Imitators!

(1Corinthians 11:1) “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

Possibly the reason Paul starts this chapter with the instruction to imitate him as to the extent in which he imitates Christ was to alleviate any further excuse (lie) which the believers at Corinth may have looked for in finding justification to continue in sin so that grace may abound. In other words, they ignored their conscience and nagging weakness of the flesh and submitted to its will where and when the need arose. When their need for love feasts presented itself, they obliged instead of finding grace to withstand the urge. I believe they had understood that they had been saved by grace through faith, which was a gift of God, so they had understood salvation was a free gift and they could do nothing to earn it. This is true! They like many other Christians (me included) had to be taught the truth behind the lesson of self denial in finding daily sanctification by putting the flesh to death on a daily basis. We all have been sanctified at salvation by the blood of the Lamb, if I belong to the Lord Jesus and I have received the spirit of adoption whereby I am privileged to call out Abba Father, then I am sanctified by the Lord Jesus, nothing I do will justify me in the sight of God outside of His Son, that is the beginning and the end of the story. When God the Father looks upon me and I call out in prayer to Him, He obviously recognises me for who I am but He only acknowledges my prayer request on the merit of His Son my Saviour. I am sanctified by the Lord Jesus, passed, present and future. Where this thought becomes difficult to process correctly, especially as a new believer struggling with the sin in their own life. A believer is told that he is righteous (and he is) because of the merits of the Lord’s work and not his own. This then causes doubt to raise its head and then when this lie gets its claws into the believers understanding, it results in a licence which runs riots in their minds, excusing the sin in their life as expectable. The conflict between the law of God (which is good) and their sinful nature in opposition to one another, with this constant conflict eating them up inside they erred on the side of sin. Instead of putting their body under, so that through suffering they may learn obedience. The church at Corinth were no doubt living like this, were they saved, absolutely! But was what they were doing acceptable? Absolutely not! I believe they had understood salvation and that the law was there to teach then that they could not keep it and that they were sinners and needed a Saviour. They had embraced this truth but they had not understood what the church at Rome had understood. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2)

They now needed to resist temptation when it presented itself and the purpose for us having to resist temptation is so that we can learn obedience. How will I learn obedience if I resist temptation? I learn obedience through suffering; “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,” (1Peter 4:1)

In other words through sufferings I will learn to deny my fleshly wants and I will stop sinning. This will be an ongoing process in every believer’s life until he gives up the ghost. I am not suggesting that we will eventually be perfect without any sin in our lives here on earth, but we must resolve our minds to achieve this goal.

What the church at Corinth had not understood, even as I battled to understand, if I was sanctified by the blood of the lamb and I was saved on the Lord Jesus’ merit, then regardless of what I did would change that truth. That is correct no matter what you do, it will never change what Christ achieved on that hill in Golgotha. It may hinder our testimony before others but it will never take away from Christ’s victory, it cannot!

But Paul gives them a yardstick in which to measure their own example here on earth as obedient children and therefore he suggest, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” He enforcers the cautions against the abuse of liberty, by his own example: The important point Paul drives home is not that of a cultish mentality, he does not say follow me because I say so and I am your leader, he purposefully says copy me as much as I duplicate Christ’s example. Follow me as much as I follow Christ, and yet he could confidently give this instruction as his example in following his Saviour was a good illustration. We must never follow any leader further than he follows Christ.

What I find very refreshing, and maybe because I was also exposed to this form of discipline in my life. Correcting must come when we are in error; even discipline at times is the only liberating truth that will when it has run its course bring forth fruit in a believer’s life. If we have erred in this area of our understanding as a believer, if we once believed and may still believe that we can continue in sin that grace may abound, we are mistaken, we must understand that there is also an ongoing sanctification that needs to happen in our lives on a daily basis. We must look for grace to put aside the lust that drives us in disobedience against the will of God, our Father. Everything in our lives, both good and bad is to teach us to learn to obey God and to serve Him with a godly fear, in reverence.

My prayer is that we would learn to imitate Paul as he imitated Christ in every area of our lives, may we lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily distracts us from finding obedience to the glory of God our Father, in and through our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Signing off

Tyrone

Remembering Him!

(1Corinthians 11:24) “And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

There must come a time in a believers life when we must conclude that it is now the time to get rid of a particular evil habit, while we cry out to God the Spirit for help in our time of need.

