Sons

Jeremiah 31:33 “I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:”

How we need this truth to be alive in all our hearts and especially today. The last day of the year with many empty commitments made and never kept. The New Year’s resolution flow fast and furious and people feel that maybe today will be the day with new beginnings. How I thank our God and Father that we have His laws written deep within our hearts, He has given us life in and through our Saviour, the Lord Jesus. We have been born again, Jesus Christ has opened the way for all those who believe and confess Him as Lord.

We have been made alive and our eyes have been opened to see the kingdom of heaven. How I remember the days of my youth as a boy attending church but yet the service seemed empty and I was void of understanding. But now, I can see, I was blind but now I can see! How sweet it is to have understanding, how marvelous is my Saviours love for me, how stupendous is my heavenly Father for sending His Son to die for me; He has put His law in my inward parts, and in all His children’s hearts has He written them; and He is our God, and we are His people: for He has forgiven our iniquity, and our sin will He remember no more. But only if we find ourselves amongst the fold where the Lord Jesus is the shepherd, there are many flocks in many different pastures, there also many goats amongst the sheep, but only the sheep can truly see. All of mankind was blinded from God’s truth through the fall of Adam, but when God calls our name and we find life, how sweet is that life! Remember Lazarus, how he was dead, all those around the corpse wept for him, hope had run its course as he had breathed his last, or so the bystanders thought.

The scene was set and then the King of Kings made His entrance, tears streaming from Mary’s eyes with sadness heavy upon the observers hearts. Imagine witnessing this great miracle, how breathe taking it must have been, the Lord Jesus standing in front of the tomb, silence all around with possibly the occasional whimper of sadness escaping someone’s mouth. He then turned to Martha the sister of Mary and said, “Thy brother shall rise again.” I wonder what the skeptics were muttering under their breath. Nevertheless, the Lords attention was with Martha; (John 11:24-26) “Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this?” By now He must have had everybody’s undivided attention and then it happened… (John 11:43) “And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” The stone had been rolled away and all eyes were on the open doorway, and the tomb that depicts death now brought forth life as Lazarus stepped out into the open and all the onlookers witness Christ’s ability to bring forth life, praise His name! He was dead buy now he lives, he was blind because he was dead but now he could see. We were dead but Jesus Christ the Lord spoke life into our lives and now we can see, praise His name! If you have found verve and can confess that you too believe the words of the Lord, you understand this great miracle, and like Lazarus you have found life, I know I have! Then you can claim God to be your God.

We must remember what it cost the Lord to lay down His life for us and look to find grace, particularly today when festivities will run riot and debauchery will be the order of the day. Father please help all your children find grace today as we stand and make a difference in love with gentleness that will surpass all understanding and may it be so apparent that it will even confined Mr. Worldly Wise! May our Saviour be exalted amongst your children even when the world cohorts with one another not remembering our God. We will nevertheless remember our Saviour, praise His glorious name, all hail King Jesus our Lord!

Signing off

Tyrone

Davids Understanding.

(Psalms 40:6) “…Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.”

When I consider the requirements needed from God’s chosen people in times past, how they had to offer up sacrifice in order to find forgiveness and then they were never guaranteed absolution. How week after week they would sin and then have to perform a ritual and a life of some poor animal would need to be slaughtered so that God may accept their sacrifice. This was a never ending process that all of the seed from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had to adhere to if they wanted to find favour with Jehovah God. Yet David pens these words in the book of Psalms; “Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.”

Let us consider the importance of His understanding, when Moses came off Mount Sinai he had the Ten Commandments in His hand, God had just given Him the Law, the rules and regulations that they were to keep if they wanted to find support from God. Then later they received the breakdown of how they needed to apply themselves by fulfilling and keeping those bylaws and in turn have the only true eternal God as their protector. They had witnesses many miracles coming out of Egypt and they had no doubt of God’s ability to save, they had seen him in action! But God now required faith from them and obedience was needed from every individual if they wanted to make it through the Wilderness and into the Promised Land. It was a life full of does and don’ts, there was very little liberty in their religion, but they became so mundane in their application that the Lord Jesus calls their leaders vipers; (Matthew 3:7) “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

The danger we all face as religious persons is that we will want to find justification by what we do instead of resting in what the Lord Jesus has done. Test your family and friends that profess to be Christians and then ask a couple of questions and find out why they think God should let them into heaven. The answers will always be the same, they will speak of their good works and that they are good people, there is no good person in comparison to God our Father, man has fallen, and outside of Christ even the most astute do-gooder will be left expose when He stands before our awesome God, his very best deed will be like a filthy rag in contrast. That is why we see that sinners finding repentance, people that understand that they are lost and have failed God and need rescuing, you often hear of prisoners getting saved as the Lord Jesus did not come to save the self righteous but He came to call sinners to repentance. The self righteous will seldom be saved. The leaders of Israel learnt to manipulate the laws of God to try and find justification from God, but their hearts were far from Him. That is why He called them vipers. They heard that by being baptized they would find support from God and yet they were preoccupied with self, their hearts were far from Him. These were the teachers of Israel, and today we see many religions and pious leaders applying exactly the same falsehood and pretence to appear godly and yet it is the blind leading the blind.

David had understood that through his life, although he also made mistakes, that it was all about God and His purposes; He believed God and trusted in Him. When He fell into sin, he called out to the One who had the power to forgive. He did not try and find justification in doing things by sacrificial atonement in order to find forgiveness. He understood that it was impossible to keep the law and be justified by it. He realize that the Law could never be kept but it was a teacher that God implemented to show us that we required His help and that we needed to be rescued, we could never be a people that God could leave to their own devises, and if He did that we would all be lost, hell would be our final destination! David understood that God was able and because of God’s ability he was now able to kill the lion and the bear as God was on His side, not because he had spent hours training with a sling and was able to brandish it with precision. He understood that by doing things he could never be justified. What amazes me with David’s example is that he believed God before the actual account of Calvary unfolded. He understood that “burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.” He trusted in His God! Will we trust in our God, will we remember to find justification in our Saviour and not always look for acceptance by the things we do! Can we learn to rest in Him, I pray that we will become more like David on a daily basis and learn to have faith in our great King in every area of our lives? Give us a heart like David’s, may we always find the resolve to want to please you Father by obeying your voice and resting in the finished work of Calvary.

