Today’s Scrip-Bit   6 June 2024 Lamentations 3:24.

06 Jun 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lamentations 3:24.        The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

It’s Thursday friends! One more day and it will be Friday, and the weekend will be here! Give the Lord thanks and praise! (smile) Ah, we do LOVE our weekends, especially the summer ones, where we can gad about free and easy and enjoy the hijinks of the summer season. However, though it’s good to be free and easy, let’s remember that when too many free and easy things are overdone, they eventually bring hardship and pain, and then we hold our heads and bawl, saying why didn’t I think about it before I did it. 
And yes, we have to do some of that to learn what life is truly all about. But the earlier we learn to have a modicum of circumspection, the better off we’ll be. Now, having expounded such wonderful advice, I’m at a loss for something to talk about today. So let’s see where the Good Library will lead us nuh. (smile) I’m sure it will never lead us astray. 
And lo, and behold, it opened unto the Book of Lamentations, where the prophet Jeremiah shed tears for both himself and his people. But then, he remembers the Lord’s faithfulness in all the negative situations that he and his people had faced. Then he laments: ‘Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall (bitterness). My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled (bowed down) in me. This I recall to mind, therefore have I hope.’ (Lam. 3:19-21) 
Yes friends, though we go through tough times, experience the bitterness of wormwood-like stuff, it is essential that we never lose hope in our wonderful God. For He only tests or chastens us for our own benefit. And as Jeremiah so wisely and rightly continues: ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.’ (Lam. 3:22-23) And that’s the gospel truth my people. If it wasn’t for the Lord’s mercies, LOVE and compassion on us, we’d be wiped off the face of the earth long ago. He is ever so faithful to us, although we don’t return the faithfulness. 
As Bruh Paul said to Timothy. ‘It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer (endure), we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not (are faithless), yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.’ (2 Tim. 2:11-13) Yuh see mih bredrin, the Lord’s faithfulness is so embedded in Him, that even if He wanted to, He could not be unfaithful! And we’d better be thankful for that, with all the nonsense, all the sin and disobedience we commit, when it’s also a requirement for us to be faithful in our lives and service to God.  
But then, when things get hard, when we find ourselves at the end of ourselves, we run crying to Him, begging for mercy and He hears us and offers His mercy, compassion and unconditional LOVE! And it’s interesting to hear what the scholars say about real faith. ‘Real faith is more than inner belief, even more than whole-souled committal. It is a condition of the soul marked by such a stable character and an attitude of total trust that the believer’s whole life is imbued with consistent, responsible service to God. (cf. 1 Sam. 26:23; Ps. 37:3-6). From the biblical standpoint, true faith results in faithfulness in one’s life.’ 
And we admit that that’s not easy to do, with all the temptations and negative situations we encounter, but we have the help of the Holy Spirit, and I’m sure we can do much better than we’re currently doing, if we only paid greater attention to His still small voice that leads and guides us. And these words from Jeremiah’s lament point the way to where our hearts ought to be steadfastly directed. ‘The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lam. 3:24-26) 
The question is my people, do we feel as strongly about those words as Jeremiah did? Obviously not. For if we did, then we would not be so disobedient and rebellious, and would show much more faithfulness, more discipleship, be full of salt and light in our daily lives. Remember that though our God is faithful, merciful, LOVING, and all those good things, if we claim to be believers, yet continue to be unfaithful, we will eventually pay a high price for it. 
That’s why the scholars referenced above, these wise words of Bruh David. ‘Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (feed on his faithfulness). Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto he Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement (justice) as the noonday.’ (Ps. 37:3-6) 
That’s all we have to do friends; trust in the Lord, and do good; delight ourselves in him, and commit our way to Him. He will do the rest. As Jesus said: ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33) The same thing goes for if we trust and delight in God and commit our ways to Him. Now let’s declare (chuhhh!!!) our Thursday Blessings so we can activate them. Those blessings so generously bestowed on us so that we can do God’s earthly work. 
As one: ‘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 every day! Amen!’ 
Now, let’s go out and use those blessings on behalf of others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us! Much LOVE!
…faithfulness is a requirement…to whatever cause we hold dear to our hearts…
 
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Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 January 2012 Romans 10:17‏

