Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 January 2014 Romans 13:12

Romans 13:12.   The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.  

Well Friends, it’s another beautiful morning in Paradise! Wow! Since I’ve been here that’s been a recurring occurrence. (smile) And would you believe that I’ve already been here for almost a week? I left T.O. last Wednesday night.

Mama! Time sure is moving fast! A little too fast for my liking though. I need it to slow down some, to just an easy walk, so that I can properly enjoy my time on God’s Little Acre, rather than the hustling pace it seems all geared up for.
 
And by the way, I  finally experienced my first rainfall since I arrived. Sometime last evening, while we were inside, we suddenly heard an unexpected loud, drumming kind of noise on the roof, and wondered if it was rain, so I went outside to investigate the matter. And behold it was indeed heavenly blessing!
 
However, after a minute or so, it stopped just as suddenly as it had begun. It wasn’t all that surprising, because over the past week, there have been numerous dark rain clouds in the sky, but nothing has ever happened. Apparently the strong breezes simply blow them away. Even when I went outside earlier this morning, there were dark clouds hovering overhead, but soon thereafter, the sun rose in all its earthly morning splendour.
 
Ah mih people, as the Duchess and I keep on saying: ‘We could handle this, yuh know – on a long term basis.’ (smile) And hopefully, one day we will, provided it falls into line with God’s plan for our lives.
 
But enough of my frivolity, let’s get serious with Jesus’ work. And this morning I found this note amongst my papers, which I’m being guided to share with you. It looks like something I scribbled down from one of Uncle Charles’ (Charles Stanley) sermons. It talks about the 7 Priorities of Jesus’ Daily Decisions.
 
And they are: (1) He sought the Father. (2) He embraced the outcasts of society. (3) He restored broken lives. (4) He confronted hypocrites. And did He ever! (5) He taught God’s Word. (6) He served others in humility of spirit. (7) He equipped leaders – providing training in obedience and a desire to do God’s will.
 
So Friends, if we want to be more like Jesus, bring our character into greater conformity with His, then we too have to make those things our priorities. They’re not onerous goals, but they do take time, perseverance and patience to build, obviously with God’s help. And who knows how much time we have left on this earth eh – either in terms of our personal lives, or Jesus’ 2nd Coming?
 
For as our Bit so wisely and rightly reminds us. ‘The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.’
 
And as we saw yesterday, the night refers to Jesus’ absence from the world, when the evil power of Lucifer rules, while the day hails His joyous coming again. And without a doubt my fellow believer, from all the signs He’s given us, that day isn’t as far away as many of us believe.
 
And having heard Jesus’ serious pronouncement on the subject of His Second Coming yesterday, today we’re going to investigate some scriptures which encourage us to give up the foolish darkness of this world and wisely move into the blessed light of Jesus’ heavenly abode. 
 
Let’s begin with some powerful admonishing and ‘exhortatious’ words (smile – poetic licence- it just sounded better) from Bruh Paul to the Ephesians, re the ways of a believer.
 
‘Let no man deceive you with vain (empty) words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes (once) darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
 
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove (expose) them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved (exposed) are made manifest (known) by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
 
See then that ye walk circumspectly (carefully), not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (dissipation); but be filled with the Spirit;
 
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear (reverence) of God.’ (Eph.5:6-21)
 
Oh Friends, I have to chuckle here because I never intended to use all of that scripture, but after reading it, I couldn’t find anywhere to break off and not lose the sense of the passage, since it all speaks so earnestly and appropriately to our Bit; being ready for Christ’s return, and the behaviour that’s necessary to achieve such a wonderful and important goal.
 
So please, let’s ponder all the stuff we’ve heard today, write them indelibly in our hearts, mind and souls, and walk accordingly, thereby bringing more righteousness to our lives and also improving our readiness for Jesus’ Second Coming. That’s heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
 
…to be truly ready for Jesus…we must daily walk like He walked…humbly doing good…  

Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 May 2013 Psalm 38:21-22

Psalm 38:21-22.    Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.
 
