spirit of power | SCRIP-BITS

Proverbs 3:7-8. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones.

Oh Friends, it’s Thursday, and the ole fella’s feeling the call of affirmations to boost our spirits! Mama Mia! So today will be an affirmations day!

And I’ll start us off by sharing one of the two conglomerations of affirmative stuff I have on my desk. From whence I got them, I don’t remember, but they are indeed useful. I believe I’ve shared them both already, but it’s stuff that never goes bad, in fact it’s something we can all use everyday to raise our faith and courage.

And it says: ‘I CAN have victory in my life by dealing with the things that are keeping me from God’s best. I am confronting my struggles head on, so that I can overcome them. God has given me the power to rise above. He has given me the strength to focus on Him and push through. NOTHING will hold me back! This is my declaration of what I can do through Christ!’

Yes Friends, those are all things we can do through Christ, because He has given us the power through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But most importantly, before we can do any of those things, we first have to acknowledge Him; His strength, His power and His majesty as the Creator of all there is.

And our Bit puts it very clearly and concisely. ‘Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones.’

Now that’s absolute truth my people! Nothing will work for us if we don’t first turn to the Lord, our Creator, the font of all wisdom, power, knowledge and truth!

And having learned that lesson, let’s absorb this one: ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil.1:6)

That’s God’s faithfulness at work Friends! That’s our eternal security, for God will NEVER leave anything undone in the lives of those who sincerely try to obey His will.

Now listen to John on sin, its reality and remedy. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ (1 John 1:9)

That’s the number one move to righteousness mih breddren – confessing our sins!

Now here’s one we all know and like to quote. Whether we truly believe and live by it is another story though. ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.’ (Lam.3:22-23)

Oh my people, that’s gospel truth at its truest! For if our God was not compassionate and faithful, and renewed us every day, I’m afraid to think what we’d be like, and where we’d end up.

Now here’s a gem from Bruh Paul to Cousin Timmy; ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Tim.1:7)

Oh my brethren, my brethren, that scripture is so powerful that it could make us walk on water, if we so desire! (smile) It’s the first image of power that came to mind. But it’s true Friends. Our God has imbued us with all we need to fight the good fight here on this evil earth. But we need to raise up all these things from our spirits so that we can use them.

There’s no need for us to be as fearful and afraid of this life and its evil powers as too many of us are. That’s because we have the Lord’s power, His LOVE, faith and courage buried within us. It’s high time for us to let them rise up, so that we can go forth and do the job(s) we’ve been commissioned to do; Spread God’s Word, His LOVE, His Mercy and His forgiveness, through faith and the godly way we live our lives.

And I think we’ll end where we began; with the eternal wisdom of Cousin Sol. ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct (make smooth) thy paths.’ (Prov.3:5-6)

Oh my fellow believers in Christ, if there was ever only one scripture in the entire Good Book that we could hold on dearly to, take with us everyday and everywhere, and give someone else to also hold on dearly to, I believe it’s those two verses from the arsenal of Cousin Sol’s wisdom. That’s because they embody the very gist, the very kernel or seed of what God’s been trying to say to us from day one – TRUST ME!

And believe me Friends, there’s no greater thing that we can do, than sincerely trusting in the God who formed us from the dust of the earth in His very own image, then breathed His own breath of life into our nostrils.

So please let’s memorize as many of these Bible verses as we can, or even just get their substance in to our hearts, minds and souls, so that they can encourage us, keep us strong and steadfast in our faith, build our self-confidence and thus our confidence in the ONE TRUE GOD; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

Now that my beautiful brethren, is wisdom at its very zenith! Much LOVE!

…there’s no greater thing we can do…than to surrender our lives…put them in their entirety… into the hands of our heavenly Father…

Romans 8:31. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Well Friends, the Canada Day party is over, time to call it a day and get back to labouring. Hope you had a fine time and did not embarrass yourself, your country or your God. (smile)

And I hear a lot of ‘steupsing’ and ‘chuhing’, but them’s the breaks my people. We can’t party all the time, work must be the rule and partying the exception, otherwise we’d soon party away all we have. And what then eh?

