Philippians 1:11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the praise and glory of God.
Oh my wonderful Friends, neighbours and co-workers, it’s Friday! And a joyous shout of ‘TGIM! Thank God is Friday yes!’ rises up to heaven as the words register. Yes mih people, we’ll soon be released from bondage for a couple of days. But by the same token, we have to use the short time off wisely. So let’s chant our Friday Chant, which helps us to keep the weekend in its proper perspective. With great joy, enthusiasm and sincere praise, let’s chant. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ Now let’s settle down and try not to overdo anything over the weekend, but make sure we find time for the most important aspect; fellowship with other believers, regardless of what day you celebrate the Sabbath. And it’s certainly true that wonders never cease, but daily they increase, for when I looked outside awhile ago, the lane was snow-covered as well as all the driveways … except mine. It’s not plenty snow, but mine was pitch black, the asphalt totally bare. What’s amazing is that usually mine is the one that’s covered with either snow or leaves, or whatever is blowing around the neighbour hood. But we all know that our God moves in mysterious ways, too high for our simple brains to understand, and that’s why He IS God! And that finally brings us to our Bit. ‘Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the praise and glory of God.’ Now in Bruh Paul’s usual highfalutin style, that verse can be a challenge to understand, so we’ll use the simpler translation the scholars gave us. ‘Filled with the fruit that is righteousness, which comes through Jesus Christ for the purpose of glorifying and praising God.’ That should make it much easier for all of us to understand. Yesterday we ended by looking at corroborating scriptures, and today we’ll continue to do so. And believe me, there are quite a few. So let’s go way back to Moses, who, in the course of telling the Israelites about clean and unclean food, reminds them: ‘For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people (special treasure) unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.’ (Deut.14:2) Oh Friends, we need to remember that because as believers, followers of Jesus Christ, we also are a chosen gathering, a special treasure, blessed by Almighty God on Jesus’ behalf! That means we also have to behave as a specially chosen and blessed people. But that’s something I don’t think we’re doing too well, otherwise so many people wouldn’t have such a bad opinion of us as Christians, often considering us hypocrites, which is often true. And until we change our lifestyle, until we bring it into true accordance with God’s Word and the principles found therein, we’ll never be filled with that righteousness that sincerely causes us to praise and glorify the Most High God Jehovah. So that’s something we’ve seriously got to work on. Now we’ll turn to Colossians, where Bruh Paul is writing to them about his prayer for their spiritual wisdom. And for us to understand what’s happening, I’ll quote from the beginning of that passage to the verse that actually corroborates our Bit. ‘We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the LOVE which ye have to all the saints. For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth.’ (Col.1:3-6) And we’ll get some amplification from the scholars of most of it. According to them: ‘Evidence of a person’s faith in Christ Jesus is his LOVE…to all the saints. Hope is salvation, as it refers to the object for which one hopes. Word of the truth of the gospel could be rendered as “the message of the gospel which is true.” This is meant to contradict the Colossian heresy: unlike its false teaching, or “vain deceit” (2:8), the gospel is true indeed. The universal spread and effectiveness of the gospel verify the assertion in verse 5 that it is the truth. The Colossian heresy is merely local; while the gospel has come to the Colossians, it has gone beyond them in all the world. And it bringeth forth fruit; that is, when embraced by faith, the gospel produces godly character and noble conduct in its converts.’ There we have it my brethren; when through faith, we sincerely embrace the truth of the gospel, it leads us to right thoughts and actions in Christ. And we’ll end with some words from Psalm 100; A call to praise the Lord: ‘Make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) unto the Lord, all ye lands (all the earth). Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.’ (Ps.100:1-3) And that’s more gospel truth Friends! Now let’s read, mark and inwardly digest all those things, then go out and do what is right in the sight of God, as our Lord and Saviour, Jesus expects of us. That’s wisdom at its zenith! And only then can we be called true believers. Much LOVE!…to sin is human…but the righteousness of God is given to believers…to help us keep our transgressions to a minimum…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 March 2013 Philippians 1:11
08 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a holy people, believers, bondage, christianity, Christians, fellowship, fruits of righteousness, gladness, glorious kingdom, god moves in mysterious ways, God's people, God's Word, godly character, gospel truth, grace of God, hope, hypocrites, Jesus Christ, LOVE, mysterious ways, noble conduct, praise God, principles, religion, righteous fruit, Sabbath, salvation, serve the Lord, sheep of His pasture, sincere praise, sins, special treasure, spiritual wisdom, TGIF!, Thank God it's Friday, the glory of God, theology, transgressions
Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 March 2013 Philippians 1:11
07 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: anger, believers, blessings, boasts, discernment, faith, faithful believers, faithful promises, fruits of righteousness, glory of God, good works, goodness, grace, joy, joyous praise, lifeblood, mediocrity, pilgrimage, praise, Praise the Lord, prayer, religion, resentment, salvation, strength, thanksgiving, theology, triumph, ultimate purpose, victorious, wonderful god, worry
Philippians 1:11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 February 2013 Psalm 21:6
27 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: absolute hope, actions, Bible Study, blessed, Christian beliefs, christianity, confidence, darkest hour, deceitful, earthly pilgrimage, evildoers, exceedingly glad, faith, footstools, God's Word, hearts, heavy load, joy, maturity, mercy, minds, pain, powers of darkness, praise, psalm 21, religion, roadblocks, saviour jesus christ, sliding, slipping, souls, spirituality, surrender, thankfulness, treacherous, true believers, true wisdom, trust, unfortunate experience, uptempo dance, victory, virgin snow, weather forecasters
