Today’s Scrip-Bit   8 August 2022   Daniel 11:32b.

08 Aug 2022 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Daniel 11:32b.      …but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits (take action).

It’s time to hit the road friends, as we get about the Lord’s business on this Monday morning that holds so much promise if we live up to our godly potential. Yes, we’ve had ample rest, relaxation, revelation and renewal, which should make us hungry, excited, can’t wait to get into the spiritual battle out there and fight the good fight for Jesus! As the Good Book so rightly declares in Daniel. ‘And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt (pollute) by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits (take action). (Dan. 11:32) 

Oh mih bredrin, that’s us he’s referring to there; ‘the people that do know their God.’ Wow! It’s exactly what we were just saying, that we can’t wait to get out into the world and fight the devil mano-a-mano on Christ’s behalf! We have all the tools to conquer the enemy, including the backing of the mighty Holy Spirit, we just have to want it badly enough. And after all that Jesus has suffered and sacrificed for us, it ought to be a no brainer for us to come up to scratch, to step up boldly and courageously to the plate and mow down the enemy in His marvellous name. 

The problem though is that too many of us supposed believers are either too afraid of the enemy, or just don’t care enough about Jesus and His most worthwhile cause to sacrifice some of our time, talent, treasure and energy. But we do want to participate in the good things that His death and resurrection have made possible. And yes, when we believe on Jesus, our name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and we’ll probably go to heaven, but that’s only the beginning and end points of the story. 

However, there is also a middle portion, which is what intimidates or scares most of us, because it involves us becoming Christ like, conforming to Christ’s character and godly habits and also helping others to seek salvation through Him. It’s like Bruh Paul wrote to the church at Rome. ‘For whom he (God) did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brethren.’ (Rom. 8:29) 

And all that means is that from the beginning of time, God decided that all those who decided to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ would go through a training period to become like Him, so we could all be the wonderful children of God, with Christ as the first born. Meanwhile, to the church at Corinth Bruh Paul wrote: ‘But we all with open (unveiled) face beholding as in a glass (mirror) the glory of the Lord, are changed (transformed) into the same image from glory to glory, even by the Spirit of the Lord.’ (2 Cor. 3:18) 

Oh, it’s indeed a lifelong process in which the Holy Spirit is engaged, it doesn’t happen overnight, because it involves changing our inherent sinful nature to Christ’s godly temperament. It’s not easy, and we must do things like die to the flesh, die to ourselves, take up our cross and follow Christ, while giving up many of the ungodly things we did before we knew Him as Lord and Saviour. 

Yes, for many of us that transition can be very difficult, but with Jesus’ help, through the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit it’s very doable. But we need to be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to do it. And it does call for sacrifices, as Jesus plainly tells us in the gospel of John, when He says: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) 

And so He has my fellow believers. He defeated hell, death and the grave when He died on Good Friday then rose again on Easter Sunday, trampling on the devil and his evil followers, clearing the way for us to also have salvation and eternal life. And while we are becoming transformed, we are also expected to spread the good news of Christ to others and encourage them to come to know Him too. But that’s better done by example, by the godly action they see in our lives, rather than just by our talking a good talk, which we are very adept at. (smile) 

So you see friends, becoming a Christian, saying a prayer, believing it, and thereby accepting Christ as Lord and Saviour is indeed the easy part, for salvation is a free gift of God, so that none of us can boast about what we’ve done or not done. Living the life of a true believer is the difficult aspect, with all its ups and downs, pain and sorrow, and hard times that seem more than the good ones. But if we’re serious, and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we’ll do marvellously. 

And why is that you ask? The answer is very simple. Because Jesus doesn’t ask you to do more than you can handle, and He also gives you the tools to do whatever He desires. All that’s left for us to do is to stay close and intimate with Him, and don’t be afraid. Yes. I know it’s all easier said than done, but the only way you’ll ever experience His warm and wonderful LOVE is by jumping right into the deep end and trusting Him to save you. (smile) After that, you’ll be completely hooked, without a doubt or a fear. 

And to stay close and intimate with God, we must use the communication method of prayer that He developed for that purpose. So, let’s do that right now nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And to get positive answers to our prayers, we must now show positive motives and true godly behaviour, not just lip service, because the Lord reads our hearts before he answers our prayers. Much LOVE!

