Proverbs 3:7-8. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones.
Oh Friends, before I could even say anything about it being Friday, the working populace was already chanting: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! The weekend done come! Yes the weekend done come! And soon this week of slave labour will end. Yes, this week of slave labour soon end. So just thank God it’s Friday!’
Now Friends, that li’l ditty heralds the arrival of the weekend, and it’s all well and good to do so, but then we need to understand how to use those two days of freedom. That’s where our Friday Chant comes in. So let’s chant it nuh, in strong voice, with cheerful hearts.
‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.’
Now that’s the right way to use our valuable two days off! That brings us to our Bit. ‘Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones.’
It’s the same as yesterday. However, instead of it being basically the headline or banner for several other affirmations, today we’ll dig a little deeper into its individual meaning and share some relevant scripture.
Now the basic meaning should be clear, because the words are simple and to the point. We shouldn’t consider ourselves as stalwarts of wisdom, since we obviously are not, and thus try to do stuff in our own strength, as an island unto ourselves, for none of us can stand alone. We all need help at various times and stages of our lives.
What we need to do is turn to Jehovah God, our Creator and Provider and acknowledge Him with sincere reverence and worship. That’s true wisdom! For in so doing, He’ll give us all the succour we need, and the strength to eschew the evil things of this world, which are like the grains of sand on the beach; too numerous to count.
That’s why Bruh Paul wrote these relevant scriptures to his readers. To the Romans, he says: ‘Bless them which persecute you: bless (speak well off), and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another.
Mind not (do not set your mind on) high things, but condescend to men of low estate (associate with the humble). Be not wise in your own conceits (estimation). Recompense to (repay) no man evil for evil. Provide things honest (have regard for good things) in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in (depends on) you, live peaceably with all men.’ (Rom.12:14-18)
Yes Friends, believers ought to try and live in peace and harmony as much as possible and not in dissension and high mindedness as many of us are living today.
Meanwhile to the Philippians, Bruh Paul pleads: ‘If there be therefore any consolation (encouragement) in Christ, if any comfort of LOVE (consolation), if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels (affection) and mercies (sympathy),
Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same LOVE, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.’ (Phil.2:1-4)
Oh my people, harmonious living should be the hallmark of those living under the Holy Spirit of Christ!
Now here are some important thoughts from the scholars. Re verse 1: ‘Therefore resumes the thought begun in 1:27-28, namely that the Philippians are to be “worthy” and steadfast in unity, striving together for the gospel’s progress. The word if, occurring four times in this verse, denotes fact, not doubt; it might then be translated “since.”
Paul is thus affirming that in Christ there exist consolation (encouragement); comfort of LOVE (solace furnished by LOVE); fellowship of the Spirit (partaking of the Holy Spirit’s life and sharing in His gifts, ministry, help, values, etc.); bowels (affection); and mercies (sympathy).
This verse forms the basis for Paul’s appeal in verse 2: “Fulfill ye my joy.” His thinking is this: Since these five benefits or virtues exist in Christ, and since you are Christians, then exercise these virtues toward one another as you contend for the gospel and face opposition.’
Ah mih breddren, what statements of truth! Selfish and unruly living, like many of us supposed believers are currently embracing, will only harm Christ’s church. Only the upholding of the godly virtues will enable us to stand together and successfully repel the enemy. And sadly, we’re not doing a good enough job of it, because the enemy is daily getting stronger, using our selfish and petty differences to divide and conquer us.
Oh fellow believers in Christ, we cannot allow that to continue happening, for it’s our bounden duty to build Christ’s church, not to see it fall apart for lack of harmony and unity. So I’m imploring each and every one of us who claims to believe, to TRY AND LIVE RIGHT!
We all know what it takes to do that, but we need to truly get serious about it and make a solemn decision to actually do it. Otherwise, Christ’s church will keep on falling lower and lower, until it hits Ground Zero. And I’m sure we don’t want that to happen, especially on our watch.
Therefore Friends, let’s get a move on nuh, let’s start living more harmoniously than we’re currently doing. It’s our ONLY HOPE for a successful future! Much LOVE!