Psalm 21:6. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 February 2013 Psalm 5:9
24 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: bitterness, choke hold, christianity, cursing, destruction, faithfulness, fallen creation, forgiveness, generosity, God's faithfulness, heartaches, heavenly hosts, human condition, justice, loving, mercy, misery, mornng by morning, Most High God, new mercies, pain, praise and thanksgiving, religion, sadness, saviour jesus christ, sincerity, spirituality, tears, testimony, trust, truth, worship
Psalm 5:9. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
And yet another glorious day in the life begins my Friends, so let’s start it with some thanks and praise nuh. Let’s sing a verse of the old hymn that could probably be called ‘Old Faithful’ because it’s been around for a long time and whenever we sing it, it also regenerates our faith in the faithfulness and trustworthiness of our Wonderful God. Sing with me: ‘Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All that I needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.’ And isn’t that the awesome truth my fellow believers! We can all attest to the faithfulness of God in our lives; in the past, the present, and if we continue clinging to Him, also in the future. He’s just that kind of LOVING, trusting, generous and merciful God to all those who serve and worship Him in truth and sincerity. And all God’s people loudly and joyously declared: ‘All praise and thanksgiving be unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who made the earth, heavens, and all therein, and who controls it with LOVE, mercy, justice and forgiveness! Oh Lord, we your humble servants truly LOVE You, and this Sunday morning we bless and praise Your Most Holy Name! Amen.’ Oh Friends, did you see the big smiles on the faces of our heavenly Father and our Saviour, Jesus Christ as those heartfelt prayers reached up to heaven? Even the heavenly hosts were smiling and adding their own ‘Praise the Lord! For He is good and merciful and forgiving!’ Ah mih bredden, if there could only be such smiles and happiness down here on earth, instead of the many frowns, heartaches, sadness, tears and pain that currently envelop our world, that have us in an ever tightening choke hold. But I guess that’s the price we have to pay for being a fallen creation. And sadly, we’re not helping the situation by consciously steering our lives to the sinful side of our nature, instead of the righteous and godly side. We all have that pocket in our souls permanently reserved for our Maker, which nothing or no one else can fill, but unless we consciously venture to fill it with Him, our lives will end up a total mess. And if you don’t believe me, just take a look around at our society with so many people hurting and searching for relief from their many sorrows. Unfortunately though, they are searching in the wrong places, heading in the wrong direction. They’re turning to manmade aids; drugs, booze, shrinks etc, which are not helping, but making them worse, increasing their pain and sorrows. Ah Friends, there’s only one antidote for the human state, one prescription to ease his pain and suffering: that’s Almighty God, his Maker and Controller! And until we realize that and turn back to Him in droves, just like we’ve turned away in droves, the human state will remain one of exceedingly vile, evil, ungodly conditions. Tragic loss, pain and ‘sufferation’ will continue to be his unenviable lot. That brings us to our very appropriate Bit: ‘For there is no faithfulness (uprightness) in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness (destruction); their throat is an open sepulchre (tomb); they flatter with their tongue.’ And isn’t that the undeniable truth about the state of our society my fellow believers? It sure is! Now let me share a testimony of our Lord’s delightful faithfulness. When I began writing today, I had no clue what I was going to write about. I had not even opened the Good Book to look for a Bit. I just had the verse of the ‘Old Faithful’ Hymn written on a piece of paper, and contrary to my usual method of writing, where I do a rough copy on paper first, I just began writing on the computer and the words and ideas just flowed, so I continued, until I got to the unenviable lot of humans. Then I began chuckling, asked the Lord to guide me to an appropriate Bit, and opened my Bible. And, lo and behold, according to His great faithfulness, I found one in less than five minutes. Just goes to show Friends, that if we genuinely seek our God, we’ll find Him, and He will answer our prayers, especially where it pertains to His Word. Now let’s turn to some thought provoking scripture to corroborate our contentions. This comes from Bruh Paul’s writing to the Romans. ‘There is none righteous, No, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre (grave); with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ (Rom.3″10-18) Oh Friends, doesn’t that describe our world to a T? It certainly does. Bruh Paul uses his vast knowledge of the scriptures, using various bits and pieces to highlight our insufficiency and sad, degenerate state. Listen to the scholars comment on that passage. ‘Paul quotes scripture to prove universal guilt. Scripture, not Paul, is the judge. See Psalm 5:9; 10:7; 14:1-3; 140:3; Isaiah 59:7-8’ Those are some of the scriptures Bruh Paul uses in that very revealing section of Romans. And rather appropriately, just as we began, we’ll end with a glowing testimony from Isaiah on the Lord’s faithfulness. ‘O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.’ (Is.25:1) And that’s the gospel truth my brethren! So let’s go out now and do as that great prophet just said; praise and exalt the name of the Most High God Jehovah, for it is right and meet so to do. Much LOVE!…only in the faithfulness of our heavenly Father…can man put absolute trust…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 February 2013 Job 8:13
23 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: abuse, cancer, cancer fundraisers, carcinogens, climate change, fools, forget God, human bodies, human-rights, hypocrite's hopelessness, hypocrites shall perish, iniquity, pollution, religion, righteous, sinful state, snowstorms, spirituality, traffic congestion, ungodliness, unusual weather patterns, warnings, weather patterns, wicked, wisdom
Job 8:13. So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish.
