SCRIP-BITS

Many of us believe that Labour Day is just a day to party at the end of the summer vacation, but it's way more important than that. It's a celebration of the pain, 'sufferation' and death that many before us underwent so that our lives and wages could be upgraded from the poor and unjust state that workers suffered back then. And though we're better off than we previously were,...

Oh friends, Jesus' death on the cross did not only save us from sin, that's redeem us, but it also made us reconciled to the Father, made us justified and righteous in His eyes, caused us to be sanctified, or set aside as holy instruments of God! For all intents and purposes, when we receive Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we are transformed, made new creations, and all our old life is set...

God gives us all tasks to do, but sometimes they seem too big for us and we get afraid, like Nehemiah, when God placed it on his heart to go and rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem. But after praying and fasting, he got up the gumption, although he was in a very important and therefore sticky position as the king's cupbearer. Any false move could have meant immediate death. But when our G...

Our world has become so busy and constantly running on a 24/7 schedule, that if believers don't get off of the merry-go-round every so often, they'll lose their soul and spirit, and possibly lives. We must have the Lord's will in first place and go at the pace He sets for us, if we wish to be successful in our Christian walk. Being busy is overrated and it's just a symptom of the c...

Christians are expected to be different from non-Christians. That means we don't behave in the same ungodly manner that they do, and don't run down the riches and sinful pleasures of the world. That means being IN the world, but not being OF the world. We must show our godly and generous behaviour to the world so that it can desire those things that we have, especially salvation through fa...

It's easy to talk Christ, but not so easy to live for him. But the Christian's duty is to live for Him; heart, mind, body and soul! Unfortunately not many of us are sincerely living for Him, which makes it easy for the enemy to forge ahead in his evil schemes. But there is still time for us to get our act together and make our world a better place. However we have to get serious about it,...

There's very little we can do in this world without true faith in Almighty God, for, despite what others may say or think, He still controls His universe, and without Him it is impossible to prosper in a good way. You can prosper through selling your soul to the devil, but that will only cause you to end up in hellfire with Him. But if you want to prosper and end up in heaven, then you have to...

As we keep saying, living for Jesus is not easy, but it's very interesting and rewarding. Being His disciple is an everyday occurrence and means sacrificing time, talent and treasure, as well as always trying to do your best, for He expects diligence and excellence from His followers, not the wishy-washy behaviour and attitudes that too many of us supposed Christians exhibit. And to do all of...

Jesus died for us because He LOVES us. That's the simple and straightforward truth. If He didn't He would not have come to earth in the form of a man to redeem our sinful souls. And that's the very first thing a believer ought to know and believe, otherwise their faith is useless. For when all the problems of life come against you, you won't have the faith to believe that Jesus wil...

The riches of the wicked look very enticing in today's world, but please note that God has promised to eventually destroy all of the wicked. Thus you don't want to be numbered amongst that lot that's set for eventual destruction. You want to be numbered amongst the righteous, who put their trust in Almighty God and live obediently to His will, for God has promised that they will inheri...

Our world is ungodly and evil and it seems to reward those who pander to evil and ungodliness more than to those who abhor those traits. Thus we see many being wicked and evil and prospering even as they become more greedy and oppressive, and it's very tempting to adopt that modus operandi, so that we too can become prosperous. But friends, that's an evil scheme, one of Satan's deceitf...

The world is too perfectly set up to have simply evolved from whatever the evolutionists believe it evolved from. Such perfection had to be created and made just right so that everything could revolve in a never ending cycle, not left to simply and hopefully occur. And the ONLY BEING capable of doing such a marvellous, magnificent and extraordinary job is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! And i...

Now, at the time of creation, God did give mankind dominion over the land and all that therein is, but never total control of the universe. And with the advent of sin and man's evil behaviour and arrogant attitude, he's gotten too big for His britches and forgotten who's the true ruler of the universe. He's so proud and arrogant that he's fooled himself into thinking that he co...

