June 2022 – danielgodsurelywilldeliver

I read my newspapers to see what men are doing; and read my Bible to see what men ought to do – A saint of yore.

MY NEWSPAPERS

This week the news about what men and women are doing, was tumultuous and heartbreaking. First, Jamaicans awoke one morning this week, to hear news that, even in a country where murder is commonplace, shocked them. “ Dem kill mi one daughter and mi four grand pickney.! Why?”
A question which only God in his mercy can answer. For as we have been saying for some time in our beloved country, “this no normal”. All kinds of speculation as to why abounds. This as the police apprehended the prime suspect the very next day. A fact that will bring some comfort to the relatives. But nothing that is lasting!

THE STAR

Gwendolyn McKnight howled uncontrollably for hours while she sat on a stool watching police detectives extract the lifeless bodies of her daughter Kemisha Wright and four grandchildren who were murdered early Tuesday, allegedly by a male relative at their home in New Road, Clarendon, on Tuesday.
All the victims’ throats were slashed. Rushane Barnett, 23, who police named as a person of interest, was held in Wilson Run in Trelawny last night by the police.
“Dem kill mi one daughter and mi four grand pickney! Why? Why they do that to my little daughter? Why they do that? She was so loving and kind,” McKnight wailed. The distraught mom told THE STAR that she was particularly heartbroken by the manner in which her family was killed.

If five dead at one time, and four of them children, was heartbreaking, the next news coming this time from the USA, was for some earth shattering and unacceptable. While for others, welcome news that was long over due. Perspectives that highlight a hot button issue, Abortion, which has split America right down the middle into Pro Life Camps and Pro Choice Camps. And is one of the defining issues of “ how America turns” in the 21st Century

BBC NEWS

Roe v Wade: Abortion clinics start to close after Supreme Court ruling

Clinics have begun closing in some US states after a Supreme Court ruling on Friday removed American women’s constitutional right to abortion.
About half of states are expected to introduce new restrictions or bans after the court reversed its 50-year-old Roe v Wade decision.
And 13 states have so-called trigger laws in place that will see abortion banned within 30 days.
President Joe Biden described the ruling as “a tragic error”.
In Phoenix, Arizona, police fired tear gas after pro-choice protesters banged on the doors and windows of the state capitol. In Los Angeles, protesters briefly blocked traffic on a highway.

Finally, not a matter which was either heartbreaking or earth shattering, but one which woke up the usual “sleepy ho hum” Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting -the race for the post of Commonwealth Secretary General. One that had stimulated much interest in Jamaica and in the Caribbean, and was therefore a matter for some of national pride, but for others a big mistake, the race between two Caribbean women, the incumbent Baroness Scotland and our own Foreign Minister Kamika Johnson-Smith. And after a spirited race by Johnson-Smith, which at one time seemed to have been “ in the bag for her”, Baroness Scotland prevailed by a wafer thin margin.

THE DAILY GLEANER

Jamaica’s Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith has lost in her bid to oust Baroness Patricia Scotland as Commonwealth secretary general. She narrowly missed out on the top post in 27-24 vote in Rwanda. #GLNRToday

More details soon.

THE BIBLE

The Word of God that came to me this week, explains a lot of what took place and of course offers the ultimate solution to mankind’s problems. Not only for Jamaica and for the USA and the Commonwealth, but for the whole world.

MONDAY – WHERE IS THE ELIJAH OF THIS AGE- THE CHURCH

I had not even started my devotions – there is clearly a lesson there. In fact I was on my way to do a very mundane thing. Water my wife’s two big plants in the front of the house, when this Word came. Truth is though, I was thinking about the message last night. About divided loyalty to God. A spiritually fatal thing to do!
So the Lord spoke this additional Word:

THE WORD OF GOD

““Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
‭‭Malachi‬ ‭3:8-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I suppose like others parts of Holy Scriptures, one may discern another message, depending on context and God’s will. But this morning, for me, in the context of the Word from last night, and how it came, this matter of undivided commitment to the Lord God of Hosts, is the central message here. And further, that the promise of “ so much blessings that there will not be room to store it”, ought not necessarily to be received in terms of material blessings. No! For as another important Word, in fact the “key” to understanding the Bible, reveals:

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1:20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Then I read the Old Testament reading – I was determined to share with great excitement the message above before reading the Word below. But then the message would have been incomplete – and everything came together.

This as the Word from Elisha and Elijah takes us fast forward to Jesus about to Ascend to His Father, and “your Father”. A parting of ways, physically, but thank God not spiritually, which would result in the promised Holy Spirit dwelling within those who loved Jesus and “ wherever you go I will go” – not just Ruth and Naomi but the whole Bible – was deep in their hearts. No divided loyalty! And so with the promise fulfilled – not of a double portion of the spirit which attended Elijah, but the very presence of Jesus himself – the disciples could “ strike the water”, say to the crippled beggar, “ In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up”. Mercy!

The church of this age lacks the power of Elijah, “ tell him to send the man to me, so that they may know that there is a prophet in Israel “, is impoverished because the Power of the Holy Spirit is not with us mighty to save, because too many have divided loyalties. Even in some cases to good things! But the good ought never to become an enemy of the best. “ You have forgotten your first love “ ought to piece our hearts in the same way Peter was distraught as the Lord’s repeated questioning of his love for Jesus. For some of us in the church, Jeremiah’s accusation that “ you don’t even know how to blush” awaits. While for others the undivided loyalty is not as sharp, but it is discerned, a good thing, which evokes Paul’s famous words. “ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Romans 7:24 -25. I once read a meditation that all preaching ought to have as its goal, that men and women ought to be brought to this point in their lives. Conviction of Sin. As only then will they cry out to God, in repentance and be saved. And I suppose if we agree then that recommendation would apply to the ministry to the unsaved. The obvious question which then arises, is what does “ salvation mean”. Many answers may come to mind. But the most important thing is that people who have been rescued from Sin and death unto everlasting life, by the shed blood of Jesus, are called to “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart……and love your neighbor as your self”. Otherwise, there will no outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church. No parting of the waters when struck! No No healing of the crippled. No setting free of the captives. No preaching of Good News to poor. Only keeping church in a land where people are in “ Living Hell”.

Old Testament
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

Peace.
In obedience.
LWJ

Lord Jesus Christ Son of The Living God we pray that as we are determined in our hearts never to leave you nor forsake you, as in our spirit we long for you and not for the blessings your pour out, your Holy Spirit may renew the church, so that a renewed church may renew this country where so many people cry out to Father God, but have no intention nor desire to follow you. A people who “ waver between two opinions”! And so the land mourns as there is no faithfulness, only lying and cursing and stealing. Up to 5 million dollars a day in the bus park in Spanish Town. And Father God only you know how much more stealing is done where no one is looking. But you see and know O God! Mercy.

TUESDAY – THE GOD WHO TURNS BLACKNESS INTO DAWN

“The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭50:4-5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The brutal murder of the mother and her four children has left me more numb than angry or amazed or in despair. I work in the Clarendon area where the gruesome killing tool place and so many people spoke with me about it from the deaths of their souls. Incompressible, is the general mood. And mine too. Lunchtime devotions , reading the areas highlighted in my Bible, took me in the direction of the quote from Isaiah above. But what Word from the Lord in this desperate times.

Back to Martin Luther King jnr, no doubt very appropriate after the Juneteenth Public Holiday in the USA. And this reflection:

HE WHO TURS BLACKNESS INTO DAWN

Midnight is a confusing hour when it is difficult to be faithful. The most important word that the church may speak is that no midnight long remains…….Our eternal message of hope is that the dawn will come>>…

Comment: But how do you tell that to the relatives who will never see those five murdered relatives again. Never! How?

