The Prayer of the Righteous!

(James 5:16) “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

It is now rather obvious that if we can with all our hearts confess Jesus as Lord, if our eyes have been open to His perfect work, then we are covered by the blood of the Lamb. Peter says it like this; “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1Peter 2:9) – He has chosen as He has willed, God is in control but now with that comes some serious attachments; a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, why? So that we may publicly state Him as brilliant and confess to others how we have been saved from darkness into this marvelous new found light. It glorifies our great God!

Yet with that said there will also be those who claim to have been called by God and yet have not. As we know many will come on that day and say Lord, Lord have I not done such as such in your name and our great Saviour’s response is very sobering; “depart from me you workers of iniquity” (Mat 7:23)

So sin or wickedness seems to be the hinging factor. Do not for one second think that Satan and his fellow-workers do not understand their objective, which is, to get all those who are chosen by God to sin and walk once again in darkness. How will we speak of this marvelous light if we live in sin, many do, I have in times past said one thing and yet still lived a life of darkness. Even now with self-examination I am found wanting in many areas of life. I do not say we must look to address cares that have not yet raised their head. That in itself is sin! The Lord teachers that tomorrow will take care of itself, it is today alone I wish to examine in my life; I trust you too will do the same. If we chew off more than that, we will be in dire straits as our mind throws out accusation one after the other, leaving us in a bundle of hopelessness as the giants in our lives seems to overshadow the work of our brilliant Redeemer on Calvary. That though will and can only ever take effect in our minds, as Christ’s work is perfect and will forever stand the test of time and much more. The ememy is well aware of that fact so the only way he can get us to fall is to sin, which in turn means to walk in darkness, thus leaving a shadow of doubt on our effectual calling. All he needs to do is get us to walk in unbelief?

It is one thing to walk as victorious Christians and there are times in our lives where everything seems to be on track. I recall some of those glorious moments, but I will confess that I have more often than not walked in constant warfare endeavouring to do what is right, but mostly fail. My objective with this blog post was to substitute it for my hand written daily journal and with that said I must then be as brutally honest with myself as I was then and call a spade a spade. Some say we should be more concealed with our struggles, but I am not convinced. If I do not disclose my fight how then will we who experience similar warfare know how to pray for one another? James gives us clear instruction; “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16) – That does not speak of secrecy! It demands our dependency on the effectual prayer of one another; it takes out that “Lone Wolf McQuade” type of mentality. We need one another!   

This is the arena I am forced to do much fighting and thinking in. I often hear the bell sound while still on my back. That is why yesterday I started my blog like this; “I wonder if sometimes I over-think certain things.” Maybe this will help you understand a little clearer how my mind works and where I often find myself at war. I believe the Apostle Peter was well aware of this struggle; I do not for one minute wish to compare myself with him as there would be no comparison. He was far more faithful and had a far larger portion to contend with; however what I will say is he instructs us on what we must be on the lookout for and this is his instruction:- “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” (1Peter 2:11) 

This is in itself a vast subject, and it will cover many areas of our lives, we know where we struggle, but let us remember to share our struggles with one another so that we can faithfully pray for one another, as this is God’s design for His people. Let us remember that the devil goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Let us always recall the Apostle John’s teaching; “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1John 2:15-16)

Let the Apostle James leave us with a balance to our deliberation; “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:13-15) 

Let be sober in our deliberation and see the truth for what it is...

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Over-thinking or Not!

(Jeremiah 17:17) “Thou art my hope in the day of evil.”

I wonder if sometimes I over-think certain things. I am not convinced either way. What I do know it is a terrible thing to live in a state of constant disappointment. Failure in any walk or form will get us to live as a defeated foe. But we must be careful not to place our own reasoning about the Word of God, so let us now look for solid reasoning from the Word, the greatest of all books, the Bible to back up this thought.

Now as I am forced to re-think my walk with the Lord over the years, I must confess, I am very disappointed, not with our great God’s favour but the lack of my obedience to His instruction. It is one thing to be sober about a truth but when we find ourselves been beaten up about the same thing over and over, we end up walking in failure. We are often told not to base our commitment on experience, but the Word of God. This is an obvious truth, but the Word should and will shape our experience. If it is foundational and we chose to use it as a yardstick, it will them effect us, not superficially, but experientially.

Let the Word now prove this; “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1Peter 2:2-3) – Is drinking and eating an experience or is it a necessity, the answer is both! I need food to survive but my body will either welcome the taste or reject it, as it now understands the reaction to let’s say a chilli. How then would it be any different to a life-style of a Christian, the text tells us, we must long for spiritual milk, Why? Because it is pleasant to the pallet, the Lord has been sweet to our experience we must have tasted that He is good. If that is the case we will seek Him out.

I am fond of chocolate and make it my business to always were possible throw a couple of slabs into my basket when shopping, the experience of melted creamy chocolate in my mouth is an experience that I look to replicate where and when possible. However it is not a stipulation for me to survive. But unless I understand that something is good, why would I then seek it out, I wouldn’t; now that should be obvious! I trust we all would agree with that thought. Unless I thought that by doing something I despised it would be to my benefit, in other words, all thought I did not look forward to the experience I would do it to avoid punishment. Let me explain; No let the Apostle Peter explain; He pivots his teaching on one word later on in the text and that word is “believe”; “So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." (1Peter 2:7)   

