SELF-EXAMINATION

 Self-examination is crucial today. The sign of the times is ramping up, what do I mean by that? There is a checklist we need to mirror ourselves against and then find grace to rectify the lack in our lives. This is an important exercise, and we cannot afford to turn a blind eye. It's not enough to have a form of godliness but in our closets live powerless. Allowing the secret sins of the heart to rule our lives. For if we live without persuasive conviction, we may be a vessel of dishonour. When I examine my own life, I am aware of the rot that looks to live, deception under a banner of love and grace will always look to excuse our behaviour. Here is the call "Everyone who says they believe in the Lord must stop doing wrong." 2 Timothy 2:19 – we cannot habitually continue with unrighteous living believing we have a free pass. The fruits of the flesh have been listed; "The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: committing sexual sin, being morally bad, doing all kinds of shameful things, worshipping false gods, taking part in witchcraft, hating people, causing trouble, being jealous, angry or selfish, causing people to argue and divide into separate groups, being filled with envy, getting drunk, having wild parties, and doing other things like this. I warn you now as I warned you before: The people who do these things will not have a part in God's kingdom." (Galatians 5:19-22)

 

Am I implying that we are saved by works and not by grace? Not! However, there is a sect of people who believe grace excuses us from living unrighteously and still gets us to heaven.

 

"But God's strong foundation never moves, and these words are written on it: "The Lord knows those who belong to him." Also, these words are written there: "Everyone who says they believe in the Lord must stop doing wrong." In a large house there are things made of gold and silver. But there are also things made of wood and clay. Some of these are used for special purposes, others for ordinary jobs. The Lord wants to use you for special purposes, so make yourself clean from all evil. Then you will be holy, and the Master can use you. You will be ready for any good work." (2 Timothy 2:19-21) – In a house there is a highly valued vessel whilst other items are needed but taken for granted. Nevertheless, the point is clear if you are to be valued as a special item used for a "special purpose" we are commissioned to rid ourselves of all evil. If not we will not be involved with God's good works. This is the scariest thought of all, Solomon said it like this; the beginning of wisdom is to fear God and keep his commandments. We have also been taught that perfect love casts out all fear. But that love will never seek out its own at the expense of others. It can never accommodate a breach of God's character… so what is this love preached from many a pulpit? The message is all about acceptance and zero judgment, a pseudo-love that allows sin to thrive and ostracises the righteous, in fact viciously calling them out. This is why as I have stressed many times over the years, we only have one yardstick to measure and be measured with and that is the WORD of GOD, Period! The Bible is our final authority, it has to be otherwise the lines of life and society smudge so badly, that deception will speak loudest and deceive even the elect if that were possible—carnage of the highest order. Satan's time is at hand and his brilliance is becoming very obvious for me to see and the hand he is playing. He will unite the world and break down the barriers of the great divide appearing as an angel of light with the intention of cloak and hidden daggers, for his end game will result in the Lake of Fire.

 

"The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you."

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

 

Choices

Life is all about choices, but we need to investigate this with a microscope to understand better how we make those choices. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. However, we all know what we believe God to be differently. But faith is the driving factor behind it all. We all live with a measure of faith. A new buzzword “manifesting” is circulating; the Cambridge dictionary rates it as the most popular word searched for 2024. It’s all about our foundational understanding of who God is, get that wrong and we will never arrive at the right result. The new generation loves to refer to the universe as their god. A typical technique would be “to manifest” something into your life (believing it will happen) and trust the universe to give it to you. That is faith in the unseen, but misguided. Romans 1 also comes into play here; “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity…” (Romans 1:22-24) 

 

