The Wisdom of enduring the Lord’s Discipline!

01 Aug 2024 Leave a comment

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

Hebrews 12:5b.       My son, despise not the chastening (discipline) of the Lord, nor faint (be discouraged) when thou art rebuked of him:

And so we move on to Thursday, the penultimate day of our work week, which just happens to be a somewhat rainy morning in my area. Most importantly though, it’s also the first day of August 2024! Yes friends, July is history, now nothing more than a passed breath of wind, and if the days continue to roll by so quickly, then September will soon be here with it’s chilly weather and much of the summer frolicking will be over! 

Chuh! But that’s just the way of life. That’s why we must make each day count, enjoy each day our eyes awake from sleep, saying and doing as the psalmist advises: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps. 118:24) That’s oh so important for our spiritual well-being my people. And let’s not forget either, that ‘the joy of the Lord is our strength.’ (Neh. 8:10) 

If we want to retain our spiritual strength, we must ensure that the joy of the Lord is flowing through our hearts, souls, bodies and minds, because one of the enemy’s main goals is to steal our joy in the Lord, as he knows that’s where our strength comes from, and we are useless without it. So, let’s make sure that we keep those two things front and centre; enjoying each day that the breath of God keeps flowing through our bodies, and remaining strong in His joy, which gives us the strength to perform our godly duties. 

And today we’re going to look at an interesting  poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. This poem is ever so appropriate for these busy and perturbing times. It’s simply titled: ‘Intrusions.’  And who knows if I’ve shared it before, but it’s well worthwhile sharing again. (smile) So please read with me: ‘A thousand intrusions Have crowded in on my life today. My reaction, Lord? I’ve resented every one. And now I read in Your Word That I’m to put out the welcome sign! 

In fact, I must welcome each intrusion As a personal friend. (Perhaps even serve tea, Lord?) You assure me that You have a purpose For their continual persistence: My faith needs depth My endurance needs development. I have no argument with that, Lord But I had hoped that an hour, or two Of trial and testing would suffice. Or a day at most, dear God. But again You remind me That the process must continue Until maturity becomes my password and independence becomes my goal and the Crown of Life becomes my reward.’ 

Ah mih people, what wise words, but words that many of us don’t to want to hear, because it reminds us that growing in spiritual maturity is a continuous process. It doesn’t just happen in a day, or even two, but throughout a whole lifetime. And furthermore, we only gain maturity by going through tough times, times we wish would never come against us. But as the poem says, the Lord has a purpose for each and every trial or test that He puts us through. We might not see the reason for it, but with His greater mindset, He does. 

And if we’re truthful with ourselves, most of us would admit that we do need more depth to our faith, and more endurance or perseverance in our development. And unfortunately, the only way to get those important things is by going through the fire with the Lord at our side. And though we would rather not call the intrusions and testings friends and serve tea, (smile) it’s important that we realize and recognize them as avenues of growth, if we want to truly become spiritually mature. 

And interestingly enough, the Bible Verse of Promise for that poem comes from Hebrews, a verse which most of us thoroughly and totally dislike because it has to do with punishment and discipline. It says: ‘Now no chastening (discipline) for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised (trained) thereby.’ (Heb. 12:11) 

Yes friends, none of us like to be disciplined, even when we are wrong, because it hurts both our ego and our flesh. But later on we see the wonderful benefits. So discipline in this evil and ungodly world is very necessary, otherwise we would all go astray, with possibly terrible consequences like eternal separation from Almighty God. That’s why the Lord keeps us in line. And as the author of Hebrews so rightly says earlier on in the scripture: 

‘And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children (sons), My son, despise not the chastening (discipline) of the Lord, nor faint (be discouraged) when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord LOVETH he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then ye are bastards (illegitimate), and not sons.’ (Heb. 12:5-8) 