Oh Friends, it’s another day in the life! However, for many down in the U. S. it’s going to be an extremely rough one, where they continue to dig out from another round of severe snowstorms, this one predominantly hitting the Central part of the country. I guess we can call this the year of the snow, for places that haven’t had snow in ages have experienced it this year. Even in parts of Southern California some snow fell, causing unaccustomed traffic congestion and the other niceties that snow brings, especially when you’re not accustomed to it. (smile) They were even pelting snowballs in Arizona instead of playing golf, because the courses were white and not green. Some places that have not fully recovered from previous snowfalls have again been inundated by the white stuff. But why are we seeing so much of it in such short periods eh? I’d like to put forward two theories. The first is climate change. We have screwed up the delicate balance of the planet with so much pollutants that it’s now coming back to haunt us in unstable, unusual weather patterns. Cut it whichever way you want, we can’t continue to put so much polluting stuff in our air, water and land and don’t expect some unusual reaction. And anyone who believes that, or eschews that position is a fool! Look at amount of known carcinogens we now have in our food, either to make it look pretty or stay fresh and last longer. Don’t you think that affects the delicate balance of our bodies too? I get angry when I hear about these cancer fundraisers and curing cancer. How can you cure something when you keep putting it in your food, water, land and atmosphere eh? But that’s a story for another day. But getting back to climate change. When last have we seen so much snow in North America eh? For the last five to ten years we’ve hardly had any, in comparison to what we used to have before. So much so that recently the ski resorts had to resort to snow making machines for longer periods than ever before. Now it seems as if it has turned around again, and they’re getting mucho snow. Oh Friends, our planet can stand a lot of pain, but like our human bodies it’s finely timed and tuned and continued abuse will eventually make it sick, just like it does to our human bodies. Our God didn’t make it to stand the kind of abuse we’re putting it through. That brings me to our second theory; that the unusual climate patterns and natural disasters we’re having in unusual places is partly the work of our God, in retribution for our very sinful state of ungodliness and disobedience to His Word. That dovetails very nicely with our Bit: ‘So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish.’ We’ve seen over the centuries that societies that have gotten too big for their ‘britches’ and become sinful and ungodly, have eventually been cut down to size one way or another. The sad part is that most of the times there have been warnings, but the proud, evildoers have not paid them any attention. And I believe that what’s happening right now is God’s way of warning us. But are we paying attention? Certainly not! But there’s no doubt that we’re a very evil, sinful society, which has successfully turfed the Lord from its schools and public places, a society where the evildoers have the upper hand and revel in their wicked works without a thought for the consequences. And believe me Friends, there will be serious consequences for the immoral, ungodly morass into which our society has plummeted. Now let’s look at a few scriptures that foretell retribution for proud, continual disobedience. Job says it in spades when he talks of the hypocrite’s hopelessness. ‘For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?’ (Job 27:8-10) I’m afraid the answer to all those questions my brethren is a resounding ‘NO!’ And if we turn to Psalm 112; Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, we’ll find graphic descriptions of both the righteous and wicked in the last two verses. In talking about the righteous, the psalmist boldly declares: ‘He hath dispersed (distributed abroad), he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn (strength) shall be exalted with honour. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with this teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.’ (Ps.112:9-10) Oh my fellow believers, please note carefully the great difference between the eventual outcomes of both sets of people. And we’ll go home with some extremely wise words of Cousin Sol, as he contrasts the doings of the wise and the foolish. ‘The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth (land). The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward (perverse, deceitful) tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness (perversity, deceitfulness).’ (Prov.10:27-32) Oh Friends, please remember that the laws and words of our God don’t change, that means if they were true in Cousin’ Sol’s time, then they’re still true today. So please let’s allow wisdom to be our guide. Let’s start cleaning up the pollutants from our unfortunate planet, our evil societies and our individual lives, beginning today, RIGHT NOW! Because if we don’t, we’ll only force the Lord to do it for us, and I can guarantee we won’t like His methods. Much LOVE!…where wisdom prevails…societies prosper…but where evil fools rule the roost…the societies perish…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 February 2013 Psalm 94:12
21 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: adversity, afflictions, blessed, character of Christ, chastens, consider the consequences, continual wrongdoing, cross to bear, despise not God's corrections, discipline, disobedience, faith and trust in God, fasting, happy is he whom God corrects, humility, man doesn't live by bread alone, manna, psalm 94, religion, statutes, strain and pressure
Psalm 94:12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law.