This is a crucial fundamental principle to base our deductions. If we do not believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, forget it, our conclusions will always be flawed. Why? God is a Spirit being and we are carnal beings, without eyes opened to the spiritual realm we are all like blind people groping in the dark hoping that we won’t fall into the ditch. Sadly without God’s intervention, we will all fall into that ditch. A treasure hunt can be exciting, especially if we are the ones who find the treasure chest. However, what use is an impregnable treasure box without the key opening it? Here is the first clue for all to uncover, pay careful attention to it; John 3:3 “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”” – If anyone has seen the “Book of Eli” with Denzel Washington, it was about a tyrant who looked to find a book with the answers to life, he searched far and wide and eventually it was uncovered, but when he opened the pages it was written in braille. He was missing the key like so many miss the Lord's statement. You can be standing in a church or with a Bible in your hand and unless God intervenes, your eyes will remain wide shut. And yet this is a mystery; why do some receive sight and not others? ”unless” there needs to be an event in a person's life which unlocks their sight into the spiritual world. Without that key blindness remains and deception reigns. Many may believe that God is a high priority in their lives, hence so many religious factions, but sadly most are based on morals and ethics. On the surface, these things keep our conscience at bay and the yearning to unlock the truth in an irredeemable state. How can this be? We all know about good and evil, it’s God's design for the human race. However, some factions operate in the spiritual world and govern both good and evil. Satan who Jesus refers to as the “father of lies” is all about deception and he is the enemy of God who wants at all costs to thwart God's plans for mankind, his objective is to take as many humans down with him as possible. How does he do this? Deception! Those whom he deceives will end up in the Lake of Fire. This is not an opinion but rather a fact confirmed by John the Apostle in the Book of Revelations; Rev 20:10 “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Unless you find forgiveness for the sins you have committed unless you cry out to God in humility and seek his forgiveness you will be amongst that number. There is no wiggle room here, nor any secret passages, there is only one way to find forgiveness; call upon the name of Jesus. He alone has the key to eternal life, ask of him and find forgiveness, this is how one is “born again”, this is where we are gifted eyes to see into the spiritual world and this is where true faith in God, the only one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is unlocked and where eternal beneficial faith germinates.

 

Signing out

 

Tyrone

Carnally Minded

The brain is a brilliant organ, so intricate that it leaves the world’s greatest cardiothoracic surgeons scratching their heads at times. To be carnally minded is to be in enmity with God. Simplified, to be governed by a set of laws that we use is hostile against God. Why? Well, Satan so drives us that he has blinded us to so many differing realities about life and the way we live it, when stripped down, we are left with the Apostles' statement; Romans_8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Here he introduces another reality. He is not referring to death which is common to man as we know it, old age and terminal illness that eventually take our lives. He is looking deeper, beyond the veil if you like. Something we should all do whilst we have breath, once we breathe our last it’s over and then it’s too late, the next phase of our existence kicks in. What will our eternal existence look like?

Although I only have a basic understanding of the intricacies of the afterlife, I know enough to realise that I will have a glorified body, which will no longer be subject to the laws of nature, a spiritual body. But to arrive I need to learn to put off my carnal mind. I must live by faith; this process will be tested over time. Look at it as a test that lasts as long as we live, a lifetime for most and the longer we live the more there is to be judged for. Whether we agree with the truth that we live eternally or not doesn’t affect certainty, as we have no power within ourselves to change the outcome, period! God the maker of the heavens and the earth has set out his plan and it is up to us to earnestly seek that out, if not hell will be our final destination. The Bible is obvious on that.

I need to stress the importance of telling you the truth, why? Because I value you as a friend, a true friend would never be so certain of truth and know it with all his heart to be true and then withhold it from a friend. All that would prove is a selfish approach to friendship, I'm ok Jack so why should I worry about you? Friendship as I value it must be about the truth even if someone is not ready for it, especially if it will help them in the long run. This is my intent to help you see the light and then grasp what I by the grace of God was able to clench so many years ago and cry out; “I have found the answer to life!”

Stage one of eternity here on earth, life in our natural bodies with an enemy looking to distract and keep us from achieving our utmost potential, the carnal mind, or simplified the natural mind, our natural mind, a conditioning the mind receives from the onset. No matter the direction we take in life so long as we are kept so busy with “stuff” that we do not with intent seek out the truth, God and His Plan. “For to be carnally minded is death.” This is the meaning of this portion of Paul’s warning; if we miss the purpose and plans of God, specifically where or how do I fit into that picture, this is where we will eventually die none the wiser and then judgment and then hell or to be more specific the Lake of Fire will be our eternal abode. But God has made a way, he has placed a key to the treasure map for all to find. Will you make this a priority? Effort is crucial, I can assure you all of this truth if you sincerely seek out the truth, you will find it. If you look to feed the carnal mind and chase after all the false traps of this world, even those that seem admiral and a must for life, I fear you will miss the most important lesson. See yourself as a sinner who needs salvation. There is only one who can save us from eternal damnation, The Lord Jesus Christ, why Him only? He lived a life of sinless perfection, he never broke one of God's laws, died on a cruel Roman cross for our sins and was raised from the dead. Therefore, He can now stand in the gap for our sins, He covers the sins of all who cry and call out to Him for help. This is the love of God personified, not the fuzzy fluffy tolerance of allowing the breech of sin to run riot. God's love is about forgiveness and not an allowance for sin. This is the yardstick we can all use to verify the truth in this area of the love of God.

 

Please pay serious attention to these words from the Apostle Paul; “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11)

 

As I sit here on Friday morning with the clock reading 3:40, I have flashes of my friends who may still be on the fence with this truth, I am praying for all of you. I was going to list you by name but I believe you know who you all are.

