The Shofar Blew

Today I heard about my nephew who has been battling with cancer for what seems like forever.  Physically he is on the mend.  Yet somehow along the way, what I imagined would have brought him closer to God seems to have placed him further away.  You see, we have been praying for his body to be healed, but we now need to pray for the part of him that matters most; His soul. 

I thought about his mom and what she must feel as he rejected the very God that she has been believing in for his healing.  I thought about him and wondered if maybe he thinks that this should not have been his journey if God really loved him.  I thought about my own son and remembered that it was only yesterday that I cried for him; weeping for his soul and the life that God has for him. 

And then the Shofar blew.  It was in prayer that I heard the sound of the shofar as it blew through the winds and into my consciousness.  It was a call to God and His purpose.  It was the call that I prayed that my son would hear and come home.  It is the call that I now pray that my nephews will hear as well.  You see, I have realized, and been reminded, that we cannot do this for them.

My mom says, we cannot and have not been called to “save” anyone. She says we feel the need to plant the seed, water the seed and then we want to be the one to cause the seed to increase.  We cannot.  It breaks our hearts, because these are our children.  We don’t want them to perish and neither does God.  What we can do is pray.  For what is impossible with men is possible for God.  He can draw them to Himself. He can teach them about Himself. He can speak to them about Himself.  It is not by might or power as much we may have, but God says it is by His spirit. 

I don’t understand it and today I don’t want to pretend as if I do.  I don’t see how he will take them from where they are now to where they ought to be - in Him.  However, I believe.  I believe that God is able!  Today I stand in His truth and I am hoping to encourage you to do the same.  Parents, may we pray one for another.  May we link our arms of faith with around each other.  May we be a source of encouragement to each other. 

Today, God I pray for the moms and dads with children that are not walking in your will. Father I pray that you will give us the words to say to them and teach us how to live out Christ before them.  Lord may we be doors that lead them to Christ and windows through which your light shines bright.  Father, may we be slow to anger and swift to show compassion and love. Guide us Lord along this journey.  Our children are a gift from you.  Lord they are like arrows in our hands.  Show us Lord, how to point them to that bulls eye of Christ. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

No-one wants Jesus. Do you?

Today as I sat down in between functions I teared up.  I was reading an email about the Americans who wanted to take the name God out of their pledge of allegiance.  I asked God, “Why do they hate you so much?”  He said, and I heard this in my mind, “It is not me they hate but my son.”  No-one wants Jesus. 

Just typing these words have me choked up.  I would have been quick to say this is someone else but I can’t help but think that there are times when this is me, was me and maybe will be me tomorrow (I so hope not).  I have at times rejected Jesus; turned away from His truth; snubbed his directions and sought after my own lust and desires.  No-one wants Jesus.

To see these words again my soul cries out in protest.  I want Him!  I want Him! Yes, and now the tears flow freely because I know that I can’t make it without Him.  If you are honest with yourself and God you know that you have felt that as well.  You long for something and maybe you didn’t know what it was you yearned for but it was Jesus. Your soul knows and cries out for Him. That void, that darkness, that feeling of unease can only be satisfied by Him.

I know what I’m talking about.  You see my friends, every time that I have tried to go it my way I have failed.  I have had to run right back to him and beg for His mercy.  I have had to cry out “Help me!” from the mess that I have caused.  I have had to seek refuge in Him when I went and did things that I knew were wrong and opened doors that caused demons to chase me.  I need Jesus.

So what is wrong if I believe in God but am not too sure about Jesus?  You may even say, Jesus was Just a man.  He walked on earth and that is not the dispute, but to say He was the son of God?  To say He was man and God at the same time?  That is hard to believe.  I will not try to convince you otherwise.  That is not my purpose to day.   The truth is still the truth whether or not we believe.  Jesus is the only way to the Father.  We can’t separate the two, or rather the three for there is also the Holy Spirit, and altogether they are the trinity. 

Today I wanted to leave you with just one question, “Do you want Jesus?”

 

I AM the definition of Christ

As I wrote that title I wonder to myself where is that coming from?  I am the definition of Christ?  It's funny because I was planning to talk about my struggles with self issue.  I was going to tell you how I have to always battle that voice that tells me that I don't look right, sound right, fit right and all that other stuff that apparently I am not.