……….Faith in the dawn arises from the faith that God is good and just. When one believes this, he knows that the contradictions of life are neither final nor ultimate. He can walk through the dark night and what radiant conviction that all things work together for those that lives God. Even the most starless midnight may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment.

Comment: The message above is certainly not one that one ought to share with grieving relatives, as they pour out their souls crying and weeping and groaning and grieving. The most one can do is just to be there with them, and say nothing.
But for us who God has called in this dreadful hour to guide the nation in our collective and yet individual ways, this word from one who suffered much, MLK jnr, is sent to provide the weary, ( weary of crime and violence in our country, weary of weeping and comforting, wearing of just hearing bad news) with some comfort.
That this crime wave will not last forever. That this kind of incomprehensible and egregious act of wickedness will not go on forever. Why?
Another reflection by MLK jnr provides and answer :

………..Pharaoh stubbornly refused to respond to the cry of Moses, even when plague after plague threatened his domain. This tells us something about that we must never forget, namely that evil is recalcitrant and determined, and never voluntarily relinquishes its hold short of a persistent , almost fanatical resistance. But there is a checkpoint in the universe: evil cannot permanently organize itself. So after a long and trying struggle, with the providence off God, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea.

Final Comment: God in Christ Jesus as we all know is that checkpoint in History. And more specifically Christ and Him Crucified! Not a comforting Word to grieving relatives tonight. Folks who just need someone to hold their hands and hug and cry with them. But for us seeking a Word from God, in these challenging times for our souls, this is one. And no doubt others with share their story during the days and weeks and months ahead. So that we all can be encouraged and reassured, that the God who we serve, is a God who is good and just. And faithful! Even in the darkness of the night.
Peace and in obedience.
LWJ

Lord, even, and especially in the dark hour that has descended on our country, we pray thee to renew the church with the certain hope, that You are Sovereign and faithful and good and just; Lord renew the church that our hope may be steadfast, and that we may help to renew this country where hope in the dawn is under serious threat. Mercy Lord. Mercy!

THURSDAY – AN APOSTATE CHURCH CANNOT WAGE WAR AGAINST EVIL

Early this morning, minutes to 4, the Lord woke me up to read Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. And this Word greeted me at the start. This as we look to God, who only can can help a nation where the blood of the slain cry out for Justice. Where is your brother Cain? I am not the keeper of my brothers as they are wicked gunmen and scammers, people who “ chop chop and whop whop”. Where is your sister and her four children Cain? I am not really taking liberty with Holy Scripture, just writing what came to my mind as the message developed.
So back to the Church in Corinth and by extension the Church in Jamaica.
This is what greeted me. Egregious Sin!

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭5:1-3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

And Paul’s letter continued in this vein :

“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭5:6-8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

And this:

“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭5:9-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

And this section on sexual, and others too, but primarily sexual, sins ends with this word:

“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.””
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭5:12-13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

There is a lot to say here. But I’ll say just this. There was something rotten in the state of Denmark according to Shakespeare, and a very similar charge is being leveled against the church in this age. For a Church where unrepentant sexual sins are present at all levels, and, worse, “we are proud of it”, cannot wage war against the evil of “ A Mother and Four Children Murdered. One time! This matter of judging what is happening outside the church and leaving Sin to fester in the church is an egregious evil. I’ll leave it there.

Now to part Two. Part One being this matter of Sin. Part Two is about Doctrine and Theology.

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1:10-13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A house divided against itself cannot wage war against evil. The kind of evil which has been let loose among our people and manifested itself in the #BrutalMurder this week.
Paul continues :

“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1:17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This matter of the Power of the Cross of Christ, is one which is the “calling card “ of Paul. One which sadly does not enjoy the same universal approval in the church today. This as we place more emphasis on the power of doing good works, the Power of The Holy Spirit and the power of love – as if the love which is transforming, the Holy Spirit who is defining, and good works which are expected – service to mankind- did not all flow from The Atonement on Calvary.

Paul then issues a warning to the church in Corinth, the movers and shakers of this society, and to the contemporary church in this age:

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1:18-25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The session, that I am called to report on “ wakens me morning by morning …to know the word that sustains the weary”, ended with this Word.

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭2:2-5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I close with a Word that I posted on Facebook to morning. One that features the two parts well. Sin and Doctrine:

That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies; might serve him without fear. In holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives. A life without fear only comes when we live in both Holiness and Righteousness- Always!

A post which was one of three:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people – Luke 1:68. The world celebrates the visit -Christmas. Christians celebrate Visit and Redemption. Christmas and Good Friday. Hope after #BrutalMurder

I read my newspapers to see what me a re doing; and read my Bible to see what men ought to do – a saint of yore;

NEWSPAPERS

TODAY

Locals in crime-weary St Catherine are not only banking on the Government to save them from the bloody tide wreaking havoc especially in the capital, but are also sending up prayers to the heavens for a reprieve from the violence.
While Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ announcement of a state of emergency (SOE) being imposed in the parish on Friday provided some relief that a deployment of heavily armed forces could provide some security and weed out outlaws, many who have witnessed the recent killings in the market district remain uneasy.
“I feel sad over the condition, but anyway, God a God. We will hold the faith as when you feel discouraged, you walk under Jesus’ blood,” said an elderly woman in the market.
She urged Jamaicans to pray for protection when exiting their homes and give thanks whenever they returned home safe.
Commissioner of Police Antony Anderson announced at a press briefing on Friday morning that there are 12 active gang rivalries in the parish, which have resulted in multiple gun attacks and fatalities.

THIS WEEK

She came through the gate and drop right here,” Williams said yesterday, pointing to a spot just inside the gate constructed from zinc sheets where Pottinger fell.
“I picked her up right away and put her in the van and carry her to the hospital,” the tearful man told The Gleaner.
Pottinger was shot about 7:45 p.m. as she entered Pittsburgh Road yard in Homestead, Spanish Town, as a gang conflict now playing out in St Catherine South Central claimed its latest victim.
According to Williams, his fiancée had gone to visit relatives of one of the men found dead in a Toyota Probox motor car in Portmore Villa on Wednesday, who live within the proximity of her house, but was attacked as she returned home.

“I spoke to her for about a minute, and her last words were ‘Tell the children I love them and remember the promise you made to me 15 years ago’,” Williams added, choking on the words.

COMMENT:

Tell the children I love them! A final message from a dying mother to her fiancée, captures the angst and the torment even, of those in “ Living Hell in Jamaica. A land of so many paradoxes, where people of faith praying for mercy live among others who are bent on committing murder and causing mayhem in a community. A land where tourists fly in every year, or come by cruise ship, over a million of them to date, to enjoy the sea and sand and sun, while many of the locals are in “ Living Hell”. A land where Hennessy is poured out liberally and “ party haffi kip”, even during Covid, and a land where the blood of the murdered cause so many to mourn, and welcome Emergency measures – States of Emergency (SOE’s) – even if they only provide temporary relief. A land of Sam Sharp and Marcus Garvey and equally a land of Dudus – the President a crime boss now serving time in the USA : and a land of Kartel the #worldboss, a very popular dance hall artist now serving time for murder in the local jail.

So what is to done to grant the children of Pottinger and Williams a better future? Only God knows, as so the people “ Living in Hell”, are calling for Divine Intervention.

THE BIBLE

This week I wrote to my church about “ Living Hell” and other isssues.

