Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 July 2019 Luke 21:15.

24 Jul 2019 Leave a comment

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

Luke 21:15.    ​For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay (refute) nor resist.
 

So it’s Wednesday; the middle of the week, and everybody breathes a sigh of relief, saying: ‘Three down, only two more to go!’ Ah friends, what is it with us and work eh? The majority of people don’t like what they do for a living, and would rather not do it, but they have limited choices, so they acquiesce and do the job half-heartedly. And that includes Christians too! 

The only problem there is that as Christians we’re not supposed to be working unto man, but unto God, and if we have Jesus dwelling in us then we’re supposed to do as good a job as possible even if we don’t like it. And furthermore we’re supposed to be contented and grow wherever He plants us. 

So if you’re the lone believer where you work and get a lot of heat for it, then believe that’s where Jesus wants you at this time, so you can shine your light in that dark world of unbelief and allow your salt to spice up and make tasty the corrupt and corroded atmosphere! But hear what Jesus says will happen when we suffer for His name’s sake. ‘Take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say; for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.’ (Luke 12:11-12) 

Now here is an interesting explanation from the scholars. ‘12:12. The Holy Ghost shall teach: Remember that (1) these men had Jesus as a personal teacher; (2) these disciples being Jews, had a great command of Old Testament Scripture; and (3) the New Testament was not yet begun. 

This is not to say that Jesus’ promise has no application today, since the experience of persecuted Christians in this century proves otherwise. Yet it would be dangerous to presume on direct, supernatural guidance without doing all possible to avail oneself of means already at hand to learn of God and His ways.’ 

Yeh friends, they’re not saying that supernatural guidance is impossible, but it’s much easier for you to stand up strong in Jesus’ name when you know His Word and thus for the Holy Spirit to remind you of certain truths to use when you’re under the gun. 

And I like how Luke further puts it: Jesus tells them: ‘Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay (refute) nor resist.’ (Luke 21:14-15) 

Ah mih people, we don’t have to beat up ourselves as to what we ought to say when we encounter opposition, for the Holy Spirit, our guide and comforter, our inspiration and constant companion, will lead us to say the right things. But you have to know the Word so you can associate it with whatever and wherever He guides you. 

And we have this further assurance from Jesus: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace: In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) And if you’re a true believer that verse of scripture ought to quell whatever anxiety and worry that’s in your heart right now! 

That’s the wonderful thing about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; when you sincerely believe in Him, even in the midst of trials and tribulation we can have peace in our souls! No other faith can promise, guarantee and deliver such a wonderful situation! But friends, it doesn’t just happen overnight, you have to go through those trials so you can grow and mature in the faith. 

And I can testify to that because years ago, I was holidaying in California when my mother died unexpectedly up here. Obviously I was devastated by her unexpected death, but I clearly remember a surprising peace that suddenly came over me, and I was able to handle the situation with the necessary fortitude. But the people around me were also surprised at how cool, calm and collected I was despite the devastating news. 

It doesn’t mean that I wasn’t sad and didn’t cry and display all the other emotions associated with unexpected loss, but the important thing is that I didn’t fall apart and become useless to myself and those around me. And every time I look back at that situation, I can only smile and realize that it was indeed the goodness of God, the overwhelming peace of Jesus that got me through the situation. 

And what made that peace even more welcome is that I had disembarked in Las Vegas and driven to California, and the price to change my flight to leave from California was astronomical, so I had to drive all the way back through the desert to Las Vegas that took a fair amount of time. But though my heart was heavy, it was at peace, thanks be to Jesus! 

And yuh know friends, even during these last two and a half years of sickness and medical procedures, I was never worried about making it through, I was more annoyed than anything at having to go through all that stuff. (smile) And that’s because by then I had matured enough to believe God’s promise of if He puts me through it, He will bring me through it, stronger than before. And I am stronger than before! 

That’s my testimony and I’m sticking to it. (smile) Hope it does offer some encouragement to those of you who are going through serious problems right now. You just have to believe, despite the darkness of the situation. And the Lord might not change the situation, as He might just be testing you, but He will change you, so that you can handle the situation! 

Enough sermonizing for today though! Let’s go home declaring (yeah!) our Wednesday Wail telling all and sundry our wonderful position in Christ! As one strong, sincere and enthusiastic voice now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! 