We now have two aspects we must consider, faith as well as experience, how must we unite the two, or should we? We receive the gift of live, our eyes are opened to the truth of the gospel and we believe that God raised His son our Saviour the Lord Jesus from the dead, we either believe in the resurrection or not. If we are have found honour and we are able to confess Jesus as Lord, we then have received a gift from God Himself. I will not spend much time on this point as the Word is clear with its teaching on the subject. After our eyes have been opened to this truth, the taste is good to our pallet as we understand that we have been saved from certain destruction, hell! Now we find an urgency to want to drink the sweet milk of the Word so that we can grow and walk in victory or into salvation if you like. But along the way we are met with disappointment, we stumble and fall, this now sends us into questioning our salvation, or it should get us to at least sit up and take note. Here is the other side of Peter’s teaching; “and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” (1Peter 2:8)

If our lives are only filled with failure, where we always stumble at the Word and it is an unpleasant grind to heed its instruction, then we are required to sit up and take note, we must! It would be wrong to pretend that all was in order if in fact that was not the truth. If I believed that I did not have HIV and but in fact I do have this virus living in my body, to pretend that it wasn’t, would be to live a lie. I agree that faith believes all things, but it must believe the truth and not a lie, it does not operate in the realm of half-truths, there is no such thing.

Let our faithful brother of old shed some light on what we something’s contend with...

“The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm. True, it is written in God’s Word, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;” and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above; but experience tells us that if the course of the just be “As the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” yet sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover the believer’s sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light. There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the “green pastures” by the side of the “still waters,” but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in the place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, “Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen.” Oh! say not so, thou who art walking in darkness. The best of God’s saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of his children must bear the cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the willows. Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the shorn lamb, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God’s full-grown children. We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

There is much more to be said on this subject, Lord willing we will pick up on it tomorrow.

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Cry out to the Lord!

(Exodus 14:10)  “And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.”

Sometimes there seems to be a constant buzz in my ear, a nagging voice that will not leave me alone and I wish I could say that it was beneficially to my lifestyle but that would not be true. It seems to constantly look to trip me up, a nagging enemy of the cross! A murmur that does not present itself audibly but whispers in the form of thoughts always gnawing away driving me to do the opposite to what God’s Word motivates me to do. Let us look in principal at the instructions we must find in our lives to walk victoriously before a righteous God. We must cry out to our God in time of need.

But firstly let me say that we are no different to others as we all have the same make-up and the same enemies. The degradation of our actual involvement in our though process will vary from person to person, depending upon the degree we have fallen. There is no such thing as a secret sin, we lie to ourselves tricking others but God see all! There is absolutely nothing hidden from His eyes. In fact it is the exact opposite, as some things are kept from us; "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29) – Why is it then that we pry into the unknown as if we are entitled to that information, some things belong to the Lord and at least for now it does not belong to us? I suppose that is why mystery and mystic entrapment such as horoscopes and the like have such a pull, it’s as if we are looking for information that others are not privy too leaving us with an advantage, a leg up over others if you like. Yet, with the secrets in our lives, passed and possibly present, we look to conceal them in the recesses of our secreted chambers, so deep at times we even may fool ourselves that God cannot see them. But that is all it is a thought of a fool! We must learn to confess all before Him, even if we are sickened by what we have been involved with, I am very slowly getting a small glimpse of my great Fathers heart, He loves to come to the aid of his children. Yet without them being needy, He remains distant. We need to understand that by faith we must call out to Him and the deeper the trouble the greater the rescue.

This is exactly why He send His Son; “for God so love the world” that he sent His only begotten Son to die a cruel death, paying the price for sin, making a way possible for mankind to fall to their knees and call out to a Holy God and to find forgiveness for their sin. Escaping death and hell! 

But that is only the beginning of our relationship with Him; we must now confess our sin before our Great Father. It is not enough to think it; we must confess our daily sin. For if we live a life of concealment we will be playing into the hands of the devil and that will hinder our progress in finding the will of God for our lives. Remember everything that opposes the will and direction of God and His Word will leave us living in an overwhelmed state of being. But there is now no more need for that type of thinking as we now have the mind of Christ; He has defeated the enemy once and for all. This is now sound doctrine, it is true and all that is left for us to do is to apply this understanding to our thought process and to walk in faith believing God and calling out to Him in time of need and remember that the deeper the trial the greater the rescue.

Let us paint a scenario of what actually happened with the children of Israel when they had been freed from slavery in Egypt and where now making their way to the Promised Land. Imagine the scene; the angel of death had passed them by as they had followed Moses instruction to paint their doorposts with blood and yet every firstborn child in Egypt whose parents had not marked their doorframe had their life stripped from them, they died! A great cry went out in the land. The Israelites must have heard the cry but  where now fleeing for their lives, they had no time to look for evidence and it was not as if they could hide in the shadows out of sight, there were far too many of them fleeing for their lives. Their footsteps and the pounding of animal hooves must have been heard for miles, I wonder what they felt. Fear mixed with the anticipation of freedom would have had their adrenalin pumping through their veins. Expecting to be stopped before the cities gate and yet no one came; they were free and on their way to the Promise Land, a land that would be theirs, finally a place of freedom and how sweet the though must have been. Jubilation must have flooded their souls. Not long into their journey they confronted a massive obstacle, the Rea Sea. There was no way through, what were they to do? If that wasn’t bad enough, they heard a rumble of the fiercest army of the day bearing down on them as their horses and chariots closed in on them. Imagine the mixed emotions they now felt, “O No” some may have cried, but Moses stretch out His staff and miraculously the sea stood up like two walls as an east wind keep the waters at bay and the children of Israel made their way to the other side on dry land. A fairly tale some may say, O no, but a miracle of God, a God who loves to come to the aid of His people, glorifying His name.

I have heard some sceptics explain away this event as they claim that the Rea Sea had a channel that was only knee deep and this is how the Israelites got across. But I would say to you sir, all this would prove if it was true, which it is not! Is how great is our God to be able to drown an entire army in knee deep water without a single survivor? "Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea." (Exodus 15:4) 

What actually took place is what is recorded in the book of Exodus...

“Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen." Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses. (Exodus 14:16)

God loves to show mercy and exalt His name, but remember we must be on the right side to be covered by His mercy and grace; we must never forget this account as we too will be able to sing their song when we cry out to Him; "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

When life presses hard we must squeeze back tighter, we must embrace our Saviour and cry out to Him who in turn loves to intercede for all who have believed on His finished work and who confess Him as Lord and believe in His resurrection.

“Let us cry out in time of need to the LORD!”

Signing off

Tyrone

 

     

Importance of God's Word!

(Exodus 20:12)  "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

This is a simple example of a clear instruction to children, if they are to find favour from God and live a long life. The world has now instituted a law where a child may sue his parents. Whose instruction will we follow? The laws of democracy or the Word of God!

The Word of God is intuitive and full of valuable instructions. People have often made reference to the Bible as a book open to interpretation, but normally those who make these kinds of comments know very little about the Bible. It is more of a comment excusing them from any form of responsibility, yet it is another lie and all those who hold to this view will bear the consequences.

It is now becoming extremely evident that society has a different set of laws; democracy seems to be high on their agenda. And on the surface we would all agree that democracy with its principles is a respectful way to treat other human beings. Democracy means the right to a form of government in which power is invested in the people as a whole, usually exercised on their behalf by elected representatives. The problem with this lifestyle and enforcing government is that their laws now begin to breech the laws of God. In other words they are now declaring war on the only true righteous living God. What are their chances? What are our chances if we side with them over the Word of God? If we say we will stand with a particular democratic alliance and vote for them but they are in opposition to the Word of God, then how will that be to our benefit. We may end up with better sanitation, but how will that help us in the Day of Judgment? We have had such a shift with our reasoning that everything we do is designed to feed that part of the brain which will not and does not naturally seek out righteousness through God’s Word. We may on the other hand use our consciences to determine right from wrong, but if our conscience overrules the Word of God, then we are in trouble! Why? It should be obvious, God cannot lie and as much as He has loved the world by sending His Son to die for all those who would find repentance, He has also promise that those who oppose Him will face judgment and ultimately the Lake of Fire, which will be an eternal punishment.

Look at a country Like the United States of America, they have 52 states and they are governed independently. Who has the right to determine what is right and wrong, well when we use fallen mans reasoning, we will be left wanting. It is clear to see that most if not all the governments in the world are driven by greed. Although the world is full of corrupt leaders we must understand that God is righteous. He was neither created nor born as an infant as if He had to have to learn the lessons of life. He was and He is. He is the great I AM! His work is perfect and all His ways are just. Perfection means that nothing can be added to the equation to enhance it. Absolutely nothing! For if by adding something it would improve the outcome, it was never perfect to begin with.

Therefore if God is perfect, which He is, then His way alone will lead us to the place of perfection. However if we exalt ourselves above His Word then we are in grave danger of His wrath. How do we know that? The Word has warned us! We can only ever be in one of two camps; those who cleave to the Word as if their lives depend upon it and it does! Or those who are proud enough to think they know better that the Perfect One and chose to ignore God’s Word. If we say we are believers but we will only accept portions of scripture but reject what seems a little extreme, then I will say it will be to our own detriment. We have now moved from finding the mind of Christ to knowing better. Beware of this type of reasoning. We are not perfect, yes we are covered by the blood of the Lamb and we are righteous in the eyes of God, only because of His Son’s sacrifice. However we live within a body that is fallen and it wars against that which is perfect, we have a constant enemy that would want to rob us of finding life and it come from within. The Apostle John gives us this insight; “For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1John 2:16)  - In other words that does not come from the place of perfection but from that which has fallen and tainted by sin. It is impossible for us to institute perfect righteousness as we are not perfect in ourselves. We therefore must seek instruction from our perfect Father, regardless of any opposition; we now know that He can only ever be right and if we oppose Him we will only ever be wrong. That may be an obvious deduction to most, but examine your life against His Word and see how much of our lives actually oppose God’s instruction.

What constitutes a good Bible teacher? A doctorate, years of study and examples of loving other as they love themselves? All of the above may have their part to play, but they will not complete the teacher. A great teacher will always point us to the Word of God, even if everything seems to be against it. The giants of life will not influence the teacher’s instruction, as they know that God has promise the Promised Land to all who endure unto the end. It may even cost them their lives but one thing that they would have understood is this; “By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged." (Romans 3:4) – Why is this imperative? Because God is perfect and man is fallen! Regardless of opinions, he (teacher) will always value sound doctrine about all else. God has opened his eyes to this truth; “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) 

Therefore if we want to find ourselves founded upon the Rock when the storm comes, and it will come, we must cling to the perfect Word of God as our lives do depend upon it. If I was to breathe my last breath tomorrow, this is the message I would leave us with. Obviously understanding that the Lord Jesus is the Word! He is the rock of our salvation.

Signing off

Tyrone

Life with it's Seasons!

(Ecclesiastes 3:6)  “A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;”

How I relish the moments in my life when a thought about a particular attribute of God is heightened and then quicken to my understanding. It brings with it a fresh new glimpse of His brilliance to my consideration. In order to find that, we must listen to the small still voice that can be but a whisper at times, so if we are obsessively busy with the issues of life that soft voice will elude us, we must make time in our daily routines to draw aside, be still and listen for the voice of our great God and Father. How one may ask? Find a quite time, for me it is before the sunrises, I cherish these moments, but it was not always like that, but now that I am able by the grace of God to navigate towards the still waters, planting my feet upon the rock along the water’s edge I am afforded the privilege to meditate upon the Rock of our salvation. I would encourage you to put time aside, for without it, how will we hear that small still voice if it is but a whisper? We won’t as the issues of life drown it out!

