Today’s Scrip-Bit 20 January 2021 Deuteronomy 32:39.

Deuteronomy 32:39:     See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with (beside) me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

Well today’s the big day, the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden! Wonder if there’ll be fireworks like a couple of weeks ago at the Capitol Building, or just some minor firecrackers pretending to be fireworks? (smile) 

Let’s hope it will be the latter because this time the powers that be are ready for the assault, if there’s one, and it will have much more unpleasant consequences than the previous upheaval. 

Be assured of one thing though, the Lord’s will is unfolding as it ought to in His universe. He will allow whatever best suits His ultimate purpose. And there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. 

As I’ve been saying ever since, the Lord allowed Trump to be President so He could bring a disobedient and ungodly America to its knees, and Donald has definitely done a marvellous job at that. It’s just left to be seen now, if the Lord is satisfied, or He wants America to bow even further. 

And it’s sad to see so many supposedly godly people involved in the Trump shenanigans over the last four years. It was also surprising to see the rioters a couple weeks ago claiming that they were doing God’s work by breaking into and ransacking the Capitol Building. Hn! How often we claim to be doing God’s work when it’s our own evil and selfish desires we’re perpetrating eh. 

I see now too that a whole lotta them want to fire Franklin Graham, Billy’s Son, because he appeared to be in cahoots with Donald. But remember friends, God sees all, and knows all, and time longer than twine, so the consequences for our wrongdoing might not come right away, but come they will. 

As the Lord said long, long ago: ‘To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.’ (Deut. 32:35) In the meantime we had better grab hold of conviction, repentance, forgiveness, and a choice slice of salvation. (smile) 

I don’t know why we insist on doubting that the Lord God Jehovah is the One and Only True, Living God nuh, He’s said it so often in His indisputable word. Let’s get a few examples nuh. 

This first one comes when Moses warned the people of Israel against idolatry as they came out of bondage in Egypt. ‘Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightiest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.’ (Deut. 4:35) And they had seen firsthand the mighty works of God, especially the parting of the Red Sea for them to get away from the Egyptian army. 

Then Moses in his departure song, declared (yeah!) unto them. ‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with (beside) me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.’ (Deut. 32:39) 

That’s so plain and straightforward my people! There is NO God beside Yahweh! The false gods are impotent. Only Jehovah can kill and make alive, can wound and heal! And even though He sometimes uses our enemies to bring us down, those same enemies will eventually reap their just reward through His ultimate vengeance. 

But hundreds of years later, the prophet Isaiah still had to turn around and warn the Israelites: ‘Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. 

And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me (who can proclaim it, then let him declare it), since I appointed the ancient people and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them. 

Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God (Rock); I know not any.’ (Is. 44:6-8) 

Mamacita! If that isn’t telling it like it is, then I don’t know what is nuh! Oh friends, even Cyrus, the Persian king who was so powerful, owed his power and conquests to God. He was even called ‘anointed’ (Is. 45:1) the only place in scripture where a Gentile is so designated. 

And later on He says to Cyrus, through Isaiah: ‘I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me. That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west (to its setting), that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil (calamity): I the Lord do all these things.’ (Is. 55:5-7) 

Let’s get one thing straight though, as the scholars explain: ‘The phrase I…create evil refers to physical evil or calamity rather than moral evil. God is no way pictured in Scripture as the author of sin.’ In fact friends, sin is His biggest nemesis! He hates it with a passion! 

Please my brethren, let us realize nuh that our God is wonderful; LOVING, gracious merciful, forgiving and all those good things, but He is also holy, righteous and a just judge, which means He can’t allow sin to just proliferate with no consequences. 

He had the power to just pardon all sin with a wave of His hand, (like Trump seems to think he can do (smile) but that would not have satisfied the justice of His judge-like character. He has to balance both sides of His character. So to make it all not only right, but seen as right, He sacrificed His Son to pay for the sins of the whole world, thereby satisfying both aspects of His character. 

So He is not just a doting grandfather sitting in heaven just to satisfy our whims and fancies, He also has a righteous job as a judge to perform. That means, just like we pay for our wrongs here on earth against our society, we will eventually have to pay for those against God, if we have not received His Son, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and thus have those wrongs forgiven in the court of heaven. 

It is therefore necessary for each individual to make their own peace with God. No one else can do it for you. Now, for those of us who have already done that, let’s go home declaring (awright!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the world know of our very enviable position in Christ. 

