Faith and Life Blog

  September 9, 2024 • Lona Before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65:24 (NIV) It’s amazing how God often shows up in the simple and seemingly insignificant things of life. Two recent incidents in the past two days have securely cemented this fact in my mind and are the inspiration behind today’s devotional. Incidentally, I had planned to go into a totally different direction for this week’s blog, but on two different occasions, as I sat down and tried to put pen to paper, I had a terrible case of writer’s block. My thoughts were not flowing and there was almost a sense of mental paralysis. I decided, on both occasions, to take a step back. In hindsight, I can see that what I faced both times was God’s re-direction. Yesterday, I went through a time of being angry and impatient with God. I was upset because He had made me a promise a long time ago and it has still not yet been fulfilled. I am sure you have all been in such a position and c...

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16. After the passage of Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica, there was a video in circulation which highlighted a woman singing the first verse and chorus from the song, Send the Light which reads thus: There's a call comes ringing o'er the restless waves Send the light, send the light There are souls to rescue There are souls to save Send the light, send the light Chorus Send the light, the blessed gospel light Let it shine from shore to shore Send the light and let its radiant beams light the world forevermore This video provided much comic relief in terms of the unusual delivery, with the singer doubling up as a musical instrument.  The video went viral as an appeal to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) to expedite the process of restoring electricity to thousands of customers who were left in the darkness without electricity for weeks. Humour aside, the message of the or...

  Yet you, Lord are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter. We are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 If we are spiritually discerning, our eyes, hearts and minds will be enlightened to see the important lessons unearthed from last week's devotional. I will share three such lessons with you, hoping you will spend some time meditating on them and apply the nuggets gained from them to your life. 1. Be rightly positioned In order to receive the blessings that God has for us, we must be rightly positioned. We must be in the right place at the right time. We must be rightly aligned to receive from him. Had I been elsewhere, I would not have heard that artisan as he passed by, shouting out the services that He offered. I would not have been in a place to take advantage of the offer. 2. Seize the moment It is said that opportunity knocks only once in any season. You never know if or when you will get another opportunity to do the things that you want to do, so when an opportu...

  Yet you, Lord are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter. We are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 God continues to impart valuable spiritual lessons through seemingly mundane and pedestrian events of  life. Saturday, July 13, 2024, was one such event when he showed up and showed off, reminding me that He loves me and is aware of even the simple things that others might just shrug off, thinking that is too trivial to even mention to Him.  A few weeks prior, I decided to clean my fan. I removed the outer covering but struggled to replace it as it differed significantly from other fans. Instead of latches or hooks placed at points around the rim, there was one central point held together by a single screw. I did not have a screwdriver, so it was a difficult task as I had to proverbially 'tun mi han'. I had no such luck when I tried to replace it as I would have needed an extra pair of hands to hold it in place while I adjusted the screw. The next best option...

  I collected my first royalty cheque for my published works in December 2016. I was thrilled and pleasantly surprised. Earlier that year I had attended a writers’ workshop and learned that persons who have published works could register them with a local copyright organization and would receive royalty payments at the end of each year. I was quite excited about this opportunity and so I set about registering my three published articles shortly thereafter. When I received an email notifying me that my cheque was ready for pickup, I didn’t have high expectations about the amount that I would receive. I was cautiously optimistic, thinking that it could be about J$5000 if that much. When I looked at my cheque, my eyes widened in disbelief as it was far more than I had imagined.   After I got home, I made a mental note to pay my tithe from the amount, as a dutiful Christian should. But then, a word flashed through my mind, “first fruits”. I quickly rejected it and pushed it aside....

  Hey, you! Yes, you! God sees that you are struggling. He is El Roi, the God who sees and indeed He sees your pain. He knows how much you are hurting, but He wants you to remember that He is standing by. Do not give up. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He promised never to give you more than you can bear. He makes a way where there seems to be no way. He is the God of the impossible, the God who can do more than you can ever ask or think. His plans for you are good and not evil, to give you hope and a future.  He wants you to trust Him. He wants to do something new in your life: make streams in the deserts and roadways in the wilderness. He wants to give you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness. He is your balm in Gilead, so rejoice in Him, even though the fig tree does not blossom and there are no fruits on the vine.  Rejoice in Him and give thanks in every situation, whether good or bad, because it...

