Today’s Scrip-Bit   26 June 2023 Romans 10:17.

26 Jun 2023 Leave a comment

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

Romans 10:17.       So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Come on friends, let’s do like the early bird that catches the worm, and get out into the turbulent and evil world and begin working for Christ right away. The sooner we get out there, the sooner we can start working for Him, and the better our results will be. Remember how Jesus felt as He went around the cities and villages teaching and healing and preaching the gospel of the kingdom? 

The Good Library tells us: ‘But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted (were weary), and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.’ (Matt. 9:36-38) And that’s also true of today’s harvest my fellow believers. 

Jesus reminds us to pray for labourers, His disciples to go into the world and help the many sick, lost, downtrodden and unfortunate out there to come to Him for refuge and salvation. Like back then, there are not enough people going out to do that, and consequently our world is going to hell in a handbasket. 

The scholars point us to the similarity in Numbers 27, where Moses was taken by the Lord into a mountain and showed the Promised Land, which he was not going to enter because of his earlier disobedience to God’s Word. ‘And Moses spake unto the Lord saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd.’ (Num. 27:15-17) That’s when Joshua was anointed to take Moses’ place. 

And sadly friends, just like then, our world today is teeming with sheep that have no shepherd, and there are comparatively few workers to go out and reap the big harvest that’s there for reaping. And I like how the scholars explain it. They say: ‘Verses 37 and 38 constitute one of the great missionary passages of the New Testament. Jesus pictures the world as a great spiritual harvest in need of labourers to gather it into the storehouse.’ 

And that’s how it truly is! Millions of people are suffering; living in sin and darkness, with little or no opportunity to see the light of Jesus. And that’s why some of Jesus last words or directions to the disciples was the Great Commission. He informed them: ‘All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:18-20) And it’s a message that still resonates today!  

That brings up another instance when Jesus refers to the harvesting of souls and the lack thereof of harvesters. He was at the well of Jacob, outside the city of Sychar, talking to the Samaritan woman, and the disciples came from the village and offered Him food. ‘Jesus saith unto them, My meat (food) is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. 

And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap whereon you bestowed no labour (have not laboured): other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.’ (John 4:34-38) The scholars point out that Jesus might have been referring to the multitudes who came out of Sychar to see Him because of the Samaritan woman’s testimony. And a lot of people there needed saving too. 

That brings us to this last scripture passage, one of my favourites. Bruh Paul in writing to the Romans about Israel’s rejection of Christ states: ‘For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! …So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ (Rom. 10:12-15, 17) And the scholars tell us that our Bit means, ‘it is not faith in what is heard, but faith that comes about by what is heard.’ 

I also like how Bruh Paul lays it out so logically; you can’t believe unless you hear the word, and you can’t hear the word unless someone comes and tells you about it, and that someone has to be sent. And it’s surely a wonderful thing when we preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! So let’s try and contrate on doing that today nuh my fellow saints. It’s our job to reap the harvest, but sadly, it’s drying up in the field, spoiling for want of harvesters. 

Now let’s approach the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and ask for help to fix our broken world. Altogether now: ‘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. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but 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. 

So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us 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!’ 

Now friends, let’s do our bounden duty, so God can do His nuh! Much LOVE!

…no harvest can be satisfactorily gathered…unless there are enough labourers to do the job… 

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Today​’s Scrip-Bit 6 April 2019 Matthew 13:8-9.

06 Apr 2019 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 13:8-9.   ​But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
 
‘Hello…Hello in there! Anybody home?’ Hn! Like nobody wake up yet, everybody sleeping in this Saturday morning – everybody except the ole fella. I’ve been up since minutes to six, doing my own thing, even though I went to bed fairly late.

Chuh! I don’t like this thing that developing here nuh; going to bed late and getting up early, especially when I’m supposed to be on holidays! But one can’t do a lot if the body decides that it has had enough sleep. Might as well get up and make hay while the sun shines, or be like the early bird that catches the juiciest worms! (smile) 

But enough with the clichés, is Saturday morning so let’s see what quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he sincerely aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And we have a full slate – and they long too. (smile) 

Check out this first one: ‘LIFE – is a four-letter word that is complicated enough that no one will ever decode its true meaning. Whether you were born into a wealthy family or a poor one, your life will be full of ups and downs. The goal in life is to minimize the down’s and live a happy and inspiring existence.’ 