Oh my fellow believers, it’s simple: If the Lord LOVES you, He will chasten or discipline you. And if you endure that discipline with a good attitude, He will keep on blessing you. However, if your rebel at His chastening, then you will not enjoy the blessings put aside for you. It’s like Bruh Paul said to Timothy in his last days. “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course (race), I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them that also LOVE his appearing.’ (2 Tim. 4:7-8) 

Now that’s the kind of exit we should all be seeking to have. But it doesn’t come without tough times, trials and testings. And we all know Bruh Paul’s life was not an easy one, but he never wavered in his faith during all his trials. In fact they made him stronger and more determined to fight the good fight of faith on Christ’s behalf. So let’s consider our own positions today nuh, as we go home declaring (chuh!!!) and thus activating our Thursday Blessings which the Lord has generously bestowed on us to do His earthly work. 

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 every day! Amen!’ 

And having made that declaration (yesss!!!) we are now duty bound to go out and use those blessings in the service of others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us! Much LOVE!

…discipline is not for God’s benefit…but for ours…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   9 April 2024   1 Corinthians 3:18.

09 Apr 2024 Leave a comment

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1 Corinthians 3:18.       Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world (age), let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

And then it was Tuesday; the day we use to recover from our Monday inefficiencies and insecurities. (smile) Now, since we’ve had fellowship with the Lord and other believers in His sanctuary on Sunday, we ought to be rearing to go on Monday. But it’s not until Tuesday that we really have it all together and our work week running smoothly. Somehow, despite all our good intentions, we never seem to get it right on Monday, possibly because it’s seemingly ingrained in our minds as the bad boy of the week, therefore, we always seem to stump our toes on Monday. 

But if that’s the way it is, then we just have to learn to live with stumped toes on a Monday. (smile) All the Lord can do is give us the power, the grace, the mercy, the anointing, whatever we need to do His will, but it’s ultimately up to us to use the tools He provides. 

And today, the Good Library opened unto the first Book of Corinthians, and, most appropriately, the first words I saw were these: ‘Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world (age), let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain (futile). Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.’ (1 Cor. 3:18-23) 

Ah friends, wonderful words of wisdom. Man ought not to take himself too seriously, but trend more towards God. As Cousin Sol  so wisely says in Proverbs: ‘Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.’ (Prov. 3:7) And when Bruh Paul talks about the Lord taking the wise in their own craftiness, he is there quoting from Job 5:13. Now since the Lord knows whatever we are up to, and since most of it is vain and futile in His eyes, why do we still hunger for the wisdom of man and not that of God eh? I guess it’s a combination of our free will and our foolish pride. But the immediate question is why did Bruh Paul pen those words to the church at Corinth? 

Because there was still a lot of envying and strife amongst the congregation. At the beginning of the chapter, he writes: ‘And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat (solid food): for hitherto (until now) ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions (dissensions), are ye not carnal (fleshly), and walk as men (according to man)? 

For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but that God giveth the increase.’ (1 Cor. 3:1-7) 

Oh my faithful brethren, unfortunately the church is still in a state of carnality after all this time. Too many of us are still only able to drink spiritual milk and not eat spiritual solid food, we only know the elementary aspects of our Christian faith, and cannot handle the more serious doctrines. Why? Because  there’s still a lot of strife, envying and fleshly lusts in Christ’s church, that keeps it seriously divided and thus unfulfilled. That means we are nowhere near fulfilling the work that Christ expects of us. And like the factions that destroyed the unity in Corinth, the ones who are destroying today’s unity are not walking in the Spirit but allowing the flesh of man to dictate their ungodly behaviour. 