 

Once you find the key to unlock the spiritual realm, regardless of the stresses of life there is always an undertone of life and peace. The harder it gets the stronger the awareness of the dependency of faith. God's plan is so intricately woven into the lives of both the believer and the unbeliever that once we have eyes to see and the more we study the more in awe we are, God is BRILLIANT! His plan is way beyond our deepest imaginations, it’s only when we think we can outsmart God that we find ourselves face down in the dirt. I know this to be true, where you will land is entirely up to you, I am praying for you.

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone           

    

 

Seeking out Wisdom

 Folly (lack of good sense, foolishness) as opposed to wisdom (wise with the ability to impart good judgement to any given circumstance). God gave wisdom to Solomon, he was gifted with knowledge, and an ability to understand. Now, considering both options what should we pursue, wisdom or folly? It would be foolish to assume we haven’t walked as fools somewhere along life's journey. To be honest I am tired of the folly that surrounds my life. We tend to see foolishness as a small thing at times. But it has dire consequences in eternity. Any selfish decision that looks to gratify the flesh is folly.

 

Every decision that is not focused on the will of God our Father is folly in one form or another. No matter how you slice and justify an action if we are the sole beneficiaries of a particular action, then we need to rethink our understanding of wisdom. Let me qualify that statement, it must be read in the context of Romans 12:1-2 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  Therefore everything outside of this mindset would fall into the follies zone.

 

Any action outside God's will is laced with folly, even if we have our children's interests at heart at the expense of a God-first mentality. When we use the systems of the world, we find security in mankind’s ideals, not the wisdom of God, and yes you can take that as far as you like. We have a natural tendency to justify the actions we take whilst looking for acknowledgements along the way. We call wisdom financial security at the expense of the will of God, the truth be told that is simply folly dressed up in branded gear.

 

Ask yourself the question, how can I obtain wisdom? How can you qualify to be gifted wisdom? Buckle up! It all starts with the fear of God. Like any journey has its beginnings, so too, wisdom begins with the fear of God in our lives. Judgement is coming, that is set in stone, and God has been extremely clear on that. Every sin committed needs to be accounted for. God is a holy God, and did you know? He can't LIE! It's impossible! 

 

Sins of every kind have their benefits, they bring temporal relief or satisfaction. Take a bribe and that money brings value whilst it lasts. But that action will eventually need to be judged. Fornication or adultery has the same results, a fleeting moment of pleasure but judgment is coming. Sodom and Gomorrah were laced with homosexuality and the wrath of God annihilated all, save Lot and some of his family. The list is endless, however, nothing in our lives will change if we do not hold a reverence “A fear of God” in our understanding, wisdom will continue to elude us.

 

When we pray remember the Lord Jesus’ instruction, the very first point is to give reverence to God and hallow HIS NAME! He has a plan for the universe, he has a plan for the angels and mankind and to be more specific, he has a plan for you. The script for all of this was written before creation came into existence. Every “t” crossed and “i” dotted. Stop reading and think about how mind-blowing that is. It may be time to put our self-opinioned sentiments aside and bask in God’s brilliance. As if we know anything…

 

However, I do know this, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and so if it is wisdom you are after, this would be a good place to start.

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

Working Notes

Question; “From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?” – Answer; “And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

·         Psa_111:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

·         Pro_1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

·         Pro_15:33  The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

·         Pro_9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Godly fear is the beginning of wisdom

·         To initiate wisdom in our lives we must start with the fear of God and his judgements.

·         Why? Because it's only God who can save us from ourselves and we need wisdom to overcome sin in our lives… Do you need to be saved from yourself?

·         Without the correct understanding (our view of sin) wisdom will elude us.

·         Interestingly enough Solomon used sin to learn this lesson!!!!!! Ecc 2:1  I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. 

·         The “lust of the flesh” was let loose in his life if I understand correctly.

·         Ecc 2:10  And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 

·         Ecc 2:13  Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 

·     I have not learnt this lesson yet, but by the grace of God, He is opening my eyes, and I am starting to learn. There is more gain in wisdom than folly. So, what does that mean for me?

·     Although sin, the breach of God's laws brings satisfaction, it is but for a season, lust lasts until it doesn’t. Satisfaction lasts until it doesn’t and then what of pride? That seems to top it all and lasts the longest. Sin is everything that personifies Satan and the pleasures of sin are the fruit of sin. A tree of a sinful kind when cultivated produces its types of fruit, “sex, drugs and rock n roll”. Every sin can somehow be tied into that mentality. But the beloved disciple John puts it best; “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” 2John:16  

·     But remember it all springs from the father of lies, the devil. He is the father of sin, he tempted Eve. And he convinced one-third of the angels to follow him and they were banished from heaven. There is so much we don’t know, the details behind the curtain. But God our beloved Father has given us eyes to see, I bless his Holy name, Amen and Amen!

