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John 10:11. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Ah friends, sorry for the Bit’s lateness, but I went to bed late, got up late, and had a few things to do before I began writing. But the good news is, here I am at last! Glory! Glory! (smile)

Oh isn’t it just great to be alive? To be able to laugh and sing, run and jump, (not me… just yet), and even cry once in a while? It surely is, especially when we are living with and working for our wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Oh praise His holy name my faithful brethren; exalt the name that’s above EVERY other name, to whom ALL knees MUST eventually bow!

Yeh, that’s our Messiah, our Prince of Peace, our heavenly Advocate, Our Burden Bearer, Our Comforter, in fact our Be All and End All, our EVERYTHING! Wow! Are we ever so blessed to have a Leader of such awesome proportions! Let’s give Him the thanks and praise He deserves…and all day long at that!

Yeh, the ole fella’s in a joyful, exclamatory mood this morning! And why not eh? I just got some most excellent news; news that my heart problems have improved…Glory to God! And I’m now medically fit to travel…Oh mih brethren, that’s the best news ever!

It’s been almost three years that I’ve been parked up here without the ability to get on an iron bird. But yuh know what, as I keep saying our God is ever so faithful, because many a day I’ve lain in my bed and looked through my window at the iron birds coming and going to and from the nearby airport, wondering when I’d be able to get on one.

And the Good Lord has always quieted my heart by promising that one day, in the not too distant future, He will lift the medical limitations and free me from this onerous bondage… And now He has done just as He has promised! Bless His holy name! So in light of that extraordinary faithfulness, why wouldn’t I just offer up my whole heart and soul, thanks and praise to Him eh? No reason whatsoever my people!

But enough of my excitement…let’s get on with the Bit. It’s Saturday, that means we need to look at some of the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week. And we do have a whole slew of then this week, all dealing with change. And we will begin with this one: ‘If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less.’

I’m not so sure about that nuh, because the human animal is so eccentric and confusing, and dislikes change so much, that a lot of us will probably prefer to be irrelevant rather than to change. That leads us to this quote: ‘The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.’

Now that I definitely disagree with! In my many years and much trial and testing on God’s earth, I’ve usually found that the price of change is usually much higher than the price of standing stationary. In particular the effort that one has to put out to make whatever change is necessary. That’s why so many people just stay the same way in the same place.

That’s why this next quote is the living truth! ‘Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.’ Now that’s exactly why so many of us resist change, even change that’s obviously in our best interest! Change just doesn’t come easy. And this one mirrors the truth of the last. ‘The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.’ And so it has my brethren… though not always for the better!

That brings us to the last quote: ‘I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.’ And isn’t that that the undeniable truth people? Unless our world changes, and drastically too, and also towards Jesus, until we stop trying to drive God out of our society and instead, embrace Him with all our hearts, souls, bodies and minds, our world will just continue sinking inexorably, relentlessly into the muck and mire of Lucifer’s evil empire.

And that is not what our Saviour came to earth and suffered so much for. That’s definitely not why He suffered such pain and humiliation and eventually gave up His sinless life on that wooden cross at Calvary. If He wanted us to become part and parcel of Lucifer’s evil empire, He would have just remained in His cozy corner in heaven enjoying all the exotic delights provided by His Father. But He sacrificially gave all of that up to come and save our sinful souls.

Remember friends, Lucifer is the master of thievery, lies and deception, an evil genius in leading mankind astray. Just look at how he deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden, and he’s still doing it to us to this day. However Jesus declared, and proved it too: ‘The thief cometh not, but (except) for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.’ (John 10:10-11)

And there is absolutely no doubt that that’s what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary; give His sinless, holy life on behalf of our abominable sinful souls, so that the Father could justifiably forgive us and reconcile us to Himself. So why are we still foolishly running behind Lucifer and his evil, lustful, carnal, ungodly way of life eh? A way of life that will only lead to eternal separation from our heavenly Father; the worst fate that can ever befall a human soul!

I don’t know the answer to that nuh friends, but I am surely trying my best to stay away from that end result…and I sincerely hope that you are trying to do the same, because that’s the ultimate in wisdom! Much LOVE!

…as for me and mine…we will definitely follow Jesus…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 June 2013 Philippians 1:12

Philippians 1:12: But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.

Oh Friends, at long last my kitchen sink is operational again! Glory Hallelujah! But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. First off, the plumbers were supposed to arrive around 10 a.m. So I got up, got myself together and waited for them. But eleven o’clock came and went, then twelve, without any action or news.