Oh Friends, our God is truly a great Deity, but sometimes He can be very sneaky and underhanded. Now I mentioned recently that I had to fast for 12 hours to go for some blood tests, but fasting is not one of my strong points, at least not for 12 hours. Well, it so happens that yesterday evening I went out to a Bible Study class, then ran a few errands, came home and had a late supper. I read for a while then went to bed shortly after midnight. Then lo and behold, I got up after three only to hear or feel this message in my spirit about fasting. Ah Lord eh! Our God certainly moves in mysterious ways, because I wasn’t planning on doing that 12-hour fast today. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to do it on my terms, but the Lord slipped a spanner into my wheel and tripped me up. (smile) So now I’m fasting. Chuh! Just another 5 hours to go. Please pray for me that I don’t spoil it, because I certainly don’t want to start all over again. And as we turn to our Bit, I guess that story goes well with it. ‘Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law.’ Yeh Friends, though I knew that I had to do the fasting, and the sooner the better, I wasn’t thrilled with the surprise the Lord sprung on me. But I guess He figured I was pussy-footing around too much, and so decided to take the bull by the horns. (smile) But as our Bit advises, I’m bearing up under the strain and pressure, accepting and bearing it like a man. Hn, hn, hn! And that’s the way we should all handle the corrections of our gracious and LOVING God! Granted, some of them, unlike my petty problem above, can be very hard to bear. But the whole point of the exercise is generally for us to consider the consequences before we do the sinful actions. That’s why from way back when, the Lord through Moses, warned the Israelites about their hardship in the wilderness caused by their disobedience. ‘And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee (did not wear out), neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. Thou shalt also consider (know) in thine heart, that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.’ (Deut.8:3-6) Oh my brethren, it couldn’t be anymore explicit than that! The Lord brought them out of the wilderness eventually, but they paid a stiff price for their disobedience, lack of courage and lack of faith in the Word of the God of their fathers. Unfortunately, nothing much has changed over those many centuries. Our society is even more evil, disobedient, faithless and fearful than the Israelites were. Thus the Lord is chastening us, both by nations and individually. But then we get in a righteous snit because of it, completely forgetting the advice in His Word and the far-reaching consequences of continual wrongdoing. Hear how Job’s buddy, Eliphaz rebukes him. ‘Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.’ (Job 5:17-18) Oh Friends, that’s the beauty of our God; though He may chasten us with tough affliction, He also has the power and the mercy to heal and make us whole! Though we fall like Humpty Dumpty, our God can put us back together again, so we shouldn’t get overly upset when we’re chastened. And though that’s the unvarnished truth, like so many other truths, it’s not always easy to accept. But accepting it is the way of the wise. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 119: ‘It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.’ (Ps.119:71) Oh I know we all think he’s crazy for considering afflictions to be good. But remember Friends, it’s only through afflictions and adversity that our faith is built and our Christian character truly formed. For it’s in those times of trouble that we really learn to depend on our God. If we never suffered afflictions or adversity, and everything always came up roses, then we’d have no need for faith or trust in God. Remember too, that before gold and iron can be processed from the impure ore, they must first be passed through a pretty hot fire. Likewise, that’s how our God teaches us His lessons and conforms us to the character of His wonderful Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and living example. Now let’s listen to this wise and most appropriate scripture from Cousin Sol, which we all know, but don’t like and refuse to believe. ‘My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of (detest) his correction: For whom the Lord LOVETH he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.’ (Prov.3:11-12) And we’ll end with words from Hebrews that put Cousin Sol’s advice in the proper perspective. ‘And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children (sons), My son, despise not the thou the chastening (discipline) of the Lord, nor faint (be discouraged) when thou art rebuked of Him: For whom the Lord LOVETH He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?’ (Heb.12:5-7) That says it all my people! Whom the Lord LOVES, He corrects. So if you’re being corrected, say ‘Praise the Lord,’ cause He LOVES you. And remember that we all have our individual crosses to bear, so today, please let’s take a serious look at the state of our individual union with Almighty God and see how best we can improve it. That’s true wisdom, my fellow believers! Much LOVE!…actions always bring consequences…so it will serve us well…to consider the latter…before doing the former…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 February 2013 Psalm 121:8