MONDAY

The Gospel
Luke 8:26-39
Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me” — for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

I woke up with Jesus and his mercy on mind! Mercy through the night. Mercy waking me up from a good night’s sleep. And after my early morning chores I sat down to begin my devotions. As I reflected once again on “ my spirit longs for thee”, and how much constantly we need Jesus, into my heart flowed the words of a wonderful hymn:

Thou camest O Lord with the living word
that should set thy people free; but with mocking scorn and crown of thorn
they bore thee to Calvary….verse 4 of “ Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown”

Refrain
O come to my heart Lord Jesus;
there is room in my heart for thee.

And as I thought about it, how Jesus came to set us free from so much fear and doubt and evil and lust and greed,and from time immemorial across the ages, how people have rejected him in favor of “ other gods, who are no gods at all but idols”, the words of the famous French philosopher came to mind. Words that former Prime Minister Michael Manley mused that they reflected the pessimistic nature of that great nation. But words that reflect a great truth of life. Plus ca change, plus ce la meme chose ! The more things change the more they remain the same.
For God knows how people in my country have rejected Him, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and Him Crucified, Who Alone has the Words of Eternal Life and who can set us free from our evil passions. And this divine intervention in our lives, represents the essence of the Gospel reading for next Sunday. And if truth be told, the Gospel message for the ages, that Jesus saves.

This morning this message came home to me very forcibly. Before I started my devotions. Perhaps triggered by a glance at the newspapers as I picked them up on the driveway. That our political leaders, in particular, and others too who are in the news a lot, presume too much, and do themselves and the nation a great disservice, when they try to influence the moral direction in which a nation ought to go, and when they attempt to tell people how they should live. And this thought came into my mind not because they all have “feet of clay”, as so do all of us, admittedly some more than others, but it matters not, as “ all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
But because “ thou camest O Lord, with the living Word that should set thy people free”. And as one aphorism informs us, “ you can’t give what you don’t have”. I know I am treading on dangerous ground here, but it is the Gospel truth. You cannot “ give orders to the morning”, as God told Job, when Job questioned God’s “ injustice”, towards him. People who are not “ in Christ”, and who are not sharing the “ Living Word”, cannot chase out demons from the hearts of men and women bent of doing evil. Whether minor evil or egregious evil.

Political leaders in a democratic state have their role to play. And a very important one too as given in trust by the majority. To manage the affairs of the nation so that there is Justice for all socially and economically, so that the wicked don’t prey upon the vulnerable and that there is order and peace in a nation. And all of us, within and without the church ought to cooperate and work with them, “ the political directorate” for the social and economic development of our country. But the moral and spiritual development of a nation is not within their gift. Even though the temptation to intervene there is great. As it was with George Bush who called for “ a kinder and gentler society”. And what did he and America receive? Continuing episodes of mass killing #Uvlade and the famous assault on their capital by the “ proud boys “ et al.

Jamaica is a land where demons have taken up residence “ in the hearts” of too many of our attached and unattached young women and men. In the communities, in the schools, on the roads, in institutions and in “ talk the truth” the very church in some instances. Russia is place where demons have lived for years. And so too America and other nations.

In the midst of this, a merciful and gracious God, continues to send His Son with the Living Word to set thy people free in and through the Confessing Church, the faithful ones, the remnant. And only the Church filled with the power of the Holy Spirit can train up a yute so that when is old he will not depart from the Word of God in his soul. Only the church, those who confess Christ and him crucified can lead the charge to rescue this country morally and spiritually. The church needs to “ rise up” and become what it is. Salt and Light in a dying world and in a corrupt generation where demons abound and the land mourns. And Slaughter one day is followed by Bloodbath the next day because too many of us have rejected “ Jesus the Living Word of God” and chosen Barabbas instead. The Kartel’s of this age who have a stranglehold on the minds of the young people, the music of this age, the philosophy of this age, exported like Pepsi from the USA – theology too – and the age old fascination with the occult.

May the God who alone died on Calvary for the sins of the world, so empower the church to reveal all truth to a nation, to speak boldly in the name of Jesus, to a dying world, renew the church so that the church may renew the nation(s) where demons are alive and well and advocate for Barabbas over the Crucified One.

In obedience.
Peace.
LWJ

TUESDAY

21st century sophisticated people who “ have it all together”, so they think, as they comfort themselves with the “ firewall” of critical thinking, might recoil with horror and object strenuously if you tell them that “ they have a demon living in them”. But this is the spiritual reality of all who are disobedient to the God who sent His Son as “ Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil”. This is the Verdict, says the Word of God, in John 3:16. Shortly after another more famous statement was made in John 3:16.

No wonder the world objects to the priory that God’s children and God’s church – I pray God all of us – give to The Bible. As this is what the Word of God informs us:

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:1-2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

And more that :

“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:3-10‬ ‭NIV

So those who are carrying out acts of wickedness‬‬, in high and low places, in very public instances, and in what they believe to be very private, whether in the church church or on the outside, are driven to do so by “ a spirit who is now at work in them”.

The miracle of the man in the Gospel above, whose name was “ Legion”, is that he was set free from many demons and given back his right mind. But as is the case of all who have heard of John 3: 16, about God’s transforming love, God’s great love for us, as Paul writes in the letter to the Ephesian church quoted above, there is yet a greater miracle awaiting the Gerasene Demoniac. First Good Friday when not only demons are exorcised, but so too Sin is forgiven. And then Praise God, because of the Blessed Easter, The Gift of The Holy Spirit, is made available to us by faith and by grace, so that God Himself, in and through Christ and Him Crucified, may live in us, and we in Him. To the glory of God and the rescuing of this troubled nation. A nation, like many others where demons reign in the hearts of men and women, and cause the land to mourn. Demons that ordinary people who are not filled with the Holy Spirit cannot manage. But we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. The faithful. The believing. The ones of Joshua’s “ be of very good courage”.

I wish I could close by saying something profound about the man of unsound mind who “ in his right mind” was determined to “ fight against evil”. Which is the salient message in the video now circulating and shown in the news recently. The evil of wicked gunmen! Perhaps the most that one can say, is that if he who in Old Testament times would have been labeled as one with a demon, was determined to fight valiantly against evil, what does that say to us who are now free of demons and sin and fear of death, by the enabling and empowering Holy Spirit. We do well to reflect on this, who knows, a “ sign from God”. Time come, indeed, for the church to become who we are. Children of the Most High God, and disciples of the Crucified Christ. And a royal people in whom the Spirit of God reigns! So that we may go and tell, like the newly freed Legion, and fight valiantly against evil, in all forms in this land. And to do the good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do!
Otherwise the demons who reign in so many of our people will, just as in the days in Gerasene, lead them all into the river and they be drowned. Mercy Lord. Mercy!

In obedience.
Peace.
LWJ

May the God who rescues people from demons and all evil in and though Christ and Him Crucified, renew the church; and may a Church set free by Christ and anointed and appointed to do good works, help to renew this country beset by demons intent on downing the whole lot of Jamaicans who are not “ in Christ”.

WEDNESDAY

Started my devotions this morning with:
My spirit longs for thee, within my troubled breast……

Then I was led read the Gospel story. Again! With “ fresh eyes”. Note that the demon possessed man “ met Jesus” on his arrival. That is, he came to Jesus! There is more. For example when did Jesus order the demons to come out of the man, as the text is silent on this; and what abyss was so terrible that the demons were so afraid to go back there. We need to consider these things, and “ take sleep and mark death”.
But for today, as I read how the demon possessed man came to Jesus and worshiped him, the same ones who are now at large and caused “ Living Hell” to descend on Spanish Town yesterday, I recalled this meditation from Oswald Chambers which I posted on facebook. And that once your spirit longs for Jesus, he will say “ come”:

JUNE 11

Getting There (1)

Come to Me…

MATTHEW 11:28
Where sin and sorrow stops, and the song of the saint starts. Do I really want to get there? I can right now. The questions that truly matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words— “Come to Me.” Our Lord’s words are not, “Do this, or don’t do that,” but— “Come to me.” If I will simply come to Jesus, my real life will be brought into harmony with my real desires. I will actually cease from sin, and will find the song of the Lord beginning in my life.