Be encouraged, find grace as we know that the ways of the righteous will find life but as for the wicked they will perish. The only time we will ever be content is when we bring forth fruit and that can only be in its season. So do not lose hope, have you ever seen a tree bear its fruit in winter if not protected from the frost? Yet through the rest of the year we must fight a little harder looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Who enjoys tears of sorrow and chapped hands from the cold of winter? Yet without labourers who would eat from the produce? And so our lives also have seasons, it has been so ordained.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Although our lives will experience all of the above, we must always be looking for the small still voice of God, as He speaks to us through His Son, as God the Holy Spirit astutely carries out His role in the believer’s life. He will teach and bring to remembrance all that the Lord Jesus has said. He will guide us into all truth and always glorify the Lord Jesus. The world cannot receive Him and yet He lives in all that have found repentance and believe in the finished work of Calvary. We now have the power to bear witness of our great Saviour, but just as our body needs food to sustain them, so too must we draw aside and drink from the waters of life in order to walk this sometimes tiresome rocky road toward the celestial city. It will be worth it all!

We have been instructed to exhort one another, so I would encourage you to find time in your daily routine to draw aside, habitually if you like, listening for our God’s glorious voice in and through His Word. There is not a place, where if we seek Him out that He will not be found. If we lie on our death bed He will be there. Whether we work, play, cry, laugh, morn, dance or even are in the process of having our financial security stripped from our lives, He will be there! Whatever our circumstance we must find solace in this truth, that our God cares for us. He has begun a perfect work and even though our lives are full of uncertainty at times, He will complete that which He has begun. All honour and praise belongs to our King. So remember to find the waters of life. Draw aside and drink, for He will never keep his love from us, all those you repent and believe on the finished work of Calvary have found life and will forever keep it.

Signing off

Tyrone

For your love is better than wine...

(Song of Solomon 1: 2) “For your love is better than wine...”

Do we hear the gentle whisper of our beloved, or is His voice drowned by the rumble of life. Is it like so many other relationships, seen together in public but living separate lives, or are we one with Him? Is He the one that corrects guides and caresses? Are we intimate with Him, do we share our deepest secrets, while leaning upon His shoulder? I Wonder! He was selfless and yet I am so selfish! I pray that our great God would quicken our feeble knees and our stammering lips equipping us to run to Him singing praises as we kiss our amazing Saviour, may we constantly remember His sacrificed; He came to do the will of His Father and it cost Him dearly, in fact it cost Him everything, the world with all its inhabitants eagerly swallowed up His spilt blood. Such amazingly love on display! Have we really understood, can we now hear the gentle whisper of our blessed Redeemer, are we walking side by side, hand in hand with eyes only for our companion or does our gaze peel back and forth, hoping to find something better... The thought in itself is even blasphemous. 

Search out our hearts O great God the Holy Spirit, reveal all that is perverse, all that hinders keeping us from a deeper love from our one and only true love.

There are many snares set to trap, open our eyes to them I pray. May we be quick to pack the picnic basket and venture up the hill to find a secluded place, anticipating a feast of unadulterated love with the one we and betrothed too. “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine; your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you. Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.” (Song of Solomon 1: 2-4)

God’s law stipulates that a man and woman will come together in union and become one flesh. One man and one woman, until death do us part, is the vow. How many have broken that promise, sadly I am guilty as charged! Many of our forefathers had many wives; Solomon had 300 wives and 700 concubines, a thousand women he was intimate with. Do you think He was just with his committed to each of them? I seriously doubt it! And yet we eagerly await a marriage feast in the New Jerusalem, when the church will as the bride (all the saints), partake in the ultimate wedding feast. The thought which now grows as we deliberate is how amazing is our great Saviour ability to love, I have blundered two marriages and yet He is intimate with so many, in fact throughout history, they could not be numbered. What is even more astounding, not one of His relationships with anything perverse or tainted emotionally involved to it. Complete honest commitment for each and every one that belongs to Him. What Saviour is this we supply and love to serve? If any are in doubt about His pledge, how often do we need to find confirmation to His commitment, He too has made the pledge until death do us part, but for the believer there shall be no death, as our soul will live on for eternity, He therefore will be by our side forever. I hope this thought changes our lives from this day forth. As men struggle to be faithful to their wives, our great Husband, the Lord Jesus Christ has and will forever be faithful to millions. He has so much love to give that He still beckons all to come; “whosoever will to the Lord may come He will not turn one away.”  

Will we like Solomon cherish Him and give Him due benevolence, will we finally surrender our lives to Him and look no further afraid to miss out on some perverse union. Will we in turn prove our love to Him by having eyes for Him Only? Will we be like the Apostle John cherishing our Saviour that we too are permitted to listen to His heart beat as our heads finds rest on this breast.

O raise me, draw me. By your grace I am able. Send forth thy Holy Spirit to kindle sacred flames of love in my heart, and I will continue to rise in love to my Saviour until I leave life, time and all that hinders behind me as I indeed come away finding rest on the breast of my beloved Redeemer.

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Who's name is Jealous?

(Exodus 34:14) “(...for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)”

To renew our covenant with God would seem to be the order of the day, especially with the celebration of the Easter Weekend. I know of some who ritually set aside this weekend to come together as a church and hear from God. I was amongst the number for many years and what I will say; without exception I always came away fired-up with new resolve to be better and more committed to my God and Saviour. It was like a supplement booster injection. Many nominal Christians, even now are reminded that they have finished their “lent” forgetting the motivation behind it as they get on with their lives until next year. This is the way man-centred religion operates; it is sickening to the stomach! Like we could ever do God a favour, He is so mighty He could squash us like a bug and yet with the mordacity we have as humans, we act as if we are doing God a favour, He nevertheless, beckons us to come, to Jesus His Son.