And Bruh Paul continues his discourse on the subject. ‘Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are all labourers (God’s fellow workers) together with God: ye are God’s husbandry (field), ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 3:8-11) 

And there we have the crux of the problem: the ONLY foundation worthy of being built upon is that laid by Jesus Christ! But sadly, many of us are building on foundations not laid by Christ, and some who are building on Christ’s foundations are using different materials to build upon it. However, Bruh Paul further explains: ‘Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble (straw); every man’s work shall be made manifest (become evident) for the day (judgement day) shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try (test) every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide (endures) which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved: yet so as by (through) fire.’ (1 Cor. 3:12-15) 

Yes my fellow believers, come the judgement day, our works will be tried by fire, and if they stand up strong like the incombustible elements mentioned above (gold, silver, precious stones), we will receive a reward. However, if we build with combustible elements, like wood, straw and hay, then our work will be consumed by the fire, meaning our work was not satisfactory, and though we will be saved, our rewards will be negated. 

So what do we get from all of this eh? First that we Christians are all One; labourers in Christ, and as followers of Christ we are thus children of God, therefore everything that we have comes from the Father, and consequently our differences and divisions based on allegiances to mere men are absurd and ungodly. But then too we need to build our earthly work on the foundation laid by Christ, that’s His gospel and the examples He set for us, and take care to build with good, strong materials, that can withstand God’s judgement. 

And now my fellow saints, it’s all up to us. So let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere 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 my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

And having said that, we now need to go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…it’s high time believers become spiritually mature…stop drinking spiritual milk…and begin eating solid, spiritual food…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   27 November 2021 Matthew 19:26.

27 Nov 2021 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 19:26.     With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

So what does Saturday have to say for itself eh? Nothing much nuh. Just a weary sigh, as it tries to recover from a rough work week. Unfortunately, that is made even more difficult when it looks outside and sees the sun and the dark clouds struggling to see who is going to rule the roost for the day. Ah Lord eh, it complains. It’s always a battle, always a struggle, always a fight to see who will rule. Why can’t we just live in simple peace and harmony eh? 

Then it sighs again, as the reality hits home. Apparently, that wasn’t meant to be until Jesus returns and sets up His kingdom. So, till then, like we have no choice but to keep up the good fight as we live for Jesus. And on Saturdays, we try to philosophize biblically (smile) on the quotes that our friend Anselm sent us in the past week as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. 

The first one says: ‘It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.’ And that’s fairly true. A bad, or ‘no can do’ attitude at the beginning of any task will just make it even more difficult than it is already. We have to inject some measure of positivity into our thinking if we even expect to accomplish the task, much less accomplish it with as little heartache as possible. 

That applies even more when you are a believer in Christ, because He has promised to strengthen and help you in everything you do, once it falls under His will. So, as a Christian, you must come to everything with a positive, I can do this though it seems difficult attitude, because your help comes from Christ, your Lord and Saviour, your Enabler. 

Meanwhile, the next quote tells us to ‘Limit your “always” and your “nevers.” Now that’s a very good idea. You know how we like to use those two words a lot; for example, we’ll ‘always do this or that,’ and we’ll ‘never do that or this.’ Well for our sake, it’s wise to cut down on the times we say always and never, since those absolute pronouncements have a habit of coming back to bite us in the butt, like a boomerang comes back to the one who throws it. And I can testify to that from personal experience, because in my younger years there were a couple of things I promised myself to never do, but, as life would have it, I ended up doing them. 

Then we come to this interesting quote. ‘What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.’ I believe that has a lot of truth to it, if your goals are worthwhile in the first place. That’s because to achieve your goal you have to work at it and while you are working you are also growing character wise. So, by the time you have reached your goal, you will be at a higher level of maturity than when you began. 

And growth in our earthly walk is as important a part of setting goals as achieving them. We have that picture laid out perfectly before us as believers, when we consider that we need to walk in the Spirit and at the same time, bear the fruit of the Spirit. Bruh Paul wrote thus to the Galatians. ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.’ (Gal. 5:16-17) 

So friends, to achieve our goal of bearing good fruit, as Christ desires of us. ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:5) And what is the fruit of the Spirit that’s so important to us? 

Bruh Paul characterized it thus: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith (faithfulness), Meekness, temperance (self-control): against such there is no law… If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.’ (Gal. 5:22-23, 25) The goal is to bear good spiritual fruit, (those nine things listed above), but to do that we have to walk in the Spirit, and as we do both things, we will become more spiritually mature with each step we take. 

