Caribbean Moravian Devotions

As was done last year, for the month of August, each week our FF will be drawn from earlier submissions. This month will draw upon FF articles dating back to 2009. For those who donÂ’t know, 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 participants were invited to join together to focus on the approaching event. The FF has been going since then and for that we say thanks be to God!

(This article which was originally submitted on September 4, 2009)

IÂ’m quite sure that all of us would have heard sometime as a child growing up that HONESTY is the best policy. Maybe sometime later in our lives weÂ’ve proven it to be true and have also tasted the bitterness that comes with not being fully HONEST. Although this may sound like IÂ’m swearing, I invite us to reflect on our FF for today: HONEST TO GOD.

Continue reading "HONEST TO GOD!"

I praised and honored the one who lives forever. For His sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. Daniel 4: 34 – 35

TodayÂ’s text is from Nebuchadnezzar's recovery, and his return to his right mind, at the end of the seven years, as foretold. It was his punishment for placing his power and authority above GodÂ’s. Yet for the seven years he remained alive and that was miraculous hope. Where there is life, there is hope. At the end of the days (says he), I lifted up my eyes unto heaven (Dan_4:34), looked no longer down towards the earth as a beast, but begun to look up as a man. He looked up as a devout man, as a penitent, as a humble petitioner for mercy, being perhaps never till now made sensible of his own misery. We are never aware of how feeble and frail we are until we face our worst moments in life. It is not the moments in life that heralds hope, but life itself.

Continue reading "ThereÂ’s Hope."

As was done last year, for the month of August, each week our FF will be drawn from earlier submissions. This month will draw upon FF articles dating back to 2009. For those who donÂ’t know, 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 participants were invited to join together to focus on the approaching event. The FF has been going since then and for that we say thanks be to God!

(This article which was originally submitted on August 7, 2009)

Have you noticed how quickly a day goes by? Or is it maybe because itÂ’s summer and the kids are on vacation? Yet it just seems to me that time is flying at supersonic speed. You start a day intending to get certain things done. But you end it not having completed everything you intended. But we donÂ’t think that the day is a total loss if we were unable to accomplish everything as long as we achieved specifically THAT ONE THING. What is true of each day is also applicable to our entire lives. So our FF for today invites us all to reflect on THAT ONE THING.

Continue reading "THAT ONE THING!"

Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Psalm 103:22.

Have you ever wondered if it is presumptuous or even futile to bless God? There was a time when I wondered why the Bible states that we should bless the Lord since we constantly are asking the Lord to bless us. When we ask for GodÂ’s blessings, we are asking God to confer GodÂ’s divine grace and favor upon us. Does it mean then that when we bless God we do the same for God? Not at all! When God blesses humankind, we are helped and strengthened and made better than we were. However when we bless God it is an "expression of praising thankfulness". When the OT speaks of blessing God, it does not "designate a process that aims at the increase of God's strength". It is an "exclamation of gratitude and admiration".

Continue reading "Bless The Lord!"

As was done last year, for the month of August, each week our FF will be drawn from earlier submissions. This month will draw upon FF articles dating back to 2009. For those who donÂ’t know, 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 participants were invited to join together to focus on the approaching event. The FF has been going since then and for that we say thanks be to God!

(This article which was originally submitted on March 27, 2009)

I saw a sticker recently with a simple yet profound message: as long as there are tests in schools there will always be prayers. The truth is when students get desperate even the most ungodly will cry to God for success. The person who seems to be the most wretched, heartless and vile in a time of great distress will call out to God for help. Now you may not consider yourself to be evil but good. Yet as long as weÂ’re still in the flesh sin still stalks at our doors. So we too need to always remember God and cry out a prayer in desperate times if we must. That prayer is our FF for today: SAVE ME FROM ME!

Continue reading "SAVE ME FROM ME!"

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. Isaiah 49:13

There can be no greater cause for praise and thanksgiving than the realization of redemption. Whether for the redemption of Israel from captivity or the redemption of humankind from the penalty of sin through Jesus Christ, there is reason to celebrate. Nothing can furnish us with better means for songs of praise and thanksgiving. Let the whole creation join with us in songs of joy, for it shares with us in the benefits of the redemption, and all they can contribute to this sacred melody is little enough in return for such inestimable favours, Psa_96:11, Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let there be joy in heaven, and let the angels of God celebrate the praises of the great Redeemer; let the earth and the mountains, particularly the great ones of the earth, be joyful, and break forth into singing, for the earnest expectation of the creature that waits for the glorious liberty of the children of God shall now be abundantly answered. [Romans 8: 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. Romans 8: 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.]
Continue reading "Restoration Is Coming "

As was done last year, for the month of August, each week our FF will be drawn from earlier submissions. This month will draw upon FF articles dating back to 2009. For those who donÂ’t know, 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 participants were invited to join together to focus on the approaching event. The FF has been going since then and for that we say thanks be to God!

(This article which was originally submitted on February 13, 2009)

Have you considered how much influence you have over another person? Are you someone elseÂ’s hero or role model? We all influence somebody and at the same time our lives have been influenced by someone else. With that in mind letÂ’s reflect on our todayÂ’s FF which is BECAUSE OF ME.

Continue reading "BECAUSE OF ME!"

The righteousness of the righteous shall not save them when they transgress; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, it shall not make them stumble when they turn from their wickedness. Ezekiel 33: 12

Israel had heard and experienced firsthand, the wrath of God against them for their sinfulness. They had been warned by the prophet and had been experienced the destruction of Jerusalem as prophesied. Their hearts were heavy with despair and they lived in doubt that there would ever be a moment of reprieve for them. They were receiving what they deserved according to the word of the Lord through his servant. The servantÂ’s message was no longer one of despair however but one of hope. "Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?' Ez. 33: 11. The way out for Israel, the deliverance they sought, was available to those who repented of their sins. GodÂ’s desire was not for their destruction but that they would choose to turn to God and find new life.

Continue reading "Your Responsibility to Respond."

As was done last year, for the month of August, each week our FF will be drawn from earlier submissions. This month will draw upon FF articles dating back to 2009. For those who donÂ’t know, 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 participants were invited to join together to focus on the approaching event. The FF has been going since then and for that we say thanks be to God!

(In light of the track and field events beginning today at the 2012 Summer Olympics, I share with you this article which was originally submitted on January 9, 2009.)

If you hear the name Usain Bolt you immediately think of last summer Olympics. One man caught the worldÂ’s attention all because of how fast he ran. After years of training, when he got to the finals, there was only one thing to do JUST RUN. ThatÂ’s our FF for today: JUST RUN!

Continue reading "JUST RUN!"

For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. Isaiah 61:11

As the spring came around, many began planting vegetables, food stuff, flowers and many other crops. We did this for our personal use as well as for financial gain. All we could do however was prepare the soil and plant the seeds. We fertilized, and we watered. That was as far as our efforts would take us. The growth, development, flowering and bearing of what we planted did not depend on us. Continue reading "Celebrate with Anticipation!"