Today’s Scrip-Bit   29 December 2023 Jeremiah 29:13.

29 Dec 2023 Leave a comment

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

Jeremiah 29:13.       And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

And on yet another wet and cloudy day, the world shouts ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and another long weekend is here!’ This time though, the grateful reprieve from work is for New Years Eve, which falls on the upcoming Sunday. So you know all the plans for the big party are already in full swing; with costumes, champagne, food, partners and all the other frills we need for ringing out the Old Year and ringing in the New one. 

And then there are the resolutions, most of which aren’t even worth the paper they’re written on, since they will be forgotten by the end of the week in which they were made. Don’t know why we keep on doing the foolishness, even when we know deep down that we won’t keep them. But, I guess that’s a part of the New Year’s Eve tradition, so we need to go with the flow. 

And 2023 has been such a rotten and ungodly year, with many people not even being able to celebrate its departure with their usual festivities because of unpredicted and unexpected strife and disaster in their societies. Let’s hope and pray that the new year of 2024 will bring us to our senses, so that most of the strife will end in peace and the disaster areas repaired so that the people can go about a peaceful and productive life once more. 

For, believe me friends, if we don’t wake up and smell the roses this coming year, and instead persist in all the foolish, unnecessary strife and violence, our world will surely implode or explode, or both, such is the high level of discontent and dissatisfaction currently existing on God’s great earth. That’s why we believers so badly need to get our act together, for the world is depending on us to turn this evil and ungodly time around and bring back the more worthwhile values of peace, LOVE and understanding. 

Sadly, those values are constantly being thrown out the window more and more every day, as another theatre of strife opens and more serious disasters befall us. And some of those natural disasters stem from climate change, from the terribly irresponsible and shortsighted manner in which we’ve treated the earth in the last few centuries, since the dawn of industrialization. So we have no one to blame but ourselves for most of the chaos now existing. 

Thankfully though we have our great, forgiving, merciful and gracious God to help us restore some semblance of sense and responsibility to our world. But it’s ever so necessary for us to seek Him out and throw ourselves on His mercy. Remember His promise through the prophet Jeremiah? ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil (calamity), to give you and expected end (a future and a hope). Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto (listen to) you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ (Jer. 29:11-13) 

There we have it friends, the first step in returning some sense of peace and responsibility to our world. We have to seek the Lord with ALL of our heart if we desire His omnipotent help. And Jesus said the same thing when the foppish lawyer asked Him what was the greatest commandment. ‘Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL of thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt. 22:37-40)  

Yuh see that mih bredrin, it all hangs on the basic principle of LOVE: LOVE for God and for each other! But unfortunately that oh so important attribute seems to be sadly missing from our world today. And unless we revive it as soon as possible, crapaud going to smoke we pipe – both literally and figuratively. (smile) 

Thus, it behooves us Christians who talk so much about God and LOVE and peace to get up off of our comfortable fannies and make the effort to turn this world around. It’s our bounden duty. Jesus said that we were the salt of the earth and the light of the world, which means we are responsible for adding a godly flavour to it, and bringing light to the darkness and evil of Satan which is now threatening to overpower God’s earth. 

And my fellow believers, I’m not telling us anything that we don’t already know. The problem is to get us to fulfill the duties that have been assigned to us as ambassadors and agents of Christ. And if we truly and sincerely LOVE Him, then we will make the effort, sacrifice whatever is necessary so that our world can be a much better place to live. And to help get us started, let’s now go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant and aske for divine help in this dire time of need. 

Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. 

We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’  

Now it’s time to rise up and do what we promised: set a good example for the unbelievers. That’s the first step in receiving divine help! Much LOVE!

…talk is cheap…but action needs a price to be paid… 

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 September 2018 Romans 5:9.

02 Sep 2018 Leave a comment

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

Romans 5:9.    Much more then now being (having been) justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Welcome, welcome to the Lord’s Day my faithful breddren! And we all know what that means: an uplifting visit to the Lord’s house, to sing and praise and worship and fellowship, hear His Word and just have a good ole time renewing our spiritual lives! Wow! There’s nothing like the faithful together singing the praises of our great and wonderful God my people! 

