Today’s Scrip-Bit 12 August 2015 Psalm 149:1

Psalm 149:1.  Praise ye (shout Hallelujah to) the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

Oh Friends, another beautiful and glorious day of God’s making has been gifted to us! Wow! So let’s show some thanks and gratitude by saying it loud and proud nuh. ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we WILL, we SHALL rejoice and be glad in it.’ 

Oh Glory to God my people! For He is so faithful and true to us, filling our lives with all sorts of good things like peace and joy, mercy, grace, forgiveness and prosperity! Oh aren’t you just ecstatic to be a Christian with a leader like Jesus Christ? You should be. I surely am! 

The problem though is that until you give your life in complete and total surrender to Christ, you won’t be truly able to appreciate and enjoy the wondrous work He does in a believer’s life. 

Oh my people, our Jesus is so awesome that although I know it and experience it on a regular basis, He still surprises me most days with some of the unexpected things He does to enlighten and enliven my days on this earth. 

Please understand one very important thing though; working for Jesus is not all wine, roses and song, because He expects diligence, discipline, obedience and excellence from His followers, and also puts us through the fire to test us, and eventually forge us into a beautiful replica of Himself. 

But believe me Friends, going through the fire is worth it; the good times certainly outweigh the bad. And the benefits of salvation and eternal life with Him in heaven until forever… oh what could be better than that eh? NOTHING my brethren, absolutely NOTHING! 

And those are only the long-term benefits. There are lots more short term wonders to experience down here on earth, like mercy, grace and forgiveness, when we walk obedient to God’s calling. Glory Hallelujah! 

And since today is Wednesday, it means that Wailing Time is here. (smile) So let’s wail nuh mih breddren, let’s wail with hungry hope and expectant faith. As one wailer 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 if you are a true believer, that is exactly where your focus should be; on our glorious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

And since this seems to be a morning of praise, let’s do it right nuh and declare our Bit in loud and faithful voice. ‘Praise ye (shout Hallelujah to) the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.’ 

Yes Friends, singing praises to our wonderful God is indeed something we ought to do on a regular basis! Many of us don’t, but we should take the psalmist’s wise advice, as he continues. ‘Let Israel rejoice in him that made him (their maker); let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. 

Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek (humble) with salvation.’ (Ps.149:2-4) 

Oh my fellow believers, what true and faithful and precious words! The Lord certainly takes pleasure in His people; there’s absolutely no doubt about that, as so many of us can testify to. And believe me, when the Lord is on our side… nothing can harm or trouble us, for we have these two great scriptures filled with God’s promises to hold on to. 

The first one comes from Isaiah, as he talks about the Lord’s everlasting LOVE for Israel. ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of (from) me, saith the Lord.’ (Is.54:17) 

And Friends, if those promises didn’t touch your souls, then listen to this one from Bruh Paul to the Romans, one we all know and LOVE! ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brethren.’ (Rom. 8:28-29) Mama mia mih people! 

Oh Friends, if we are called to God’s divine purpose, and we LOVE Him as we ought to, you can be guaranteed that He is working EVERYTHING out for your good! It might not seem so when the fiery trials and temptations hit us, but just remember that God is faithful and has not ever, nor will He ever renege on a promise! Glory to God! 

What can be better than bringing us into His family fold and making us true brethren with His first-born Son Jesus eh? Again we have to say, NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, my brethren! 

Now let’s go home with these wonderful words of praise from Psalm 33. ‘Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely (beautiful) for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. 

Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise (a shout of joy). For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth. He LOVETH righteousness and judgement (justice): the earth is full of the goodness (LOVING-kindness) of the Lord.’ (Ps.33:1-5) 

And all God’s people declared a loud and proud ‘Praise the Lord! Glory Hallelujah! Bless His Holy Name. Amen!’ 

Yes Friends, let’s go out today rejoicing in the LOVE, the goodness, the grace, mercy and forgiveness of our Lord God Jehovah, for He is indeed worthy of our praise and thanks! Much LOVE!

…praise him, praise Him…glory Hallelujah…He is LOVE…yes He is LOVE…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 September 2014 Psalm 67:1

 Psalm 67:1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us;   Selah. 

Well Friends, it’s the Lord’s Day, the Sabbath! The day on which He rested and rejuvenated Himself after creating the universe and all therein. Now it’s time for us to do the same. So let’s get ourselves to the Lord’s sanctuary today and fellowship with other believers; sing His praises, worship Him in sincerity and truth, giving Him the thanks and gratitude He so richly deserves.
 
Let there be joy and gladness in our hearts as we come together as one body in Christ Jesus, to glorify and magnify the Most High God Jehovah and receive His blessings, mercies, forgiveness, comfort, healing and strength to carry on in faith in this ungodly, strife-filled and evil world!
 
And as we celebrate this first day of the week with our focus on Almighty God, remember that the other days of the week will fall into easy lock-step with it, and enable us to have a better week than we would have had without that rejuvenation of Christ’s Spirit within us. The first day sets the tone for those that follow.
 
That brings us to our Bit: ‘God be merciful unto us; and cause his face to shine upon us;   Selah.’
 
Now yesterday we looked at what Psalm 67, the national psalm of thanksgiving itself said, today we’ll look at some other scriptures that invoke the same kind of blessed attitude.
 
And we’ll begin with the heartfelt words of Bruh David from Psalm 31, superscripted – In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. ‘But I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.’ (Ps. 31:14-16)
 
Words of true faith my people! Then in Psalm 80, a prayer for restoration, the psalmist Asaph feels so strongly about his belief that he repeats it three times in the psalm. ‘Turn us again (restore us), O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.’ (Ps.80:3, 7, 19)
 
And that is exactly what happens when our omnipotent and LOVING God causes His face to shine upon us my brethren…we are saved! No ifs, ands, or buts about it!
 
And from that great expose on God’s word, Psalm 119, comes these words: ‘Deliver (direct) me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes. Rivers of waters run down mine yes, because they (men) keep not thy law.’ (Ps.119:134-136)
 
Ah mih people, more entreaty for the Lord of hosts to shine His wonderful countenance upon His humble servants! That means there must be something sacred and powerful when the Lord shines His face upon His human creation. For even that mighty man of God, Daniel, invoked that in his prayer when he prayed for his people Israel, during the time of their captivity in Babylon.
 
‘Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause (be gracious) thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary (temple) that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.’ (Dan.9:17) Words to live by my fellow believers, words to certainly live by!
 
And here is where it all began, from the Aaronic benediction; that decreed by the Lord Himself, way back when the Israelites were making their way through the wilderness from slavery in Egypt to prosperity in the Promised Land.
 
‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
 
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee (look on you with favour), and give thee peace. And they shall put (invoke) my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.’ (Num.6:22-27)
 
There we have it my people; the Lord’s blessing upon His people Israel, and subsequently, with the coming of Jesus, for all those who believe in Him and honour Him as their Lord and Saviour.
 
There’s not much more to be said nuh Friends, except to advise us to go out and fellowship with other believers, get encouraged, rejuvenated and have the Lord’s countenance, His favour shine on us. That’s wisdom of the highest order! Much LOVE!
 
…to be blessed…to have the Lord’s radiance shine on us…oh what a privilege…oh what a joy…
 
P.S. No complaints today Friends, because it short and sweet! (smile) Much LOVE!