…no organization can be successfully built…unless there’s a sure foundation of unity and harmony…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 August 2013 Proverbs 3:7-8
23 Aug 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: affection, associate with the humble, be honest, be of like minds, be of one accord, benefits, bless those who persecute you, body, bounden duty, build Christ's church, cheerful hearts, comfort of LOVE, conceits, consolation in Christ, Creator, curse not, depart from evil, dissension, ditty, divide and conquer, don't repay evil for evil, don't set your mind on high things, encouragement, eschew evil, esteem, fellowship, freedom, Friday chant, fun, further your glorious kingdom, generous help, get a move on, glorious kingdom, godly virtues, grains of sand, ground zero, hallmark of Christians, harmonious living, harmony and unity, high mindedness, holy spirit, jehovah god, Jesus, jesus name, joy, likeminded, live peaceably, live right, lowliness, mercy, mind, no man's an island, only hope, opposition, peace and harmony, petty differences, provider, rejoice, relaxation, relevant scriptures, renewed and refreshed, repel the enemy, selfishness, sincere reverence and worship, slave labour, solace, solemn decision, soul, stand together, steadfast in unity, strife, striving together, strong voice, successful future, succour, sure foundation, sympathy, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the gospel's progress, unruly living, vainglory, virtues, weekend, weep with those who weep, wisdom, wise in your own estimation
Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 August 2013 Proverbs 20:1
01 Aug 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: alcohol, blacked up, blood of jesus, brilliant sun, Caribana, Caribbean Carnival, celebratory times, cleansing, confession of sins, deceived, dissipation, drunk with wine, drunkenness, enmity, eternity, excess, father in heaven, fellowship with God, filled with the Spirit, filling of the Spirit, fire water, God's mysterious ways, God's power, good weather, Ham, happiness, holy spirit, imbibed, intoxication, Japheth, Jewish Proverb, King and Queen of Carnival, nakedness, Noah, on behalf of God, proverbial wisdom, recrimination, salvation, Shem, showers of blessing, spilled blood of Jesus, strife, suffering, the things of God, the will of the Lord, undisciplined, vino, violence, walk circumspectly, wine, wisdom, wise living
Proverbs 20:1. Wine is a mocker, strong (intoxicating) drink is raging (arouses brawling): and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Oh Friends, oh Friends I really don’t know where my head was this morning nuh; somewhere up in the clouds, I guess. But I can assure you it wasn’t clouded with fire water, though I probably need a shot to set me straight now. (smile) Thanks Cher for setting me straight.
Please ignore the first version of Today’s Bit, and I humbly and sincerely apologize for putting the wrong date. And would you believe that I usually check the day and date box at the bottom right hand corner of the computer before I start writing the Bit. Sometimes I even laugh at myself for doing it. Obviously I didn’t do it this morning, when I most needed it.
And today is Thursday, the first day of August 2013…and it’s raining. So what, you ask? Well let’s hope that it’s simply showers of blessing and cleansing, and by the time the dawn breaks, the rain will disappear and a big, bright, brilliant sun will appear above the horizon.
Remember Friends, it’s Emancipation Day in T&T, and Independence Day in J.A, as well as Caribana Weekend, the biggest weekend in T.O! Sorry, it’s Scotia Bank Carnival Weekend in T.O! The rights to the name Caribana have been in litigation for a few years now, and I guess the old administration has prevented the new one from using the title of Caribana.
Anyway, the major part of the festivities begins tonight with the King and Queen of Carnival Show in Lamport Stadium. And since Lamport is an open air stadium, with no roof, we need good weather so that the festivities can go off properly. And the ole fella is looking forward to the Pan Contest on Friday, so the rain cannot be falling during the day time.
Now let’s offer up this prayer for a good and clean Caribana. ‘Oh Father in heaven, we sincerely pray that you will allow the Caribana celebrations to go off without any serious problems. That everybody will have a good time, and their will be no aftermath of violence and recrimination. We pray this on the power of the spilled blood of Jesus at Calvary. Amen.’
And after writing that preamble, I opened the Good Book to seek a Bit, and lo and behold Friends, it opened amidst the proverbial wisdom of Cousin Sol, and the first words my eyes fell on were: ‘Wine is a mocker, strong (intoxicating) drink is raging (arouses brawling): and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.’
And I just had to laugh, because God was obviously moving in one of His many mysterious ways, letting me know He wanted that verse of scripture to be Today’s Bit, to serve as a warning in these celebratory times against imbibing too much fire water, which causes us to become undisciplined and fall easy prey to Lucifer. The scholars suggest that ‘Wine is personified as a mocker because it deceives those who partake of it. It is contrary to wise living.’
But before we get into the Bit, let me share and interesting Jewish Proverb, which says: ‘From happiness to suffering is a step; from suffering to happiness is an eternity.’
And isn’t that the awful truth my people! We move from happiness to suffering so easily and so quickly that it boggles our minds. But moving from suffering back to happiness… Hn! That’s a completely different story. It indeed seems to take a lifetime.
And here’s a good example that ties in with our Bit, of how suffering can crop up out of the blue and spoil our lives. It comes from Noah’s story. ‘And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent’ (Gen. 9:20-21)
And we all know the results of that indiscretion. Ham, one of Noah’s sons, saw him naked, then went out and told his two brothers, Shem and Japheth, who took a robe, backed into their father’s tent and covered him without looking at his nakedness. Now when Noah recovered from his drunken spell and heard what had happened, he cursed Ham and his Canaanite descendants, cursing them to be forever servants of the other two brothers. (Gen. 9:22-29)
Now I find that somewhat unfair, because if Noah had not imbibed too much vino and blacked up, his nakedness would not have been exposed.
And the scholars have this note on vs.21: ‘Noah had been so faithful to God that it is unlikely that he did this deliberately. His drunken condition may have been a totally unexpected result of the changed environment after the Flood.’
I don’t buy that excuse. I’m sure Noah must have drunk wine before the flood and knew its grave potential. But who knows eh? His drunkenness did cause strife and enmity within his family. And unfortunately my brethren, drunkenness is still destroying families up to this day, possibly more so than in Noah’s time.
