The recent riots up and down this country shows the extent to which the people of this country and particularly the youngsters has 
strayed away from the principles of Godly living. The prince of this world has unleashed a spirit of lawlessness against the decent Christian people in this country. The basic building blocks of manners and respect have been jettisoned for envy, greed and lawlessness. We are told by an ancient writer that these vices along with wrath, anger and abusive language are the direct opposite to a life that pleases God (see Colossians 3). In the past when this country was faced with impending danger, King George VI called for a national day of prayer. This occurred on the 26th May 1940. God is raising up people who are prepared to fight this battle in the ‘spiritual realm’ rather than attacking the youngsters themselves. They are being used by the enemy as their minds are fertile ground. Listen to what a Daily Mirror writer, Paul Routledge says about the underlying problems: “I blame the pernicious culture of hatred around rap music, which glorifies violence and loathing of authority (especially the police but including parents), exalts trashy materialism and raves about drugs.” We as people of faith need to be extolling the virtues of the gospel of Jesus Christ, after all we know that it is the power of God to the salvation for everyone who believes and is prepared to allow the Spirit of the Lord to transform them(see Romans 1:16). Can this nation be saved? Well if we believe that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37) let us start take our stand in the battle. Join in a prayer movement and let us all Push, Pray Until Something Happens. Read the book of Jonah.
as we take our place in the battle!
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Building blocks, Lawlessness, Manners, Respect, Spiritul wickedness, Trust
as we learn to honour our parents and the things around us!
Jacob knew how to appropriate the blessings of God. Even though his character was not perfect, he was taught from a 
young age how to honour God and how to honour those whom God had placed in his life. It would be about another seven or so generations before God would download the laws to Moses, but Jacob learned to honour those who were before him in the faith. One important piece of information that has gone out of our society is that of honouring those who have been trail blazers. They all have short-comings but Instead of honouring and respecting them, we tend to focus on their short-comings and their sometimes lack of integrity. Hence today we have children who are ravaging our streets who have neither respect for their elders or other people’s property. There is a need to go back to basics. We need to teach our youngsters, like Isaac, Jacob and the Patriarchs of time past were taught, to honour their elders so that their lives may be long on the earth. Today we certainly see and hear of a lot of youngsters dying well before their time. We certainly need a campaign championed by people of faith for this country to go back to their roots. Honouring those in public office; respecting the law of the land; treating others as they would like to be treated and learning right from wrong. Jacob knew that blessings were not just about material things. It was and is more than that. It involves, obedience to those set above us, hearing and doing the word and giving back to God a portion from what he has given us. So today as we pray for our country, pray that God would raise us up to let our disciplined light shine into the lives of those who are without hope and have seemingly lost the plot. Today read James 1.
as we contend for the blessings of Abraham
When we speak of blessings we speak of the abundance of gifts that God wants to lavish on us. In fact God wants to 
embarrass us with the width and breadth of him vastness. However, we must learn to fix our eyes on God and not on the things that can be seen. Abraham believed God and it was [reckoned] added to him as righteousness. In simple terms this means that he had right standing with God, he was a man of Justice and right practices. God placed a demand on him and by fulfilling that demand he received the promise. As we may recall it didn’t happen overnight since God had to see what he was really made of. The demand that God placed on Abraham passed down to his descendants and when we get to Jacob he was bold enough to wrestle with God and prevail. He placed a demand on God in lieu of the demand God placed on him. So let us look at the things Jacob did before he could place a demand on God and the things we also can do today.
- Be obedient to his word sent to you by his messenger (Genesis 28:1-4)
- Have God on your mind when you go to rest, he will speak to you (28:10-15).
- Come to the house of the Lord and get your anointing (28:18)
- It is in the house of the Lord that the anointing flows, not in the cinema or the dance hall.
- Learn to give back to the Lord, Jacob tithed from the blessing he received from God, and God blessed more than a thousand time over (28:22).
- Go on to your Peniel where you have to wrestle with God to get the blessings that he promised you, (32:22-31) Do not stay at Bethel.
