Today’s Scrip-Bit 23 June 2021 Isaiah 43:19a.

23 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

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

Isaiah 43:19a.     Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?

So now it’s Wednesday, another beautiful day in the life! Thank the Lord for His goodness to the children of men! Especially when it comes to His wonderful Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour; the most beautiful, powerful and LOVING gift ever bestowed in this universe! And the saints of Christ, all lifted their heads, hearts and voices and sincerely declared: ‘Jesus! Jesus! The light of my life, my salvation and my glory! Thank You heavenly Father for giving Him to us. We LOVE You dearly, and we praise and bless Your Holy Name! Amen!’ 

Ah friends, what a momentous and joyful experience it is when Jesus comes into our lives! There’s nothing in the world to compare to or outclass it! You just simply feel a different vibe in your spirit, body and soul. Nothing like you’ve ever felt before. And you’re just astonished that such a remarkable transformation is possible, and wonder why you never experienced it before. But that’s just part of Jesus’ mystique; nothing happens before it’s time, before He is ready to come into your life. And it’s nothing to be afraid of; for He’s never late or early, always right on time with His well-drawn up and executed plans for each of his creations. 

As the Father said so long ago, through the prophet Jeremiah. ‘For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope).’ (Jer. 29:11) That’s a very pertinent scripture in the lives of all believers my people. It means that whenever you accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, that is the exact right time, the time that He had planned from eons ago to come into your life. There’s nothing vikey-vie or wishy-washy in God’s economy. It’s all well laid out and executed. Every possibility and consequence have already been considered and plans made to countervail them. 

The prophet Isaiah declared it thus: ‘Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.’ (Is. 43:18-19) Yes friends, when Jesus comes into our lives, it’s a whole new story, a rebirth! To all intents and purposes, we are born again, like He said to Nicodemus: ‘Verily, verily (truly) I say unto thee, Except a man be born again (from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ (John 3:3) 

And when Nicodemus looked surprised and asked: ‘How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily (truly), I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirt is spirit.’ (John 3:4-6) Yes my people, the rebirth we are talking about here is one of the spirit, one of life-changing attitudes, opinions and behaviour. 

And here’s how Bruh Paul explains this rebirth. ‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’ (2 Cor. 5:17) And it’s of the utmost important that we understand the meaning of those words. Basically, it means that we give up the old lifestyle we lived and adopt a new one where Jesus, through His Holy Spirit that comes to indwell in when we receive Him, is our guide and leader. We now consider His ways and means as the guiding light of our lives. 

Sin, or the rejection of it, now becomes of much more importance. We no longer live after the flesh, or as the world dictates, because then we are merely IN the world, but not OF the world! We take our direction, our orders from Jesus and the things He desires, not from what the world says. We now live life in the Spirit, not in the carnal and sinful desires of the flesh. As Bruh Paul puts it to the church at Rome. ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.’ (Rom. 8:1-2) 

Yes friends, when we come to Christ, the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives guides us in a new direction, to obedience and good works in Christ, not back to the old, carnal lusts and desires we once had. Oh precious people, receiving Christ brings us into a whole new ball game. Here is how Bruh Paul describes it to the Ephesians. ‘That ye put off concerning the former conversation (conduct) the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.’ (Eph. 4:22-24) 

And the scholars offer these explanations re those verses. ‘4:22-24. Christianity taught the addressees to (1) put off…the old man, to renounce their pre-conversion life and sins; (2) be renewed in…your mind, to be constantly changed, being brought more and more into line with God’s own viewpoint; and (3) put on the new man, that is, to assume a new nature (character) and conduct (life) at conversion.’ And yes, we all discover that changing our lifestyle in mid-stream is not an easy, or always a delightful task. But as true believers in Christ, it is absolutely necessary that we give it our all! And never fear, for Jesus is always there to help us! 

Now, here are a few practical pointers that Bruh Paul gave to the Ephesians, which are still helpful to us today in this topsy-turvy, deceitful, evil and godless world. They run from 4:25 -32, 5:1-2, you can read them at your own leisure, (smile) but to save time and space, I’ll just list them as the scholars’ explanations. ‘4:22-5:2. …practical guidelines as to how “the old man” (vs. 22) can be laid aside and how the “new man” (vs. 24) can be assumed in daily living. The passage specifies five sins to be discarded, the virtues that are to replace them, and the motive for such an exchange: 

(1) Lying is to be replaced by truth-telling, since Christians are fellow members (vs. 25). (2) Sinful anger is to be replaced by (briefly held) righteous indignation, that the Devil may not be given opportunity (vs. 26-27). (3) Theft is to be replaced by honest work, in order that one may have the means to meet the needs of others (vs. 28). (4) Foul language is to be replaced by gracious speech, that it may edify others and not grieve the Spirit (vs. 29). (5) Resentment and wrath are to give way to kindness and forgiveness, since God has forgiven us (vs. 31-32).’ 