Meanwhile, listen to Bruh Paul’s warning to the church at Ephesus on the subject. ‘See then that ye walk circumspectly (carefully), not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (dissipation); but be filled with the Spirit.’ (Eph.5:15-18)
And we’ll end with some wise words from the scholars. ‘5:18. The words, ‘be filled’ here mean ‘be continually filled,’ emphasizing that the fullness of the Spirit is a repeated experience for believers. When a person is drunk with an alcoholic beverage, his walk, talk, and sight are controlled by alcohol. God desires that the minds of Christians be controlled by the Holy Spirit so that they will walk in the Spirit, speak on behalf of God, and understand the things of God.
Because people are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at salvation, they do not need to get more of the Holy Spirit, but the filling of the Spirit occurs when the Holy Spirit gets more of the believer.
Illustration: As we establish our fellowship with God through confession of sins (1 John 1:9) and yield to Him, (Rom.6:13), we can be filled with the Spirit if that is our desire (Matt.5:6) and prayer (Luke 11:13).
Application: Every Christian should be filled with the Spirit in order that he may have God’s power to serve Him. (Acts 1:8). First Ref, Ex.35:31; Primary Ref, Eph. 5:18; cf. 1 John 2:27.)
Friends, please check out those scriptures for they are very interesting and revealing. Now let’s go out and be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, and not the fire water that Lucifer offers. That surely is wisdom to the nth degree! Much LOVE!
…instead of turning to drink to drown his sorrows…man should turn to the Holy Spirit of God…for wise guidance…in every circumstance…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 July 2013 Psalm 90:14
10 Jul 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: atonement, be glad all our days, common sense, compassion, evil, flood waters, fountain of lfe, from everlasting to everlasting, God is good, God's mercy, good times, goodness and mercy, height of wisdom, iniquities, light, LOVE of God, LOVE Revolution, magnanimous god, negativity, omnipotent god, one more chance, petitions, prayer, psalm 90, river of pleasures, shadow of God's wings, some semblance of normalcy, steadfast in God's LOVE, strife, the Promised Land, transgressions, trigger finger surgery, ungodly, walk worthy of God, wandering in the wilderness, we may rejoice, wonderful god
Psalm 90:14. O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
And then it was Wednesday Friends, hopefully a day of very little or no rain, so that the earth and all other things can dry out and return to some semblance of normalcy. Thankfully the rain wasn’t too bad yesterday, mostly drizzle and dark, cloudy skies, giving the flood waters some time to drain off.
But hear this interesting scenario nuh. Yesterday morning, after writing the Bit, I got myself together and went down to the hospital to have the stitches removed from my trigger finger surgery. I got there around nine thirty, traffic being stop and go most of the way.
But lo and behold, when I entered the appropriate section of the hospital, the waiting room was empty, that’s highly unusual, and the place looked a little dark and foreboding. The truth of the tale though is that the hospital had no power, just a little emergency lighting. There were no doctors or support staff, just a few nurses.
So see me there getting antsy, figuring that I had put myself out to travel all that distance in bad traffic to boot, then not have the stitches removed. But Friends, please remember that our God is a good and wonderful God, and He’ll never leave you in the lurch.
The nurses eventually took pity on me and carried me to a room with a big plate glass window, that provided enough light shining from the outside, so that they could see to remove the stitches. I obviously thanked them a great deal, and fifteen minutes after I arrived, I was winging my way back home.
Ah Lord eh Friends, when it’s not one thing in this life, it’s always another! But when we remain steadfast in God’s LOVE, He always finds a profitable way out for us.
And who knew this better than Moses, who wrote Psalm 90,’ From everlasting to everlasting thou art God,’ from which our Bit is taken: ‘O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.’
Yes my people, we certainly do need God’s mercy, if we’re to have true gladness and joy here on earth. Before we get into the Bit though, here’s some valuable info from the scholars on the origin and purpose of Psalm 90.
‘This psalm is the only one written by Moses and thus the oldest in the Psalter. From verses 7-12 we may judge that it was written at the end of the 38 years of wandering in the wilderness. It is a prayer for the new generation of Israelites who will enter the Promised Land.’
I guess Moses was on the verge of dying, and knowing his people’s penchant for turning away from God, he aspired to leave them something to keep them focused.
Now about our Bit. It’s a verse of the last part of the psalm, where Moses petitions God to give the Israelites one more chance to do His work; that is going in and capturing the Promised Land.
He begins the petition thus: ‘Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom (gain a heart of wisdom). Return, O Lord, how long? And let it repent thee concerning (have compassion on) thy servants.’ (Ps.90:11-13)
Yes my people, today, more than ever, we need to get wisdom and understanding, since our world has become unbelievably evil and ungodly. And if we’re ever to enjoy some good times here on earth, we also need the Lord’s mercy and compassion like never before, with all the strife and negative stuff that currently surrounds us.
And Moses wasn’t the only one to recognize the great need of God’s mercy and compassion for the people. Bruh David for one, declared it on several occasions. Hear him in Psalm 36, ‘The steadfast LOVE of God.’
‘How excellent (precious) is thy LOVING-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness (fullness) of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.’ (Ps.36:7-9)
Oh my brethren, truer words were never spoken! That’s a most excellent description of our omnipotent and magnanimous God!
