Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 July 2012 Luke 12:19

28 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Luke 12:19.    And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry.
 
Oh Friends, the amount of mail I get from people, Charities in particular, asking for money is overwhelming. Even those I already give to keep asking for more, as though there’s an unlimited supply just waiting to be doled out. Some of them really do good work, while a fair amount are just out and out crooks, just using the charitable moniker as a front, to indulge their own criminal actions. Charitable giving has become a real big business now. And when you see the immense salaries been paid to the heads of these charities, it just sickens you. The long and short of the story though is be very careful of whom you give to. But then too, when I see the emaciated bodies of children al over the world starving for a little nourishment, that also sickens me, knowing that there is so much in our world, that NOT ONE SINGLE child really needs to go hungry; definitely not for the length of time it takes them to die of starvation or some other preventable disease. Oh Friends, it certainly doesn’t say much for our humanity nuh! And don’t for one moment believe that this unfortunate situation is only taking place in poor, undeveloped countries! Not by a long shot mih people! It’s also happening very much in the supposed rich, developed countries too. Things like Food Banks and Soup Kitchens that first arose because of the Great War, are now a constant in developed societies. Sadly too, in many of these countries, poor as well as rich, the upper crust are greedily feeding their faces as hogs at a trough, and wasting even more, while the poor grovel, and search for food in garbage pails and dumps. Hn! What a wonderful picture we portray! Is that what Jesus asked or wants us to do? Certainly not! He wants us to look after the poor, the sick, the needy, the hurting, the widows and orphans. But unfortunately we’re doing a very poor job of it. We’re falling into the world’s theory of survival of the fittest, and all I care about is me. Sorry if you don’t have. That’s your rotten luck, but you won’t be getting any of mine! Oh my people, that goes against every thing that Jesus stands for! The Good Book says: ‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.’ (Acts 10:38) Oh my brethren, we believers have the same things that Jesus had; the Holy Ghost power and the Father. So why aren’t we doing more of the good works that Jesus did eh? The rich and famous meanwhile have nothing like that in their arsenal. Instead theirs is the selfish, greedy, I, me, mine behaviour which our Bit, taken from Jesus’ parable of the rich fool, so wisely puts into proper perspective. This parasite had more than he could shake a stick at, but instead of sharing, he decided to build bigger barns to store his goods, while patting himself on the back for his wisdom. ‘And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry.’ Yeh Friends, that’s how many of us behave. ‘But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ (Luke 12:20-21) We see and hear about the infighting between wealthy families everyday. And a good example of that are the shenanigans that took place this past week in Michael Jackson’s family. And it all boils down to one thing; MONEY! Remember Bruh Paul’s warning to Timothy: ‘For the LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all (kinds of) evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith (for which some in their greediness have strayed from the faith), and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’ (1 Tim.6:10) And that’s ever so true my people! We just have to look at how our world is falling apart, primarily because of money. One way or another, money and the amassing of earthly possessions are responsible for our downfall. Remember too what Jesus told the disciples just before the parable of the rich fool: ‘Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.’ (Luke 12:15) But not too many of us fine Christian souls pay serious heed to that warning, because we’re just like the rich fool, just going on insatiably after the things of the world, and only paying lip service to God’s Word. And Cousin Sol hit the nail on the head when he declares: ‘When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes.’ (Eccl.5:11) Oh Friends, it’s not necessarily the wealth that sends us on the wrong path, but more the drive for the wealth, like the LOVE of money! But we can only use so much ourselves. The remainder, if we choose to save it all, then we can only look at it. However, please remember that we’re only stewards of God’s goodness, and whatever He gives us over and above our needs, is meant to be shared with the less fortunate. Please my people, from today, let’s concentrate some more on helping others nuh, like Jesus did. Let’s try and share a little more of our resources with the needy, and thus alleviate some of the dreadful spectres of suffering that sadly pervade our world of plenty. That would make Jesus so proud of us. Much LOVE!…when so few have so much…the great numbers with little…must suffer great deprivation and want…   P.S. I did not forget about our ongoing Bit, but some info from a charity just raised my ire, and the Spirit guided me to this. Much LOVE!
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 20 July 2012 Proverbs 19:1

20 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Proverbs 19:1.    Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