08 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: anointed one, bacchanal, blessed coming in, blessed going out, Carnival Friday, christianity, drunk or sober, fellowship, french west indies, Friday chant, God's sustaining power, Love of Jesus, mind yuh business, morning rush hour, New Orleans, religion, rest-relaxation, Rio, rush hour, snow storm, song of praise, spirituality, straight and narrow path, TGIF!, Trinidad & Tobago, weather forecasters, wonderful promises
Psalm 121:8. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday – Carnival Friday to boot!. So you can imagine the joyful shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’ that are being let loose in places like Rio, New Orleans, The French West Indies, and T&T, where the party is now getting into full swing. Mama Mia! But unfortunately we in the Great White North, in particular Southern Ontario and the North Eastern U.S. are expecting to be battered by a terrible snowstorm this Carnival Friday. It’s supposed to be a two-pronged storm; one coming from Texas and the other from Alberta, meeting and greeting in our territory. Ah Lord eh! What I wouldn’t give to be in T&T now! But I guess that’s why we have dreams. (smile) It’s already totally white outside, and they’re saying that’s just the start of something big moving through the area during the morning rush hour. So please be very careful my brethren, if you have occasion to go out. If you don’t have to, don’t go. This is one time I fervently hope that the weather forecasters are wrong. Anyway, with all that in mind, let’s chant our Friday Chant, with even more enthusiasm and prayerfulness than usual. As one vocal body now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ That should settle down those who have to drive in the stupid snow, allay their fears some, and put the assurance of God in their hearts. And for those in the party places, remember to go easy on the bacchanal, cause that’s when you tend to fall out of the frying pan and into the fire. Don’t forget our wise reminder: Drunk or sober, mind yuh business. Now turning to our Bit, which is rather appropriate for the weather we have outside: ‘The Lord shall preserve (keep) thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.’ Yes my people, that’s the unequivocal promise of our mighty and LOVING God to those who put their sincere trust in Him, to those who surrender their entire beings to His godly care! As the Psalm titled, God’s sustaining power, so emphatically declares before our Bit: ‘My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved (slip): he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper (protector): the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve (keep) thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.’ (Ps.121:2-7) Oh Friends, none of the other supposed gods can promise anything even close to that, and keep it too! So why do we still insist on doubting our Creator, Controller, LOVING Father and Provider eh? From since the days of old, when Moses told the Israelites about the blessings of obedience, these were instilled in our consciousness. ‘Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shall thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten (defeated) before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.’ (Deut.28:6-7) My oh my! What wonderful promises my people! It couldn’t get any better than that! Consequently, I just can’t understand how we ignore those amazing promises to our own hurt and demise. And Cousin Sol, in his great wisdom, enthusiastically declares: ‘He keepeth the paths of judgement (guards the paths of justice), and preserveth the way of his saints.’ (Prov.2:8) We are those saints Friends! That means the Lord looks out for us wherever we go, and in whatever we do. Meanwhile, hear how Hannah, Samuel’s mother, proclaims it in her song of praise and joy, after the Lord struck down her barrenness and opened up her womb with fruit. ‘He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn (strength) of his anointed.’ (1 Sam.2:9-10) What strong words of encouragement my brethren! Our God is so strong and purposeful to those who LOVE Him and walk in his ways! And we’ll end with one more wise saying of Cousin Sol; one that all of us should know and diligently adhere to. ‘In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct (make smooth or straight) thy paths.’ (Prov.3:6) Yes Friends, when we give our lives to Jesus, then He leads and guides us in the proper direction we should go, through His Holy Spirit that dwells within us. So please, today, let’s all consider if we have done that, and if we’re therefore walking the straight and narrow path that Jesus walks. If not, then let’s get right on it, and turn our lives over to the ONLY ONE who is able to save us from sinful death and eternal separation from Almighty God. That, my people, is the wisdom of the ages. Much LOVE!…we can only walk this earth safely…if we’re protected by the…LOVE and care of Jesus…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 January 2013 John 12: 49
30 Jan 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a Prophet, blessings, fear not, heavenly Father, humility, intercessor, Jesus' assurance, joy and strength, knowing jesus, Love of Jesus, mediator, Peace and Love, praise God, radiant countenance, rejoice and be glad, religion, revealer of God's will, son of god, the Holy Spirit, the joy of the Lord, winds of evil
John 12:49. For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
