SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 42:2.    My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
 
Well mih Friends, all the summer frivolity is now ended in the north country! That’s so sad! (smile) Schools will reopen today, and many adults who have been on vacation will also go back to work, having closed up the cottages for another year.
 
And though the summer wasn’t as hot and sunny as it usually is, it’s way, way better than what we’re about to receive. Would you believe that it’s only the third day of September and trees are already turning brown and shedding their leaves?
 
Ah Lord eh! But that’s what we bargained for when we decided to live in the northern climes. The Lord promised us four general seasons, spring, summer, autumn and fall, but He didn’t say exactly how long they’d be, or what temps we’d have on what days.
 
All that we have are man’s approximation. So if the leaves begin falling at the start of September rather than at the end, around the 22nd, when we audaciously declare that autumn begins, then that’s our problem.
 
The Lord God Jehovah is still in control of His universe, although I believe that the divergence between what should be and what actually happens is basically man’s fault, due to his polluting the atmosphere and thus setting the finely tuned work of God awry.
 
And having given us that somewhat depressing news (smile), here is some positive, uplifting stuff. It’s a Prayer for Success from Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) from his Hour of Power Devotional. I don’t know if I’ve shared it before, but even if I have, it’s certainly worth sharing again.
 
So let’s pray together for success this Tuesday morning, when our lives will get busier and change from much fun and freedom to much school and work.
 
As one voice now: ‘As I become a success with your help, Lord, let me never forget that what I am is more important than what I do. Faith stimulates success. Hope sustains success. LOVE sanctifies success. So I cannot and I dare not succeed without your power, peace, and pressure in my life, Jesus Christ. Amen.’
 
And again my true believers in Christ, we say a loud and lusty, ‘Amen!’
 
Now all of that just fits nicely with our Bit: ‘My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?’
 
Now that’s certainly a good question my people! And it’s certainly how we ought to feel! A longing for God, just dying to get acquainted with Him and His ways should permeate our very being.
 
Please note how the psalmist begins the psalm. ‘As the hart panteth after (the deer longs for) the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.’ (Ps.42:1) 
 
Oh Friends, do we pant after God, do we have that intense longing for our Creator as Psalm 42 is superscripted? And do we say, as the author of Psalm 119 says: ‘I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.’ (Ps.119:131) 
 
I surely do hope so, although from the physical evidence reflected by the sad state of our world, it’s obvious that enough of us feel that way, otherwise planet earth would be in much better shape.
 
But let’s look now at some scriptures that also extol the longing for God, starting with Psalm 63, God satisfies the thirsty soul, penned by Bruh David during his sojourn in the wilderness of Judah, while running from his enemies.
 
‘O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;’ (Ps.63:1)
 
Yes Friends, whenever we find ourselves in a dry and thirsty situation, be it physical, spiritual or emotional, the correct place and first person to run to is our ever-LOVING God, for He ALONE can satisfy our thirst!
 
Meanwhile, Psalm 84, a psalm of the sons of Korah, confidently proclaims: ‘How amiable are thy tabernacles (lovely are thy dwellings), O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.’ (Ps.84:1-2)
 
Oh Friends, I couldn’t put it any better or simpler! To be a longing for God is just how and why we were created!
 
That’s why none of us are ever fully satisfied with the mere wealth and things of the world, regardless of how much we have, but can be satisfied with little or nothing, if we truly find God.
 
We never find true peace, wealth and joy until that little space, that small partition in our souls that God reserved for Himself, has been filled with a sincere longing for the Almighty.
 
And that’s an undeniable fact my people! Check out all the rich and famous and powerful, and you’ll find very few are truly happy, unless that part of their souls reserved for God is filled with Him.
 
And we’ll end with some true and stellar words of Bruh David, when he was again beset by enemies. ‘I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse (ponder) on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.  Selah.’ (Ps.143:5-6)
 
Yes my brethren, let’s muse, let’s ponder on that today nuh! Let’s see how we personally shape up on the matter of longing for, of panting after God. Then let’s make and take the necessary actions to improve our standing in so important a matter. For that’s undeniably wisdom and common sense at their zeniths! Much LOVE!
 
…if there’s NO longing in our souls for God…then there’s NO God in our souls…