Today’s Scrip-Bit   11 April 2022 Psalm 119:33.

11 Apr 2022 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 119:33.      ​ Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.

Monday, oh Monday! How good it is to see you again! We’ve missed you…’ ‘Talk for yourself please!’ a barrage of angry voices responds. That tells me that others are not as fond of Monday as I am. (smile) But as I said some time ago, Monday ought to be our strongest day because on Sunday we receive the Lord’s renewal of our spirit through praise and worship with other believers, and the fire and passion stirred up through that divine activity should propel us forward with undaunting strength and power to do God’s bidding. 

That’s an important part of why we worship on Sundays folks; for just like our mechanical engines need occasional cleaning and refuelling, so do our spiritual engines need replenishing, and the Lord has chosen His Day, that’s Sunday, for that divine purpose. But because we so often misuse Sunday, which is technically a day of rest, we are seldom at our best on Monday. So, it seems like we need to retool the way we use our Sundays, and instead of partying heartily till the late hours, make sure we get enough rest in the evenings so that we can be fresh and fruitful come Monday. 

And do we ever need to be faithful and fruitful in these sad, evil and turbulent times my fellow saints in Christ! And yes, most of us want to do just that, but the strong pull of this world usually leads us astray. So here are some words from the Guide Book of Life, that I believe will help us to change our ways in that respect…and possibly many other respects too. (smile) We’re talking about the section of Psalm 119 that’s subtitled ‘Give me understanding.’ 

Please pray with me. ‘Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight. Incline mine heart unto (cause me to long for) thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. 

Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity (from looking at worthless things); and quicken (revive) thou me in thy way.’ Stablish (establish) thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear (to fearing thee). Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgements are good. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken (revive) me in thy righteousness.’ (Ps. 119:33-40) 

Yes friends, those are indeed powerful verses of scripture, which, if we sincerely heed them will give us the wisdom and understanding to bring our lives into full union with God, enabling us to live the best life possible here on this fallen earth. Now let’s see if we can further understand what we’ve just read by elucidating on the meaning of some of the terms used there. (smile) And the first verse speaks about ‘statutes.’ So what are they? The scholars tell us that ‘statutes’ (huqim) is related to a verb meaning “to engrave” and thus implies permanent and unchangeable regulations.’ 

Meanwhile, the second verse says, ‘I shall keep thy law.’ Now what’s that about? According to the scholars, the major topic of Psalm 119 is the ‘Word of God. The multifaceted character of God’s Word is revealed by at least eight key synonyms for it in the psalm. And Law (torah) is the most frequent one. It comes from a verb meaning “to teach,” and thus came to be applied to a wide range of revelation, from an individual directive to the entire Pentateuch. (That’s the five Books of Moses, the first five in the Bible). It emphasizes that God has taught us in His Word, what He requires of us.’  So ‘Law’ basically means all of God’s revelation, all that He’s inspired in His Holy Word. 

Then the next verse talks about the ‘path of thy commandments.’ And per the scholars, ‘Commandments (mitswot) is a word assuming the authority of the commander and the inherent necessity of obeying the content of the charge.’ Nothing difficult to understand about that now! (smile) Then we talk about ‘incline mine heart unto thy testimonies…’ What is that eh? ‘Testimonies (edot) emphasizes the content of the Word as that which God has testified of Himself and His will.’ Just like we testify of God, so does God testify of Himself in His Word. 

That brings us to ‘stablish thy word.’ ‘Word (dabar) here is an all-embracing term for God’s revelation in any form.’ Then we have ‘for thy judgements are good.’ ‘Judgements (mispatim) or ordinances refer to decisions God has made as judge in order to make earthly behaviour conform to His heavenly standard.’ And the final term is ‘I have longed after thy precepts.’ ‘Precepts (piqudim) refer to instructions from a superior regarding the duties of those under him, in this case from God to man.’ 

So friends, we see that it’s all intertwined, but in the final analysis it’s all about God’s Word and how we ought to study it, so that we can learn it and then keep it, make it an active part of our lives, in order that we can have all that the Lord desires for us, and all that Christ died for us to possess; that is abundant life, in and with Him! And since everything begins and ends with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let’s go to the throne of grace with our petitions right now nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. 

Therefore, in contrite but confident voice. ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.  

