Psalm 46:9. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
Well a good Tuesday morning to all you beautiful and constant readers of Scrip-Bits! It shows that you do have some faith and trust in me to keep reading what I write. Or it might even be that you have sufficient faith and trust in Almighty God to cause me to write something worthwhile reading. (smile)
Whatever your reason though, I sincerely thank you for staying the course with me, since I can’t do it without your readership and encouragement.
Anyway, I thought we’d begin today with this prayer I recently got from a Bible Study Class at my church. Some of you might know it, but as always, good prayer is never redundant or too old to read and pray again.
So together let’s invoke this prayer, titled, ‘Come Holy Spirit.’ And it says: ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in us the fire of your LOVE. Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’
Yes Friends, it’s a most worthwhile prayer, since it’s God’s Holy Spirit which works in us, leading and guiding us in the pathways of righteousness!
And right now we truly need to pray that the Lord sends His Holy Spirit amongst the disaster stricken people of the Philippines, where the recent typhoon Haiyan devastated some parts of the country. The loss of life is claimed to be in the thousands, and the destruction is exceedingly great.
Like the prayer above says, the face of the earth there definitely needs renewing. So please, let’s pray that the Lord will inspire them with a spirit of resilience and renewed faith to rebuild and keep on trusting Him, for He is indeed ever-faithful to those who sincerely follow Him.
And let’s help in any other way we can; food, clothing, money etc. because you never know, one day we might also be in an unfortunate situation, needing the help of others.
Now it’s time for our Bit: ‘He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.’
Yes my people, in these troubled times of war, rumours of war and endless strife all over God’s earth, it is a good time to see what the scriptures say about war. Yesterday we were only able to define our Bit as words of divine truth, today however, we’ll look at some scripture that supports the psalmist’s contentions.
And if you didn’t believe that our Bit was, is, and will always be words of divine truth, then listen to these words of Asaph, from Psalm 76, the victorious God.
He opens the psalm with this powerful proclamation: ‘In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. In Salem (Jerusalem) also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah. (Ps.76:1-3)
Ah Friends, more words of glorious godly truth! But just in case you still don’t believe, then hear these words of that great man of God, Isaiah, re the day of the Lord.
‘And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks (pruning knives): nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.’ (Is.2:4)
And all God’s people declared a loud and thankful: ‘GLORY HALLELUJAH! NO MORE WAR!
Oh mih breddren, mih breddren, that must get to the very depths of your consciousness and convince you! But just in case it didn’t, please listen to John from Revelation, re the new earth and the new heaven.
‘And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’ (Rev. 21:3-4)
Oh Friends, what a mighty promise from our Mighty God! Just imagine that nuh; no more negative things in all the earth, which means no more war, just peace and LOVE! Mama Mia! I can’t wait for that day people!
Hopefully my enthusiasm is catching, (smile) but just in case you’re still not convinced of the truth of all you’ve read and heard, then Friends, all I can say is that I’m truly sorry for you, and sincerely hope that the Lord touches your heart at some stage before you go to meet Him.
And for all you who truly believe, please, let’s keep on believing and trusting in our great God, and move from strength to strength, as we keep on keeping on, building and furthering His glorious kingdom, and glorifying His Most Holy Name! Much LOVE!
…if we don’t believe the Bible…God’s Holy Word…what’s the point in believing in God at all eh…
P.S. It’s nice and short today, so smile and enjoy it. Selah.
Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 October 2013 Isaiah 42:5
19 Oct 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: Abraham, adultery, Ark of the Covenant, basis of faith, Bathsheba, Bible, breath of life, busy lives, Christians, conspiracies, covenant, creation, critical spirit, darkness, darkness of eternity, disobedient, dysfunction, encouraging, enervating, eternal life, eternal truth, fallen angel, family disunity, former things, Genesis, glory, God's glory, God's wisdom, God's Word, graven images, Hagar, imbibing wine, insensitivity, Jews, light of the Gentiles, Living Deity, loving kindness, Lucifer, meditation, Messiah, negative spirit, praise, prison house, prisoners, prophetic word of God, rebellious, reconciliation, Revelation, righteousness., rock and roll, rumours of war, salvation, Saul, sin, sinful, solemn promise, special attention, spies, spirit, spiritual shallowness, strong grasp, thrillers, treachery, wars, wisdom
Isaiah 42:5. Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein.