When you have finished wrestling with God you will never remain the same. Jacob was changed forever and so will your life be changed forever when you are prepared to wrestle, i.e. get up close and personal with God , that is, you tell him about all your real issues, don’t leave any in the closet let them all out. God will them fulfil all your expectation for he will know that he can trust you with his anointing. Read Genesis 28 & 33:22-32 if you dare!
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Contending, Embarrasment, Faitfulness, Favour, Paitence, Persisting, Wrestling
as we access the blessings of Abraham
When God makes a promise to an individual he intends to keep it. And we are reminded by the apostle Peter that ‘God is 
not slack concerning his promises but he is patient with us not wanting any of us to perish (2Peter 3:9).’ It was always God’s intention to bless his people, however when we go away from his proposed plans for us we bring curses on our lives. Abraham started out life as a believer in the stars. He believed that they would bring him fame and fortune. His encounter with the living God changed everything in his life. To do this however, he had to leave all his previous practices behind. He left his idols, his divining sticks, his charms and all his amulets behind to follow God. Because of his obedience, his name was changed from Abram [meaning exalted father] to Abraham [meaning father of many nations]. How can a 75 year old man listen to the words from an invisible God who tells him that he will be a father of nations? God called Abram answered. God promised and Abraham believed his promise and 25 years after he left all his horoscopes, amulets and charms, God fulfilled the first part of the promises. If we count one generation as 30 years, it took God one generation to give Abraham a son and heir, however by that time Abraham was unrecognisable from the Abram that left Ur in Chaldea [Modern day Iran]. And two generation later, about 60 years, Abraham’s grandsons; Esau and Jacob were populating and possessing the land.
So the word to live by today is this, if God calls you and gives you a promise, wait for it for as Habakkuk says, it will surely come to pass. God keeps his promises and is waiting for us his children to be ready to receive them. Read Genesis 12:1-9; 18:1-15 for starters.
as we retreat to advance
The way we think will determine what we become. And the way we think is determined by the environment you are 
reared in and the people you associate with. As a young man growing up in London in the late sixties/early seventies we never informed about going to college/university after leaving school. The most we were told to aspire to was getting a trade. So, many of my colleagues became plumbers, electricians, carpenters and so on without going on to university. Like today they were more of our children and particularly our young men in institutions at her majesty pleasure than in higher education. It took a teacher from Grenada, Bernard Coard, who was pursuing further studies in England to alert the community to the fact that when our children were been sent to ‘special schools’ they were in fact being categorised as children with Special Educational Needs. And we were being categorised as SEN purely on the basis of the colour of our skin and nothing else. Sadly today there are many of our young people who fall foul of the system. However there are still many who are going on to university, obtaining degrees and taking up productive roles in society. The vast majority of those who are now prospering are those who have a faith or are from a faith background. In his seminal book, “How The West Indian Child is being made Educationally Sub-Normal in the British Education System” Bernard Coard alerted the community of the failings of the education system. And although many of our people are aware of the failings, there are still a disproportionate number of our young men still being incarcerated at her majesty’s pleasure. How can our generation make things better? Perhaps we need to build schools, like our Jewish counterparts or ramp up the extra-curricular lessons to teach our young people how to navigate the current education system. Today let us ask the God of heaven for wisdom to be able to leave a legacy for those coming behind us so that the next generation can become the leaders of industry and the academics that they were destined to be. Read this one verse from Luke ch1:37.
