SCRIP-BITS

Oh Friends, this Saturday morning, as the universe unfurls as it should, let’s give our God a loud, hearty and grateful, ‘Thank You Lord!’ for safely bringing us through the long, dark night into a bright new day, filled with His blessings and unconditional LOVE. What an amazing God we serve! Unfortunately too many of us don’t see, understand and appreciate the amazing stuff He does in our lives every day. That’s because we’re always thinking in terms of big miracles, of selfish wants and needs. Meanwhile, His bounty is constantly being poured out in small amounts, on small problems, in so many different parts of our lives. Oh Friends, it’s the little things, the little everyday miracles that keep us so amazed by and enthralled with God, which keep us LOVING Him and wanting to give our all, do our best for Him. He’s faithfully kept all the promises He’s ever made, and in this YEAR OF JESUS, He’s reiterated one found in our Bit: ‘Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.’ Oh my brethren, what an awesome promise! Now yesterday we looked at some of the scriptures pertaining to doing new things in the lives of believers, and there are more, but instead to day I want to check out some pertaining to the last part of our Bit: ‘I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.’ This is the practical application of the promise. First up is water being miraculously supplied for the Israelites in the wilderness to appease their whining and complaining and wanting to return to Egypt. ‘And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest (struck) the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah (Tempted), and Meribah (Contention), because of the chiding (contention) of the children of Israel, and because they tempted (tested) the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?’ (Ex.17:5-7) The second scripture also deals with the Israelites complaining about the lack of water. Moses and Aaron prayed to the Lord for guidance outside the tabernacle entrance. ‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth water to them out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify (hallow) me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.’ (Num.20:7-13) Now Friends, not only were the Israelites worrisome, but here Moses was also disobedient to God’s direction. In the first passage He told him to strike the rock with the rod, but in that last one he was supposed to speak to the rock. But in his anger he struck the rock twice instead, and by not carrying out God’s instruction, he failed to sanctify, elevate, honour Him in the Israelites eyes, and consequently forfeited the privilege of leading them into the Promised Land. Then later on, the Lord warned them to not get too big for their breeches and forget’ Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove (test) thee, to do thee good at thy latter end. And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.’ (Deut.8:15-17) Ah Friends, but the Israelites turned out to be a bunch of selfish, stubborn, ignorant people and did exactly what the Lord warned them not to do, several times too. And sadly we have followed in their foolish, selfish, egotistical footsteps and have thus found ourselves in the current mess we’re in. Please Friends, let’s not adopt the ‘what have you done for me lately credo’ that the Israelites had. The Lord is working for us everyday, and this year He wants to do many new things in our lives, set us up as never before, give us the wherewithal that we so badly need to further His glorious kingdom. So let’s be fully attentive and appreciative. Now let’s end with a most fitting ending: ‘And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst (who thirsts) of the fountain of the water of life freely.’ (Rev.21:5-6)  Please Friends, let’s thirst for that water of life, let’s listen to what the Lord’s saying in our hearts today, and allow Him to uplift and enlighten us and bring us closer to Jesus. That’s wisdom at its highest. Much LOVE!…this year, let’s purposely…LOVE our God…SPREAD His Word…and LIVE our Faith…as diligently as we ought…