And we’ll end with these words of Bruh David from Psalm 65, ‘God is powerful in nature,’ because I’m being very mindful of the length of the Bit today. (smile)
Here, he again confidently declares: ‘O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away (provide atonement). Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.’ (Ps.65:2-4)
Yes my brethren, all the goodness and mercy in our lives depend solely on the bountifulness and the magnanimity of the Lord God Jehovah! As we keep His Word and do His Will, so shall we experience His mercy and LOVING-kindness. No wonder our world is in such sad shape.
So today, I implore us to renew our efforts to walk worthy of our Creator and heavenly Father, so that we may once again be blessed and satisfied with His mercy, and thus rejoice and be glad during the rest of our days.
That my Friends, is not only the height of wisdom, but pure and unadulterated common sense, neither of which seem to be very prevalent in our world today, hence its continual degradation.
But as true believers, we’ve been given the task and all the tools to turn it all around. So let’s get to it nuh, let’s get some godly action going, action that enhances and enables the LOVE Revolution of Jesus! Much LOVE!
…without God deeply involved in man’s life…his days will always be unfruitful…as he’ll be always encamped in the wilderness of life…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 June 2013 1 John 4:8
09 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a little bit of LOVE, allegiance, Alpha and Omega, anger, best thing, charity begins at home, Christ's Church, christianity, compassion, crux of the matter, decency, Emmanuel, entertaining angels, escalation of ongoing wars, evils of the world, exceeding abundantly, forgiveness, God is LOVE, greed, hatred, high priest, hypocrites, Jesus Christ, let your light shine, LOVE, LOVE in action, LOVE one another, LOVE Revolution, mercy, praise and thanksgiving, pride, prince of peace, propitiation for our sins, right heart, rumours of wars, sacrifical blood, sacrifice, salt of the earth, show Love, sppression, standards of excellence, strife, substantial change, suppression, the world's going to the dogs, thoughtfulness, treat strangers decently, true christianity, undeniable truth, walk the talk
1 John 4:8. He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE!
Oh Friends, family, neighbours and enemies, this is Sunday, the day when many of us go to church to worship God! But that doesn’t seem to be helping us nuh, because our world is still going to the dogs, and very quickly too.
Obviously one day a week is just not sufficient for us to pour out praise and thanksgiving, for every day there’s more talk about the escalation of ongoing wars and rumours of new wars starting up. There’s plenty of strife, anger, hatred, greed, pride, persecution, suppression, oppression and all the other negative things – but NO LOVE!
And that’s just unacceptable my people. Our world needs a LOVE Revolution in the worst way! My brethren we need one bad, bad, bad – and right now too! And the sad part is that it won’t take much LOVE to straighten out most of the problems nuh. But unfortunately we can’t seem to find any true LOVE at all.
Remember what B.J. Thomas says in his song? ‘A little bit of LOVE is better than no LOVE at all.’ So all we’re looking for to start us out on the right foot Friends is just a l’il bit o’ LOVE. And we’d be surprised at the substantial change that just a l’il LOVE would make. But for some reason we can’t seem to get around to that, however we do seem to find the time and effort to revel in the inappropriate evils of the world.
Oh my people, yuh see what our Bit says: ‘He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE!’ And that’s the undeniable truth!
So if, as we claim, we believe in God, then we ought to have LOVE for God and also for each other. And not only have LOVE, but more importantly SHOW it! My family will tell you that one thing I’ve always tried to drill into their heads is that you just can’t talk LOVE, you have to SHOW it, because just talking it does no good to the hearer, they need to feel it too, for true Christianity is simply LOVE in action.
That’s why unbelievers view us as a bunch of hypocrites, because we only talk the talk, but don’t walk it. Just look at how Jesus showed His LOVE for us nuh; by selflessly sacrificing His sinless life for our sinful ones.
The Good Book describes it thus: ‘In this was manifested the LOVE of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ (1 John 4:9-10)
And if that’s not real true LOVE Friends, then I don’t know what is.
And hear this next verse nuh mih people. ‘Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:11) And therein lies the crux of the matter my brethren. Too many of us out there in the world, in the body of Christ’s church claim to LOVE, but sadly, we don’t show it.
And here’s what the scripture says about that: ‘If a man say, I LOVE God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that LOVETH not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he LOVE God, whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who LOVETH God LOVE his brother also.’ (1 John 4:20-21)
And yuh know what my people, Jesus isn’t asking us to die for anybody, although that could be a very LOVING and Christian thing to do. All He’s asking of us is a l’il thoughtfulness, a l’il caring, a l’il decency, a l’il compassion, a l’il mercy and a l’il forgiveness, which, when all put together, equals a L’IL LOVE!
Oh my fellow believers, what’s so hard about that eh? And it doesn’t even have to be anybody outside, although it’s good to treat strangers decently, for unawares we might just be entertaining angels. (Heb.13:2) But we can begin right in our own family, for as the old people were won’t to say, ‘Charity begins at home.’
And that is the gospel truth! For if you can’t LOVE the people closest to you, how can you LOVE somebody you don’t know anything about, although it’s quite possible in true Christianity.
So my brethren, what do you all have to say about all that eh? Are we going to do this LOVE Revolution thing?
I vote very vociferously that we should, because it’s a perfect win-win situation. We have absolutely nothing to lose, and absolutely everything to gain. So come on nuh, please join with me, starting today, in fact RIGHT NOW, let’s pledge our LOVE and allegiance to the LOVE Revolution in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Alpha and Omega, our Emmanuel, our Advocate, and don’t forget our High Priest… Wow!
