Today’s Scrip-Bit   28 July 2023 Proverbs 21:13.

28 Jul 2023 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 21:13.       Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

And like this Friday is going to be another day of cloud and heat! So brace yourselves for the heat wave after you’ve joyfully declared (yesss!) ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and the weekend is here at last!’ I guess though that many of us won’t care, because we’ll either be ensconced and relaxed in our air-conditioned places or enjoying some outdoor activity where the heat doesn’t bother us. The beaches will probably be packed too, those that aren’t closed because of bacterial infestation. 

But nonetheless, we will get through the day and enjoy doing so, because that’s what our Lord and Saviour Jesus expects of us. Remember, Jesus’ warriors can handle anything that comes against them, because He strengthens us, gives us the wherewithal to overcome whatever threatens our safety. 

And I’m chuckling here, for as usual, on opening the Good Library my eyes were drawn to a very applicable passage for these turbulent times. It opened unto the Book of Proverbs and my eyes were irresistibly drawn to this verse of Cousin Sol’s divine wisdom. ‘Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.’ (Prov. 21:13) 

And is that ever the indisputable truth, for the many who are currently blocking their ears from the cries of the poor will indeed suffer God’s wrath in their own time! That’s because God LOVES the poor and downtrodden, He’s the champion of the underdog, and desires that we help them to the best of our ability. And besides, there’s enough wealth and food in this prosperous world so that there needs not be any truly poor on the face of God’s great earth! 

However, the inequity in the distribution of that wealth and food causes many millions to live and die in extreme poverty. Why is it that when man has become so enlightened in all his ways, that he is still greedy and selfish eh? That his inhumanity to his fellow man still exceeds his LOVE for them? Chuh! I guess only the Lord alone knows yes! And despite all God’s warnings throughout the Good Book about the ill treatment of the poor and lowly, that ungodly, unsavoury behaviour still persists, and in some places is even getting worse. 

From the very beginning God warns in Leviticus: ‘And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex (mistreat) him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you (a native), and thou shalt LOVE him as thyself; for ye were strangers in Egypt: I am the Lord.’ (Lev. 19:33-34) The Lord reminds them of their stranger status in Egypt when Jacob and his family first went down there in the famine that drove them from their home in Canaan. 

Then He again proclaims in Leviticus: ‘And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings (leftovers) of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord.’ (Lev. 19:9-10) 

And in Deuteronomy He takes it one step further. ‘At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up (store it) within thy gates. And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.’ (Deut. 14:28-29) 

There it is friends, your work will be blessed if you have compassion on the poor and needy. And Cousin Sol in his amazing wisdom further tells us in Proverbs 19: ‘He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.’ (Prov. 19:17) 

Jesus however puts it in much more blatant and in your face terms when in His talk about separating the sheep from the goats, (Matt. 25) He solemnly declared (awright!!!) ‘And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’ (Matt. 25:40) That’s how much the Lord cares about the poor and downtrodden my fellow believers. 

And John in his first epistle states it very clearly. ‘But whoso hath this world’s goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion) heart from him, how dwelleth the LOVE of God in him?’ (1 John 3:17) The answer is it simply does not! 

It’s like James says when he talks about faith without works. ‘If a brother or sister is naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit?’ (James 2:15-19) Absolutely nothing! It will only call down the Lord’s anger and destruction on your head! 

Oh my fellow saints, our world in sad turmoil, and it’s only through divine help can we ever make any positive changes, so please, through our Friday Chant, let’s go the throne of grace right now and seek such help. As one voice! ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle this unexpected storm properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. 

Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

Now, before any help from heaven is forthcoming, it’s obvious we first have to make some godly changes! Much LOVE!

…where there is need…believers ought to help as best they can… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ                 

Today’s Scrip-Bit   10 November 2022 Proverbs 21:13.

10 Nov 2022 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 21:13.       Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

And then it was Thursday! Another glorious day in the life! Thanks be to God! Ah friends, I wonder if most of us realize how blessed and privileged we are to be seeing another day on God’s great earth eh? Yes, we certainly are, since many others did not get that same blessed privilege and we can read their names in the obits. And I’m sure that many of them expected and wanted to awaken this bright sunshiny autumn morn, but unfortunately didn’t. That’s why it’s ever so important to enjoy each and every day that we see the light of God shining through the darkness. 

