walk the talk of faith

Lamentations 3:26. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

Ahhhh! We open our eyes to a bright sunshiny day with a grateful sigh and say ‘Thank You Lord, it’s Tuesday! Monday’s gone bye bye, and a brand new day is here with all Your new mercies and compassions, which Your Word assures us are new every morning because of Your everlasting faithfulness to those who sincerely LOVE and serve You.’ Lam. 3:22-23) And that’s no lie friends, for the Good Book also assures us that ‘The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.’ (Lam. 3:25) And why wouldn’t He be eh, if He’s such a wonderful and generous God?

Now Isaiah said it a long time ago when he appealed to his people Israel to turn to the Lord for help. ‘And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgement (justice); blessed are all they that wait for him.’ (Is. 30:18)

Oh my fellow believers, I would like to say the same thing to us today. In this time of dire need and trouble, the Lord God Almighty is the ONLY One who can save us from the hurtling fall down to the depths of hell in which we’re currently enveloped. And there are so many scriptures that warn, advise and encourage us to wait on the Lord. Let’s look at a few of them today nuh, and hopefully it will brighten and enlighten our day. (smile)

And this first one from Psalm 37 – The true state of the wicked, we all know. Bruh David says it loud and clear. ‘Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (feed on his faithfulness). Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement (justice) as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices (schemes) to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off (destroyed): but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.’ (Ps. 37:3-9)

Now my brethren, that says it all! Once we read those wise and inspiring verses our spirits ought to be lifted right back up, soar to the highest point possible. But since I know how stubborn and hard-headed we are, we’ll continue with some more verses on the subject, for some of us can only be moved by a bombardment of scripture. (smile) So listen to Cousin Sol from Proverbs. ‘He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.’ (Prov. 16:20)

Meanwhile Jeremiah, when talking about the blessedness of trusting the Lord, emphatically declared: ‘Blessed is the man that trusted in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see (fear) when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful (anxious) in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.’ (Jer. 17:7-8)

Wow! What more can we ask for eh my bredrin? We get it all when we put our sincere trust in the Lord God Almighty and wait for Him to lead and guide us in His wonderful plan to give us a hope and a future! And all God’s people said a loud and grateful: ‘Praise the Lord for His unceasing and faithful goodness to the undeserving children of men!’ Yes, we don’t deserve any of what He blesses us with, but because of His marvellous LOVE and compassion for us, He nonetheless bestows on us the blessed fruit of His Holy Spirit. That’s just the kind of God He is!

But by the same token, He does expect some common sense and reverence from us. He’s not just a doting grandfather that does or gives us whatever we want. We have a part to play, and if we don’t play it, then we’ll suffer the consequences. And believe me, some of those consequences can be downright painful and long-lasting.

Now Jesus, in His ultimate wisdom, said it quite simply but in no uncertain terms. ‘If you LOVE me, keep my commandments.’ (John 14:15) There’s nothing to dispute in that simple but very powerful statement. If you claim to LOVE me, then I expect you to do as I say. That’s how you will show if your LOVE is truly true!

And again, Jesus said in very plain and simple but serious and powerful language to the disciples: ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:34-35) It’s oh so simple friends: we can’t just talk the talk; we must also walk the walk.

How did James, Jesus’ brother put it? ‘Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.’ (James 2:17-18) Yes my people, we can’t only claim to believe and trust in the Lord God Jehovah, but we must even more importantly show that we do, for remember actions speak louder than words.

So, as Jeremiah says so poignantly in his Lamentations: ‘It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lam. 3:26) But that hoping and waiting doesn’t mean just sitting on our laurels and doing nothing! No, it means doing what we can, doing our part, while eagerly and expectantly waiting for the Lord to do His.

And with all those enlightening and reassuring words (smile) let’s go home now declaring (Yess!!!) our Tuesday Mantra letting the whole world know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’

Now, let’s go out and share that awesome LOVE and friendship, so that others can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…there is only one option for life…heaven…for hell is not life…but death…

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Matthew 9:29. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

And life goes on in this Covid-19 season. It has to…and it will…God willing of course! And despite all the bad news, as always, there’s a li’l light at the end of the tunnel, though somewhat far away. (smile) I’m talking about the start of human trials for a vaccine to stop the deadly disease that now holds our world in a tight stranglehold. Glory be! Apparently both in China and the U.S. approval has been given to begin clinical trials on human subjects, but who knows how and when that will prove successful.

