Today’s Scrip-Bit   9 April 2024   1 Corinthians 3:18.

09 Apr 2024 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 3:18.       Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world (age), let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

And then it was Tuesday; the day we use to recover from our Monday inefficiencies and insecurities. (smile) Now, since we’ve had fellowship with the Lord and other believers in His sanctuary on Sunday, we ought to be rearing to go on Monday. But it’s not until Tuesday that we really have it all together and our work week running smoothly. Somehow, despite all our good intentions, we never seem to get it right on Monday, possibly because it’s seemingly ingrained in our minds as the bad boy of the week, therefore, we always seem to stump our toes on Monday. 

But if that’s the way it is, then we just have to learn to live with stumped toes on a Monday. (smile) All the Lord can do is give us the power, the grace, the mercy, the anointing, whatever we need to do His will, but it’s ultimately up to us to use the tools He provides. 

And today, the Good Library opened unto the first Book of Corinthians, and, most appropriately, the first words I saw were these: ‘Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world (age), let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain (futile). Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.’ (1 Cor. 3:18-23) 

Ah friends, wonderful words of wisdom. Man ought not to take himself too seriously, but trend more towards God. As Cousin Sol  so wisely says in Proverbs: ‘Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.’ (Prov. 3:7) And when Bruh Paul talks about the Lord taking the wise in their own craftiness, he is there quoting from Job 5:13. Now since the Lord knows whatever we are up to, and since most of it is vain and futile in His eyes, why do we still hunger for the wisdom of man and not that of God eh? I guess it’s a combination of our free will and our foolish pride. But the immediate question is why did Bruh Paul pen those words to the church at Corinth? 

Because there was still a lot of envying and strife amongst the congregation. At the beginning of the chapter, he writes: ‘And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat (solid food): for hitherto (until now) ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions (dissensions), are ye not carnal (fleshly), and walk as men (according to man)? 

For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but that God giveth the increase.’ (1 Cor. 3:1-7) 

Oh my faithful brethren, unfortunately the church is still in a state of carnality after all this time. Too many of us are still only able to drink spiritual milk and not eat spiritual solid food, we only know the elementary aspects of our Christian faith, and cannot handle the more serious doctrines. Why? Because  there’s still a lot of strife, envying and fleshly lusts in Christ’s church, that keeps it seriously divided and thus unfulfilled. That means we are nowhere near fulfilling the work that Christ expects of us. And like the factions that destroyed the unity in Corinth, the ones who are destroying today’s unity are not walking in the Spirit but allowing the flesh of man to dictate their ungodly behaviour. 

And Bruh Paul continues his discourse on the subject. ‘Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are all labourers (God’s fellow workers) together with God: ye are God’s husbandry (field), ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 3:8-11) 

And there we have the crux of the problem: the ONLY foundation worthy of being built upon is that laid by Jesus Christ! But sadly, many of us are building on foundations not laid by Christ, and some who are building on Christ’s foundations are using different materials to build upon it. However, Bruh Paul further explains: ‘Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble (straw); every man’s work shall be made manifest (become evident) for the day (judgement day) shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try (test) every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide (endures) which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved: yet so as by (through) fire.’ (1 Cor. 3:12-15) 

Yes my fellow believers, come the judgement day, our works will be tried by fire, and if they stand up strong like the incombustible elements mentioned above (gold, silver, precious stones), we will receive a reward. However, if we build with combustible elements, like wood, straw and hay, then our work will be consumed by the fire, meaning our work was not satisfactory, and though we will be saved, our rewards will be negated. 

So what do we get from all of this eh? First that we Christians are all One; labourers in Christ, and as followers of Christ we are thus children of God, therefore everything that we have comes from the Father, and consequently our differences and divisions based on allegiances to mere men are absurd and ungodly. But then too we need to build our earthly work on the foundation laid by Christ, that’s His gospel and the examples He set for us, and take care to build with good, strong materials, that can withstand God’s judgement. 

And now my fellow saints, it’s all up to us. So let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

And having said that, we now need to go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…it’s high time believers become spiritually mature…stop drinking spiritual milk…and begin eating solid, spiritual food…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 May 2018 1 Corinthians 3:13.