And that’s certainly true! Whether we born rich or poor, we all have to face the vicissitudes of this crazy life; ups and downs, of sickness, financial problems, relationship problems, etc. etc. We all face adversity in this life, and the only way to be able to truly handle it is by being in a good relationship with Jesus! 

Remember what He said? ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) Glory be my people! So though the world throws it’s best shot at us, we can always be peaceful because Jesus lives and reigns in us! Give Him much thanks and praise nuh! 

Then there’s this one that fits in nicely with the first: ‘The only thing that you have control over is your mind and your body. Everything else is decided by a bunch of people and external conditions. If you are truly happy, no one else can snatch it from you.’

Again, there’s a lot of truth in that statement! We can only control what’s in our personal universe, namely our minds and bodies. But once we have serious control of them, nobody can take away our joy, especially if it’s based in Jesus, for the joy of the Lord is our strength! (Neh.8:10) Yes friends, when we are joyful in the Lord, nobody or nothing can take away that inner peace and contentment. More thanks to Christ again! 

Now hear this: ‘When you were a baby, you had to cry to get what you want. If you didn’t, your parents probably thought you didn’t want it. The same applies when you grow up, the world doesn’t just hand you what you want unless you ask and fight for it.’  So true my faithful brethren! The world takes pleasure in beating us down, and if we allow it, it will beat us down to the death! 

Yeh, the world is an advantageous entity, that knows no mercy! That’s why we have to stand up and fight, especially as true believers in Christ, because the world wants to beat down believers more than anybody else, since we go against its sinful and evil nature! No wonder Bruh Paul warned the Ephesians to ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…and having done all, to stand.’ (Eph.611, 13b) 

Yes my people, only when we are fully clothed with God’s armour, can we resist, rebuke and beat down the enemy, who’s greatest wish is to destroy us. So please try and stay fully armoured at all times! (smile)

So, considering all that we’ve already said, then this next quote makes a lot of sense. ‘You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. — Why live a long and unhappy life?’ Good question! Especially in light of Jesus’ immortal words: ‘The thief cometh not, but for (except) to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it abundantly.’ (John 10:10) 

Yes friends, Jesus came to give us life, abundant life, both here on earth and throughout eternity with Him in heaven, so why spoil it eh, when we have such a good thing going eh? No reason whatsoever…unless we mental! (smile) And yes, I know some of us are mental enough to throw away, or not accept all that Jesus offers, but that’s not you or me! Glory to God! 

And then we come to this last quote: ‘Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.’ Now that’s something we believers are not very good at. We expect to reap a harvest as soon as we done sow a seed…and a big harvest at that. But as Uncle Charles (Charles Stanley) likes to say: ‘You reap what you sow, more than you sow and later than you sow!’ And that’s gospel truth! 

Moreover, the process of sowing and harvesting is a time thing; not now for now, like we want it to be! The seeds we sow, be they real or figurative seeds need time to germinate, to take root and grow. That process doesn’t happen overnight, and all of us know it from our association with the planting of seed in the soil and waiting for it to grow, so we can reap a harvest. 

The same applies to any figurative seed we sow in people’s hearts; it takes time to grow, and we should not be too concerned about how much harvest those seeds will produce, but rather about how many seeds we plant in Jesus’ name! And also about if the seeds that we plant are good, and the type of soil that we plant them in, for all of that has a bearing on the kind of harvest we’ll eventually reap. 

Remember Jesus’ words in the parable of the sower. (Matt.13:1-9) The sower sowed plenty seed, but they all fell on different kinds of soil and produced different amounts of harvest – even no harvest at all, because the soil they fell in wasn’t conducive to producing fruit. ‘But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’ 

Yes friends, it’s ever so important that we sow the seed of Jesus amongst the many lost of this world, but we also need to find the good soil and then water and nurture the seed so that it can grow good fruit. For as Jesus also said to His disciples: ‘The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.’ (Matt.9:37) 

No doubt about it friends, there are many more unbelievers out there than believers, and it’s our bounden duty to harvest them before Jesus comes back, else they will be lost to hell fire and damnation for all eternity! And that’s not a very nice place to be. So let’s pull up our britches and go out and be more serious and concerned about planting seeds in good soil nuh, rather than the harvest those seeds are likely to bear. The Lord will reward us for the harvest later on. Much LOVE!

…I have planted…Apollos watered…but God gave the increase… (1 Cor.3:6)