Oh Friends, it’s Friday, and the drought continues! Though people are still excitedly trilling, ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ the parched land is definitely not so thrilled. Now something has to be wrong with my area yes, because yesterday was much cooler than the past many days, it was also very cloudy, and at least three times that I know of, a few drops of rain fell. And when I say a few drops, I really mean a few. Hn! It happened to me a couple times while I was out driving yesterday evening, and neither time did I have to even make one pass of my wiper blades, the drops of blessing were so few. Ah Lord eh! But for all that Friends, we must still be excited and passionate about serving the Lord, for we know that He works out all things for good to those whom He calls and who LOVE, worship and serve Him sincerely. (Rom.8:28) Yes mih people, the Lord God Jehovah, creator of heaven, earth and all therein, is still on His lofty throne controlling all things in His universe, at a height of intelligence that we can never meet or even comprehend. That’s why He’s given us faith, hope, LOVE and all the promises; so we can believe in Him and be assured of His unconditional care and concern for us. So with all that in mind, let’s forget about the world and chant our Friday Chant, so that we can bring the excitement of Friday and the weekend into proper perspective. Now, as one sweet, heavenly voice, (smile) 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.’ And having put the weekend in its right perspective, let’s see if we can’t do the same with what our Bit talks about nuh: ‘Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.’ Wow mih breddren! Isn’t that a remark of awesome truth? It sure is! Why? Because that word ‘integrity’ is a must have trait, one that must exist in all followers of Jesus! We can’t truly be followers of Jesus until or unless we’re also people of high, outstanding integrity. And what does integrity mean? The dictionary talks about ‘uprightness as evidenced in character and actions.’ So it’s basically about things like honesty, dependability, trustworthiness, goodness, morality, truthfulness and virtue. All the positive things that make the Lord look down on us with favour. It speaks of a person with a reliable image, whose character we can trust. Unfortunately that’s another trait, like wisdom, that’s disappeared from our modern society. Nowadays we can’t even trust our preachers, the supposed men of God, for too many of them are mere charlatans and crooks. And why is our world, its economy, relationships within and between nations, as well as relationships within and between religions in such a mess eh? Because the people whom we trusted to take of it lacked, and still lack sufficient integrity to do so properly. They were instead impelled by personal aggrandizement, greed and all the evils associated with the followers of Beelzebub. So Friends, it’s truly much better to be poor and of good character and integrity than it is to be rich, a fool and a crook. Cousin Sol says it thus later on: ‘Blessed is the poor that walketh in his uprightness (integrity), than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.’ (Prov.28:6) So though you’re rich and have no integrity – which sadly a lot of rich people don’t have because their gains have come by ill gotten means – you’re still a jerk and a fool, and of no use in God’s kingdom, except as an example of what not to be. Yes Friends, unless we diligently seek and aspire to have a character like Jesus, one that’s honest, reliable and trustworthy, we’re fooling ourselves about working for the kingdom. Now we all can’t be perfect, but we certainly have to try hard. That’s why Jesus lambasted the Pharisees in Matthew 23. Jesus really ripped them apart because they put on a good outward show, but inside they were, totally selfish, greedy and evil. And because Jesus saw through them and wanted to clip their wings, they tried so desperately to run Him out of town. They were supposed to be the righteous, the leaders of the society, but unfortunately lacked the integrity to do the job aright. So my brethren, if our leaders, priests, and those in high places lack the necessary integrity and character, as is being so blatantly showcased and revealed nowadays, how can we expect to have a godly, truthful, or even prosperous society eh? Oh Friends, I keep reminding us of this absolute truth: our society and world cannot improve unless we have leaders and other people in high positions with exemplary character and integrity. And sadly that’s not going to happen unless and until we believers get up off our fat fannies and do something serious about it. We’re very good at griping and complaining, but it’s time for us to stand up and be counted, become people of true integrity and try to rebuild our fallen society with people of that same bent. And it’s got to start with each one of us, then move on to our friends, families and neighbourhoods. Only then will we have a serious chance of regaining control of God’s universe from Lucifer and his evil cohorts. That’s the thought for us to ponder today Friends. And please ponder it seriously, for our actions now, will later on affect the livelihood of our children’s children. Till we meet again, God willing, please walk with Him in peace, LOVE and integrity. Much LOVE!…take care of your character…and your reputation will take of itself…true words of wisdom my people…