17 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , ,

Romans 10:17.     So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 
Oh Friends, oh Friends, what does the ole fella have to say today eh? Not much nuh. Hn,hn! And I can hear my children and some others saying a prayerful, ‘Thank you Lord.’ (smile) But it’s a new year people, and I’m sincerely trying to improve my listening to talking ratio, both to God and man. So what’s your area of improvement for 2012 eh? Don’t tell me none, for unless you’re Jesus Christ, we all have areas that need improvement, and I sure hope that everyone is doing their level best to attack some backward area of their lives with much verve and gusto and Jesus’ help. Listen my brethren, we need to continually do that sort of thing if we truly desire to improve our LOVE walk and our Christ-like image. Remember 2012 is a very important year, a year where all mankind, but especially believers, have to come up large, if we’re going to turn the world around with a LOVE Revolution – the only way it can be turned around. And I’m going to try my best to remind us of that all year round. Oh Friends, if we truly want to be better, to look and act more like Christ, then it means putting out a whole lot of effort, being diligent, sacrificing things that we like, spending more time with God in prayer, reading the Good Book and other enlightening stuff. And above all, staying the course, standing strong and steady in real faith. For it’s only when backbone, belly, perseverance and stick-to-itiveness are present that success comes. At the end we should be able to say like Bruh Paul: ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course (race), I have kept the faith.’ (2 Tim.4:7) It’s not easy to do, but we can surely do it with God’s help. And Friends, I can talk about that because we’re now into the sixth calendar year (1907) since the Lord suggested the Scrip-Bit idea, and I laughed at Him, because I felt my knowledge of the Bible was insufficient to do it. But the good news is that He never gave up on me, and as you can see, the Bit is a now a far cry from when it first began. Obviously I wasn’t able to do it, and still can’t, without the Lord’s assistance and guidance. So I know whereof I speak when I say that all things are possible when we partner and persevere with Jehovah God. This means it’s very possible, not to mention worthwhile, for us to turn from our wicked, sinful ways and become more obedient to the Lord if we truly desire it. And my people, that’s exactly what I’m pleading for us to do today, for the Lord God Jehovah is the ONLY ONE who can help us in this time of dire need. Our world is a total mess in all aspects. We all know that, so I won’t even bother to mention them. And a large part of the world’s dysfunction is because we have turned away from God. Now it’s sad to note that it wasn’t just a mere straying, but a planned and intentional removal of God from our society, and thus from our daily lives. But Friends, we desperately need God in our daily lives and in our society in general. So while we’re still alive – though nobody knows for how long – if we want to leave a better world for our descendants, let’s use the hope and faith that’s available to fix it RIGHT NOW. Later will be too late, cause there’ll be nothing left to fix, if we continue in this destructive mode. Now I might sound like a broken record, but my brethren oftimes we need to hear something over and over again before it truly takes root in our hearts and minds. Like the old adage says: ‘practice makes perfect.’ The same principle applies here: We can only turn back to, or stand strong with God, if we keep hearing the truth of His Word and practicing it. That’s where our Bit comes in: ‘So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ And I’ll let the scholars explain it more competently: ‘The reference is to the oral communication of the gospel. (The word translated ‘report ‘ in v.16 is translated ‘hearing’ here.) Notice that it is not faith in what is heard, but faith that comes about by what is heard. This is what Paul meant in Rom.1:16 when he said the gospel ‘is the power of God unto salvation.’ Saving faith is not man doing his part in response to God’s having done His part (synergism). Saving faith can come about only through the gospel. Salvation is God’s work alone (monergism). This also shows that there is no other way to be saved but by the explicit gospel of Christ.’ And all God’s people made a joyful noise unto the Lord. ‘Praise be to thee Oh Christ!’ So Friends, to stay centred in Christ and mature in our Christian walk, we need to continually hear the explicit gospel of Christ. Nothing else can do it for us. Therefore, let’s write that indelibly and very deep in our hearts, souls and minds so that we can use it in time of need. Much LOVE!…believers…it’s time to rise up valiantly in faith…and spread God’s kingdom…far and wide…  P.S. Hn! Is a good thing I didn’t have much to say eh. (smile)