Isaiah 43:13. Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
Oh Friends, as I keep saying our Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways! And what made me say that this time? Well I’ve been reading this Devotional by Dr. Robert Schuller, Hours of Power, for a few years now, and most of the devotionals strike some familiar chord as I read them year after year, but this one, hn! Truthfully this is the first time I really noticed this one. Today it just jumped out at me, and I realized that I had to share it. The title is Begin Each Day With A Positive Seed Thought. And it says: ‘Dress your mind when you dress your body. No discreet person would go into the world half dressed. No wise person will consider himself well dressed unless his mind is wearing a “positive idea” as a shield against the negative forces that will strike him before his workday begins. Make a hobby of collecting “shields for the spirit” that can fortify your mind as you move into the workaday world. Try these spirit shields.’ Then he goes on to give a few uplifting scriptures that can be used as shields. I won’t include them because we can all find the ones that are most appropriate and helpful to us personally. But Friends, I daresay that’s a jolly good idea! It could be immensely helpful when we get dressed in the body in the morning to also dress our minds and souls with affirmations of scripture. It will surely boost our spirits, filling us with pride and courage to go out and further the Saviour’s kingdom. Now turning to our Bit, which I had no trouble finding today, for as I opened the Good Book, that was the first passage my eyes fell on. Oh thank you Lord! And our Bit says: ‘Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it (reverse it)?’ And the simple, obvious, truthful answer to that Friends is ‘NOBODY!’ For there’s nobody greater or higher than our God! He created the universe and all therein, and still controls it. He says, ‘before the day was I am he.’ And Moses concurs in Psalm 90 by enthusiastically declaring: ‘Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place (refuge) in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed (gave birth to) the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.’ (Ps.90:1-2) And Moses should really know about our God, for he had so many miraculous dealings with Him. It therefore follows that if the first part of our Bit is true, then the next part ‘and there is none that can deliver out of my hand,’ must needs be also true, for if our God is the greatest and existed before the universe was created, then who can overpower Him? And the same answer applies: ‘NOBODY!’ Hear again what the Lord says through His prophet Isaiah: ‘Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit hath sent me.’ (Is.48:16) Yes my people, our God has never spoken in secret, He’s always told it like it is right from the beginning with our forefather Adam. According to the scholars, many people have seen a reference to the Holy Trinity in that verse. It does sound plausible, if one asks the question, who is it that the Lord and His Spirit have sent? The last line of our Bit is also a powerful acclamation of our omnipotent God. He calmly but with great confidence says: ‘I will work, and who shall let it be (reverse it)?’ And that answer once again Friends is a resounding, ‘NOBODY!’ Job, who underwent a mighty test from God, said it this way: ‘He (God) is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?…Behold he taketh away, who can hinder him (turn him back)? Who will say unto him, What doest thou?’ (Job 9:4,12) And Isaiah concurs with: ‘This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?’ (Is.14:26-27) Ah Friends, as believers in the Most High God Jehovah, and followers of His most precious Son Jesus Christ, we know without a doubt that nobody or nothing in this universe is greater than, stronger, wiser, more LOVING, kind, merciful and forgiving than our heavenly Father. So let’s allow that to eliminate the fear in our souls nuh, the fear that this crazy, confused, unjust, evil world has caused to seep in there. Faith in the omnipotence of the Holy Trinity should make us unafraid of what the world can do. As Jesus warned: ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ (Matt.10:28) And that’s how we ought to operate Friends! In this auspicious year then of 2012, please let it be said that believers in Jesus Christ threw fear out of their souls and increased their faith so much, that they made a meaningful difference in the ongoing LOVE Revolution, and thus brought a greater modicum of peace to God’s wonderful world. Much LOVE!…fear restricts true LOVE…but faith empowers it…
SCRIP-BITS 