Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 April 2016 Job 19:25‏

Job 19:25.   For I know that my Redeemer (lit. Kinsman) liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter (last) day upon the earth.

Well hello there you beautiful believers! Top o the morn! Don’t worry that it’s somewhat cloudy, our God will drive away the clouds from our lives and allow the bright sunlight of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to enter therein and calm all of our fears and sorrows. 

Oh give Him many thanks and much praises my people for His wonderful ways to the children of men! 

Can you imagine what our situation would be like if He was a harsh and judgmental God, like some of the many false gods that abound today, instead of the caring and compassionate Deity that He is? Crapaud would surely smoke we pipe! 

Anyway, thankfully He is a most LOVING and kind God and showers us with blessings each and every day. And since it’s Thursday, and a blessing is not a blessing until it is spoken, let’s declare our Thursday Blessings over ourselves with plenty vim, vigour and sincerity. 

All together now: ‘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!’ 

Yes friends, sometime soon now blessings will just follow us and overtake us… Glory to God! 

But as always, remember that we have our part to play in this relationship with Almighty God, so let’s get out there and do it this Thursday morning nuh; give others a chance to come to know Jesus and His everlasting LOVE. 

And why are assured that we can do whatever is necessary to accomplish that task? Because as Job so boldly proclaimed in our Bit: ‘For I know that my Redeemer (lit. Kinsman) liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter (last) day upon the earth.’ 

Yes friends, Job didn’t know Jesus, the actual Redeemer, but he certainly knew the God of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who made him and cared for him, despite his then current devastating circumstances. 

And yuh better believe he exuded a lot of faith with those words he solemnly and truthfully declared. I don’t know how many of us would be able to do and say the same things under similar circumstances. 

Now all I want to do today is highlight some scriptures from the Old Testament that deal with the Redeemer, beginning with these memorable words of Bruh David from Psalm 19 – The creation and covenants of God. ‘Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength (my rock), and my redeemer.’ (Ps.19:14) 

Oh my people, we all know those words and say them fairly often, but is the sincerity there when we mouth them? For all of our sakes, I sincerely hope so, otherwise our prayer is meaningless. 

Now listen to the psalmist Asaph, as he recounts Israel’s punishment for their disobedience, and their eventual turning back to God from Psalm 78 – A reminder of God’s goodness to Israel. 

‘When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early (diligently sought) after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.’ (Ps.78:34-35) 

Oh my brethren, are we behaving like the Israelites of old, only turning to God when He slays us? I think we’re behaving worse than them, for they at least learned their lesson, even though their hearts still wasn’t right with Him. 

Unfortunately though, in today’s world, even though the Lord slays us, not necessarily literally, but certainly figuratively, we are still so stubborn and hard headed that we refuse to turn to Him and keep on following the foolish ways of Lucifer, the prince of darkness. 

That’s definitely not very wise my friends, since Lucifer is a fallen angel. But each individual is responsible for their actions and will pay whatever price He determines is necessary. 

And Isaiah, while talking about the judgement of Babylon, declares thus: ‘As for our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.’ (Is.47:4.) 

And that’s gospel truth friends, as we all found out when Jesus Christ redeemed us by sacrificing His holy and sinless life on the cross on our behalf. 

And we’ll close with another scripture passage from Isaiah, this one, when he talks about Israel being restored to Zion. ‘And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.’ (Is.49:26) 

Now, with those words of indisputable truth, speaking to our hearts precious people, lets go out today and do the Lord’s will with honour and gladness nuh, so that His Word does not return void. Much LOVE!

…without the timely redemption of our Redeemer…Jesus Christ…our mortal lives would have been of little significance…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 April 2016 James 1:23

James 1:23.   For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding (observing) his natural face in a glass (mirror).