Therefore, seeing we also are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. - Hebrews 12: 1   My handbag was waaaay too heavy. It was too much weight for me to be carrying around daily. It aggravated the pain in my shoulder which the doctor had diagnosed as tendonitis. Too much burden for my slim shoulders. So I made a decision. I was going to get rid of the unwanted stuff. When I got home, I immediately set about my task. I was determined to lighten the load. A 50-odd page document..... out. I had totally forgotten that I had put it in my bag, intending to read it at home. Several loose-leaf pages that I had printed from the computer...to file 13. Old bills and receipts.....gone. And the list goes on. The end result? A much lighter bag. A much lighter load for my slim shoulders to carry. The fluff was gone. Only the essential remain...

  Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Isaiah 60: 3 It was 6:15 a.m. and I was on my way to work. As I headed east on Washington Boulevard, I was struck by the awesome display of God's handiwork when I encountered a beautiful sunrise in all its glory. It was quite breathtaking, but at the same time, blinding. Not only was it breathtaking, was ....pardon me as I coin a new phrase...sight -taking...lol. At the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Molynes Road, the traffic came to a halt at the behest of the red light, and I seized the opportunity to reach into my glove compartment. I needed to put on my 'shades.' As I marveled at the spectacle in front of me, the phrase 'the brightness of your dawn',  dropped into my spirit. I knew it was biblical, but I couldn't remember the exact reference. But thank God for Google! I made a mental note to do some research as soon as I got to work. My research unearthed Isaiah 60:...

See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God ! 1 John 3:1 Recently, I had some business cards printed in order to advertise my new business in editing services. I had ordered 100 cards but when I received the package and checked, I realized that I had received 108. I sent a message to the printer informing him of this as I assumed it was an error. He responded by indicating that he was aware that I had received more than I had paid for. He explained that it was the norm for the business to give 'extras' to its clients. I then recalled that the same thing had happened when I had my first book, Memorial Stones,  printed by that same printer. At that time, he had told me upfront that he had put in a few extra copies at no extra cost and I was extremely grateful. As I thought about what had transpired, my mind was taken back to the verse in 1 John 3:1 about the love which God so freely lavishes on us. His love is a gift that keeps o...

pub-3751615692135036 Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11)   In November of 2014 I bought my first smartphone, and it was then that I realized how incredibly low tech I was – well at least, when it comes on to smart phones. As I tried to navigate my new phone, I grew increasingly frustrated as I had no manual to guide me, and I did not know what to do.  I had been under the assumption that a manual was part of the package when I bought the phone, as I was accustomed to. But when I got home, I realized that I was wrong. The leaflet in the box contained very basic information about the phone. It was by no means an in-depth guide, thus I was clueless how to even make or receive   calls. After reading the fine print, I realized that a complete manual could be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website. Joy! After downloading the manual and doing some reading, I was better able to navigate the phone. I was now able to d...

pub-3751615692135036 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run  with perseverance  the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12: 1   I was pleasantly surprised when what was hidden came to light. I had just bought a new fridge and two of my neighbours were assisting by taking it into the apartment. In order to create additional space at the entrance to the living room, some furniture had to be moved out of the way. It was then that I got my big surprise. Hidden behind the furniture were items I had long forgotten about, things of value that could certainly be put to good use. What were those things? A phone charger and a key ring. How did they get there? I have no idea. As I pondered what had happened, I could immediately see the parallels in our lives. Often there are hidden things in our lives that can only be revealed when we remove the ‘furniture’...

pub-3751615692135036   Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 I had a good laugh at myself a few days ago. I was doing a few pieces of laundry by hand, but my mind was miles away. I was operating on autopilot, totally preoccupied with other things and not giving  much thought and attention to the matter at hand. When it was time for the final rinse, I threw what I thought was fabric softener into the water. It was only when I started rinsing the clothes and the smell hit me that I realized that what I had thrown in was actually..... disinfectant! Yes, I was sure that I had taken up the bottle with the fabric softener but I had been fooled. My lack of concentration had led me to choose a counterfeit. It looked like a fabric softener, but it was not the real thing. Looks can certainly be deceiving. Being a person who has a sense of humour, it was easy to laugh at myself. But I quickly sobered up when the Lord opened my eyes to a spiritual parallel to the situation. So man...

