reach for the stars | SCRIP-BITS

1 Corinthians 12:6. And there are diversities of operations (different activities), but it is the same God which worketh all in all (works in all things).

Here’s Saturday my people; cloudy and chilly! But some of us will like it like that since it gives us more incentive to stay abed and enjoy the early morning rest that we’ve been deprived of all week. (smile) And nothing’s wrong with that. There are rewards for getting up early five days a week, and one of them is sleeping in on Saturdays. So, if you’re one of those late risers this Saturday morning, please enjoy it.. Just make sure you keep Jesus close beside you, in your spirit and your soul, don’t let Him slip away from you for even one moment, for that could spell eternal disaster.

Now, let’s do what we do every Saturday morning that God blesses us with the breath of life and strength to read His word; we check out the quotes our friend Anselm sent us the past week and see how they fit into our setting of Christian faith. And this first quote says it all. ‘If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.’

So true my fellow saints! We might not like the quality of our life right now with all its ups and downs and dramatic sequences, but believe me, if life was just sure and placid all the time, we would not enjoy it, not be satisfied, because the human spirit was made to be constantly moving, in other words, drama filled. Yes, that’s why our Creator gave us free will and not robotic animation. Life would indeed be flavourless. Note Jesus’ admonishing to His followers nuh: be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. That means we need to add a tasty flavour and brilliant, overflowing joy to the world. (smile)

Therefore, this next quote should play a significant part in our lives. ‘Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.’ Oh my people, what would dreams be without a dreamer and vice versa eh? Our world would be devoid of so many wonderful things, because its dreamers who put dreams into creation, even if they don’t see them to fruition.

And remember you cannot get an ending without a beginning. So, if the dreamer only dreams the dream, he is indeed an important, if not the most important part of the scenario. And that was certainly God’s desire for all of us when He placed whatever dreams we have in our hearts. That’s why Bruh David could confidently say in Psalm 37, titled – The true state of the wicked: ‘Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.’ (Ps. 37:4)

Yes my fellow believers, our great and wonderful God places a dream, or several dreams in each heart that He creates, and expects us to fulfill it, or them, by accepting the anointing of His Son Jesus Christ, and thus receiving the Holy Spirit that enables us to acquire ‘the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.’ And please believe that it’s only through sincere association with Almighty God, and with His awesome munificence, that’s His lavishly generous nature, or amazing grace that we can ever acquire the things we need to make a difference in our world.

And when we have wisely hooked up with Christ, then the following quote becomes important. ‘Play to your strengths. If you aren’t great at something, do more of what you’re great at.’ Now that’s the gospel truth my people! Too many of us try to be a Jack of all trades and masters of none! But Christ gave us special gifts at which we are particularly good for a reason. He anointed us with grace to do certain things well because that’s what He wants us to concentrate on most.

Those gifts enhanced by His awesome power dovetail perfectly with His plans for us and for the world. As Bruh Paul says in 1 Corinthians re spiritual gifts. ‘And there are diversities of operations (different activities), but it is the same God which worketh all in all (works in all things). But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (profit everybody).’ (1 Cor. 12:6-7)

So please, let’s stop fooling around with stuff that we possibly will never get good at nuh, and instead focus on the few things that we know we are good at, that we’ve been anointed to excel in. Remember, there’s always method to what we consider God’s madness. He does nothing without a good reason. And I can vouch for that because I am now writing these words some fifteen years after He approached me with the outlandish, seemingly impossible task of writing on His word. But now, we see that it was not total madness at all, (smile) for through His awesome faithfulness, and much perseverance and faith on my part, His dream, His plan for me has eventually come true.

What more can I say eh? Nothing…except this next quote: ‘Don’t let rejection create self-doubt. The founder of Starbucks was turned down by 217 of the 242 investors he initially spoke with.’ Remember friends, the Good Book says that a righteous man falls numerous times, but he keeps getting back up until he succeeds. (Prov. 24:16) And we all know that in Christ’s kingdom there are no words like giving up, so we are not expected to lay defeated on the ground, but to rise and shine again like our Lord and Saviour did on the first Easter weekend some two thousand years ago.

And believe me, whatever dream(s) the Lord has put in your heart, it (they) will not be easy, because He desires to always test our faith to see if we truly believe the words we speak so flippantly; in other words, to see if we can walk our talk. Jesus did not have it easy, but He accomplished His awesome task with the Father’s help, and likewise, as followers of Jesus we won’t have it easy either, but if we stay in faith and sincerely trust Him in whatever happens, then we will eventually succeed.