16 May 2018 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 3:13.    Every man’s work shall be made manifest (become evident): for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try (test) every man’s work of what sort it is. 

Ah friends, more glorious weather is in the offing in my area, but in a couple of other parts of the world, that doesn’t seem to be a likelihood. Apparently the ash from the Hawaiian volcano is still causing problems and the North East coast of the U.S. has been battered by a wicked wind and hale storm, leaving thousands without power. 

Brother! That area of the U.S has certainly taken a pounding this year. Let’s keep hoping and praying and doing whatever we can to help, because we never know when we’ll find ourselves in such a disastrous situation. 

And today I want to share some words attributed to John Maxwell, pastor, author and famous leadership expert. I think I might have shared them before, but if so, they are indeed worthy of being repeated again. (smile) And here John talks about dreams and positive attitudes. 

‘A dream without a positive attitude produces a daydreamer. A positive attitude without a dream, produces a pleasant person who never makes any progress. A dream, together with a positive attitude produces a person with unlimited possibility and potential.’ 

And isn’t that the living truth friends! You can’t have one without the other and be successful. So from today, let’s start putting our dreams together with our positive attitudes nuh, so that we can become people of unlimited possibility and potential. 

The Lord has put many dreams and desires in our hearts, and He has also given us all the tools to bring them to pass. It is now our duty to blend and meld whatever is necessary to produce the good works that God has planned for us to do in this life. 

That brings us to our Bit. ‘Every man’s work shall be made manifest (become evident): for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try (test) every man’s work of what sort it is.’ 

Yes my brethren, come the judgement day our works will be tried by fire to see what they were made of. Hence before our Bit, Bruh Paul writes: ‘According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. 

But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, stubble (straw);’ (1 Cor.3:10-12) 

Yuh see friends, the ONLY sensible foundation for us to build on is Jesus. But even then it’s very important what materials we use to build on Jesus. There are a lot of different things we can use, but we have to be sure that whatever we use can withstand the fire come that fateful day. 

And the scholars offer these explanations: ‘ 3:13. The day is the day of the judgement seat of Christ (cf.4:5; 2 Cor.5:10). Fire is figurative for judgement, more specifically, the absolutely righteous judgement of God. Fire is used here to denote, not enlightening power, but consuming power. Of the six types of material mentioned (vs.12), three are combustible and three are incombustible. See also Deuteronomy 4:24; Malachi 3:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Hebrews 12:29).’ 

And friends, I’d strongly suggest you look up those last four scriptures, I just did, and they surely convinced me of the awesome firepower of our God. So for our works to last we not only have to build upon the foundation that’s Jesus, but also build with incombustible material, meaning, strong serious, worthy work. 

For as Bruh Paul continues: ‘If any man’s work abide (endures) which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by (through) fire.’ (1 Cor.3:14-15) 

And the scholars explain: ‘3:14. Reward (lit. “wages,” cf. 3:8): Of course even the “wages: mentioned here are entirely a gift of grace (cf. 1 Cor.9:17; 2 John 8; Rev.11:18).’ ‘3:15. Saved: Such a one does not suffer the loss of his salvation, but the loss of reward. The stress in this entire passage is not on a person’s relationship to Christ, but on service to Christ.’ 

That’s good news in a sense friends! If our works don’t hold up, we’ll still be in heaven, just somewhat the poorer! (smile) But I know that ALL of us will like our works to stand the test of time and fire, we don’t want to be the poor relations in heaven, therefore we will ALL endeavour to build on Jesus with time tested, incombustible materials. 

And to help us do that, let’s go home declaring our Wednesday Wail, letting the world clearly know our position in Jesus. In loud voice and sincere heart now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! 

I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ And will that future ever be glorious my believing brethren! Much LOVE!

…now he that planteth…and he that watereth…are one…and every man shall receive his own reward…according to his own labour… (1 Cor.3:8)

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 12 June 2016 1 Corinthians 16:13

12 Jun 2016 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 16:13.    Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you (be brave) like men; be strong. 

Oh friends, let’s begin this Sunday morning’s proceedings with a most appropriate moment of worship, as we sing the old standard, ‘Stand up for Jesus.’ 

Please sing with me: ‘Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross; Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss. From victory unto victory His army shall He lead, Till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed. 