Oh friends and neighbours, would you believe that yesterday afternoon, around 5 o’clock, the ole fella was outside catching some rays, working on my tan, making some natural vitamin D! Oh all praise and glory be to our wonderful God! 
It was actually around an abnormal 23 Celsius yesterday, although with a strong wind. We haven’t seen temps like that in the northern climes in over six months. Hn! And truthfully, I don’t believe we’ll see them for another couple months yet on a regular basis. 
Today however, has also dawned bright and sunshiny, but with eventual temps only around 15 or so. But that’s more like normal, and much better than the cold wintry stuff we’ve been experiencing so far. So you can come and check out my tan anytime…and there are no tan lines. (smile) 
Now let’s check out our Tuesday Mantra or the Prayer of the Beloved. Let’s declare it loudly and sincerely. ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world.  Amen.’ 
Oh my fellow believers that’s indeed who we are – the beloved of God and friends of Jesus! 
And I heard a testimony on that recently from Cousin Bobby (Bobby Schuller – Robert Schuller 111) grandson of Gramps Schuller (Robert H Schuller), who now runs the Hour of Power T.V. Programme. He said that when he began saying that prayer everyday, he began to become more secure and self-confident in his Christian walk. 
So if it could help him, it can surely help many of us who just don’t feel that confident in who we are and whom we belong to. So it might indeed be worthwhile to pray it everyday. 
And now I want to share a quote from the well-known American Rabbi, Bernard S Raskas (1924-2010). He is reputed to have said these interesting words: ‘Any real progress in the tangled world of emotions must be made by the individual. Each of us must hold the mirror to our own soul and gaze intently at what we see there.’ 
And that’s oh so true, my brothers and sisters in Christ, especially in our Christian faith, because it all begins with an individual relationship with Christ. The church, the body of Christ is made up of individual believers, who look to Him for salvation and eternal life. 
But unless, and until, you have made that individual decision to follow the Lord and Saviour of mankind, you’re simply not a part of His flock and won’t have any of the benefits provided therein. 
And it’s not only in our Christian walk that we need to check ourselves in the mirror, but also as a normal human being. There are decisions to be made, and reactions to be framed, whether positive or negative, and in the natural course of life, a lot of this is based on our individual approach. 
So though we live in a plural society, much of that plurality is based on individual thoughts, feelings and sentiments. Consequently, whatever we do or think or feel, will have a substantial bearing on our lives and the lives of those around us.
That’s why it’s ever so important for us to make wise, Christian based decisions, controlling our natural emotions with self-discipline and circumspection. 
That brings us to our Bit, which reflects what we’ve been talking about. Let’s listen to it in its full context. James solemnly declares: ‘But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding (observing) his natural face in a glass (mirror). For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.’ (James 1:22-24) 
Yes my people, that’s oh so true of many of us. And it’s not that hard to do either, when we are wrapped up in the things of the world, as so many of us are. 
We can either look at ourselves in a real mirror and consider the good and kind person that we are, or think of our wonderful Christian persona, then shortly thereafter forget it all and go out and behave unwisely and against all our Christian principles. 
Friends, the pull of the flesh in this evil and ungodly world is great, and we have to be ever so careful of falling into the traps that Beelzebub designs and lays before us.
That’s why James continues: ‘But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed (in what he does).’ (James 1:25) 
And the scholars offer this explanation of that verse. ‘1:25. The perfect law of liberty probably refers to the teachings of Christ and His apostles. This law is perfect since Christ brought to completion the teachings and work of the Mosaic Law (c.f. Matt.5:17-20; Rom.10:4). 
It is a law of liberty because it frees from the principles of sin and death (Rom.8:2-3); Gal.5:1,13). James also describes it as the royal law (2:8) for it is the law of the Messianic King (c.f. Gal.6:2).’ 
Ah mih breddren, it would be real nice and comforting if you’d check out all those references. I just did and found them all quite interesting and they helped me to better understand what we’re talking about. 
Now I’m not going to hold my breath thinking or expecting that that’s going to happen, (smile) but one can surely live in hope, which our faith so greatly and wisely espouses. 
And on that note of hope, we’ll end today. (smile) Now may the Lord bless and keep us all my people, and guide us wisely and safely along our earthly pilgrimage, until we come to finally rest in Him, on that wonderful day! Much LOVE!
…our outer man ought to reflect…the true Christian principles of our inner man…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 April 2016 Luke 9:23‏‏

Luke 9:23.   And he said to them all, If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Oh friends, oh friends, it’s Thursday, another bright and sunshiny day in my neck of the woods! And on top of that, it’s also supposed to be warmer than yesterday. 

Oh, all praise and glory be to our amazing God, who bestows, who showers us with new and wonderful mercies, blessings and LOVING-kindness each and every day! 

