Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 April 2018 Proverbs 8:32.

Proverbs 8:32.   Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

Well hello there mih loverlies! This is the ole fellow reporting from St. Mike’s alive and kicking, thanks to our great and wonderful God! Praise His Holy Name! Yes friends, I guess with all the prayers you all sent up to heaven on my behalf, the Lord had no option but to leave me down here. His very words were; ‘If you all want him down there so badly, you all might as well keep him. I can wait for him a li’l longer. (smile) 

The operation appears to have been a success, except that it seemed to take a little longer than expected, because the tumour was tied up in some of the other organs, but you know I knew nothing about that, because I was out for the count. I am feeling not too bad now late in the evening, so I decided to write the Bit. 

And as we know today is Saturday, so we have to look at some of the quotes from our friend Anselm, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And I think this first one refers perfectly to my current situation. ‘The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.’ And that is exactly what I intend to do; press on regardless, especially as the Lord has at last begun my refurbishment. (smile) 

Then there is this one: ‘A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.’ That’s so true my brethren, life is short, so why waste any of it eh? This one is also true: ‘If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.’ But note, it needs the right path, and you’re supposed to keep on walking, not stop sometime when you get tired. 

And as usual we’ve left the best for last: ‘Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.’ And friends that wagon you need to hitch yourself to, the one that is so much larger and better than you is simply Jesus! 

There is nothing better nor larger than Him. And I know that all of you who are reading this know that’s true, that’s why you’ve hitched your wagon to His bright and everlasting star. That’s why Cousin Sol gives us this talk on the everlasting value of wisdom, starting with our Bit. ‘Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.’ 

And regardless of what wagon you hitch your star to, you will have to follow its rules and regulations, if you want to get ahead in its programme. And that goes for Jesus even more. As Cousin Sol continues: ‘Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not (do not disdain it).’ (Prov.8:33) But sadly a lot of us disdain the rules of Jesus and thus suffer the consequences, for there are always consequences to every action, good or bad. 

However, Cousin Sol tells us that ‘Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For who findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me LOVE death.’(Prov.8:34-36) Yeh mih people, if we don’t like wisdom, then death is our friend, and that’s truly a sad reflection on us. 

Because the Good Book has given us so many promises when we follow the Lord seriously. Hear the Psalmist. ‘Praise ye the Lord (sing Hallelujah). Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon the earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth (lasts) for ever.’ (Ps.112:1-3) 

What more can we ask eh good people of God? Nothing really, for God gives us all that we need when we stand strong with him. And we’ll close with some more wise words from James on the subject. ‘But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed (what he does).’ (James 2:25) 

Oh friends, we must keep on hearing and doing the word if we want to be truly blessed. That’s wisdom at its highest! Thanks for all your prayers. You can see that the Lord answered them. (smile) And as I write this there’s an emergency situation in the bed to my right. Hope the gentleman makes it. Talk to you tomorrow, the Lord willing. Much LOVE!

…a word to the wise…is usually sufficient….  

P.S. The gentleman next door did make it. Thanks to God and good and quick medical help. Much LOVE!

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 April 2018 Joshua 1:9.

Joshua 1:9.    Have not I commanded thee? be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. 

Well a good morning to you my friends and Scrip-Bit family! Today is the Big Day! Yes, today the ole fella is going down to St. Michael’s Hospital, in Toronto, at long last, to have the tumour growing on his Pituitary Gland removed. Glory Be! And that’s why the Bit is so early. 

The tumour’s been hanging around for so long now that I’ve become accustomed to it, and after it’s removed, I’ll have to adjust to a new normal. But I can handle that. (smile) So all I’m asking is for you faithful fellow believers to bombard heaven with prayers for the success of the operation. (smile) Ask the Lord to guide the hands and hearts and heads of the medical team to do their best work, and to keep me strong and faithful. 

Now today is also Friday, so we have to consider the workingman’s song of freedom from unfair labour. ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! Our best friend, the weekend is here again! Time to let our hair down again and enjoy ourselves as much as we can, with whatever the crazy world has to offer; say, sex, drugs and rock and roll! Whatever is out there is ours for the taking. And yuh better believe we going to take it in these two short days off. Thank God for Fridays and weekends oui!’  

Ah mih people, the workingman surely goes out on a limb, but we believers in Jesus Christ can’t afford to do the same. We’re not allowed to be that lustful and licentious because our Lord and Saviour has set up boundaries of proper standards for us to adhere to. That’s why our Friday Chant is so much different from the ordinary workingman’s song. 

So let’s chant our Friday Chant with as much enthusiasm as the workingman sang his song nuh. As one now: ‘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!’ 

Yeh friends, our song is much more reserved, excluding the extremes that the workingman seems to favour. And as we come to our Bit, I have to chuckle because I came down here just now wondering what I was going to write about, but the Lord beat me to it. I usually put some bookmarks in my Bible between the pages of scripture I’m interested in using that day. 

Now apparently when I used something from the first chapter of Joshua recently, I left a bookmark there, so the Bible naturally opened there this morning, and the first words to greet my eyes were those of our Bit. ‘Have not I commanded thee? be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ 

Obviously the Lord was telling me that was my duty for today; to stand up strong and courageous, don’t be afraid of what I was about to go through. In other words reassuring me of His continual presence and His LOVING-kindness, and His promise to bring me through all adversity in better shape than before. 

Glory to our great and wonderful God my brethren! How can I not trust and be faithful to Him under those conditions eh? And in all my messages, that’s all I’m trying to get through to us: if you trust the Lord He will be faithful to you. As Bruh David so stoutly and proudly declares in the opening verse of Psalm 27: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’ (Ps.37:1) 

Ah my people, when you have the Lord as your ally, you need to fear no one or nothing at all, for He is always with you, wherever you go, looking out for you in all situations. And this is most appropriately set out in Psalm 91 – God is a refuge and fortress. ‘Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation (dwelling place); There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear (lift) thee up in their hands, lest thou dash (strike) thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder (cobra); the young lion and the dragon (serpent) shalt thou trample under feet’ (Ps.91:9-13) 

Oh friends, what glorious promises! And that’s not all. Hear the Lord’s declaration: ‘Because he has set his LOVE upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.’ (Ps.91:14-16) 

Wow people, wow! I don’t remember if I featured this scripture in my recent messages on the promises of God, but if I didn’t, it certainly deserved to be amongst them. And if I did, we can certainly be reminded of it, so that we can stay faithful and courageous in the strength and joy of our God. 

Now I don’t know what shape I will be in tomorrow, so I can’t say exactly when the Bit will come out, but the Lord willing, it WILL come out at some time. So please remember me in your prayers, and talk to you some time tomorrow, the Lord in favour. 

And I don’t see why the Lord won’t be in favour, since I haven’t really accomplished the desires He’s put in my heart to exalt and glorify Him. So if He took me home now, then He’d be wasting all those desires. And if there’s one thing I know, our God is wise, He doesn’t waste his desires. (smile) Much LOVE!

…trust in the Lord with all your heart…and lean not unto thine own understanding…  (Prov.3:5)