Hypothesis of Shift

The “hypothesis of shift” in a man’s mind is an imperative to life, no differently for the need to breathe air, in order that he may live. These shifts take place daily; in fact one’s mind from a twinkling to moment will need to make choices as the day progresses. All, not only the Christian is subjected to this reality. A man may lose his job and now be faced with a reality that he never before needed to face; where will my family’s next meal come from? Or he may be diagnosed with cancer and thoughts like what about my family, will I see my children grow up? Then the “sin that so easily besets” may lure the individual into the wrong lifestyle which will have consequences. HIV a reality for some! Whatever the reality in a person’s life at the time, he will be forced to make a decision.

As Christians we can either be thankful, or we could ask “why me”? I seek my heavenly Father’s forgiveness of late for this “Hypothesis of shift”; although I understand why I am in the place that I am there was still a “strain of disdain” in my attitude. We have such a big God; so big that He is omnipresent, the universe cannot escape His presence. Not a corner of the unseen galaxies can ever dare to escape His illustriousness. Let that thought filter deep within the recesses of one’s mind if possible. He is so majestic that if He had to appear in person, the brightness of His glory would be too much for a man to endure; His beauty would cause our flesh and blood bodies to disintegrate as if we were chaff in the wind. This beautiful majestic ever-knowing awesome God withholds His glory from us for we are unable to take it in in its fullness. We have of course sampled his Glory in and through His Son, our Glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; nevertheless that is by grace through faith.

How often have we gone out of our way to seek out a glorious sunrise or sunset? Its beauty often leaves us breathless as even the amateur reaches for a camera; a necessity to capture a facet of God’s creation, and to share it with others. God’s beauty is so superior to the most glorious sunset, in fact when God reveals His beauty in its fullness this is what will happen to the moon and the sun; “The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.” (Isaiah 60:19) – In fact God’s glory is so majestic that the sun will be forced to flee from its position in the universe as it witnesses such exquisiteness. What a glorious day that shall be, how I long to witness such splendour. There will be no need for sunscreen to filter the ultraviolet rays; every child of God will bask in His Glory; “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:23)

Now with that “hypnosis of shift” in the forefront of our minds may we conquer the day, seeking out God’s grace with boldness as we continually seek out His brilliance and the grandiose glory of our God. Praise the name of Jesus, the One who has made the way for all who have been touched by God the Holy Spirit and had their eyes opened to a glimpse of the glory of God, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone    

Suffering for doing well...

(1 Peter 3:17) “For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.”

As Christian we have been subjected to a new set of “rules” (we are not under law but under grace); it is clear from scripture that we are to behave in a new fashion not as we formally did prior to salvation; obviously our old characters fight this truth with all fibre and might. It is foreign to our understanding and logic, with principals that operate outside of the realm of sin. Even the Old Testament writings teach us that an “eye for an eye” is the acceptable action when wronged. However since the greatest man that ever lived, the Lord Jesus Christ sacrificially gave himself so that sinners could go free, that old set of “rules” has been done away with; “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) 

Just as Christ turned the other cheek when stricken, we too have now been commissioned to follow His pattern.  No longer is an “eye for an eye” acceptable. Why then do we still battle to accept this truth? We are not willing to die like our Saviour died. But all this will do is send us in circles; I speak as one who has not conquered this principle in my life, on the contrary my life has been so full of disappointment and all because I have not taken this truth and made it my own.

I remember as a kid playing at the park not far from my house; there was a merry-go-round that we would spin as fast as we could, before long we would be dizzy from the roundabout motion. Christianity can have a similar effect; we must emolument careful attention to our Fathers instruction in and through his Word, the Bible. We all must eventually come to an understanding of what is expected from us as Children. We all have experienced in one form or another, suffering for our own stupidity, but how often have we shared in Christ’s sufferings; how often has our heavenly Father glanced down from heaven with admiration as we suffer for His name sake?