Wow! How could I not LOVE, worship, praise, revere and glorify such a magnanimous Deity eh! 

And all God’s people declared a loud and proud, ‘Praise the Lord, for His goodness to the undeserving children of men!’ 

Yes my people, we do deserve to praise our heavenly Father for His unselfish care and compassion for us. Just wish that we could show Him and each other the same kind of care and concern. Anyway, since it’s Thursday, it’s time for us to confidently declare our Thursday Blessing… 

And with a thoughtful frown, the congregation asks: ‘What yuh talking about eh? Didn’t know we had a Thursday Blessing.’ 

Well the truth is my precious people, I didn’t know that either until a couple nights ago when I got this zeppo. (smile) 

And the story goes like this. As part of my devotions, I read an old devotional written by Bubba (Joel Osteen) in his early days of ministry. It had to be, because it’s old and beat up now, with some of the pages falling apart, and it was already old when I discovered it at my mothers place some years ago and we began reading it everyday, even when we couldn’t remember Bubba’s name. (smile) 

It’s called ’30 Thoughts for Victorious Living.’ I don’t know if Bubba even remembers that he wrote something like that, the amount of stuff he’s written over the last few years. But I like it; it serves my purposes, and I will continue to use it as long as I can. 

On a point of interest, most of my devotionals are old, but I prefer them to some of the new-fangled stuff that’s out there now. 

Anyway a couple days ago I was reading the devotions for the 11th of the month, which says ‘Declare Blessing’, and the prevailing scripture for that is the blessing instituted by our God long time ago for the Israelites. ‘Say to them, may the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favour and give you His peace.’ (Num.6:24) 

And the opening lines of the devotion are: ‘A blessing is not a blessing until it is declared! So today declare a blessing over yourself and others. Speak that blessing in the name of Jesus!’ And then he goes on to declare some blessings. 

Now the other day when I finished reading it, it suddenly occurred to me that it would make a good prayer for Thursdays. I thought about a couple of names, like ‘Thursday’s Temptation,’ or ‘Thursday’s Tantrum’ (smile) but eventually ended up with ‘Thursday’s Blessing’ as being more appropriate. 

And what I’ve done is basically taken Bubba’s general blessings and individualized them. So please declare with me now my brethren our Thursday Blessing, in a loud, proud, sincere and confident manner. 

‘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!’ 

Yes friends, that’s our Thursday Blessing. I like it, and I do hope you like it too. It’s basically a rework of the Lord’s blessings promised to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 28:1-14. 

Now let’s turn to our Bit, some very important words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, re the terms of our discipleship. ‘And he said to them all, If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ 

Yes my brethren, the number one rule in following Jesus is to deny ourselves, become selfless instead of selfish, as our world is today. That doesn’t mean we don’t look after ourselves as best we can and do stuff for ourselves, but that we are not the be all and end all of our earthly lives. 

Just as Jesus came to serve and save, we too must concentrate on serving and saving, and on a daily basis too, which isn’t always easy. But as I keep saying, with God’s help, EVERYTHING is doable! 

And we’ll end with Jesus’ words after our Bit. ‘For whosoever will (desires to) save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose (loses) his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged (benefited), if he gain the whole world, and lose himself (is destroyed), or be cast away (lost)? 

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.’ (Luke 9:24-27) 

And there we have it friends, the self-explanatory, immortal words of Jesus on how we must approach our discipleship. Please, let’s take some time today to ponder our individual relationship with Jesus, re those terms of discipleship. And as always, with God’s help, try to improve them, for that’s the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!

…successfully walking with Jesus…takes lots of time…lots of selflessness…lots of care and consideration for others…  

P.S. I know it’s long and late, but please be aware that the hockey playoffs have begun, which means that there’s lots of hockey every night, and thus there will be many late nights and consequently late mornings. (smile) Just bear with the ole fella nuh. He’s got to have a life too yuh know. And once he’s alive and kicking, the Bit will get there…eventually. Much LOVE!