It fascinates me when I think of the goodness of Jesus when I think of what He has done for me my very soul cries out hallelujah and in spite of the snipe of religion and all its hypocrisy.

Tradition is honourable with God so long as the tradition is foundered upon Him alone, we see reference made to the children of Israel as they are commended or condemned depending upon which God they paid homage too. But we must understand what is acceptable and what is despises, for He is a jealous God and He will not share His glory with another, we must understand this very clearly, do not be deceived! In fact His name is Jealous! – (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God) (Exodus 34:14) 

  

It is imperative that we find out what God requires from us as a church as well as individuals. If we have any false idols in our lives, and we chose to hang on to them that will be harmful. We must seek out His face to break down all those things in our lives that we chose to worship, the idols of compromise! History teachers that many worshiped God but simultaneously clung to their false gods, which was and is an abomination before a Jealous God! – "Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places." (1Kings 3:3)

It is possible to hold onto both, but not favourable! We have been clearly instructed to put off false religion and anything in our lives that compromise our relationship with our great Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

With that in mind; if God despises that type of false worship we must conclude that He would make every provision for us to find His will in our lives and be helpful in us achieving this objective. Yet I suppose we must first do some self searching and mirror gazing, and find all that look to rob us of a deeper and sincerer relationship with the only true God.

I know that His will for every believer is to be actively involved with other believers, it is imperative and yet I am still looking to find a place of fellowship where I can get stuck in. Limbo is not good for anyone, maybe you are in a similar situation, but we must seek out His will for our lives, we must find a local church and become part of it! We must supply, and not only receive! “So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (Romans 12:5) – Has you finger ever said to your hand I am not part of the hand and I wish to operate independently, how ridiculous that would be! And yet if we choose to say we will do it our way without others then we too are as silly!

This is the way God has ordain it, it is not up to us to decide otherwise, if we do then we are no different to those who think they know better than God, we must remember that our God has a name, Jealous! Yet, having said that it would be just as foolish to attach ourselves to a denomination that still worships with the High places intact, those rituals that denounce the victory of Christ Jesus on His cross some two thousand years ago. We can no longer practise nominal Christianity, God demand our lives and our all! Surely, if He hath crowned us, we ought also to crown our God; For God to sit upon the throne of our love we need to lay down our lives for Him. When I look through the pages of my life I can but sing of mercies multiplied! As much as we all need to find fulfilment in new promise through life’s journey may we remember not to dishonour the old vows, may we set straight that which is crooked, may we look to align our wills with His will and may we break down and remove all the idols of our lives, whatever they may be.

Signing off

Tyrone

       

God will Test!

(Deuteronomy 13:3) “...For the LORD your God is testing you...”

What I find rather intriguing is how surprised I felt when I considered this portion of scripture; But why should this surprises us, did the Lord Jesus not have to endure tremendous temptation and much pain, He did you know, more than any other! Did God test these once enslaved Israelites, He sure did! I think it would be good for us to soberly consider what they went through and why; we know that their journey was for our admonition. How so? - “For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?” (Hebrews 3:16)

They were not only being tested for themselves and how they responded to the Word of God, but for future generations, for us to understand the consequences to our disobedience. “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:12-13)

The writer of this book concludes the chapter like this; “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:19) 

That is a very interesting word (unbelief) he concludes with; it is not as if they did not believe something. They just didn’t believe the Word of God. Let us look at the context to our text as they put something above the Word of God, do you know what that was? "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 13:1-3)

Be on the lookout for many even now raise their heads and lure many from the truth of God’s Word. But do not be fooled, it is God who has allowed it to happen testing His people; “For the LORD your God is testing you!” We must see this as a positive influence to our lives, if our hearts are troubled then we have an anchor that is steadfast and sure, let us run to Him and not another. Be aware of His test, it is for our admonition; if we need to repent then He beckons us to come, but only on His terms and never our own.

Let us now unpack this warning a little deeper so that we may learn from it...

“Here is, I. A very strange supposition, Deu_13:1, Deu_13:2. 1. It is strange that there should arise any among themselves, especially any pretending to vision and prophecy, who should instigate them to go and serve other gods. Was it possible that any who had so much knowledge of the methods of divine revelation as to be able to personate a prophet should yet have so little knowledge of the divine nature and will as to go himself and entice his neighbours after other gods? Could an Israelite ever be guilty of such impiety? Could a man of sense ever be guilty of such absurdity? We see it in our own day, and therefore may think it the less strange; multitudes that profess both learning and religion yet exciting both themselves and others, not only to worship God by images, but to give divine honour to saints and angels, which is no better than going after other gods to serve them; such is the power of strong delusions. 2. It is yet more strange that the sign or wonder given for the confirmation of this false doctrine should come to pass. Can it be thought that God himself should give any countenance to such a vile proceeding? Did ever a false prophet work a true miracle? It is only supposed here for two reasons: - (1.) To strengthen the caution here given against hearkening to such a one. “Though it were possible that he should work a true miracle, yet you must not believe him if he tell you that you must serve other gods, for the divine law against that is certainly perpetual and unalterable.” The supposition is like that in Gal_1:8, If we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you - which does not prove it possible that an angel should preach another gospel, but strongly expresses the certainty and perpetuity of that which we have received. So here, (2.) It is to fortify them against the danger of impostures and lying wonders (2Th_2:9): “Suppose the credentials he produces be so artfully counterfeited that you cannot discern the cheat, nor disprove them, yet, if they are intended to draw you to the service of other gods, that alone is sufficient to disprove them; no evidence can be admitted against so clear a truth as that of the unity of the Godhead, and so plain a law as that of worshipping the one only living and true God.” We cannot suppose that the God of truth should set his seal of miracles to a lie, to so gross a lie as is supposed in that temptation, Let us go after other gods. But if it be asked, Why is this false prophet permitted to counterfeit this broad seal? It is answered here (Deu_13:3): “The Lord you God proveth you. He suffers you to be set upon by such a temptation to try your constancy, that both those that are perfect and those that are false and corrupt may be made manifest. It is to prove you; therefore see that you acquit yourselves well in the trial, and stand your ground.”