Have you ever come to Jesus? Look at the stubbornness of your heart. You would rather do anything than this one simple childlike thing— “Come to Me.” If you really want to experience ceasing from sin, you must come to Jesus.

Jesus Christ makes Himself the test to determine your genuineness. Look how He used the word come. At the most unexpected moments in your life there is this whisper of the Lord— “Come to Me,” and you are immediately drawn to Him. Personal contact with Jesus changes everything. Be “foolish” enough to come and commit yourself to what He says. The attitude necessary for you to come to Him is one where your will has made the determination to let go of everything and deliberately commit it all to Him.

“…and I will give you rest”— that is, “I will sustain you, causing you to stand firm.”.

Yesterday, during my lunch time devotions – I open my Bible that John Levy gave me years ago and whatever is highlighted ( That’s a long story) green or blue pen, I read – one of the most famous passages in all of The Bible presented itself:

THE WORD OF GOD

“When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my Lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭6:15-17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The New Testament lesson which ought to learn from this Old Testament experience is not to long for angels and chariots of fire to surround Spanish Town, for “ the angels of the Lord to encamp around those who fear him”. Yes, that too! But of primary importance as a redeemed child of God, to respond to Jesus’ invitation to :
“ Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me….why should you linger when Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me….how I wish I could sing.

For the many questions in life, about how to rescue Spanish Town, and indeed the entire country, and the world even, from “ Living Hell”, are all answered when we come to Jesus. And it all begins when our troubled souls long for Him. And Him alone! Not angels! Not the blessings of a life with God! Not a life of peace and quiet and serenity. Good things that those are. And Jesus, if you long for him, if you love Him,“ more than these” as he told Peter when he reinstated him after the Resurrection, will meet you where you are. Living in hell in Spanish Town, or having demons living in you, or living with guilt and in despair. For it was not so much that the demon possessed man met Jesus, but that Jesus called the man to himself. For it it certainly not that we reached out to God in our sinful state, but that God in His mercy, looked at “ Adam’s helpless race”, separated from their Creator, “ the vilest offender “ and called us unto Himself in and through Christ and Him Crucified. Praise God!

So let us be of good courage as demon possessed people, “ whop whop and chop chop and ensure people” which bothers the PM, and ought to bother us too, cause “ Living Hell” to descend on our country.

As there is power, power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the Lamb. This God who died for us, will fight for us, in this corrupt generation, if we would only come to Jesus, and pray for mercy. Enter into the very presence of God through His sanctifying blood, and ask for grace and mercy in times of trouble. And God knows that demonic induced trouble has come upon us.
In obedience.
Peace.
LWJ

A better song for us to sing then, even better than a revised Festival Song, is “ Christ the King, my everything,I give my life to you”

Lord renew thy church, we pray thee, with those who souls long for thee in this troubled world, those who believe in the cleansing blood of the Lamb of God, those who have given their all to Christ, those who have died to self and follow Christ and Him Crucified, whether living here or in the diaspora; Lord renew thy church that the church may renew country and rescue us from “ Living Hell”.

THURSDAY

The Epistle
Galatians 3:23-29
Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

The Epistle, the New. Testament reading, for Sunday, #FathersDay, serves well as a prelude for what I was led to share with you yesterday. But had to postpone it until today as there was too much happening in the morning.

Got up yesterday with Abraham’s offspring on my mind. The children of Israel then, and we the Baptized now. Got up with this song, never far from my mind, in my heart. A glorious everlasting message on which we need to ponder often, especially, and as.I type this other complimentary song comes to mind:

In time like thee, you need a Savior
In times like these you need an anchor
Be very sure, be very sure
You anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.

This Rock is Jesus, Yes He’s the one
This Rock is Jesus, the only one
be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.

In times like these, you need the Bible…..

Woke up to the Song of Zechariah in the Bible about John the Baptist, his son, but ultimately about Jesus the Solid Rock, the “ Mighty Salvation”, and the promises of God to Abraham, which Christ fulfilled, and which song about John the Baptist applies to the church in every age. And so I posted these on :

Facebook.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: for he hath visited and redeemed his people: and hath raised up a mighty salvation for us: in the house of his servant David – The Benedictus. Luke 1:68 Part 1

To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham: that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies: might serve him without fear: In holiness and righteousness before him: all the days of our lives – The Benedictus.

And thou child shall be called the Prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people: for thr remission of their sins – The Benedictus

To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death: and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost – The Benedictus. Luke 1: 68. Part 1V

Then this thought came to mind. That the chief enemy from which we have been rescued by the “ Mighty Salvation “ offered by Christ to people of faith – the Epistle – is our self-will. That which is in opposition to the will of God. The flesh which constantly wars against the flesh, according to Paul writing, in an extended reading of his letter to the church in Galatia:

THE WORD OF GOD

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:16-18, 20-25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Finally in context, after thinking about these thing all day, last night, after reading Oswald Chambers at bedtime about “ Will You Lay Down Your Life”, and “ Greater love hath no man but this….. “ I was led to post this on Twitter and Facebook :

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:16. Time for Christians to sacrifice self advancement for the rescuing of our nation drowning in this demon possessed valley. #FathersDay is a good time to think on these things

This as we who have been rescued by a Mighty Salvation, ought to so love our brothers and sisters in Jamaica, who are “ under the gun”, literally and metaphorically, that we ought to “ Rise up”, and fight valiantly against the evil which has overrun our country. Those demons in the valley who continue to cause our people to be in “ Living Hell”. For we who have been “ delivered from all our enemies, might live without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives”, are called to rescue this country from evil. To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death! And not only to seek our own safety in the midst of the war.

Peace.
In obedience
LWJ

Lord Jesus Christ we pray that you may renew your church by your disciples who are determined and empowered to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh, and perform your will and not our will; Lord we pray that you will renew your church that the church may renew the nation(s) drowning in blood in the demon possessed valley. Those in “ Living Hell”!

I read my newspapers to see what men are doing; and read my Bible to see what men ought to do – A Saint of yore

NEWSPAPERS

Time Magazine
There are some who stand tall and stand out no matter where they are from—whether a large, densely populated country or a small island nation. Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados is one such person. Bold, fearless, and possessing a great intellect and wit, the Prime Minister is a brilliant politician who knows how to shake things up.

I watched Mia Mottley’s speech to the #Summit of the Americas as recorded in the video above. And then appreciated even more so, why she has been voted as one of the most influential leaders globally by Time Magazine. The fact that she quoted our own Bob Marley endeared her even more to me, but it is the unvarnished truth that she heralded, that caught my attention. That there is so much trouble in the world.

That they are three crises that the world faces. Climate Change and the attendant devastating consequences. And commented brilliantly how ironic that we, countries populated now by the progeny of former slaves, whose “ free labour” helped to finance the Industrial Revolution, are now being so adversely affected by the consequences of that largely, hitherto, unregulated revolution – #ClimateChange. The Covid-19 Pandemic and the surge in food prices, in fuel and fertilizer caused by the war in Ukraine. Very inspiring speech and shared almost “ text reading free”. This as she left enough space for her deep angst and pathos to emerge from her speech and touch the souls of those of us longing , and hoping and praying, for less “ trouble in the world”.

