Wednesday Reflection April 1, 2020

Beauty for Ashes (Restoration)

Throughout history, there has been many stories of prophecies, warnings, destruction, war, famine, strife and complete and utter destruction; equally, there have been many accounts of repentance, forgiveness, restoration and blessings.

Today’s watchword from Isaiah 65:19 is a very timely reminder, it also helps to put things back into focus, encouraging the believer to place his unwavering faith in the Lord. Hear God say, ‘I will delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress.

Jerusalem had experienced a period of depression, sadness, hopelessness and perhaps, the people and the city were experiencing what our world is facing right now. The Lord found favor once more in His people and declared that He would turn their mourning into dancing, give them gladness for joy and peace for despair.

Brothers and sisters, nothing that we face in and out of this life, is able to alter God’s character. He still speaks and winds obey, such is the might of our Lord. He is still touched by the feelings of our infirmities, and such is the lowliness of our God.

In Isaiah 65, the themes of judgment, repentance and restoration are evident to the reader. In the latter verses of the passage, the Lord promises His elect a new heaven and a new Earth where life as we now know it shall cease to exist. There will be no pain or suffering, no wars or rumors thereof. Instead, there will be harmony and misery and confusion will no longer abound.

Yes, today you may be experiencing sadness and you do not feel as if there is any sunshine left in your soul. All around you lies panic, confusion and depression. The happenings of 2020 may have been the beginning of your worries whilst for others, it is merely an addition to what they’ve considered to be a series of unfortunate events.

May I remind you friends, Jesus said to the desciples: so you have pain now but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice; and no one will take your joy from you. St. John 16:22

In parting, I urge you brothers and sisters, to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Amen.

-Kerone Lamoth

Tuesday Reflection – March 31, 2020A Time of Salvation, A Time of Hope

The prophet Zechariah offered hope to his people by emphasizing that God had not abandoned them but was very much at work through all that was happening. They had returned from Babylonian captivity, had rebuilt the temple, re-established themselves in their homeland and now through the reorganization of the temple system, were being encouraged to become again through spiritual cleansing, God people among whom God resided. Through this renewal of the covenant relationship with God, Judah would remain the people of the promised Messiah and the hope for the salvation of the world. Today’s Watchword is part of Zachariah’s prophecy for the future of God’s people. Those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord. Zechariah 6: 15. 

At the time of this prophecy the second temple had already been rebuilt by those who returned from exile. This prophecy then was not about the physical temple but the spiritual temple. All that God’s people had done and would accomplish would be done ‘not by might, not by power but by my spirit’ saith the Lord. Zech 4:6. While captive in Babylon the Jews suffered from despair. In their thinking, even as they had been ripped from their land, so had they lost their place as God’s people through whom the world would be redeemed. ‘How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land’ they moaned. Job’s story was their story. The righteous suffered in the same manner as the unrighteous. They did not lose hope however as while in Babylon they worshipped and lived in expectation that God would one day return them to the promised land where they would be able to continue the work He had chosen them for. 

Yesterday I noticed that the each time I turned on the television the first words I heard was ‘COVID 19’. It was a sober reminder that we are in a serious crisis. How are we reacting? I have heard many depicting this as God’s wrath on a sinful society. I would not say they are wrong or right. I do not know God’s mind. What I know is that God is merciful and kind and is working everything for our good. I found hope in the report from Italy yesterday of the 101 years old man, born during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1919 which killed 30 to 50 million people worldwide, who was released from hospital having survived COVID 19. In the midst of life’s greatest despair, there is always a ray of hope. Even as Israel looked to the time when they would be re-established and the covenant renewed, we too should look to God for healing, relief and restoration. Today’s watchword offers that hope. Israel was now living in a time of renewal. They had survived and returned. The Covenant was being reestablished and they now knew that they needed to do their part by living into this relationship. The exile had awakened them to God’s offer of salvation which they embraced in earnest. This now opened the door for the Messiah to come and through His coming, the salvation of the entire world. Hope had been restored. Today we who were far off, we who were not God’s people, are now able to draw near to the throne of grace through Christ. Indeed, you and I are being built up in the spiritual temple of our God. As I pray for the world and the church during this pandemic, my prayer is that like Israel in Babylon, we will look forward to healing and restoration, and we may see this not as a time of judgment or punishment, but as an opportunity for salvation, to draw nearer to God who offers us hope and who alone is able to save us through Christ Jesus. I close with Heb 10: 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Amen. 
Bevon White