II. Here is a very necessary charge given in this case,

1.      Not to yield to the temptation: “Thou shalt not hearken to the worlds of that prophet, Deu_13:3. Not only thou shalt not do the thing he tempts thee to, but thou shalt not so much as patiently hear the temptation, but reject it with the utmost disdain and detestation. Such a suggestion as this is not to be so much as parleyed with, but the ear must be stopped against it. Get thee behind me, Satan.” Some temptations are so grossly vile that they will not bear a debate, nor may we so much as give them the hearing. What follows (Deu_13:4), You shall walk after the Lord, may be looked upon, (1.) As prescribing a preservative from the temptation: “Keep close to your duty, and you keep out of harm's way. God never leaves us till we leave him.” Or, (2.) As furnishing us with an answer to the temptation; say, “It is written, Thou shalt walk after the Lord, and cleave unto him; and therefore what have I to do with idols?” 2. Not to spare the tempter, Deu_13:5. That prophet shall be put to death, both to punish him for the attempt he has made (the seducer must die, though none were seduced by him - a design upon the crown is treason) and to prevent his doing further mischief. This is called putting away the evil. There is no way of removing the guilt but by removing the guilty; if such a criminal be not punished, those that should punish him make themselves responsible. And thus the mischief must be put away; the infection must be kept from spreading by cutting off the gangrened limb, and putting away the mischief-makers. Such dangerous diseases as these must be taken in time.” (Matthew Henry)

These are words of a man who live in the 17^th Century and the warning was as relevant to him and those who lived back then as it is to us who live now. In fact they are probably more relevant as we are warned that in the last days many will come in the name of the Lord and deceive many and it is now some four hundred years later.

Let us therefore sit up and take note. Testing is good for the one who is being tested; it helps us see our own hearts in the matter. If there be anything we need to repent of, may God who is rich in mercy be merciful and lead us in repentance so that we may abide in Him and He in us. To God is the glory both now and forever more, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Remember our Saviour!

(1Corinthians 11:23) "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

Holiday Season again, even if it is only a long weekend, we celebrate time away from work and not much thought is given to why we commemorate this break. This is only one of two ordinances we are require to partake in as believers, the other is water baptism. I agree with the obvious thoughts of some, it is not only the Easter weekend when we remember the Lord Jesus’ death; we are instructed to do this as often as we remember Him. “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” (1Corinthians 11:23-26) - Bunny rabbits and chocolate Easter eggs have nothing to do with the equation whatsoever, it is just another decoy thrown into the mix to get people to focus on something else, Eastern egg hunts and the like. Whether we have the actual dates correct or not I will not waste time with, but some religion around this holiday has perverted and made a mockery of what Christ actually achieve on Calvary. They are now ending their period of “lent”, a custom some religions practice, for forty days where their follows are expected to give up something as if they could earn acceptance from God by doing this. God will never ever accept any sacrifice from mankind to justify themselves before a Holy God outside of His own Son’s sacrifice. The message is clear, repent from our own works, confess our sin before God, call upon the name of Jesus Christ the Lord and then only will we find acceptance. In other words, if you are asked what you have given up for Lent, then our answers should all be the same, “we have given up Lent!” We must find repentance from dead works, as this custom is a dead work. What is a dead work? It is exactly what it claims to be, dead, it cannot produce life! “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” (Hebrews 6:1)      

This is what we now must celebrate; “Jesus, our Lord, once crucified, dead and buried, now sits upon the throne of glory. The highest place that heaven affords is his by undisputed right. It is sweet to remember that the exaltation of Christ in heaven is a representative exaltation. He is exalted at the Father’s right hand, and though as Jehovah he had eminent glories, in which finite creatures cannot share, yet as the Mediator, the honours which Jesus wears in heaven are the heritage of all the saints. It is delightful to reflect how close is Christ’s union with his people. We are actually one with him; we are members of his body; and his exaltation is our exaltation. He will give us to sit upon his throne, even as he has overcome, and is set down with his Father on his throne; he has a crown, and he gives us crowns too; he has a throne, but he is not content with having a throne to himself, on his right hand there must be his queen, arrayed in “gold of Ophir.” He cannot be glorified without his bride. Look up, believer, to Jesus now; let the eye of your faith behold him with many crowns upon his head; and remember that you will one day be like him, when you shall see him as he is; you shall not be so great as he is, you shall not be so divine, but still you shall, in a measure, share the same honours, and enjoy the same happiness and the same dignity which he possesses. Be content to live unknown for a little while, and to walk your weary way through the fields of poverty, or up the hills of affliction; for by-and-by you shall reign with Christ, for he has “made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign for ever and ever.” Oh!, wonderful thought for the children of God! We have Christ for our glorious representative in heaven’s courts now, and soon he will come and receive us to himself, to be with him there, to behold his glory, and to share his joy.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

So when everyone else runs away with the festivities and the chocolate feasts let us be sure we are counted amongst the number proclaiming His sacrifice on our behalf, let us remember to highly exalt His name, for He alone is worthy!

Signing off

Tyrone

Our Redeemer Lives!

(Job 19:25) “I know that my Redeemer lives.”