THE BIBLE

The challenge that Mia Mottley and other leaders face, including our own Prime Minister Andrew Holness and President Biden, is that the Bible does not offer any assurance that on this planet earth, there will one fine day, no trouble. That one fine day, Bob Marley’s “ war in the east, war in the west”, will come to an end. That Tribal war will cease. Instead what is promised is that in Christ and Christ alone we find rest, and peace. In the middle of the war and troubles of this life. Which is what an inspired song which features a lot in my messages to my church, and State also teaches:

Unless it comes from thee,
in vain I Iook around;
in all that I can see
no rest is to be found

SUNDAY

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭2:22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Right after the reading from The Acts of the Apostles for Pentecost comes this verse. A Word from the Lord, in which, as the Body of Christ, we ought to spend much time reflecting and praying. Especially when we recall that Jesus himself declared in the Gospel reading for today, that “ if you don’t believe me at least believe in me because of the works I do”.
Further, you would recall after Peter and John had performed in the Name of Jesus, a great healing for the crippled beggar, and they were admonished by the Jewish leaders not to teach anymore in the name of Jesus, and having refused to disobey God, they prayed:

“ Now, Lord consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders in the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Acts 4: 29-30.

Is it not clear then that we should pray, without ceasing, especially on a day like today, as we celebrate Pentecost, that the church in Jamaica should be accredited to the world by God by miracles, wonders and signs? Even as we acknowledge and herald the reality that, the greatest miracle of all being Christ and Him Crucified on Calvary, and raised from the dead on the first Easter. And then the miracle of the promised pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Mercy Lord. Mercy! So that the church, established by signs and wonders, may on this day, as we celebrate Pentecost, be renewed and through a renewed and revitalized church, Jamaica may be renewed. And thus cause Righteousness and Justice to reign. And help Choppas to turn from scamming and join the formal economy, or be sent scurrying away, “ like chaff before the wind, with the angels of the Lord driving them away”. And not only Choppas, but all who do evil and carry out acts of injustice “ selling the poor for a pair of sandals”, or a bottle of Hennessy or for the price of a Mark X or Porsche or for a First class ticket on Emirates to Dubai. Or perpetuating persistent poverty ( George Beckford) and pushing people to become squatters – a source of much trouble for the nation as highlighted in the Gleaner today. This while the land mourns again as “ people die there every day “ in #wrongaddresses ( Etana). In Bull Bay where three were murdered last night. But thank God not forever, because every celebration of Pentecost reminds us that Deliverance has come. From evil! And that righteousness will reign. One fine day.

Peace and in obedience.
LWJ

TUESDAY

“ Slaughter “, one day and “ Bloodbath” the next day! It’s hard, “tough” said a friend who just called to share, and ended by praying for me and my family. That we might be faithful to a God who is faithful to those who love Him. That’s because we all want to do something to put an end to this bloodletting in our land. But as my friend said wisely, sometimes these things happen so that we may understand that life is about seeking God’s will and not our will.
Which is precisely the direction in which the Spirit of God was leading when he called, as I had just started my devotions. This after having reflected deeply on the words of the hymn I shared yesterday as my opening prayer.
My spirit longs for thee within my troubled breast…….Unless it come from thee, in vain I look around; in all that I can see no rest is to be found.

Which is where we are located spiritually, as people of God, this morning, even though the taxis are busy carrying people to work, and mangoes continue to entice diabetics to be disobedient. Life goes on. Even in #SlaughterBullBay and #BloodbathSpanishtown…….yet has my heart no rest unless it comes from thee.

Which is where the children of Israel were located when Pharaoh, changed his mind, “ God hardened his heart”, and came after them by the Red Sea. And God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that this mighty act of Deliverance from evil, might be spoken about by all men across the ages, until one fine day in Bethlehem, “ in the fullness of time God sent His Son”. The “ more and better particulars” of Deliverance!

THE WORD OF GOD

“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭14:10-14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The most challenging thing to learn and to obey in this life, especially the male of the species, and even worse if you are a politician, or if you have money, or have power, in the church or elsewhere, is that God will fight for you. You only need to be faithful. You only need to be still. For there is no rest to be had from evil in this world “ unless it comes from thee. No rest is to found but in thy blessed love”.
There is more to said. But not today!
In obedience.
Peace.

O blessed Redeemer God, the God of Moses and the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in the midst of #slaughter and #bloodbath, and as the land mourns as in time of Hosea, because there is “ no faithfulness, only lying and stealing and cursing “, we pray that you may renew your church with the knowledge and wisdom that you are a God who will fight for us; so that a church renewed with your Spirit my renew this troubled land, where no rest is to be found, from murder and murder most foul. Unless it comes fro thee!

WEDNESDAY

OSWALD. CHAMBERS

JUNE 7

The Greatest Source of Power
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do…

JOHN 14:13
Am I fulfilling this ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of my life? There is no trap nor any danger at all of being deceived or of showing pride in true intercession. It is a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit through which the Father is glorified. Am I allowing my spiritual life to waste away, or am I focused, bringing everything to one central point— the atonement of my Lord? Is Jesus Christ more and more dominating every interest of my life? If the central point, or the most powerful influence, of my life is the atonement of the Lord, then every aspect of my life will bear fruit for Him.

However, I must take the time to realize what this central point of power is. Am I willing to give one minute out of every hour to concentrate on it? “If you abide in Me…”— that is, if you continue to act, and think, and work from that central point— “you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). Am I abiding? Am I taking the time to abide? What is the greatest source of power in my life? Is it my work, service, and sacrifice for others, or is it my striving to work for God? It should be none of these— what ought to exert the greatest power in my life is the atonement of the Lord. It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us. We must make a determination to limit and concentrate our desires and interests on the atonement by the Cross of Christ.

Last night I read from, as has been my practice for many years, Oswald Chambers’ “ My Utmost for His Highest”: the very popular devotions guide.
And I pondered on the highlighted section. That the greatest power in our lives is the atonement of Christ wrought on Calvary.

Then this morning, in fact from yesterday, I woke up and reflected on the reality that it is not the Deliverance of the children of Israel from the evil of Pharaoh that gave them ultimate Rest. But rather, the Atonement of Jesus on Calvary, Which is why when Jesus said, “ Come unto me all ye who are burdened and heavily laden, and I will give you rest”, it is the most definite statement by God Himself on that matter of Deliverance.

For that is why, ultimately, we ought to , and can really, love Jesus. And if we don’t truly love Him on account of his sacrifice for us, so that we may be forgiven of Sin, then we cannot feed his sheep. And here Peter comes to mind. As Jesus did not ask him first to “ feed my sheep”. But if He Peter loved him! Three times. No doubt a reminder that the one who professed that he would never forsake Jesus, did so, as Jesus had warned him, three times as is reported in the Bible. But no doubt many more times than that, “ get behind me Satan”. Until at last Peter, impetuous immature Peter, after “ reflecting on Calvary”, and having “ received power from on high”, was able with John – “ who Jesus loved” but who like Peter ran away when Jesus was captured by the Jews – to, in the Name of Jesus, perform a great miracle. “ Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth get up”.

The church at Ephesus comes to mind also, The one where people had done great things for the Lord. And yet they faced this accusation. “ You have forsaken your first love”. I suppose theologians have argued over the years on the true meaning of this statement by Jesus “ the alpha and the omega…the one who alone holds the keys to death and hades” and therefore I should be cautious. But it came to mind in context and so I only being obedient. That to lose your first love as a redeemed child of God, is to take your mind “ off the cross “, and as Chambers intimated, place it somewhere else.

Education Minister Fayval Williams says she has asked for a detailed report of this video-recorded confrontation between a teacher and a student. Williams did not name the school but the uniform appears to be that of Tivoli Gardens High in western Kingston. -Contributed video pic.twitter.com/MlFQCMflyE
— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) June 7, 2022

The talk of the town this morning is the video which went viral of “ Bangarang” – a word made famous by former PM Bruce Golding – in the classroom at Tivoli. After a teacher reportedly attempted to break up a gambling session!

