the penultimate day | SCRIP-BITS

Proverbs 10:12. Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.

Here comes Monday, here comes Monday, ringing in the penultimate day of August! And with the end of August, our summer weather will soon fizzle out to nothing. But be it hot, cold, or in between, I believe the important thing is for us to learn to enjoy whatever kind of weather we may experience, once it means that we are still alive, and still enjoying the wonderful life that Jesus died for us to have!

And please note that I said, ‘learn to enjoy,’ for that kind of thing does not come naturally. We have to make a conscious decision to not let it steal the joy and peace we find in Jesus, who is our strength, and enables us to overcome every circumstance that comes against us. And with the sad and angry state of the world, I believe today is a rather appropriate time to consider these wise words of Cousin Sol: ‘Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.’ (Prov. 10:12)

Oh my people, I doubt that there’s ever been a time in our world when we have needed LOVE more desperately than right now! The anger, greed, jealousy, resentment, hatred and all the other negative producing emotions are currently at an all-time high. And only an immense shower of LOVE will, or can stop it from further destroying our world. That’s because LOVE is the greatest attribute of our great God Jehovah; the attribute that caused Him to send His Son Jesus to earth to die for our sins.

As the Good Book so truthfully recounts: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) And it is ONLY LOVE that will keep us from doing further damage to our world and to each other. Why is that you ask? Because LOVE is the perfect antidote for all negative emotions and reactions! So let’s see what the scriptures have to tell us about that marvellous thing called LOVE nuh.

Bruh Paul puts it this way to the church at Corinth in what we refer to as the LOVE Chapter: ‘Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind…envieth not…vaunteth not (does not brag on) itself…is not puffed up (arrogant), Doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no counts of evil); Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things…never faileth.’ (1 Cor. 13:4-8)

Oh my, my…LOVE is certainly the great mover and shaker! That’s why Peter could confidently declare to the church: ‘And above all things have fervent charity (LOVE) among yourselves: for charity (LOVE) shall cover a multitude of sins.’ (1 Pet. 4:8) And that’s the gospel truth friends; if we have sincere LOVE for each other, it will clean up so many of our wrongful thoughts and actions.

And we can never talk about LOVE in the scriptures and leave out these immortal words of John from his first epistle. ‘Beloved, let us LOVE one another; for LOVE is of God; and every one that LOVETH is born of God, and knoweth God. He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE. In this was manifested the LOVE of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:7-11)

Matter fix friends! Story done! (smile) So all that’s left for us to do now is to inculcate that godly attribute of LOVE into our daily lives, so that we can lessen the hatred and strife that’s engulfing our world. And yes, I know that’s sometimes difficult to do, but again, if we truly have Jesus in our hearts, and we seriously desire to live for Him, then, as we said earlier on, we can do whatever we need to do, through His awesome strength and power. And we can begin right now by going to Him in prayer and laying all of our problems before Him, asking for His divine help.

So as one strong voice, let’s offer up our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to heaven nuh. ‘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!’

Now friends, please remember that the Lord’s answer will pivot entirely on our keeping those promises we’ve just made. Much LOVE!

…and now abideth faith, hope, LOVE…these three…but the greatest of these is…LOVE… (1 Cor. 13:13)

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Psalm 94:16. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

And then it was Thursday, the penultimate day of our workweek! And some people shout ‘Glory to God!’ thankful that the week is almost over. Hn, hn! It’s amusing that we don’t give God glory when the week begins, but are quick to do so when it ends.

Anyway, though the day has dawned somewhat cloudy, chilly and windy, it’s always nice to know that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is still out there shining as brilliantly as ever, both in our hearts and souls, so that we can be safely guided to do His will and accomplish whatever plans He has for our lives.

Now that is something for which we should all be shouting ‘Glory to God!’ The wise believers will undoubtedly do so. But let me share a li’l something from Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) that I found in one of her articles in a recent Enjoying Everyday Life Magazine.

She succinctly states: ‘The distinction between dreams and reality is called action.’ And that’s ever so true friends! Dreams will never turn into reality until we DO something with them. Otherwise, they will simply remain dreams; a glorious vision in our imagination.

Unfortunately that seems to be something that’s happening a lot in our Christian faith today. We all have dreams, some placed in our hearts by God, and we talk a lot about what we’re going to do for Christ, but nothing much ever happens, because we don’t get behind the talk and action our dreams and desires.

It’s one reason why the enemy is slowly pushing us back, and moving God out of our society. We’re not being active enough in repelling the evil stuff that’s coming against us. Everybody’s talking about their rights but Christians. And it seems that our rights are the ones that are constantly being trampled upon, and even abrogated or eliminated.

But we’re not up in arms about it. We talk some, but sit passively by, while others raise a hue and cry and eventually get what they desire. Then we claim they are taking away our rights. Steups!

That brings us to our Bit, an interesting verse from Psalm 94 – How long shall the wicked triumph? ‘Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?’

The psalmist was there bewailing the rise and prosperity of the wicked, but he did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, as we now do, so he had to look to the Lord totally for help.

Thus he continues: ‘Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost (would soon have) dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.’ (Ps.94:17-18)

And of course friends, when the going gets too rough for us, the Lord’s mercy will hold us up. But until then we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us so that we can do God’s will, make disciples of others, which also means fighting against the workers of iniquity. Otherwise why have the Holy Spirit indwelling us eh?

The church is Christ’s body, His organization here on earth, and we’re supposed to uphold all that He stands for! Are we doing that? Definitely not as much as we should!

In the first place we’re too fractured, too divided. Then overall we’re too passive, too compromising, too comfortable living the good life of the world. And remember the Lord did die that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, (John 10:10) but not the way Lucifer and his evil cohorts envision it.

So what am I saying? Listen to Jesus’ words, for He says it much better than I can. ‘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 under foot of men.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a 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 unto 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.5:13-16)

There you have it my fellow believers, the words, the instructions, the desire of our Lord and Saviour, our Leader Jesus Christ. He wants us to be the salt of the earth, add His Christian, Christ-like flavour to the earth. And also shine like bright beacons; like the lighthouses that were once set on hills to guide the passing ships.

People won’t come to Him unless they see good and favourable examples in us. And sadly, I must say that right now we’re not being either salt or light because too many unbelievers are looking at us and instead of declaring us Christians, they are crying out ‘Hypocrites!’ And I doubt that that sits very well with Christ.

So let’s try and do better nuh mih people. Remember we have the Lord’s help, and with that we can do ANYTHING, if we so desire. But we must first have the desire. Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings… And friends, with such wonderful blessings being bestowed on us, how can we not have a great desire to serve and worship the Lord eh?

‘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 the corollary to that is to go out and share our blessings with others. Much LOVE!

…we have ALL we need…to be the salt of the earth…and the light of the world…except possibly the desire…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 August 2021 Proverbs 10:12.

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