Signing off

Tyrone

Contrite Heart

(Ephesians 4:26) “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:”

The Word of God steams with wisdom and yet my life often chooses to reject its acumen, why? Because I am carnal and sold under sin! Yet this must change, I must learn to start using wisdom well and acknowledge her as a sister and receive her input for my life on a daily basis. I must not only look to her when I have erred and fallen short of the glory of God. I must learn to be consistent with the word of God and apply it to my life as a matter of urgency. I must be constantly reminded that I need to present my body to God as a living sacrifice which is only my reasonable service, it is no great accomplishment. In doing that I will learn what is good and acceptable before a holy God. But when my life is void of this truth, then I find sin is at the door and its desire is to take me out. Let us not be fooled if we have received the spirit of God and therefore need to act in accordance to the life giving Spirit. I get so frustrated when I do not walk worthy within the vocation in which I have been called. Often the deception is subtle and at other times obvious, but the purpose of our enemies is to get us to fall into sin, and that can be in countless areas of our life. Wherever we find ourselves and however we have wander away from the truth of God’s life aspiring Word, when the bible has not been our first point of reference, but rather the last, when we have chosen not to call upon the name of the Lord but to rather give in to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, it must be said that others may have written you off, you may have even disqualified yourself. You may be a reed bruise by the wind and the trials of life, the flax from your very own candle may be smoking as the flame of life have lost its ability to bring forth light. Be that as it may, God will open His arms to you and say come, a bruised reed He will not break, others will look to disregard any broken reed, they will look for the reeds that have strength and shape but He will say, come, to any that are broken! (Psalm 51:17) “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” The smoking flax of a candle will cause discomfort to those in the same room, it will aggravate their eyes and they will be quick to look to extinguish it, but not our God, He will see the glimmer of hope in the smoke, He will gently blow upon it and kindle it until a flame once again burns bright and clear. (Matthew 12:20) “A bruised reed shall he not break, And smoking flax shall he not quench, Till he send forth judgment unto victory.” This is the heart of our Father, He is long suffering and full of mercy, but He has equipped us for every good work, not everyone is the same, not all will be strong and courageous, I am amongst the weak with many of you, I have many bruises to prove my point, however God does want us all to find strength from Him and walk victoriously in His Son’s achievement. He has given us the Word to be a lamp for our footsteps and His word will give us hope to find victory in Him.

We must learn to not let the sun go down on our wrath. When we ignore this warning the hole we need rescuing from is deep and a horrible place to be. We must learn to keep short account with our heavenly Father and with one another. Father please teach us the importance of this truth, please open our eyes and give us a resolve to confess our sins to you, before the sun sets, help us be astute with one another and also apply this principle amongst one another. Forgive me Father as I am guilty of not consistently applying this truth to my life. May we all learn to become more obedient to the call upon our lives and may we begin to take your word a lot more acutely. May I learn to be more consistent! If only I could take a pen make two lists and then cross out all the unwanted attributes to my life and then make another list with all the wanted traits to enable me to be more holy and righteous. Then I am reminded that I am not justified by my own works, but by the blood of the lamb. Boasting will never play a role in the kingdom of God. There will be many sons and many with great rewards but only one hero, yes Jesus Christ our Lord will receive all the glory accolades. Praise His name! But obedience is better than sacrifice, and it is require from every child of God.

May we remember, (Ephesians 4:26) “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:”

Signing off

Tyrone

King over All!

(Colossians 2:10) “And in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power:”

How I long for the day when I will see my King and Saviour and I will receive a body like His, it will be incorruptible and will not have tendencies that drive and urge it toward sin. It will be a body full of praise manifesting the infinite glory and wisdom of God my Father, it will continuously speak of His saving grace and yet it will be without sin. We must understand that we have been sanctified by the blood of the lamb even now as we battle will the urges of life and we fight against the haul of sin. At times we find we fall in our ability to walk in righteousness, we transgress the law of God and heaviness overshadows our joy, sin will rob us of our joy. If that is where you find yourself this morning then I implore you to call out to Jesus as He is never far away, He oversees all his sheep looking out for them. He is the great shepherd and will come to the aid of all who call upon Him. But we must find a willingness to scrutinize areas in our lives that habitually cause us to err! We must not ignore the enemy and the sin that so easily ensnares us. We must not pretend that sin is not alive in our lives if indeed it is alive, if there is no habitual sin is in your life, then praise God and continue in His righteousness to find grace to walk uprightly. If we find we need to deal with areas of our life, which I constantly find myself at war with, we must begin to use those experiences to teach us to repent and help them to lead us into the paths of righteousness. Let us not wallow in self-pity but rather find repentance confessing our sin to a just and faithful God, who will be quick to forgive us of our sin but let us remember as we seek forgiveness to also forgive those who trespass against us. (Matthew 6:12) “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

We have an enemy that roars like a lion and at this time of the year with festivities and merriment the order of the day we need to be aware of his devises and the traps he will use to ensnare the children of God. Let us soberly examine ourselves and then unpack the areas where we always seem to fall. Once we have isolated those areas then we need to be careful to avoid places or situations that we know will be lead to our demise.