Altogether 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 we need to remember that if we endure until the very end, that the future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…pardon will only be granted in heaven…if Jesus is our advocate… 

Today​’s Scrip-Bit 24 March 2019 Revelation 4:11.

Revelation 4:11:   Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are (by your will they exist) and were created.
 

Sunday morning’s coming down friends…in fact, by the time you receive this missive, it will have already come down! (smile) But don’t worry, God’s great universe is unfolding as it should. But what else do we expect from the great architect and planner eh? Nothing less than things running the way He planned them. 

And so it is with us, His greatest creation: He planned us to worship and praise Him and pray to Him and receive answers to those prayers. He also stipulated that once a week we should lay down our labour and gather in His sanctuary to fellowship with other believers, and we have designated Sunday as our Sabbath, our day of rest and worship. 

So let me invite us to gather in the Lord’s house nuh. And let us be also glad, the way Bruh David was, when they invited him to go into the house of the Lord. (Ps.122:1) (smile) And as always, we’ll begin the proceedings with some praise and worship in glorious song! 

According to the Internet site ‘godtube,’ our song for today,’ To God be the Glory’ is a hymn with lyrics by Fanny Crosby and music by William Howard, possibly written around 1872, but first published in 1875. It soon became popular in Britain, but never had any success in the U.S until the 1950’s when it was added to the songbook of Billy Graham’s crusades. Now it’s one of our very popular hymns. 

And we can certainly understand why: Because it ‘celebrates the greatness of God and calls upon an appreciation for the wondrous things “He hath done.” It is a glorious hymn to be sung rejoicefully in the spirit of gratitude.’ And that’s no lie! So without further ado, let’s sing it nuh, in sweet, soaring harmony, rejoicefully, and most definitely in the spirit of gratitude! 

All together now: ‘To God be the glory, great things He hath done; So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in. (Refrain Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.) 

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, To every believer the promise of God; The vilest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus a pardon receives. (Refrain) Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done, And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son; But purer, and higher, and greater will be Our wonder, our rapture, when Jesus we see. 

(Refrain: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.) 

Oh friends, oh friends, that was beautiful! We sounded like the heavenly host that continually worships God. ‘The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are (by your will they exist) and were created.’ (Rev.4:10-11) 

O my fellow believers, is our great God ever worthy of tumultuous praise and worship, glory, power and honour! He certainly is! Just look at the marvellous things He’s done nuh! He LOVED us so much that He sacrificed His only Son, like a lamb on the cross at Calvary, so that His sinless blood could pay for the atonement of our sins! And with His resurrection, opened the gate of eternal life for anyone who believes on Him to enter into the halls of heaven! 

Wow! For that the Lord is certainly worthy of praise! And we ought also to rejoice over that perfect redemption performed by Jesus. And what a wonderful situation Jesus’ sacrifice caused, so much so that even the most disgusting offender is instantly pardoned once he sincerely believes! And in the doing of all those great things, our majestic God has also taught us great things! 

And if yuh think we rejoicing now through Jesus earthly work, just listen to Fanny’s words as she reflects those of the Good Book: ‘But purer, and higher, and greater will be Our wonder, our rapture, when Jesus we see.’ Yeh mih breddren, the celebration now is incomparable to what it will be when we bounce up with Jesus face to face in the hallowed halls of heaven!  

Ah friends, that’s why Christians are supposed to be the happiest and most joyful people in the world! We have been accorded such wonderful privileges and blessings down here on earth, along with the faithful promise of more to come in the afterlife that our puny finite minds can’t even truly comprehend them! 

I guess that’s why so many of us drag ourselves around like we’re bearing the whole weight of the world on our shoulders. Sorry friends, Jesus has already assumed that position! You don’t have to go around feeling sad and sorrowful and beating up yourself any longer. Otherwise you’re just making a mockery of Jesus’ sacrifice. And I’m sure you don’t want to do that. 

So please, let’s lift our heads, hands and hearts to the sky and shout a loud, proud and grateful, ‘Thank You Lord! You are indeed worthy to be praised! We LOVE You and bless Your holy name! Amen! And again we say: ‘Amen!’ Now let’s go home rejoicing in the goodness and wonder of our great Triune God – the ONLY REAL and TRUE DEITY that exists! Much LOVE!

…the joy of the Lord…is the true believer’s strength…