Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 September 2020 1 Thessalonians 5:2.

24 Sep 2020 Leave a comment

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

1 Thessalonians 5:2.     ​For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

Wow! It’s already Thursday! The week is flying by like lightning! (smile) But unfortunately, our world is getting even more divisive and strife-filled with each passing day. Steups! What’s it about us eh, that we can’t simply get along? Are our pride, greed and foolish attitudes so strong as to cause our society to implode? Because that’s exactly what’s happening; we’re exploding from within! Nothing outside is affecting us, but merely the things that are within. 

Chuh! The human animal, the only one supposedly with wisdom and understanding, is the only one that kills itself for no good reason, that has strife amongst its members for paltry, petty, simplistic reasons. And then we beat our chests and manfully crow that we’re victors! Hogwash! Heifer dust! If the violence and hate and all the negative emotions don’t cease soon, we’ll become extinct like so many other of God’s creations that we’ve killed off. Only difference is that instead of being made extinct by outside forces, we’ll be doing it ourselves. Hurray for the human animal that’s so full of wisdom and understanding! 

And yuh know the only thing that can save us is a total revival; a complete return to the sincere worshipping of Jehovah God! Yes friends, only if we turn from our sinful ways and habits and get back to worshipping the ONE TRUE God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, will our society not undergo serious disaster and eventual destruction. And when that happens, if our souls and spirits are not wrapped up with Jesus, then crapaud smoke we pipe! We just S.O.L! As simple as that! 

And I think we should continue where we left off yesterday, talking about the ant and the sluggard, and being prepared for whenever Jesus returns, possibly like a thief in the night, suddenly, without any warning. Remember what Bruh Paul said to the Thessalonians? ‘For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.’ (1 Thess. 5:2) 

And what does that mean? Hear the scholars brief answer. ‘5:2. The day of the Lord is the all-encompassing term to describe the period that begins with the Great Tribulation, and includes the second coming of Christ and the millennial kingdom. The Old Testament expression is here identified with the ‘parousia’ (Second Coming) already introduced. It will begin unexpectedly.’ 

Oh friends, there is scholarly dissension of the time period between the Rapture and the Great Tribulation, but it’s fairly sure that the Rapture will be the first stage of Jesus’ second coming. That’s where ‘the dead in Christ shall rise. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever (always) be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.’ (1 Thess. 16c-18) 

And the scholars offer this explanation for that last verse. ‘4:18. Comfort: The Christian’s hope of the resurrection brings solace in the face of death – in contrast to the hopelessness of the heathen.’ And isn’t that wonderful news my believing brethren? For sure! Believing in Christ Jesus gives us something to look forward to with great anticipation and expectant joy, while the unbeliever has nothing to look forward to. That alone should propel us to come to Jesus and surrender our lives and souls to Him. 

But be all of that as it may, before Jesus comes again, we have much work to do and preparations to make so that we can be ready for whatever time He comes. Thus Bruh Paul continues after our Bit with this important warning. ‘For when they shall say, Peace and safety (slogans of the Roman Empire); then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail (labour pains) upon a woman with child (pregnant woman); and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all children of the light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 

Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober (self-controlled). For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and LOVE; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together (encourage each other), and edify (build up) one another, even as also ye do (are doing).’ (1 Thess. 5:3-11) 

Oh precious people, those are indeed comforting words! To know that believers will be saved from the wrath of God in the Great Tribulation should make us run to Christ and cling to Him for dear life! And since we know not when, not even Jesus knew, as He said to His disciples: ‘But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.’ (Matt. 24:36) But come He will! That’s why we’re supposed to be wise and get ready, RIGHT NOW! 

We need to be like the ten wise virgins who took extra oil for their lamps, just in case the bridegroom came late to the wedding feast, as he unfortunately did, and the ten foolish ones who took no extra oil were locked out of the feast. ( Matt. 25:1-13) And we certainly don’t want that happening to us, so let’s be prepared for all emergencies and get a little more oil for our lamps to keep them burning, burning till the break of day! (smile) That’s wisdom of enormous proportions! 

Now let’s go home proclaiming our Thursday Blessings which our magnanimous God has so generously granted us to do His earthly work. All together, in strong voice, with sincere hearts. ‘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!’ 

And as always, the corollary to that is to now go out and share those blessings with others, as generously as God shared them with us! Much LOVE!

…watch therefore…for ye know not…at what hour…your Lord doth come… (Matt. 24:42) 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 June 2018 Psalm 36:7.

01 Jun 2018 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 36:7.   How excellent (precious) is thy LOVING-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

‘One more night…thank You Lord for one more night of breathing through my nose…’ 

You can chuckle all you want yes friends and family, but I know whereof I am thankful. You won’t realize how important breathing through your nostrils is, until you can’t do it for an extended period. And I’m so comfortable now that I can’t even get up in the mornings. (smile) 

And can you believe that today is already the first day of June, and summer is not officially due for another three weeks, but we’ve already been having serious summer like weather for the past two weeks. Hn! We’ll soon start complaining that it’s too hot. Can’t keep the human animal happy for long. (smile) 

But seriously though, that volcano on the Big Island in Hawaii is still acting up and apparently causing more problems that evacuation has been mandated for the area around it. It’s been playing a teasing game for the past month and who knows when it’s going to blast off big time. Better to be safe than sorry. Please keep them in our prayers. 

But it’s Friday and the workingman is happily singing his totally overboard song. ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday and no more work for a couple days! It’s the weekend! Time to enjoy we self like we couldn’t do all week! And who don’t like it, too bad for them. 

