if we are wise!

And what I LOVE about our heavenly Father is, not only does He desire us to come to Him in EACH and EVERY circumstance, but He also helps us to do so through the leading and guidance of His word.

As Bruh David puts it in our Bit. ‘Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart (give me singleness of purpose) to fear (have reverential awe for) thy name.’ Yeh friends, without the Lord’s help, we cannot draw near to Him the way He desires.

And I like what Bruh David says after our Bit. ‘I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest (the depths of) hell.’ (Ps.86:12-13) And that is certainly the right response to the Lord’s LOVING-kindness and mercy!

Oh supposed saints of God, the Lord has also bestowed great mercy on us, and taken us from the depths of hell by the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, are we grateful and thankful, and praising and glorifying and exalting Him with all of our faculties?

I certainly do hope so, otherwise we’d just be a bunch of ungrateful hypocrites like the overly religious, but heartless Pharisees in Jesus’ time. What did Jesus say to them? In Matthew 23 He thoroughly denounces them, and you can read it for yourselves, but now listen to this one verse

‘Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted (neglected) the weightier matters of the law, judgement (justice), mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.’ (Matt.23:23)

Ah friends, unfortunately a lot of us Christians do the same things nowadays; conveniently comply with the small matters, which include outward show, but neglect the more important precepts of God’s word and will.

On a point of interest here, most of us don’t even tithe, for sadly it is not preached in many of our churches, but it is a most important aspect of God’s word. That’s why so many churches are going under for lack of financial support. Moses declared the law of the tithes to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 14:22-29. Please take a few minutes and read it sometime soon.

In the meanwhile, listen to what the prophet Malachi declared on God’s behalf: ‘Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat (food) in mine house, and prove (test) me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.’ (Mal.3:10)

Oh my brethren, God’s house cannot survive and do His work on stingy offerings. Remember the basic principle of God’s economy is you reap what you sow. So if we only sow a little, we’ll also reap a little.

And I have to chuckle at the unintended direction this Bit has taken. But I guess that’s where the Lord wanted me to go. And now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings in strong voice and heartfelt sincerity.

I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!

I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’

Now let’s go out and bless others, including God’s church, with the prosperity that He’s bestowed on us. That’s biblical wisdom! Much LOVE!

…God’s largesse isn’t bestowed on us to store or hoard it… but to generously share with others…

P.S. Yes friends, it’s a li’l bit late and a li’l bit long….but still beautiful! (smile) Much LOVE!

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 June 2019 Psalm 108:5.

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