Today’s Scrip-Bit 5 November 2016 Isaiah 41:10.

05 Nov 2016 Leave a comment

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

 Isaiah 41:10.    Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Well top o’ the morn to you my Scrip-Bit family! Hope this missive finds you alive and kicking on this lazy, hazy Saturday. (smile) Life is short so we might as well enjoy it. We know not when our time will be up, so here is the first of two quotes from our friend Anselm, who always aspires to inspire us to greater heights. 

And first off he tells us: ‘Make each day count. We don’t have all the time in the world. So focus on today and do the things you really want to do.’ That’s exactly what I was saying above. It is imperative that we make hay while the sun shines! 

And the second quote is also inspiring. ‘Reprogram your information intake. Program out negative and cynical thoughts from the media and society. Reduce your information intake. Then program in positive news and entertainment, more of your own thoughts and useful information such as personal growth tapes and books. Be selective and keep it positive.’ 

Ah friends, a lot of us certainly need to do that in this age of so much information and misinformation! Our world is going crazy with the wealth of information that’s now available. The problem though is that too much of it is negative and we can’t easily tell what is truth from prevarication to out and out lies. Therefore our minds are filled with lots of unnecessary and unproductive stuff, that’s why Anselm’s advice is so worthwhile. 

We desperately need to clean up our minds; purge what’s not useful and negative, and then replace it with only useful, positive, godly stuff. Give the television and social media a break; spend more time with God, your family and yourself.  That way we won’t be bombarded with all the nonsense that’s out there, seeking to invade our minds and spirits. 

And last but not least, seek to raise our faith and trust in the God of our fathers. Believe what our Bit says: ‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.’ 

Oh my people, why are so many of us supposed Christians still walking in deep fear of the world around us, when we have such awesome promises from our awesome God eh? We know He’s faithful to keep those promises and that He will work out everything for our good in the end, so why are we still so fickle and feckless? 

As Job says, we have to learn to take the good with the bad. (Job 2:10) We can’t be fearful of every little hiccup in our lives. And this morning I want to bombard us with some ‘Fear nots’ in the hope that it will encourage us to stand steadfast and strong in the power of God’s Word.  

Listen to Moses on the occasion of the biggest miracle of the time, when the departing Israelites were caught between the army of Pharaoh and the deep Red Sea.  ‘And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation (deliverance) of the Lord, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever.’ (Ex.14:13) 

And as promised, Moses stretched out his hand over the Red Sea which parted and allowed the Israelites to cross over on dry land, but when the Egyptians followed, the two halves came together again and drowned Pharaoh’s army. Now one would think that after such a mighty miracle, the Israelites would have been trusting and steadfast forever. Hn! But in the wilderness, three days later, at the bitter waters of Marah they were complaining, wanting to return to Egypt. 

Now hear Isaiah, as he talks about Israel being restored to Zion. ‘Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.’ (Is.35:4) 

And now, listen to these words of Bruh David that we all know and claim to LOVE and believe. ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the day so my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.’ (Ps.23) 

Yeh mih people, if we believe all that Bruh David says there, then we should not be afraid of the vicissitudes of life. Then there’s Jesus to his disciples: ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul….Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.’ (Matt.10:28,31)  

Yes friends, ONLY the Lord can destroy body and soul, and we are much too valuable in His sight, for Him to destroy us, that’s why He sent Jesus to save us. 

And we’ll close with a simple, but powerful statement of Jesus. ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’ (Luke 12:32)  

How much more do we need eh my brethren, before we can truly stand strong and steadfast on the solid foundation of God’s eternal LOVE and ever-faithful promises eh? Steups! God alone knows yes! Much LOVE!

…it’s high time for those of us who call ourselves Christians… to FEARLESSLY stand up and be counted….

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 October 2013 Matthew 5:9

29 Oct 2013 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 5:9.    Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
 
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s a bit tardy and tired this autumn Tuesday morn. I guess the old body didn’t get enough rest last night. But like the mail, come hell or high water, in sunshine, snow or rain, in sickness or in health, the Bit has to go out! (smile) So here it is.
 
And to get us going, here’s this interesting poem I found in the November issue of the Anglican Journal Newspaper. The source is unknown, but the words and message are invaluable.
 
