standing steadfast | SCRIP-BITS

1 Corinthians 1:4. I thank my God always on your behalf (concerning you) for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ.

Well another year has come around, and it’s Thanksgiving time in the U. S. once again! I’d like to wish them a most Happy Thanksgiving Day, probably their most widely celebrated holiday. But in doing so, I would also like us to remember that we should not just give thanks on a single man-declared day, but EVERY DAY; EVERY DAY that the Lord allows us to draw breath on His gracious earth.

And though the once great nation is now in sad decline and turmoil because of their ungodliness, their overwhelming desire to purge God from their society, and instead form a great attachment to sin, there are still lots of things to be truly thankful for, and no reason why the wallowing ship cannot be successfully righted with the right leadership and the strong and sincere backing of its still numerous godly citizens.

Remember, as Cousin Sol so rightly warns us: ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach (shame, disgrace) to any people.’ (Prov.14:34) And that’s no lie! Therefore the Christians need to step up to the plate and fight a good fight. And that’s not only required in the U.S. but ALL OVER THE WORLD!

Friends, if we want Christianity to not only exist, but to flourish, we who call ourselves the body of Christ, desperately need to improve our act. The evil side seems to be winning because of their greater effort, while we, the supposedly good side either rest on our laurels or are afraid to get up and perform the necessary actions that are required of us.

And yuh know my fellow believers, it’s not that we need any great evangelical meetings, revivals and all that, although those are useful, the most important thing that we can do is simply start living like the Christians we claim to be, by showing sincere LOVE and kindness to other believers, as well as the unbelievers. The only way that the unbelievers will ever come to Christ is if they see us living the kind of life we talk so much about.

But the sad fact is that we do more talking than walking. Just imagine nuh, if all Christians rose up and truly began living the way Christ desires us to, what a monumental impact we’d have on this sinful old world! Glory be mih people! Heaven would ring with exceptional joy! There would be such dancing and singing like heaven has never seen before!

But it all depends on US, my brethren. If WE don’t get up and begin living right and fighting and standing steadfast and strong, the sadness right now in heaven will continue and possibly get worse. That brings us to our Bit, which shows how Bruh Paul prayed and thanked God for the welfare and fellowship of the believers in Corinth.

Oh precious people of God, this morning I believe that we all need to consider these wonderful, prayerful and thankful words of Bruh Paul to the Corinthians and let them resonate in our hearts, minds, bodies and souls as we go about improving our Christian image.

‘Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always on your behalf (concerning you) for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. That in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you.

So that ye come behind (short) in no gift; waiting for the coming (revelation) of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (1 Cor.1:3-9)

Ah friends, what a powerful and all-encompassing prayer! And I believe we badly need it today. Many of us desperately need God’s peace and grace as we struggle through unfortunate circumstances in our lives. We also need to be enriched by His word and our knowledge of it, so that we can perform our God-given tasks, using the various gifts that the Lord has so generously granted to each of us.

All the while remaining in fellowship with Christ and with each other. That’s when and where we are strong my brethren. Otherwise the enemy will just divide and conquer us, like they are currently doing. Let’s remember too that our wonderful God is ever-faithful, and if He has called us to His body, then He WILL provide all that we need to do His work, until His Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ returns to take over His kingdom.

So please, I implore us to be strong and steadfast in Christ and with each other, so that the unbeliever can see what true Christianity is really all about and thus acquire that great desire to come to Jesus. Wow! What a time that will be! Now let’s be thankful for all the wonderful gifts the Lord has showered upon us, as we declare with loud voice and true sincerity our Thursday Blessings.

All together now: ‘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 everyday! Amen!’

And now, as Jesus desires of us, let’s go out and share those blessings with others in His holy name. Much LOVE!

…rejoice…and give thanks…ALWAYS…in EVERY circumstance…that’s God’s will…

Romans 13:10. LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.

Oh Friends, can you believe it’s already the 11th of January! But we just celebrated New Year’s Day last week!

Yes, it seems 2014 is going to be a fast moving year like 2013, so we had better shape up and do the things we need to do; stop procrastinating, stop believing that we have lots of time to accomplish our life’s work. For some wise people said long ago, that time waits on no one, and that lost time can never be regained, so it’s best to make hay while the sun shines. (smile)

And how do we do all of that? First of all by finding out the plan God has for our lives, then diligently living it out with His help. And He does have a plan for each every life that He creates. He doesn’t just make us on a whim and fancy, but for a specific purpose. That means if you don’t know His plan for your individual life, then you have to ask Him. And you know He’ll never refuse to answer sincere, heartfelt prayer.