This just adds to the trauma that so many Jamaican are going through now on account of murder most foul – for as little as $15000 – madness on the roads, and a sharp decline in values and attitudes as manifest in the video above. And make people wonder aloud if “ Jamaica is a real place” – a term attributed to well known and senior journalist Erica Virtue, and which captures very poignantly the pathos and disbelief/amazement of how we have declined as a nation. A nation that can find no rest despite so much going for us in so many different aspects of national life. A nation that once held” Puppa Jesus” in high regard, but which now , mirroring what Moses said about the children of Israel in his famous song of lament in Deuteronomy 34, is a sad story indeed:

THE WORD OF GOD

“Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. “I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them. I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. The young men and young women will perish, the infants and those with gray hair. I said I would scatter them and erase their name from human memory, but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed; the Lord has not done all this.’ ”

They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be! How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up? For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede. Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness. Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭32:15-18, 23-33‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How can so few criminals and evil men and women can hold an entire nation to ransom in terms of this ongoing murder and violence for so long? How! My friend who called me yesterday and prayed for me is a Baptist pastor. And he should know, as history records that it was the Baptist Church in the north and the Moravian Church in the south which were very active in providing for the newly freed slaves after they were abandoned to there now fate after Emancipation. Materially and spiritually! That’s why our great grandparents and grandparents loved Puppa Jesus so much. Because men and women in the church who loved Jesus “ fed his sheep”. But as he said to me and I wrote yesterday, we have rejected God’s will and adopted our own, and there are consequences. Which is in part, what Moses said in his Song.
So as another the song says, and retried Bishop of the Anglican Church Harold Daniel encouraged a group of us recently, “ we need to get back to the basics of life”. And the basic truth of Christianity is that Jesus Saves. The subject of a sermon my Rector on Pentecost last Sunday. Jesus will fight for us. Jesus alone gives rest from madness in the classroom and passions in our hearts. Jesus and him Crucified is the reason why the Cross is the universal symbol of those who claim Christ. We would do well to keep our focus there if we really wish for Jamaica to once again become a real place where a video of a young girl expressing thoughts that would make a sailor blush, is no longer the “ talk of the town”. But Christ and him Crucified!

Peace and in obedience.
LWJ

P. S. Late sending as this morning was busy one with a meeting on the ticketing system with two Ministers. Just came back home.

Lord renew thy church so that our minds and hearts may focus on the Atonement of Christ and him crucified; Lord renew thy church that the church may renew the nation(s) where people have lost their first love. Or have never loved Christ and so can find no peace.

THURSDAY

The Epistle
Romans 5:1-5
Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

I try and glimpse the newspapers in the mornings before I begin my early morning devotions. This morning as I woke up this Word about Jesus came into my heart; “ though he was a Son he learnt obedient by what he suffered” – Hebrews.

And then the Epistle above , the New Testament reading for Trinity Sunday coming, speaks about the benefits, and joy, even, of suffering as Christians. Endurance! Character! Hope! The kind of Hope that flows from God’s love flowing through us, poured out into our hearts, hearts that once “ out of the hearts of men come all kinds of evil – Jesus”, produced thugs and Choppas causing no peace and no rest in St. James. A parish beset with murder….over 100 for the year so far…… and so a Minister of Government is appealing to them, or at least wishes to engage them and the police to see how he can bring back peace into the community “ bring back the love… reggae bring back love, in the hearts of the people ….in this young generation….says the song, from Morgan Heritage. God knows we wish it were that simple! That reggae music or appeals could bring peace into the hearts of men.

But that’s not what the Bible tells us. Not what history teaches us. Not what the people of Ukraine are depending on. Not what battle weary Americans, under siege from their own home grown terrorists, armed with weapons of mass destruction, killing four here, and three there and twenty one over there, are expecting.
No! Jesus died that we may have peace with God – the Epistle – and with our neighbors. Jesus suffered, a cruel substitutionary death – for our sins took him there….” Were you there when they crucified my Lord…tremble, tremble” says the haunting song by Mahalia Jackson. So that we who suffer with Him, might endure what is happening around us, and produce character and the eternal Hope that only a life in Christ can bring peace to a nation. And that Hope cannot disappoint us, as God’s love has been poured out into our hearts. We then as recipients of this great gift of the Holy Spirit, we the baptized of God, we the obedient ones, learnt through suffering, we who are heirs and joint heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him, are the instruments through which God will bring peace into this troubled nation. But only if we are prepared to suffer with Christ. That’s why the prosperity gospel which is no gospel at all, is from the “ pit of hell”, using the language of the Pentecostals. And which is an import from secular life, where the goal of this generation now is prosperity at all cost. Prosperity for self and kith and kin, and to hell with everybody else. As if people can live in a vacuum, and that action in one area of Jamaica, does not produce a reaction elsewhere.

We need to get back to the basics of life in this country. And in the “ far too rich for their own good “ America. For them suffering is dirty word. And struggle, is only for the “ lazy and no good”. The basics of life that peace only comes from Christ and him Crucified.

The Gospel
John 16:12-15
Jesus said to the disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

There is indeed a lot more that we have to learn about God’s will and purpose for us, the disciples of Christ in this troubled land. The message from the Gospel reading for Trinity Sunday. At least one of the messages! And Trinity Sunday coming when we celebrate the reality and majesty of the Holy Trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit, one God, is a time to pause and reflect and rejoice that in Christ alone we have peace. And that the church in Jamaica and across the world, has been gifted, at least those who are willing to suffer with Christ, with the gift of the Holy Spirit. So that a renewed and empowered Church may bring peace to Jamaica land we love. Bring peace to St. James, bring the kind of peace that “ sweet sweet reggae music “ cannot bring. Nor prosperity of any kind. Only the love of God in Christ Jesus and him Crucified.
In obedience.
Peace.
LWJ

May the God of Jacob, who Only can impart to sinful mankind, Faith, Hope and Love, and the greatest of these is Love, so fill the Church with the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to those who suffer with Christ and Him Crucified and bring glory to God the Father; and may the church filled with the Holy Trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit, One God bring peace to this troubled nation. In the precious Name of Jesus we pray.

FRIDAY

Unless it comes from thee, in vain I look around; yet has my heart no rest unless it comes from thee. Hymn writer John Byrom ( 1692-1763)

I’ve been spending quality time with this hymn, as inspired, of late. Words from another age, but profoundly relevant in this and every age. Truly a sign of divine inspiration. For as we can see, for those who “ have eyes to see and ears to hear”, those who can discern the times, according to Rev. Stephen Jennings in a a powerful video which I began watching – will share soon – quoting from Jesus, a lot of stuff is going on around us. But no rest is to be found in them!
And so the cartoonist in the Gleaner this morning brings this point into very sharp focus. No rest is to be found! Think about it carefully as it speaks volumes about the society in which we live.

No rest is to found because the rest that we seek comes only from the Crucified One. The One who came to earth as the Son of man, but was equally God. The Incarnate One. The One who suffered and died so that we may have peace with God and with each other. He did that because, “ Humpty Dumpty fell off a wall”, human kind was beset by Sin, and all the king’s horse’s and all the king’s men, all the Summits of leaders, all the police and soldiers trained in the latest tactics, all the laws on the books, and those being contemplated “ if you are on a murder charge, you cannot be at large”, all the attempts to make our teachers more professional and accountable, all the Integrity and other Commissions, “ can’t put Humpty together again”. We might as well send for Chicken Licken to warn the people that “ the sky is falling down”. For as useful as these things are, they are like “ fairy tales “ in value when it comes to changing the hearts of men and women. Which is where the problem is to be located!