The title is: ‘Why were the saints saints? Because they were cheerful when it was difficult to be cheerful, patient when it was difficult to be patient; and because they pushed on when they wanted to stand still, and kept silent when they wanted to talk, and were agreeable when they want to be disagreeable. That was all. It was quite simple and always will be.’
 
Oh my people, those are indeed words of truth and much wisdom! I LOVE it because it’s so simple, yet very telling!
 
The people we consider saints weren’t really holier than thou, they just did what they had to do without all the complaining and whining that we see in God’s people today. They simply followed Jesus’ example.
 
Yuh think He really wanted to come to earth and be a bloody sacrifice for a bunch of rebellious ingrates? No way! But the Father required it of Him, and being the obedient Son He was, He put His hand to the plough and never looked back.
 
And today Friends, the same is required of us; just do whatever the Lord calls us to do, whether it’s good or bad, easy or hard, and stop complaining and looking for excuses to get out of it.
 
Please note what our Bit says: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’ So if we want to be known as God’s children, then we have to be amongst those who endeavour to make peace, not war, to let calm reign, instead of strife.
 
Now hear what the scholars say about this Beatitude: ‘5:9. The next description deals with the peacemakers. They are at peace with God and desire to live in peace with all men (cf. Rom.5:1). Their peace with Christ enables them to be ambassadors of God’s message to a troubled world. Hence, they shall be called the children of God.
 
Throughout the Beatitudes Jesus clearly underscores that only those who have the qualities of a changed life, herein described, are citizens of His kingdom.’
 
Yeh mih breddren, unless we change our worldly ways, become a new creation in Christ, we CANNOT enter His kingdom!
 
And knowing that many of you won’t check the reference above, I’ll quote Romans 5:1. I sincerely hope though, that my doing so is not a disservice to you all, by making it too easy. Well, even our heavenly Father is sometimes indulgent (smile).
 
Anyway, Bruh Paul is here talking about the results of justification. ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Rom.5:1)
 
And the scholars explain: ‘5:1. Justified by faith (lit. “because we have been justified by faith”): It was God’s doing, not man’s. Peace with God: This is not a feeling, but a standing. God and the believer are no longer at enmity but have been reconciled (cf. 5:10-11; 2 Cor. 5:18). This is a primary result of our justification.’
 
So my fellow believers, all the good things that happen to us as believers, as members of the body, the church of Christ, are not of our doing, but of God. He wanted the enmity between Him and His most valuable creation to end. Thus He conceived that awesome, most marvellous plan of reconciliation, whereby those who wanted to be reconciled to Him, to return to worship, adore and live by His will, at least had an avenue to do so.
 
And all we have to do to receive it, is simply to believe on His Son Jesus; rustle up and ramp up our faith and believe.
 
Ah mih people, it couldn’t get any better than that yuh know! And the beauty of it all is that the plan is so simple, so easy, and most of all FREE! Yes Friends, I just want to remind us that God’s saving grace is indeed FREE!
 
Yet today we make it seem so difficult, because the cares of the world and the outwardly beautiful but really flimsy, unworthy things they manifest get in the way. They cloud our judgement to such an extent that we cannot have a meaningful relationship with our Creator. But please remember Friends, that we’re only supposed to be IN the world, but certainly not OF the world! (John 17:14-16; Rom.12:2)
 
And though I have some more stuff to say, re our Bit, we’ll end here for today, because it would make the message too long and burdensome for our busy lives and short attention spans. See how I’m looking out for you, my people! (smile) So tomorrow we’ll continue with this Beatitude, of course, provided that the Good Lord is in favour.
 
Till then though, let’s ponder what we’ve said today, and please, please, I implore us, let’s sincerely try and improve our relationship with Almighty God nuh, because that’s the only thing that makes sense on this evil, ungodly earth.
 
Remember, He is our Creator, Controller and Provider, and without Him we can do nothing. Indeed, we are NOTHING, without His saving grace, His magnanimous mercy, His unconditional LOVE, and His undeserving forgiveness! Much LOVE!
 
…only if we embrace Jesus and all that He stands for….will we ever enjoy eternal life with Him…that’s simple logic…but also divine wisdom…