Oh Friends, I want to start off this morning by reminding us of two very significant pieces of wisdom, or of wise information. Now we should already know them, but such is the busyness of our lives that we either don’t remember them, or if we do, we don’t pay the special attention to them that we should.
And the first piece of wise info is that the Bible is God’s Word to us, still very fresh though it’s passed through many ages. And if we read it, we will most definitely find God’s wisdom on its pages! Everlasting, eternal truth, my people!
And the second bit of wise info is that ONE TRUTH from the Bible is worth more than all the wisdom of man! And that’s definitely truth for all the ages my people! So please let’s pay more attention to our Bibles nuh; read them more frequently and in more depth, because there’s no supposed thriller ever concocted by man that can match the Good Book for thrills.
From Genesis right through to Revelation the Bible is just chocked full of stuff we look for in man-made thrillers, and the great difference is that it’s ALL FACT, not a lot of fiction. We find wars, rumours of war, murder, adultery, conspiracies, spies, conflict in both high and low places, treachery, family disunity and dysfunction, and in its own way, sex, drugs and rock and roll, which should make us want to devour it.
Now don’t go flying off the handle, because it’s true. What do you call Abraham’s liaison with his maid Hagar eh? And what about Bruh David’s tryst with Bathsheba? And don’t forget how the ladies played their instruments, sang and danced when Bruh David came home from battle, re his killing of ten thousands to Saul’s mere thousands. (1 Sam.18:6-8)
And remember too how Bruh David danced before the Lord with all the instruments pounding away when they brought up the Ark of the Covenant. (2 Sam. 6) And what other book tells you about so much imbibing of wine eh? And yuh see how Bruh David’s wife, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked at him askance for his dancing, (2 Sam.6:16) figuring that it was conduct unbefitting a king.
All of that was early rock and roll. (smile) It’s the same way that parents looked at their children in modern rock and roll. And as the scholars say of Michal’s behaviour: ‘A negative and critical spirit born of spiritual shallowness and insensitivity is a dangerous thing! And that’s no lie, as we see it happening in great numbers even today.
Anyway Friends, that’s just to remind us of what a thrilling book we have as the basis of our faith, and that we ought to pay MUCH MORE ATTENTION to it, and not as much to some of the nonsense that mankind is writing today.
And now, here’s our Bit, the prophetic words of our God, spoken by His servant Isaiah, re God’s servant coming to glorify His Holy Name. ‘Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein.’
Yes Friends, it’s certainly the Most High God Jehovah who formed the heavens and the earth and gave us the breath of life. The first few chapters of Genesis describe it in detail. But my people, even more important than the creation, is the reconciliation, after man sinned and fell short of God’s glory!
That’s what our Bit introduces. ‘I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of (to) the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.’ (Is.42:6-9)
Oh my people, what a wonderful God we serve and worship! I’m amazed at His extraordinary LOVING-KINDNESS every day! Those verses are a solemn promise to His creation, both the Jews and Gentiles to provide a way of reconciliation in His own time. Wow! How awesome!
The scholars describe it thus: ’42:5-16. God the Lord is pictured as the Creator who created the heavens, and stretched them out and spread forth the earth. He also gives both breath and spirit to His people. The ministry of the Messiah is described in verse 6 as a covenant to the Jews and a light to the Gentiles. It foreshadows the twofold purpose of Christ’s ministry to both the Jews and Gentiles.’
Oh my brethren, what can be more encouraging and enervating than a Living Deity who contrives a plan to bring salvation and eternal life to His lost, sinful, rebellious and disobedient creation eh? Nothing really nuh!
That’s why we have to take hold with alacrity and a strong grasp, all that God has done for us, is still doing and promises to do in the future. Otherwise we’ll be lost in the darkness of eternity forever, with the foolish fallen angel Lucifer.