However having said all of this we must always remember that we are justified By His work and not our own righteousness or our own ability to walk uprightly with self justification as we excuse ourselves and accuse others. We are made full in Him! He is the head of all principalities and powers, there is no being seen or unseen that has dominion over our King. He rules sovereignly and therefore He calls the shots! If we have died with Christ, if we are born again and we are no longer ensnared by the basic principles of the world, “why, as though living in this world do we subject ourselves to regulations—do not touch, do not taste, do not handle which all concern things that perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?” (Colossians 2:23) “Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

Remember sin was defeated on the cross by the one and only, Jesus our Lord and supreme King defeated sin and death on that cruel Roman cross. We will never be justified outside of His redeeming work, which we must never forget but must also remember to put off sin and put on the cloak of righteousness. Yes we are righteous if we have been sanctified by the blood of the Lamb; we are not a son one day and then a bastard the next. If we have the spirit of God, then we are indeed His children. Never believe that you can fall in and out of son ship! We may however fall in and out of obedience, but that in itself is a completely different topic.

We are covered by the righteousness of Christ so when God looks upon us although we may feel unworthy to enter His presence, we are worthy, and only because of what the Lord Jesus has done on our behalf.

In conclusion then we can never be justified by our own achievements even if they are commendable before men. Because we have been justified by the blood of the Lamb let us remember not to continue in sin so that grace may abound… (Romans 6:1-3) “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

Signing off

Tyrone

A Reminder

“So shall we ever be with the Lord.”

- 1Th_4:17

Even the sweetest visits from Christ, how short they are-and how transitory! One moment our eyes see him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but again a little time and we do not see him, for our beloved withdraws himself from us; like a roe or a young hart he leaps over the mountains of division; he is gone to the land of spices, and feeds no more among the lilies.

“If to-day he deigns to bless us

With a sense of pardoned sin,

He to-morrow may distress us,

Make us feel the plague within.”

Oh, how sweet the prospect of the time when we shall not behold him at a distance, but see him face to face: when he shall not be as a wayfaring man tarrying but for a night, but shall eternally enfold us in the bosom of his glory. We shall not see him for a little season, but

“Millions of years our wondering eyes,

Shall o’er our Saviour’s beauties rove;

And myriad ages we’ll adore,

The wonders of his love.”

In heaven there shall be no interruptions from care or sin; no weeping shall dim our eyes; no earthly business shall distract our happy thoughts; we shall have nothing to hinder us from gazing for ever on the Sun of Righteousness with unwearied eyes. Oh, if it be so sweet to see him now and then, how sweet to gaze on that blessed face for aye, and never have a cloud rolling between, and never have to turn one’s eyes away to look on a world of weariness and woe! Blest day, when wilt thou dawn? Rise, O unsetting sun! The joys of sense may leave us as soon as they will, for this shall make glorious amends. If to die is but to enter into uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is indeed gain, and the black drop is swallowed up in a sea of victory.

C.H.Spurgeon

Our First Love!

(Matthew 15:11) “Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man.”

Boxing Day the day after Christmas, is a day that gifts will be boxed and the celebrations are over and the day is long forgotten except for some of the turkey that may be eaten well into the week. It is never an easy thing to make a stand against idolatry, whatever that may entail, and I do not make reference to positioning yourself against unbelievers, the objections normally come from believers, our hearts will often defend that which is reproachable… and the war rages on!

The reason I use this chosen verse for us to consider this morning is rather deliberate, often I may just pen what comes to mind but this morning I looked for some instruction to remind us of the work of the cross and to keep us from looking for self justification by our own works. Yesterday I said what I had to say, and I believe I endeavored to do that with a gentle spirit, I do however realize that we can get carried away by trying to make a point and then we find ourselves rather obsessed with wanting to be heard and forget Calvary and that is unacceptable! Above all things, this must never happen, we may compromise on issues, not that we must ever condone idolatry of any nature, but we must never ever fall into the trap of forgetting our first love. We are forever justified by His blood, never by any other deed. Let me say it again, we will never ever be justified by anything other than the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

Remember the words of the angel to the church of Ephesus, did he not instruct us and remind us of the Lord Jesus’ words to that church, ---- He did! These were His words

(Revelation 2:4-5) “But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love. Remember therefore whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent.”

The Lord first commends the church for what it is doing correctly and then a stern warning is given; that they must remember their first love or else! In other words they need to keep in mind what it cost the Lord Jesus to lay down His life for all the sinners that found repentance and are now saints because of His atoning sacrifice. If they do not remember Him they are warned that the light (candlestick) could be removed.

So what can we learn from this instruction to them? We must resolve to never exalt anything above Him, sound doctrine, and legalism of any sort must never take preference over Him but rather because of Him. Legalism will never find alignment in grace, sound doctrine is exactly the point I now make, Christ alone will secure our salvation, but when I reason and exclude His sacrifice no matter how subtle it may be, it will lead to dead works and ultimately be burn up with fire on Judgment Day. We must never move from a mindset of our First Loves atoning sacrifice, no matter how we may grow in the knowledge and the grace of our God and Father. When we war, as we must, sifting out the rot that has crept into the church, and there is decay that needs to be purged it can never be executed with legalism or the like. We must always point people to Christ; we must show them our great Saviour and what He has done to save mankind from a potentially unthinkable end, the Lake of Fire (hell). Today is a day of hope, the gospel message still needs to be proclaimed, people still need salvation, for if that was not true then the Lord Jesus would have already returned. (Matthew 24:14) “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.”

Let us not get caught up with decoys that divert our attention from the hope we find only in and through our salvation hero, yes Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let us always remember to speak of His work and echo the words of the apostle Paul; (1Corinthians 2:2) “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” We must find grace to speak of His great exploits;

(Matthew 15:11) “Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Christmas?

(2Corinthians 6:17-18) “Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

Today is a day where I can honestly say, I did not want to deal with the subject of Christmas, it is a day that traditionally is a holy celebration acceptable amongst western civilization like no other day throughout the year. Today is a day that even devout Christians will not dare to ignore, but the question of is it right or wrong I was hoping to avoid, I feel I must confront! We have been so hood-winked by this celebration, that I believe we have displeased our heavenly Father with this celebration as we run with the heathen locking hands in merriment because we have been blinded by a lie and a tradition of men. We have run with unbelievers and therefore entered into idolatry. Lets us examine some of the facts and see if we have understood anything pertaining to this holiday festivity.