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

The next move is to now show our sincerity by putting our words into actions! Much LOVE!

…one can only understand and appreciate God’s Word…when one reads, studies, and keeps it to the end… 

P.S. My sincere apologies for the unusual lateness of the Bit. Let’s just say that life happened. We all know how it can disrupt the best laid plans of mice and men. (smile) Much LOVE! 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 5 May 2016 Psalm 119:105

05 May 2016 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 119:105.    Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Morning mih Scrip-Bit breddren! Another new day has dawned, and we are alive to see it…Glory to God! 

And though it’s somewhat cloudy, with rain in the forecast, there’s no need for believers to be overly concerned, since we ALWAYS have the bright, shining everlasting light of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ illuminating our souls, to lead and guide us safely through the darkness of this evil and ungodly world. 

And all God’s children declared a loud and grateful: ‘Praise the Lord!’ 

And talking about shining, I heard this li’l reggae ditty last night titled ‘Lift up your soul,’ by Kaisha Lee. 

It contained a wonderful chorus that went something like this: ‘Shine bright, lift your heart up; lift your soul up; lift your smile up. Shine bright, lift your heart up; lift your soul up; lift yourself up. Why don’t you break free and lift your heart up; lift your soul up, lift your smile up. You know that you want to. You know that you got to… Shine bright…’ 

Yes friends, we’re supposed to shine bright because Jesus considers us the light of the world, and we do need to break free from the chains of this corrupt and material world and lift up our hearts, our souls and our basic selves to a standard that’s approved by our Leader Jesus Christ. 

And since today is Thursday, let’s prepare ourselves to receive the new mercies and blessing our great and gracious God is getting ready to send our way, by declaring our Thursday’s Blessings, because, remember, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s spoken over someone. 

As one now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! 

I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’ 

Ah mih people, how can Beelzebub ever hope to defeat us when we are so well surrounded and bolstered by all those blessings of Almighty God, the Creator and Controller of this universe eh? No way Jose! 

The only problem now is that have to believe it, see the blessings coming to pass through our eyes of faith. That brings us to our Bit, which rather appropriately has to do with light and guidance. ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’ 

What a wonderful and true bit of scripture my fellow believers. The Word of our God is indeed a lamp and a light to guide us safely through this world. The Bible is the Guide Book of Life and Living in this crazy and strife-filled world. It contains answers to every question and every situation that we can face in this earthly pilgrimage. But we won’t know those answers unless we read it my brethren. 

And strangely and sadly, it can be so difficult to get supposed believers to read the Word of God. I don’t know why. We claim to be believers, and that the Bible is important, but for some unholy reason we can’t seem to find the time to read it. 

Friends, let me let you into a little secret: you don’t find time to read God’s Word; you MAKE time to read it! Just like you make time for all the other activities in your life, you need to make time to find out how to live this life. 

And that’s a simple reason why so many supposed Christians are having untold problems in their lives; they refuse to read the Word to find the answers to their problems, and instead rely on all the frauds, the shamans and all the other ungodly counsellors and directives of the world. 

Wake up nuh precious people of God! You can’t know what God has to say unless you communicate with Him through His Word and prayer! 

And hear how Cousin Sol puts it in his warning against adultery. ‘For commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman (seductress).’ (Prov.6:23-24) 

Truer words were never spoken my fellow believers! Until we have a lamp filled with oil and a clean glass covering so that we can clearly see the way, we will always falter in the consuming darkness of this evil world. 

Lucifer and all his evil minions read and study and meditate on their tomes of evil, so that they can become even more evil than they already are. So why can’t we do the same with our directives for righteousness eh? 

And we’ll end with Bruh David’s take on the subject from Psalm 19 –The creation and covenants of God. ‘The law of the Lord is perfect, converting (restoring) the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yes than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the (drippings of) the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in the keeping of them there is great reward.’ (Ps.19:7-12) 

Oh my people, I can’t put it any better than that! And Bruh David knew exactly what he was talking about because he lived it. Why are we so presumptuous to think that we know better eh? 

Anyway, nuff said for today! I implore us to ponder it all and to make the wise and sensible decision to get seriously involved in God’s Word, for that is the only way to successful living. Much LOVE!

…only in the Book of Life…can one find…the secret to the good life…