Matthew 5:4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Oh Friends, this was definitely not how I had planned to begin today’s message, but having heard of this dreadful happening, I had to change my plans. As Cousin Sol so wisely says: ‘A man’s heart deviseth (plans) his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.’ (Prov.16:9)
Now I’m talking about the tragedy of a 12 year old boy in a small town near Reno, Nevada, going to school early yesterday morning and shooting a Math teacher, wounding two other boys, then killing himself.
Ah Lord eh! How many times Friends, am I going to bewail the sorry state of our world before we see some improvement eh? In particular, what is America coming to eh? Once upon a time she was the model of godliness… Steups! But now she is the pin up girl for Lucifer.
This shooting up of schools, either by pupils or outside interests, seems to be turning into a habit now. And yet guns are still much easier to get than dope, on which they’ve wasted billions of dollars trying to curb it.
They’re not seeing the forest for the trees. Guns are killing many more people everyday than drugs. And you only hear about the gun deaths when it’s a rampage or some other high profile shooting. When is America going to wake up and realize that the old saying is very true: ‘If you live by the gun, you’ll die by the gun!’
And sadly, as in so many other things, their culture is being transferred all over the globe. It’s in more than money and economics that as America goes, so does the rest of the world.
And why that tragedy struck me more forcefully than normal, is because I’m currently reading a novel, ‘Nineteen Minutes,’ in which a 17 year old boy in small town America goes into his High School one inauspicious autumn morning and rampages through it, killing ten people both students and adults, and wounding many others.
This lad had been teased and bullied from the first day he got on the bus to attend kindergarten, even by his own star pupil brother. Apparently this 12 year old in real life was also being bullied. Now the question is, is life copying fiction, or fiction copying life? But whatever is following what, this bullying thing is really getting out of hand.
What is it, are we raising children without any spine, any backbone, so that they have to resort to such serious measures; shoot up the place or commit suicide?
I remember growing up that there were bullies around, and that some got bullied more than others, but it wasn’t the incessant type of thing that’s happening now, and I never heard of anyone picking up a gun or other weapon to exact revenge, or kill themselves because they couldn’t handle the pressure.
And apparently the supposed social media nonsense, more like the anti-social media, just seems to make matters worse, for some of the atrocities committed by our young people are brazenly posted there and go viral, oftimes with more likes than dislikes.
Doesn’t that tell us that our society is truly going to the dogs, when we’re raising children who take such pleasure in demeaning others? What kind of animals are they going to turn out to be as adults eh?
And sadly, we the parents don’t seem to have a clue about what’s happening with our children; we simply don’t care, or are too busy trying to make a living to pay serious attention to what’s happening to them.
The parents of this boy in the novel didn’t even know that he had guns in his room, or he was a big Internet freak on evil sites. And no doubt a lot of that is happening in real life today.
Ah Friends, I don’t have the answers, but somehow or the other we’ve got to stop the nonsense. And unfortunately all of that just links up so smoothly with our Bit. ‘Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.’
Ah mih breddren, so far from that disaster, two families are mourning and badly in need of serious comfort. Who will provide it to them eh? I just hope, for their sakes, that they are Christian families. Our Bit is another of the Beatitudes that Jesus delivered in His Sermon on the Mount.
And according to the scholars: ‘5:4. Those that mourn…shall be comforted. The depth of the promise of these statements is almost inexhaustible. Those who mourn for sin shall be comforted in confession. Those who mourn for the human anguish of the lost shall be comforted by the compassion of God.’
Let’s sincerely hope and pray that those families mourning right now are somehow comforted by God’s compassion, because ONLY Jesus can successfully minimize the yokes and burdens that have just been laid on them. (Matt.11:28-30)
Yes my people, for all the unfortunate things that happen to us in this oftimes wretched life, Jesus stands out as the bright light shining in our darkest hours. He is the ONE we can and should always turn to in dire situations.
For as Bruh Paul said to the church at Corinth: ‘Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble (tribulation), by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted by God.’ (2 Cor.1:3-4)
And that’s the undeniable truth Friends! God comforts us so that we can comfort others in their time of need. And we WILL ALL endure trials and tribulations and be in need of comfort at some time(s) in our earthly lives.