So let me put it to you this way then mih people; if a man with all those awesome and amazing titles – and I’m sure I’ve left out some – gives up His innocent life for your evil one, then plays all those rather important roles in your life, why wouldn’t you want to associate with Him eh? Especially if when you associate with Him from a right and decent heart and motive, He will lift you up, exalt you more that you can ever expect or imagine. The Bible terms it: ‘unto him that can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.’ (Eph.3:20)
Oh Mama Mia! How could I not want to be a part of all that nuh! No way José! I want to get in on the ground floor of that LOVE Revolution, because it’s the BEST THING this world has to offer!
So let’s say this pledge together nuh Friends. ‘Oh Jesus, today I pledge my allegiance to You and Your LOVE Revolution! I promise to do my very best to work towards the high standards of excellence you seek for those who desire to join your movement. Please help us to fulfil all your desire. We pray this in Your Name and on Your sacrificial blood. Amen.’
So we’re all official members of the LOVE Rev. Club now people! (smile) Therefore, let’s go out into the world and let our light shine, be the salt of the earth, show them what real LOVE is all about, what Jesus is truly about, by helping and serving those in need. For that was Jesus’ purpose here on earth; to serve, not to be served. And we’d do Him proud by continuing in that same humble and righteous vein.
So let’s glorify Him by both walking and talking the Christian talk. And all God’s people cried a loud ‘Amen!’ Much, much LOVE mih breddren!
…if God is LOVE…and shows LOVE…then God’s children should be LOVE…and show LOVE too…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 May 2013 Proverbs 29:22.
18 May 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a furious man, abundant wisdom, an angry man, anger, bickering, bitter pills, bitterness, busyness, charcoal, coal-pot, coals, contented, contention, forgiveness, God's handiwork, happy, human-rights, impatience, LOVE, mercy, mistrust, molten lava, nature, negative emotions, obedience, peace, petty actions, prince of darkness, resentment, rumours of wars, satisfied, selflessness, spirit of LOVE, spirituality, stirs up strife, strife, transgressions, troubles, wars, worthwhile attributes
Proverbs 29:22. An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.
‘Saturday, O glorious Saturday! What shall we do this Saturday eh? Take a walk in the park, or a drive out into the country and admire God’s handiwork in nature? Visit the open air markets and country fairs? Or just sit at home and do nothing, relax, take a break from the madding crowd that’s out and about this weekend?’ Oh Friends, there are any number of things we can do today, but there’s just one proviso to whatever it is we intend to do; make sure it includes Jehovah God, for without His active involvement, our actions have the sure potential to turn into disasters. And here’s an interesting quote from an anonymous source. ‘When you dig another out of trouble, you find a place to bury your own.’ And that’s oh so true, my people! I’ve experienced it, and so have many of you. When you help someone with their troubles, yours just seem to naturally fade into the background, at least for the time that you’re helping the other person. Then you’re more concerned with the unfortunate plight of your fellow man, than with your own. But this act of helping must be done out of selflessness, and not merely because it’s the right thing to do, or it will make us look good. That’s because helping others is an integral part of our faith and our general mission in life as followers of Jesus. We have to do it from a spirit of LOVE and obedience. Remember the Good Book tells us that Jesus spent His days going about doing good and healing people, (Acts 10:38) and so too should we. But unfortunately that’s not always possible on account of the negative attitudes some of us hold, as our Bit so wisely points out. ‘An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.’ That’s the gospel truth Friends, as many, or most of us can attest to, since we’ve been there and done that. Oh my fellow believers, anger is a dreadful poison. It’s possibly the most potent weapon in Lucifer’s arsenal, since so much negativity flows from it. Just look at all the turmoil and strife in the world right now; the many wars and rumours of wars, the mistrust and contention, most of it can be traced right back to anger. And too often that anger has been passed down through the ages, constantly simmering and flowing out like molten lava from a volcano. It’s so prevalent that in many cases the ones involved in the strife today couldn’t tell you why there’s such antagonism between their neighbours and themselves, just that it has always existed. And the sad part is that oftimes it began over some petty action or remark, but the human spirit is so aggressive and warlike in its natural state that the strife has been handed down through numerous generations. Friends, I’m putting it to us today that that’s no way to live! Unfortunately though, our world is currently programmed to produce anger: what with the sorry downturn in all areas of our once so prosperous lives, the busyness and inherent impatience born of that same busyness, as well as the egotistical pride and selfishness that’s running rampant. It’s a veritable breeding ground for instability, lack of self-disciple and control. And an angry man is certainly an unstable man. When we’re angry is the worse time to make important decisions, for then our out-of-sync emotions are in control instead of our reason, and we’re liable to do all kinds of crazy, negative things. That means, as the second half of our Bit points out, we’re liable to engage in much wrongdoing, since then it’s the prince of darkness who’s controlling our sprits and not God or wise reason. Cousin Sol wrote an interesting analogy earlier on in Proverbs 26. ‘As coals (charcoal) are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.’ (Prov.26:21) And there’s a whole lot of truth to that statement Friends! Most of the young people nowadays won’t even know what coals or charcoal are. I don’t even know for sure how the coals was made, since I was a town boy (smile) and we just bought the ready made coals to fire up the coal-pot. I just know that it was made from burning wood in some form and fashion. And a lot of people would contend that food cooked on a coal-pot or wood fire, tastes sweeter than that cooked on a stove, that’s why so many people are enamoured of their barbecues. But as far as I know the new fangled coals used in barbecues is somewhat different to what we grew up with in the West Indies. But just as coals and wood are very combustible, likewise a bickering, contentious, unreasonable person has a great tendency to cause or kindle strife. And what does strife do? Just cause negative things like bitterness, resentment, hatred, anxiety and fear to creep into our souls and set up shop. And once we have those negative emotions festering in us, we can never be satisfied, contented or happy, and will therefore be unable to lead a productive life based on the teachings and principles of Jesus. And Friends, that’s definitely no way to live this earthly life! It’s rough enough without us making it rougher. That’s why it’s so important to stay away from strife, anger and all the bitter pills they produce, as well as the people who like to induce them. Listen to this guideline Cousin Sol gives on the subject. ‘A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife (contention).’ (Prov.15:18) But my people the only sure way to avoid and/ or control that negativity caused by those emotions of darkness is to immerse ourselves in the body of Jesus; accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, read His Word, learn His statutes, and try to live our lives using His earthly sojourn as our example. When we do that, then the myriad of negative emotions won’t have any place in our lives. Instead, worthwhile attributes like peace, LOVE, mercy and forgiveness will reign supreme in our souls. So please, let’s seriously consider today, what part anger and its negative counterparts play in our lives, and penitently ask the Lord to help us get rid of them, so we can walk in the brilliant light of His Son Jesus Christ. Therein lies abundant wisdom! Much LOVE!… the best way to avoid the dangers of anger…truly LOVE our God… sincerely LIVE our Faith…and diligently SPREAD His Word…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 March 2013 Isaiah 51:12
24 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: asap, bitterness, blessed day, disastrous pit, drought, earthly hell, faith, faithful prayer, famine, fleshly lust, forces of destruction, glorification, great deeds, great LOVE, heavenly Father, joblessness, LOVE, loving kindness, negative forces, no time to lose, noble emotion, poverty, praise, resentment, rule the roost, rumours of wars, Saint of the Little Flower, sickness, sincere repentance, son jesus christ, spiritual rebirth, spirituality, St. Therese, strife, The Lord who comforts, trust, wars, workers of iniquity, worship
Isaiah 51:12. I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass.
Oh Friends, isn’t it most excellent to see another blessed day on God’s wonderful earth? It certainly is! So let’s all take a deep breath, hold it for a moment, then slowly let it out, while simultaneously contemplating the miracle of life that exists in us, and the goodness of God that enables us to keep on breathing minute after minute, day by day. And having done that, and realizing what rich and exquisite gifts the Lord has bestowed on us, both through ordinary physical life and spiritual rebirth, reconciliation through His Son Jesus Christ, all His earth bound children declared a heartfelt: ‘Thank You Lord! We LOVE You and praise Your Holy Name! We know that it’s nothing we’ve done, but Your monumental, unconditional LOVE for us that causes You to continue looking upon us with such awesome and amazing LOVING-kindness. We faithfully pray that our wonderful LOVE relationship will continue forever, throughout eternity. In Jesus Name. Amen.’ Yes Friends, what a great LOVE our heavenly Father bears towards us, and consequently desires us to bear to each other. No wonder St. Therese of Liseux, the Saint of the Little Flower, emphasized in her short, rough but productive earthly sojourn, that ‘What matters in life, is not great deeds, but great LOVE.’ And if that isn’t an undeniable truth, then I don’t know what is! Sadly though, of all the emotions, that noble emotion of LOVE, which we need the most, is what we have the least of. Granted, the word is constantly bandied about, but there’s no true substance to it. It’s used mostly in a worldly, carnal manner, oftimes as a synonym for fleshly lust. But when coming to true LOVE for God, and true LOVE for our fellow man, our world is sadly lacking. True LOVE for God doesn’t mean continually disparaging Him and removing Him from our society. And true LOVE for our neighbours certainly doesn’t mean the worldwide strife, resentment, bitterness and other stressful emotions that currently dominate our days and nights. And unfortunately my people, without real LOVE, we’re just spinning our wobbly wheels in self-destruct mode. That’s because the negative emotions opposed to LOVE aren’t conducive to building or creating, but are all forces of destruction. And if we keep letting those negative forces rule the roost, then we’ll just keep going the way we are now…falling, falling, falling into the disastrous pit of an earthly hell. It doesn’t take a genius to see that my brethren. But it does take a wise, considerate and LOVING human being to want to do something to stop the carnage, the ever-quickening downward trend. And as I keep reminding us, it’s only the true believers who are capable of catching the reins of this runaway horse and carriage we call modern-day life and bringing it to a halt and then reversing its sordid direction to that which leads to sincere repentance, praise worship, glorification and LOVE for our Creator, Jehovah God. Ah mih people, unless this reversal of directions happens, and happens soon too, we’ll all end up in dire circumstances. The terrible plight of our world is there for all to see; what with the tough and getting tougher economic situations creating worldwide joblessness, the immense poverty, sickness, homelessness, famine, drought, climate change and all the other negatives now consuming us. None of that speaks of real LOVE, especially when there’s more than enough of everything to go around. And we haven’t even mentioned the numerous social uprisings, the wars and rumours of wars that are concurrently taking place