Up to yesterday, I had no idea what I was going to write in the blog for this weekend. But then a patient who reads and looks forward to receiving the blog on a Saturday morning, came to see me yesterday. And after we discussed this delayed coming of the inspiration, from “ on high”, we were “ in agreement” that it would come. At 4:am this morning it came! Long story, but praise God for the drama that unfolded, as the video above prays, “ order my steps in your Word dear Lord”. This as the Word I was led to read, on the eve of Pentecost, when some,  but not all Christians,  celebrate “the birthday” of the Church, “ the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is full of drama. Better than TNT ( we know  drama), and the new kid on the block, Netscape. But first, a key section of the lyrics of the video, sets the stage for the drama, about to unfold, very well:

Humbly, I ask Thee to teach me Your will

While You are working, help me be still

Though satan is busy, God is real

Order my steps in Your word

Please, order my steps in Your word.

Satan was very busy in the days of the famous King Hezekiah. Yes the one who asked for a sign from God that he would be healed. To make the shadow from the sun “ go back ten steps”. And Satan is still very busy in Jamaica today. Only the actors have changed but still under his management. But thank God for Jesus, God is real. And that nothing has changed, as this Living Word ( In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us) is the same “ yesterday, today, and forevermore”. The drama begins, almost in Star Wars fashion, with Satan’s emissary, the supreme commander of the King of Assyria, marching against Jerusalem, in huge numbers. Taunting the people of God. And “dissing” the Living God. “ Do not listen to Hezekiah for he is misleading you when he says “ The Lord will deliver us”. Has the God of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the King of Assyria?   Has there ever been any “ Divine Intervention “ in Jamaica? Why does Jamaica have so many churches and there is so much murder : “ lady where you come from people die there every day” #WRONGADDRESS #etana .  
Where is the God of Sam Sharpe, where is ” this Jesus”, why does He not stop the scamming and the injustice, and the trafficking of young girls.  Sounds almost like a scene from David and Goliath before the giant fell. 

“Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.”

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17‬:‭36‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Then the Living God answered Sennacherib, the CDS, the Chief of Defence Staff of Assyria in this fashion:

““ ‘But I know where you are  ( where you live) and when you come and go and how you rage against me. Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.’”

‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This aspect of the long history of the Salvation story ends very dramatically after this Word from God, shared by Isaiah, the man of God at that time, and the remnant of the church at this time:

“By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’ ””

‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭33‬-‭34‬ ‭NIV‬‬

As this happened:

“That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.”

‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭35‬-‭36‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Pentecost then, is part of the Salvation story. The final part of the three part drama when the Living God fulfilled his promises to rescue those created in his image and likeness from Satan. Good Friday, Easter and then Pentecost. Far better than Emancipation, Independence and soon to come a Republican status. This as the Salvation story is the final Word from God to order our steps in this broken and dying world controlled for the time being by Satan. The Living Word Who protects the remnant from evil. That which Constitutional Reform has no power to do. Time come for everybody to “ join the gospel train “ before it’s too late. For what does it profit a man or woman to exchange thoughts on WhatsApp and Twitter and Instagram endlessly, to enjoy all the delights of this world, to earn much more than a livable wage while others  are destined “ hew wood and carry water”, ( even in the drought) and tempted “ go a border” ( Mexican border) and yet, and yet, lose their very soul. Enticed to disbelieve the One who died for us on Calvary, by the chief of defense staff of Satan who is very busy, and very active. I pray God that somebody will be convicted of Sin today, and turn to the Living God, and ask for mercy.  For these are very dramatic times indeed. Wake up people. Wake up! And sing Redemption Songs. That there is power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the Lamb. This as Pentecost is day when we celebrate the gift of the Crucified, Risen and Ascended Christ. The Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit and set out hearts on fire. I want a Revival in my soul, I pray for a Revival in the Church and in this #Berrylium nation. And in the #MassMurder nation where so many of our people live. This we pray according to your Word O Living God

Pentecostal church today

I write to my church, in obedience to God Almighty, who reveals His Truth to me, by His Word, and Hymns, almost every weekday. And as I wrote a message, earlier in the week, which I captioned ” Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow is available from a faithful God in Christ Jesus. Wake the town and tell the people”, the song above came to mind. Not a religious song, at least on the face of it, but here are some of the comments on YouTube

Christ and him Crucified

COMMENTS 

Even though Harold Melvin and the Blue notes released this song over 40 years ago, the lyrics of it are still timely in this day and age 

And others responded:

-And that happens when you make real music . I love it

-You are absolutely right this song is so prolific ( maybe he meant prophetic, not sure) to what is going on in the world today.

-Amen ( And I’m agnostic)

-The music…that’s divinity embodied

-Agreed but no one has listened to what we were protesting about nearly 40 bloody years ago and I’m tired now . I really feel like I tried my best to make a difference and now it seems like we’re going backwards. I put my hope for this world in my granddaughters

MY COMMENTS 

 I am tempted to reflect on the era in which I grew up as a young man, when this kind of conscious music was the norm and not the exception. And how that ”  livity” according to the  Rastafari, affected the whole society. Compared to the ” chop chop and whop whop ” of this age, both in music and in the livity- how we relate to each other. And what makes the headlines, double murder, triple murder, SOE, mass murders, war inna de west, war inna de east, protest here, protest there, this child missing, that child missing ( is the Ananda Alert still a thing), this wife or baby mother stabbed to death, that husband or baby father burnt, kass kass in the Parliament, kass kass in the church, kass kass at home. Bangarang ( former PM Bruce Golding’s  famous quote) everywhere.