That brings us to this quote: ‘Believe you can and you’re halfway there.’ That’s oh so true, for without belief in the success of whatever you are planning to do, you will put a negative spin, or curse on it before you even begin. Jesus said it so often during His earthly sojourn. It’s a sister quote to the one we dealt with above:  ‘It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.’ Our prevailing attitude is always very important in whatever we do. With a good or positive attitude, we enhance the success of our project, while with a bad or negative attitude, we sort of jinx our project from the very start. 

Now here is our last quote, which says: ‘Nothing is impossible. The word itself says “I’m possible!” The play on the word ‘impossible’ is certainly interesting. But then again, as believers in Christ Jesus, we all know that nothing is impossible, because all things are possible with the Creator of the universe. 

Jesus Himself said so when talking to the disciples about it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. The Good Book tells us: ‘When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ (Matt. 19:25-26) 

Oh my fellow saints, what a wonderful note to close on this cloudy Saturday morning. Please, let’s spend some time considering all the ramifications of that most encouraging statement. Much LOVE!

…Christians…the most optimistic people on planet earth…                                                                                                                                       

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 4 November 2020 Philippians 3:14.

04 Nov 2020 Leave a comment

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

Philippians 3:14.     ​I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Okay, so the bubble hasn’t burst yet, there is no clear winner of the U.S. Presidential Election, but His Imperial Dictatorship in Waiting, has already declared it as being rigged and planning to fight it in the courts. I wonder if he will do that if he wins eh? However, knowing the eccentricities of His Dictatorship, anything is possible where he is concerned. (smile) 

Ah mih people, rougher days seem to be ahead. Can you imagine it eh, after all the fire ringed hoops we’ve been forced to jump through in the last six months, we might still have more serious ones to navigate? No, it’s not a pleasing thought, but please let’s not get any more worried and/or frustrated than we already are. Let’s remember that we are children of the Most High God Jehovah, living in a world that He created and still controls, and nothing happens without Him allowing it. No, He doesn’t always create or begin something, but unless it falls into line with His imperial and divine plan it does not last! 

Furthermore, He has faithfully promised to never leave nor forsake us, and that no weapon formed against us will ever prosper, not in this lifetime or the next. So if we sincerely believe that He is our rock and our fortress, our high tower and divine protector, then we should not be overly worried about what’s happening around us in these troubling times. Concerned, yes, but not worried, otherwise our faith is worthless. For, as the Good Book states: ‘Faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for. The evidence (conviction) of things not seen.’ (Heb. 11:1) 

Yes my fellow saints, in God’s realm, we need to hope for and believe we have received things we haven’t yet seen! That’s the basic difference between the believer and the unbeliever; the former being able to wait expectantly and see through their eyes of faith, stuff that hasn’t happened as yet, once it’s in accord with God’s will. And in these troubled times, that is exactly where many of us are failing, are falling down. Our hope and faith levels are too low. But remember, it’s only in tough times that our faith and hope do grow. When life is good and easy, faith and hope merely exist in a kind of vacuum, waiting for the tough times to come along. 

And above all, the Lord wants us to grow in hope and faith, to become spiritually mature in the manner and character of His son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! That’s why, sometimes, in times like these, He tests our faith to see what we’re truly made of. He tests our mettle, to see if we can really walk the plenty talk we usually have in the good times. Our God desires to see if our salt is still full of flavour, and thus useful, and also if our lights can still burn bright and thus give light to the dark world that surrounds us. 

Oh fellow believers in Christ, our Lord is expecting us to stand strong in these crucial times. He’s expecting us to be examples of fortitude and perseverance, of help and encouragement to those who are shaking it rough. To be good ambassadors of his holy kingdom and take His word and His dedication to those around us. We can’t save or proselytize the whole world, but we can certainly be fully flavoured salt and bright lights to those in our neighbourhood. And I just came across and interesting scripture from Bruh Paul that I believe will be of much benefit to us this Wednesday morning. 