And as another day dawns on God’s bountiful earth, all the creatures of His universe turn to praise and acknowledge Him in whatever manner He prescribes for them; be they fish or fowl, man or beast. So let’s raise our heads, hearts, hands and eyes heavenward and offer our heartfelt thanks for His incomparable blessing of allowing us to see another fine day here on earth. Let’s all happily intone: ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ Now Friends, we just can’t mouth those words yuh know, but also have to go out and put them into action. Actually put rejoicing and gladness into whatever situations we find ourselves. This needs to be a conscious decision, not something we hope will flow from our circumstances. For remember, the joy of the Lord is our strength, (Neh. 8:10) and if we lose that JOY which comes from knowing Jesus, then our lives will be like trash, blown any which way by the ever huffing and puffing winds of evil. So the first thing we need to do everyday on awakening, is to reignite that joy, put the bellows to that spark of fire in our souls that has burnt low during the night. Then and only then, are we ready to face the day, come whatever may, because the LOVE, JOY and STRENGTH of Jesus are all burning brightly in our souls. Now let’s see what our Bit wants to tell us today. ‘For I have not spoken of myself (my own authority), but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.’ Isn’t it interesting Friends, that throughout His entire ministry, Jesus kept on humbling Himself, kept on claiming that the words He spoke and the deeds He did, were not of Himself, but of His heavenly Father. But instead of actually paying attention to what He was saying, and if His deeds were in concert with His words, the religious leaders of the day were only concerned about His contention that He was the Son of God. And the same thing’s happening today. When believers talk about Jesus as Lord and Saviour, the heathen don’t really listen to what we’re saying, re things like Peace and LOVE, but quickly get this pickle in their ear about Jesus Himself and begin condemning Him. The message itself gets lost in all the paraphernalia surrounding it. I’m sure if Lucifer gets religion and changes his act and begins talking of LOVE and Peace, the message won’t get lost though, because we’ve been programmed to welcome Lucifer in whatever guise, but not Jesus. Anyway, what I want to do today is point out some of the many times that Jesus made nothing of Himself, but gave all the power and glory to God the Father. First though, let’s deal with the last part of the Bit, (smile) ‘…what I should say, and what I should speak,’ because it brings up very important stuff that pertains to us today. Some of us may not realize it, but those words of Jesus fulfilled a prophecy from the days of Moses. The Lord promised, through Moses: ‘I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. (Deut.18:18-19) Yes Friends, that promised Prophet was to be like Moses, a mediator between God and man. And the only person powerful enough to fulfill that role since the promise, was Jesus. According to the scholars, that Prophet would be ‘faithful (Heb.3:2), full of compassion and LOVE (Num.27:17; Matt.9:36), a powerful intercessor for His people (9:18; Heb.7:25), speaking with God face-to-face and reflecting the divine glory (2 Cor.3:7) Like Christ, he was to be a mighty prophet in word and deed (Luke 24:19), a revealer of God’s will and purpose (cf.6:1; Rev.1:1) a mediator of the covenant (29:1); Heb.8:6-7), and a leader of the people (Is.55:4).’ Yes my brethren, our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus is the fulfillment of all that! Now the second thing I want us to note, is what Jesus says to the disciples when warning them of the serious persecution to come. ‘But when they deliver you up, take no thought (do not worry about) how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.’ (Matt.10:19-20) That means believers today should not be afraid of persecution, because in time of need, the Holy Spirit of our heavenly Father will tell us what to say, and how to react. So my brethren, that fear of not knowing what to say when troubles come, is one more fear we can cast adrift, because we have Jesus’ assurance that He will work in us, when it’s necessary. Hn, hn, hn! Oh mih people, I think I’ve outdone myself, but what’s new about that eh? It seems we’ll have to leave those scriptures I promised until tomorrow, God willing obviously, because there are several I want to share. Anyway, we have enough stuff to ponder today. Don’t want to give us too much, what with our busy schedules of everyday living. (smile) So as we opened with thanks, let’s close with a blessing. May the good Lord we serve and worship, bless us and keep us safe from all harm. May He shine His wonderful and radiant countenance on us, and give us His everlasting peace, so that we can walk worthy of Him, and thus further His glorious kingdom. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen. Much LOVE!…with Jesus ruling our hearts…fear should be a thing of the past…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 January 2013 2 Chronicles 24:20
02 Jan 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: body of Christ, civil tongues, closer walk with God, commandments, differences, dissensions, doctrines, evil spirits, fellowship, glorify God, God's righteous kingdom, goodwill, heartfelt plea, New Year's resolutions, pleas, pleasant demeanour, positive change, power hungry, prosperity, religion, sacrifice, transgressions, true heart of Christ, unity