That’s it in a nutshell friends! Nothing exotic, but very practical guidelines that we can all implement as we walk in LOVE, as Christ desires of us. Now let’s go home declaring (yeahhh!!!) our Wednesday Wail letting the world know of our wonderful position on Christ Jesus. 

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 believe me, if we walk that narrow path right to the very end, then that future will be even more glorious than we ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…to walk in step with Jesus…oh…what a joy divine…                                                                                

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 January 2021 Ephesians 4:23.

01 Jan 2021 Leave a comment

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

Ephesians 4:23.     ​And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

HAPPY  NEW  YEAR!

Well a Happy New Year to all my Scrip-Bit friends and family! May this year of 2021 be much kinder to all of us than 2020 was. But right from the start, let us realize one thing; we can’t behave the same way we did last year and hope to receive a different ending. That’s what a lot of us do, but it’s totally unreasonable, in fact downright foolish, for how can you do old things and expect to get new and different results eh? That means we have to do new and different things if we want this year to be better than the last. 

And all of that will only work if we make ONE New Year’s Resolution; to follow Jesus more actively and sincerely this year! That’s the ONLY Resolution we need to make, for once we follow through with it, everything else will fall into place. Like Jesus said, if we seek the Lord God Almighty and His kingdom of righteousness, all our needs will be provided for. So friends, I plead with us, let’s be much better ambassadors for Christ this year of 2021 nuh. We all know, if we are truthful with ourselves, that we won’t so hot last year, we were tried and found wanting to a great extent. So this year let’s sincerely try and do better nuh.

I know we all can improve if we set our minds to it, and Jesus is expecting us to bring light and peace and LOVE to this dark sinful, angry and evil world. We are his ears, hands and feet in the world today, so only if we buck up will the world begin improving. And how do we do all of that eh, you ask? Well it’s simple, but definitely not easy. (smile) First we begin to truly live life in the Spirit. As Bruh Paul said to the Romans: ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit…For they that are after the flesh do mind (set their minds on) the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.’ (Rom. 8:1, 5-8) That’s it right there in a nutshell my people! If we live a carnal, fleshly, earthly life we cannot please God because that lifestyle doesn’t mesh with the things of God. And how do we get to that state of spiritual living? Well by first changing our mindset.

And Bruh Paul laid it all out to the church at Corinth. ‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.’ (2 Cor. 5:17-18) Yes friends, when we come to Christ, old ways of living need to be set aside, and though some of us have come to Christ for some time now, we’re still living life through our old habits, habits that the world find good, but which the Lord finds sinful. That brings us to this confusing but rather interesting direction from Bruh Paul to the Philippians.

‘Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of (according to) his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings (grumbling) and disputing: That ye may be blameless and harmless (innocent), the sons (children) of God, without rebuke (fault), in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation (generation), among whom ye shine as lights in the world.’ (Phil. 2:12-15) 

Wow! What a mouthful, but a useful one! Yes friends, we need to work out, not work for our salvation. Salvation is a free gift of God, but once we’re saved we need to begin doing the things that God requires of us, to live the way He wants us to, like Bruh Paul states above, don’t grumble and complain unnecessarily, stay clean and without fault – as much as possible (smile) so that we can shine as lights in this dark world like Christ desires of us. 

Oh my fellow saints in Christ, salvation is wonderful, but sincerely living for Christ in this evil and sinful world of ours is not easy, and it doesn’t just happen, we have to work at it. But the good news is that God is right in the mix helping us, because it’s His work we’re doing, and He’s always with us when we do His work sincerely. As Bruh Paul assured the Philippians earlier on. ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it (keep working on you) until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil. 1:6) 

Oh how sweet it is my brethren! God began the work in us, and He will keep on completing it until the day Jesus comes back for us! Glory Be. So we don’t have to worry about the work being completed, but we do have to do our part, which is to keep working on our behaviour; mental, spiritual, emotional and physical. And here are some more realistic and practical things we can do to achieve those aims, in the words of Bruh Paul to the Ephesians. 

‘That ye put off concerning the former conversation (conduct) the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place (an opportunity) to the devil. 

Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.’ (Eph. 4:22-32) 

And there it is my brethren, the practical stuff we need to do to work out our salvation. And it’s nothing that we all don’t know, we just don’t put it into effect for one reason or another, that’s why our witness, our testimony is not as good as it ought to be. But we going to fix that this year eh….?

And I hear a loud shout of ‘Yes! We going to fix things for Jesus this year!’ So let’s do it nuh, starting right now! Much LOVE!

…you can’t truly LOVE Jesus…and not do His bidding… 

P.S. Yes, I left out the ordinary workingman’s speech and our Friday Chant, because I thought it more important that we begin the new year with a new appreciation of Christianity 101! (smile)Much LOVE!