Hear him to the church at Philippi: ‘Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended (reached spiritual maturity, fully knowing Christ): but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 3:13-14) 

Oh friends, that is the kind of attitude we need to adopt in these trying times. Let’s forget what has gone before, our successes and failures, and press on, move forward, towards the high calling that God has in mind for each of His children. Yes, He has a unique plan for each and every one of us, as Jeremiah says, a good plan, one to give us a hope and a future. And that high calling pertains to us knowing Christ better and better, and becoming more like Him in character and purpose as the Lord raises us from glory to glory! 

And here are some interesting explanations from the scholars. ‘3:13. Those things which are behind refers both to his (Bruh Paul’s) religious credentials (vs.5-6), now counted as “loss” (vs.7), and to his past Christian achievements and successes. In ever pursuing his goal to know Christ (vs. 10), he refuses to let past guilt pull him down, or to rest on his past laurels. Either could spell spiritual disaster. Those things which are before refers to his goal of knowing Christ, with all that implies: experiencing His power and participating in His suffering, becoming more like Him in death (vs. 10), and experiencing the resurrected life (vs. 11).’ 

Wow mih bredrin! Are those ever high and noble goals for us to live up to eh? But it’s what our heavenly Father desires of us, and simple fact is that we can’t approach Jesus’ stature if we just live the good life and don’t suffer some of His problems. (smile) 

And per our Bit, the scholars explain: ‘3:14. The mark is the objective of vs.10-11 (i.e., knowing Christ). The prize is the personal satisfaction of having attained it, as well as the divine commendation and reward to be granted in heaven for having reached this goal on earth. The high calling of God is the divine summons extended to the believer for salvation.’ 

Oh my people, today, let’s reinvest in ourselves nuh; let’s set our objective, that goal to know Christ as best we can, so that we can win first prize; the satisfaction, the divine commendation and reward as we heed the divine call to salvation. That’s the true purpose of the believer! And for those of us who have already set those goals and objectives, let’s go home now declaring (yeahhh!) our Wednesday Wail nuh, letting all and sundry know our serious, sincere and joyful position in Christ Jesus! 

All together now: ‘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. NO! 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 there’s no need to remind us, but I will anyhow, (smile) that if we endure steadfastly to the end, that the future will be indeed more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…in these troubled times…let’s all be prisoners of hope nuh…so that our faith can grow…and be spread abroad to the glory of Jesus…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 March 2016 2 Peter 3:18‏

10 Mar 2016 Leave a comment

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

2 Peter 3:18.  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Oh friends, the ole fella’s a mess; tired and out of sorts…but I am at home, my comfort level has been raised, because they say that home is where the heart is, and though I LOVE Tobago dearly, it’s in the cold North country that I am currently domiciled. 

Now yesterday was indeed a crazy day. I got up pretty early so that I could write the Bit then finish packing, and I don’t know how many of you realized the nonsense that I did. First of all I did not include the Wednesday Wail. I only realized that last night while sitting down listening to Uncle John (John Hagee) trying to get back into my old routine. 

Then just now, when I read the Bit I discovered that I had written it as though it were Tuesday, complete with the Tuesday Mantra and all. Ah Lord eh! And as I just looked back at Tuesday’s Bit, the Tuesday Mantra wasn’t included. 

What a mess up! Friends, you’ll just have to forgive the ole fella yes, because he’s just showing His age and human frailty. (smile) 

And I am somewhat annoyed with you all, because when I mess up so badly I expect somebody to let me know. That means you all are either not reading the Bit, or not paying serious attention to it, which isn’t very encouraging. 

Anyway, what I believe really happened is that I was so taken up with leaving sweet Tobago, the packing, the seeing of friends and family for the last time and the feeling of sadness that obviously crept in, my poor brain just could not function properly. All of that though is just the Lord’s way to test your Christian sense of forgiveness. (smile) And I know that I am forgiven. 