pub-3751615692135036 Surely He will save you   from the fowler’s snare  and from the deadly pestilence.    He will cover you with His feathers,  and under His wings, you will find refuge;  H is faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91: 3-4 The workday was over and it was pouring rain. I wanted to get home as soon as possible. Safely inside the car, I turned the key in the ignition and was met with silence. Puzzled, I turned to look at my coworker who had asked me for a ride. I had no idea what was happening, so I tried again and the result was the same. I decided to wait it out as there was nothing else I could do. It was still raining heavily so there was no chance of getting out to find someone to assist me. After a few minutes, I took up my keys again and as I did, I had a revelation. My kill switch was on! It flashed across my mind like a bolt of lightning. It was not the norm for me to engage my kill switch during the day, but for so...

The steps of the righteous man are ordered by the Lord…Psalm 37:23   Recently I saw a post on Facebook which said that sometimes God delays us where we are because He knows that there is a storm ahead.  I was really encouraged as I meditated on this thought.  Our loving Father, who sees danger ahead, prevents us from moving forward as the danger ahead is not part of His plan for us. Then a few days later as I was chitchatting with my co-worker, she related how the previous afternoon she was delayed at the office until 6 pm as she could not find her car keys. She had retraced her steps to areas of the office that she had been to before and searched her bag several times. She even emptied the contents and searched the various compartments of her bag to no avail. At the end of her rope, she called out to God in her distress. Immediately, He answered by telling her to check her bag one more time. Of course, she resisted the idea because she had checked several times b...

  pub-3751615692135036 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.   In  their  hands, they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone . Psalm 91:11-12 New King James Version (NKJV) Recently I had an experience that I believe was divinely ordained. I was about to head home after a women’s meeting at church. I got in the car and turned the key in the ignition. Nothing. Strange, I thought. I took the key out and tried again. Still nothing. I did all the checks. The car was in drive, the footbrake had been released. So why wasn’t the car moving? I decided not to panic. At the suggestion of one of my passengers, I took out the key again, waited a few minutes, and then try to restart the engine. The result was the same. I was at a loss. Then my friend decided to seek the assistance of one of the deacons. He came, he tried and got the same result. He thought maybe there was an issue with the battery. H...

pub-3751615692135036   Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ...”  Romans 8:11  (MSG)   It is said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and I recently had a personal experience that proves that this saying is quite true. Recently, I threw out an old fan which I had bought years ago when I started working after leaving University. Though it could still function somewhat, it wasn’t as effective as when I first bought it. Constant use over the years had started to take its toll.   It could no longer rotate; it had started to rust and the head was almost severed from the trunk. To me, it was not worth fixing. It seemed useless so I threw it out. Out with the old, in with the new. To my surprise, within a few hours it had found a new owner. My neighbour took it from the garbage heap, cleaned it off, used a piece of cloth to tie the almost severed head and in ...

  pub-3751615692135036 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence  is  fullness of joy; At Your right hand  are  pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11) God is omnipresent, so why do we speak of being in His presence? Is there a difference? Yes, there is. While God is everywhere and is always with us, do we always acknowledge Him? Do we seek to spend time with Him? These are questions that we all need to ponder. The most common Hebrew term for ‘presence’ is panim , which is also translated ‘ face ,’ implying “a close and personal encounter with the Lord,” according to  Baker’s Biblical dictionary . Being in the presence of the Lord therefore means that one must have a close encounter with Him. In other words, there must be fellowship, communion and intimacy. There must be relationship. And as we all know, building a relationship takes time and effort. It must be intentional. It does not happen by chance. As the saying goes, it does not happe...

pub-3751615692135036   But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4   I was extremely hungry and my stomach was staging a massive protest. How much longer will I have to wait for my lunch to get here? I wondered. I had ordered my lunch more than an hour ago and the promised delivery was still not forthcoming. I waited and I waited, trying without much success, to continue working until it arrived. Eventually, it did and I was able to satisfy the hunger that I had been experiencing.    A few hours later, starting to feel peckish again, I reached into my lunch bag for my usual afternoon snack. To my surprise, there was an assortment of snack items that I had totally forgotten about! I could have quenched the hunger I felt before my lunch arrived, but my memory had failed me.   That led me to wonder. How often have we gone hungry, not remembering th...