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Aspiration, Association, Learning, Legacy, Normal, SEN, Sub-Normal
as we develop an attitude of gratitude
The easiest thing to do is to criticize and particularly criticizing those things we do not understand. We will never understand or 
fathom the ways of God, however we will always have an opinion to give. The generation past had very little when compared to us today. However were we to analyse what they achieved in the light of what they had and the adversity they faced we would have to conclude that God was on their side. For example, my parents arrived in England in the early 60s will no recognised qualification. And although my father was a tailor in Jamaica no one would employ him as such over here. They lived in one room and shared the facilities in the house with several other families. They were fortunate to get somewhere to live as in the vast majority of areas they tried to get rental accommodation in, had disparaging signs on their doors, reading ‘No Dogs, No Irish and No Blacks.’ This did not put them of and after four years working faithfully in a factory making tablets they were able to raise the deposit to buy heir own home, where they lived until they returned to Jamaica 30 years later. Their ability to endure hardship like good soldiers and to overcome the trials by praising their way through it, is a testimony to their faith in a God who always comes through for those who dare to trust him. Today all of their children have or has had the opportunity to live in their own house. During the period I was growing up in my parent’s home I never heard them complain about their situation. I heard them thanking God for what he did. For as Isaiah puts it, not one of his words will return to him void, but it will accomplish whatever he sent it to do. Read Isaiah 55.
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Adversity, Faith, Faithfulness, God's Promises, Gratitude, TEstimony, Thankfulness
as we give thanks!
Today I want to give thanks to God for all that he has done in the past, all that he is doing now and all the he will do in the future. 
Furthermore I must remind myself that with God there is no past, present or future. God is outside of my time zone and that is why he is described by the psalmist as ‘from everlasting to everlasting’. Not only is God omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, that is he is all powerful, he is everywhere and is all knowing, he acts when his people praise him. So how do we praise him and are there different levels of praise? This leads me to a common misconception that I hear repeated all the time. There are those who perpetuate the myth that ‘Hallelujah’ is the highest praise. I say myth because as we shall see Hallelujah is a word which tries to encapsulate the gratitude of those whom God has redeemed from the clutches of the enemy. It is a Hebrew word comprising Hellel’ which means praise and Yah which is short for Yahweh. It is defined as ‘an exclamation to God of joy, praise and gratitude.’ It was developed by the ancient Hebrews who were instructed to keep the Passover on their exit from Egypt and the oppressive system of Pharaoh. When the Passover is being celebrated even today, four cups of wine are used to celebrate and praise God for what he has done, namely;
1. The Cup of Sanctification – based on God’s statement, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians”
2.The Cup of Judgment or Deliverance- based on God’s statement, “I will deliver you
from slavery to them”
3.The Cup of Redemption – based on God’s statement, “I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm”
4.The Cup of Praise or Restoration – based on God’s statement, “I will take you to
be my people, and I will be your God”
The last cup was the Hallel cup which was overflowing with wine. From where we get our term, my cup is full and overflowing. And so this represents the gratitude of the people for what God continues to do. Hallelujah is an exclamation of praise to God, similar to ‘thank you’ in English or Gratis in Latin which when translated in English means free of charge. We can praise God in many ways some with words and many without words. The Psalmist encourages this when he says, praise him with the tambourines, the harp all sorts of musical instruments, dance and so on. We praise him in our actions by helping an old lady across the street. In essence we praise God by being like Jesus i.e. doing what pleases him. There is no gradation in praise. There is no high or low praise, praise is praise. Just like God is God. So today you can praise God silently, quietly or with a loud noise, it is all the same to him, Hallelujah! Read Psalm 150
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Gratitude, High and Low, Praise, Thanks, Thanksgiving
as we ask ourselves, why not?
The journey through the physical and the spiritual wilderness is fraught with dangers. The generation that left Egypt saw the 
power of God, they experienced the mercies of God, they walk and lived by faith, so much so that when they defeated the establish kings Sihon (Deut. 2:26) and Og Deut. 3:1) they had to pinch themselves. Similarly the journey from legalism to freedom in Christ was also fraught with dangers. Those who taught that you had to be circumcised to receive the blessings of the Lord were fighting against the Pauline stance that freedom in Christ meant freedom from the legal restriction of the old covenant and the ability to access the grace of God, see the book of Galatians. For us today that struggle between legalism and grace still continues. Our forefathers came to the UK with little or nothing, they were promised that they would be able to collect gold from the streets and return after five years to build their big houses, however all they found on the streets was dog muck and broken pavements. After awhile they started to be offered mortgages to purchase houses, motor vehicle and places to worship and then they had to pinch themselves to believe what the Lord had done. Today we need to reflect on the past but not be bound to it. We must understand and recognise that, what God did then he can still do now. And as he blesses us with more and more let us not become like the Israelite of old and start to fight one another like little children, for as the apostle Paul reminds the Galatians, While we remain as minors in our thinking, we will never inherit the things that God has for us (Gal. 4:1-2), but when we grow up we are able to distinguish between what is beneficial and what is not. So we thank God for the foundation that is laid by those gone before, but now we who remain must answer questions such as why can’t this or that be done? With answers such as; why not? Read Deuteronomy 2 & Galatians 1.