But it truly was a rough day yesterday. I don’t know how many times I packed and unpacked the numerous heavy bags we had; from the house to the car, then from the car to the check in. 

Luckily I got a porter to take them from the arrival lounge to the car outside, but I had to pack them in the house again when I got home. By then I had spent some 7 or eight hours en route, most of them cooped up in a li’l tin can plane with barely any leg room, like sardines, leaving T&T around 1 p.m T&T time, not arriving in T.O. until 6.30 p.m T.O time, which is an hour different. 

And believe you me, T.O has the worst, yes I said the worst wheelchair service at any airport. Yes the ole fella has to use the wheelchair service now because he can’t walk the long distances between the arrival and departure points any more, especially with heavy hand luggage. 

One poor lady who couldn’t walk at all, and who was using the service for the first time was totally taken aback at the number of hold ups we were forced to endure. There never seems to be enough people or wheelchairs to ferry the passengers in Toronto. 

And then their main concern is to get your boarding pass so that they can record it, to possibly show how many people they serviced. Don’t know if they get paid by the numbers or what, but at each level, that’s always the first requirement. And even though they have state of the art golf-carts to move you around some, the service is very poorly run. 

Apparently this lady had once been a social worker, and she was truly appalled at the inferior service. She expected it to be better than T& T’s, but it certainly isn’t. So by the time we got to immigration all the other two hundred and odd people on our plane had already gone through, and at the baggage carousel, only the few bags of the seven wheelchair passengers remained. 

You can just imagine the duchess’ reaction. Hn! Sadly, she always gets saddled with my slow process. But what can you do eh? As a concerned and caring wife, you have to stay and support your not so ambulatory husband. (smile) 

And then, wonder of wonder, we arrived in T.O to 17 degree Celsius temperature. Mama yo! 17 degrees in the middle of March? That is unheard off! Inside the house was colder than outside. I had to turn up the heat. 

And right now it’s about ten or eleven with rain. Thank the Lord! I’m certainly not complaining, because the warmer temps are helping me to reintegrate myself much more easily than if it had been bitterly cold as it usually is in early March. 

And that’s the story of my life. Let’s hope there are no more screw-ups. (smile) And please friends, if I do screw up, please let me know nuh. I’m only human, and can’t catch everything. Thank you. 

Now we can finally turn to our Bit. ‘But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.’ 

Well I certainly hope I did some of that yesterday, because my Christian behaviour was truly tested by the waiting and the many security checks and all the other nonsense that is involved in airplane travel these days. 

Again, the Lord puts us through these things to test us, to see if we can truly walk our talk. On the scale of 1 to 10, I must have been around a 7, which is not too bad, all things considered. I didn’t complain too much, and my patience was fair. I was encouraging others to be patient. Hn!

And as we saw yesterday from Bruh Paul’s writing on the new life in Christ to the Ephesians, as Christians we have to be strong and steadfast in our faith. We can’t afford to be childlike and swayed by every evil and cunning doctrine introduced by man. That means we have to become, and then continue to be spiritually mature. 

And we’ll end today with this explanation from the scholars on the subject. ‘4:14-15. Two results occur when Christians reach spiritual maturity. (1) Negatively, they will no longer be children, that is, immature believers easily deceived by every wind of (false) doctrine; and (2) positively, they will grow up into him, that is fully grown in all aspects of Christian living – doctrine, conduct, service and so on. 

But speaking the truth in LOVE, may grow up may be read “by LOVINGLY teaching the truth, we will grow up.” Christian maturity is attained, in part, by thorough instruction in sound doctrine giving in a LOVING manner.’ 

And that’s indisputable truth my brethren! So please, let’s go out today, and every day, and try to grow thus nuh, for that is indeed the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!

…as each day goes by…our Christian meat intake…ought to supplant at least a little of our milk diet…