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 November 2012 1 Timothy 6:10

1 Timothy 6:10.     For the LOVE of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 
 
Oh Friends, it’s Wednesday, and according to the old nursery rhyme, Wednesday’s child is full of woe! Now the dictionary describes woe as affliction, bitter grief, distress and calamity. And though there could be a tad of truth to the rhyme, generally speaking, once we have the Holy Spirit of Jesus living in us, leading and guiding us on this earthly pilgrimage, woe is something we don’t often experience. Of course we’ll have rough times, but constant, serious, negative problems are not usually associated with God’s children. So please, let’s not dwell on the negative aspects of our lives. Instead, let’s dwell on these 12 Aspects of True Wealth that come from my ‘Off the Wall’ topics. These 12 aspects of true wealth are posted in my young daughter’s larger than normal, multicoloured writing on the right hand wall of my study, right in my sight line, but as with many of the other things posted there I hardly notice them. I’m sure I look at them sometimes and they don’t even register on my mental screen. Like so many other things that have been in our lives for a long period of time, they tend to become invisible. Anyway, here are those 12 Aspects of True Wealth: (1) A positive mental attitude. (2) Sound physical health. (3) Harmony in human relationships. (4) Freedom from fear. (5) Hope of future achievement. (6) The capacity for applied faith. (7) Willingness to share one’s blessings with others. (8) To be engaged in a labour of LOVE – like writing the Scrip-Bit has become to me. (9) An open mind on all subjects to all people. (10) Complete self-discipline. (11) Wisdom with which to understand people. (12) Financial Security. Ah Friends, what a wonderful set of aspirations! But let’s note that the first 11 aspects basically comprise the tenets of our Christian faith, and secondly, that the money matter is placed LAST. Yes my people, money is not the most important aspect of our lives, as so many of us are being led to believe in this money-hungry, ‘gravalicious’ world. If we have the first eleven, the money will come. Let’s remember that and stop running down money and worshipping it more than the God who created it and us. Remember, as our Bit so rightly states: ‘For the LOVE of money is the root of all (kinds of) evil; which while some coveted after (in their greediness), they have erred (strayed) from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’ And that is most definitely the gospel truth my people! Now money is not the only source of evil, but it’s certainly a most important one. And sadly, too many of us are letting the getting of money, its dogged pursuit, become our end all and be all. Now Friends, that isn’t a very wise idea at all, since it generally leads to greed and avarice taking over our souls, consequently causing us to forsake Almighty God in the mad rush for earthly wealth. And please note what Bruh Paul says before our Bit: ‘For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment (clothing) let us therewith be content. But they that will be (desire to be) rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful (harmful) lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition (ruin and destruction).’ (1 Tim.6:7-9) Oh Friends, there’s no disputing those facts, but though we know them deep down inside, yet we still insist on letting the pursuit of money be our overwhelming goal. But as the scholars so appropriately point out, we must not believe ‘that material possessions have no place in the Christian’s life. By the figure of speech food and raiment stand for all of life’s basic necessities. These are all the believer needs, and having these he can be content.’ Our problem is that we desire to have too many material possessions, more than we can ever need or use, which is the way the world sees it, and which isn’t the way true believers ought to see it. And to prove my point, listen to the wisest man ever, Cousin Sol, on the subject. ‘For wisdom is a defense (a protective shade), and money is a defense: but the excellency (advantage) of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.’ (Eccl.7:12) Yes Friends, money is important, we all need it, and it can be an advantage when we have it, but the advantage of knowledge over money is that it improves our entire life, the way that money can’t. Look at all those who have money and yet are still miserable and unhappy. Oh, I know many of you will take the money and the unhappiness, but if you first have wisdom, you can always make money, but having money doesn’t necessarily bring or mean that you have wisdom. Just look at the numerous fools that have made several fortunes and lost them each time. Wisdom not only helps you to make money, but more importantly, it also guides and enables you to keep it. That’s enough for us to ponder on today Friends. So please, let’s worship the Lord God Jehovah and not money or material possession, that’s the zenith of wisdom. Much LOVE!…if you can buy it with money…then you can’t take it to heaven with you…

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 November 2012 Proverbs 16:32