As Spurgeon once put it: “Spread your sail; but remember what you sometimes sing-

“I can only spread the sail;

Thou! Thou! must breathe the auspicious gale.””

But in faith believing that God will act in grace and be full of mercy. We will know when it is time, as the rustling of the trees seem a lot crisper to the ear. We will sense the presence of the Almighty as He breathes upon our infirmity. We will know that God will finally deliver us from the “clutches of habit” and after so many enslaving years in a particular area, we will be set free. The gale of deliverance is at hand but we must make sure we do not miss the passing wind. Our sail must not miss the gust for want of preparation for it. Today is a day like that, we have communion today, how thankful I am for the privilege of examining myself to see if I be in the faith.

“But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.” (1Corinthians 11:31)

My thoughts are driven to the Lord’s Prayer and the reminder of what the Lord Jesus said to us about prayer; “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Have I been walking circumspectly before my heavenly Father? If my answer is no, then I am afforded the opportunity to judge myself. The reason I must judge myself, is to free me and liberate me en route for my responsibility I have toward God, so that I will not be judged with the world or by God as I have already honestly judged myself! It is in God the Fathers goodness that He affords all His children this opportunity. But I urge us all; let us not miss this prospect, as it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. I must acknowledge my fault, my evil habit or any unkindness to a brother; wherever I lack confession asking God for forgiveness, I pray that my mind would burn with conviction exposing my heart, which in turn will then aid me in finding deliverance. However, I must in the same breathe remember what it cost the Lord to die on that cruel Roman cross for me. I must remember His Death! How do I do that? I must remember to break bread and drink from the cup of the vine; “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” (1Corinthians 11:26)

I must not forget to seek help from God, to be found more earnest in duty when made stronger in faith; we must all be more constant in prayer when we have more liberty at the throne; When God’s forgiveness passes over us, may we understand its magnitude and delivering power, may our sail that now flaps in the gentle breeze embrace the gust of wing of God as it passes by with healing in its hand. What would be the purpose of this embrace? Its purpose would be to enable us to live holier in our conversation whilst we live more closely with Christ, Glorifying our heavenly Father.

I remember the mirror today and as I look into it, many blemishes are visible to the naked eye. Yet in faith I recall that I am not justified by my own works but by the work that Christ accomplished on Calvary.

I must look for forgiveness through repentance, drinking from the cup of the vine and eating the bread which symbolises the death of the Lord Jesus, and we must do it as often as we would remember Him. That should be every minute of every day, but that is not how this ordinance plays out, however today is a day where we will as a congregation remember Him, and I too will remember Him! Praise the name of Jesus for He alone has accomplished His entire Fathers will. To Him alone will we bow our knees, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Hope!

(Romans 8:25) “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

It is the eye of faith that ignites our hope, we press toward the mark of this high calling of God found in and through our Saviour, Jesus Christ the Lord, and yet we are driven by that which is unseen. We will always look forward as we should in hope, because without hope the people will perish. “Hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what is seen.” In other words once you have attained something it can no longer be hoped for, the objective has been achieved. “Done and Dusted”!

We might hope for a holiday in Cancun Mexico, we have heard good reports and have seen it advertised on TV. We have seen this destination with our eyes via the media and it has ignited a hope in us to save enough money in order to fulfil a dream, a holiday in Mexico! That hope will have a passion strong enough to drive and urge us on to achieve an objective.

Paul makes a suggestion that I want to explore, he says, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:25)

He suggests that we will pursue this hope more aggressively as we have never seen it as some did, as they were literally transported into heaven. That has never been our experience; a cameraman has not shown us footage of heaven, we read and see it with the eyes of faith.

The harder we struggle and work for something the more we will appreciate it. Common sense tells me that if I have surplus cash in the bank and it has come to me through inheritance and I now decide to go to Cancun for a holiday with the money I inherited will I enjoy my holiday? The answer must be yes! I had a desire to visit Mexico and have now achieved my objective even if it came to me easily and without much toil, but when I consider a man who has saved a portion of his hard earned cash over a period of ten years, so that he may have the same holiday experience that I would have. I must conclude he will appreciate his holiday more than I would. This is the point Paul makes in relation to the turmoil we face on earth as we wait for our inheritance. It may well be a free gift, and it is impossible to buy or earn salvation, that is very true, nevertheless our present state, our happiness is not in present possession: We are saved by hope. In this, as in other things, God hath made our present state a state of trial and probation - that our reward is out of sight. Those that will deal with God must deal upon trust. “So now faith, hope, and love abide...” (1Corinthians 13:13)

