Today’s Scrip-Bit   9 April 2022   1 Corinthians 12:6.

09 Apr 2022 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 12:6.       And there are diversities of operations (different activities), but it is the same God which worketh all in all (works in all things). 

Here’s Saturday my people; cloudy and chilly! But some of us will like it like that since it gives us more incentive to stay abed and enjoy the early morning rest that we’ve been deprived of all week. (smile) And nothing’s wrong with that. There are rewards for getting up early five days a week, and one of them is sleeping in on Saturdays. So, if you’re one of those late risers this Saturday morning, please enjoy it.. Just make sure you keep Jesus close beside you, in your spirit and your soul, don’t let Him slip away from you for even one moment, for that could spell eternal disaster. 

Now, let’s do what we do every Saturday morning that God blesses us with the breath of life and strength to read His word; we check out the quotes our friend Anselm sent us the past week and see how they fit into our setting of Christian faith. And this first quote says it all. ‘If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.’ 

So true my fellow saints! We might not like the quality of our life right now with all its ups and downs and dramatic sequences, but believe me, if life was just sure and placid all the time, we would not enjoy it, not be satisfied, because the human spirit was made to be constantly moving, in other words, drama filled. Yes, that’s why our Creator gave us free will and not robotic animation. Life would indeed be flavourless. Note Jesus’ admonishing to His followers nuh: be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. That means we need to add a tasty flavour and brilliant, overflowing joy to the world. (smile) 

Therefore, this next quote should play a significant part in our lives. ‘Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.’ Oh my people, what would dreams be without a dreamer and vice versa eh? Our world would be devoid of so many wonderful things, because its dreamers who put dreams into creation, even if they don’t see them to fruition. 

And remember you cannot get an ending without a beginning. So, if the dreamer only dreams the dream, he is indeed an important, if not the most important part of the scenario. And that was certainly God’s desire for all of us when He placed whatever dreams we have in our hearts. That’s why Bruh David could confidently say in Psalm 37, titled – The true state of the wicked: ‘Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.’ (Ps. 37:4) 

Yes my fellow believers, our great and wonderful God places a dream, or several dreams in each heart that He creates, and expects us to fulfill it, or them, by accepting the anointing of His Son Jesus Christ, and thus receiving the Holy Spirit that enables us to acquire ‘the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.’ And please believe that it’s only through sincere association with Almighty God, and with His awesome munificence, that’s His lavishly generous nature, or amazing grace that we can ever acquire the things we need to make a difference in our world. 

And when we have wisely hooked up with Christ, then the following quote becomes important. ‘Play to your strengths. If you aren’t great at something, do more of what you’re great at.’ Now that’s the gospel truth my people! Too many of us try to be a Jack of all trades and masters of none! But Christ gave us special gifts at which we are particularly good for a reason. He anointed us with grace to do certain things well because that’s what He wants us to concentrate on most. 

Those gifts enhanced by His awesome power dovetail perfectly with His plans for us and for the world. As Bruh Paul says in 1 Corinthians re spiritual gifts. ‘And there are diversities of operations (different activities), but it is the same God which worketh all in all (works in all things). But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (profit everybody).’ (1 Cor. 12:6-7) 

So please, let’s stop fooling around with stuff that we possibly will never get good at nuh, and instead focus on the few things that we know we are good at, that we’ve been anointed to excel in. Remember, there’s always method to what we consider God’s madness. He does nothing without a good reason. And I can vouch for that because I am now writing these words some fifteen years after He approached me with the outlandish, seemingly impossible task of writing on His word. But now, we see that it was not total madness at all, (smile) for through His awesome faithfulness, and much perseverance and faith on my part, His dream, His plan for me has eventually come true. 

What more can I say eh? Nothing…except this next quote: ‘Don’t let rejection create self-doubt. The founder of Starbucks was turned down by 217 of the 242 investors he initially spoke with.’ Remember friends, the Good Book says that a righteous man falls numerous times, but he keeps getting back up until he succeeds. (Prov. 24:16) And we all know that in Christ’s kingdom there are no words like giving up, so we are not expected to lay defeated on the ground, but to rise and shine again like our Lord and Saviour did on the first Easter weekend some two thousand years ago. 

And believe me, whatever dream(s) the Lord has put in your heart, it (they) will not be easy, because He desires to always test our faith to see if we truly believe the words we speak so flippantly; in other words, to see if we can walk our talk. Jesus did not have it easy, but He accomplished His awesome task with the Father’s help, and likewise, as followers of Jesus we won’t have it easy either, but if we stay in faith and sincerely trust Him in whatever happens, then we will eventually succeed. 