alongside all the other disastrous situations. Oh Friends, what a mess we’ve made of God’s wonderful creation! And it all stems from a sad lack of LOVE. The unfortunate thing about LOVE though, is that it takes time to build, because it needs trust and faith, things that cannot be had instantly. Meanwhile, hate, anger and strife can be raised up immediately and produce immense destruction at the proverbial drop of a hat. Anyway my fellow believers, the moral of the story, the purpose of this epistle (smile) is to have us wake up and realize that it’s imperative we get the ball of LOVE rolling as quickly as possible. There’s absolutely no time to lose, since Lucifer and his wicked cronies already have a substantial head start on us. That means we have lots of ground to make up, before we can even think of forging ahead of the evildoers. So please, if we seriously and sincerely LOVE Jesus and want to please Him, want to help build His glorious kingdom, then let’s get it together nuh. Let’s cut out all the pussyfooting and blah blah blah, and get some real action going. We can’t allow the immense sacrifice of Christ’s sinless life on Calvary’s cross to be wasted, to go for naught under the evil onslaught, because we’re too comfortable, lazy and/or afraid. Remember Bruh Paul’s strong assurance to Timothy: ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Tim.1:7) Therefore, as true believers, we ought to come out swinging, giving no quarter to the workers of iniquity in this LOVE Revolution, if we want to see a return to God and all the things that make for a safe, satisfied, wonderful, godly and righteous life. Now let’s allow our Bit, and the three verses after it, to take us home, so that we can ponder on the truth contained in them, and how our lives reflect that truth. ‘I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a (mortal) man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready (preparing) to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is his name.’ (Is.51:12-15) Oh my people, please let’s contemplate today on those harsh words of our mightily displeased God. Yes, He is mightily displeased because we’re doing just like, and even worse than the Israelites of old, to whom Isaiah directed those words. And having pondered them, let’s then rise up and do better. If not for our sakes, then for Jesus and our children’s. It’s the wisdom of the ages. Much LOVE!…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…otherwise he’ll surely feel the wrath of God…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 March 2013 Matthew 12:33
14 Mar 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a tree is known by its fruit, abundance of the heart, astute observation, bad fruit, basic logic, bitter water, church unity, condemned, controversies, divided church, divisions, evil treasure, fresh water, good fruit, good treasure, idle words, justified, laws of nature, LOVE, new blessings, new mercies, new Pope, peace, religion, roman catholic church, salt water, spirituality, strife, sweet water, tension, theology, true brotherhood, unsavoury goings on, what defiles, wisdom
Matthew 12:33. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is know by his fruit.
Oh Friends, it’s another new today! Please, let’s use it wisely and fruitfully. And all God’s children joyfully declared: ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ Yes my brethren, that’s why the Lord insists on giving us new mercies, manna and blessings every day, so that we can start each one afresh on a new foot, in praise, thanksgiving and rejoicing in His Holy Name. And I guess the most noteworthy news today is the announcement of a new Pope, a new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, who took the papal name of Francis. It also brings up a couple of firsts; the first South American Pope, as well as the first Papal Leader of Argentinean descent. He seems to be an honourable and humble man, but please remember, that though we might be good regional or small town leaders, when we hit the big stage, step up to the world level of leadership, all our problems and constraints are multiplied a thousand fold. So it’s not going to be easy for him to bring unity to a mightily divided church. But let’s all pray nonetheless, that the Lord will enable him to bring some lessening of the strife, tension and divisions that’s currently engulfing His church, due to all the unsavoury goings on and controversies recently exposed, eventually bringing some peace, LOVE and true brotherhood to the legion of followers. That brings us to our Bit; a most interesting statement of Jesus: ‘Either make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt (bad), and his fruit corrupt (bad): for the tree is know by his fruit.’ Now that’s an astute observation, if there ever was one! (smile) Jesus was here commenting on the good and the evil that exists within men. And it’s just basic logic that a tree cannot produce both good and bad fruit at the same time. By the laws of nature, it simply has to be one or the other. But just like James asks: ‘Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.’ (James 3:11-12) That’s why believers should not be blessing and cursing from the same receptacle, our souls. And as Jesus told the multitude, re things that defile: ‘Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.’ (Matt.15:10-11) Yes Friends, what we put into ourselves doesn’t defile us, but what comes out certainly does. For as Jesus further enlightens us, and the scribes and Pharisees surrounding Him: ‘O generation (brood or offspring) of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ (Matt.12:34-37) Oh my people, so much truth is contained in those words, it isn’t funny! In the first place, we usually speak what’s plentiful in our hearts, unless we’re being consciously hypocritical. So as Jesus says, if our hearts are filled with good stuff, then good stuff is what will emanate from our mouths. However, if evil reigns in our hearts, then only evil can come forth from our inner man. And above all Friends, please note that second to last verse, where Jesus warns that we’ll have to answer for every idle word we’ve ever spoken, come the judgement day. That should wake some of us up, who just curse and gossip and spread false stories, because, as He says, we will either be justified or condemned by our own words. Yes my fellow believers, we’ll either stand strong and live by the good words that we utter, or we’ll end up weak and fall by the evil words that proceed from our lips. The choice is ours, my Friends. Each individual has to make that most important choice as to whether he’ll be a propagator of good or evil. No one can do it for us. So please, I encourage and plead with us, today let’s take inventory of what’s truly in our hearts and try and replace any evil we might find there with good, by seriously asking the Lord’s help, so that come judgement time, we won’t have to answer for too many idle and evil words. More on this topic tomorrow, if the Lord so desires. Till then Friends, please, let’s pay close attention to what reigns in our hearts, and thus what titillates our tongues and eventually comes out of our mouths. That’s wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!