If you saw Aretha Franklin’s funeral on Friday, you’d have seen how praise and worship can light up the spirits of a crowd of believers. So today, in anticipation of hearing God’s Word, let’s soften up our hearts and lighten up our spirits by singing praises to our God in this old and much LOVED hymn ‘Nothing but the Blood of Jesus,’ written by Robert Lowry and published way back in 1876. 

So let’s sing it like we really mean it nuh. All together now: ‘What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. (Refrain: Oh! precious is the flow That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.) For my pardon, this I see, Nothing but the blood of Jesus; For my cleansing this my plea, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. (Refrain) 

Nothing can for sin atone, Nothing but the blood of Jesus; Naught of good that I have done, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. (Refrain) This is all my hope and peace, Nothing but the blood of Jesus; This is all my righteousness, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. (Refrain) Now by this I’ll overcome; Nothing but the blood of Jesus; Now by this I’ll reach my home, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. (Refrain) Glory! Glory! This I sing; Nothing but the blood of Jesus, All my praise for this I bring, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. (Refrain) Nothing but the Blood…Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.’ 

Ah mih people, truer words were indeed never sung or spoken, for ALL that we are is based on the blood of Jesus shed at Calvary! Without that shed blood we’d still be mired in sin for now and all eternity. As the Good Book says: ‘For all have sinned and, come short of the glory of God.’ (Rom.3:23) 

In short friends, it means that ONLY the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross of Calvary can wash away my sins, cleanse my soul, allow the Father to pardon me. In Him ONLY, can I find peace and hope, righteousness, salvation and eternal life! Glory to God! 

Christ’s blood is the most powerful element that ever washed this earth! It atoned for our sins; justified us, sanctified us, reconciled us, made us righteous and gave us entrance to heaven’s throne room! Oh my, my! What other substance on earth can do, or could have done all of that eh? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE! Nothing but the blood of Jesus! 

In it there is power, forgiveness, LOVE, humility, healing, patience and perseverance, so much so that after two thousand years it is still as effective as ever. Wow! The blood of Jesus! We even plead the blood of Jesus in tough times, confidently calling out to the Father for mercy because of the shed blood of His Son! But enough of me spouting off, (smile) let us quote a few scriptures that show the importance of Christ’s blood in our lives. 

And the first one that comes to mind is one that we all know: ‘The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29) And that He did! Then Bruh Paul elucidates to the church at Rome: ‘But God commendeth his (demonstrates his own) LOVE towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then now being (having been) justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being (having been) reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement (reconciliation).’ (Rom.5:8-11)  

Ah friends, it seems quite complicated, but it’s really quite simple: God LOVED us so much that it broke His heart to see us headed to Hades with Lucifer, so He decided to do something about it. The only problem was that because of His holiness and justice, He couldn’t just pardon sin with a wave of His hand. Our sin had to be paid for, for want of a better term, in hard currency, (smile) and that currency under the Old Covenant was animal blood. 

As Hebrews reminds us that through Moses, the Lord commanded the Israelites to continually shed animal blood as short term atonement for their sins: ‘And almost all things are by the law purged (cleansed) with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.’ (Heb.9:22) So there had to be blood shed if the Lord wanted to reconcile us to Himself. And besides, the blood had to be sinless blood, and unfortunately His Son was the ONLY One who fit that bill. 

No doubt the Lord found Himself in a quandary, but He LOVED His greatest creation so much that He decided to break His own heart and offer up His one Son as the perennial sacrifice for our sins! Now if that isn’t LOVE, I don’t know what is. Hear how Peter puts it. ‘Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible (perishable) things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation (aimless conduct) received by tradition from your fathers. 

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest (revealed) in these last times for you. Who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.’ (1 Pet.1:18-21) 

Yeh mih breddren, that’s the only wise place to place one’s faith and hope! Much LOVE!

…the shedding of Christ’s blood paid for our sins…and His resurrection pays for our eternal salvation…what a giant is our Jesus…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 February 2018 Matthew 5:20.

10 Feb 2018 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 5:20.   For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case (by no means) enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Oh friends, out there is like a true winter wonderland! Everything is as white as ever, for as far as you can see. And the white stuff has begun coming down again, at least in my area. Chuh! 