I often find myself running off with my own little war; therefore I have decided when needed to bring in the influence of other trustworthy brothers and let them speak to us all, I surmise most of the time that it will be C.H.Spurgeon, as I have said in time past that He must be the most well rounded balance bible teacher I have encountered. He is true to the text and does not let pet subjects influence his deliberation. In fact even when he was bombarded by those who came at him for smoking, he liked a good cigar, he used the Word to build his chase, not that his cigar smoking needed defending. We must not chase straw-men (decoys to take our eyes off the ball) but the real issues of our faith. I have even seen portraits painted of Him where a cigar was remove from that particular photograph used for the visual rendering. He never pretended to be who he wasn’t! We have enough to contend with, so let us not look for added things to shackle fellow believers. “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him." (Mark 7:15)

Let us rather stick to what is sound, what will save a man and keep him saved etc...  

“The marrow of Job’s comfort lies in that little word “My”-”My Redeemer,” and in the fact that the Redeemer lives. Oh! to get hold of a living Christ. We must get a property in him before we can enjoy him. What is gold in the mine to me? Men are beggars in Peru, and beg their bread in California. It is gold in my purse which will satisfy my necessities, by purchasing the bread I need. So a Redeemer who does not redeem me, an avenger who will never stand up for my blood, of what avail were such? Rest not content until by faith you can say “Yes, I cast myself upon my living Lord; and he is mine.” It may be you hold him with a feeble hand; you half think it presumption to say, “He lives as my Redeemer;” yet, remember if you have but faith as a grain of mustard seed, that little faith entitles you to say it. But there is also another word here, expressive of Job’s strong confidence, “I know.” To say, “I hope so, I trust so” is comfortable; and there are thousands in the fold of Jesus who hardly ever get much further. But to reach the essence of consolation you must say, “I know.” Ifs, buts, and perhapses, are sure murderers of peace and comfort. Doubts are dreary things in times of sorrow. Like wasps they sting the soul! If I have any suspicion that Christ is not mine, then there is vinegar mingled with the gall of death; but if I know that Jesus lives for me, then darkness is not dark: even the night is light about me. Surely if Job, in those ages before the coming and advent of Christ, could say, “I know,” we should not speak less positively. God forbid that our positiveness should be presumption. Let us see that our evidences are right, lest we build upon an ungrounded hope; and then let us not be satisfied with the mere foundation, for it is from the upper rooms that we get the widest prospect. A living Redeemer, truly mine, is joy unspeakable.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

It is no use to try to get more zeal except in the right way, knowing more of Christ; and if we seek to grow in zeal as certain people we might mention have done, we shall have a zeal like a house on fire! It will do more mischief than it will do good. There may be some heat, and a deal of illumination; but it will die away, by-and-by, into black ashes, poisoning the churches everywhere.

I have seen a certain kind of revival in England, and I can always tell where such "revivals" have been by the scarred state of the places after them. These so-called "revivals" have been wrought by excitable meetings, held by sundry preachers, who have invented strange doctrines, but have said nothing about the grace of God. They have for a time stirred up the people to a kind of religious furor, and they have left behind them a very desert. Before them it was like a garden of the Lord, but behind them barrenness and desolation.

The church has been divided; there has been a reaction, and the people have sunk into the most lamentable condition. If we would have true zeal, it must be by the preaching of the good old doctrine, proclaiming Jesus Christ and him crucified; for anything else comes of the devil, and to hell it shall tend; its issue shall be destruction, and not salvation.

But if we keep to the truth of God, there will be "revival" enough. We want nothing but the good old-fashioned gospel to stir the world again. Though men have tried new schemes, God will not own them. All these heresies must be swept away, and the true gospel—distinguishing grace of God in all the sovereignty of election—must yet again be preached; and when it is preached in all its fullness, then shall the church be zealous, and then shall Zion arise, and shake herself from the dust, and put on her beautiful garments. (C.H.Spurgeon)

Taken from the pyromaniacs blog sight http://teampyro.blogspot.com

Let us learn to challenge our energy in serving God and Glorifying Christ with the right impetrate.

Signing off

Tyrone

Giants!

(Deuteronomy 4:1) “Take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.”

I would say I am amazed, but that would not be accurate, nevertheless I must confess that it is rather foolish to travel to the river Jordan and be offered the Promised Land and then to somehow be side-tracked and to take our eyes off the original hope, which was a land flowing with milk and honey. And for us now living with today’s challenges and yet with so many promises available to all of God’s children. In fact it is no different in principle, this verse is still very appropriate in our everyday lives.

God our heavenly Father is for His children and not against them. Just as He made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, even when the children of Israel purposefully went out of their way to make and worship a golden calf, God thought about destroying them but would not! He had made a commitment to their faithful forefathers and Moses intercedes on their behalf saving them from certain destruction. In like manner with far more power and authority the Lord Jesus now intercedes for us. He is the ultimate sacrifice and it is now over and done with, no more death in that sense ever needed ever again, “it is finished!”

So here we stand in the righteousness of Christ and His accomplishments with the roughness of the sand under our feet and the cool refreshing water from the river Jordan running between our toes. We are now faced with a challenge, and I pray we welcome it with both arms. As I know I am slow to accept what seems to be a rather daunting challenge; in fact it has been promise so it is no longer intimidating, but when we reason with human intellect it seem impossible, as it is if we operate with the carnal mind, we must put on the mind of Christ! I get rather frustrated when I make statements like these, they are sound and biblically based, and we all need to learn to apply sound doctrine to our lives, it is a must! But I tend to fall privy to exactly the opposite soon after I have made the point. Why? I do not take seriously what the Word teachers me; if I did then I would resist the flesh and its folly. Having said that and after walking in a circle I find myself back at the water’s edge, what are we all now to do, we move forward, we believe God and we press on. What if our live are full on the same repeated mistakes? Well then I suppose we are all alike and we must press on; “for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.” (Proverbs 24:16) – We must wipe the dirt from our knees, even if we see blood and remember we will not be stopped by the giants of life. The Lord Jesus has overcome and when we realise that and take or eyes off our own circumstances and fix our gaze upon Him, then we will enter into His rest, we will take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of our fathers, is giving us.