…a single receptacle can only hold one kind of matter at a time…so it’s only wise to fill man’s heart…a single receptacle…with good stuff…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 March 2013 Psalm 15:1
13 Mar 2013 1 Comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: anger, despise the vile, dissensions, divisions, dog eat dog world, excellence, god, holy hill, holy spirit, loving kindness, majestic throne room, patience, perseverance, personal integrity, petty quarrells, Praise the Lord, pure heart, qualifications to serve, religion, resentment, righteous kingdom, strife, strong shoulders, tear down the veil, the Lord's tabernacle, theology, unreliability, usury, walk uprightly, who's worthy, work righteously
Psalm 15:1. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
Oh Friends, sorry that this is a tad late, but I got up later than I wanted to, then had problems connecting to Hot Mail. I’ve noticed that several times in the last few days. It’s that unreliability which turns me off of computers; just when you want something, you find it’s unavailable, and most of the time you don’t even know or can’t find out why. In essence, you’re at the mercy of the providers. And unfortunately there’s not much we can do about it, but put the patience and perseverance of Jesus to work; that spiritual enabling His Holy Spirit anchors in us. In addition to that, there are many blessings and favours that show up in our lives which totally overshadow the few disappointments. And all God’s people said: ‘That’s for sure! Praise the Lord our God for His goodness to us, children of undeserving men!’ Now turning to our Bit. In it, Bruh David asks a very interesting question. ‘Lord, who shall abide (sojourn) in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?’ In other words, who is worthy to serve in the Lord’s tabernacle, or on His holy hill? What are the qualifications for that most important position? Then he gives us the answer. ‘He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up (receives) a reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned (despised); but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.’ (Ps.15:2-5) Ah Friends, yuh see that the qualifications needed to truly serve Almighty God are basically a pure and LOVING heart and personal integrity, reflecting the character of Jesus. However, they differ substantially, are actually the exact opposite of what the world teaches about everyday survival in this current dog eat dog time. Now we all know that we can never achieve perfection like Jesus did, but nonetheless He expects ALL His followers to work towards it. In other words, striving for excellence in all our doings. But the million-dollar question is whether we’re doing that, whether Christians are truly striving for excellence in all our affairs? I sincerely doubt it because there are still too many non-Christian activities taking place in our lives. Things like anger, resentment, strife, jealousy and envy, many of which are petty and spurious in nature, but nevertheless cause serious divisions and dissensions amongst God’s people. Remember Friends, back in the days when Bruh David wrote, only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and come before Almighty God. But thankfully, with Jesus tearing down the veil that separated the Holy Place from the rest of the temple, (Matt.17:51) all believers can now worship without any restrictions, we can all come before Almighty God now. But that also means, since we now have the Holy Spirit of Jesus indwelling us, to lead and guide and strengthen us, we’re ALL now expected to come up higher than the people of the Old Testament who didn’t have the Holy Spirit automatically indwell all believers. My brethren, Christ is certainly asking a lot of us, but as always, He’s also giving us the tools to do His service. Remember, He’ll never allow us to carry more than we can bear, and will continually be at our side as we work through our problems. And if by chance we stumble and can’t continue, then in His awesome LOVING-kindness, He’ll gently lift us on to His strong shoulders and carry us the rest of the way. That’s the wonderful kind of God we serve and worship, my people! And all God’s children offered up a loud and grateful: ‘Thank You Lord! Thank you for sending Jesus to save us. We praise and bless your Holy Name!’ Now let’s end with some further words of Bruh David on the topic. In Psalm 24; the king of glory, he again asks: ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place?’ (Ps.24:3) Then he answers it thus: ‘He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity (an idol), nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.’ (Ps.24:4-6) Ah mih breddren, I’m disturbed by that last verse. Is this generation truly seeking God? It certainly doesn’t seem so. But we can surely dream it; see it through our eyes of faith, can’t we? So today, let’s ponder on all the qualifications necessary to serve God in His sanctuary, His holy hill, and life in general, for they are all the same now. Let’s see how we currently rate, then sincerely promise ourselves and God to do better, to climb that ladder of excellence required by Jesus, and thus fulfill the dream to truly seek God on a personal level, and also to share it with others, so that His righteous kingdom can be further expanded and glorified. Much LOVE my brethren!…on our own…we’ll never be worthy to stand before God…but through the sacrificial blood of Jesus…we’ve all been granted entry…into the majestic throne room of the Most High God Jehovah…