Oh yes, we will defeat the virus eventually, we have to believe that, otherwise all our other efforts will be in vain. The problem though is when will that happen, and how many lives would have been lost and irreparable damage done to our society and economy by then? Ah my fellow believers, this is the time for us to truly show up as salt and light to our unbelieving brethren. This is the time when we have to use our incredible faith to help the world get through this evil pandemic.

It’s one of those times when the church has got to step forward and be amongst the leading lights, especially in terms of faith. This is a significant occasion for Christians to not only talk, but more importantly walk their talk of faith. Remember Jesus’ alluding at almost all of his healings and miracles to the faith of the receivers, and how He kept accusing those who should have known better: ‘O ye of little faith.’ It wasn’t only His powers that caused the miracles but also the participants faith.

Remember too when He healed the two blind men. He first asked them: ‘Believe ye that I am able to do this (heal you)? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged (strictly warned) them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country (land).’ (Matt. 9:28-31)

Oh precious people of God, there are so many lessons for us in that passage of scripture in these trying times. The first being that we have to truly believe without a shred of doubt, that Jesus is who He says He is, and can do what He says He can do. That’s where our faith and trust and surrender comes in. Remember, it’s according to the amount of those things we have that our lives can move from good to bad and vice-versa. Remember too, the time Jesus was teaching the disciples about forgiveness, and it was such a hard lesson – just keep on forgiving? (Luke 17:1-4)

What happened then eh? The Good Book tells us: ‘And the disciples said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamore (mulberry) tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.’ (Luke 17:5-6) Wow! That’s the awesome power of true and strong faith.

And the scholars add this interesting explanation. ‘17:5-6. The magnitude of the command in verse 4 leads to a plea for assistance. Faith, understood here not merely in a mental sense, but also in the sense of active “faithfulness,” is the key. One’s faith often increases as one steps out in trusting obedience.’ And I would go even further and say, that that’s the ONLY WAY our faith ever increases! We need to step out in obedience, with whatever faith we then have, and then see God work wonderfully in our lives. And every time we do that, our faith grows!

Right now, in these trying times friends, we faithful believers need to activate our faithfulness in whatever manner we can to keep the hope of others alive. That’s our bounden duty! We were put here in this time to do that! And that is highlighted by Jesus’ words to Simon Peter when He foretold Peter’s betrayal. ‘And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted (you have turned again), strengthen thy brethren.’ (Luke 22:31-32)

Yuh see friends, Jesus predicted Peter’s denial, but also his transformation back to his former strong faith. And then, he was to help others boost their faith. And I guess that’s what I am now trying to do; keep our faith alive and strong…and even growing too, for remember it’s in the hard and difficult times that our faith grows!

Now I don’t want to make this as long as yesterday, (smile) so I’ll just remind us of that wonderful chapter 11 in Hebrews; aptly called the Heroes of Faith, that tells us about many great men and women of faith. They all had problems to surmount, but they all surmounted them by FAITH in the God their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I think it will be only fitting for ALL of us to read that awesome chapter as often as we need to keep our faith strong in this time of worldwide calamity.

And please remember that FAITH is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen.’ (Heb. 11:1) Yes, faith is all about the good things we’re hoping for, in the Lord’s Will, that we don’t see, but are eagerly expecting them and waiting for them with patience and perseverance. And our greatest hope right now…a vaccine for the Covid-19 virus. So let’s believe that we will eventually get one, and consequently, wait patiently, earnestly, eagerly and with perseverance for it.

Now let’s go home declaring (chuh man!) our Wednesday Wail, as we let this primarily unbelieving world know of our enviable position in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In strong voice, with sincere hearts and plenty, plenty faith: ‘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!’

Oh yes friends, if we fight the good fight and remain steadfast in our faith to the end, then that future will indeed be glorious; more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…faith can move mountains…as well as molehills…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 March 2020 Matthew 9:29.

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