Now I’m chuckling here as I just opened the Big Library, for the Bible is not simply a Book, but a Library with numerous Books in it. So, I just opened the Library and it opened unto a very interesting and most appropriate word of advice from Cousin Sol. He wisely advises: ‘LOVE not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.’ (Prov. 20:13) And is that ever the gospel truth my people! However you want to take it, literally or metaphorically, too much sleep will eventually bring us despair. But if we get up and get, follow the Lord’s will for our lives, then we will be blessed with untold prosperity. 

Remember Jesus said that He came to die for us that we could have life, and have it so abundantly till it overflows. Well, we can’t get that abundant life by just sitting on our fannies, enjoying our past laurels, expecting it to just happen on its own. No, we have to do something useful in Jesus’ name to get that abundant life. 

And Bruh Paul corroborates Cousin Sol’s words when he tells the Romans: ‘Be kindly affectioned (affectionate) one to another with brotherly LOVE; in honour preferring (giving preference to) one another. Not slothful in business (lagging in diligence); fervent (boiling over) in spirit, serving the Lord.’ (Rom. 12:10-11) Yes friends, that’s the kind of attitude and behaviour we ought to display if we’re true believers in Christ Jesus! 

And by the way, here’s another wonderful tidbit from Cousin Sol. ‘He that LOVETH pleasure shall be a poor man: he that LOVETH wine and oil shall not be rich.’ (Prov. 21:17) So that’s another no-no in the search for the abundant life. Nothing’s wrong with pleasure, wine and oil in moderation, for they are all a reward for our labour, but to focus steadfastly and only on them is a definite disaster waiting to happen. And we all know people, even believers who have fallen into that trap of the devil and are shaking it rather rough. 

Now, the sad and unfortunate thing about our failures and mistakes is that they don’t affect just us, the individual, but it flows right through our families, friends, and associates. They all are affected in some manner by our wrong choices and unwise behaviour. That means it’s ever so important that we be very careful about our lifestyles, and live them as Jeeves was won’t to say, ‘with a modicum of circumspection.’ (smile) And that brings us to this next tidbit I just espied in Cousin Sol’s works. (smile) He says: ‘Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.’ (Prov. 21:13) 

Oh my people, that’s the motto of heaven itself! In other words, we reap what we sow! And Jesus said it this way: ‘Judge (condemn) not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement (condemnation) ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete (use), it shall be measured to you again.’ (Matt. 7:1-2) Yes friends, life is like a boomerang; whatever you send out, good or bad, it comes rocketing back to you eventually.  

But, unfortunately, many of us don’t take that basic concept into consideration when we look for revenge or try to do wrong to someone else. That’s why Bruh Paul said to the church at Rome. ‘Recompense (repay) to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men (have regard for good things)…Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.’ (Rom. 12:17, 21) 

Now my brethren, if we are as wise as we ought to be (smile) that should touch our very hearts and souls and wake us up to the reality of the evil and wrongdoing that’s so pervasive in many of our lives and the world in general. Remember the portrait Jesus painted in Matthew 18 when He spoke of forgiveness, with the servant who owed his master a lot of money but could not repay it, so he begged the master for mercy and the master granted him a complete withdrawal of all debt. 

However, the same servant who was shown such incredible mercy responded by locking up a fellow servant who owed him a pittance. His fellow servants brought the matter to his master’s attention. And the master wailed on the unforgiving servant: ‘O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst (begged) me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had on thee? And his lord was wroth (angry), and delivered him to the tormentors (torturers), till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.’ (Matt. 18:32-35) 

Unfortunately though, forgiveness is not a big thing in our world these days, but the truth of the Golden Rule has always been with us, and will always be. Listen to how Jesus says it nuh. ‘Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.’ (Matt. 7:12) And oh, if we would only live by that rule even a li’l more than we’re currently doing, our world would be such a wonderful place! 

Anyway, it’s Thursday and the Lord has given us tools to try and bring those wise and godly attributes to our fellow man, tools we call our Thursday Blessings. However, they have to be declared (steups!!!) out loud for them to be activated. So, let’s do that right now nuh, in strong and sincere voice. ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! 

I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

Now, let’s go out and use those tools to bring others to Christ, or at least to teach them to forgive and do unto others as they wish others to do unto them! That’s the least we can do. Much LOVE!

…why do we always seek forgiveness and goodness…but are so reluctant to grant them… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