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.
as we reap where we did not plant and harvest where we did not sow
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
as we take a stand against the wiles of the devil to protect our blessing!
Whenever God is about to bless you materially and spiritually several things tend to occur. Firstly the enemy ups the 
ante; that is he raises the stakes. In betting terms he increases the wager against you succeeding. The bigger your breakthrough will be the greater the stakes! For many who have been waiting on God the enemy uses family members and his influence in them is manifested as: greed, envy, rage, jealousy, anger, slander and abusive language, the very vices that the apostle Paul warns against in Colossians 3:8. For King David, it was his own son Absalom who plotted against him and conspired to take the throne with David’s own advisors (2Sam. 16ff).
Secondly Fear and doubt are the next things that arise in your spirit. Did God say that? Or how can this be? Or is it really God or is it a figment of my imagination? For Gideon God had to prove that it was he who would give him victory so he laid a fleece on the ground and one night he asked God to make it wet and it was and the other night he asked him to make the surrounds wet and the fleece dry and he did (Judges 6:36-40).
Thirdly your faith level drops and you start to rely on your own strength and abilities rather than on what God has instructed you to do. Samson played with the enemy and took one of their women as his bride. Although he knew God was with him he eventually told the secret of the Lord to the enemy. That cost him dearly, he lost his freedom and his sight.
Sadly just when we are to receive our blessing we can lose it by getting too close to the enemy. So the word for today this is this: trust in the lord and lean not on your own understanding, and when the enemy comes in like a flood, remember that the Lord will lift up his standard against him. Also, blessed be the Lord who has given his people rest according to all that he promised; not one word has failed of his good promise which he spoke through his servant Moses! (1Kings 8:56). Please be on your guard and learn the tricks of the devil! Read Ephesians 6:10-18.
as we aspire to become rich in spirit to be a blessing!
There has been a long period in Christendom where Jesus was portrayed as a poor Galilean who had exceptional wisdom 
and healing powers. This myth was perpetrated by Roman Catholic Church as a means of getting people to renounce their wealthy status an embrace that of a pauper who would become spiritually rich. Although the culture during the Middle Ages was one where the landed gentry and the aristocracy controlled the economic, political and religious systems, there were those who were inspired to challenge their presentation of the gospel of Jesus and the notions that Jesus was materially poor and economically challenged. From the reading of the accounts of Jesus’ life we must take note that he is presented firstly as a carpenter. In modern terms this would be a builder. Not only would he have made things he would have built houses, boats, furniture and so on. As a shrewd businessman he would not have been poor. His friends who left their businesses to follow him weren’t exactly poor either. Peter had two boats and employed several men to help run his business (John 21). Matthew was a civil servant for the Roman political system. So when Jesus went up on a mountain and taught his followers about the blessing of the Lord he was not decrying riches, in fact he was preaching against poverty. You see when materialism has a tight hold on you it tends to drain out your spirituality. This means that you rely on your wealth rather than on God and it is in your interest to keep a poor underclass to service your needs. If you are rich in spirit and rich materially, you can/will then use your wealth for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Today there are many great Christian men and women who are using their wealth to bring transformation and healing to many who are less fortunate than themselves. May God help you to be one of them! Stay blessed! Read Matthew 5 with a different set of lenses.
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Aspiration, Blindness, Perception, Riches, Wealth
as we fight the pervasiveness of materialism
The culture that we grow up in has a massive impact on the way we behave and operate. When I was a child growing up in 
the Caribbean everyone who lived in the locality or moved into the locality was acquainted with someone who already lived there. Every morning people would greet one another with pleasantries and when you passed someone on the roadside you would acknowledge them with a nod or a raising of the hand when saying ‘good morning’. Now we may live on a street for twenty years and don’t know the person living next door but one. We drive to work or to school and when we return we lock our gates and doors and are not seen again until the morning. In many countries we place bars on our windows and around our houses to keep unwanted guests out but more importantly it keeps us trapped in as prisoners in our own homes. This is the danger or materialism. Everybody wants the nice things in life and many will kill for it. As stated yesterday, things have won the day. It has many people and there are those who want what others have and will go to extraordinary lengths to get it. This was not the model of blessings that God envisaged. I believe our primary aim must be for wholesome relationships, where we can rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Live life to the full and enjoy the opportunities that God brings your way. However, we must avoid the spirit of jealousy and envy because they come to destroy our relationships and will leave you isolated, alone and trapped in your own castle. Today be aware, materialism is beneficial but has great danger. Read Ecclesiastes 2
as we get understanding and wisdom rather than materialism
We must be aware that blessings are not directly equated to materialism. I believe God wants his followers to have the 
best of everything. However, he does not want things to have them. For me this means that there is nothing that the follower of Jesus has that they cannot give away. And if this is the case the follower of Jesus recognises that the most important that they can have is a relationship with God: father, Son and Spirit so that they live to help others fulfil their potential. We are blessed then to be a blessing to others and by so doing we bask in the joy of the Lord. That is we learn to live according to the order:- Jesus, Others, and then Yourself. Remember you can have the material things, but don’t let them have you! Consider Solomon, he asked God for wisdom, knowledge and understanding and told God of his inadequacies to rule his people. God granted him his desire and he became the most renowned and wealthiest man in the east. Today as God blesses you always remember to keep him at the centre of your circle. Everything you need to progress will be supplied to you as you ask for the spirit of wisdom. Read 1Kings 3:1-15.