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the solemn watchword hear; If while ye sleep He suffers, away with shame and fear; Where’er ye meet with evil, within you or without, Charge for the God of battles, and put the foe to rout. 

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the trumpet call obey; Forth to the mighty conflict, in this His glorious day. Ye that are brave now serve Him against unnumbered foes; Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose. 

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, stand in His strength alone; The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own. Put on the Gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer; Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there. 

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, each soldier to his post, Close up the broken column, and shout through all the host: Make good the loss so heavy, in those that still remain, And prove to all around you that death itself is gain. 

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long; This day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song. To those who vanquish evil a crown of life shall be; They with the King of Glory shall reign eternally.’ 

And my fellow believers do we ever need to stand up for Jesus and all that He stands for in these very trying and difficult times! We’re not only meant to sing these words in church, but even more importantly to put them into action in our daily lives! That’s the only way Jesus’ LOVE Revolution will be victorious! 

And to show how supposed believers are strange and unpredictable, I heard Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) say the other day that one of the many books she’s written is one titled, ‘The LOVE Revolution,’ and would you believe it’s the worst selling of all her books. Hn! 

Why? Not because it was a bad book, because it isn’t, but because believers nowadays just don’t seem to be interested in ‘agape’ LOVE; the kind of LOVE that Jesus espouses, that has us caring about others, even when we are going through rough times. Ah Lord eh my brethren, when we going to wake up, to grow up and learn what real Christianity is eh? 

Anyhow, as I went looking for the lyrics to ‘Stand up for Jesus,’ I discovered some worthwhile information on how it came about. Apparently, the writer, a Presbyterian minister, George Duffield Jr. in 1858 was an associate of the Rev. Dudley Atkins Tyng, who had recently been thrown out of his Episcopalian community for speaking against slavery.  

In March of that year, Tyng preached one of the most successful sermons of modern times to the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) in the large space known as Jaynes’ Hall. Of the five thousand men that were there at least one thousand, became ‘the slain of the Lord,’ were converted.  His sermon was apparently based on Exodus 10:11 “Go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord.” Pharaoh’s admonishment to Moses. 

The following Wednesday, leaving his study for a moment, he went to the barn floor, where a mule was at work on a horse-power, shelling corn. Patting him on the neck, the sleeve of his silk study gown caught in the cogs of the wheel, and his arm was torn out the roots! 

He died not long after that, but it’s reputed that before he moved on to the other side, he told his father “Tell my brethren of the ministry, wherever you meet them, to stand up for Jesus.”  

At a memorial service for Tyng, Duffield preached a message based on Ephesians 6:14. “Stand firm, wearing the whole armour of God”, and supposedly the hymn was written simply as a concluding exhortation. However, the superintendent of the Christian school printed the hymn on leaflets for the children and one of those copies ended up in a Baptist newspaper…and the rest is history. Stand up for Jesus is now known and LOVED around the world! 

Yuh see mih people how the mysterious hand of our great God works! Tyng gets tossed from his congregation for preaching against the inhumane system of slavery, but ends up saving many souls at the Y. But then through an unfortunate accident, he soon dies, but he’s already spread the seed he was meant to; stand up for Jesus, and his buddy Duffield, writes those verses more or less as a memorial, but the school superintendent prints it on some leaflets for the children, and a Baptist newspaper gets hold of one and publishes it. Only the mighty hand of God could have fashioned such an unlikely story! 

And finally we come to our most appropriate Bit.  ‘Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you (be brave) like men; be strong.’  That’s Bruh Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians in his first missive. And to sweeten it, he adds: ‘Let all your things be done with charity (LOVE).’ (1 Cor.16:14) 

Ah friends, so much of great importance has been said in those few words of those two verses, that if we follow them, we can never go wrong. And we’ll end with a couple more verses where Bruh Paul is encouraging his readers to stand fast. 

To the Galatians, he declares: ‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.’ (Gal.5:1) Wonderful advice my brethren! 

And to the Philippians he solemnly advises: ‘Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.’ (Phil.4:1) 

Oh friends, please let’s go out and do likewise today and everyday nuh, for that is wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!

…and having done all…stand…now, more than ever…Christians need to stand up steadfastly for what they claim to believe in…