But that’s the Lord’s will. There isn’t anything we can really do about it. It’s winter, and that’s what happens in winter. We’ve just been lucky over the last few years not to see so much snow, so early in the season. 

But remember, anything God brings us to, He will bring us through. So if you have to go out today, please be careful, because that white stuff, though it may look beautiful on the ground, like the enemy it can be very deceiving and dangerous. 

And since it’s Saturday, let’s look at some of the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Listen to this first one. ‘When writing the story of your life, don’t let anyone else hold the pen.’ And why would you want to do that eh? It’s your life. You have to control it. 

Now check this out. ‘All the days that you wake up, you got one job, and that’s to get better every single day.’ And that’s oh so true, especially for a Christian. We need to aspire to grow in maturity and Christ-likeness every day that we draw breath. 

That leads us to: ‘Clear your mind of can’t!’ Wonderful advice! For as a believer in Jesus Christ, ‘can’t’ is not supposed to be in our vocabulary, since ALL things are possible with God, and we are God’s chosen people! 

And here’s an interesting one. ‘If you wanna fly, you got to give up the useless stuff that weighs you down.’ Is that ever so true friends! You can’t fly, or prosper, or take off, or rise up if you are being weighed down by useless and unnecessary stuff. 

Note how they carefully pack airplanes and ships for balance, and consider how much stuff is placed in them, otherwise they won’t be able to lift off the ground or sail. The same goes for people, improperly placed and unnecessary baggage will hold us back. 

And this last quote says: ‘If you do not go after what you want, you will never have it. If you do not ask, the answer will always be NO. If you do not step forward, you will always be in the same place.’ 

And that is certainly true, but for believers a serious proviso has to be added to it: All we do, must be done under the will of God, His leading, and in His awesome timing! If not, our seeking will be to no avail; we’ll never truly fly, or write a good life story. And I do hope those quotes give us something to ponder this snowy Saturday morning, as we laze around the house. (smile) 

And we have a very interesting Bit today; memorable words of Jesus, as He talks about the law. ‘For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case (by no means) enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ 

Wow mih people! Imagine that nuh! And those people were supposed to be the most religious in their day, but Jesus lambasted them right, left and centre for their hypocritical behaviour. 

Hear how the scholars explain it. ‘5:20. Because of the necessity of righteousness as a requirement to enter heaven, Jesus then declares that except their righteousness should exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees they could not enter heaven. 

The significance of this is seen in the fact that the Jews of Jesus’ day considered those people to be the most religious in all Israel. However, their religion was largely an outward show of self-righteousness. 

In communicating the depth of His message, Jesus used a series of contrasts between the outward behaviour demanded by the law and the inner attitude of the heart desired by God. Here we discover the practical application of genuine Christian character to true spiritual living. Here we see the gospel in action.                                  

              Law                                           Spirit                         

             No Murder                               No anger

              No adultery                            No lust

              No divorce                               Commitment

              No oath-taking                      Speak the truth

              No retaliation                        Forgiveness

              Hatred for your enemy       LOVE for your enemy                  

             (tradition allowed it)                  (commanded)

Ah mih people, yuh see the basic difference between the laws of man and those of God. Our God expects us to come up to a higher standard than that of the basic law. Just living by the law is not good enough. And the scribes and Pharisees didn’t even truly live by the law that they propagated. 

Unfortunately, so do a lot of us supposed Christians in these end times. Some of us put on a great outward show, talk a good talk, but behind closed doors it’s an entirely different story.

But please remember Jesus’ words; unless we are more righteous than the religious leaders of His day, we won’t enter heaven. Now, that’s something of immeasurable value and importance for us to ponder this Saturday morning. Much LOVE!

…unless you walk the walk…in God’s eyes…where it really matters…talking the talk is useless…

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 January 2016 John 3:16

24 Jan 2016 Leave a comment

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

John 3:16.    For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Oh Friends, just as day follows night, so does Sunday follow Saturday, and yesterday was Saturday, which means that today is Sunday. Oh what excellent reasoning my brethren, worthy of our favourite fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes! (smile) 

And since it’s Sunday, the Lord’s Day, then we should be preparing to go to church and worship, give thanks and praise with other believers to our wonderful Creator because that is His desire. 