The bible teaches that all things are lawful but not all things are expedient, so because Christ has paid the price for sinners and broke the enslaving hold that the law had on us (believers) and we are now not under law but under grace. We must never believe that we will be justified by works, if we begin to reason like this then we undermine the work of the cross and our great Saviours sacrifice. (Romans 11:6) “But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.” And, (Galatians 5:4) “Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace.” So we must clearly understand that we can never be justified by works, however that does not mean we must ignore the issues of life, anything that counters the truth should be addressed. If we are not willing to stand up and be counted who will plead the Christians plight! I agree there are bigger issues to address but today is a day that Christians often err by running with the masses, nearly everyone celebrated Christmas and many, if not most, have no idea of this day’s origin.

"Where did Christmas originate? Was it from the Bible or paganism? What is the real origin of Santa Claus—mistletoe—Christmas trees—holly wreaths—and the custom of exchanging gifts? Many are concerned about putting “Christ back into Christmas.” Was He ever there?"

The Reindeer, holly wreaths, decorated trees, mistletoe, season’s greetings, seasonal music, and Santa Claus are all associated with this holiday. These all bring warm feelings to those who celebrate it.

"All of this is supposedly centered on the worship of Christ. Surely the Bible instructs us to do all this—right? The answers will shock you! They surprised me as I was brought up with this tradition in our family and in fact I love it as I was the beneficiary of gifts, why would we not want to celebrate a day like Christmas?" Everyone is made to feel wanted and special, but to what extent are we willing to go to fulfill our dreams. We include so many traditions on the back of the birth of Christ. We include a man in a red suit with reindeers bearing gifts, how ridiculous is this concept, and what does he have to do with the birth of Christ? God has declared that He will not share His glory with another and yet we feel that we know better than Him and force His hand as we except Santa Claus, what rubbish! Forgive us please Father, for we have sinned!

“The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, adds, “Christmas…was not observed in the first centuries of the Christian church, since the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth…a feast was established in memory of this event [Christ’s birth] in the 4th century. In the 5th century the Western church ordered the feast to be celebrated on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of the Saturnalia, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed.”

“(Matt. 15:9) Christ said, “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” Christmas is not a command of God—it is a tradition of men. “Christ continued, (Mark 7:9) “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.” Every year, throughout the world, on December 25th, hundreds of millions do just that!” I understand that Christ was addressing Jews with their traditions, but the principal remains the same. The western world has made Christmas a man centered tradition and therefore the principle of what Christ said in the books of Matthew and Mark is now applicable today with the Christmas celebration.

When we act like the world we do not depict the instruction that Paul asks us to illustrate with our lives, “Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing;” He is addressing believers, if we look to the context of this chapter we see reference is made to avoid unequal yoking and then the chapter concludes with “Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

So the question we must ask ourselves is do we touch any unclean thing when we celebrate Christmas with the world? You know how I feel about today, but that is my view what will yours be?

A lot more could be said proving that today is not God centered and that Christ was not born today and the proof is clear for all to see if you wish to make a study of it.

It cost the Lord His life to save us, all who believe on Him, please let us not water down that great sacrifice, may we remember His death today and how He saved us from ultimate destruction where we should have been condemned to the Lake of Fire with Satan and his angels. Forget the reindeers and the red suited man, Christ and Christ alone must only ever be exalted and praised.

Signing off

Tyrone

Never to Be Repeated.

(Romans 3:23) “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;”

This is important for all to understand! The reason we need a Saviour is because we have all sinned, everyone who has every inhaled the breathe of life needs to be saved as they have all sinned and thus fallen short of the glory of God.

Take our schooling growing up as children, we were sent to school so that education could prepare us for life. Math’s was taught and we leant to add so that we are able to handle money and at least do basis accounting. It is something we require for daily living, and so it is with all subjects, we need them to be able to function in this world of ours or at least that is the intention of education. However through life we are tested by exams and we either pass or fail and if we fall short and fail then we need to repeat the year or the subject until we pass. So until then we cannot go on to a higher education. In like manner we also fall short of the glory of God and cannot enter into a relationship with God because we have botched our chances and all because of sin. We have received our grade and are sinners but God is righteous, in other words there is no sin in Him and because of His righteousness He cannot have a relationship with sinners. Now if every man is a sinner what must man now do in order to break the barrier that keeps them from God? No matter how he may try to establish a correlation with his own righteousness he is unable to have a relationship with Jehovah God because he is a sinner. However, we are able to have a relationship with the devil who appears as an angel of light; we may even believe that we will be saved by what we do and when we pray, we are praying to God, when in fact the father of lies is our father and god. This is a little harsh you may say! But when we logically break it down it is easily understood. If I am by birth born into sin then I have access because of sin into relationships with like minded people. We are cut from the same cloth, Satan is the father of sin and he has been a sinner from the beginning, therefore I have direct access to him as he has immediate admittance to me and my life, and why? Because of sin! God cannot stand sin and He hates it, yes He hates sin! But because He is love, He alone has the power to resolve mans dilemma, it was up to Him whether or not He would forgive and bridge the gap between Himself and mankind, but for Him to accomplish this, sin needed to be dealt with, it needed to be removed. Firstly would God be prepared to do this and secondly would He do it? He was not only willing to do it but in fact proved His love by doing it!

