The Christian’s Duty to have the Spirit of Self-Control in All Matters of Their Lives!

Proverbs 25:16.        Hast thou found honey? Eat so much (only as much) as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.

HAPPY LABOUR DAY!

Well, a fine good day to you Monday! It’s good to know that I don’t have to get up and rush around and face all the hassles of going to work this Labour Day morning! Thanks again for the holiday…only wish you could do it more often, then we would not have so many disagreements. 

Yes friends, it’s Labour Day Monday, which means most of the summer frolic is over; schools and such will now open and the cool fall breezes of September ought to blow. However, with the unpredictable weather patterns currently in vogue, (smile) courtesy of climate change, who knows what kind of weather we will receive. But thankfully, whatever happens, with Jesus on our side, we’ll be more than able to handle it, because with and through Him we can handle any and everything that the world throws our way! ‘Glory Hallelujah!’  

But please remember that although the day calls for celebrations, we don’t need to go overboard and over do it, we must mind our p’s and q’s, for overdoing most things is not good for us. And there are many verses in the scriptures that speak to that topic, for instance this one from the wisdom of Cousin Sol in Proverbs. ‘Hast thou found honey? Eat so much (only as much) as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.’ (Prov. 25.16) 

And that is a good measure for most things in this life. Especially in the matter of alcohol, as Bruh Paul warns in Ephesians. ‘And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (dissipation); but be filled with the Spirit.’ (Eph. 5:18) And Cousin Sol corroborates that with this Proverb. ‘Wine is a mocker, strong (intoxicating) drink is raging (arouses brawling): and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.’ (Prov. 20:1)  

Yes mih bredrin, too much alcohol is certainly no good for us, because it causes us to lose our mental bearings, get into fights, arguments etc. and we end up doing things that are not in God’s will, or as the scholars say: ‘Drunkenness leads to moral intemperance, and we should instead be filled with the Spirit of God. For a person filled with wine is under its influence; similarly, a Christian filled with the Spirit is under the control of the Spirit, and can control his thoughts, attitudes and actions.’ 

And furthermore, we have this warning from Bruh Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. ‘All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient (helpful): all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any (anything).’ (1 Cor. 6:12) And that situation seems to have been very important to Bruh Paul, for he says the very same thing in 1 Cor. 10:23, except, there he changes the last phrase to ‘but all things edify not (do not build up).’ 

Oh my fellow believers, many things may be lawful for us to do, meaning, not proscribed or prohibited by the God’s will in the scriptures, but not all of them are helpful or beneficial in living God’s plan and purpose for our lives. That calls up the fruit of the Spirit of self-control, whereby we don’t let those supposedly lawful but not beneficial things control or have power over us. 

That brings us to two more interesting verses from the wisdom of Cousin Sol. He wisely maintains: ‘It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search (seek) their own glory is not glory. He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.’ (Prov. 25:27-28) There’s no disputing the wisdom in those verses friends, but sadly those things are rather prevalent in our current society. Everybody is seeking their own glory and aggrandizement, with very little if any self-control in the process. 

Meanwhile, we have these wise words from Bruh Paul to the Galatians that oversee the entire situation. ‘Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (do not lose heart). As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.’ (Gal. 6:7-10) 

I guess that says it all my fellow saints. We must be careful of our thoughts and actions, for whatever we do, we will reap the necessary consequences. However, our duty is to live good, as much as humanly possible with all people, especially Christians. And to help us do that, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid. 

Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

But unfortunately friends, things will never improve until we turn from our evil ways and begin sincerely seeking God with all of our hearts, souls, bodies and minds. Much LOVE!

…you reap what you sow…more than you sow…and later than you sow… Uncle Charles – Dr. Charles Stanley…

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Psalm 9:1.  I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth (tell of) all thy marvelous works.

And then it was Sunday… And all the people joyfully sang: ‘Sunday, oh Sunday; time to go to the sanctuary; time to give praise and thanks; time to let the Lord know how much we LOVE Him; time to worship in true and grateful fellowship with my brethren, partaking of the cup of Christ’s blood, and the sacrificial flesh of His body, to let Him know that we remember Him in faith and truth, and also honour and glorify His holy name, for ever and ever. Amen!’
 
