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John 1:14. And the Word was made (became) flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Well friends, the big day has come and gone; the purists got their white Christmas and I do hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful day with friends and families, keeping Jesus first place in your thoughts as He is the reason for all the celebrations.

But yuh know what? Christmas Day might be gone, but the Christmas season is not over as yet, there’s still a lot of peace, LOVE and good cheer yet to be spread. And on this Boxing Day, here is something titled ‘It’s Christmas,’ from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, to bring the Christmas season into true perspective.

Please read with me: ‘It’s Christmas! Sing! Rejoice! Celebrate! Let God create in you Colourful explosions Of joy and excitement. Smile away fears, push away tears. Out with pretense, in with praise. It’s Christmas! Open your heart to light To trust, to LOVE, to hope. Awaken slumbering memories Stir up stupendous dreams Anticipate surprises Open your arms wide.

It’s Christmas! Time for candles and cards For carols and cookies For brightly lit trees With the fragrance of pine. Time to hug and hold To think and thank Time to greet the world With the Good News. It’s Christmas! Thank God for life Thank Him for the manger For the splintered cross For the empty tomb. Thank Him for His only Son The Saviour of the world. Shout! Laugh! Share! Care! And say to God On Christmas morning: “I entrust myself anew To You.”

Oh friends, doesn’t that picture of Christmas sound wonderful? It surely does! And though we may not be in a position to do all that’s suggested there, we can ALL do the most important things, like give God thanks and praise for all that He’s done for us through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and pledge our LOVE and allegiance anew to Him EVERY day!

Ah mih people, the Lord God Almighty certainly went out on a limb for us when in His awesome LOVING-kindness He decided to save us from our sinful selves. The least we can now do is to show some sincere appreciation and gratitude as we enjoy all of the blessings and mercies that He’s poured down on us, especially in this season of Christmas, when we celebrate Christ’s birth, the beginning of the whole beautiful, heartwarming and revolutionary drama.

And all God’s people declared a loud, proud and grateful: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill to men!’

And the Bible Promise for that poem is also our Bit for today. ‘And the Word was made (became) flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.’ How majestic and marvellous for the Son of God to become human and dwell amongst us!

And the scholars offer these explanations: ‘1:14. Made flesh indicated the incarnation (the miracle) of God the Son becoming human yet remaining God, and bringing us into full conviction of Christ’s humanity. The use of flesh contradicts the Gnostic heresy that God could not be united with human flesh, which was seen as evil.

Dwelt among us: John uses the word for “tabernacled,” here translated “dwelt.” The Old Testament tabernacle was where God dwelt among the Jews in the wilderness. In this context, God is dwelling in the person of Jesus Christ. We beheld his glory: Perhaps John refers to the Shekinah glory which appeared in the tabernacle of the Old Testament. The expression signifies the visible manifestation of God. John later uses glory to refer to Jesus’ life (2:11), death, and resurrection (12:23).’

So my people, we could not ask for a greater gift, especially at this time of gift giving. We need to remember that God the Father gave us the greatest gift ever, God the Son, in our veritable time of need; a time when we were headed directly for eternal damnation and darkness. Not that we aren’t still heading for it, but at least now we have an option to avoid it.

Before Jesus came and sacrificed his sinless life on our behalf, we had no option but to go straight to Hades with Lucifer and his evil band. But all praise to Jesus for giving the option of believing in Him and thus having reconciliation with the Father and eventual salvation and eternal life! Wow! If that isn’t the GREATEST my brethren, then I don’t know what is!

Now let’s go home this Tuesday morning, letting the world know whom and whose we are by declaring our Tuesday Mantra with much gumption and truth. As one now: ‘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 the world. Amen!’

And since we’re truly Christ’s people, then let’s go and truly share His LOVE with the rest of the world nuh! Much LOVE!

…oh…there’s not enough thanks in the world…to truly give to Jesus…for His sacrifice on our behalf…

2 Corinthians 9:6. But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully (with blessings) shall reap bountifully.

Well greetings and salutations on this beautiful Summer Sunday morning my fellow believers! May the wonderful grace of God and His awesome peace be with and among us as we meet in His sanctuary to praise, worship, thank and glorify Him. And to get us going, let’s sing those heartfelt words of John Newton written so long ago, when he finally found God, and aptly titled ‘Amazing Grace.’

So with much passion and humble sincerity, let’s raise our voices in sacrificial praise to Almighty God. ‘Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see. ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secures; He will my Shield and Portion be, As long as life endures. Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease, I shall possess, within the veil, A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, who called me here below, Will be forever mine. When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we’d first begun.’

Oh friends, what a magnanimous God we serve and worship! His undying and undeserving grace and mercy are what keep us going in this evil world. His is the salvation and eternal life to which we look, like a bright shining beacon in the dark, stormy night, offering guidance and safety from the perils on our earthly journey.

No wonder Jesus declared, ’I am the light of the world!’ For without Him, our world would be covered in total darkness, the cover Lucifer needs for his evil deeds. So please let’s be everlastingly grateful for the brilliant and lifesaving light of Jesus nuh, which gives us true hope, faith and trust for the future.

Now let’s turn to our Bit; one of the life principles of our great God. ‘But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully (with blessings) shall reap bountifully.’ More awesome truth of Scripture my people! Whatever we give out, shall be given back to us; whatever we sow, we shall reap, and sometimes in greater quantity too, whether it be good or evil.

And today we’ll simply peruse some scriptures which agree with our premise. So listen to Cousin Sol as he contrasts the doings of the wise and foolish. ‘There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that witholdeth more than is meet (right), but it tendeth (leads) to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat (prosperous): and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. He that witholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be on the head of him that selleth it.’ (Prov.11:24-26)

Oh friends, yuh see, when we scatter, or water, or sell, meaning being generous in our giving, it usually leads to prosperity, but being miserly tends to poverty. So if we are interested in having a full and prosperous life, then we must be generous in our giving and helping.

Meanwhile, the psalmist in Psalm 112 – Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord – joyfully declares: ‘A good man showeth favour (is gracious), and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion (justice)… He hath dispersed (distributed abroad), he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn (strength) shall be exalted with honour. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved: he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.’ (Ps.112: 5, 9-10)

Yes precious people of God, as Christians we are called to live righteous and noble lives, giving and helping from humble and sincere hearts as our Leader, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ did in His earthly sojourn, two thousand years ago.

And Moses warned the Israelites long before that: ‘If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates (towns) in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide (freely) unto him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth.’ (Deut.15:7-8)

You can’t get away from it friends, the Lord has shown us LOVE and mercy and grace, and He expects us to do the same with our fellow humans. Now if some of us would only share some of the much we have with others in desperate need, there wouldn’t be as much poverty, sickness, homelessness and despair in our world today.

But don’t forget, the Lord is watching each of us to see how we use the resources He so generously bestowed on us, and we’ll eventually have to answer for our good or bad stewardship. Now let’s end with a timely word from Bruh Paul to the Galatians. ‘Be not deceived; God is not mocked (fooled, outwitted)” for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’ (Gal.6:7) Words of utmost wisdom friends!

So let’s remember that generosity is at the heart of the Lord, and it should also be a major priority in ours, if we sincerely desire to be true disciples of Christ. Much LOVE!

…you can only harvest what you sow…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 June 2017 2 Corinthians 9:6.

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