Christ's Church is one body and consequently needs to be united in all aspects of its organization. That's the ONLY way it will survive and move ahead. Unfortunately though, dissensions and divisions are wrife within the body of Christ, and that can only spell less godly power and more problems with the devil. Unless we come together very soon, especially with the large amount of apostasy,...

Jesus is the believer's EVERYTHING! And until you believe that, and put all His promises into action in your life, you won't be able to live the abundant life He died for us to have. And you can't believe until you know the Word. Thus it is of the utmost importance to read and study it; have it at your fingertips, or the tips of your tongue, so that you can use them to stand strong and...

Christ is our Redeemer because He bought back our sins from the bondage or slavery in which Satan had us enmeshed. Without His redemptive work, shedding His sinless blood on the cross of Calvary, we would never have been set free from Satan and our sinful behaviour, although sadly, too many of us still cling to those evil and ungodly ways. But Jesus and the Father LOVED us so much that they paid t...

When we obey God we see His favour on our lives. Likewise, when we disobey Him, get too proud and haughty to listen to him, our lives are filled with sadness and disappointment. That means it's wise to place all our trust in God and do as He says, for He is the ruler of the universe and has total power over our lives. Disobedience will always bring disappointment. Please, let's remember th...

Oh friends, Jesus is the best example of compassion that there ever was, or ever will be. And compassion is simply doing something to help others instead of just talking it. It obviously entails putting out something of ourselves, be it time, money or talents, but to be a true disciple of Christ we must be willing to sacrifice on His behalf. And that's where so many of us fall down. We always...

Many of us pray for earthly stuff like wealth and long life, joy and happiness, and nothing's really wrong with that, but we also need to pray for the spiritual aspects of our lives. That we will increase in spiritual knowledge and wisdom, become closer to God, and walk more purposefully in the Spirit, rather than in the flesh. Spiritual maturity, that's growing in Christlikeness ought to...

Faith is the engine that drives us forward with God, but like all engines it must be fed with fuel, eg. the Word of God, prayer and thanksgiving. And as our faith increases, we learn how to better listen to God and what to ask for and what not to ask for. Unfortunately though, the desires of our hearts are not always in our best interests, and we can ask for the wrong thing, and if we're adama...

Ah friends, our world is slowly going to hell in a hand-basket with all the evil and ungodliness that's currently prevalent in it. And the only way to stop the demise and fall is by turning back to the worshipping of the God of Abraham, Isaac and jacob, the ONE TRUE God. But to do that, we also need godly leaders. Leaders who are willing to sacrifice their very lives in the work of the Lord, b...

God expects His ambassadors and their families to have high standards of conduct, and if they don't, the whole family can possibly suffer, like the family of Eli, the priest, lost their priestly favour because of the sinful behaviour of his sons Hophni and Phineas. Although Eli's behaviour was above reproach and he had rebuked his sons, they caused the downfall of their father's house...

Our world is in a crazy and troubled mess and there are no real strongholds or places of refuge for us except in Jesus. That means unless we are holding on to Jesus, our lives will most likely be in a state of chaos like our world. But when we hold on to the promises of Jesus we can ride out the storms and problems with His peace, that's unlike the peace that the world offers. So the wise thin...

In yesterday's Bit we saw the serious prayer of Hannah, Samuel's mother for a boy child, and how the Lord reacted positively by giving her not only Samuel, but also three sons and two daughters. Today we see how she keeps her promise to give Him to the Lord's service for all of his life, and then her song of victory that came ever so faithfully from her heart. Now, that's how we ou...

In the bad old days of Israel, when there was no king, everybody did as they pleased. That meant morality and attention to God's law was very weak. But if a society wants to prosper, there must be a strong moral code and much adherence to God's overall law. For where there is little or none of that, the nation will eventually fall into death-like state, filled with chaos and strife. And th...