Oh Friends, another new day, with new mercies and blessings is upon us! Do you ever get tired of it? I surely hope not, cause that’s our lifeline, our very lifeblood, our saving grace. If we weren’t getting rich, new stuff everyday, where would we be eh? The Lord only knows. And I refuse to even consider it for one moment. But on another point of interest, do we take these new daily blessings and mercies for granted? I sincerely hope we don’t, but give the Lord ample thanks and praise for them every day we awaken and see the light of God in our lives. And I guess you’re wondering what brought that all about? Well it was all brought on when I got up and heard the birds singing their sweet morning songs of praise and thanksgiving through my opened bedroom window. And as I sit in my basement office writing this now, I can still hear them outside dallying in sweet song. Now these mindless creatures instinctively know to whom their very existence is dependent on, and give appropriate praise. But are we, the creation with the wonderful mind built into each of us, as mindful to praise and thank the One who created us and provides for us? Unfortunately, I don’t think we are as mindful to exalt and extol Almighty God as we should. That’s because we take certain things for granted, and also allow the flim-flam stuff of the world to dazzle us and thus take our thoughts away from God. Oh Friends, that just isn’t right or good enough for true followers of Jesus. We definitely need to do better in that respect. Our eyes of faith and our hearts are supposed to be set on the surety of heaven, not on the uncertain things of earth. For as Jesus so wisely noted: ‘For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ (Matt.6:21) That means if we keep looking to the things of the earth, we’ll lose the focus on heaven we’re supposed to have. And still on the wonders of creation, I’m reminded of the lovely multi-coloured tulips the duchess has blossoming and blooming in her front garden. Jesus describes it so rightly. ‘And why take ye thought for raiment (worry about clothing)? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed (clothed) like one of these.’ (Matt.6:29-29) So Friends, if God was, and is, so gracious and generous to His lesser creations, how much more gracious and generous is he going to be to His greatest creation, mankind? Obviously much more. But sadly, in our sinful, rebellious, LOVE the destructive and destructible things of the earth state, we don’t appreciate our good fortune as we should. But as soon as something goes dreadfully wrong in our lives, we’re quick to hold our heads and bawl, ‘O God!’ and mouth insincere platitudes for help. Now our Bit today is indeed a cry for help: ‘Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.’ But the big difference is that it’s a cry from a penitent heart. Psalm 38 is titled – the prayer of a penitent heart. Apparently at the time of writing, Bruh David was shaking it very rough indeed; sick, deserted by his friends and surrounded by enemies. Those three circumstances all together would certainly cause a sinful heart to be penitent. But our problem nowadays seems to be, if we don’t hear from God speedily, we tend to lose faith in Him. On the other hand, if we do receive His unfailing mercy, then once the crisis has passed, we tend to forget or relegate Him to the background of our lives once again. That my brethren is definitely not kosher! The Lord God Jehovah MUST ALWAYS have priority, first place in our lives, otherwise He’s unhappy and not prone to respond to our pleas for help. Bruh David was constantly crying out to the Lord for help, one instance being in Psalm 22 – A cry of anguish and song of praise. ‘But be thou not far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling (precious life) from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns (And from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered me). I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.’ (Ps.22:19-22) Another example of his cry for help is found in Psalm 35 – A prayer for rescue from enemies. ‘This thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord be not far from me. Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgement (vindication), even unto my cause, my God and my Lord. Judge (vindicate) me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.’ (Ps.35:22-24) And God usually answered his plea for help. Why? Because his heart and mind were constantly tuned to God’s frequency! And though he lost contact every so often, when he did regain the connection, he admitted his wrong doing and sincerely tried to do better. Oh my people, our God made us and knows all of our failures, frailties and shortcomings and thus does not expect us to be perfect. But He does expect the first portion of our lives. He does expect to be front and centre in all we think and do, not just to be called upon in calamitous times and expect to be delivered right away. And sadly, I think that’s the way a lot of supposed believers behave today. God is in the back of our minds until we come upon a serious problem we can’t solve ourselves. But please remember Friends, our God, Creator, Controller and Provider wants to be involved in ALL and EVERY aspect of our lives, without any exceptions whatsoever! So, starting today, right now, let’s see if we can’t give Him some more prominence in our lives nuh, the prominence He so rightly deserves. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it won’t happen either unless we make a serious and conscious decision to do it. Remember my people, that the true seeds of wisdom and knowledge are sown in the reverence of God; as we revere Him, so grows our wisdom and knowledge. Much LOVE!…if we keep God always before us…then we’ll walk our earthly paths without fear of stumbling…
 
