Today’s Scrip-Bit   28 September 2021   1 Corinthians 1:9.

28 Sep 2021 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 1:9.      God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

What’s happening this new day filled with new compassions and mercies eh friends? And I know that most of us would say: same old, same old stuff. And to a certain extent that might be true, but just think that we are still alive and kicking, the marvellous breath of God is still flowing through us! Glory be! That means there are still lots of things for us to do down here on earth, otherwise the Lord would have taken us home. 

And you know that living and working for God is not easy, but it sure is chocked full of excitement and adventure, because we never know what He will do next, where He will send us or what He will allow to come upon us. The only thing we are sure of is that He won’t allow anything untoward to happen to us, and that He will bring us safely through any storms He allows us to go through. 

Remember His awesome promise in First Corinthians… ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtakes) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able to bear; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13). Now that promises a lot my brethren, but it also does not promise what some of us believe and/or expect. 

What we ought to learn from that is not that the Lord will always help us to escape the temptation, but rather He will give us a way to bear up under or endure it. Too many of us just want to escape from anything that’s difficult, but that’s not the way our God operates. Yuh don’t think that Jesus wanted to escape from all the horrific sufferation he went through? He certainly did! 

But the Father asked Him to suffer on our behalf and gave Him the grace, strength and power to bear up and endure the inhumane treatment He underwent for us. The Holy Spirit imbued Him with the power to handle it, and the same Holy Spirit imbues us with power to handle our problems. So, let’s stop thinking about ways to escape problems and instead forge ahead and come up over them through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

As one commentator, Vern Nicolette, puts it in an article on the subject found on the Active Christianity website. ‘In 1 Corinthians 10:13 it speaks about the time of temptation and that God makes a way of escape so we can bear it. How hopeful it is that we have a God who measures each temptation so we can bear it! God has a way of escape for us in every single temptation. The way of escape is to go before the throne of grace and pray for grace in time of need; in other words, before we fall. Then we have God’s promise that we shall receive the grace, which is strength and help at the right time, so we can stand after we have overcome all things.’ 

And the author references two scriptures there; Hebrews 4:16, and Ephesians 6:13. And since I like to spoon feed us, (smile) here are those two scriptures. The first one says: ‘Let us therefore come boldly (confidently) unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’ (Heb. 4:16) And the second comforting and strengthening verse of scripture in times of need is this: ‘Wherefore take unto you (take up, put on) the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.’ (Eph. 6:13) 

Yes friends, those are the two basic things we need to withstand the demonic onslaughts that occasionally come against us: the grace and armour of God! And with those working on our behalf, through the empowering Holy Spirit, Satan doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating us! Now here are some more scriptures that will help us in our fight against temptation. Up first is this beautiful scripture: ‘God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (1 Cor. 1:9) I like that verse because it tells me of God’s faithfulness, and that’s something I’ve totally experienced in my own life, so it boosts my spirit. 

And the next scripture comes from Psalm 125 – God surrounds his people. It confidently declares: ‘They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed (moved), but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about (surround) Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. For the rod of the wicked (the sceptre of wickedness) shall not rest upon the lot (land) of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth (reach out ) their hands unto iniquity.’ (Ps. 125:1-3) 

And here are two more scriptures to sustain those last two. (smile) Isaiah tells us in no uncertain terms: ‘The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.’ (Is. 14:5) And Cousin Sol confidently proclaims from the wisdom of Proverbs: ‘He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity (trouble): and the rod of his anger shall fail (wrath shall perish).’ (Prov. 22:8) 

Now that further recalls the rebuke of Eliphaz to his friend Job, where he says: ‘Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils (anger) are they consumed.’ (Job 4:7-9) 

And though Eliphaz didn’t know about Job’s unique situation, he knew from personal experience that we reap what we sow., which is the living truth, just not in Job’s case. So though there may seem to be a lot of problems, temptations and enemy attacks in our lives, let us not forget that the Lord God Almighty has placed within us the power of His Holy Spirit to enable us to fight our earthly battles and be victorious in all of them. But we must get His grace and put on His spiritual armour if we want to win the spiritual battles that take place in our lives. End of sermon! (smile) 

Now for those of us who are sincerely trying to live for God, let’s go home declaring (yeah!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know who we belong to. In strong voice: ‘In God’s eyes, 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!’ 

And having said that, we must now go out and share that amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know Him. For that’s His greatest desire. Much LOVE!

…I have been young…and now I am old…yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken…nor his seed begging bread… (Ps. 37:5)                                                                                                                             

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 November 2019 Job 4:8.