But please remember Jesus’ faithful promise: ‘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)
Oh my fellow believers, I know that’s easier said than done, but with strong faith and trust in the Almighty, we can get through it. And we’ll close with a scripture that we’re all looking forward to; the arrival of the new heaven and the new earth.
‘And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’ (Rev.21:4)
Yes mih people, then, and only then, will the cause for mourning and comfort cease. Till then, please wisely take hold of ALL God’s promises of help and succour, for they are the only sure means of comfort we have in this wicked, ungodly world. Much LOVE!
…when a human heart is hurting…only Almighty God can truly comfort it…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 March 2013 Psalm 107:43
02 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: affliction, Christian walk, christianity, disobedience, fauthfulness, grace, great is thy faithfulness, heavenly blessings, LOVE, loving kindness, mercy, oppression, peace, rewards, righteousness., sincerity, sorrow, steadfast faith, transgressors, truth, understanding, upright in heart, wisdom, wise of heart
Psalm 107:43. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the LOVING-kindness of the Lord.
Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 April 2012 Proverbs 20:19
26 Apr 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: a day in the life, celestial king, depravity, gladness, gossip, joy, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, My Jesus is everything, pain, reality t.v, reassurance, soap operas, sorrow, telling tales, wisdom of fools
Proverbs 20:19. He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
Ah mih people, it’s another day in the life! A day that will hopefully bring lots of joy and gladness and little or no pain and sorrow. But it sure is reassuring to know that regardless of what comes our way in this calamitous world, today or any other day, that we have a strong and powerful Being in Jesus to back us up, console and protect us. And all God’s people gave a mighty shout of praise: ‘Oh thank you Jesus!’ Now Friends, here’s another instalment of ‘My Jesus is…Everything,’ from the book of the same name by Anne Graham Lotz. ‘MY JESUS: He had no predecessor, and He will have no successor. He is the Lion, and He is the Lamb. He is God, and He is Man. He is the seven-way King: He is the King of the Jews…that’s a racial King. He is the King of Israel…that’s a national King. He is the King of righteousness…that’s a moral King. He’s the King of the ages…that’s an eternal King. He is the King of heaven…that’s a universal King. He is the King of glory…that’s a celestial King. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! MY JESUS IS…EVERYTHING!’ Yes my brethren, we serve and worship the Highest Power in the universe, which should make us untouchable, but being fallen humans, we’re still gullible and liable to embrace evil words and people. Hear how our Bit puts it: ‘He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not (don’t associate) with him that flattereth with his lips.’ And my people, that’s the awful truth! There are too many people in our society, including believers, who make it a habit to go around spreading tales, false and true. Gossip mongering has become a fanatical pastime of our society. Just check out all the gossip papers, the tweets and facebooks and all the other places where we place personal information that can be easily obtained by anyone with a smattering of computer knowledge. Then we have the reality t.v programmes, the soap operas and the paparazzi who run around invading the lives of supposed celebrities. All of this has now become a multi-billion dollar business. Secrets are no longer safe. And why has it become so widespread? Because we, the ordinary folk, think these people live such glamorous lives and through them we get some sort of reflected joy, both wishing and imagining ourselves living the same glamorous lifestyle. But Friends, have you noticed that most of the stuff, both true and false that comes out about those people, and thrills us too, is mostly negative? I sure don’t want to behave like most of them, because they have no real class. Though they might have money, power and much earthly possessions, their standards are lower than lower, but unfortunately that’s the kind of people our society looks up to. And we encourage it by buying the rags, filled with heifer dust, and watching the foolish, insipid t.v shows. Tell me, in these soap operas and the latest trend, the reality shows, do you see anybody living decently or sensibly, in spite of their great wealth and power? No! It’s always fighting and backbiting! What then can you expect from our children when that’s all their young minds are inundated with? And don’t tell me if you constantly watch the nonsense it won’t seep into your souls! That’s a fool’s wisdom, for anything we concentrate on for a period of time, will have some effect on our minds, the way we think and live! And that’s certainly not the way Jesus sacrificed His holy, sinless life for us to live! Oh my brethren, from way back when, in Leviticus, God sternly warned the Israelites: ‘Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood (life) of thy neighbour: I am the Lord.’ (Lev.19:16) What part of that is so difficult to understand eh? But as usual, we have ignored the majority of the Lord’s edicts, and have made gossiping, tale bearing, etc. big business and given it a huge, legitimate place in our lives. I’m sure we don’t like others going around babbling our business. But if it’s someone else’s, we welcome it with great joy and words like: Oh god girl! Is that really true? Yuh really mean that so and so did so and so? Tell me more girl…tell me more! Ah can’t wait to hear the whole juicy story!’ But yuh know what Friends, when we encourage others to go around spreading gossip, be it true or not, we’re doing everybody, including ourselves, a great disservice, because those same people will go around spreading tales about us. And then we’ll get all hot and bothered, completely forgetting that we encouraged it in the first place. I’ll end with some earlier words of Cousin Sol, where he describes the situation thus: ‘A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.’ (Prov.11:13) Ah Friends, let’s ponder those words today and then search our minds and souls to see if and where we’re encouraging this negative type of behaviour; a behaviour that’s definitely contributing to the lawlessness and ungodliness of our world. We can’t continue like this Friends, the moral decay and depravity have already driven us to distraction, the next step down is destruction, either by our own efforts, or God’s! More on this tomorrow, God willing. Till then, please walk safely and securely with Jesus. Much LOVE!…the most deadly sins don’t leap up on us…they creep up on us…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 5 April 2012 Psalm 80:3
05 Apr 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: adversity, antidote, cleansing, eternal life, feet washing, goodness of jesus, healing, Maundy Thursday, sadness, salvation, saving grace, sorrow
Psalm 80:3. Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Oh Friends, it’s Maundy Thursday; the day of feet washing. That means there’s only one day left before your sacrificial demise upon that rough, wooden cross, on a rocky hill overlooking the vale of death, Golgotha. How does it feel? Not very good eh? You’re all nervous and fretful! You can’t sit still! Every little sound makes you jump! All your senses are stretched to breaking point! Now you have just a little idea of how Jesus felt, knowing that His time was nigh. But Friends, such was the goodness of Jesus, that even in His time of personal sorrow and sadness, He still persevered with His ministry; helping and healing, cleansing and restoring whoever asked. Shouldn’t we then be doing the same thing in our time of adversity, if we’re followers of Christ? Of course! But too often when adversity strikes us, we tend to forget about everybody and everything else and just hunker down in our self-pity. But my brethren, the best antidote for personal adversity is to help someone else. That way you take your mind off your worrisome situation, thus lessening your stress, and also giving the Lord a reason to add to your heavenly account. And sadly, there are so many people in our world that need help, it’s heartbreaking. In fact, our whole world needs assistance, as soon as possible too. Most people would agree on that. The problem though, is what kind of help, and from whom? Fortunately, we believers know that the best help comes from the Lord God Jehovah, and therefore we can plead, like our Bit does: ‘Turn us again (restore us), O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.’ Yes my people, it’s only with God’s help that our world can be turned around. And from long ago, His wise followers realized that anytime He graced them with the sunshine of His smile, when He was pleased with them, their lives took and obvious turn for the better. So let’s hear a few of those scriptures the old folks prayed, and let’s also pray each one sincerely, that the Lord will at least consider shining His face upon us. Re the saving aspect, Jesus has already provided a way for us individually. The headache lies in getting the large numbers of unwashed to see the logic, the common sense, the wisdom behind Jesus’ unselfish actions and accept His free offer of grace that leads to salvation and eternal life. Scripture Time! Starting with Bruh David. From Psalm 31, where he declares his utmost trust in the Lord: ‘Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies sake. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.’ (Ps.31:16-17) Meanwhile, the author of Psalm 67; Let all the people praise thee, wisely proclaims in his opening verse: ‘God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us. Selah. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health (salvation) among all nations.’ (Ps.67:1-2) And moving on to the longest chapter in the Good Book, Psalm 119, we find the author pleading with the Lord: ‘Deliver (redeem) me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they (men) keep not thy law.’ (Ps.119:134-136) That’s the awful truth Friends! Mankind is not keeping the Lord’s law, that’s why our world is in such a degenerate state. Then we have the heartfelt prayer of Daniel for his disobedient people; the captives in Babylon, and also those in a struggling, broken down Jerusalem. ‘Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and (be gracious) cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary (the temple) that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do (listen and act); defer (delay) not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.’ (Dan.9:17-19) Ah mih brethren, it’s prayers like those we should be floating up to heaven, because we need the Lord’s help more desperately than Daniel and his people did. However we have to do that with a clean heart and a right spirit, we can’t just be mouthing it, otherwise the Lord will just ignore us, since it’s our hearts that He looks at when we plead unto Him. And we’ll end with words that the Lord God Himself instructed Moses to use when blessing the people. ‘The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee (look on you with favour), and give thee peace. And they shall put (invoke) my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.’ (Num.6:24-27) Ah Friends, let’s invoke the Lord’s name upon our children nuh, so that He will bless them. And let’s take some serious action in ramping up our LOVE Walk, so we won’t be found wanting, whenever Jesus returns. That’s the wisdom for the ages! Much LOVE!…better be safe then sorry…get prepared RIGHT NOW…for Jesus can come at anytime…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 March 2012 Proverbs 15:21
14 Mar 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: discernment, faith, faithfulness, fear, humiliation, joy, pain, reproach, secrets, sorrow, spirituality, undestanding, unspoken dreams, unstable, wisdom
Proverbs 15:21. Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.