·         2Ch 1:11  God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 

Conclusion

·         Without believing God will judge us for our sinful behaviour we will always err on the side of folly.

·         Without the fear of God’s awesomeness in the context of his wrath, we will always look to hide in the dark instead of concluding that light is gain. That is why sins of that nature are referred to as secret sins. The outburst of anger is plain to see but hidden thoughts and concealed actions are committed behind the curtain and yet they too will be judged.

·         However if we continue to live in darkness it is obvious to conclude that we haven’t learnt that there is more to gain with wisdom than the pleasure of folly.

·         To action wisdom in our lives we need to see its gain for our lives and conclude that there is more gain in wisdom than folly and that it is better to walk in the light than in darkness.

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

 

 

Another watchman's call...

 A watchman’s cry is never anticipated; however, watchmen are strategically placed to warn of imminent danger. If the trumpet sounds, immediate action is required. When the warning is ignored, the outcome is often catastrophic. If not heard, then we were in the wrong place to start with. “Birds of a feather flock together” is common knowledge; everyone understands.

I remember a song we used to sing when I was newly saved, “say will you be ready when Jesus comes”. With emphasis placed upon our positional place in the finished work of the cross.  I wonder how many understand today's urgency. It’s extremely important to dress for battle, we must be a people that is Bible-saturated, and there are so many conflicting voices that if we miss this we may miss out on one of the greatest events of all time, the return of our Saviour.

The Bible refers to this specific event, and this is how our beloved brother Paul pens it; “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” (1Corinthians 15:53)

A fairytale to the blind and unsaved, nevertheless the Christians' greatest hope. A trumpet will sound and the Lord Jesus will return and the Christians living on the earth will experience this miraculous event and be changed in the blink of an eye, one minute going about daily activities in our human corruptible bodies and then the switch, into a glorious eternal body with timeless properties attached. Let this truth sink in the next time we are confronted with temptation.

The weakness of our flesh is a pitiful thing. It has been corrupted by sin and is constantly dying. So many of us spend so much time on it in one way or another, what a calamity. There is a day coming when the Christians will receive their glorified bodies. Bodies made up of different substances and with eternal properties, the best way for our carnal brains to process this, think about a Marvel action hero with superhuman strength. A body capable of standing on the sun's surface, or with vital organs that never need to be repaired, the imagination can run riot if given liberty. Without going beyond what has been written, there is a day coming when we will be reunited with our God and King and it will be glorious, we will receive glorified bodies that will never age, but the greatest prize is this. God will be our God and we will be his sons.

 

Let us all think on this and look to Jesus for sustenance, one day at a time, just for today we need to find grace to put the body under…

 

Blessing to all that confess the Lord Jesus as Lord and for those who have not yet truly cried out to Jesus for rescue, today is the day and while you have breath you have hope. But call you must, if not, well, that is too terrible to contemplate.

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone  

 

A Watchman's Cry

 I greet all in the majestic and wonderful name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, this is a watchman call to all who have ears to hear; “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.” (Romans 8:6-7) 

 

Therefore remember whose eyes and ears are fixed on the wrong priorities will be in danger of missing the obvious warning signs we are and will continue to witness in upcoming events. Remember the parable of the virgins and their lamps? Are you ready? We all need to get our morning fix of our beloved Saviour, and this must become our priority. This should be a no-brainer, however, the world with all its lures so often can distract. Hence the reason to nail home the truth of God's word; “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.” Everything about your life will now look for wiggle room, justification for why it needs to happen. It’s time to fine-tune the dial, cut out the noise and remove the static, if not we have been warned. What will it be? Provision for the flesh and all that comes with that or will we seek out God’s grace with a sincere heart to focus on the Spirit of God, in simplified words, will our focus be on heavenly things?

 

I have purposefully not highlighted specifics, because if you are a child of God you will know what needs doing. Save to say this; the option we face daily, do we put on the mind of Christ or do we look to our carnal abilities to overcome the day? The voices out there will get louder and begin to single out the Christian (the true Christian), we will have a choice to shrink into a corner or find grace to be bold for our God and King. It will be jail time for some and even eventually death, but we are not quite there yet.

 

Blessing to all who love and hallowed the name of our great God…

 

I’ll leave with words of our beloved Saviour; “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone