Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 October 2019 Psalm 51:3.

09 Oct 2019 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 51:3.    ​For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

 

Ah mih people, who says that life isn’t something else eh? Remember yesterday I couldn’t get the mouse for my computer to work, bought new batteries, but still no dice? Today I had intended to go and buy a new mouse. But lo and behold, half an hour ago I decided to turn on the computer and try my best with the Bit…and who says that the mouse not working like a superstar now eh! Chuh! I don’t know if God or the enemy sent that to test mih spirit nuh, but it surely did a small number on me. Now though, I’m certainly giving much thanks as I can get the Bit done before I go out the street later. Glory be! 

So what’s happening out here in J.A? Well nothing much so far nuh. Had a quiet day yesterday resting and fighting up with the mouse scene, then in the evening a few people came over to help celebrate the duchess’ birthday. Ate some food…good J.A. food, reminisced some, partied a li’l – at least I partied to the sweet live strains of the small local band and the female singer, especially when she got into some old reggae music from my time. So we made some new memories to chuckle over when we sit in our rocking chairs somewhere down the line, unable to do much of anything for ourselves. (smile) 

Today we’re going up to the campus to register and get some memorabilia, then it’s free time to do whatever I like! Who knows what the duchess and I will get up to eh? We’re in J.A, so any number can play! But we still have to be cognizant of Auntie’s warning; drunk or sober, please mind yuh business, for one can get into all sorts of no no’s while on vacation, falsely thinking that one wrong thing won’t lead to another. But we all know that’s not true, for sin looks so enticing when it’s sweetly beckoning to you to partake of its delights. But hidden underneath all of that are the serious, often life changing and lifetime consequences. 

And there’s no better example of that than Bruh David’s illegal liaison with Bathsheba and his consequent problems and troubles. As he says in Psalm 51, when Nathan drapes him over the hidden sin: ‘Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy LOVING-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, only have I sinned, and done evil in thy sight; that thou mightest be justified (found just) when thou speakest, and be clear (blameless) when thou judgest.’ (Ps.51:1-4) 

Yeh friends, the Lord forgave him, but he paid a high price for his sin through numerous family and kingdom problems afterwards. And as the scholars explain: ‘Ps.51: The psalm gives expression to why David was “a man after God’s own heart”: he was not perfect, but he had a sensitivity to sin that few know about.’ Ah my precious people, we will sin, and we will ofttimes pray a price for it, but like Bruh David, once we sincerely repent, we will be forgiven. 

And as Bruh David says in Psalm 103 – Thanksgiving for God’s mercy. ‘He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy (LOVING-kindness) toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remebereth that we are dust.’ (Ps.103:10-14) 

And all God’s children shouted out in sincere gratitude: ‘Praise the Lord! Give Him thanks for His wonderful grace and mercy towards the sinful children of men!’ Yeh friends, so we ought to be giving the Lord continual thanks and praise, for there is no other supposed god who treats his people like our magnanimous and merciful God treats us! As Isaiah also reminds us, although we have not done right by the Lord, just like Israel did not do back then, nonetheless, the Lord says: ‘I, even I, am he that blotteth out transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.’ (Is.43:25) Glory Hallelujah! 

And in keeping with that promise, listen to John as he writes: ‘The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29) That’s why Bruh Paul could later write to the Corinthians: ‘For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.’ (2 Cor.5:21) Mama Mia! How our heavenly Father must have LOVED us, and still does, to break His own heart and give His only Son to be a blood sacrifice for us poor, disgusting sinners! 

And having said all of that, we now have to look at the other side of the coin. Hear Bruh Paul to the church at Rome, re freedom from sin’s power. ‘What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid (certainly not). How shall we that are dead (who died) to sin, live any longer therein?’ (Rom.6:1-2) That’s true my saintly brethren, if we died with Jesus to sin, (vs.3) and thus are resurrected with Him (vs.5), then we can’t serve sin any longer. 

Hear the scholars. ‘6:1. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? If sin generates grace, should we encourage sin in order to cause more grace to be granted?.’ ‘6:2. God forbid. Perish the thought, may it never be, don’t even think that way. This expression of unthinkable horror occurs in Paul’s epistles more than 60 times. He uses it whenever the thought suggested is too repugnant to entertain. Sin is singular in this verse and throughout this chapter. It refers to the sin nature.’ 

Yes friends, we will sin…occasionally…because we are a part of this fallen world. However, once we have received Christ as our Lord and Saviour, that sin nature ought to be repressed through the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Godliness should then be our continued outlook. Now let’s go home declaring (yeh!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the world know our serious and wonderful position in Christ Jesus. All together now, in strong voice and sincere sincerity (smile) 

‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ And we all though that’s exactly how it will be! Much LOVE!