Oh Friends, it’s supposed to be another beautiful summer’s day in my area; (smile) with temps in the mid teens again. Wow! The whole week is supposed to be like that. It’s nice, but a little intimidating though, because who knows what we’ll have next week or later on, when it should really be springtime. However, there’s no need to worry, whatever happens we’ll handle it with Jesus’ help. And all God’s people shouted, a rousing ‘Amen!’ Now here are some of the things Jesus knows about us, from Anne Graham Lotz’s book, – Jesus is my…Everything: ‘Jesus knows: the small secrets of your heart, The unspoken dreams of your imagination, The unrevealed thoughts of your mind, The emotional shards of your feelings, The paralyzing fears for your future, The bitter resentments of your past, The joys and heartaches, The pleasures and pain, The successes and failures, The honours and humiliations, The deeds and the doubts. He knows all about you, inside and out, past, present and future.’ Yes Friends, there’s nothing that Jesus doesn’t know about us! That’s why we have to pay serious attention to our Bit: ‘Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom (discernment): but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.’ If we want to be good associates of Jesus, we can’t afford to find joy in foolish things. We need to have proper discernment about what He requires of us. And if we don’t have it, then we sincerely ask for it. As James says: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not (without reproach); and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (not doubting). For he that wavereth (doubts) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he will receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (James 1:5-8) Ah mih people, it’s indeed a sad situation in which we currently find ourselves, where those who lack true wisdom, true discernment are ruling the world, and apparently having great joy doing so. No wonder God’s great creation is so embattled and embittered! Hear Cousin Sol in an earlier chapter on the wise and foolish contrasted: ‘It is as sport to a fool to do mischief (evil): but a man of understanding hath wisdom.’ (Prov.10:23) No doubt about that Friends! And as believers, we’re all supposed to actively and diligently cultivate things like wisdom, understanding, knowledge and discernment through sincere communication with our heavenly Father, from whom these things come, and who as James just said, willing gives to all who ask sincerely. For remember that ‘Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou doest embrace her. She shall give to (place on) thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver thee.’ (Prov.4:7-9) And it all begins my brethren by reverencing Almighty God! Thus when we acquire wisdom and understanding we’ll walk uprightly in God’s ways and not foolishly, like the workers of iniquity, who take joy in the ways of evil. As Bruh Paul said to the Ephesians: ‘See then that ye walk circumspectly (carefully), not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time (making the most of every opportunity), because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (dissipation); but be (continually) filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God (doing what pleases Him).’ (Eph.5:15-21) Yes my people, those are the things believers ought to engage in. But unfortunately we’re not doing as much of them, or to as high a degree as we should. Consequently, our world is falling apart right before our very eyes. Let us therefore try to upgrade or increase those things which bring us wisdom and closeness to God, and will also further the LOVE Revolution that’s currently lighting up our world, and slowly but surely turning it around. Oh Friends, please do your best to encourage the LOVE Revolution which will bring our world back to faith, hope, LOVE, trust, true and faithful surrender to Jesus and Almighty God, where it’s supposed to be! Much LOVE!…in the words of the old song…only LOVE can break a heart…but by the same token…only LOVE can mend it again…for LOVE is the most overwhelming emotion in existence…
SCRIP-BITS 