So let’s not dilly-dally in performing our duty nuh, raising up all kinds of feeble excuses, which we full well know don’t hold water, but merely reflects our laziness and lack of godliness. 

Now friends, going to church is not merely our duty, it is also a means of upliftment for us, of encouragement, of strengthening our faith and keeping us steadfast and true and on the right track, the straight and narrow one. 

And let me remind us that whatever God desires of us, it’s not for His benefit, but for ours. He doesn’t really need anything that we have, but we do need a lot of what He possesses. 

Consequently, I shouldn’t have to badger us to go to church. And I’ll stop it right now. (smile) But if you don’t go, you’ll never know the beautiful soulful experience that comes from worshipping God as a body of believers.  End of sermon. 

Instead, here is some wisdom from our friend Anselm who always tries to inspire us for a better tomorrow. This quote wisely declares that ‘Someone who is worthy of your LOVE will never put you in a situation where you feel you must sacrifice your dignity, your integrity, or your self-worth to be with them.’ 

And that’s oh so true my people. Anyone who wants, or expects you to compromise your truthful and godly character is definitely not worthy of your LOVE! They definitely are not friends or LOVED ones, just users, only interested in their own selves and/or desires. So anytime that kind comes around you, just ignore them and move on. 

And if they put up a fuss, just let them know that you already have truer and more important personages who sincerely care about you, as so passionately and powerfully declared in our Bit. ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ 

Yes my fellow believers, once you have the Holy Triumvirate in your corner, you don’t need anyone else, especially selfish, uncaring human beings. Please remember that in whatever situation you might find yourself, you and the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit always constitutes a majority, and that there is NO circumstance that you all can’t successfully handle together! 

Now let’s continue looking at some scripture that confirms and upholds our Bit.  And we’ll begin with Bruh Paul’s second message to the Thessalonians. ‘Wherefore he (God) called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or by our epistle. 

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath LOVED us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish (establish) you in every good word and work.’ (2 Thess.2:14-17) 

Oh friends, what uplifting and edifying words! Words for us to hold on to, to write indelibly in our hearts, minds and souls! 

And here are a couple of scholarly explanations. ‘2:14. By our gospel (see Rom.10:17): “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ He is here referring to the oral communication of the gospel; what we hear brings about faith. ‘2:15. Traditions…taught refers to more than customs. In view here is the totality of the apostolic doctrine as it was given to them.’ 

Now I’d be rather amiss and falling down in my duty if I didn’t share this most interesting explanation of ‘Tradition’ by the scholars. 2:15. The word tradition literally means “a giving over by word of mouth or writing.” It refers to teachings handed down from one person to another. Tradition is not in and of itself wrong; it is only wrong when opposed to the Word of God. 

In the early church, good tradition was the principal means of Christian instruction (Luke 1:2). Paul used this word to describe his teachings, especially at Corinth and Thessalonica (v.15; 3:6). False tradition ends up as heresy or apostasy (renunciation of a religious faith). 

Illustration: The religious leaders of Jesus’ day erred in placing the traditions of men above the Word of God (Matt.15:1-9).  In contrast, Luke sifted through existing records and apparently interviewed witnesses in writing an inspired record to instruct Theophilus  in the faith (Luke 1:1-4). 

Application: Christians need to sit under the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, but when the content conflicts with the Scriptures, the teaching of men should be disregarded for the certain truth of the Bible. (First Ref. Matt.15:2; Primary Ref. 2 Thess. 2:15; cf. 2 Tim. 2:15).’  

Oh friends, we on a roll! (smile) And I do hope that you appreciate the lengths the ole fella is going to, to give us all a better understanding of God’s Word, for if we don’t understand it, then how can we obey it eh? And for your benefit, I suggest that you look up the references mentioned, to make sure they make sense. (smile) I did before I wrote them down. 

And now, may the Lord God bless and safely keep us all, grant us His unmatchable wisdom and unsurpassable peace, as we go about today to do His bidding! Much LOVE!