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And please remember that if we stand strong and finish our race with vim and vinegar, that future will be even more glorious than we can ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…true faith…only comes and grows…by experiencing trials…and sincerely believing in…the faithful promises of Jesus…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 July 2016 Matthew 7:12

15 Jul 2016 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 7:12.   Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

And then it was Friday… 

No wonder the workers united to sing this song of emancipation: ‘TGIF! Thank God it is Friday! No more work, no more slaving for a cruel, heartless massa! The weekend is upon us and we will enjoy all the pleasures it offers – from A to Zee! Thank God for Fridays and the weekends yes!’ 

Ah friends, you really can’t begrudge people some pleasure when they’ve been under the gun all week, just working and doing little else in this supposedly modern but very stressful and demanding world. 

However, we can’t afford to only seek the lust of the flesh in the next two days either; spiritual matters must also be of great concern, otherwise we’ll lose the something in our souls that makes us higher than the animals and just a little lower than the angels. 

Now let’s chant our Friday Chant which gives us a better perspective on the matter. 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.’ 

Now that is a much better way to handle the couple days off we have over the weekend; it keeps our soul and spirit in balance, which is something we desperately need to survive and be successful in our current topsy-turvy world. 

And here’s an interesting quote from my ‘P.S. I LOVE YOU’ Poster. I don’t know if I’ve shared it before, but if I haven’t, I ought to have, and if I’ve shared it before, then it’s nice enough for us to do it twice. (smile) 

And it says: ‘The people on our planet are not standing in a line single file. Look closely. Everyone is really standing in a circle, holding hands. Whatever you give to the person standing next to you, it eventually comes back to you.’ 

And isn’t that the awesome truth friends? It certainly is! It’s basically God’s plan for man; whatever you sow, you shall reap. Life is like a boomerang; whatever you throw out to it, it will eventually come right back to you. 

So if you throw out bad, that’s what you’ll eventually receive, the same thing goes for good. The trouble is that we don’t think sufficiently along those lines, so we sow whatever our flesh wants, then when we get back something negative in return we wonder why. 

But life is not rocket science my people, it’s a simple do unto others as you’d want them doing unto you. And Jesus’ words on that subject is our Bit for today. ‘Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.’ 

Yes my people, that’s what we call the ‘Golden Rule!’ And it’s really the only sensible way to live, if what we said above, about sowing and reaping, is true. 

And the scholars explain it thus: ‘Hence, rather than judging others, we are to treat them as we would like to be treated. Therefore all things…do ye even so to them, is the biblical injunction often called the “Golden Rule.” This is the law and the prophets indicates that the statement made here by Jesus is not intended to be novel, but rather a summarization of the second table of the law.’ 

Yes friends, it’s not new, it’s just what has been required of us ever since Moses got those Ten Commandments. (smile) Unfortunately though, not enough of us are following it in these crucial and critical times, thus the ungodly and evil lifestyles we’re seeing so prevalent over God’s great world. 

But it shouldn’t be like that. If we’d use our common sense and life experience we’d realize it. However we tend to live by the lusts of the flesh and the emotions of greed, selfishness etc. which only tear us down. There’s no building of harmony and unity in those negative emotions my people, just breaking down and destroying. 

And that’s exactly what’s happening in our world. I don’t know if we’ve ever gone through a more destructive period in a supposed time of peace. Steups! 

Everyday we’re becoming better at destruction, for a lot of our manufacturing consists of finding and building better ways to destroy. It’s taken us sometimes hundreds of years to build the great monuments of our world, but we destroy them in mere seconds! 

Hn! And not only that, no longer do we have to be up close to destroy, we can stay thousands of miles away and perpetrate hell on earth to our enemies. And then we wonder why our world is going to hell in a bucket! 

Look at all the wars and rumours of wars that are currently causing such woeful strife in our world. Friends, it doesn’t take a fool to realize that if we keep destroying, instead of building, we’ll soon have nothing left to destroy. 

Our leaders seem to be more inept and inefficient than ever, corruption has never been so pervasive, far-reaching and blatant. It just seems that all they are interested in is self-aggrandizement and holding on to immense power for dear life. 

But what they don’t seem to understand is that the more you have, the more you control, the more you have to lose and the more carefully you have to guard it all, which only leads to more problems, in all areas of life.  

Please friends, let’s not be caught up in that vicious cycle of want, of greed and selfishness that is so easy to climb on to, but ever so difficult to get off. Let’s use common sense and God’s Word to direct our earthly pilgrimage nuh. It’s the epitome of wisdom! Much LOVE!

…the Golden Rule…do unto others…as you want them to do unto you…is still the most sensible and godly way to live in this mish-mash world…