How I love Jehovah God, the only true living God! As God He could have chosen so many different options, yet He chose to save mankind from this tragic quandary. He could have said “let them all burn in hell” and He would have in His character of righteousness been within His rights. But His ultimate choice would cost Him dearly, He would have to eradicate sin once and for all and the only way He could do that was by judging sin and removing sin from the equation, in other words sin had to be dealt with by firstly judging it because righteousness requires that sin be judged otherwise righteousness would no longer be righteousness but sin. But a sinner could not pay the price for sin, someone righteous was needed to be judged as a sinner yet He could never have sinned otherwise He would not qualify in God’s eyes. Look at it like this, take every sin ever committed form the start of mankind (Adam) to the finish whenever that may be and stack them in a heap and then let them be judged by a righteous God. There sentence from the smallest of sins to the biggest will all receive the same condemnation, separation from God for all eternity. In other words the sinners will never come into the presence of God as sin will still separate them from entering into His company “for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness?” When we shine light into darkness, what happens to the darkness? It dissipates and light takes its place! SIN HAS TO BE REMOVED BEFORE GOD CAN HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH MANKIND.

We all know the story, the sweet gracious story of how He sent His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus, eternal God, to become a man and live a righteous life on earth by never sinning and then being judged for sin. As He hung on that cruel Roman cross with nails supporting His fragile frame, it was there that sin was judged once and for all. Righteousness could have no part with the punishment of sin. Therefore when the Lord Jesus was judged for sin, He cried out; (Matthew 27:46) “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Here we have proof that God being righteous judged sin and in fact He turn his face from His very own Son, which in turn get the Lord Jesus to cry out as He is all alone and it is there that He defeats sin on the cross, praise His name!

Now the bundle of all sin we have spoken about was judged and if we as human beings are not covered by His blood then they will need to be judged by a righteous God for sin, but if they have His covering then they are no longer subject to that judgment as the price has already been paid. How then do I find the lord Jesus’ blood as a covering for my sin? It is extremely simple, I need to repent of my sin, acknowledge that I am a sinner and will and need to be judge for sin, but the good news is someone already has paid the price for my sin if I call on Him in repentance and believe this glorious gospel message and believe that He has risen from the dead, the bible teaches that I will be saved. Saved from what? From judgment!

What a great God I serve, I say exalt and praise His name all you people, He is full of mercies and His love endures forever, fall to your knees, repent call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved.

Signing off

Tyrone

The Silly Season.

(1Peter 4:4) “Wherein they think strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:”

It is the time known as the “time of celebration”, this period over the December holiday all over the world celebrates Christmas and New Year. It is the time to put on your party hat and let your hair down and so what if you overindulge slightly, ever one else will also be excusing that sort of behavior. It must not be this way for the Christian; we must stand and make our mark against such celebration. We must not be like we once were, we need to come out and be separate. In fact it would be a good thing if you find all the unsaved amongst family and friends speaking evil of you because you do not run riot with them in the same excess of riot. It is at times like these that we are able to by our example hopefully speak to the onlookers that we have found a better way and we have such a hope in Jesus Christ our Lord that although some may choose to belittle us by speaking evil of us, some may enquire after our hope and who knows God may even be merciful to some of them and open their eyes.

It is an important principle that Peter wants us to understand and expects us by default because we are born again and have God’s spirit living within us, that we must imply a control that separate us from the world. We are being watched by the world, so that when we err, onlookers excuse themselves for their own sin. If we flounder then those around find justification in their own debauchery, not that they will have an excuse on judgment day, but we will be responsible to some degree for our testimony that they used to justify their own behaviour. In periods passed I have failed miserably in this area, I shudder to think of how bad my pattern in times past has been. I have been foolish with my behavior and have often regretted the scars I have left in my wake. I have paid dearly for my foolishness and will suffer loss on judgment day, that I am convinced of, but forgetting those things behind, how will it help if I wallow in the failures of my life, all it will do is suppress my walk of faith and keep me from loving God as I am drown in self-pity. Worldly sorrow will bring forth death, but Godly sorrow with contentment will bring forth life, not to be repented of. We must be the light of this world, if we will be amongst family and friends that have seen us err habitually, it is now a perfect opportunity for us (God’s Children) to set the record straight.

We must heed the counsel of Peter and there must be a visible change for all to witness; the chapter must read something like this; “Wherein they think strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:” It has to if we mean business with God. I am not laying down a law of what we should do or should not do, were we should go or where we shouldn’t. I will leave that to your own wise judgment, so be wise in the matter, but I will say this world is watching do not think otherwise. May we all find strength in Him our Saviour to be the light He intended us to be, if we have blundered in times past like I have, then we need to forget those things behind us and press on; (Philippians 3:13) “Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before.” I understand that the context Paul refers to with this statement is no to give up in doing good and not to use a check list finding justification by all the good he had done as a Christian. He was not about to say he had done enough and therefore he could go into retirement. However the principle remains the same for all if we have had a treacherous testimony then we can and must use this verse to press on and find motivation in the spirit to produce good works. If you find yourself ensnared in the web of sin, come out and be separate I say, there is no better time than the present to call upon the name of the Lord, so call I say and find life in Him, for Jesus Christ the Lord is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and He will open His arms to you and you will find repentance in Him if you truly repent.

May we use this opportune time, this festive season to come out and be separate and may we by our example cause sinners to repent and turn to us so that we may minister life to then in and through the act of Calvary and Christ and Him crucified. I am not aware of anybody who has not heard of the gospel, many may not have received an accurate gospel message that is another topic all in itself. Our example is of utmost importance, and like I said if we have failed in times past, because we still breathe, we still have an opportunity to be an example now, today is the day of salvation, may our example speak with volume and may it be heard for miles. May God help us find grace in time of need so that our lives may be a reflection of Him.

Signing off

Tyrone

The will!

(1Peter 4:2) “That ye no longer should live the rest of your time in flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”

We are faced with choices on a daily basis acting on many of them without much thought. We brush our teeth; we eat breakfast and we may even take a shower. All these acts are part of a daily routine which requires our minds to process information and then we act upon that information.