…when circumstances go against God’s Word…we ought to obey God…rather than men…and be ready to suffer the consequences… (Acts 5:29)

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 April 2012 Matthew 7:24

14 Apr 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Matthew 7:24.    Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.

Ah Friends, the parched land in my area is desperately calling out for drink from the heavens! I believe the weather forecasters are forecasting rain sometime this weekend. Let’s hope they are right, unlike this past week when they forecasted it several times, but nary a drop of heavenly blessings fell from the few dark clouds that accumulated over the land. And sadly my brethren, a whole lot of people in our world are starved for nourishment, both physically and spiritually. The physically hungry are indeed plentiful, but I believe the spiritually malnourished are even more numerous. What does that say about our world eh? Not a very good recommendation is it? Sometimes we might not have the wherewithal to satisfy their bodily hunger for more than just a short period of time, but as true believers in Jesus, we ALWAYS have what it takes to fulfill their spiritual yearning. As they say, to give a person a fish when they’re hungry is all well and good, but what happens when their hunger reoccurs? However, if you teach them to fish, then they’ll have the ability to eventually feed themselves. The same goes for the Good News of Jesus my people! We can always throw out choice bits of scripture, to the spiritually hungry from our enormous storehouses; like scraps to the hungry, or pearls before swine, then beat our chests in personal pride because we believe we’ve done such a wonderful job. But Friends, how does that help them in times of true spiritual poverty eh? Not in any real sense, for they can’t find true spiritual satisfaction from a mere handful of scriptures thrown at them without any substantive reasoning. Fellow believers, we first have to teach the spiritually impoverished about Jesus; who He is, what He’s done, and how it affects us all, up to this very day and forever more. Unless they have a strong foundation to build on they will not last long in the Word. As we saw yesterday, that’s part of the reason Luke claims he wrote his gospel and Acts; so that Theophilus could have good groundings, a solid foundation on the stuff that he’d heard. So it’s our responsibility to first teach others about Jesus, then encourage them to also put those teachings into practice. Our Bit emphasizes this: ‘Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, (the Sermon on the Mount) and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a (the) rock.’ Jesus reminds us that the lives of anyone simply hearing His Word, won’t be changed. Not until they begin doing them, living them in their day to day lives will any serious change occur. Then, as always, using simple contrasts, Jesus unequivocally states: ‘And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a (the) rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, (the Sermon on the Mount) and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.’ (Matt.7:25-27)  And unfortunately my people, so it is with everything that does not have a solid foundation on which to sit. It will be easily destroyed. Thus our duty to teach the spiritually hungry properly; with the full teaching of Jesus, not a few choice morsels that only enhance our images in ourselves, and does nothing for the poor listeners. Note what happened after Jesus spoke those words: ‘And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine (teaching): For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.’ (Matt.7:28-29) Yes Friends, Jesus taught with authority because it was based on His own life, He was His own authority, while the scribes depended on tradition for theirs. We should also teach with authority Friends; the authority of Jesus. If we truly believe, then there should be conviction and confidence in our teaching to others. Here’s an interesting aside from the scholars: ‘The elements of the closing illustration are drawn from the simplicity of nature itself, the rock, the rain, and the winds. The man whose house collapsed was at fault, not because he failed to labour, but because he did not lay the proper foundation. The shifting sand represents human opinion and the doctrines of men as opposed to ‘these sayings’ (v.28)’ And that is the gospel truth my brethren! All you have to do is look around our society, our world, and see the things places, people and traditions that are crumbling, both literally and figuratively, because they have been built on weak foundations. Even our church is falling apart in some places and some respects, because the body, its members are not doing what Jesus said. Instead we’re more concerned with furious infighting over petty things that are consequently driving us apart. Oh Friends, that’s no way to keep Christ’s church going, and ultimately building it until it’s spread over the whole wide world, as He desires. Therefore, from today, from RIGHT NOW, let’s seriously promise ourselves to put aside all the petty grievances that are driving us apart, and not only be hearers of Jesus’ Word, but even more importantly doers, and also teach those to whom we minister, the great importance of that principle. It’s the only way Christ’s church will be stabilized and have a chance of lasting till eternity. Much LOVE!…the only true and strong foundations in this world…the Good Book…and Jesus…