16 Nov 2019 Leave a comment

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

Job 4:8.    Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
 

Saturday… oh lazy Saturday! And I guess that after a rather trying week of labour and all that it entails, plus some negative weather situations, we all deserve to have a lazy day to wind down and release all our pent up frustrations and angst. (smile) And there’s no better day than Saturday for doing that. I can just hear the many sighs of relief as so many of us open our bleary eyes, look at the clock, then say, ‘Thank God is Saturday!’ then roll over and go back to sleep. Unfortunately it didn’t work for me. I got frustrated when I awoke around five and then tried to go back to sleep because all I did was toss and turn for over half an hour, before I finally gave up and got up. That’s why the Bit is a tad early. (smile) 

And since it’s Saturday, let’s have a gander at the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he sincerely aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Hear this first one: ‘Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.’ And isn’t that the awesome truth, as so many of us have found out over the years! We all have experiences we don’t pay much attention to at the time they are happening, but later on discover that they were indeed seminal moments in our lives. That’s why hindsight is 20/20! (smile) 

This next quote tells us: ‘Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.’ Now I’m not so sure about that nuh, because there are so many things that make us feel glad to be alive, but in actual fact are not good for us. And we all know them; the misleading and deceitful things of the world. I guess it might be wiser to add something like ‘if it is Jesus’ will’ to the end of the quote. Then there’s this: ‘Inspiration comes from within yourself. One has to be positive. When you’re positive, good things happen.’ The first sentence is true a lot of the times, inspiration does come from within, when God places inspired ideas in our spirits, but one can also be inspired by external and outward circumstances  and situations. 

However, the remainder of the quote is definitely true. We have to be positive in what we do, since positive words, thoughts and actions produce positive results, while the negative aspects produce negative results. And there was never a more positive person that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. How yuh mean? Just think on it nuh: He had to be the master of positivism to have left a glorious spot in a glorious heaven, to come to this hellhole called earth, to die for a bunch of ungrateful sinners, who He knew would reject Him, then leave a mere twelve men to try and convert the whole world! But it all worked out as He planned. Glory Be! 

That leads us to ‘You must do the things you think you cannot do.’ And that’s ever so true, especially if you are a sincere believer in Jesus Christ, because He doesn’t advocate giving up. Those words don’t appear in His vocabulary at all. And furthermore, please remember the wonderful supportive scripture that says: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!’ (Phil. 4:13) Wow friends! That means anything that is in Christ’s will, He will enable us to do, we just have to buckle down and do it! So when things crop up that seem hard, or even impossible, let’s just remember that Christ will help us to do it, and better yet, remember Jesus’ words to His disciples, re a camel passing through the eye of a needle: ‘With men this is impossible: but with God, ALL things are possible.’ (Matt. 19:26) 

And I’ve left the best for last: ‘You get what you give.’ Oh my people, that is the very basis of God’s economy! We know it as you reap what you sow, and that’s the living truth! As the old people would say, you can’t sow peas and hope to reap corn, but many of us do just that. Now let’s look at some scriptures that point out the importance of sowing and reaping in God’s great universe. And Job’s friend Eliphaz puts it quite succinctly when he rebukes him. ‘Remember I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.’ (Job 4:7-8) 

The scholars tell us that Eliphaz was talking from personal experience, and since he meant that you reap what you sow, his point was Job must be suffering because of his sin. Now, although in this case that wasn’t true, all through the Good Book we are told that the doers of iniquity will be severely punished. And Cousin Sol gives us a couple serious verses to consider. ‘The liberal (generous) soul shall be made fat (rich): and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.’ (Prov.11:25) And then: ‘He that hath a bountiful (generous) eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.’ (Prov.22:9) 

And Jesus said it thus: ‘Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom (pocket). For with the same measure that ye mete (use) withal (with the same) it shall be measured to you again.’ (Luke 6:38) Jesus said it, therefore it must be true! 

Ah mih people, there are so many scriptures on sowing and reaping and giving and receiving that I’m confused (smile) and running out of space. So here are the last couple. This from Bruh Paul to the Corinthians: ‘But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully (generously) shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity (compulsion): for God LOVETH a cheerful (joyful) giver.’ (2 Cor. 9:6-7) Just like in the real world your ‘return is determined by your investment.’ 

And please pay close attention to these immortal words of Bruh Paul to the Galatians. ‘Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.’ (Gal. 6:7-8) That’s very in your face and to the point my people. So please, let’s spend some of this lazy Saturday pondering our sowing nuh. Forget about the reaping for now, because if we sow good seed, with a good heart, the Lord has promised that we will reap a bountiful harvest. And He is indeed faithful to His promises! Much LOVE!

…you reap what you sow…more than you sow…and later than you sow… (Uncle Charles – Charles Stanley)