…the Christian life is not for the weak or faint of heart…but the LOVE of Jesus…transforms the weak into the strong… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 January 2021 Ephesians 4:23.

01 Jan 2021 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ephesians 4:23.     ​And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR!

Well a Happy New Year to all my Scrip-Bit friends and family! May this year of 2021 be much kinder to all of us than 2020 was. But right from the start, let us realize one thing; we can’t behave the same way we did last year and hope to receive a different ending. That’s what a lot of us do, but it’s totally unreasonable, in fact downright foolish, for how can you do old things and expect to get new and different results eh? That means we have to do new and different things if we want this year to be better than the last. 

And all of that will only work if we make ONE New Year’s Resolution; to follow Jesus more actively and sincerely this year! That’s the ONLY Resolution we need to make, for once we follow through with it, everything else will fall into place. Like Jesus said, if we seek the Lord God Almighty and His kingdom of righteousness, all our needs will be provided for. So friends, I plead with us, let’s be much better ambassadors for Christ this year of 2021 nuh. We all know, if we are truthful with ourselves, that we won’t so hot last year, we were tried and found wanting to a great extent. So this year let’s sincerely try and do better nuh.

I know we all can improve if we set our minds to it, and Jesus is expecting us to bring light and peace and LOVE to this dark sinful, angry and evil world. We are his ears, hands and feet in the world today, so only if we buck up will the world begin improving. And how do we do all of that eh, you ask? Well it’s simple, but definitely not easy. (smile) First we begin to truly live life in the Spirit. As Bruh Paul said to the Romans: ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit…For they that are after the flesh do mind (set their minds on) the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.’ (Rom. 8:1, 5-8) That’s it right there in a nutshell my people! If we live a carnal, fleshly, earthly life we cannot please God because that lifestyle doesn’t mesh with the things of God. And how do we get to that state of spiritual living? Well by first changing our mindset.

And Bruh Paul laid it all out to the church at Corinth. ‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.’ (2 Cor. 5:17-18) Yes friends, when we come to Christ, old ways of living need to be set aside, and though some of us have come to Christ for some time now, we’re still living life through our old habits, habits that the world find good, but which the Lord finds sinful. That brings us to this confusing but rather interesting direction from Bruh Paul to the Philippians.

‘Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of (according to) his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings (grumbling) and disputing: That ye may be blameless and harmless (innocent), the sons (children) of God, without rebuke (fault), in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation (generation), among whom ye shine as lights in the world.’ (Phil. 2:12-15) 

Wow! What a mouthful, but a useful one! Yes friends, we need to work out, not work for our salvation. Salvation is a free gift of God, but once we’re saved we need to begin doing the things that God requires of us, to live the way He wants us to, like Bruh Paul states above, don’t grumble and complain unnecessarily, stay clean and without fault – as much as possible (smile) so that we can shine as lights in this dark world like Christ desires of us. 

Oh my fellow saints in Christ, salvation is wonderful, but sincerely living for Christ in this evil and sinful world of ours is not easy, and it doesn’t just happen, we have to work at it. But the good news is that God is right in the mix helping us, because it’s His work we’re doing, and He’s always with us when we do His work sincerely. As Bruh Paul assured the Philippians earlier on. ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it (keep working on you) until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil. 1:6) 

Oh how sweet it is my brethren! God began the work in us, and He will keep on completing it until the day Jesus comes back for us! Glory Be. So we don’t have to worry about the work being completed, but we do have to do our part, which is to keep working on our behaviour; mental, spiritual, emotional and physical. And here are some more realistic and practical things we can do to achieve those aims, in the words of Bruh Paul to the Ephesians. 

‘That ye put off concerning the former conversation (conduct) the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place (an opportunity) to the devil. 

Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.’ (Eph. 4:22-32) 

And there it is my brethren, the practical stuff we need to do to work out our salvation. And it’s nothing that we all don’t know, we just don’t put it into effect for one reason or another, that’s why our witness, our testimony is not as good as it ought to be. But we going to fix that this year eh….?

And I hear a loud shout of ‘Yes! We going to fix things for Jesus this year!’ So let’s do it nuh, starting right now! Much LOVE!

…you can’t truly LOVE Jesus…and not do His bidding… 

P.S. Yes, I left out the ordinary workingman’s speech and our Friday Chant, because I thought it more important that we begin the new year with a new appreciation of Christianity 101! (smile)Much LOVE!