the have nots | SCRIP-BITS

Revelation 21:5a. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new:

And the days move along like there was no today, only tomorrow. Yes, that’s how fast one day is becoming another. Can you imagine that we were just worrying about Monday, and now it’s already Wednesday. (smile) Oh friends, we can no longer afford to simply sit on our laurels and just allow the world to speed by around us. No! We have to get up and get ourselves together and do something worthwhile in our lives, preferably work that Jesus has commissioned us to do. And even if you don’t believe in Jesus, there’s so much necessary work to be done, helping others in worse situations than ourselves, that there are no excuses for not doing something worthwhile in our lives.

Now that applies even more to believers in Christ Jesus who is depending on us to fulfill His Great Commission of spreading the good news of His gospel and kingdom all over Mother Earth! And to prove that very point, the Lord led me to this interesting poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, titled ‘Only Goodness.’ Now, I’m pretty sure I’ve never shared this poem before because I would surely have remembered it. (smile)

So please read with me: ‘What glorious words of wonder Come from the Apostle Peter. He wrote, “But we are looking forward To God’s promise of new heavens and a new earth afterwards Where there will be only goodness.” O dear God “Where there will be only goodness.” After centuries of war, greed, and lust After indulgences shamefully practiced After hatred, hostility Jealousy and abuse. Murder and martyrdom Crime and cruelty Curses and rebellion. After whimpering cries from starving children After tragedy and catastrophe Loneliness and despair At last…at long last “There will be only goodness.” O dear Lord Your promise is Your guarantee But please hurry a little!’

Ah friends that poem is full of so much truth it isn’t funny. And all the things it talks about seem to be getting worse with each passing day. Our world’s gone mad my brethren! And only we believers, with the help of Almighty God, can slow it down until the Lord is ready to do His thing where “there is only goodness.” But we do need Him to hurry up and bring that promise to pass because things are so bad they’re shameful. Man’s inhumanity to man has reached heights we never dreamed possible. Hunger, poverty and sickness are rampant in a world of plenty. That ought not to be so. But the overwhelming greed of the haves prevent them from sharing with the have nots, thus there’s strife and every evil thing possible happening in our world.

Now some of us will be wondering where Peter spoke of “there will be only goodness.’ He writes in his second epistle: ‘But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of person ought ye to be in all holy conversation (conduct) and godliness. Looking for and hasting (hastening) unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.’ (2 Pet. 3:10-14)

Yes my fellow believers, at some stage of the game the world and all therein will go up in flames, in fervent heat, which could even mean a nuclear holocaust, which, right now, is a very present possibility, with threats of nuclear engagement being made every day by world leaders. However, be that as it may, we Christians are expected to be diligent and worthy in Christ’s employ until He comes back in the day of judgement, not the Rapture. That’s why Peter urges his readers, that includes us, ‘to look beyond this present world to the new heavens and a new earth.’

But although I don’t know how much we can do to stop the constant flow of evil and inhumanity, we do need to make a glowing and positive effort to at least slow it down. For it’s our initial lack of purpose and effort that has caused it to reach this astonishing level. And what Peter was talking about, John did write in Revelation: ‘And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be anymore pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new: and he said unto me, Write for these words are true and faithful.’ (Rev. 21: 1-5)

There we have it my people, the time when there will be only goodness and no evil whatsoever! And by the way, verses 3-4 above are the Bible verses on which our poem ‘Only Goodness,’ was based. Now for those of us who are doing our best to stay righteous and do good, let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail letting the whole world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus.

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 it’s been also promised that if we endure with Jesus right down to the very end, then that future will be even more glorious than we can ask or imagine. So, see you there! Much LOVE!

…while looking forward to the second coming of Christ…we should be busy doing His work…

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Matthew 5:16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

And on this Thanksgiving Monday morning, all over this beautiful and blessed land of Canada thanks and praises are being offered up to heaven! And do we ever have a whole lot to be thankful for. The problem though is that those many blessings are not equally distributed throughout our land and our populace. And that sad state of inequality is unfortunately lowering the quality and level of our standard of living, and consequently causing much dissension, disunity and discontent in our society.

