Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

Before Jesus started his public ministry, he opened the scripture in his local synagogue and read from the book of the prophet Isaiah. This is what he declared: ‘The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’ (Luke 4:18ff). These words are pregnant with possibilities. The declaration clearly states that it is the ‘spirit of the Lord’ that empowers the individual to act. This was Jesus’ manifesto, which clearly details what he would be doing at this point in his ministry.

His first task is to bring ‘good news to the poor’. The good news we will later learn from the apostle Paul, is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes, (Rom 1:17). This is the gospel. His next agenda item is to proclaim release to those who are in captivity. Sadly, many people go into captivity because of their inability to listen and follow what God has instructed them to do. Although the gospel touches the spirit of an individual, if their minds are not renewed, they will act and behave in the same manner as they did before becoming a believer.

This is where many from the African Caribbean Diaspora are currently located. They have heard the good news, accepted Jesus as their Lord, but have not had their minds renewed. Therefore, many still get involved in practices, which are alien to the teachings of Jesus. In effect, they are still captive to certain practices, and fail to enjoy the Lord’s favour. Although many have heard the good news, they are still be bound and remain blind. Read Nehemiah 8.