Now that’s not a very good way to spend eternity, is it? Certainly not! There’s no wisdom to that move at all! Therefore, please hear the Words of our great God and be wise. That’s our meditation for today! Much LOVE!
…as for me and mine…we will follow the Lord…that should be the irrevocable cry of ALL CHRISTIANS…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 October 2013 Hosea 13:1
03 Oct 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a light thing, Ahab, Baal, bounden duty, calamity, cast off restraint, deceitful promises, did evil in the Lord's sight, disaster, disastrous effect, disobey God's laws, don't look back, ease up the pressure, economic decline, Ephraim, exalted himself, faithfulness, Federal government, fiasco, footstool, glorious ray of hope, good news, gospel truth, gracious hand of God, grandiose promises, greed, green light, health care, hope, hypocrisy, ignorance, insincere leaders, Israel, Jeroboam, Jesus Christ, Jezebel, judgement, justice, lead and guide, lies, LOVE, loving kindness, low esteem, mercy, misery, needs God less, no saviour besides God, Obamacare, offended, only way out, partisan support, peacefully, pedestal, petty hang ups, political decline, political state marriage, prophetic vision, prosperously, put our hands to the plough, recessions, Revelation, rhetoric, rich and powerful, ruthless leaders, sad situation, self-deception, selfishness, served Baal, small-minded actions, Solomon, spiritual death, spiritual decline, suffering, suffering masses, sweet words, the people perish, the things of man, to walk in the sins, true believers, turn to God, U.S. leaders, vote, wait on God., worship of Baal, worshipping idols
Hosea 13:1. When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
Oh Friends, I can’t believe it nuh! But ignorance is a helluva thing yes! Can you imagine it? The leaders of the U.S. have really shut down most of the Federal government’s business, in classic blinkered style, in partisan support of their selfish, foolish, petty, hang-ups!
And the sad result is that thousands of government employees have been sent home, until only the Lord knows for sure, without pay, because the leaders have not voted the money necessary to pay them. But yuh know what, the same selfish, petty, foolish leaders in congress are still going to get paid, in spite of their bumbling! What hypocrisy!
Ah Lord eh! And as always, it’s the poor and needy who suffer, while the rich and powerful continue to profit, regardless of their evil and greedy ways.
So you don’t like ‘Obamacare,’ the medical plan recently instituted to help millions of Americans who can’t afford to go to the doctor. But if you want to chop it up, do you have to do that on the backs of the poor and helpless, by shutting down the government and putting even more pressure and suffering on the masses? I don’t think so. Especially not when the nation is just trying to fight its way out of one of its worst recessions.
But we’re behaving as if the rich and powerful have ever truly cared about the masses, except as a pedestal, a footstool on which to build their power and material wealth. They spout a lot of rhetoric and make grandiose promises, but in the long run, it’s always what’s in their best interest that gets the green light.
And sadly, too many of the masses fall for the lies, sweet words and deceitful promises of their leaders. But as some wise man once said, we get the leaders we deserve. And that’s gospel, people!
We complain about our leaders and governments, but who put them there eh? We the people! And we the people can also remove them! I do hope the people of the U.S. do wake up soon and see the very low esteem in which their current leaders hold them, and vote them out of office.
But my brethren, when we disobey the laws of God and turn to the things of man and the world to lead and guide us, what else can we expect eh?
As Cousin Sol so wisely declared long ago: ‘Where there is no vision (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov.29:18)
Unfortunately my brethren, God has been removed from too much of our world, especially in the U.S. and the law of God, to all intents and purposes no longer reigns there.
Anyway, let’s pray loud, long, and sincerely that the those ruthless and insincere leaders will soon come to their senses and realize that their small-minded actions are hurting the entire country, in fact the entire world, for though their world status has recently dropped, it’s still remains, as the U.S. goes, so does the rest of the world.
Ah Friends, I don’t want to even think, much less talk about it, because it just gets me going, and unfortunately my displeasure won’t change a thing, except raise my blood pressure, which is already too high. So let’s turn to our Bit, and ease up the pressure some. (smile)
‘When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.’
