Monday Reflection – November 08, 2021
Meditating on and Praising God

God, I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night. Psalm 63:6

Psalm 63 was written while David was on the run in the wilderness of Judah. Whether it was David’s wilderness years before he came to the throne of Israel, or to his brief exile from the throne due to the rebellion of his son Absalom, or the wilderness years when hunted by King Saul one is not sure. What is certain is that David is on the run, moving from place to place like a fugitive. He begins Psalm 63 by expressing his thirst for God. David’s soul demanded to be satisfied early in the day. ‘Early’ has the sense of early in the morning, but also of eagerness and immediacy. His longing for God is for the here and now. Through this thirst, David is also proclaiming his allegiance to God. He could have sought satisfaction elsewhere, but he knew fully well that only God truly satisfies.

Another significant element that David speaks of is the greatness of God’s love. Such love stirs David to praise God. David is motivated to pursue God because of God’s lovingkindness. The lovingkindness of God was better, more meaningful to David, than life itself. This means that David knew and experienced something of God’s lovingkindness that gave him comfort and assurance. It’s amazing where people go to quench their thirst and fulfill their yearnings; concerning where people go to for comfort and assurance. Many turn to the things of the world and people for this. Some soon realize that these may only offer temporary satisfaction, if any at all. People regard life as natural, but David regarded God’s great love as natural. People enjoy life, but David enjoyed God’s great love. People value life, but David valued God’s great love. People are in despair without the sense of life, but David was in despair without the sense of God’s great love.

In today’s Watchword, David believes that there are not enough hours in the day to think upon God’s greatness and goodness. Therefore, he also used the night watches to meditate upon God. Watches of the night stresses the slow progress of the hours. I imagine that since David was on the run, he could not allow himself to fall into deep sleep, or sleep any at all, lest his enemies find him. Thus, he utilized his time reflecting on God’s goodness in the past and craving for God so He can rescue and deliver him. No doubt, solitude and stillness render the watches of the night a suitable time for meditation on the mercies of God.

What do we do with our time? How much of our time do we spend meditating on God? How much time is reserved for reflecting on God’s love, mercies and grace? I imagine that most, if not all, of us have had nights where we cannot sleep. Perhaps sleep just can’t come, or we are troubled to the extent that sleep is hard to come. We may have so much on our minds that sleep becomes a stranger. What do we do in these times? I challenge us to use these times to meditate on God and commune with Him. May these times serve to develop a yearning for God. I pray we will find time to reflect on God and all of God’s lovingkindness to us, and offer our wholehearted praise and adoration as we sing of His goodness.

Jermaine Gibson

Saturday Reflection – 06 November 2021

(Special thanks to Bro. Akim Panther, one of our young people from the Covenant Moravian Church, who wrote today’s reflection.)

When I thought, “my foot is slipping,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. Psalm 94:18

Brothers and Sisters, today’s text from Psalm 94 carries a significant message of faith. A message no doubt spoken by a Psalmist who had recently come in close contact with the very lesson he is now hoping to convey. In the Psalm, the Psalmist comes to acknowledge, as we do, that often times the very hardship and struggle that were meant to make us stumble is the very thing that shows God’s presence and intervention in our lives. As we read the Psalm in its entirety, we get the impression that the Psalmist had some trouble although he doesn’t address the peril directly, we are assured by his own admission that the Lord was the reason he made it through.

As we read through Psalm 94, we see the Psalmist conversing with God on a number of different topics. We see him begin with a recognition of who God is and his status as a just God. The Psalmist then moves on to offer a rebuke of the sinners for their sinful ways reminding them that God is aware of their transgressions, before then speaking to the righteous as he reminds them that God is present even in their hardship. It is in this very next section that we find the verse of our focus, as the Psalmists begins to take a more personal approach to the conversation with God speaking directly to God’s faithfulness to the writer personally.

The watchword and the context around it speak to the Psalmist wondering who his defence is, in a world will be filled with struggle and evildoers and quickly acknowledging that the Lord himself not only has been that for him but will continue to be for years to come. It is in this context that our focus verse takes on a powerful meaning of faithfulness and love. The Psalmist says in Today’s Watchword “When I thought, “my foot is slipping,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.” Here the Psalmist is assuring the reader through his own experience that God is a faithful God and is deserving of our faith and devotion regardless of the circumstances. The Psalmist calls on us to remember that it is through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone that we do not slip. This verse alone reminds us that no matter what the enemy may place in our path and no matter how big that obstacle may seem that God will hold us firm and ensure that we will not fall.

The Psalmist words are captured best in the Chorus of a familiar song: “The anchor holds although your ship is battered, the anchor holds though the sails are torn…” We may not be able to avoid the storm, but the Psalmist left this Psalm as a testament for us that we may never be left alone to fall. In that resolve, we can be strengthened to say like the Apostle Paul “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Amen

Akim A. Panther

Friday Reflection November 5, 2021

More like Jesus

Good morning friends,
Happy Friday!