I know that I am so caught up with my own pity party at times that I lose sight of this wonderful truth; “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1Peter 4:12-13)

God has perfectly structured His plan, we must learn to accept it in faith and seek out obedience for our lives; obviously we will never achieve this in the natural, but by grace through faith this possibility can become our reality as Christians. My prayer Father God is that you help us recognise your hand in our lives, so that when wronged, we may understand that it is your will for our lives as you train us to become more and more like our Glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, help us I pray to find grace to turn the other cheek, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Gone Fishing

We all study to show ourselves approved in one area of industry or another. This is the way of life, without this motivating drive in our lives where would we be? Probably on some street corner begging bread! We go to school from a young age to prepare us with basic skills that will empower us later on in life. Education is important for our survival. There are those that study a trade, while others seek out degrees, diplomas or doctorates. There are many differing avenues that life has presented for us to pursue in order to survive. This morning my thoughts go to some Jewish fisherman that live more than two thousand years ago; those who lived, walked and talk with another Jew, our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

These men where skilled fisherman, men who made a living from fishing, they would have supported their families with their knowledge and skill in catching fish. There were no “fish finders” (sonar devises) helping them to locate schools of fish. They would have had to apply themselves cunningly using all they had been taught to fill their nets. And obviously they would of filled their nets regularly, or why else continue with fishing, begging no doubt would of been more lucrative, it wasn’t, hence their dedication to their trade. It is important to understand who they were and what they understood, they were fishermen.

How often have I toiled in what I have known in order to get ahead? It is not as if I would put on a doctors clock and venture into sick homes trying to heal the sick, this would be fruitless as I wouldn’t have a clue where to begin. But put a camera in my hand and I would be comfortable and confident going up against the best. But how often are we taught from God’s word to trust Him? The bible is full of this mindset; we are called to have faith not in our own abilities but rather faith toward God. Before anyone gets ahead of themselves, I am not for one minute implying that a man shouldn’t work as he siesta’s all day under some tree waiting for bread to fall from the sky. The Apostle Paul’s teaching is clear; “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” (2Thessalonians 3:10) – However we often err on the side of independence, “I did it my way”!

Here we have Simon Peter a man who had was now discouraged, his teacher and friend Jesus was no longer with Him, He had been crucified and he had seen Him die. When challenged, he denied that he knew the lord Jesus, not once, but three times. I think I am able to relate with some degree to where his head was; after all he had come to understand; he had been taught by the world’s greatest teacher what life was all about. A man once full of hope, now hopelessness had engulfed him, what else could he do but go back to what he knew; “Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:3)

You see once a man has come face to face with this Jewish man the Lord Jesus, it is a futile exercise to pretend that life can carry on like it once did. Nothing can or will ever be the same. Simon Peter worked all night with James and John with all their knowledge about fishing and caught nothing. It was not as if they had chosen to sit under some tree hoping for fish to fall from the sky, they had applied themselves diligently and yet their nets remained empty. Was there now a lack of fish in the sea, certainly not! We know that there where fish for once there master came and they followed His instruction the net burst with fish.

What then is the lesson? Everything we now do as Christians must spring from our dependency upon our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and we must look to our Saviour the true Messiah the Lord Jesus as our first port of call and not as an afterthought. Seek first His will in our lives and not the other way around.

We see that our God did not disregard these fishermen’s ability to catch fish; in fact He used their boat and their net as well as their understanding of how to haul in the net to bring about a miraculous feat, as their net burst at the seams with fish. You see no matter how skilled we are without Him we can do nothing and there are times in our lives, when we forget this valuable lesson and need to be reminded. But with Christ we can do all things...     

This morning I commit this day to you my God, I pray for an ability to seek out His righteousness in my life, forgetting that which has past, seeking out grace in order to lay hold of the gift of eternal life, bringing glory to my God and my King, Praise the glorious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Signing off

Tyrone

          

Stewards

With the truth there will always be a skewed slant brought by some. Why? We war not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers that are unseen to the naked eye, in other words there is a spiritual realm that is on a higher level than our natural echelon. Nevertheless, although it is unseen, this does not mean we aren’t influenced by it. We know we are; the Word of God, the Bible has so declared it; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) - Not only are we competing with this reality but we are fallen beings and are dictated to by the influence of our own and surrounding sin.

With that in mind, what is our purpose as Christians? Well that is an open ended question that has many answers to it. This morning I would like to bring a simple truth to our attention as I know I have overlooked it in my life. I get so caught up at times with “straw men” (decoys) that take ones eye off the truth. Our eyes are shifted off what is really important and leaves us clutching at straws instead of eating milk and meat from God’s Word. Here it is; “Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” (1Corinthians 4:2) – The little things in life are often overlooked... whatever we have we have been given and that which we have we are accountable to God for, that which we do not have is not our concern. This is how I believe God will differentiate with the rewards that His children will receive once in heaven. Here is a verse to back up my reasoning; “So the last will be first, and the first last." (Matthew 20:16)

There is not much we can do about our pasts, but we certainly can seek out God’s grace to influence the future.

We are part of His church, we are members in particular and we need to find our place in the body of Christ, which is the church, enough of the “straw men” and there excuses.

Signing off

Tyrone