What is on offer for every child of God, do not say I suffer from this illness or I have this character flaw. For when we reason like this we relinquish power to our carnal reasoning and we undermine the work of the cross. We all now have equal opportunity to possess the Promised Land. How can I make such a brash statement? It is obvious; it is not about us and our giants but rather about the Lord victory over all of life’s monster hurdles. We must put on the mind of Christ, we must walk by faith! This now is what has been promised; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

We have a simple test we can appropriate to our lives and it has nothing to do with wealth and prosperity. Is my life full of these fruits or do the giants of life keep me from the produce? I know where I am falling short, do you? Nevertheless the solution is the same for all as we now stand of the river edge and we look across towards the Promised Land, what do we see a land flowing with milk and honey or do we see so many giants that we are afraid to cross over? All may come and partake from the fruits of the Spirit, it has been promised and our great Saviour has cleared the way, only believe and find rest in Him.

Signing off

Tyrone

Endurance!

(Hebrews 12:1) “...Let us run with endurance...”

To be a successful athlete, what does that demand? It demands effort, ability but above all discipline, which in turn will produce endurance. So then what do we seek out above all? I would say it must be endurance! But to find endurance we must be disciplined.

The writer of Hebrews, some suggest Paul while other Timothy, it is possibly one of the two. Whoever it may have been is not that relevant, if it was that critical we would have been informed. But what is crucial is to be taught from the penned words in the book of Hebrews. The writer spends a whole episode in chapter in 11 on many characters of faith who overcame diverse odds. And although it almost seemed impossible at times, they finished their race with flying colours. Yes, some died and where sawn in half but nevertheless endure unto their end. They finished well, glorifying God and magnifying our great Saviours ability to get them home: - “Quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-- of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:34-38) 

What is rather fascinating is the world viewed them as the off-scouring of the earth, failures, and dropouts, yet the writer puts them in the category of “whom the world was not worthy!” two different views, a man-centred and then a God-centred outlook, I wonder how we reason? If we put on the mind of Christ, we must share the writer’s sentiments.

We all in some form have been called upon to endure various sorts of physical challenges. Some no doubt more than others but we all have been taught something about ourselves whilst having to endure. The greatest test I faced off against was when I was in Oudtshoorn Infantry School; the objective was a five day haul on foot throughout the surrounding mountains, our (soldiers on course) objective was to finish, but their (our instructors) objective was to break us down by preventing us from lasting. If this happened we would then be kicked off course and not qualify as instructors. This test taught me a lot about self, the body is an amazing creation, just when you think you can do no more, it somehow finds another gear. It is not the body that fails but rather the mind. Our mind sends signals to our body saying, ENOUGH! Some endure whilst others give-in. We see differences in shifting individual’s make-ups. That is why some made it to the end and others didn’t!  But we must all recognise that every Christian now has an equal opportunity to make it to the end, as we have the mind of Christ; "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1Corinthians 2:16)

All that is now needed is for us to reason with faith; I agree that faith is a gift; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8) – We have all been equipped with the ability to find endurance and that does not come from our ability as individuals but rather from God and it is “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:9)

We needn’t now depend on our carnal abilities but now we are instructed to walk not by sight but by faith. We now depend on Christ’s ability to get us home. We find our endurance in His achievements; all we now need to do is believe! It is as simple as that! I agree the trials of life press us hard at times, and it seems that some are pressed harder than others. Why? I believe that it has something to do with our gifting and calling. Let me explain; Why did Job have to endure such hardship, the answer is obvious! To glorify God! Why then would it be any different for us? It won’t be! What will however vary is the measure in which we are tried and tested. This now brings gifting into the equation, we are not meant to compare ourselves with one another, but all we need do is be found faithful with what we have been given. It would be unfair to expect a servant to do the same amount of work as ten servants. In like manner God will not require more from us than that which He has given us. David slew Goliath and never for a minute did he believed he would fail. God required it from him, but also with the necessity gave him the faith to believe that he could do it. He had previously killed lions and bears when guarding his flock. He understood God’s ability to get him through. But God does not hold it against any child who lived amongst David at that time, for not stepping up to the plate, for not wanting to take on Goliath. Why would He! In like manner God will only require from us what we are capable of achieving. It depends entirely on our individual measure of faith. If I have one measure of faith, another two and another then five, what then is require from us? We should in principle at least double our measures. The one with five would produce another five, but the one with two would not be required to make five but another two. Get the point! Let us now use a parable to illustrate; "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.” (Matthew 25:14-17)

When we understand this truth, it should put to bed us wanting to compare ourselves amongst ourselves. It is not a competition in that sense, we must encourage and lay down our lives for one another, building up and not breaking down. We must not do the work of the devil! We must put on the mind of Christ!

Let me leave us with this encouraging thought, bearing in mind what we have just discussed; Let us train to become disciplined in putting on the mind of Christ, so that we may find endurance to run this glorious race. Discipline will produce perseverance! I have fallen terribly in this area of my life, but God who is rich in mercy has afford all who share a similar fate to now forget that which is behind and press on. Even if I have failed and not shared Paul’s testimony: - “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1Corinthians 9:27) – As I have been disqulified in the past, I now say to all let us put on the mind of Christ and find discipline as a part of our lives. Regardless of where you may find yourself, while we have breathe we have hope, but more than that we now have the mind of Christ, it is time to change gears, remembering that our Saviour has overcome, so that we too may overcome. All honour and glory belongs to Him, praise his name, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone