Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 December 2015 Proverbs 4:12

14 Dec 2015 Leave a comment

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

 

Proverbs 4:12.   When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened (hindered); and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.  

Well Friends, Monday has rolled around again…Glory to God! 

Oh lighten up nuh mih people, put a smile on your faces and remove the ungodly frowns I’m seeing there, simply because it’s Monday and you have to go out and earn a living. Nobody ever said that life was easy or fair, but we know for sure that our God is good! In fact He’s not just good, but He’s most wonderful! Glory Hallelujah! 

So if you are one of His children, just rise and shine, and get on with the programme without complaining. And to help us do that, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn in perfect harmony, with much enthusiasm and exuberance, so that we can bring a smile to Jesus’ face and have the whole of heaven singing along with us. 

Here goes: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. 

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. 

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. 

Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ 

Ah mih people, that was excellent! Jesus was pleased and all of heaven sang along with us. Oh glory to our great God!  

Now here’s an interesting thought I had yesterday morning as I found myself singing the hymn: ‘Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. The stars in the sky looked down where he lay, The little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay. The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.

I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky And stay by my cradle til morning is nigh. Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay Close by me forever, and LOVE me, I pray. Bless all the dear children in thy tender care, And take us to heaven, to live with Thee there.’ 

Ah my precious people, what a simple but heartfelt prayer! Anyway, as I was singing that, I suddenly wondered what kind of baby Jesus was. Was He the fractious, colicky, miserable, always crying type, needing to be constantly held? Or was He as sweet and serene as the hymn says? 

Most newborns would certainly cry up a storm if they had animals around bleating and lowing. But not our Lord and Saviour Jesus.  Awakened by the lowing of the cattle in His birthplace, the manger, He just lies there quietly, not crying, but just gurgling softly as Mary and Joseph look upon Him with wonder and tears of joy spilling from their eyes and hearts. 

Personally, I believe it was the latter scenario, a foreshadowing of the peaceful and LOVING adult that He was to become. Just a delicious thought for us to ponder on at this Christmas time Friends, when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. (smile) 

And at last it’s time for our Bit. ‘When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened (hindered); and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.’ 

And all we’re going to do today is check out some more scriptures that reaffirm the truth of our Bit. Listen to the psalmist as he confidently declares in Psalm 91 – God is a refuge and a 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. Because he hath set his LOVE upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.’ (Ps.91:9-14) 

Oh my fellow believers in Christ, what a powerful and faithful promise from our great God and Creator! No one else can truthfully make it, because they don’t have the power! 

Now let’s end with these marvellous words of wisdom from Cousin Sol. ‘My son, let them not depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace (favour) to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. 

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear (terror), neither of the desolation of (trouble from) the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken (caught).’ (Prov.3:21-26)  

Oh my brethren, doesn’t it just warm the cockles of your heart and reignite the fire in your spirit when you read those wonderful promises of scripture? Well it surely does mine! 

And for all of your sakes, I sincerely hope that it does awaken your interest in Jesus as you go out to meet the infidel in battle this morning, for it is the wisdom on which our great faith is based. Much LOVE!

…promises, promises, promises…ALL God’s promises will be fulfilled…in His perfect timing…

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 August 2015 Psalm 67:1

15 Aug 2015 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 67:1. God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us.  Selah.

Well Friends, how goes the battle this Saturday morning in the middle of August eh? I hope we are all winning, primarily because of our strong and wonderful relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for He is our mainstay, our anchor, our foundation, our rock of ages! 

Without Him we can do very little, but as Bruh Paul confidently declares to the Philippians: ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’ (Phil.4:13) 

Yes my brethren, when we live for Jesus, He enables us to adapt to our ever-changing circumstances. The Lord puts us through our paces, and He also gives us the wherewithal to handle them successfully. 

So there’s no need to worry when various trials and tribulations come against us, for our wonderful God will either make a way for us to escape them, or help us to bear them and come out more mature and Christ-like on the other side. Oh glory to God! 

Yes my fellow believers, we do worship a most amazing and awesome God! There is none like Him anywhere else in this whole wide universe. And how could there be eh, when He is the creator and controller of it all? That’s why it’s very unwise for us not to serve and worship Him faithfully, for He blesses those who are obedient to His will and brings the proud and arrogant to destruction. 

Consequently the psalmist cries out in our Bit: ‘God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us.   Selah.’ However, it only makes sense to do that if we’re coming to Him with a humble and repentant heart, for those are the only pleas He answers. 

And for those of you who don’t know the origin of prayers like our Bit, but have only heard stuff like that intoned by a priest at the end of a service, here is a li’l history lesson. (smile) Not surprisingly, it all begins with our great God while the Israelites were travelling through the wilderness enroute to the Promised Land after their exodus from slavery in Egypt. 

‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, (the priests) saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put (invoke) my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.’ (Num.6:22-27)  

Yes Friends, that’s the origin of the priestly blessing we hear our priests use at the end of a service, and which we also ought to use with our friends and families, because a blessing is not a blessing until it is declared, spoken out loud. And believe you me, we all need plenty, plenty blessings in these very turbulent and troubled times. 

And talking about blessings mih people, the Lord left nothing to conjecture, He even spelled out the blessings obedience would bring. ‘And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.’ (Deut.28:1-2)  

Oh my people, my people, what is there not to understand about those statements eh? And since our God does not change, that means they are also applicable to us in these current times. And please note that the blessings will come upon us, will overtake us! That means we don’t have to go looking for them, but if we are obedient to the Lord’s statutes, they will run us down and overtake us. Glory to God! Now how can that not be something we take very seriously eh my people? 

Then listen to some of the particular blessings that have been promised. ‘Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shall thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body (offspring), and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine (cattle), and flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store (kneading bowl). Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shall thou be when thou goest out. (Deut.28:3-6) 

Ah Friends, how much more can you get than that eh? Not much. But there are 8 more verses of general blessings, like victory over your enemies, who ‘shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.’ (Deut.28:7) I like that, for it shows how successful we’ll be against our enemies, scattering them seven ways till Sunday. (smile) 

Everything we set our hand to will also prosper…we’ll be a holy people to the Lord, called by His name, and set fear in the hearts of the whole earth. But Friends, the great proviso is ‘if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.’ (Deut.28:9b) So no wonder our societies are all going downhill, because we are not obeying the commandments of our God, and instead are forcing Him out of our lives. 

But you know what’s interesting and somewhat amusing about all the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience? The former takes up 14 verses of chapter 28, while the latter runs from verse 15 to 68. And I’d suggest that we all read them, for they are indeed frightful, and it might just give us a different outlook on the situation. 

The scholars though have an interesting take on the great difference in space taken up by the curses. They say: ‘This is probably due to human nature. The threat of a severe judgement on the covenant-breaker seems to act as a stronger stimulus to correct behaviour than any promise of blessing.’ 

But clearly they did not take the very evil nature of this generation into consideration, for despite the many curses that are befalling us, we refuse to turn back to Almighty God, our Creator and provider, in humble repentance. We prefer to walk to the beat of our own false wisdom and the lies and deceit of the evil one, Lucifer. Therefore we shall pay the harsh price for disobedience my people. There are no ifs and s and buts about that! Much LOVE!

…if obedience brings blessings…and disobedience cursing…where is the wisdom in following the latter path…as we are currently doing eh…