running the show | SCRIP-BITS

Proverbs 24:1. Be not thou envious against (of) evil men, neither desire to be with them.

And then it was Thursday – the penultimate day of our workweek… And everybody gave a small sigh of relief, while muttering: ‘Wish it was Friday though.’ (smile) That’s just the nature of the beast. We’re grateful, while being ungrateful.

That brings us to this quote ascribed to Louise Heath Leber, although there are naysayers who claim that it was already well known when she reputedly said it. ‘There is always room for improvement, you know – it’s the biggest room in the house.’

And regardless of who said or didn’t say it, is the gospel truth! We all have plenty room for improvement in many things in this life. But today I want to focus particularly on us Christian folk, because right now we are not living up to Christ’s ideal of true followers.

Oh we talk the talk, but don’t sincerely walk it, and thus are regarded more or less as big time hypocrites. That certainly paints a bad picture of Jesus and His supposed LOVE Revolution.

And I know many of us are bristling at that criticism, but if we look deeply and sincerely at what’s happening in Christ’s body, His church, you will see that it is definitely not functioning, as it ought to.

There are too many divisions, too many religions, too many little cliques and groups who want to run it the way they want to, with envy and jealousy, resentment and anger very prominent in Christ’s body. And very often the leadership also leaves much to be desired, with everybody preaching their own version of the truth, or slanted to their personal benefit.

That’s why the powers of evil and darkness are running the show. We don’t have a united enough front to challenge them, and apparently neither the will, thus they are picking us off one by one with the lures of their evil world, in the truly cunning manner of divide and conquer.

Friends, we’re falling for the things of the world way too much and too often. Remember we’re supposed to be IN the world, but not OF the world. And yes the things of the world look wonderful on the surface, but deep down they have no real eternal values.

So what’s our answer to these questions of Jesus eh: ‘For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’

Oh my fellow believers, there is absolutely nothing to be gained by selling our souls for the trivial, valueless stuff that the world tries to foster on us. The world is evil…and wicked…and greedy…deceitful, envious, hateful and jealous… all the negative things that Jesus dislikes.

That’s why our Bit warns us so sternly: ‘Be not thou envious against (of) evil men, neither desire to be with them.’ For if you look enviously at what the evil people have or do, at how they prosper in their wickedness, you won’t ever be a true believer.

You will be like the seed that fell among the thorns in Jesus’ parable about the sower. ‘He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the care (cares) of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.’ (Matt.13:22)

And sadly, that is what is happening to too many supposed Christians today: we are too concerned with the cares of this world, thus we have less time, energy and appetite to do Jesus’ work, like we should.

Now there are many scriptures in the Good Book which remind us of that fact and also point the way to the straight and narrow path, but this one is definitely the most colourful and thought provoking. Listen to Psalm 1 – Blessed are the righteous.

‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly (wicked), nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate (ponder by talking to oneself) day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in due season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.’ (Ps.1:1-6)

There it is right in a nutshell my brethren – the way to prosperity in God’s kingdom! The next move depends on us, whether we believe and practice it or not. It would be a grave mistake if we didn’t, for then, eternal separation from our Creator will be our eventual lot in life…the spiritual one that is.

And for those of us who believe, and at least try to practice our convictions, lets go home declaring the wonderful blessings that our magnanimous God has so generously bestowed on us this glorious Thursday.

With sincerity and true sense of purpose: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!

I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!

I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’

And now, after the talk…the action! Much LOVE!

Christian folk…we are richly blessed…so that we can SHARE our blessings…remember that…

Deuteronomy 4:29. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Oh friends, the freedom paper for the weekend has been signed… Thank God! And it’s only a matter of a few hours and we’ll be free; free to do our own thing. But please remember that come Monday morning, that freedom will be revoked, the freedom paper burned to ashes, and we’ll return to being slave labour. Hn, hn!

I guess that’s what motivates us to pack as much pleasure as we can into the two days of freedom. And it’s all well and good to shout ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and the weekend is here! Thank God for Fridays and the weekend!’

But we also need to remember that life is not all fun and games, not strictly the fulfilling of lustful desires and pleasures, there needs to be mixed into it some serious and godly times to balance it all out. And to help us better understand that, let’s chant our Friday Chant which gives us some decent direction.

Altogether 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.’

Yes friends, a sense of balance is what we need on the weekends if we’re to do ourselves any good. If we don’t have that, then come Monday, we’ll just be tired and miserable and won’t be able to go out and perform properly, perform as Jesus desires. And you know that is our Number ONE priority. So let’s get smart and godly and use our two days off as we ought to nuh. (smile)

Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.’

Ah mih people, what an encouraging and reassuring piece of scripture! If we repent of our sins and seek the Lord our God with all our heart and soul, we WILL find Him!

Now how gratifying is that eh, especially in these times of hardship and uncertainty? Very gratifying friends, because we know that whenever we sincerely turn to God, He will be there for us, regardless of the circumstance(s) or our behaviour. Here’s how the prophet Isaiah put it in his declaration of God’s free offer of mercy to all.

‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is.55:6-7)

What a magnanimous God we serve and worship my people! And my fellow believers, it’s not only talk, for we’ve seen how often God’s chosen people, Israel, fell from grace because they forsook God and turned to worshipping idols and other pagan gods.

Yet when the enormity and foolishness of their behaviour, when the punishment for their disobedience finally sunk in to their thick skulls, they repented and were welcomed back into God’s fold.

Now why can’t our society realize that eh my brethren and change our wicked, sinful, disobedient ways and sincerely repent and return to worshipping Almighty God, the ONE who made us and is still running the show?

I guess many of us don’t even realize that we’re living wrong, since they don’t know Jesus. But enough of us do know Him and realize that a lot of the negative stuff that’s happening to us nowadays has a correlation to the sinful and ungodly way we’re living.

Instead of running away from God, as so many of us are currently doing, we should be running back to Him, right back into His wonderful, safe and welcoming arms! It’s more of Jehovah God we need, not less!

Remember how God drilled it into Joshua’s head after the death of Moses, and He made him leader of the Israelites? ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh.1:8)

And if we look back to our prosperous times, barely a generation ago, we’ll discover that we were a much more godly people. However, as we began moving away from God, our prosperity also began deserting us.

Remember friends, it’s only through obedience to God’s word that a society can truly become prosperous and remain that way for any length of time. Obviously we have forgotten that, or simply choose to believe that it’s through our own efforts that we become prosperous. What an abominable mistake!

Anyway, my fellow Christians, we are the ONLY ones who appear concerned with the deterioration of our society, and are therefore the ONLY ones who can cause us to be convicted, not condemned, by the Holy Spirit, and thus bring about repentance and a righteous return to worshipping the ONE TRUE and LIVING God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

That’s the wisdom we so desperately need today, as our world is falling apart. So please, let’s pray, as individuals, as well as collectively, the church, and then, with God’s help, do our best to make the LOVE Revolution of Jesus a successful one. Much LOVE!

…only when God is NUMBER ONE….can a society be truly prosperous…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 August 2016 Deuteronomy 4:29.

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