…we can’t be overly sinful…and yet serve God…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 September 2012 Job 42:1-2

29 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

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

Job 42:1-2.    Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee (no purpose of yours can be withheld). 
 
Oh Friends, it’s no lie, what goes around, comes around! I’m referring to a newspaper article I read earlier this week that claims someone in Egypt was arrested under the Blasphemy Act for destroying a Bible. And instead of creating a storm of anger and causing unnecessary destruction to lives and property, all God’s people joyfully shouted: ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ What’s good for the goose should also be good for the gander. It’s time people of other faiths have respect for God’s Holy Word and don’t irreverently desecrate or destroy it. How truthful the story is, and what will happen next is another story, but it should at least cause others to stop and think before they damage the Good Book. And on a brighter note, here’s something I read a while ago in a booklet on Bruh Joseph. It’s called The Leader’s Prayer: ‘Lord, when I’m wrong, make me willing to change. When I’m right, make me easy to live with. So strengthen me that the power of my example will far exceed the authority of my rank.’ Yes Friends, we all need to develop our leadership skills because as followers of Christ, we are all leaders in our own right; leading people to Him, and we can’t do it properly without knowing how. Neither is there an easy way to learn it, for good leadership skills are born of adversity, per the many examples in the Bible and real life. And as the song, I think it’s the ‘Gambler’ by Kenny Rogers says; we have to know when to hold and when to fold, and we can only accomplish that by working with and through Almighty God. And we see that in our Bit, when Job finally submits to God. ‘Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee (no purpose of yours can be withheld).’ Before that, Job thought he was doing so good and even through his friends’ admonishment, he still stuck to his claim of righteousness. Then God challenges him out of the whirlwind. ‘Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man, (prepare yourself); for I will demand of thee (question you), and answer thou me.’ (Job 38:2-3) God then goes on to show Job his ignorance in Chapters 38-41. And at last in Chapter 42, Job humbles himself before the challenging questions of Almighty God. ‘Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee (question thee), and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee: Wherefore I abhor (despise) myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’ (Job.42:3-6) Oh Friends, sadly, many of us fall into the category of doubting God, or thinking that we know much more than we really know, but it’s all a lie, and comes from false pride in our frail mortal powers. Listen to the scholars explain those first six verses of chapter 42; ‘The point of all God’s questions was not lost on Job: he has a new awareness of the wisdom of God’s hidden plans, a new sense of the limits of his own wisdom, and a new sensitivity to his own sin. He admits that his has been a limited perspective, and he totally submits to God’s will and authority.’ That’s exactly what many of us need to do my people. Instead of blowing our own horn, we need to truly bow down to the Creator and Master of our universe, pay Him the total homage that He so richly deserves, humbly submit to not only His will and authority, but also to His infinite wisdom and knowledge. As He rightly says, His thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours, (Is.55:8-9) so how can we be more knowledgeable than Him eh? The same sort of thing happened to Sarah and Abraham when the Lord promised them a child of their own loins in their old age. Sarah laughed, and Abraham had his doubts. But just like the Lord straightened out Job, He straightened out Sarah and Abraham with some biting words. ‘Is there anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.’ (Gen.18:14) Oh my people, why are we so hard headed and stubborn eh, and continually doubt God’s awesome power, in spite of all the instances we have of it? Remember Jesus’ words to the disciples: ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.’ (Matt.19:24) And the disciples were astonished, wondering then, who could be saved. Then Jesus replied: ‘With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.’ (Matt.19:26) And that’s gospel truth Friends! Unfortunately though, many of us say it, but don’t really seem to believe it, judging from the way we act. And yet again, Jesus declared in His time of sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane, shortly before His crucifixion, when He tearfully prayed to the Father. ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt (will).’ (Mark 14:36) And the scholars make an interesting observation here. ‘By the word Abba, Jesus addresses God with the household term for Father. This was unheard of in Palestinian Judaism at that time. It points to Jesus’ unique relationship to God.’  And Friends, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross, we also have a unique relationship with the Father, where we can come to Him without fear of rejection. So please, let’s not think too highly of ourselves, for whatever reason, or too little of our God, because that’s a sure formula for destruction. Much LOVE!…it is God who gives us life…and the wherewithal to sustain it…so it’s foolish to exalt oneself above Him…remember the rich, proud, selfish fool…(Luke 12:16-20)