But that’s not what I am led to ” Wake the town and tell the people”, this Saturday morning, after a turbulent week a yard and abroad. Jesus wept! The shortest and yet one of the most powerful verses in the entire Bible. Jesus wept. Yes for his friend Lazarus who was dead. But He wept for so much more. And the church, of which I am part, and to whom I was instructed to write this week,  a part thereof, should weep, about the state of Jamaica today. When compared to yesterday! Weep like how Nehemiah, read about him yesterday, wept forJerusalem ” the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and it’s gates have been burnt with fire. Weep like how Jesus cried out.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

Matthew 23:37 NIV

We can substitute ” Jamaica Jamaica “, or America America…..but you were not willing. 

Kill the prophets……Bob Marley’s Redemption song comes to mind. Old pirates, yes they rob I ..   but my hand was made strong by the hands of the Almighty…won’t you help to sing these songs of freedom….Redemption songs.

Time come, in fact it has always been the time since Jesus came and wept, and died for sinful humanity, Adam’s helpless race, and sent his followers, those who believe in his Mighty Salvation, this Jesus who is the same today, yesterday and forevermore, to ” Wake up everybody no more sleeping in bed”. No more wishful thinking, no more depending on the Political Class for Salvation. No more dependence on ” Chariots and Horses” displayed by the Police at the National Arena or in St. James and Clarendon. Need some help! No more dependence on getting the basics of economic growth correct. Need some help in this jobless growth world where Elon Musk and  et al prosper and the rich get richer and the people of Majestic Gardens are forced to ‘ go a border’. Mexican border! Need some help for children of former slaves who are still enslaved by economic and Class injustice. This world will not get any better folks if we leave it to human beings, selfish and greedy and uncaring children of Adam. Only a God who died in Christ Jesus, a faithful God who through the message of the Church, the true Church, that ” If the Son of God sets you free, you are free indeed. From the fear of death, Sin and Evil. And who declared with power, ” Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit “. 

The Church will celebrate Pentecost next Sunday. The first outpouring of the Holy Spirit on humanity. I pray that a weeping. Church will wake up and tell the people to ” Repent and believe the Gospel “. Teach the people with power. That only Jesus the Crucified One saves. And that the future of the world and our grandchildren are in his hands. And his hands alone. Time indeed to sing Redemption Songs. And not songs by Ding Dong and Beyoncé.  Peace and in obedience. Wake up everybody.  #shorterthanaNetflixseries

The more I read the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures, The Holy Bible, is the more I understand the awesome responsibility that Christians have been given by the One True and Living God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, and the Sea, and everything in it. Just awesome! Just listen carefully to what the renowned gospel artiste Helen Baylor, sings in the video above, quoting the Apostle and Gospel writer, John : If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
John 15:7 KJV

And abiding in Jesus begins when we are ” convicted of Sin, believe the Gospel and repent”, and are baptized into the family of God; having our sins washed away ” into the sea of forgetfulness”, by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
Then like Charles, of the House of Windsor, whose coronation was streamed live on TV just now, we become part of ” a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God”. 1 Peter 1:9.

The Royal House of Windsor

But not called only to be ” Blessed and highly favoured”, not called only to inherit eternal life, and certainly not called to live in Buckingham Palace with other ” royals”; like William and Kate et Harry. No! We have work to do. The mighty work of believing prayer to rescue people from this ” corrupt generation”. This ” choppin generation”. This ” Berrylium generation”. This ” send a picture of a girl’s private parts, by request, to a male suitor generation” ( mercy).

To receive answers to ” ask what you will, and it shall be given unto you”. And not to be idle! This is the message, and the validation of the message in the video above, in this meditation which I was led to read ” in the dead of night, last night”.

QUICKENING GRACE
MARTIN LUTHER

Verse: Zachariah 12: 10 ” And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and supplication”.

( I was led to read almost the whole book, and which early in chapter one, these words are recorded. ” Turn from your evil ways and evil practices. But they would not listen to me…. Then they repented and said, The Lord Almighty has done what our ways and practices deserve…”)

When a Christian begins to know Christ as his Lord and Savior, through whom he is redeemed from death and brought into his kingdom and inheritance, his heart is aglow with a flaming love of God and he would gladly help everyone to the same experience. For he knows no greater joy than that he possesses this treasure, that he knows Christ. Therefore he goes out and teaches and exhorts other people, praising and testifying to it before all men, praying and yearning that they too might attain to such grace. That is a restless spirit enjoying the highest rest in the grace that and peace of God, for it cannot be silent or idle, but is always striving with all its power to spread the honor and glory of God among people, that others too may receive this Spirit of grace and may then help with the work of prayer. For where the Spirit of grace is, he quickens our hearts, so that we can, and may, and must begin to pray.

FINALLY

THE MEDITATION

And in the same Word from Zechariah, to the glory of God, and for the rescue of my country, not by chariots and horses, not by changing our Constitution, not by improving the economy in and by itself but:

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zechariah 4:6 KJV