That brings us to this last quote: ‘Every day the clock resets. Your wins don’t matter. Your failures don’t matter. Don’t stress on what was, fight for what could be.’ I don’t totally concur with those sentiments nuh, because I believe that our failures and our victories are very important. They provide very valuable life lessons, as in what to do and what not to do as we journey through this interesting, complex and ofttimes difficult earthly voyage. However, we must not become so fixated on them that they take away from our forward motion, that’s always learning and always working towards God’s divine plan for our lives. 

And to help us stay on the straight and narrow path, we’ve been given the invaluable attributes of the Holy Spirit as our Guide and Leader. And if we listen to Him and closely follow His righteous guidance, we will do wonderfully well (smile) and enjoy the abundant life that Christ died for us to have! And that’s the general goal! Much LOVE!

…what’s life all about…in three words…living for Jesus…  

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8        

Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 May 2021 1 Corinthians 12:6.

07 May 2021 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 12:6.     And there are diversities (various kinds) of operations (activities), but it is the same God which worketh all in all (all things in us).
​

It’s a grey looking day in my neighbourhood, but I’m sure the spirits of true believers are riding high because of the presence of the Holy Spirit of Christ that’s leading and guiding us. And all I’m trying to say there, is that our outer circumstances should not always be a measure of our inner status. That with Christ in our lives, as Lord and Saviour, we ought to be flourishing even when things are not looking so good on the outside. And a particularly good example of that is our current worldwide predicament that’s causing so much sickness, death, strife and upheaval. 

But through it all, followers of Christ Jesus are expected to stand up strong and make a positive difference in some form and fashion. And our Leader knows that is not an easy task, but a very doable one, since He’s already given us all we need to do what He requires of us. That includes the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, the nine attributes we receive when we live by its guiding – LOVE, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23) 

Now that’s plenty to fight this evil and godless world with. But added to all of that is also what we call the Gifts of the Spirit. Those are roughly nine more different gifts, given to different believers to do their earthly ministry. They include – the Word of Knowledge, the Word of Wisdom, the Gift of Prophecy, the Gift of Faith, the Gift of Healings, the Working of Miracles, the Discerning of Spirits, Different Kinds of Tongues, the Interpretation of Tongues. I think it best though, to let Bruh Paul give us some basic explanations. 

He says: ‘Now there are diversities (various kinds) of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations (ministries), but the same Lord. And there are diversities (various kinds) of operations (activities), but it is the same God which worketh all in all (all things in us).’ (1 Cor. 12:4-6) Yes friends, there are all sorts of gifts, activities, and ministries, but they all stem from the same source, the Holy Spirit of God. 

‘But the manifestation (or gift) of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (All).’ (1 Cor. 12:7) And it’s especially important for us to note that my fellow believers: whatever gift we’ve been given is not just for our benefit, but for the benefit of ALL! Unlike the fruit of the Spirit, we don’t have ALL the gifts of the Sprit. Some have one, or some, and others have different ones. 

As Bruh Paul continues: ‘For to one is given by the Sprit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit. To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same spirit. To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers’ (different) kinds of tongues (speaking in tongues); to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing (distributing) to every man severally (individually) as he will.’ (1 Cor. 12: 8-11) 

Ah mih bredrin, with the Fruit of the Spirit, and the Gifts of the Spirit, we believers are certainly wired for battle and eventual victory over this sinful world, provided we use those tools the way we ought. And I like how Michael Bradley puts it in his article on the bible-knowledge.com website. ‘For the record, we feel that the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit are much more important than the 9 gifts are. As the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit have to do with God imparting part of His divine nature into the core of our personalities to help make us into a much better and holy people. 

God’s ultimate aim for all of us is our sanctification in Him, and part of that sanctification process has to do with the Holy Spirit Himself transmitting 9 specific divine qualities and attributes into our personalities.’ Then He seems to quote someone else: ‘But if the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit are the cake, then the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit are the icing on the cake. Put these two together, and allow God to work with a believer with both sets of these 9 fruits and 9 gifts. And you will have one mighty sanctified soldier of Jesus Christ, as the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit will give you some serious heavy ammunition to have at your disposal as you walk with God’s anointing in your daily life.’ 

I couldn’t put it any better friends – with all that ammunition at our disposal, we ought to win whatever war in which we become involved. So today, as the world falls apart around us, let’s use our most potent tool nuh; prayer, to ask our great God for His divine help to halt the scary proceedings that have us wrapped up in much fear and anger. Therefore, as one voice, let’s raise up our Friday Chant to high heaven, sincerely pleading for release from our current demons. 

‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and the racial strife is causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. 

So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks. And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. 

And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

Now, my people, it’s up to us, to show the Lord that we are truly faithful believers, by using all the gifts with which He’s so generously endowed us to help make our world a better place. Much LOVE!

…God will not do His part in restoration…until we do our part… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8