Caribbean Moravian Devotions

The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation. Exodus 15:2a.

The word ‘Lord’ here translates the Hebrew Yah: which is a shorter form of Yahweh. It is most commonly in the word “Halleluyah”, which means, ‘Praise Yahweh’. The prophet Isaiah used the story of the Exodus to encourage his hearers; (Is. 11:11-16). He said that God would once again deliver his people. Then they would sing songs of deliverance. In Isaiah 12 there is a list of the hymns or Psalms they would sing. One of the song in this list is the Song of Moses, which he refers to by quoting words from Exodus 15:2.

Continue reading "The Lord Is My strength"

For the month of August, each week our FF will be drawn from some of the early submissions that were done dating back to 2005/2006. The weekly FF was birthed as we were planning for a youth and young adult convention called Take it Back (TIB) which was held in Trinidad in 2006. Each Friday the participants were invited to join together and focus on the approaching event. I felt moved by God to continue the weekly FF and here we are now in 2010. IÂ’ve rewritten some making editorial changes since the FF now is no longer within the context of TIB.

When was the last time you ran a three-legged race? Too long to remember? How many times did you fall down? Was it easy to get back up? A three -legged race can be very awkward which makes it all the more fun. Part of the fun is to see people struggle doing something that they normally do alone (running) tied to another person. It gets even more clumsy if the two individuals are not the same height or speed. For a three legged race to be successful the two runners must be synchronized. They must run understanding that they have been YOKED TOGETHER. ThatÂ’s our FF for today: YOKED TOGETHER.

Continue reading "YOKED TOGETHER!"

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? Exodus 15:11.

This is a portion of the song of Moses and Miriam after Yahweh defeated the Egyptians at the Red Sea. Who is like thee? This question assumes that there is no one like Yahweh. He is the one true God who controls the world. God makes His plans known to people, and He does what He says He will do.
He warns Pharaoh that the plagues will come, and they do come. If persons refuse to do what God tells them to do, they bring trouble upon themselves and upon others also. A personÂ’s willingness to obey God is more clearly shown by what he does than by what he says he will do.
Remember the phrase: - “I would rather see a sermon, than listen to one any day.”
God is at work in the world to save His people and to fulfil His promise for them, but we often need to be patient. His thoughts and ways are not like ours. GodÂ’s purposes are not always brought to completion as quickly as we would like. It is for us to trust His heart even when we canÂ’t see His hand.
Be blessed.

Bro. Patrick Coke

This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble. Psalm 34: 6.

1 Samuel 21: 10 to 15 recalls an interesting episode in David’s life. He is on the run from Saul who is determined to kill him. He flees to the king of Gath, named Achish or Abimelech. There is tension however when David is recognized as the new King of Judah, and his might as a warrior is known. David pretends to be a mad man, marking doors and walls, and allowing saliva to run down his beard. As an enemy of Saul he was welcomed as a friend of the Philistines, but as soon as they realized that he was the newly anointed King, he became a threat, not to mention the fact that it was sung of him, ‘David has slain his tens of thousands’. These were Philistines that he had killed. There was a custom in the land however that no harm should be done to an insane person, so David’s life was spared and he was chased out of the city. It is based on this experience that he writes Psalm 36.

Continue reading "CRY OUT TO GOD!"

I therefore command you “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”
Deuteronomy 15:11b.

God told the Israelites to help the poor among them when they arrived in the Promised Land. At the end of every seven years they are to cancel all debts. This was an important part of possessing the land. Is this a lesson that is still relevant today?
Many persons conclude that others are poor through some fault of their own. This kind of reasoning makes it easy to close our hearts and hands to those in need. We are called to respond to their needs no matter who or what is responsible for their circumstances. If the church does not respond, who will?
Our response should not only be in hand outs, soup kitchens, feeding programmes and gifts of benevolence. The church must be the prophetic voice that challenge the systems and institutions of injustice and oppression that continues to keep the poor in their state of poverty without granting various opportunities to uplift themselves.
Our Lord championed the plight of the poor, weak and vulnerable. He is seen as the liberator of the poor and oppressed as He visibly identified with them during His time on earth. So His command to us is to:-
Give; give with a willing hand,
Give; give with a liberal hand,
Give; give at His blest command, who prospered thee.

Br. Patrick Coke.

There is no Rock like our God. 1 Samuel 2: 2b.

Hannah praised God for his answer to her prayer for a son. Like Hannah we should be confident of GodÂ’s ultimate control over the events of our lives, and we should be thankful for the ways God has blessed us. By thanking God for all good gifts, we acknowledge his ultimate control over our lives.
Hannah praised God for being a ROCK- firm, strong, and unchanging. In our fast-paced world, friends come and go and circumstances change. It is easy to cut and paste and delete. Many things are done at the push of a button. It is difficult to find a foundation that will not change.
Those of us who devote our lives to achievements, and possessions have as our security that which is changeable. The things that we work so hard to obtain will pass away. Our God is always present-the ROCK that never changes. Trust in Him friends, he will never fail us.
So it is with a sense of assurance and confidence we can proclaim:-
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

Click to sing along http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/y/myhopeis.htm

Br. Patrick Coke.