However, I see that God has a different plan.  For me and for you.  He has interrupted this pity party to bring forth an important announcement.  Christ is our definition.  When we see ourselves we ought to see Him instead.  He is the reflection from the mirrors we have in our homes, purses, cars, shopping malls, changing rooms and rest rooms.  If we are defined by Christ then the image that the world gives us is a distortion of who He is and we need not try to emulate.


Instead, clothe yourself in the garments of praise and adorn yourself in the worship of Him who is worthy.  A friend of mine yesterday was not having me talk about myself in a negative.  She is the one who told me to put on the garments of praise and it sunk into me not with condemnation but with conviction.  I pass on this truth to you today to set you free. 


Let us allow ourselves to be defined by Christ. Let us say no to the negative view of ourselves and others. Let us lift up our eyes to the master of our lives, the author of our faith and the protector of our soul.  To be defined by him we have to know him. So let us start to seek out the truth in His word. Let us be sanctified by it. Let us be free in Him.


So say with me, I am the definition of Christ.  He is in Me, for me AND nothing therefore can be against me.

I Am who God has called me to be

I am all that God has called me to be.  I make this as a statement, not to you, but to myself.  In my 40 years on this earth I have found that I need to be reminded of this truth repeatedly.  Let me show my vulnerability to you so you can better understand.  On Tuesday of this week, I had an opportunity to sing.  I was asked to write a song for the EMBRACE WOMEN AGAINST VIOLENCE program.  No problem!  God gave me the song that very night as I knelt beside my bed.  I practiced it; I was ready for it months in advance.

On the night of the event, my family came out to support me.  It was a big deal. I don’t usually tell them anything of what I am doing.  I suppose I just thought well, it is not a big deal.  For whatever reason, I felt the need to have them with me.  They came.  I was a mess.  ON the inside of me my stomach churned with nervousness.  I felt achy and very much like running.  I dreaded the moment they would call my name to step up and deliver.  I was ready months prior but something happened to me that night and well, it changed me.

I felt like the words to the song really was a message for all to hear. It was in-sync with the videos they showed, the poems they spoke and the dance they performed.  It was truly a confirmation that I saw but it didn’t make the fear go away. As a result I went up to the stage and became so fearful I wasn’t myself.  I forgot the words of the song.  I didn’t engage the audience and I couldn’t wait for It all to be over.  I believed what I was hearing in my mind.  I was not up to par.  It was a lie.  One that I know was a lie, but I did nothing to silence it.  Irony was at its best, as my songs hook said “how will you stay silent?”  I should have commanded my mind to fall in line with the truth of God.  I didn’t.  

God is greater than even our fears.  He used me that night.  I know it because I heard the song being song after I came down.  I went up even when I wanted to run away.  I sang even though I wanted to stay muted.  God used me in my weakest moment.  He used me to bring about His purpose that He had all along.  I forgot that I am His vessel.  I started looking at my abilities and I allowed myself to be tormented and chained when God says daughter, you are free.

I am choked up right now because this is so me.  Is this you too?  The good news is that God is merciful and kind. He extends mercy and favor and compassion and love.  He is my God.  So he gave me a song.  Yes, I find that He speaks to me that way – he sings to me a new song.  The song is a reminder that I am who God has called me to be.  He has filled my mouth with words and I will sing for him because I am all that he calls me to be.

Friends, I know I am not singular in this experience. I know that you are probably like me – forgetting who you ARE IN CHRIST!   However, one day I pray that you will hear from God himself that you are who he has called you to be.  May that need to compare yourself to everyone else disappear as you focus on Him and His truth.

 

 

 

 

God Knows What He Is Doing

It is early or late, depending on which side of the fence you sit.  For me, another day has rolled into the morning of another even though the sun will not be up for hours to come.  It doesn’t matter; what does matter is that which God has spoken to me.  I walked into the kitchen and there on the radio is a man talking.  He is telling his story.  His wife had cancer and she was pregnant.  It must have been her second time on this path because he said she had miscarried before during chemo therapy.

 

On this next set of treatment, she was in a similar situation. Pregnant and having to undergo chemotherapy.  She felt nothing more from the baby within her and they thought for sure that the little guy was gone.  They went to do an ultra sound and it was then that they heard the heartbeat.  He said it was not slow and weak but strong and fast.  He knew that God was saying to them that he would bring about whatever his plans were for them and this little one.  I just burst into tears.