Now that’s not rocket science, because wherever there is blatant and widespread inequality, there will eventually be serious ramifications and consequences. And right now we’re seeing those unwanted divisions and disruptions occurring more frequently and more violently, not only in our country, but unfortunately all over the world, for the inequality is prevalent all over the earth, and the downtrodden and marginalized are crying out loudly for a fair share of the earth’s wealth, so that they can experience a reasonable standard of living.

However, the powers that be; the rich and ruling classes are foolishly clamping down, trying to further devalue and bring even more devastation to the have nots. The rich are indeed getting richer, while the poor, if possible, are getting poorer. No wonder our world is currently buffeted by numerous wars, rumors of wars and overwhelming instability, and everyday a new theatre of dissatisfaction opens up with loud cries of injustice and degradation. And what’s the answer to our problem of inequality you ask?

Obviously a more egalitarian society, where people are seen as, or considered equal and consequently deserve equal rights and opportunities. And until our world seriously and sincerely moves toward a much more equal situation, where the ten% of haves don’t possess 90% of the pie, while the 90% of have nots only possess 10%, that sort of ridiculous inequity will always be cause for rampant dissatisfaction, and eventually chaos. It’s so sad when our world contains truths like, man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn. And by the way, it’s no longer thousands, but millions that are mourning because of mankind’s greed, selfishness and inhumanity.

And what’s so sad about the whole situation is that there’s more than enough to go around for all the have nots to be satisfied and the haves to still maintain a big portion of the pie, but certainly not 90%. And that’s where we believers in Christ come in. For if we don’t stand up for the poor, the downtrodden, the sick and the lame like our Lord and Leader did when He was here on earth, who else is going to stand up for them eh? Definitely not the evildoers of Satan’s fold. And until we Christians start to make some kind of serious efforts to right the wrongs of the world, things will only go from bad to worse.

And contrary to our excuses, the job is not impossible, or as big as we claim. It’s just that it will take more effort than we are willing to expend. For if the majority of Christians were to behave like true Christians, our world will be a helluva lot better place than it currently is. Just a li’l kindness and help on our part, a li’l standing up for some injustice or evil deed would bring surprising change. But sadly, too many of us supposed believers don’t want to be bothered with the problems of those less fortunate than us, we just want to relax and be comfortable in our li’l cocoon, insulated from the dire state of our world. And the truth is that a comfortable Christian is indeed the worst kind of Christian there is!

Jesus didn’t come and die so that we could be comfortable and don’t care about our fellow man. He was always concerned about the sick and suffering, those considered worthless by society, and so should we, His followers, be similarly concerned. But the material wealth of the world and the many amenities now available have killed our pioneering spirit and made us lazy and uninterested in improving things. We just want to sit on our laurels and enjoy the good life. But be it known, that any society which sits on its laurels and does not keep its standards high, will eventually finds itself in ruins, for it’s the standards of a society that make them prosper and keep them in a healthy situation.

It’s obvious that these words of Jesus have fallen by the wayside in our modern times: ‘Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour (flavour), wherewith (by what) shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of men.’ (Matt. 5:13) And if we’re truthful, we’ll admit that we have lost our salty flavour, and that’s why so many are being trodden underfoot.

The same goes for these words of our Lord and Saviour: ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle (lamp), and put it under a bushel (basket), but on a candlestick (lampstand); and it giveth light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt. 5:14-16)

Oh my people, there again we have sadly not shone as a bright light in this world. Whatever light we have is hidden under a basket, or we’ve never lit the candle in the first place. But whichever it is, it is not good enough. Jesus desires us to follow in His footsteps and bring some peace and LOVE to our inflamed and hateful world, and we can only do that if we get up off of our fat fannies, and renew or recapture our salty flavour, as well as light our candles and go brightly in this dark and evil world! Let’s promise ourselves to do just that nuh, for our children’s sake! And we can begin by most appropriately asking for heavenly help this Thanksgiving Day, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.

As one 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. 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, let’s get up and get a sincere move on nuh, so that we can be assured of divine help! Much LOVE!

…without the salt and light of Christians…the world is dark and flavourless…

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 May 2024 Revelation 21:5a.

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