Why yuh think the Lord give us a break from the slave master eh? Is to eat, drink and be merry today, cause tomorrow we might die. Look people, just lively up yuhselves and enjoy the fruit of your labour yes! Thank the Lord for Fridays and weekends oui!’ 

And there is truth to the workingman’s contentions, but as always, he tends to go too far out on the limb of licentiousness, a place that we believers are not supposed to go. And that’s why our Friday Chant is so much different to his song. Let’s chant it now with enthusiasm and sincerity. 

‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ 

Yes friends, we are also entitled to enjoyment and fun, but not to take it to the extreme limit that the workingman does. We always have to be cognizant of the enemy’s movements and nip them in the bud, as well as keep working for Jesus; a twenty four/seven, lifetime job that has awesome benefits, both now and in the hereafter. And we’d indeed be foolish to throw them away for a little fleshly pleasure in the here and now that’s ever so fleeting. 

That’s why Bruh David could so assuredly declare in our Bit, from Psalm 36 – The steadfast LOVE of God: ‘How excellent (precious) is thy LOVING-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.’ 

Ah my fellow believers, that’s the wisest and safest place to place our trust, for the Lord is both our Maker and Caretaker. And as Bruh David continues: ‘They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness (fullness) of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.’ (Ps.36:8-9) 

Oh my brethren, what sincere and beautiful assurance of living and working for the Lord. And please note the superlatives of those promises: abundantly satisfied with all that He has to offer, and drink of the river of His pleasures. Wow! We’d be satiated with the Lord’s goodness! 

And the next verse is ever so true: ‘with thee is the fountain of life.’ It truly is, because it’s the Lord who breathed His breath of life into our lifeless bodies so that we could worship and fellowship with Him. And if our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, then it’s only logical that we, His followers shall not only see light, but be light too. 

And John puts it so nicely and simply in his first epistle. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not in (practice) the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.’ (1 John 1:5-7) 

Yeh friends, God is light, holy and sinless, and if we want to walk with Him in the light, then we have to be free of the bondage of sin which keeps us in darkness. And the ONLY way to do that is to embrace Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, whose blood, shed on the cross of Calvary is the ONLY atonement for sin and the ONLY cleansing power from sin. 

So let’s be wise and walk in the light nuh mih breddren. We have so much to lose, and so much to gain! Much LOVE!

…for whom the Son sets free…is free indeed…

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 February 2018 Proverbs 30:11.

26 Feb 2018 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 30:11.    There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.

One more time friends, one more time, the trump of Jesus is calling us to come out and join the battle for the world in His name! This Monday morning is another precious and purposeful day in our earthly sojourn, where we put our blessings and gifts to work for Jesus. So let’s not grumble and complain because we have to get up and go out to labour nuh. 

Jesus didn’t grumble and complain when He went to the cross and laid down His sinless life for us. It was rough yes, and He pleaded with the Father to mitigate the situation, but to no avail, because that’s the ONLY way we useless sinners would ever be able to communicate with a most holy God. So though things might be rough with us, let’s remember Jesus’ sacrifices on our behalf, and do whatever we can to lift up His name on the earth, without feeling too put out or sorry for ourselves. 

And since we know that getting up on a Monday morning is difficult for many of us (smile) we have that wonderful, energizing prayer, our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to raise our spirits and get us going. Let’s sing it out as one voice now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. 

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. 

We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ 

Yeh friends, that just gets the adrenaline flowing, which enables us to staunchly and confidently fight on for Jesus in this evil world. And today we have a rather interesting Bit from Proverbs, but not from Cousin Sol. These are the wise words of Agur, possibly one of the sages of Cousin Sol’s day. And he tells us that ‘There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.’ 

How sad that is my people, because one of God’s Ten Commandments is: ‘Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.’ (Ex.20:12) And the Good Book goes on to say: ‘And he that curseth his father and mother, shall surely be put to death.’ (Ex.21:17) 

That means a lot of this current generation ought to be put to death, because I believe this generation perfectly fits the bill described in our Bit. Some of the things I’ve personally heard children telling their parents just drives me bonkers. Hn! In my time I’d never dream of being rude to my parents, much less cursing them real curse words; words of the expletive deleted variety. And the sad part is that they get away with it. But that’s we, the parents fault. For whatever reason, we allow them to talk to us how they want, with little or no respect. 

And Cousin Sol’s contribution to the subject is this: ‘Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure (deep) darkness.’ (Prov.20:20) And so it should be! Now hear these words of Agur after our Bit. ‘There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up (in arrogance). There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.’ (Prov.30:12-14) 

Now those are certainly serious and incriminating charges and unfortunately I believe they can all be laid at the feet of this current generation. They are indeed selfish, arrogant, greedy and ruthless. Other generations have been bad, but I don’t think they can touch this one for their blatant disregard for the niceties of society. 

But again, my contention is that we the parents reared them that way. In trying to make life easy for them, we did them a great disservice, because now they feel the world owes them a living, they are entitled, and they don’t appreciate all that they’ve been so sweetly and easily handed on a golden platter. And the human animal in general only seems to appreciate stuff when he/she personally has to work or suffer to acquire it.

However my faithful brethren, all is not lost. As we say, while there is life there is indeed hope, and that ALL things are possible with Jesus. That means we can still bring about some changes, if not in our children, certainly in our grandchildren. But we need to get serious and begin doing it NOW! So please, for Jesus’ sake, let’s get a move on with it nuh. Much LOVE!

…only through hard labour…or ‘sufferation’…do we truly appreciate our rewards…