INTRODUCTION
Oooooooooh la la, people
seems I have opened a whole can of worms with this marriage thing. Let me at
this juncture reiterate Je suis célibataire et aimer (I am single and loving
it). I have a permanent problem to which
I am trying to find a permanent solution. I need a prayer partner. These days I
am really not into the hairy fairy Christianity. I have ran around the church and I have
foamed at the mouth. It is now time to work
the principles of God.
We will seek to bring
some balance to the discussion. There seems to be a plethora of material on YouTube.
Two have stuck in my mind by Pastor Funke Felix-Adejumo.- 4 levels of Maturity
before Marriage and another teaching about single ladies in the church. In the latter, I was amazed at what single
ladies do in the church since this has not been my own experience. In the video
on maturity for marriage she suggested that the bride to be might want to suggest
washing the plate that she ate from. Immediately
what comes to mind is one’s socialization.
This strategy might work in Africa but in the West Indies our
socialization is very different. I was
thinking that instead of suggesting that one wash the plate we would ask the
person clearing the table what was for dessert and if they could get us another
glass of juice.
Our socialization is
different you can’t use one brush and paint all. Our ancestors came to the West Indies via the
middle passage and we had to fight off oppression. A number of spiritual challenges
are still hounding us. Let me introduce
you to this book written by Professor Errol Miller - Marginalization of the
Black Male. In addition, I went to a prayer meeting over there at Hagley Park
Plaza. In those days, they had up the
map of Jamaica on the wall because elections were on the horizons and elections are not something you play with. I call
it the Jamaican Reality Show held every five years. (Just a brief mention here seems the USA has
a new Vice President, keep it in the family, keep it in the family). Then I heard
the Intercessor praying against ‘the spirit of the stud’. I was taken aback and said what is that? Then
I went and did my own research. I
suggest you do your own.
What happened to the
black male during slavery? What is a
stud?
I was praying with a
lady recently and she was explaining her situation to me. I asked her one
question and then at her answer we both laughed. I said my sister I was just making sure you
were from my part of the world. Then we prayed. She was not the first.
We also have this
playing out in the education sector the number of female to male students in
our institutions of higher learning is approximately two to one. Male/ Female Student Ratio Jamaica So who do you think should be asking for whose hand in marriage? We have people
marrying just for the purpose of procreation. Isaiah 3 verses 12 and 16 speak
to the haughtiness of the women. They will be walking with mincing steps.
Let us look at the experience of the Black American male in the United States- The Composition of the
prison population
Race Composition of Prison Population The Black American population is 12.2% but the prison population is 37%
We are going somewhere
people let us now look at the divorce rate of the church versus that of the
world. Divorce rate around the World Rate of Divorce -World
Divorce rate in the church Divorce Rate Church- We have happy news people it being reported as approximately 30 percent and
less in the church.
The reason I am
reporting this data is because those Pastors on the different social media teaching
on the blissful state, I would appreciate if you could state the rate of
divorce in your sphere of influence. I
am glad that your marriage is happy and prosperous but I am more interested in
the Jesus Principle how have you replicated yourselfves. How many persons are on
their second marriage etc.?
Single people I am now
zeroing on us, I noticed that in quoting the Apostle Paul everyone seems to
conveniently forget verses 7 and 8. People
let me remind you of context, pretext and post text. You cannot use one scripture to make a
doctrine. Here is the context: I Corinthians
7 verses 7-9
1 Corinthians 7:7-9King James Version (KJV)
7 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every
man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for
them if they abide even as I.
9 But if they cannot contain, let
them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
I notice everyone jumps to the ‘burn part’. Can you imagine if there was a Mrs. Paul just
assuming she missed the stoning? When these Jews use their missiles of choice
even the very mosquito in your house gets killed. Case in point Achan in the
book of Joshua 7 everything in his household was annihilated. The lady would be
from one jail to the next bailing out her husband and most times he would be
gone for extended periods. He would be on his way home and the Holy Spirit
would say “I want you to change your plans”.
God knows what he is doing.
Reminds me of a man of God I listened to on YouTube
who had recently been divorced. The commentator asked him what would happen now
that he no longer had a wife. The Pastor
replied ‘The men of God in the Bible such as Peter, John and Paul did you ever
hear of their wives Mrs. Peter, Mrs. Paul and Mrs. John? Did they not do what
they were called to do? I rest my case.
