Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 June 2019 Matthew 6:34.

19 Jun 2019 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 6:34.   ​Take therefore no thought for the morrow (therefore do not worry about tomorrow): for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof.
 

Well we’re up to, or down to Wednesday, the middle of the week – anyway you want to put it, and we’re finally into the groove of the weekly rat race. It’s strange how we go to work almost every week, but yet it still takes us a couple of days to get back into the swing of things. Oh, the strange make up of the human animal! It doesn’t take us long to get into the swing of things we like though. (smile) 

And I’m chuckling here because today I want to share a prayer posted on the door of my office which I pass several times a day, and did not even know it was there…in fact I happened to read several prayers up there a few days ago, and was I ever surprised to see them there. And I know they’ve been up there for some time, because they all sound very strange and new to me. (smile) 

And you might ask, what’s the purpose of putting them up there then if you don’t see them? Now that’s a good question, to which I can’t give a good answer. Now interesting and encouraging stuff is stuck up all around the office, but the truth is, I come in and out of the office everyday and don’t see most of them. And I daresay that many of us face a similar problem, too busy and otherwise preoccupied to notice what’s in front of us. 

Anyway, let’s get on with this prayer, titled ‘A Prayer for Today,’ written by one Winifred Brand that I apparently got sometime ago from a Silent Unity Publication. So please pray with me. ‘Lord, give me strength just for today, to do the tasks that come my way, to say the word, to think the thought with which real strength of soul is wrought. 

Lord, give me courage to resist the urge to worry or persist in borrowing from future years, trouble unknown or futile tears. Just for today Lord, let me find true strength and faith and peace of mind, and I will tomorrow pray, when it becomes a new today.’ 

And does that ever make a whole lotta sense my people! All we need is the wherewithal to make it through each and everyday. As the saying goes, ‘take it one day at a time.’ And to tell the truth, you can’t take it any more than that nuh, because we’re only gifted with one day at a time. Thus too the sweet song: ‘One day at a time, sweet Jesus, One day at a time, that’s all I’m asking of You.’ 

And neither will He give us more than that. And Jesus made that quite clear after telling His listeners in the Sermon on the Mount. ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow (therefore do not worry about tomorrow): for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof.’ (Matt.6:33-34) 

Ah mih people, right in those two verses we have two most invaluable lessons; the first is that we must seek God’s kingdom first, and the second is not to worry about tomorrow, look after today, because tomorrow will look after itself. Just live one day at a time; today. As the prayer above so wisely says: ‘and I will tomorrow pray, when it becomes the new today.’ And that’s quite right, because in reality, what we call tomorrow never really comes, it’s always becomes today! 

So friends, let’s learn to live for today nuh. It doesn’t mean we don’t think about or consider or put aside for tomorrow, but let’s focus most of our concentration and concern on the things of today, because if we don’t do what we need to do today, we might not have a hearty, healthy and happy tomorrow! (smile) 

And we really don’t have any need to worry about what happens today, tomorrow or even next week, next month or next year because we have so many wonderful and glorious promises from our magnificent and magnanimous God, re our provisions in this earthly existence. 

Listen to a few nuh, beginning with Bruh Paul’s encouragement to the church at Philippi. ‘But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’ (Phil.4:19) Yes my brethren, if we seek God sincerely, and help others, even when we too are in need, then God will gloriously supply all that we need through His unlimited resources through His Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

Now hear this other reassuring scripture from Bruh Paul to the Corinthians. ‘And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. As it is written, He hath dispersed (distributed) abroad; He hath given to the poor: His righteousness remaineth for ever.’ (2 Cor.9:8-9) In verse 9 there, Bruh Paul is quoting from Psalm 112:9. 

And in talking about God’s assurance in scripture for His faithful followers, there is no passage as immortal and as widely known as those uplifting words of Bruh David in the opening of the 23rd Psalm: ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.’ 

Mama Mia! What an impactful and insightful statement! Please note, Bruh David did not see it fit to list any provisos or conditions for his declaration. There are no ifs, ands or buts. It was a simple statement of fact based on his life experience of faithfully following the God of his forefathers, and the same applies to us, if we follow in his august footsteps. 

So having all that reassurance, faith and whatever other good and godly thing there is exciting our souls and spirits, let’s go home proudly declaring (steups!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus! As one, in sincere sense of purpose: ‘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!’ 

And will that future ever be so glorious my people, so glorious that we can’t even imagine what it will be truly like. So please stand strong and steadfast in the Lord if you want to enjoy it nuh. Much LOVE!