Peter reminds us that our minds will often get us to want to process information that will hanker after lustful thoughts that men feed. Greed, self indulgences and the like, these are all by-products of sin and the fall of man. But we have been clearly instructed not to live in that state. Why? It is rather obvious, whatever we feed we become. If we constantly indulge in the “lust of men” we will neglect the will of God, but if we consciously seek out the will of God, we will put to death the deeds of the flesh. We often over analyze this principle and start to look for life changing acknowledgements that will prove to ourselves and others that we mean business with God. However when we get it wrong all it is, is another effort to please man and not the will of God. All we need is to be conscious of the Lord Jesus and His example here on earth. He laid down His life so we could go free; in like manner we need to lay down our lives so that we can also be free.

What will make us free? Well we will be free when we are no longer a slave to sin; if I am still bound by some stronghold then I am not free but bound. The strength on the law is sin, so every time I am compelled through weakness to succumb to a particular sin then I am not free but a slave. This is not a difficult concept to understand, the problem we have, is we often excuse ourselves for the sin. When we live in this state all we do is prove that we are not free but a slave. This can be a very obvious reality for many Christians; Peter appeals to us (God’s Children) “that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” It is important for him to mention this point and to teach on it, so he does with boldness. But, will we pay attention to his urgency, if we do not then the fruit of our lives will be full of uncertainty and lots of groping in the dark. Maturity will be found when we apply Peter’s teaching to our lives, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith in this area. We must deliberately process what we are on about on a daily basis and examine it against scripture. If we can pray that God would expose the areas in our lives and be truthful with ourselves then we can resolve to find the will of God for our lives. In other words we must now live our lives to the revealed will of the Holy Spirit. I deliberately do not want to break this down in point form, but rather allow ourselves to be honest and examine our own hearts and then find grace to act on the areas that need work. If there are some dark deep secret sins that need addressing then we must attend to it, it cannot be ignored! It must not be no be allowed to flourish under the banner of sin, we must wrestle with it and find grace to deal with it. Do not categorize any lust to the will of man, no matter how small it would appear to be, as something we have permission to overlook, we do not! We must remember the suffering of our Saviour and understand that It was an attitude of “all from Him” so that we could go free, now we must at least start by looking into a mirror which will reflect our lives so that we can begin to find the will of God in the areas were we have neglected His will.

Look at an example of a man when men were being martyred for their faith, they were faced with certain death, what choices did he have? They could have denounced their faith but chose not to. “That he no longer should live - in the flesh - Governed by the base principle of giving up his faith to save his life; to the lusts of men - according to the will of his idolatrous persecutors; but to the will of God; which will of God is, that he should retain the truth, and live according to its dictates, though he should suffer for it.”

Our flesh is the persecutor and our will want us to hanker after the lusts of men, but it is a lie that enslaves us and binds us to the weakness of the flesh and sin. We need only find the will of God for our lives. When we seek out His will we will be freed in our consciences to serve Him without so many stumbling blocks keeping us away from the throne room of grace where many blessings and Godly delicacies are freely available to all His children.

Signing off

Tyrone

God meant it for Good

(Genesis 33:2) “And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.”

The thought I consider this morning is how we protect those closest to us. Jacob was on the run from his brother Esau and instinctively he devised a plan to protect His loved ones. He split up his caravan into three parts, all those of least importance to him where placed in the front with his wife Leah and her children in the second column and then another gap with his most prize wife and child Joseph right at the back. His intention for strategizing with this plan was ultimately to protect his entire household, but clearly we can see he gives Rachel and Joseph the greatest chance of survival against a vengeful brother, Esau!

How often will God test our commitment to Him by stripping us of what is closest to our own hearts? It is hard for us to hide our true feelings; I know I wear my heart on my sleeve, just like Jacob did with his counter plan against Esau, imagine how the rest of his family began to resent his father’s blue eyed boy. We know this to be true because they (the brothers) sold Joseph into slavery and lied to their very own father and with a lying tone of harmony they declared that he was dead and had been devoured by a savage beast.

Here is another account of how God’s sovereignty will never be disrupted by man’s plots to change a promise that He made to Abraham.

How will God bring you to a place of testing, He must, as this will expose our hearts and we will see that they are carnal and often devise wicked plans against God’s will, that is their makeup! I am not suggesting that Jacob was wicked as he favoured Rachel over Leah or Jacob over his other sons, but the rationale I would like us to consider is how we will by default protect what is most valuable to us at the expense of others. Often wealth can be included in this bracket, this is the way it is. That is why I think the Lord Jesus used an example like this; (Matthew 10:37) “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

Somewhere we will need to be tested in the quarter, I think! I do not lie this down as a definite truth for all, but some will be tested in this area.

Joseph was taken through horrendous times and yet He came through it all with flying colours. He learnt through his trail that people around him meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. His trial ultimately brought great reunion between his family and it climaxed with an embrace of father with son. It was such good news that Jacob was revived in his spirit and found a new zest for life. I pray we will always remember that God is Sovereign and is always in control, He never drops his guard. He is who He is, He cannot be who He is not, He is no actor, He is the real deal, He is the only true living God and He will have His way. We need to remember accounts like this and understand that He will bring the best out of every situation for His children, has He not proved it by sending His beloved Son our great Saviour, even Jesus Christ the Lord. He proves it time after time and we must remember that we have the Word to remind and guides us in the paths of righteousness.

So let us not be blindsided by the testing of life as we battle to understand why things happen, God is molding us into the imagine of our Saviour, it is a painful process but a needful one. Peter teaches us; (1Peter 4:1) “Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;” So the one who was without sin, the Lord Jesus had to learn to put off sin (learn to combat temptation and not give into it by sinning) by suffering in His flesh. If it was needed for Him in the flesh how much more then for us is suffering needed because of our sinful natures?