From where I am sitting one of the things that we
as Hamites of the lineage of Cush should be praying on a constant basis is
Daniel 9. The Bible said Daniel
understood by books the season that his nation was in. It is not about the giving and taking in
marriage. It is about what God wants to
do with a people. There are many things
that we need to be repenting about. We
are still selling out each other for a trifle.
REFLECTIONS
For several years I have
not had a chance to read the Bible through in a year, I decided that the
appointed time had come and I had to do it this year. I got me a number of yearly Bible Plans and I
am following like Matlock (for those of you who don’t know Matlock is a
Criminal lawyer who solves murder cases). While going through the New Testament
I don’t know but it came to my attention that there always seems to be a number
of plots and conspiracies to entrap or to kill Jesus. Then the following
scripture just literally jumped out at me
John 11:47-54King James Version (KJV)
47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council,
and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and
the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
49 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that
same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,
50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man
should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that
year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;
52 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather
together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to
put him to death.
54 Jesus
therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country
near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with
his disciples.
I mean things got so
bad that the Brethren had to just leave town.
I said to myself where did you get this sappy sappy Christianity. Gentle
Jesus meek and mild stuff. No wonder the
Lord had to do a Nehemiah on you Nehemiah 13 vs 25.
I said to myself La Bible est très dangereuse, très, très dangereuse. This Blog is not for the uninitiated. You don’t find
this material on YouTube or Google. I suppose I could have written that ‘His
time had not yet come’ but I had to lean to my creative writing skills. The current topic is more C’est la vie (It is
life).
This is meat to answer
to the short sighted and narrow-minded people in your life. Who has sin this man or his parents? St. John 9 verse 2. Nobody has sinned it is
all in God’s timing and for the glory of God.
You will also have
answer for the Shimei’s who wants to stone you when you are down. II Samuel 16 verse 5 -13
– They will never say who the Lord loveth he chasteneth.
I stated in an earlier
Blog that people are waiting on tables instead of giving themselves to prayer
and the word of God resulting in the suffering of the sheep. The water is stagnant and the pasture has dried
up and the shepherds are flitting from pasture to pasture fulfilling their ever
so busy schedule.
Remember people I am
sheep! Sheep! Every time I write that I am reminded of a sister in Jamaica in
those early days when we were in the formative years of the ministry. This sister would get on everybody’s high
nerve and then she would say ‘Unuh hav’ fi luv mi, if unuh nuh luv mi, unuh nah
guh a heaven’ (You have to love me, if you don’t love me, you are not going to
heaven). I don’t ask that you love
me. I only ask that for your sake you
guard your hearts and remain at peace with me.
That is the Bible, Be at peace with all men.
CRITICAL DEFINITIONS
Run – There is
only one way you can describe run to show the action.
EXAMPLES
OF PERSONS WHO HAD TO BEAT A HASTY RETREAT
There are a number of persons in the Bible
who had to go out so that they can come in again. There was Elijah, Jonah, King
David before he reached the palace and after he inhabited the palace. Moses,
the Apostle Paul and of course the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He who never
harmed an insect had to flee.
The Prophet Elijah I Kings 17 - 19
The Prophet Elijah just wrought a mighty
victory whereby he had destroyed Eight Hundred and fifty priests and prophets of
Baal up in the mountains. He also got
rain to fall. He was having a real
mountain top experience. Then the High Priestess of the religion in Israel sent
Elijah a threat and he lost it and flee. Just goes to show the devil is not
impressed at your mountain top experiences.
He is going to test every fiber of your being. Elijah also started
believing in his own publicity. ‘I am
the only one left’. God said no Elijah I
have Seven Thousand others. Elijah also started believing that his case was
unique. There is no unique case. The fact of the matter is that some of us are
more naïve than others. The Bible says there is nothing that has taken you that
is not common to man.
Unfortunately, Elijah’s destiny was cut
short because he was intimidated and ran from a woman. He returned just to train his successor and
be taken out of the Earth in a chariot of fire.
Jonah: Jonah 1
Some of us God must do a Nehemiah on. God
did not argue with Jonah. Be careful of God’s silence. He just threw Jonah overboard into a living
submarine with a GPS to Nineveh (I know you thought GPS was just invented). Let
me draw your attention to the cloud by day and the fire by night. They never got lost. Father we thank you for
the next witty invention in Jesus’ name.
Jonah did his evangelistic work, the people
repented and fasted. Even though Jonah was upset. The Spirit is still in the
church people who are not going anywhere and is upset when your God is blessing
you.