The reality of life and how we get rest is to found in the words of the the final verse of the hymn….but only after we have engaged the first verse: My spirit longs for thee.

No rest is to be found…but in thy blessed love: O let my wish, and send it from above.

There are a set of prayers that have blessed me as I pray them most mornings for many years. They are also another age. Written by Jacob Boheme, under divine inspiration. Prayers of how we find rest. In the morning. And all day. And at night. I commend them to you, as this nation continues to reel from murder most foul, lest one fine day, what the cartoonist is offering in a moment of outrageous levity, becomes prophetic.

THE MORNING WATCH

Jacob Boeheme ( 1575- 1624…perhaps there is a message here. That we ought not to so quick to dismiss the wisdom of yesterday in favor of what is current and happening now in Christendom). I love “ I am a warrior, Christian warrior”, but it does not stay with you. It’s not something you can spend time reflecting on. it’s not in the category of “ My spirit longs for thee”.

Verse: 2 Chronicles 7: 14: “If my people who are called by my name……”

ON WAKING

Living Lord, you have watched over me, and put your hand on my head during the long, dark hours of night. Your holy angels have protected me from all harm and pain. To you, Lord, I owe life itself. Continue to watch over me and bless me during the hours of day.

ON RISING

Rule over me this day, O God, leading me on the path of righteousness. Put your Word in my mind and your truth in my heart, that this day I neither think nor feel anything except what is good and honest. Protect me from all lies and falsehood, helping me to discern deception whenever I meet it. Let my eyes always look straight ahead on the road you wish me to tread, that I might not be tempted by any distraction. And make my eyes pure that, that no false desires may be awakened within me.

ON GOING TO WORK

Give me, dear Lord, a pure heart and a wise mind, that I may carry out my work according to your will. Save me from all false desires, from pride, greed, envy and anger, and let me accept joyfully every task that you set before me. Let me seek to serve the poor, the sad and those unable to work. Help me to discern honestly my own gifts that I may do the things of which I am capable, and happily and humbly leave the rest to others. Above all, remind me constantly that I have nothing except what you give me, and can do nothing except what you enable me to do.

A promise made for the ages. Fulfilled in this ministry. To the glory of God. And found in the Gospel reading for Trinity Sunday coming:

THE GOSPEL READING

To reveal all truth. But it does not come overnight. One has to endure. Through much suffering! Otherwise pride inserts itself into the affairs of the church. And God will have none of it. For He will tolerate no rival on the throne of our hearts. Lest Humpty Dumpty comes crashing down again. And the land mourns! All because we did not put our fate in the hands of the man who stilled the waters. In one age! And in this age, the Man who declared on Calvary, “It is finished! Tetelestai”. All done. The battle against Sin and Death and Evil. And in Him and Him alone we find rest for our troubled souls. In the classroom and in the communities, and on the International scene, whether or not you are invited to sit at table.

Peace and in obedience.
LWJ

Almighty God, You who alone gives rest in the morning, during the day and at night, in and through Christ and Him Crucified, we pray you to renew your church by the power of the in dwelling Holy Spirit; Lord renew your church so that the church may renew the nation(s) where no rest is to be found, except it comes from you. In Jesus mighty Name we pray. Amen.

I read my news papers to see what men are doing; and read my Bible to see what men ought to do – A Saint of yore

This

NEWSPAPERS

This week the nation “ paused “ for a moment in time to lay Miss G, the legendary Barbara Gloudon, to rest. The Jamaica Gleaner noted that:

Lorna Goodison-Chamberlin will forever cherish the fact that her late sister – the hard-hitting journalist, opinionated radio talk-show host and prolific playwright Barbara Joy Gloudon – served as a gateway to opportunities not only for family members, but the wider nation.
“We all passed through the gateway that was Barbara. Nobody in Jamaica was untouched by the life of this extraordinary woman,” Goodison-Chamberlin said in her tribute at Thursday’s Mass of the resurrection at The Church of St Margaret in St Andrew.

AND:
Gloudon’s daughter, Anya Gloudon-Nelson, reiterated her aunt’s recollections of how committed her mother was to her immediate family, and noted her mother’s deep love for Jamaica and its development.
“She never ever gave up on Jamaica, and she would say ‘we’, not ‘unnu’,” Gloudon-Nelson said of the woman whose career in journalism began at The Gleaner, with her first story being about an obeahman in Westmoreland.

As I read the account above properly, the fact that “ she never gave up on Jamaica, resonated with me. As this is exactly what, at an entirely different level, I read about and wrote to my church week.

THE BIBLE

That Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, the day when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit, essentially means in human terms, that God never gave up on His creation. Despite the introduction of Sin into a perfectly made world, that He declared not just good, but very good.

And so I wrote to my church:

MONDAY

It appeared to be just another Friday afternoon for 55-year-old Fay Desgoutte as she prepared jerk pork and chicken meals for sale at the Kingston 10 premises that double as home and business on Newleigh Avenue, Cassia Park.
But May 27 was anything but routine.
Collin Brooks, Desgoutte’s common-law spouse, is still traumatised by the recollection of his fleeing partner falling to the ground after being shot four times by gunmen.
He recalled Desgoutte being seated near him and a regular client when the tragedy unfolded.
With his back turned to the entrance of the residence, Brooks heard the ear-splitting terror of bullets piercing his partner’s body and her bellows for help as she ran to safety.
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“All me coulda hear was when she say, ‘Jesus!’ and she run from there and she just drop … . The shot go right through her chest,” he said.

As murder and murder most foul, continues in Jamaica this lady died with Jesus on her lips. And then reading the Gospel appointed for Pentecost comes this question for the ages:

“Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14:8-14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I don’t know if this lady who was so brutally murdered was a born again Christian. But clearly like many other Jamaicans she had heard about him. And thus with her final breath she cried to him for help. The question is where in Jamaica is Jesus today? Can the church, the Body of Christ, honestly say to a bleeding and confused nation, “ don’t you know me Jamaica, even after I have been with you for such a long time”. This as to be filled with the Holy Spirit is no ordinary thing. No private experience. But rather, a supernatural gift, the presence of Jesus, given to those who truly repent and trust in the Atonement wrought on Calvary for the sins of all mankind. Forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit being the two great Gospel promises according to Holy Scripture. But hearing about Him is one thing, seeing Him at work in the nation and in her life, is another matter altogether.

Before he died Jesus famously prayed, in His High Priestly Prayers recorded in John 17 ( the text for an important sermon preached by Bishop Daniel at the Healing Conference Service yesterday…I’ll share at another time) for himself, his disciples and for us who believe in him in this age. Prayed that those who believe in him through the teachings, the written Word of God, of his disciples who were witnesses of his death and resurrection, would be one, brought to complete unity, as he and the Father were one, so that the world would come to faith. Would believe that he was sent by God. Would believe that God the Father loved us in this age, the disciples of Christ, in the same way that He loved Jesus.

Therefore if Jamaicans cannot see Jesus in the church, cannot see him manifestly present in and though the church, then at the very least, part of the problem might be that we are not in complete unity. We are not one in the Spirit as we love to sing! We don’t love each other as Jesus loved us. We have not served mankind sacrificially as Jesus did. Jamaica does not know that Jesus was sent by God to destroy the work of the evil one. And so the land mourns as bloodshed, as prophesied centuries ago, follows bloodshed. And people cry out on their deathbed for Jesus!