2 Chronicles 24:20. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.
Oh Friends, it’s day 2 of 2013, and for many of us the common grind and daily task begins again today. But can I plead one heartfelt plea with us? Please, as this Christmas and New Year seasons wind down, please let us not go back to the crude, rude, unmannerly, resentful, disgusting way we’ve been treating each other in the past year. It’s just not becoming of us, my people. For once in our life, let’s allow the goodwill and fellowship of the season to continue right through the New Year nuh. We don’t have to hug and kiss, or even like everybody we come into contact with, but we can surely have a more civil tongue in our heads and more pleasant demeanour. That doesn’t cost us anything, but it shows the true heart of Christ. As I said yesterday, there’s only one New Year’s resolution our entire world needs to make, and that’s to purpose a closer walk with Jesus! And being kind and considerate to our fellow humans is the first step in that direction. As the great philosopher Plato reputedly said eons ago; ‘The beginning is the most important part of the work.’ And that’s no lie Friends! I can attest to that just in writing the Bit everyday. The biggest hurdle is to get started. But once I do, everything comes together smoothly. And I’m sure most of you can also attest to the universal fact that making the first move in anything, always takes the most effort and courage. The Chinese Proverb puts it this way: ‘The longest journey begins with the first step.’ That’s also undeniable truth! So if we really want to have a closer walk with Jesus this year, it means we have to begin at the beginning, for though it’s the hardest part of the process, it’s also the most important. For to accomplish anything, we have to begin somewhere, sometime. Now does that get me any marks as a philosopher? (smile) From the lukewarm response, I’d guess not. But it’s the truth anyway. Now turning to our Bit: ‘And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.’ Oh Friends, I believe this will be the most important Bit of this year 2013, because it’s where we take stock of ourselves and those connected to us, of our individual society and of our world. It’s when we seriously try to turn the tables on the evil spirits and people who are currently controlling our lives and our world and ruining them. And what amazes, as well as disturbs me, is that the answer to all our problems is so easy, it’s right before our very eyes; turning back to having a true and sincere faith in Almighty God and having Him play significant roles in our individual lives and our societies. But for some unexplainable reason we seem afraid and/or reluctant to do it. But I do know it’s the right thing for us to do. It’s the only action that will get us out of the sad state we’re currently mired in. But unfortunately, right now, most of us seem to be listening to a different tune from Lucifer and his evil cronies, and thus they are now holding sway. Believe me though, my brethren, if only we, the church, the body of Christ could get back to working AS ONE, instead of fighting each other, we’d eat up, defeat the enemy in no time at all. But it’s the foolish divisions among Christ’s people that allow Beelzebub’s minions to rule the roost. The enemy is successfully using the old divide and conquer tactic on us. But unless and until the mostly petty and unimportant dissensions and differences are seriously addressed and worked out between Christ’s people, His church will not attain any real victory here on earth. But the devil’s in the details; reducing things like power struggles, streamlining doctrines, etc. etc. It’s always the selfish, power hungry, have to be right attitudes that spoil the show. And sadly, that’s not the attitude championed by Christ. It’s time Friends, for us to put up, or simply shut up. It’s time for Christ’s church to come together, to form a cohesive group, preaching what Christ preached, not what we want to preach or hear. If this doesn’t happen very soon, the church is just going to get more fractured and lose what little authority and acceptance it has left. And it’s only true believers, those who are willing to make the sacrifice, like Jesus did, who will affect or cause positive change in the evil doings of our world. But until we work together as ONE, that will never happen. Oh please, my fellow brethren in Christ, I’m appealing, pleading, begging, whatever action it takes, for us to get real serious about our faith, to get together and fight for it, otherwise we’re going to eventually lose it. Just look at some of the other faiths nuh, who though they worship dead and incompetent gods, their great belief, courage and zeal has them fighting tooth and nail to promote their unrighteous cause. Meanwhile, we, the Christians, who supposedly worship the ONE and ONLY TRUE GOD, fight amongst ourselves, sit on our laurels, seeking individual fame and glory, and refuse to make the effort to seriously come together and make a concerted effort to win the world for Christ, as He so humbly asked us to do. Oh Friends, I’m chuckling here, because this is one of those times when I was led to just get on our case about our dissensions and divisions, our inactivity, our hypocrisy, and all the wrong and bad things in the church, as we know it. Ah Lord eh! When will we learn my people, when will we wake up to the reality that life’s passing us by, and that our efforts are both lacklustre and insufficient? I don’t know if my pleas will make any difference to anything, but Friends, somebody’s got to cry out for unity between Christ’s people and His church, or else we’ll all just keep on going down to hell in the hand basket of petty divisions, of evil and worldly lusts we’ve chosen to put ourselves into. In closing, I just hope and pray that the Lord will take us to task this notable year of 2013, and put it in our hearts to truly be an example of righteousness to the unbelievers, as well as the believers, because they too need proper examples to help them guide their lives on the right path. But Friends, most of that can, or will never happen unless we start to truly LOVE our God, truly LIVE our Christian Faith, and truly SPREAD the WORD of God, as we ought to. Much LOVE!…may the good Lord convict our hearts and minds…at the start of this New Year…RIGHT NOW…to walk ever closer to Him…and thus increase and glorify His righteous kingdom…Amen…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 November 2012 Genesis 9:13