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Dangers, Faith, Grace, Legalism, Mercy, Resiliance, Self Reliance, Snares, Toils
as we reap where we did not plant and harvest where we did not sow
Yesterday afternoon, Sunday 31st July 2011 I attended a fiftieth birthday party. It was poignant in that the celebrant was not an 
individual but an organisation, AFB (Assemblies of the First born). One into which I was immersed when I arrived in England in 1968 to join my parents. The festivities occurred in the local town hall which was a far cry from the rented pub rooms and church halls that were the habitats of our 1960s parents. My mother and father were part of this journey and were they still alive today they would have revelled in the festivities. The service reminded me that in spite of our inadequacies we are to be people who not only talk about their faith but people who are prepared to live out their faith in the society and culture they are surrounded by and live in. The celebration was quite a lengthy one, however there was no porter standing outside the door shaking his bunch of keys telling us it was time to leave. As I reflect on the service it was as if God is saying to us, it is time for the next phase of the journey. And for many of us who have heard about the experiences of our parents, it is time to move from the Exodus to Deuteronomy. Let me explain, those who were the pioneers are now on their last laps and we who remain are the ones who are reaping the rewards of their labours. Not only are we en-cultured, we know the systems and we should understand the times. However, like the Israelites let us not become complacent and allow the material blessing from the Lord to blur our vision. So when Moses told the Israelite crowd (Deut 1:10) that the Lord had multiplied you from your original numbers. [For us as descendant of West Indians, the original numbers who first arrives on SS Empire Windrush in 1948 was 492]; and may he increase you a thousand times. [Up and down England alone there are now much more than 492,000 of our people around]. We now as the ones who are reaping where we did not plant and are harvesting where we did sow must always remember this; never allow the material blessing to blur your vision of the Lord and as we strive and prosper let us serve him continually in our home away from home. Read Deuteronomy 1.
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Celebration, Festivities, Legacy, Party, Promises, Prosperity
as we guard our mouths, for life and death issues from it!
We can avert our blessings by the words that we speak. When the Lord opens a door we ask how can this be and why 
should I walk through it? This happened at the time of Jesus’ birth. Prior to Mary finding out the she was chosen to bring forth the Messiah, the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah and informed him that he would have a child in his old age and that the child would carry the anointing that Elijah carried. After hearing the message, Zechariah asked the angel, How will I know this, I am old, my wife is old and we are both pass our sell by date! The angel replied to him, I am Gabriel, that is, I am sent from God with a specific message. This message is in answer to your years of praying. Your prayers have been heard and your service is being rewarded. However, since you failed to believe me, no more negativity will come from your mouth. So until the time of the fulfilment of the prophetic word you will be dumb.
After serving God for many years and waiting for his blessing, Zechariah nearly messed it up by not believing God. The angel sits around the throne of God and when he turns up he is coming with a message direct from God. Although it may seem impossible from our perspective, be like Mary when she received the word from the angel of the Lord. The angel told her that ‘Nothing is impossible with God’ Luke 1v.37, she responded OK Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be according to your word. V.38
Today when God speaks to you, don’t avert it by unbelief. Get into angelic mode and start to praise God even thought you have not received it as yet! Read Luke 1:1-38. And sing like Mary, “my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit praise his name, his mercy is for those who fear him, from generation to generation” amen.
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Getting the impossible, How, Impossiblity, Speech, When, Words
Pastor Bell's Words To Live By 