So let’s put our noses to the proverbial grindstone and get productive; not only physically and economically, but more importantly, spiritually. Let’s allow the Holy Spirit that dwells within us to truly lead and guide us in right decisions, directions and true Christianity, which means sincere LOVE for God and each other.

And to help us do that, I’ve been guided to make this a day of affirmations; a day for scriptures that enlighten, encourage, exhort and educate us about God, His Word and His wonderful and gracious desires for us, His earthly children. These are scriptures that help build our faith, that keep us steadfast and strong. And what better way to begin than with our Bit, a scripture that encompasses it all.

Please affirm with me: ‘What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?’

And that’s as gospel truth as we’ll ever get my people! If our God is in our corner, who can harm us eh? Not a single solitary soul, be they man, beast or evil power!

Let’s continue affirming with this popular scripture. ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps.118:24)

Then there’s this other well known one: ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’ (Phil.4:13) And what a great and true motivator that is Friends!

Now hear this other powerful affirmative scripture: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom.8:28) And isn’t that ever so true Friends, as so many of us can attest to!

And as I’m on this page in Romans, I might as well stay there. (smile) ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom.8:37)

Wow mih breddren! Doesn’t that just boost your confidence, especially when it’s followed by this omnipotent scripture: ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of (from) me, saith the Lord.’ (Is.54:17)

And all God’s servants rose up in one accord with one shout: ‘All praise and glory be to Jehovah God, who made us and protects us with His strong arm! He is indeed worthy to be praised and glorified!’

Yes mih people, we do indeed serve a mighty, magnanimous, magnificent and ever-LOVING God!

Now listen to this one straight from Jesus: ‘Jesus said unto him (the father of a dumb child), If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.’ (Mark 9:23) More words of everlasting truth and encouragement my brethren!

And why is that eh? Because ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.’ (Luke 18:27) Now that Friends, is the granddaddy of all truth!

And we can’t forget the wisdom of Cousin Sol: ‘A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain (acquire) unto wise counsels.’ (Prov.1:5) Yes my fellow believers, if we diligently read and meditate on God’s Word, we shall acquire wisdom and understanding, even if our formal education is limited.

But beware of this next scripture, for it’s a serious warning. ‘The fear (reverential awe) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ (Prov.1:7)

And is that ever so true, in both aspects. To truly acquire wisdom, one must first have reverence for the Lord and submit to His will, but prideful fools refuse to do that, feeling that they are sufficient unto themselves, which is the furthest thing from the truth.

And moving right along, check out this encouraging scripture: ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil.1:6)

Yes Friends, whatever God begins in us, He will bring to fruition, right up until the day Jesus returns. His grace and mercy will never depart from believers working on His behalf. That gives us an eternal security, wherein God’s purpose for our lives will NEVER be abandoned or unrealized.

Now hear this powerful exhortation to endurance from Bruh Paul to Timothy: ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Tim.1:7)

Oh my people, please let’s drill that deep into our consciousness nuh, for it’s the absolute truth, and if we believe it and act on it, we’ll do ever so much better in all aspects of our lives. That’s because a lot of what we do or don’t do is based on fear; fear of the world and its evil machinations.

But please remember Jesus’ admonition: ‘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 on that awesome note we’ll close my brethren. And if you’re a true believer, then you’ll believe that and indeed be of good cheer, despite the trials and tribulations you face down here on this dark and evil earth. That’s Jesus promise and we all know that He doesn’t lie, ‘for he is faithful that promised.’ (Heb.10:23b)

So my fellow believers let’s memorize as many of those Bible verses as we can, let’s saturate our hearts and minds with them, so that they can encourage us, build our self-confidence, and keep us strong and steadfast in our faith. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Much LOVE!

…to live a true Christian life…our souls must be saturated with God’s Word…we must believe His promises…and then act confidently on them…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 August 2013 Proverbs 3:7-8

Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 July 2013 Romans 8:31

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