  

Today’s Scrip-Bit 20 October 2012 Proverbs 4:7

Proverbs 4:7.    Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
 
Oh Friends, the ole fella seems to be having a case of writer’s block, because I can’t come up with a witty or interesting intro this morning. (smile) But the good part is that I’m alive and kicking, thanks to the most wonderful Deity, whom I serve and worship! Ah Friends, that in itself is an awesome blessing, for with Him constantly in my corner and by my side, I need not fear anyone or anything. Added to that, He provides all my earthly needs, once I stay in good relationship with Him. Wow! And furthermore, though I may sometimes be lonely, I’m NEVER ALONE, because His Holy Spirit resides within me. Mama Mia! The only problem is whether I use the Holy Spirit as wisely as I should, for He will not encroach upon my freedom of choice. That’s why we’re going to talk about wisdom again today. For the last time though, I faithfully promise. (smile) Don’t know why believers are so against hearing the same topic of scripture for a few days straight nuh, especially when it’s the most important attribute we can acquire here on earth, and one which we desperately need judging from the troubled state of our lives in particular, and our world in general. But that seems to be the nature of the beast, and all I can do is to persevere with it. Oh, I indeed hesitated about talking about wisdom again today, but the pull was finally too strong for me to ignore it. So here we go once more with our wise Bit: ‘Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.’ Yes Friends, there’s absolutely no doubt that when we possess wisdom, and the understanding that flows from it, then we’re able to handle any and everything that comes against us, because it’s wisdom that shows us how and where to go, and what to do and say. With it in our possession, we can unlock any door and be at peace. Why? Because those essential attributes come from God Himself, and if we truly possess them, then our souls will be at peace, wherever we are, in whatever situation we find ourselves. Today we’ll talk about the everlasting nature of WISDOM. Listen to Cousin Sol as he declares of WISDOM: ‘The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields (outer places), nor the highest part of the dust (the beginning of the dust) of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass (drew a circle) upon the face of the depth (deep): When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree (its limit), that the waters should not pass (transgress) his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him (Jewish tradition): and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delight s were with the sons of men.’ (Prov.8:22-31) Ah mih people, that’s eternal truth! Remember in a previous message we saw that the Lord used WISDOM to make the universe and all therein? (Prov.3:19-20) Oh Friends, before we go further, let me give you a brief comment of the scholars, re those verses: ‘Although some have associated verses 22-31 with the creative work of the preincarnate Christ (before He was born of flesh and blood) (cf. John 1:1-3; Col.1:15-17) who is revealed as the Wisdom of God (1 Cor.1:24; Col.2:3), the major emphasis of the context is on God’s own use of wisdom in creating the universe.’ That means wisdom was with our heavenly Father from the very beginning of time, and will be there also for all eternity. That’s because it’s WISDOM and its various associates like prudence, discretion, knowledge and understanding that drive the everlasting engine of God’s affairs. Without WISDOM and those other attributes, everything will fall apart. That’s why WISDOM further declares: ‘Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not (do not disdain it). Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.’ (Prov.8:32-36) What more can I say to that eh my people? Not much, cause Cousin Sol said it all. But I can strongly advise us to seek wisdom, understanding and all those things which make life down here on earth a tad easier than normal. And to end, hear some more words of wisdom on the subject. (smile) ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy (One, Spirit) is understanding.’ (Prov.9:10) So please Friends, let’s get serious about finding wisdom and understanding nuh, for they are the essence of life, and until we truly find them, we’ll be sadly lacking both physically, and spiritually. Much LOVE!…only they who are wise…are truly alive…
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 May 2012 Isaiah 42:1

Isaiah 42:1.    Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles.