Oh Friends, at the rate we’re going, we’ll soon have a song of praise for every day! (smile) And that’s definitely not a bad thing, but rather it’s wonderful! For waking up each and every day and singing praises to our awesome God is just what the doctor, and God Himself have ordered.
 
And believe you me, we can never praise and glorify our omnipotent Creator too much. So let’s get ready to go to His house and worship Him this Sunday morning nuh, with plenty passion and truth.
 
However Friends, one of the unfortunate things I’ve discovered about us Christians; is that we’re not as passionate and convincing about Jesus as we should be. Most other faiths seem to continually extol, exalt and adore the object of their veneration, but we seem to be merely lukewarm about our Lord and Saviour, who has done so much for us.
 
Oftimes we seem even ashamed to call His name in public, or let others know that we believe in the Mighty King and Warrior known as Jesus Christ; King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, to whom all knees will eventually bow, and all tongues confess and acknowledge Him as Lord.
 
Yes, in the church buildings we sing and dance and praise His holy name, but once we’re out of the buildings we seem to adopt a stodgy, embarrassed and even apologetic attitude.
 
Oh my people, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about or to apologize for in exalting Jesus! For He is indeed the author and finisher of our faith! The one who selflessly and willingly gave up His ease and comfort in heaven to come to this mish-mash earth and die for our abominable sins, so that we could be granted salvation and eternal life.
 
Now isn’t that something to jump for joy about, and shout from the rooftops and mountains to all the world? It certainly is my brethren! For what other supposed deity has done anything even closely resembling Jesus’ sacrifice for his followers eh? NONE WHATSOEVER!  
 
Oh Friends, please remember what Jesus said to the church at Laodicea: ‘I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would (wish) thou wert (were) cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew (spit or vomit) thee out of my mouth.’ (Rev.3:15-16)
 
Yes my people, we either have to be red hot, meaning passionate, or ice-cold, not merely so-so in our acceptance and following of the greatest teacher who ever lived, Christ Jesus!
 
Oh my fellow believers, it’s time we all rose up and passionately do like Bruh David says in our Bit and the verse following: ‘I will praise thee, O Lord with my whole heart; I will show forth (tell of) all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High.’ (Ps.9:1-2)
 
And my people, we ought to do that not only in the churches or wherever we officially worship Almighty God, but in all our doings, wherever we go; at home, at school, at work, at play, the thanks and praise to our wonderful Creator ought always to be on our lips.
 
How did Bruh Paul put it? ‘Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.’ (Phil.4:4)
 
And remember too how Bruh David danced before the Lord when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem. (2 Sam.6:14) He wasn’t ashamed to exalt and extol His ever-faithful and ever-LOVING God in public, like so many of us sadly are.
 
But we shouldn’t be ashamed of our Saviour, my brethren. Jesus said that He came to earth to give us life and joy, and give them in great abundance. (John 10:10) And joy is such a wonderful feeling in our souls that it usually just comes pouring out of us and we are glad to share it.
 
Therefore Friends, if we have joy in Jesus, then why aren’t we sharing it passionately with all and sundry eh, instead of foolishly and selfishly keeping it locked up inside of us? We should be exceedingly glad to share it with everybody, to noise it all over the world!
 
So today my people, when we’re finished joyfully worshipping in church, let’s come outside and continue that joyful worship nuh. Joyful worship does nothing for the inanimate buildings; it’s meant to be partaken of, to be spread amongst people. And how can we expect believers to come to Jesus through our witness, when we are only lukewarm in our walk of faith, in our exuberance, our manifestation of joy eh? That won’t ever happen!
 
It’s time we step boldly up to the plate and witness with true joy, so that others may belief. It’s what we’ve been placed here to do, therefore let’s do our duty with relish and verve and fervour nuh! It’s the ONLY way to go! Much LOVE!
 
…merely talking in hushed tones about the good news and deeds of Christ…and not showing real enjoyment in, and passion for them…will never endear Him to others…