Today’s text for refection is 1 Peter 2 :21-22. Let us see what lessons we can take from this passage as we seek to be more like Jesus!

Focus Scripture
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
1 Peter 2:21‭-‬22 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/1pe.2.21-22.NIV

Background
In verses 21 & 22 Peter is alluding to what he had just written in 1 Peter 2:20 about suffering for doing good. He then went on to explain the reason for which we ( Christians) are called, by pointing to the example of Jesus.

Application
We are not only called to reign with Christ, but also to suffer for his sake by living a life that is righteous and doing good even when we are mistreated. Peter puts it this way, Jesus suffered for our salvation ( the ultimate good) leaving an example for us to follow. Even though He suffered, He did not sin and neither did deceit came from His mouth.

It is customary for any human being to get angry when they are treated unfairly especially for doing what is right and good! Because of this unfair treatment one might be led to sin in words, deeds and thoughts. However, Peter reminds us that we should follow the example of our saviour! He suffered, but He did not sin!

I know some of us are saying, that it is impossible to live a life of suffering without sin. However, it is very possible. If we seek to be more like Jesus each day we will realize that our human nature will submit to the spirit of God. Then we will do what is good and right in his sight.

Charge
I charge us today, be more like Jesus, even if you are persecuted for doing good!

God bless you!

Shaneka Raymore Euphfa

Wednesday Reflection, November 3, 2021

Holiness Unto the Lord

Brothers and sisters, greetings. Have you ever faced consequences because of someone else’s actions? Perhaps endured a punishment for something you did not directly do? The old adage, ‘show me your company and I’ll tell you who are’ springs readily to my mind. Whilst this is true in many instances we do not always get to choose the people with whom we have to associate simply because some of those people who cause us to go into purgatory are members of our families.

In Leviticus 10, Aaron faced a particular conflict. Two of his sons (the eldest ones) decided to put fire and incense in their censers and offered what the bible explains as strange fire before the Lord. This was something God did not tell them to do and as such; there was fire from the Lord, it devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

Friends, how easy is it for us as human beings to forget our place. To lose our standing with God. As Aaron’s sons these men were annointed as part of the preisthood. They got to wear nice clothes and were respected in their community. Yet their disobedience to God led to their demise. In today’s watchword, Leviticus 10:3, “Lord said, ‘through those who are near me I will show myself holy, and before all the people I will be glorified.’

What about us today? Do we understand our responsibilty? Our duties to God? How easily do we do all the things God has told us not to do? What consequences do we and others around us now face or have to endure? In today’s new testament text, we are asked, ‘do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16

Brothers and sisters, may holiness unto the Lord be our watchword and song.

Until next week…

Kerone Lamoth

Christ Our Everlasting Light

While Isaiah 59 speaks of impending darkness and gloom, chapter 60 begins with a call to arise as the light had come and God’s glory had risen upon them. While darkness represents war, doom and gloom, death and defeat, light spoke of peace, new life, hope and a brighter future. Today’s watchword from Isaiah 60: 20 speaks of this newfound hope that comes when the Lord brings about change and renewal among His people. Your sun shall no more go down, or your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light.

The prophet Isaiah prophesies of the darkness that will overtake the city of Jerusalem. This will impact every area of life in the city. Isaiah shares a prophecy however of a coming sun that will repel and permanently displace the darkness. The same would happen with the moon. The idea is that the darkness would be gone to return no more. How can this be possible you may be asking yourself? How can there be a sun that shines forever? Isaiah does not mean the sun or the moon the shines from the sky during the day and at night. Not those celestial bodies. What the prophet speaks to is the one who would come as the light of the world. While Jesus ministered on the earth, he declared himself to be light. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8: 12. Jesus was not just any light, but the light of the world. God’s light, given to guide His people back to himself. At another time John 9: 5 Jesus said: When I am in the world, I am the Light of the World. The presence of Jesus in the world is therefore the presence of light, both in the world around us and in our lives. In these days of dark uncertainty, it is good to be reassured of the light of God that is present in our lives.

There’s more, however. This prophecy is quite similar to the vision of John in Revelation 21 where he describes the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven. In this new city, there would be no need for the sun nor for the moon and the stars. In verse 23 John says: The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The light that Jesus brings into the world and into our lives now is but a foretaste of what is ahead. Indeed, the Lord will be the everlasting light for all the world and His people will be blessed in His radiant glorious presence day and night. We can live in the sinful and oppressive darkness of the world today knowing that it will not overtake us as long as Jesus remains the light in our lives and knowing that there is coming a time when Jesus will establish His glorious kingdom and be the light shining in it. He will indeed be our everlasting light. Amen.