May we be given strength to find grace to apply ourselves to this truth and be reminded that God our Father is in control even if we do not understand how and why things may be happening in our lives.

Signing off

Tyrone

Everlasting Love

(Jeremiah 3:13) “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.

Electing love, how great is the electing One! Election something so foreign to our rationale that we think it cannot be, but is exactly what God has done in His mercy, He has chosen those who will be saved? How can that be we may asks ourselves, yet this everlasting Great Jehovah has paid the price for sin and has in His infinite wisdom chosen to save sinners. The scripture is clear that all have sinned so every person does indeed qualify for salvation. However it is not the self righteous and the pompous do-gooders that He has singled out, it is the really sick individuals that He has often elected and chosen to save, because it exalts His own name and when did He made His mind who He would save. The bible is clear; He made His mind up before the foundation of the world who He would save, and from the very first to the very least, that means over a period of 6000 years. (Revelation 17:8) ”And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world…” In other words a role nor registrar was filled in before creation. What a mind gnawing thought when we unpack this idea, God choosing every single person that will be saved and then saving every one with the Lord Jesus claiming His ability to lookout for them as the Good Shepherd without ever losing one of them. Many do not agree with this understanding of salvation and God’s keeping power to the extent that “once saved always saved.” But I would like us to stop, think and just consider my train of thought just for a minute, let us say this actually was true and it is exactly what God accomplishes. Not one is lost except the son of perdition (Judas) as it was written and pre determined by God as someone had to betray the Lord. Think of the intricacies of what that would entail, an individual with his own personality and a baggage of sin that God forgives him for, yet the consequences in many cases still needing to be dealt with. Now compound that by say a million all at one time with an active enemy trying to destroy the faith of some. Do we get the picture I am depicting, all these happenings across the globe and all this apparent confusion when we as humans use a rationale in working it out, all we end up with is a brain overload, but not with God! He is so magnificent and so full over wisdom and we already have had glimpse of His brilliance which is now evident for all to see. (1Corithians 2:8) “which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory:” We see God planned to save the world by sending His Son to the cross to die for sinners and yet no one was able to see what He was up too, if they would of known that it would save sinners they would not have crucified Christ. God magnifies His own worth by exposing the lack of wisdom of His enemies. God laughs at His enemy’s plight to derail Him. He proved by the act of the cross that He is greater than all, both man and principality and powers. In like manner when God saves and if He is able to keep all whom He elects to be saved, my question to you is who will be exalted? Man, most definitely not! He will be illustrious in spite of man’s disability to disrupt His Sovereignty. His wisdom and the enormity of it will silence all and sundry, this is the God I serve. He is far greater than any rival; in fact there is not even a pittance of comparison. How majestic, how sovereign and how brilliant is the only true living God. Beyond any human comprehension, our mind are unable to delve into the depths of His wisdom, we do not even scratch the surface, but a day is coming when we will see Him as He is and then when we fall down and worship our King, and we will wonder how was it that I did so little understand.

Have faith in the keeping power of our King as He is able to save from the uttermost to the uttermost. He is our redeemer trust in Him and it will go well with our souls. Let every doubt be killed by the sweetness of His kiss.

Signing off

Tyrone

Why the Sabbath?

(Exodus 20:8) “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

Today is the 19^th of December and a Sunday, a day of rest or a Sabbath day as most South African find that they do not have to work on a Sunday. Whether the Sabbath is on a Saturday or Sunday is not the point, the Lord Jesus reminds us that the Sabbath was instituted for man and not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27) “And he said unto them, the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:” It is one day of the week were we do not need to work but rather to find rest in Him. In the Wilderness the children of Israel needed to gather food on a daily basis. However on the Sabbath day they did not have to gather as it was a day of rest for them. It was their reward for their obedience from God to them. If the principle is clear and we understand the purpose of the Sabbath then why do we not take it and make it our own. We should remember to relax and rest in Him; we should just sit back and feed on Him, Church, a good Christian book, the bible, fellowship with other believers and we should begin to embrace this principle more and more as we see that day approaching. What day? A day that is just over the horizon, the day when an angel will sound a trumpet alerting heaven that the eminent return of the Lord Jesus is here. That it has finally arrived! It is only those with the Spirit of God, only those who have been born of the spirit, the explanation the Lord Jesus gives to Nicodemus in the book of John chapter 3 explaining the new birth. All those who belong to the Lord Jesus and have been sanctified by His blood, all the true sheep and not the goats that feed amongst the sheep. We are warned by the Lord that there will be two in the field the one taken and the other one left behind. (Luke 17:36) “There shall be two men in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.” So if we have an opportunity to gather with other believer on the day of our rest then lets us find reason to do that instead of reasons why we should not gather with other believers. The point of fellowship is so that we (like minded people) can encourage one another to press on, to believe our God and remind one another that there is a day coming when it will all be over, the rest for every believer is just around the corner. That is why we have also been given the Sabbath day to ultimately remind us of our final rest in Christ and in Heaven, within the walls of the New Jerusalem. So remember today and find rest in the Lord Jesus, by remembering the sabbath, may it stir up our hope for that eternal rest that is coming. What a day that will be when we meet our Lord and Saviour in the clouds, when corruption will be swallowed up by incorruption, may that truth captivate you mind today and may we all find rest in Him, Amen.

Signing off

Tyrone

God Totally Satisfied

“It is enough; now stay thy hand.”