…this is the day the Lord has made…let us rejoice and be glad in it…it’s the only thing that makes sense…

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 May 2019 John 14:27.

23 May 2019 Leave a comment

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

John 14:27.   ​Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
 
To all my Scrip-Bit friends and family, ‘beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!’ Yes fellow saints in Christ, may God’s grace and peace be with us this day, as we go out to do His will. 

And the scholars offer this interesting explanation of Bruh Paul’s favourite greeting. ‘1:7. Called to be saints: This tells how they got to be saints, namely by way of God’s call. (cf. Rom.8:30) Grace is the typical Greek greeting, whereas peace is the traditional Hebrew greeting.’ 

So canny man that he was, Bruh Paul put the two together to make his own. And believe you me friends, we need both the grace and peace of God, everyday we awaken to the cacophony and evil that’s currently going on in our world, if we’re to ever make a move forward! They are the only things that will keep us steady and steadfast and allow us to manoeuvre successfully in this world. 

And what is grace you ask? It’s simply God’s unmerited favour! He gives us stuff that we don’t deserve; stuff to help us get through this life in His way, as we seek first His kingdom. Just like mercy is basically not receiving the punishment we truly deserve. Yeh, they are simple terms, but are they ever important and effective if we want to live a truly Christian life! 

And peace…Oh friends, that’s the most wonderful of all God’s valued gifts. For when there is peace in your soul and spirit nothing moves you, nothing disturbs your equilibrium! Even in the most dangerous and life threatening storms you are calm and unmoveable because you have that wonderful peace of Jesus within you! Wow! 

And what kind of peace are we talking about, what peace is that, that’s so powerful it can calm us even in the time of storm? Remember, He’s the man who literally calmed the storm! ‘Even the winds and the sea obey him!’ (Matt.8:23-27) Oh friends, there is ONLY one kind of peace that’s so powerful, and that is the peace we receive from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ when we sincerely believe in and follow Him! 

And all His saints gratefully cried out: ‘Thank You Lord Jesus! Thank You for Your amazing peace so that we can handle this crazy, strife-filled, ungodly and evil world!’ And why is this peace so different from any other kind of peace? Because it comes from Jesus and it’s just different. Hear him tell it: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ 

Hello there mih breddren! Jesus’ peace is nothing like what the world offers, because He’s conquered the world and all it’s evil, and like a mighty conqueror gives his citizens peace after the war, so does Jesus give His peace when you come to Him in humble sincerity. Hear these winning words of His later on. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 1:33) 

Glory to God my people! Jesus, by His triumphant resurrection on Easter Sunday, has indeed defeated hell, death and the grave and taken away the keys from the evil one. Therefore in that immortal victory, all of His followers can find a substantial peace, a peace that’s not available to anyone else, or from anywhere else! 

As Bruh Paul so appropriately declared (yeh!) to the Romans: ‘Who shall separate us from the LOVE of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom.8:35-38) 

Mama Yo! What powerful and reassuring scriptures my brethren! If we sincerely believe in Jesus then all the problems of the world will not separate us from His awesome, amazing and ever-so-wonderful LOVE! That’s the power that’s found in Him! And you see it in Bruh Paul’s own life. All the trials and tribulation he endured, didn’t turn him away from Christ! In fact it made him stronger! 

As he said so powerfully in his missive to the church at Philippi: ‘Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil.3:13-14) 

Yes friends, Bruh Paul wisely put his guilt from his earlier harassment of the church, as well as all his previous successes in building Christ’s church behind him, so that he could press on to the high calling of God, meaning there was still work to be done, and he could not afford to rest on his laurels. 

Oh my people, the same thing applies to us today. Please, let’s put all our guilt and whatever else behind us and press forward to the high calling that God has in store for each and every one of us! It’s time we took the bull by the horns and just moved forward as one, as one body, as Christ’s strong and immovable church! Amen! (smile) 

And with that stirring plea, let’s go home now declaring (yes!) our Thursday Blessings, outlining some of the grace that our God has so plentifully bestowed on us as believers in His only Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In full voice, sincere hearts and strong sense of purpose: ‘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!’ 

Glory be mih people! But please note the proviso in that bountiful display of grace: we are not to hoard it, but to share it generously with others, just like Christ shared it generously with us! Much LOVE!

…sailing in this life… with Jesus as your guide and pilot…NO storm can disturb your peace of mind…