Proverbs 16:32.    He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
 
Oh Friends, oh Friends, yesterday we saw the sun in our area for the first time in several days! Wow! Now it wasn’t a big, bright, powerful, burning orb, but it produced enough light and glare that I had to put on my sunglasses, which had been languishing in my car for I don’t know how long. And though the wind and rain had also stopped, the ground was still soaking wet from all the heavenly moisture that fell upon it this past week. Now where was all that moisture when we so badly needed it in the hot, dry summer eh? Anyway, since we keep proclaiming that Jehovah God is still in control of the universe He created, and since His mental prowess is also much greater than ours, we have to accept that He knows what He’s doing, just grin and bear it, and say ‘Thank You Lord.’ However, that is something a lot of us believers are not able to do, especially in this now for now society in which we currently live, where the technological advances have brought us to expect everything immediately, if not sooner. Do you see how we behave when we have to wait, or line up for anything? Look at how we behave in the supermarkets or the gas stations, if we find the person in front of us is, in our opinion, taking too long? The same thing happens on the road when we dipsy doodle in and out of traffic, or cut somebody off, just to get one car length ahead. The one that takes the cake though is how we behave when we’ve been waiting for a parking spot for a few minutes, then someone else suddenly comes up and drives right into it. Hn! That sort of action has become so commonplace now, that we even had to coin a term for it; road rage. Oh my brethren, our society has become so soft and spoilt that the minute, or rather the second we don’t get our way, we’re much more liable to explode in anger with all sorts of deleted expletives fouling the atmosphere, than we would done even ten years ago. But Friends, our Bit tells it differently, tells it the way it ought to be. ‘He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.’ And that’s the living truth my people! When we learn to control our angry emotions and outbursts, then we’re better than the mighty men of valour and also the conquerors of cities. Now isn’t that something? Yes my people, when we control ourselves we display an essential attribute that is sadly lacking these days, thanks in part also to the busyness of our society. I know it’s sometimes difficult to do with so many people working two and three jobs just to make ends meet. Then we definitely don’t have a waiting mode. But Friends that impatience and tendency to always be in a hurry leads to all sorts of negative stuff like anger, that produces verbal abuse, which can very easily lead to simple assaults, that then turn into out and out violence. Oh my brethren, it cannot be overstated that we all need to slow down, take some time to think seriously about our irrational behaviour that’s now at an all time high. Cousin Sol, the wisest man ever, knew what he was talking about when he wrote: ‘He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit (impulsive, short tempered) exalteth folly.’ (Prov.14:29) And isn’t that the awesome truth Friends! Besides making us seem wise and understanding, being slow to anger also helps us live longer, since our blood pressure and heart rates aren’t flaring up all the time with adrenalin surges. It also stops us from making a lot of wrong and painful decisions, which we often make in anger mode. That’s why the mind people caution us not to make hasty, angry decisions, because our topsy turvy emotions will blind us to what’s wise and right. I’m sure all of us can look back on times when we made decisions in anger mode, then lived to regret them. And the sad part is that many of those decisions made when we’re angry cannot be turned around once made, so we often live to rue the day we made them. No wonder James declares: ‘Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not (does not produce) the righteousness of God.’ (James 2:19-20) Now that’s wisdom at its zenith my people! And the scholars have this to say: ‘Trials require silence and patience because talk inflames anger, and anger inflames talk. Anger also distracts from listening to God.’ There’s no disputing that! But unfortunately the only way to develop that kind of wisdom is first to slow down, stop letting the make believe busyness of modern life get us all worked up, because then we are liable to easily blow a gasket over  petty, trifling, immaterial stuff and get ourselves in unwanted trouble. Listen to Cousin Sol again on the subject. ‘The discretion of a man deferreth his anger (makes him slow to anger); and it is his glory to pass over (overlook) a transgression.’ (Prov.19:11) That’s gospel Friends! We’re living in such an angry world today that negative things life strife, hatred and resentment are much more prevalent than positive stuff like Peace and LOVE, which make for a much better life. And we’ll let Bruh Paul take us home with some of the best words ever penned on the subject, as he wisely advises the fledgling church at Ephesus. ‘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, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.’ (Eph.4:31-32) I can’t say it any better Friends. I can only advise us to sit and seriously ponder Bruh Paul’s words as they pertain to us individually, then diligently, in prayer, and in conjunction with our most wonderful God, work towards acquiring that peace of spirit and mind which is even more valuable than the ability of the mighty to conquer cities. Much LOVE!…anger and strife…eventually lead to death and destruction…but peace and LOVING-kindness…gently usher us along the path to salvation and eternal life…
 
 

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