That brings us to this last quote: ‘Every day the clock resets. Your wins don’t matter. Your failures don’t matter. Don’t stress on what was, fight for what could be.’ I don’t totally concur with those sentiments nuh, because I believe that our failures and our victories are very important. They provide very valuable life lessons, as in what to do and what not to do as we journey through this interesting, complex and ofttimes difficult earthly voyage. However, we must not become so fixated on them that they take away from our forward motion, that’s always learning and always working towards God’s divine plan for our lives.

And to help us stay on the straight and narrow path, we’ve been given the invaluable attributes of the Holy Spirit as our Guide and Leader. And if we listen to Him and closely follow His righteous guidance, we will do wonderfully well (smile) and enjoy the abundant life that Christ died for us to have! And that’s the general goal! Much LOVE!

…what’s life all about…in three words…living for Jesus…

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Matthew 7:20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Aye friends, the ole fella is somewhat listless and lethargic this Saturday morning yes! And the aches and pains not helping the situation either nuh. But yuh know what, we not giving in to the feelings today. The aches and pains might slow us down some, but we not stopping. Remember the race is not for the swift but for the sure of foot, and yuh better believe when I plant my big feet down they stay down! (smile)

Yeh, it’s just one of those days; the weather doesn’t look good, the body doesn’t feel good, but GOD IS GREAT! That’s something we can always count on, for He has said so in the promises of His Word, and His Word does not lie! Give Him some thanks and praise my people!

And since it’s Saturday, let’s look at some of the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week in his noble attempt to aspire us to a better tomorrow. And this one jumps right out at me today: ‘You are never strong enough that you don’t need help.’ Wow! That’s gospel truth! For none of us can do it all ourselves. As they say, no man is an island. The Lord made us to fellowship with each other and to help each other, not to be single and all sufficient in our selves.

And on that point, hear what the Good Book says: ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God.’ (2 Cor.3:5) Now that says it all!

And this next quote also points directly to God: ‘Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.’ You do have all of that, but only if God is sincerely in your efforts!

Now listen to this one: ‘It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity.’

Yes friends, it is an awesome opportunity we’ve been given to live for Jesus on this earth. And to use that opportunity properly, we need to remember these two scriptures. In the immortal words of Bruh David: ‘O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.’ (Ps.34:8) And also: ‘The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.’ (Ps.145:9)

It’s all about our heavenly Father my people! And this quote exemplifies that: ‘We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community… Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.’ That goes right back to the first quote, we can’t be successful on our own, for success means taking others on that journey with us, both individually and communally! That’s how the Lord designed it!

And this last quote covers them all: ‘When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of people we are.’ And today I want to focus on that last line; how we live our lives determines the kind of people we are.

Yeh friends, we can live our lives like the Pharisees did, outwardly showy and hypocritical, or like Jesus recommended, honest and truly considerate of others. For as He says: ‘Wherefore by their fruit ye shall know them.’ Yes friends, by our deeds we shall be known. And hear some deep insights of Jesus on the subject of how men live their lives.

First off, He states very clearly: ‘A good tree cannot bring forth evil (bad) fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.’ (Matt.7:18) And that’s not rocket science, just plain, basic logic. Then Jesus lays it out in plain terms: ‘Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.’ (Matt.15:11)

Oh friends, I hope we understand that. We can’t bear good fruit unless what is in us and what comes out of us is good! What’s in our hearts determines the kind of people we’ll be!

Hear Jesus again: ‘Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out (eliminated) into the draught (body waste)? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.’ (Matt.15:17-20)

Yeh friends, that whole argument began when the Pharisees complained that the disciples were eating with unwashed hands, which they considered a big thing. But Jesus, as usual set them right. And in Matthew 23, (please read it) He really lambastes the Pharisees, who looked real good on the outside but were dirty as hell on the inside!

And we’ll end with this description: ‘Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres (white washed tombs), which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity (lawlessness).’ (Matt.23:27-28)

And the scholars offer this explanation: ’23:27-33. Whited sepulchres: Since contact with a dead body rendered a person unclean according to the Mosaic Law, graves were customarily painted white to make them conspicuous and give the opportunity of avoiding contact with them.’

Oh friends, please let us live lives that will not cause those unpleasant comparisons to be said of us nuh. Instead let us be good and uncorrupted trees, so that we can bear good fruit in Jesus’ name and make a productive difference in the lives of those around us. Much LOVE!

…whatsoever is in our heart…will undoubtedly manifest itself in our outward behaviour…that’s why we need a clean heart to live for Jesus…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 April 2022 1 Corinthians 12:6.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 December 2018 Matthew 7:20.

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