Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 March 2012 Titus 1:16‏

18 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , ,

Titus 1:16:       They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Ah Friends, the wonderful weekend weather continues, though all the frivolity of St. Paddy’s Day is over. Time to get back to the Lenten austerity. ‘Bah humbug!’ I hear some of you unwisely declare. Anyway, I sure hope that many believers in the northern climes, who used the cold temps as an excuse for not going to church, will go now, since that excuse no longer holds water. (smile) But knowing this generation, many of us will find some other excuse for not going. Friends, please remember the adages; ‘one hand washes the other, and it takes two to tango,’ meaning that we can’t live this life successfully by ourselves, and if we reject God for spurious reasons, He will not respond favourably to us in our time of need. And don’t forget also, that though God LOVES us a whole heap, He doesn’t really need us, being omnipotent and all that He is, but we definitely and desperately need Him, for without Him, we are nothing. That means WE have to go to Him, because OUR future depends on Him, not vice versa. Consequently, we have to be very careful with whom we associate and listen to, since there are so many false prophets and teachers in this evil, ungodly world just waiting to lead us astray from the truth of God’s Word.  Our Bit says it nicely: ‘They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate (disqualified).’ Yes Friends, con artists abound out there, seeking to trick us out of everything we have. And though they might get our earthly possessions, we certainly can’t allow them to trick us out of salvation and everlasting life; eternal separation from Jesus! No sir! For that is indeed true death!  And the only way to avoid such a calamity is by being able to pick out the wolves in disguise from the flock of sheep wandering around. Now yesterday we looked at some scripture dealing with the first part of our Bit, ‘They profess that they know God.’ Today, let’s move on to the next part; ‘but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.’ And these awesome verses from Bruh Paul to Timothy admirably capture the essence and spirit of the false teacher. ‘For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous (money lovers), boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, trucebreakers (irreconcilable), false accusers (slanderers), incontinent (without self-control), fierce (brutal), despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady (reckless), high-minded (haughty), lovers of pleasures, more than (rather than) LOVERS of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof (mere religion without a true spiritual life): from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive (prey upon) silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts (especially susceptible to false teachers), ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (seeking some esoteric quest for truth apart from God’s Word). Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, (the two magicians in Pharaoh’s court, who tried to duplicate Moses’ miracles – Ex.7:11, 9:11), so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate (disapproved) concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs (the magicians) also was.’ (2 Tim.3:2-9) Oh Friends, yuh sure Bruh Paul didn’t write that recently, instead of almost two thousand years ago, for it’s the perfect description of our modern world! Every evil and ungodly trait he mentions there is now glorified in our world, and it’s become increasingly difficult to pick out the wolves from the sheep for their disguises are so authentic. That’s why each believer has to delve into the Word themselves; read, study, meditate on it and ask questions of trustworthy followers, then plant the truth of God in their hearts, minds and souls, so that when the false teachers and prophets come with their lies and slants, you’ll be able to distinguish them as wolves in sheep’s clothing. Oh my brethren, of all the generations of mankind, this one most desperately needs to know the truth of God’s Word, and unfortunately are not getting taught it. We as parents and leaders of the church have sadly fallen down on our responsibility to teach the generation that comes after us, and now they are solidly under Beelzebub’s thumb, heading for death and damnation in Hades! However, as we all know, while there is life there is hope, but we don’t know how much life is left, so please, let’s begin IMMEDIATELY, RIGHT NOW, to try and teach them the Word before it’s too late. We talk plenty about spreading the Word all over the world, but remember Charity, LOVE, begins at home, so let’s make sure we teach the Word at home first nuh. Only then will be ready to go unto the outside world. Much LOVE!…for the children’s sake…please teach them to pray…from an early age…

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 March 2012 Titus 1:16

17 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Titus 1:16.    They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

 HAPPY  ST. PATRICK’S  DAY

Well ‘ello dere me Irish Friends! A Happy St. Paddy’s Day to you and yours! No matter that only my name is Irish, and I’ve never set foot on the Emerald Isle. (smile) But St. Paddy’s Day was always a special day in T&T during my youth, for it was the only day in Lent that you were allowed to party and hear calypsos on the radio. That means we always looked forward to that jubilant break in the middle of a rather austere Lenten season practiced back then. Hope you have a fine day celebrating the Patron Saint of Ireland, with all your green stuff, and enjoy your parades and whatnot. But please remember to be very careful, and drunk or sober, mind your business, for the evil one and his associates are always lurking around these celebrations hoping to entice us into their dark lairs of lust, debauchery and ungodliness. Those workers of iniquity walk around in sheep’s clothing, but on the inside they are really ravenous, voracious wolves disguised as sheep, and they can do untold damage to us and Christ’s Church, if we allow them access to our inner beings. Like Bruh Paul told Titus in our Bit, way back when: ‘They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate (disqualified).’ And that’s the living truth Friends! It’s amazing how plenty time passes in this world, but so many things remain the same, for we also have lots of that type of people circulating in our world, just like Bruh Paul’s day. And unfortunately they might be even more treacherous and devious today with all the new psychological warfare and technology. As Bruh Paul opens this warning passage on false teachers: ‘For there are many unruly (insubordinate) and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake (dishonest gains).’ (Titus 1:10-11) Yes Friends, a lot of fraudsters are running around the globe teaching false and/or subversive stuff solely for dishonest gain, whether it be power, money or some other earthly favour.  In this highly modernized world, all sorts of theories abound, some of which do sound good enough to be true, and the dishonest purveyors of these theories or slants, all claim that they are God driven; ‘they profess they know God.’ But listen to Jesus on the subject: ‘Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils (demons)? and in thy name done many wonderful works (miracles)? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (lawlessness).’ (Matt.7:20-23) Truly my people, all that glitters is not gold, likewise all that sounds like truth is not necessarily true, neither are all those who claim to preach God’s Word, true believers. And we certainly don’t want to get involved with that kind, for when Jesus comes again in glory, we’ll sadly discover that we’re on the outside with Lucifer and his evil workers, looking in at the good life taking place in Jesus’ domain. That would certainly be disastrous on all counts! And Jesus was so serious about that message, He reiterated it in the parable of the ten virgins. Re the foolish ones who did not bring extra oil to the wedding for their lamps, and weren’t there when the bridegroom finally arrived and shut his door. ‘Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.’ (Matt.25:11-13) It’s a rough life this Friends, but we just have to be very careful and concentrate on the eternal things of Jesus, rather than the exhaustible and temporal things of this evil world, for everybody has some wonderful scheme to offer us. Note the high amount of white-collar fraud that’s currently prevalent. And that’s because we’re greedy and thus easily taken in. The con artists feed on that undesirable trait of our character.  How can someone offer us 10 or 15% interest on our money, when the big moneyed people can barely get 5%, if so much? If it sounds too good to be true, then most likely it is a fraudulent deal. The same goes for those claiming to preach the Word. Now let’s end with some appropriate words from 1 John, re tests of true knowledge: ‘And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the LOVE of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.’ (1 John 2:3-6) More on this tomorrow, if we’re still alive and kicking. Till then, please be careful of those evil wolves masquerading as sheep. Stay close to Jesus, that’s where it’s safest! Much LOVE!…things that are eye-catching and ear-pleasing…are not always what they seem to be…often they are just façades for evil…