Without a doubt part of the reason why Jamaicans don’t know Jesus has to do with disobedience and rejection of the Word of God. People who have elected in their own free will to follow other gods…gods their grandparents did not know nor believe in. But to the extent that they have not seen Jesus in the Body of Christ, for that reason, we will be judged. As not just Phillip but ordinary people of this age are seeking God in their own way, seeking to know the Father. And we know that no one cometh unto the Father except through the Son. And the Son on Pentecost has placed His Spirit in us to make Him know. Make him known to the lady who died with Jesus on her lips. And to fight valiantly against evil. The evil of murder and corruption and extortion and injustice. But of first priority to make him known that those who die should not perish but have eternal life in Christ Jesus. And eternal life, according to the Scriptures, begins right here on earth when we are invaded by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The challenge for the church and the answer to all the problems Jamaica faces, is to understand and manifest that understanding in our lives, that without Calvary, there is no Pentecost. Without as the sankey reminds us, :

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light.
And the burden of my heart rolled away.
It was there by faith I received my sight
And now I am happy all the day…

…..the burden of my heart falling away, without heart and not head experience ..something we read in he Bible….forgiveness of sin, an experience which caused John Wesley to feel his heart “ strangely warmed”, and that he was truly forgiven, there will be no deep desire to crucify self and allow Christ, though the gift of the Holy Spirit, to reign in us. And to manifest Himself to a dying world!

I pray God that this Pentecost by faith and by grace and by the power of the Holy Spirit we can say with confidence:
I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not I but Christ who lives in me. So that Jamaica may find the peace which Christ promised to His disciples. Not what the world offers, said he. But that which is beyond all human understanding. For the Christian religion is a supernatural one, offering, and manifesting Christ to the nations.
In obedience
LWJ

TUESDAY

The Collect
Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

By God’s grace I’ve been privileged to serve on the Anglican Healing Conference Committee for many years. Next year we will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this annual conference. I thank God for the Healing, the Christian Education, the Music, the Prayers and the Fellowship, which have been the gifts of this anointed event, to so many persons over the years. I thank God for the leaders who God has appointed to give direction to this event. And I thank God for Bishop Harold Daniel who on every occasion that he chairs a HC Meeting begins with a short meditation which in and by itself has contributed significantly to my, and I am sure others too, Christian Education. I say this to say that my paying attention to the Collect for each Sunday, in recent times, and being led to write, as inspired by it, is as a direct result of Bishop Harry’s declaration of how much the Collect means to him.

And so this morning when I reflected on the prayer that God may shed abroad the gift of the Holy Spirit throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, this came to mind.

For what shall it profit a man or a women to gain the whole world and lose his or her soul. And so I turned to the Bible for confirmation, and context:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16:24-27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Therefore it matters not whether someone achieves their highest God given potential and shines brightly on the local or international stage, whether in the field of sports, music, academics, politics, diplomacy, science, or religion, unless that person is in Christ, unless that person is “ sold out for Jesus …Helen Baylor”, if that person has heard the Gospel and has rejected it, then his or her soul will be lost eternally.

It does not matter if someone belongs to a minority group of whatever stripe or color or persuasion or inclination, and has been the subject of much persecution, if that person has heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and has rejected it then judgment awaits them also.

It does not matter how much money an individual has contributed to the Church, how faithfully someone has sought to help the poor and needy, has worked to bring justice to the disadvantaged and to those who the late Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple famously termed the “ human flotsam and jetsam thrown up by rampant Capitalism”, if that person has according to the Word of God, refused to come into the Light then:

“ Now this is the verdict; Light has come into the world but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who loves evil hates the light , and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. John 3: 19-21 NIV

With this in mind, that according to Oswald Chambers, and the very Word of God, unless we act, unless we preach the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit across the world, peoples souls are in danger, I commend to you Bishop Daniel’s sermon last Sunday at the Annual Healing Conference.

This what I posted on Facebook last night:

The link to the Healing Conference Service yesterday featuring a very profound sermon by Bishop Harold Daniel on Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer for the his disciples in this and every age. You can watch the entire service or scroll down to the sermon. It will challenge, hopefully, your understanding of the demands by God Himself on us the Body of Christ. To love at the highest heights and pray at the greatest depths. And to be in complete unity so that the world may come to faith. And trust in, and believe that Jesus was sent by God.

And this too:

The Church is God’s delivery system. When God wants to bless, to encourage to warn. He looks to us. We therefore need to bind ourselves in complete unity so that God’s blessings may flow though us to Ja- Bishop Harold Daniel.

There are of course questions to be answered of what does complete unity mean and look like in this and any age, and with God’s help we will explore that issue another time. But what is not in question is the fact that Jesus prayed for that unity, so that the world may not perish, that people may come to faith, that individuals may not lose their life and their soul by pursuing what cannot ultimately give them everlasting life, but at the most, only a “ good life “ on earth. And if our Lord and Savior and the “author and perfecter” of our faith prayed for such unity then it ought to be of very high priority for us his disciples.

Peace and in obedience.
LWJ

Good and gracious Lord we pray thee from the depths of our souls and with the heights of love for each other and for all mankind, as empowered and taught by the Holy Spirit, that you may renew the church in a special way this Pentecost. So that a church renewed and empowered by your Spirit may assist us to preach and live the Gospel message that Jesus saves. To your glory and honor and for the rescuing of “Adam’s helpless race”, all sinners, from this corrupt and dying generation causing so much crime and mayhem and evil in the world. And from the reality and fear of death! Amen.

FRIDAY

The New Testament
Romans 8:14-17
All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ– if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Pentecost means different things to different parts of the church and even within the church. But what we ought to be one, in complete unity about, is found in an extended reading for the NT Reading above for Sunday coming.

“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:9-13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ!

Then having read almost the entire chapter 8, and pondered yet again on the call to suffer with Christ :

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:17‬ ‭NIV‬‬
….This came into my mind! At a time when news broke that one of our members had been held up and robbed by criminals. At a time when according to the Clovis, the cartoonist 600 Jamaicans have been murdered for the year. And there is no rest in sight!

At a time when the pandemic for many reasons, is raging again. And there is no rest in sight! At a time when one pastor so correctly declared in a video that went viral, “ we have work to do”, as church, as the Body of Christ, in this troubled land. In all of this busyness and trials this came from the Living God during my bedtime devotions last night:

My spirit longs for thee
within my troubled breast,
though I unworthy be
of so divine a guest.

Of so divine a guest
unworthy though I be,
yet has my heart no rest
unless it comes from thee.

Unless it comes from thee,
in vain I look around;
in all that I can see
no rest is to be found.

No rest is to be found
but in thy blessed love:
O let my wish be crowned,
and send it from above.

Yes! Pentecost is about “ I wish somebody’s soul would ketch a fire, ketch a fire”. About wearing “ fire red to church”. About the church’s birthday! About “ The kingdom of God is about power and not about talk”. Praise God! A reminder that “ Jesus was accredited by God to you by miracles, signs and wonders “ and so we pray that the Body of Christ may be accredited by God to the world by signs and wonders also. Mercy! Mercy Lord, in these troubled times when there is rest from the wicked:

But all of this, the gift of the Holy Spirit, will not come unless His Presence is our heart’s desire, and not the many other blessings that God has to offer. Unless Christ is really King in our hearts, and therefore we do not stand accused that “ you have lost your first love”. That we have other loves, even good ones, becoming the enemy of the best One, ruling over our souls.

And so this morning the message is to quiet our souls and long for Jesus. So that we can find rest in this troubled land and as the Body of Christ, filled with His Spirit, the Pentecostal gift, help with the grace of God, who “ makes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust”, to bring peace to this troubled nation.

Peace and in obedience.
LWJ

Lord renew thy church we pray thee, with the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that all who labour and are heavily burdened by the troubles of this nation, may be properly directed where to find peace. For in You alone we find rest!

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Month: June 2022