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Joy, Knowledge, Materialism, Potential, Relationship, Understanding, Wisdom
as the limited dialogues with the limitless
The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. The easiest thing to do is to moan 
and complain when things don’t go our way. However, having the right perspective allows us to be able to see things differently and as a consequence to act differently. The above statement was said by Job in his memoirs (Job 1:21). He recognised that the blessor has the option to choose who he blesses and who blessings are withheld from. Does this mean that the blessor is evil if he chooses to bless this one rather than that one? According to Job’s mindset, it is his choice and whatever he choose to do is acceptable to those who understand him. So how do you react when things don’t go the way you envisaged them? Or people who you trusted betray you, or you are double-crossed by someone who you thought was close to you? Do you think the Lord is trying to tell you something?
Let me put it this way. The rain will fall on the just and on the unjust. And so although it may appear that evil people are prospering, God allows us ‘a certain’ amount or leverage and when we come to the end of the rope where will we end up? Job says this: “The creator has determined all our boundaries and once we reach it we cannot pass over it” (Job 14:5 paraphrased). Today remember you too have a boundary and once it is reached will you live again? Read Job 14
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Action, Boundary, Complaining, Giving, Perspective, Praising, Taking, Vision
as we take our eyes of our problems and look to the great and mighty God!
Every good thing we receive in life has a source. For every blessing there is a ‘blessor’ and the one who receives the 
blessing(s) can do one of two things; turn back and give thanks or walk on to the next watering hole. As we consider the greatness of our God and the enormous benefit we derive from having his name, let us reflect on some of his attributes and remember who we are dealing with. Isaiah an ancient prophet of the Lord puts it this way: “Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, “God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”? Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind (Isaiah 40:27-31 The Message). Where Jacob and Israel is in the sentence put your name there, use both your names. The formal one and the one that only your closest friends know and remember that God know everything about you and he wants to lavish his blessings on you! So start your day by thanking him for everything, even the things you cannot see! Read Isaiah 40 and consider that the blessor is you friend.
as we hear the father heart of God
The intention of a good father is to provide a favourable environment so that his children can thrive. The problem with 
the above statement is that fatherhood cannot be taught rather it can only be caught. We hear the Psalmist entreating the Lord to “teach me your way so that I may not sin against you” in Psalm 25:4, 27:11, 86:11 and still he did not get it totally right as a father. It is not easy being a father. The father wants the best possible outcome for the child, but the child wants all that the father has now! As a young man learning to be an obedient son, David who later became one of the best kings of Israel, wrote this “wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart, wait I say on the Lord”, Psalm 27:14 it is during the waiting period that the son learns to become a good father and the daughter a good mother. There are no set formulae or class that one can attend to learn these traits. The basics are handed down from one generation to the next, however since each of us are individual we have certain characteristics that are specific to us. Some children will not learn until they have been through the mill. For others the penny will drop immediately and they will reap the goodness that has been laid up for them. A good father teaches his children by demonstration, so the hugs, the encouragement, the quality time spent just talking, creates the right notion in the child that passes on from one generation to another. The most difficult thing to change in an individual is their mind. When this is stretched and expanded from a young age however, that person will become a good parent. Today remember that good is relative and the only one who is truly ‘good’ is God. Read Psalm 27 to hear the father’s heart.
Posted in Blessings | Tags: Blessings, Fatherhood, Good, Motherhood, Patience, Trust, Wait
as we get what we deserve!
For any individual the most important thing in their life is to have a personal relationship with God the father and 
creator of us all. Once this relationship is established and you are walking is line with what God ordained from the beginning, the world then becomes your ‘oyster’. The ‘what does God bless us with’ is very wide ranging! Inside every individual are the building blocks to develop into someone great. Being in the right environment and having the correct amount of nutrients lavished on us enables us to grow and to fulfil our vast potential. However, like a diamond, for us to shine we will need to be polished. For Joseph of the biblical narrative this took 13 years. For others it make take longer, but however long it takes God wants to establish his relationship with you and make your name great (Gen 12:1-3). As with the case for Joseph, he had a gift and was blessed by his father with a visible coat which made him the target of his peers. Whatever God chooses to give to you [bless you with] it will always make others jealous. Never ever forget this, for those who walk according to the ways of God will receive from his hands everything he has for them and will obtain great favour from men. What will God bless you with? Anything he chooses! Read Genesis 45:16-28.
Posted in Blessings | Tags: gifts, Jealousy, Obeddience, Pressure, Relationship
