Part 3 – Final
WHO AM I
This week, we dive into the final chapter of this series into the life of Dr Bradley Rolle: the counsellor, the intercessor, the musician. We pray you will be encouraged as he shares directly from his heart.
One of the greatest deceptions that the enemy uses is the issue of identity. Ignorance of identity prevents us from walking in the fullness of knowledge of who we are as sons and daughters. I spent years trying to become someone who I already was.
We try to will our flesh into obedience and are crushed and heartbroken when we don’t have the strength to resist sin. You have the Holy Spirit and God has given you everything you need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him. I don’t care what it is. You can overcome and must overcome it.
“Why do I need to overcome? I am just human…everyone struggles with this…I am not as bad as others…” These thoughts dominate the mind of the person who has limited knowledge of their Creator.
BUT WHO DOES GOD SAY YOU ARE?
You are a child of God. You are a living stone. You are priests of the Lord; you are a holy priesthood. You are the righteousness of God. You are heirs with Christ. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You are a member of Christ’s body and a partaker of His promise. You are the Redeemed of the Lord, hidden with Christ in God. You are a city not forsaken. You are crucified with Christ.
In my lowest points of failure, I have had to lean on these truths to remind myself exactly who I am.
You see, God makes it clear that our identity is linked to Him. This is a foundational truth. I could be a deeply committed intercessor, popular counsellor, a charismatic preacher, skillful musician, or a gifted physician, but until I began to unravel the mystery of who God is and who I was in Him, I could not operate in the anointing of these gifts fully. I will use some real examples to illustrate.
THE COUNSELLOR
It was a slightly busier afternoon in the emergency room. A patient came into my office, “Doc you haffi help mi. I have headache every week. Mi go 4 doctors and nutting works! I have done many tests. You name it – MRI, CT SCAN, blood tests and nobaddi can find out wah wrong wid mi.”
After taking a history and listening intently to the patient’s complaints, the Holy Spirit led me to have a general conversation. The first question I asked her was, “How is your relationship with your spouse?” Her eyes opened wide and she chuckled. “Him dead,” she responded and proceeded with her long lists of complaints.
The second question I asked was “Is your spouse aware that you are being unfaithful in your marriage?” This time, her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. As her jaw reached the floor, she fell silent and looked visibly uncomfortable.
“Who are you?” she asked. I smiled and said, “I am a Christian.” She confessed the extramarital affair, and what started as a regular interview turned into a time of prayer and repentance. I was able to direct her to the counsel of older women who have been helping her.
This is one of many encounters in my practice. I say this not to boast (for like Paul, “I shall rather boast in my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest on me”) but to show that when we walk according to the Spirit, we will have understanding that is beyond our natural capacity. Instead of dealing with problems we face at work or in our personal lives in the flesh, we will filter them through spiritual lenses.
This patient thought she had a physical problem, when in fact, she had a spiritual one. She was going to the wrong doctors. The counsel we give, as Christians, and receive, needs to be directed by the Master Counsellor – The Holy Spirit.
THE INTERCESSOR
Intercession is the act of praying for others. I didn’t quite know that this was a gift of mine until later on in my walk with the LORD. The more I devoted myself to the study of God’s Word was the more I fell in love with Him, and so, naturally, I grew to always want to talk to Him.
As we behold God we become more like Him and so we develop a heart for people. I remember a time in my life when I don’t think I could pray for 10 minutes before I ran out of words to say. So, I figured, let me pray for someone else. Now I can find myself praying for hours! Prayer really does form the basis of my life as a Christian. I need it. I live from it. I am constantly praying. When I wake up, when I sleep, when I drive, when I am resuscitating a patient; my life revolves around prayer.
We are taught in medicine not to share our faith or influence others in a religious way. This has always been something I have had to reject as a Christian.
I distinctly recall a situation where a young man was brought into the emergency department by his parents. He was unconscious and remained so for 2 days in the hospital. As doctors scrambled and scratched their heads trying to figure out what was wrong with him, they ran every test.
On the night of the 2nd day, I approached his bedside and looked at his body – still as ever. I noted something on his right hand, a ring with skulls on it. The image deeply troubled me. I decided to remove this ring and spent the next 30 minutes trying to pry it loose. It was as if the ring was sealed to his skin. Eventually, I was able to extricate it, after which I prayed over him.
The next day when I got to work, I saw that the bed was empty.
“Where is Mr X?!” I asked the nurses frantically.
“Oh doc, you know he woke up last night! He left with his parents this morning.” I smiled and resumed my duties. Not I, but Christ!
THE MUSICIAN
Music is something I have always loved. I started on the piano and taught myself the acoustic guitar, and later, the bass guitar. One day, a friend invited me to Jamaica House of Prayer (JAHOP) and the rest is history. JAHOP really opened a new world for me. It taught me God’s design to merge prayer and worship – two things I loved doing. It was at JAHOP I first heard the message of “the forerunner.” This has marked my life and personal ministry. JAHOP has energized us all to be conduits, to pour out what we have received into others.
The Music ministry is a very overlooked ministry in most churches. We don’t fully understand how tonal vibrations move the heart of God, but they do. One note can completely shift the atmosphere of worship and usher in the presence of God, and a wrong note can do just the opposite. As such, playing skillfully is key, but even more important is the need to have spiritual direction.
David was a director of music and had such a skill to understand the ebbs and flow of God’s Spirit and heart in worship. Young men, especially, are drawn into church by music and tend to operate in this anointing, and they have to receive careful attention. Indeed, everyone in the music ministry of any assembly is targeted by the enemy who knows the vital importance of sound in the Kingdom of God, and will always try to taint its holy flow.
THE REVIVAL
As we brought the curtains down on this time of interacting, Dr. Rolle disclosed how the LORD had given him revelation into the coming revival.
Last year, in my medical practice, I noticed more children turning up with strange symptoms. I began to pray about this, and it was revealed to me that there is a cosmic conflict for the souls of the young of our nation and the need to surround both children and teachers alike in prayer.
There is an awakening and a move of God that He desires to ignite through schools and on campuses. It is the heart of God to rebirth and revive the church in Jamaica and globally. That revival has already begun. It is not a worship event or fervent church service or prayer meeting, but a pouring out of God’s spirit on all flesh, to cause dead things to become alive again.
He is calling us to wake up and activate the gifts of prophecy, healing, deliverance, intercession, and miracles. These things will infiltrate and re-shape the church, culture, and community.
May God help us as we seek to love Him and love others. May the inward expression of revival be felt and from that flow streams of living water out of us. Even now, LORD, let it be. Amen.
Dear reader, have you been stirred by this account from Dr. Bradley Rolle? We pray you have been blessed and encouraged to continue trodding the path of faith, knowing that “He who has started a good work in you, is FAITHFUL to perfect it until the day Jesus comes again.” Philippians 1:6.
If you are not saved and you’ve read this message from the heart of a Kingdom man, and there’s a rumbling in your belly and you feel agitated, that’s the Spirit of the Lord calling you to Him. Read Romans 10: verses 8-10, do what it says and then contact a Bible-believing church for further instructions.