But Friends, whatever specific plan God has in store for us, it always has the appendage of LOVE attached to it. Why? Because God is LOVE! (1 John 4:8b) That is one of His many glorious attributes, possibly the most important one as it pertains to human life. For as Jesus said the most important aspects of human life are to LOVE God, ourselves and our neighbours. (Matt.22:37-40)

Therefore, if we are to be true followers of Jehovah God, then LOVE MUST play a very large and important part in our lives. 1 John 4:10 tells us that it’s because God LOVED us so deeply that He sent Jesus to die as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, so He could cover His attributes of holiness and justice. Consequently, ‘Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:11) That means followers of Jesus ought to walk in LOVE!

And our Bit certainly confirms that LOVE is of the utmost importance in a believer’s life. ‘LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.’ So if we’re walking in LOVE, then we’re fulfilling the law of God!

However Friends, talking about walking in LOVE, and actually doing it, are two entirely different things, if only because of man’s sinful and rebellious nature and the unbelievable negativity that our world embraces. Therefore to truly walk in LOVE is not easy, it is indeed a serious challenge. But as everything else in our world, it is doable with our diligence and the help of God.

And the beauty of the whole LOVE experience is that when we truly put it into action, that’s the time we come closest to spiritually resembling Jesus. Oh what joy that ought to produce in a believer’s life!

However, our nature is also to shy away from anything that’s difficult; anything that takes some time, discipline and diligent effort. But just look at what Jesus suffered for us nuh my brethren. Our difficulties are a joke compared to what He went though to save our wretched souls. And all for one big reason…the LOVE OF THE FATHER!

So why can’t we now show a little gratefulness, a little thankfulness by grabbing hold of our plough and looking straight ahead, plough some beautiful furrows of LOVE eh? It’s the least we can do to show our appreciation. We won’t always be perfect and/or successful, but the Lord knows this, and it’s the sincerity of effort that counts.

And sadly my brethren, too many of us refuse to make that effort, that’s why Christ’s church and His LOVE Revolution is losing the battle to Lucifer and his evil cohorts. We seem to want the easy life, but life’s not easy; it never was, and never will be, however you cut or slice it!

Oh Friends, have you noticed how hard the evil powers fight for what they believe in? They don’t sit on their laurels and fat fannies and spout a lot of rhetoric. They get up and work seriously and diligently towards their goals. And if the church of Christ wants to win the battle of this world, then we have to do the same thing. And I don’t mean working hard to acquire the baubles and bangles of the world, but letting the LOVE of God show in our earthly walk, through what Bruh Paul terms the fruit of the Spirit.

And he describes 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.’ (Gal.5:22-23)

Now mih people, that is what we, as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, ought to be showing to the world! But are we doing that? Not half as much as we should! And oftimes it’s just mere token spiritual fruit we offer, from our minds, but not sincerely from our hearts, which defeats the whole purpose, because God doesn’t look at our outward actions, but at the motives of our hearts.

So Friends, let’s get up and get a serious move on nuh. Yuh see how our world is both literally and figuratively sliding down into hell! And we supposed Christians are suffering the downward slide because we’re not doing enough to convince unbelievers that Jesus and His church are worthwhile institutions to support and enjoy.

Oh mih breddren I know I’m coming on somewhat strong, but I’m just tired of seeing the evil and corruption, the poverty, the homelessness, the oppression and suppression that’s currently dominating our world. And sadly, it’s getting worse daily, while we believers squabble amongst ourselves over petty concerns, instead of standing up steadfast and strong against the evil doers, and living the kind of life that truly reflects Jesus. We’re either kow-towing to the evil doers in fear, or joining them because we too enjoy their evil ways.

And we’ll end with some wise words on the subject from Cousin Sol. ‘Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.’ (Prov.10:12)

Oh my people, with those awesome words of wisdom and truth ringing in our ears this Saturday morning, please, let’s go out into the sinful world that surrounds us and cover up plenty more sins than we’re currently doing nuh. It’s what Jesus commanded us to do. (Matt.28:19-20) Let’s show the world what true LOVE really is! That would bring such joy to heaven. Much LOVE!

…to be successful at anything…you need to stay several steps ahead of your competitor…so let’s rev up the LOVE Revolution nuh…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 November 2017 1 Corinthians 1:4.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 11 January 2014 Romans 13:10

Pages

Categories

Archives