So I eventually called the office, only to learn that they’d been sent out on an emergency call earlier in the day, but they would be there as soon as possible. Steups! That asap though was two p.m.

Obviously I wasn’t happy because I had wasted four hours of my time that could have been used much more constructively than just hanging around waiting for them. The plumber wasn’t happy either because he figured that the office had called me about the delay. On top of that, by the time they arrived it was raining intermittently.

Anyway, we put aside our unhappiness and did what was necessary to get the job done. There was a fair amount of grease in the drain, but not enough to cause any serious problems, and by four p.m. we were done. And the price was just a mere eleven hundred and forty something dollars! (smile) What else can I do but grin and bear it eh?

Much to my surprise though, I discovered that it included a charge for an hour’s travelling time…the ole crooks and them! And though I knew they didn’t travel anywhere close to an hour to get to my house, I didn’t argue over it. I was just glad to get the problem fixed, also reasoning that if I was being robbed, I’d let the Lord deal with it, since He says that’s His department, He’ll right the wrongs done to His people. (Deut.32:35; Rom.12:19)

Oh, I need to make one correction from yesterday, where I stated that the tax rate was 15%, it’s actually 13%. So my life is back to normal again. Thank the Lord! But those three days of inconvenience really brought home to me how unappreciative we are of our favoured society status, with all our modern conveniences. Not until we have to do without them for a period of time, do we truly see how they impact out lives.

We complain about the hard and rough olden days, but the places that we got water from then, the stand pipe or the river never got clogged. The clothes line in the backyard never jammed, or the scrubbing boards and the river stones break down, neither did the outhouse back up. (smile) We never had the problems we have now with these supposed modern conveniences. But we’ve become so lazy and pampered, that many of us can’t operate unless we have all the conveniences.

Anyway, let’s turn to our Bit now: ‘But I would ye should understand (want you to know), brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out (turned out) rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.’ It’s the same as yesterday, because I thought there was some more important scripture there for us to address.

Now yesterday, we saw where Bruh Paul’s imprisonment, unlike normal expectations, worked to further the spreading of the gospel amongst the unlikely Roman praetorian palace guards, and also emboldened the Roman Christians to get up off their frightened fannies and preach the Good News of Christ with zest and enthusiasm.

Oh that more of us today would do likewise my brethren, because the preaching and sharing of the gospel is very badly needed in these evil, ungodly, trying and troubled times! And we have nothing to fear, except fear itself, unlike the early Christians who faced serious persecution for their beliefs.

However, listen to Bruh Paul from where we left off yesterday. ‘Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention (selfish ambition), not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds (chains): But the other of LOVE, knowing that I am set (appointed) for the defense of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.’ (Phil.1:15-18)

And that’s an awesome fact Friends! Some people were preaching for the wrong motive, merely for self-aggrandisement, and sadly, many are still doing the same thing today.

But, per the scholars: ‘The right motivation is LOVE- LOVE for God, for Paul, and LOVE for unbelievers. Improper motives are envy, strife (v 15), and selfish ambition. Some egotistical Christians were jealous of the apostle and rejoiced over his imprisonment, for it gave them opportunity to be in the limelight. Supposing to add affliction to his bonds: They hoped that when Paul learned of their being the centre of attention, his chains would become particularly galling to him.’

But no such luck! Instead he gloried in the fact that the gospel was being preached, and his chains didn’t bother him one bit! Oh my people, are we thus conditioned, that whatever our circumstances we’re glad to hear the gospel preached? I surely hope so, because then we’ll truly be on our way to becoming mature Christians.

Per the scholars: ‘Paul was so selfless and so concerned for Christ that, whether the preaching came from proper or improper motives, he rejoiced in the truth being proclaimed. To be sure, he was grieved over the wrong motives of some, but to him motivation was secondary, while propagation of the truth was primary.’

Ah Friends, the gospel of Christ is so powerful that it causes even those with selfish, ulterior motives to preach it! However, since we are true believers, let’s all go out and preach it with the right motive nuh, that of LOVE: LOVE for God and LOVE for all mankind. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Much LOVE my brethren!

…spreading the Good News of Christ…from a heart of LOVE…is the only thing that will bring about the much needed…LOVE Revolution…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 September 2018 John 10:11.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 June 2013 Philippians 1:12

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