 
Oh Friends, it’s a fact, a blessing; we’ve been granted one more day of life on Mother Earth to enjoy all her bountiful pleasures! All praise and thanks be to the great God we serve and worship, for without His invaluable input, we’d now be mere dust! And I won’t get into much preamble because I have a lot of interesting and enlightening scripture to share. Hopefully this will be the last day for this particular Bit since some of you like to have a different Bit every day. But sometimes that’s just not possible, for some Bits, like this one, have so much to say that you can’t get everything from them in one sitting, especially with the short attention spans of today. (smile) Now here’s our fabulous Bit: ‘Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect (my chosen one), in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgement (justice) to the Gentiles.’ Ah mih people, though I knew this scripture before, in dissecting it over the last few days, I’ve learned even more than I expected. That’s the beauty of studying God’s Word! There’s always so much more to it than what meets the naked eye! Now let’s check out the last part of the Bit: ‘I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgement (justice) to the Gentiles.’ And the first scripture dealing with that comes from good, ole Isaiah, re the righteous reign of the branch of Jesse: ‘And there shall come forth a rod (shoot) out of the stem (stock or trunk) of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots (bear fruit). And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.’ (Is.11:1-2) Yuh hear all the different spirits, or strengths with which that Branch of Jesse will be endowed? But first and foremost, the overseer Spirit of the Lord, which encompasses all the others. And I want us to specifically note the last one, ‘the fear of the Lord,’ because though Jesus was a part of the Godhead, down here on earth there’s one thing He did above all others; that’s revere and respect His heavenly Father. Now in light of that, how could we, mere mortals, not do likewise eh, especially if we claim to be followers of Christ? And that’s one of the major problems of our day; not enough people hold Almighty God in true reverence. We tend to write Him off as being unimportant, irrelevant to our modern times. But that’s a major mistake my Friends, a lie perpetrated by the evil, cunning Lucifer. No wonder our world is in such a mess! Anyway, the next scripture about putting His Spirit on His elect, is one we well know and have already covered. That’s when Jesus was baptized, and when He came up out of the water; ‘lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.’ (Matt.3:16) Then we have the revealing testimony of John the Baptist on that very situation: ‘And John bare record (witness), saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode (remained) upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record (witness) that this is the Son of God.’ (John 1:32-34) Oh my brethren, there’s absolutely no disputing that testimony! Later on, during a dispute between a group of Jews and the disciples of John the Baptist, re purifying, John again testified to Jesus being the true Son of God, telling them that Jesus must increase while he decreases, because his purpose was only to introduce Jesus to the world. ‘For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father LOVETH the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.’ (John 3:34-35) That means Friends, that the Lord doesn’t or rather didn’t play stingy with the giving of His Spirit to Jesus. Likewise He’ll be very generous in giving His Spirit to us, who believe in His Son. That brings us to an interesting comment from the scholars. ‘God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him:’ Some manuscripts read: ‘He gives the Spirit without measure,’ which would then refer to the sending of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5, 11:15-16; John 7:37-39) And we going to end with that last reference to the giving of the Holy Spirit. Hear these marvellous, inspiring words of Jesus! ‘In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly (heart) shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.’ (John 7:37-39) By the way, the scripture that Jesus referred to there was a prophecy of Moses: ‘The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.’ (Deut.18:15) And that’s it for today Friends. I sure hope that you all got something worthwhile from the teaching today. I know that I did. Please ponder it in all seriousness. There was actually some more stuff I wanted to share on the Spirit, but will leave that for another day. Don’t need any criticisms about it being too long and involved. (smile) So till we meet again, God willing, let’s truly LOVE our God; sincerely LIVE our Faith and faithfully SPREAD His Word. Much LOVE!…what a drastic, but wonderful change occurs in man…when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in him…