Right at that moment, I could hear for myself that the circumstances did not matter; God’s plan will be accomplished.  I was reminded of His Word in Jeremiah 29: 10 – 14.  God knows what he is doing.  He has it all planned out for us.  The Message version reads like this:

      Jeremiah 29:10-14The Message (MSG)

^10-11 This is God’s Word on the subject: “…. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

¹² “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.

^13-14 “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.

“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.

“I’ll turn things around for you…. You can count on it.”

(Taken from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+29%3A10-14&version=MSG)

To read this word brings me to tears even more.  I love that God has spoken this promise that I know He will fulfill.  He was talking to his chosen people during a very difficult time in their history.  Yet, He sends this word of hope and encouragement to them. 

 

God is not saying to you or me that your life will be problem free, but He is saying that in the midst of it, trust Him.  Again, I say to you and to me, God knows what He is doing. 

 

DO YOU LOVE ME?

Lately I have been thinking about Peter the apostle.  He was passionate about serving Jesus, a leader, and a speak first think later kind of guy.  He was a man of the sea, knew how to work hard and provide for his family. He was a man's man in my eyes.  What I related to more than anything else was his faults.  He messed up, just like me.  Maybe just like you?


I read the accounts in Matthew and Peter was the one who was able to identify that Jesus was the Christ.  He knew what others didn't and when Jesus asked of his disciples who do you say that I am?  Peter was the one who spoke from the Holy Spirit. 


Peter was the one that Jesus told that he would build his church upon.  He was not just Simon but he would be Cephas, the rock upon which a church would be built and the gates of hell would not be able to prevail.


Peter was the one that passionately declared that even if he had to die, he would never stumble and never dessert Jesus.  Jesus told them all that the day was about to come when they would be caused to be stumble.  Peter said never.  Jesus said in addition to fleeing, you would deny me. 


Peter was the one who denied Christ.  He said loudly and with great emphasis, I do not know the man.  He tried to change the way he spoke when he was betrayed by his speech.  He swore and cursed.  He denied Christ just was foretold by Jesus.  Peter was the one who wept bitterly in remorse and repentance.


I said all of this to say that many of us do the very same thing.  We say with great convictions I would never deny you Christ. However, when the pressures of life become more intense, we too may have done the same thing. Thank God the story did not end on this note of disgrace.  In fact grace in abundance is what Peter was given.


Jesus found him where he was and he restored him unto himself.  He asked Do you love me?  I like to believe that with every denial, Jesus wiped it out with a confirmation of love. Love covers a multitude of sin.  So my friends here is the question that Jesus is asking "do you love me?"

I HAVE A DREAM

I have a dream. This is the month(February) when north Americans set aside a time to remember black history.  For me, a Jamaican living in Canada, I never really thought much about this prior to living here.  I never thought about Martin Luther King and what he fought for so many years ago.  Today, though, I can almost hear the speech he gave to the hundreds that came out to hear him.  I have a dream that one day….

For him, the dream was never realized.  However, today, his dream is alive.  Today, little white boys and black boys are playing together.  I am sitting right now in a gym where I can see every colour running around together on the same team, playing the same game.  You see my friends, Martin Luther’s dream was bigger than himself.  It was longer than his life span.  It was beyond his resources and his abilities.  I believe that his dream was a God given dream. 

That is the kind of dream that I want to have as well. I want the dream that God has for me.  I remember listening to a speaker and she said the gospel of Jesus Christ is the dream; the news that God has sent His son to live, to die, to rise and to save is the dream that we are living out today.  It is the one that we ought to tell everyone about.  It is the one that is bigger than us and the effects are beyond the earthly realms we can see.  It goes beyond our imaginations and it transforms lives. 

Jacob's son Joseph had a dream that took him from the pit to the palace.  Joseph, husband to Mary, had a dream that caused him to marry a woman that was pregnant, and move from a land he knew to a foreign country to protect a baby that was his saviour.  Paul had a dream. John had a dream.  Peter had a dream.  My question is, do you have a dream? 

I have a dream.  I have a dream that one day my son will be saved.  I have a dream that one day, he will lift up his voice and proclaim the gospel of Christ.  I have a dream that one day my eyes will Jesus.  I have a dream that one day I will be before my King, my Lord and my God.  I have a dream.