I am fascinated by the heart of God; there is a side to Him that is so soft and gentle, that it does not seem possible! He is the only true God with all the power in the universe and the ability to wield it as and when He chooses and He still find it in His heart to say “it is enough!” Perfectly and righteously within His character to continue with His ruling and yet He says “enough”, and commands the angel to stay his hand. I hope you see this side to a God of great mercies and how full of grace He is and a God who always seem to want to be merciful even in judgment. He seems to always be looking for someone to bless, when I consider this attribute to God I am left totally gob smacked! What an act from our beloved Saviour who accomplished everything for us (every believer) on Calvary. It is obvious why the Lord instituted the ordinance of “the breaking of bread” and how we are to partake of that ordinance as often as we would remember His death. Our great heavenly Father now willingly invites us to come to Him with boldness as a son, because of His Son; He finally is able to be merciful because of His Sons obedience. I hope you have seen the magnitude of what this actually means. How grateful I am and yet I look back and not so long ago and I hang my head in shame. How you loving woe your children to find an obedient walk even if their life has so often spoken with an opposing tone. I do love you so Father as you first loved me, please help me lay down my life and keep your commandments. I do take solace in the fact that I am not alone and the only son you have that at times has not obey your voice, It should not be this way! I confess I err more than most, but I realize even David found that He had to repent and confess his sin not only once but whenever the need did arise. (2Samuel 24:10) “And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto Jehovah, I have sinned greatly in that which I have done: but now, O Jehovah, put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.” Read this chapter and you will see that David understood that God is full of mercy; (2Samuel 24:14) “And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of Jehovah; for his mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man.”

There will and must always be consequences to our sin, yet forgiveness we have because of the Lord Jesus and His own sacrifice. It is far better for us to commit ourselves unto the Lord as He is full of mercy, man and the prince of the power of the air, the devil will only look to squeeze and bleed you, so the sooner we realize this truth the better off we will be. Turn to Jesus and you will find life, in He is the fullness of living. Christ did totally satisfy God’s wrath against sin, once and for all, God now chooses to righteously without any partial judgment be merciful and not ever have to look again to stay His hand in judgment form those who are cover by the blood of the lamb, they have already been judged and punished, not that they received their just punishment, but the Lord Jesus received it on their behalf. How amazing is the love of God! Do you see it, can you catch a glimpse of His mercy. It is no wonder that David pens statements like this; (Psalms 25:6) “Remember, O Jehovah, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindness; For they have been ever of old.”

Mercy has been part of God’s character always, He has never changed, all that has happened, in the process of time is that He sent His Son to complete His eternal plan making an open declaration of His character and He has and will show to all that He has a heart full of love, as God is love! It is one thing to say something but it can never be question if what is said has been acted upon. Vengeance is mine says the Lord, and a day is coming when every knee will bow and confess Jesus as Lord. Every single soul ever born, will be brought to His knees and acknowledge the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary. How wonderful it is for all of us who now have seen a glimpse of the magnitude of what Christ’s act has done for us, by dying, so that we could go free. May this be submerged deep within our hearts I pray as this accomplishment is massive and we so often glibly overlook the enormity of it. May God forgive us as He so often does as He realizes that we all but flesh, a day will soon arrive and we will see our Saviour as He is and we will worship Him in person. How I long for that day, even so come quickly Lord Jesus so that all your sheep may pay you your rightful homage at the marriage feast of the Lamb.

Signing off

Tyrone

Wind!

(Genesis 8:1) “…God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;”

The wind is obvious to all, it cannot be missed! Yet we do not know where it comes from, or where it starts and we have no idea where it will end. Yet God in His Sovereign plan with creation included the wind, and we see that He uses it at times to bring healing and at times to bring judgment. However, we see after the flood when God had judged the world by water He brought a wind to clean up all that was submerged. We also see that the Lord Jesus makes reference to the spiritual birth as a wind when addressing a religious man who thought He was saved but yet was not and still needed salvation. He likens our regeneration to the wind and how it is available for all to witness and yet it only affects some of us as we see His glory and our eyes are opened to see heaven for the first time, heaven’s door is visible and we suddenly have an urgency to enter through that door, even though we may have been brought up in a church going household. We were dead in our trespass and sins until the Lord Jesus said come forth and we saw our sin and our need for a Saviour. We then fell to our knees in repentance and called out to the One who was able to save, praise the name above every other name, praise the One who knew no sin yet the One who died for sinners, yes there was a day when we came face to face with our Saviour, ALL THOSE WHO NOW BELIEVE, God the Spirit has always been around probing the heart of sinners just like the wind, but I recall that day very clearly when that breeze blew and touched my life and opened my eyes to the need of a Saviour and then it happened. If you have been fingered by Him, do you remember that familiarity, are you grateful to your first love? Do you recall what He has done for you, I do and am thankful! Maybe not nearly thankful enough but my love for Him is growing on a daily basis, for this I am thankful. I trust you relationship is fresh and you have embraced Him today, if not then remember He say “Come”, He is not harsh and unapproachable, as I have been with people in my life at times, please forgive me Lord. If sin keeps you from Him it is simple, repent and ask Him for forgiveness, He will forgive you, just turn to Him, He is willing and able.

I have been surrounded by wind on my bike and it has got me thinking, hence me considering the importance of it.

Everything in life in one form or other points to our creator, it declares His majesty, His brilliance and reveals a portion of God’s never ending attributes. They are so vast and have such depths that we could never explore all of His Elements, but that doesn’t mean we must not try! Read the Psalms they filled with glimpses of who He is. God is love, which is not just a casual statement, HE IS LOVE! His character is full of love, yes we see judgments and destruction by God where He brutally destroys the enemy’s who oppose His people. Love has to protect their own. Yet with all His power, consider how a God with the ability to do whatever He chooses, then selects to send His Son to die for those who are His enemies, if that does not floor any doubt that God is Love, then you must not be able to reason soundly. Look at this verse that Paul uses to illustrate this very point; (Romans 5:6-8) “For while we were yet weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: for peradventure for the good man some one would even dare to die. But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

So to all of you who are battling to see your hope clearly, but you look forward to one day that you will make it to heaven to ever be with the Lord Jesus, remember this, that if God sent His son to die for you while you were His enemy, how much more will He save you by His life, if you belong to Him He will not give up on you, He will get you home. Believe it as it is true.

Signing off

Tyrone