And the scholars have this to say about it. ’13:1-16. When he offended in Baal, he died: Under Ahab, the nation gave itself to the worship of Baal, and the result was spiritual death. The nation’s spiritual decline also resulted in political decline (cf. 1 Kin.16:31).’
And that’s exactly what’s happening in the U.S. and most of the world today, my brethren! The spiritual decline of the Western World is causing all sorts of political and economic decline. And I’ll quote the reference from 1 Kings, so we don’t to look it up. (smile)
It talks about when Ahab marries Jezebel. ‘And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.’ (1 Kin.16:31)
Oh Friends, it all comes right back down to our worshipping idols, the things of man’s hands, the things which do not fall under the law of God.
And the scholars’ rightly point out. ’16:31. As in the case of Solomon, political state marriage was to have a disastrous effect for Israel (cf. 21:25). Ahab’s reign was to bring Israel to its spiritual depths. Jezebel’s name means ‘Where is the Prince?’ (Baal)’
And the Good Book further states about Ahab. ‘And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above (more than) all that were before him.’ (1 Kin.16:30). Now that’s saying something about Israel’s sad state… and also our own!
Ah mih people, we’re just wrong, so wrong in turning away from Almighty God, especially at this most crucial and critical juncture in the history of mankind, for it augurs no good whatsoever. But the good news is that there’s still life, thus there’s hope that we can turn this unbelievable fiasco around. How, you ask?
As the Good Book wisely advises: ‘Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy (LOVING-kindness or faithfulness) and judgement (justice), and wait on thy God continually.’ (Hos.12:6) It’s the ONLY way out of our misery, my people.
And we’ll end with this verse that confirms that statement. ‘Yet I am the Lord thy God from (ever since) the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside(s) me.’ (Hos.13:4)
Ah mih breddren, until the nations of the world take that statement to heart, and return to living by it, there will be nothing but disaster, calamity and gross ‘sufferation’ all over God’s great earth!
And what boggles the imagination is that we have numerous examples of just that fact happening all down through the ages. But apparently as man evolves, gets more advanced, technologically etc. he begins to feel that he needs God less and less. But that’s the biggest lie and self-deception, my brethren!
And as usual, in this ungodly world, it falls to us, the true believers in Jesus Christ, to try and rectify the situation. So please, let’s put our hands to the plough nuh, and don’t look back, but move straight ahead and try our best to remedy the sad situation we’re in, for that’s our bounden duty. We are the world’s glorious ray of hope! Much LOVE!
…when will mankind ever learn…that it’s not possible to live peacefully and prosperously…without the gracious hand of Almighty God upon us….
Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 March 2013 John 1:29
30 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: 20/20 vision, atonement, blood sacrifice, celebration, easter morning, Easter Sunday, foolish, Garden of Eden, glory, glory hallelujah, good cheer, Good Friday, grace, grateful, gratefulness, gullible, happiness, Holy Saturday, holy spirit, Jesus Christ, joy, joyful, lamb of god, LOVE, moderation, most significant event, Oh Happy Day, outward circumstances, rebellious, rejoice, Revelation, taking away sins, thankful, the Lamb of God, tribulation, true believer
John 1:29. The next day John (the Baptist) seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Oh Friends, it’s Holy Saturday, and Jesus is resting quietly in the tomb of the rich man, after being crucified between the two thieves to fulfill the scripture: ‘And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death…’ (Is.53:9a) He’s storing up His energy, so that bright and early tomorrow morning, Easter Sunday, He can rise up in full force and defeat those wicked and cruel, but oh so inferior enemies; Lucifer, death and the grave. And all of God’s people gave a mighty shout of ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Now Friends, I believe some of you might have taken umbrage (smile) at my wishing us all yesterday a happy Good Friday, wondering what could be so happy about a day of such cruelty and injustice. Granted it was a real sad day for those early Christians who didn’t understand what was happening. But for us, who luckily have the understanding from two thousand years of church history, it is somewhat different. For though we don’t, or didn’t want Jesus to die, please understand that without His death on Good Friday, there would have been no Easter morning for you to celebrate and be happy. When only happy circumstances make us emotionally happy, then we’re thinking like the world. But my brethren, for a true believer it’s not only our worldly circumstances that can make us happy. And the happiness – possibly happiness is the wrong word, since it denotes more of a reaction to outward circumstances. A more appropriate word might be joy, that constant levity in our souls, regardless of our outward circumstances. Even gratefulness or thankfulness might be more appropriate to the situation, for we’re not talking about a jumping up and down type of moment, but a deeper, more controlled emotion, whereby Jesus died to set us free from our ghastly sins. And if that isn’t something to be enormously grateful, thankful and joyful for, then I certainly don’t know what is! Why? Because it’s the most significant event in man’s history after God created us, but then was forced to kick our foolish, gullible and rebellious fore parents out of paradise in the Garden of Eden. And unfortunately, since then, that bequeathed foolish, gullible and rebellious streak in us has been uppermost in our history. And until Jesus came, there was very little opportunity to turn it around, even if we felt so inclined. And our Bit perfectly describes the whole enchilada. ‘The next day John (the Baptist) seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ The reference to the lamb there, brings into play the sacrificial lambs slaughtered for Passover and other Jewish feasts. The scholars add that ‘Some suggest that this may allude to the scapegoat (Lev.16), or to the suffering servant (Is.53:7) We dealt with that yesterday. I guess it could actually refer to all of them, for remember the Lord required blood sacrifices of His chosen people, Israel, as some form of payment, atonement for their sins. But here now, comes Jesus, the Son of God, the sinless one, to pay the rather steep price of sin for the entire world. Now isn’t that a genuine reason to be much more than saddened at His death? Why do you think it’s called Good Friday? Because it’s the day on which the best thing since creation ever happened to man! All his evil deeds have been paid for; from the beginning of time, right through to eternity. It was certainly done in a most cruel manner, but the reason behind it was the greatest token of true LOVE ever expressed! And in our 3 hour service yesterday afternoon, what do you think the youth group sang? ‘Oh Happy Day! When Jesus washed…When Jesus washed… He washed all my sins away.’ Remember also what Jesus told His disciples in the last days: ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33b) So where is that good cheer eh Friends? It’s supposed to be our constant companion, like the Holy Spirit. And remember too that Bruh Paul instructs us to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.’ (Phil.4:4-5) Not only is Jesus’ return imminent, but also His Spirit is always close by, thus we shouldn’t be afraid and anxious abut anything. Anyway Friends, I’m getting away from my original intention, to get into some scriptures that highlight Jesus’ basic purpose here on earth; to atone for the sins of the world. It begins with Isaiah’s prophecy of the suffering servant in chapter 53:11, that we quoted yesterday, which ends: ‘for he shall bear their iniquities.’ Then it advances to our Bit, and the actual act of sin payment, when Jesus declares on the cross: ‘It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.’ (John 19:30) Bruh Paul then takes up the baton and runs with it full speed, first telling the Corinthians: ‘For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.’ (1 Cor.15:3) Then he informs the Galatians: ‘Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world (age), according to the will of God and our Father. To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ (Gal.1:3-5) Next up is Peter, who declares: ‘Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness: By whose stripes ye were healed.’ (1 Pet.2:24) John then announces in his first epistle: ‘My little children, these things I write unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.’ (1 John 2:1-2) And finally, John ends the race on a winning note in Revelation, when he greets the seven churches in Asia. ‘And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten (born) of the dead; and the prince of (ruler over) the kings of the earth. Unto him that LOVED us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.’ (Rev.1:5) And all God’s people gave out a mighty and joyful shout up to heaven: ‘Oh Thank You sweet Jesus! We LOVE and adore You!’ Oh Friends, with all that scripture shoring up the strong foundation of the purpose of Christ’s death, how could we ever argue with it eh? No way Jose! And again I want to remind us in Bruh David’s famous and fateful words, that though ‘weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’ (Ps.30:5b) And believe me my brethren, tomorrow morning will indeed be a most joyous morning! Just wait and see. Much LOVE!…though reality may cloud our sight with sadness…looking through the eyes of faith…gives us a 20/20 vision of joy…
SCRIP-BITS 