King David
It would be easier to say what did not take
place in the life of King David from he came on the scene at sixteen years old
life has not been the same. Anointed King by the Prophet Samuel at
sixteen. King Saul his predecessor
realized that he was his successor chosen by God tried to kill him. He had to flee for his life and along with
his four hundred distressed, discontented and indebted followers had to live by
instincts while in the wilderness and being relentlessly pursued by King Saul. During all the time, He was being hounded by
King Saul the Bible said he behaved himself wisely. After thirteen years he
became King over Judah. Then he became King of the whole nation of Israel.
He then became relaxed when he should be at
war he was watching a lady take a bath. Commiting adultery and then manslaughter. This caused God to add something to his
household which ultimately lead to his son deposing him as king. When he was
fleeing his son Absalom that is when Shimei decided to curse him. He was later dealt with by King Solomon King
David’s heir and successor. Be careful what you say to a man when he is down.
The moral of the story was that King David
was a young man when the powerful King started pursuing him. He did nothing to King Saul. However, the enemy wanted to abort the plans
of the Lord.
The devil is always after the significant
seed. It is all written in the Books of First and Second Samuel.
Moses
The Prince of Egypt grown up in the house
of the Pharaoh, of Egypt. When he came of age he wanted to identify with his people.
Observed an Egyptian ill-treating a Hebrew and retaliated killing the Egyptian
so he had to flee for his life from Pharaoh who wanted to kill him. He spent
forty years in the wilderness. Things
could not have been so bad in the wilderness he got himself a nice African
daughter and had children. However, the
Israelites spent thirty extra years in slavery.
Then the Lord decided to pay them some attention because their cry came
up unto him. Devil in this season I will
not allow my mouth to be silent in Jesus’ name. Moses who left Egypt as a
murderer returned to annihilate the super power of his era. The feats of Moses
are recorded in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
The Apostle Paul Acts 23 verses 12 - 35
This gentleman became a basket case. He had
to be let down through a window in a basket to save his life. Then he had to be escorted by soldiers in
secret out of the city. All this did not stop him from preaching the Gospel and
writing most of the epistles..
HIS
TIME HAD NOT YET COME
I had to go through all of the eighty-nine
chapters of the Gospels St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John to extract
this information. I will list all the scriptures so that you can read them. Some
of the lessons we learn from the life of Jesus are:
1.
Keep focus
2.
Know your purpose
3.
Keep your eyes on the
assignment
4.
Know who you are because if
you do not then the devil will define you
5.
Know your source
6.
Be in constant contact with
your source
7.
Love people you will be
mediocre if you do not work out of love
8.
God does not use what He has
not tested (It is written)
9.
You need to know your times
and seasons
List of Scriptures speaking to the plots and conspiracies of the
Scribes and Pharisees:
St. Matthew 12 verses
13-15
St. Matthew 19 verse 12
St. Matthew 21 verses 45 -46
St. Matthew 22 verses 15 - 46
St. Matthew 26 verses 3 – 5, 14 – 16, 56
St. Matthew 28 verses 12 – 13
St. Mark 3 verses 6 - 7
St Mark 7 verses 6 - 24
St. Mark 12 verse 12
St Mark 14 verses 1 – 2
St. Luke 4 verse 29
St. Luke 11 verses 53 – 54
St. Luke 20 verses 19 – 20
St. Luke 22 verse 2
St. John 5 verse 16
St John 7 verses 1 – 13, 30
St. John 8 verses 20, 59
St. John 10 verses 31, 39 – 40
St. John 11 verses 50 - 57
CONCLUSION
In concluding, I would like to take this
opportunity to remind persons that we need to work out our salvation with fear
and trembling. We all have one Holy
Spirit that is able to lead us into all truths. However, anything in life that
one desires one must take the necessary steps to achieve. The other things are going to be tested by
fire and only what is done for the kingdom will last.
We have to keep our eyes on Jesus the author and the
finisher of our faith likewise for the prize that has been set before us we
have to keep moving forward. These days
it is about maturity and keeping focus because everything that can be shaken
will be shaken. There is only one firm
foundation and that is God and His word.
In Him there is no variableness neither is there any shadow of turning.
Those of you who are already in the kingdom stay
in. Jesus went through it and show us
that it can be done stay focus. Those of
you who are not in what are you waiting for?
There is no greater salvation.
Once again, this is me Lillene’s baby girl coming to
you from up here in the true north.
À bientôt!