21 Nov 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: colour scheme, colourful flora, flood, God's covenant, God's creations, God's little Acre, God's LOVE, government, man's responsibility, Noah, obedience, pillars of fire, rainbow, rebellion, religion, singing God's praises, spirituality, therapeutic remedy, tower of Babel
Genesis 9:13. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Morning Friends! From the porch of my cosy cottage at Store Bay, in the cool morning air, surrounded by an abundance of colourful flora, I write these words of peace, LOVE and good health. Oh my people, you wouldn’t know what joy it is to be awakened in the early morning hours by cocks-a-crowing, birds-a-singing, and dogs-a-barking! And though at times the noise can be a bit disconcerting, especially when you’re not ready to get up, it sure is preferable to waking up in a cold, dark environment with none of God’s creations sweetly singing His praises. And since my sojourn on God’s Little Acre is short, I have to enjoy it to the fullest. Yesterday, after writing the Bit, I walked out to Store Bay, yes it’s only a five minute walk from my cosy cottage, and had a nice dip in its calm, beautiful azure blue, highly regenerative waters. Yes Friends, without a doubt, the best therapeutic remedy for any and all aches and pains is good, ole sea water! God’s considerate provision for His people! After that I went shopping for some groceries, and are they ever expensive, in terms of T&T dollars. Later in the evening I hung out with a couple of old fogeys like myself, reminiscing about some of the colourful and eccentric characters who lived in the capital, Scarborough, during our youth. And believe me, there were quite a few colourful characters hanging around our town back then. And the beauty of it all, is that though their physical appearance, emotional stability and economic situation were at the bottom of the totem pole, their brain power was amazing. Some of the wisdom that would pour out of their souls was truly astounding. It’s reputed that a couple of them had been teachers fallen on hard times, and their vocabulary certainly attested to that possibility. Ah Friends, luckily for us the Lord woke me at a reasonable time this morning, so that I can write the Bit early o’clock, because later on in the day, I have a christening to attend, and it’s very doubtful if I’ll be in any fit shape to write anything sensible after that. (smile) So here goes. Our Bit is the same as yesterday: ‘I do set my bow (rainbow) in the cloud, and it shall be for a token (sign) of a covenant between me and the earth.’ Now just before our Bit, the Lord spoke these memorable and most important words to Noah after the flood receded. ‘And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token (sign) of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations.’ (Gen. 9:11-12) And that token, that sign, as our Bit declares, was a rainbow in the sky. And the scholars say this in their footnote: ‘This covenant involved the dispensation of human government, with humanity governing itself. Man was responsible to govern the world for God. The governing covenant of this era was the Noahic covenant (v 11). Under it, man’s relationship to the earth and to the order of nature was confirmed (vv 2-11), human government was established, and God promised never again to use a universal flood to judge the world (vv 11-17). The failure of man under this dispensation culminated in the building of the tower of Babel and resulted in the judgement of the confusion of tongues. (cf. 11:1-3,7).’ So what else is new eh? Man’s failure to keep our covenants with God down through the ages has been causing us pain and discomfort from day one with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And even after God’s unfathomable grace that allowed Jesus to pay our sin debt in full, we still can’t get it through our thick skulls that obedience to Almighty God is the only way to live a good, peaceful, LOVING and prosperous life on this mish mash earth. Anyway, Friends, I’m not getting in to any haranguing about our foolish pride and rebellion today. (smile) Rather, I’m just going to share some scriptures that indicate how important a rainbow still is in our relationship with our Creator. And the first scripture comes from the prophet Ezekiel, where he declares his vision of God’s glory. ‘As the appearance of the bow (rainbow) that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.’ (Ezek.1:28) That goes to show the lack of words to really describe God’s glory, but He, in His infinite wisdom, gives us some indication of the brightness of His glory in the rainbow with its wondrous colour scheme. Then we’ll jump all the way to the end times, where John tells us about what he saw around God’s throne in the heavens. ‘And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine (sardis) stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight (appearance) like unto an emerald.’ (Rev.4:3) Oh Friends, the gems and the rainbow show God’s glory, and reminds us that it will always be an integral part of the reflection of His awesome, colour, light and beauty! And further on in Revelation, when John talks of the angel and the little book, he begins the chapter thus: ‘And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.’ (Rev.10:1) Yes my brethren, even in the painful times to come, the rainbow will still be involved in the activities of Almighty God! So please, whenever we see a rainbow, which is not too often, let’s stand and admire it, and contemplate the awesome power of our wonderful God, who created such beautiful imagery to show His amazing LOVE and care for mankind; His most precious creation. And a minute ago, the same black rooster that gave me a raucous cockadoodle-do greeting yesterday afternoon, was on the other side of the fence, pecking at the ground and clucking in a low tone. Then he came in to the yard and strutted across the lawn, as though he owned it, with his bright red plumage above his beak standing proud in the early morning sunshine. Now what can be better than that eh Friends? Only heaven! Much LOVE!…is it plane…is it a bird…NO…it’s a rainbow…
SCRIP-BITS 