Our Faith feeds our hope and our hope fuels our love, they all work in conjunction with each other, and they are not independent entities that work to the exclusion of one another. The hope that one day our bodies will be changed from that which is perishing into a body that will never perish and then also to be like our Saviour's eternal body, and then to imagine that we will be sons of God, doing His will without the potential of failure, what a wonderful thought. Hope for the Christian is one of the principal graces. Faith is the evidence and then hope is the expectation of things not seen. Without faith there can be no hope! Faith is like the mother of hope and she must bear fruit which will result in hope, her fruit is hope! So our faith in God and his promises must ignite hope in our hearts and when trails and temptations seem too hard for us to bear, we will then be able to feed off our hope because our faith has fed our anticipation. Faith of what is unseen but yet hoped for. Although heaven and all its glory is unseen with the naked eye, our spirit bears witness with God's spirit and we have an unexplainable groaning that drives us toward heaven, our awareness as children of God to this reality is as real as the clothes I wear; “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Roman 8:23)

Who is it then that will make it to heaven? The rest of the text tells us, and I am encouraged by it, regardless of the voices of distraction that lie and endeavourer to deceive...

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:29-31)

Hope will drive us to believe that if God is for us who can be against us!

This is why we need to remember the broken body and the shed blood of our Saviour, and we must do this as often as we will remember Him and what it meant for Him to pay the price for us as a church but also as individuals to feed off hope. We must also remember that when the Lord died on the cross we were enemies, how much more now will we be saved by His life as children of God. Grab and squeeze tight for these are the promises to all of God’s children. Faith will fuel our hope which in turn will produce endurance. Let us all trust and believe God’s promises, His name forever be praised, Amen.

Signing off

Tyrone

Beseech!

(Romans 12:1) “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.”

What is the difference between a command and an appeal?

Appeal or as the “KJV” presents it as “beseech”, that is to persuade someone so that they may find comfort in the request, and in this case, the plea is that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice. The word “beseech” is also used as “besought” from it Greek translation (parakaleo). But Paul actually qualifies his request on the basis that we will be able to accomplish this, only because of the mercies of God. “Besought” is a past tense to beseech. Although Paul appeals to all God’s children and his request is in love he nevertheless instructs us to present our bodies to God on the basis of what God through the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplish on our behalf. Because of the Lord’s resurrection, and as we are risen with Him we should now begin to live this loving appeal Paul makes. Yet the word beseech (besought), gives us a clue to the mind of Paul; although there is a call to act in a certain manner, there is also a confidence in Paul’s tone that we will learn to act in a manner that is pleasing to God and he tells us why, because of the mercies of God. The appeal is for us now to hear God’s voice and yet he is confident that we will act on his instruction, hence the word also used in the past tense, as if to say it has already happened. This is what must happen; we must surrender ourselves to God, and so we will lay a good foundation. We must first give all of ourselves unto the Lord; it is our duty to find obedience in Him and to Him. Man consists of body and soul, the body must be presented to Him, the body is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body, I beseech you, brethren. Though Paul as an Apostle might have with authority commanded, yet for love's sake he rather beseeches, that it might come with the more pleasant power. If one is showed kindness then they will probably react in kindness, people are more easily led than driven. That is the heart of Paul’s instruction to us as believers. That is the theory, it is practise we must implement, and we must not only be hearers but doers!

Having said that, my whole life has opposed that instruction, I have never been an exemplary scholar in the field of obedience, but now it is required from me, the war rages on! I must learn to make good choices, and yet I still make so many bad ones. Nevertheless the point we must take from this verse is we must all learn to apply it in our lives, we must realise that this instruction will be to our advantage and it will bring our God glory. We are not instructed to present our souls as a living sacrifice although it is obvious that we must walk in the spirit as we have received life in and through the Spirit of God, we have been born again. We have been instructed to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, why do I struggle so? You would think after so many years of being disciplined, it would now come easily. I am sorry to say that is not the case. A reflection over the last twenty-two years; a broken jaw, a shattered femur, HIV, Sequestration and two divorces and I have not yet given up the ghost.

I am nevertheless comforted that I still confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Will the mercy and grace of God ever be measured? Their vastness is beyond finding out! However we may feel we must nevertheless remember what the Lord accomplished on Calvary. We stand or fall before Him; He alone has earned the right to judge both the living and the dead. We must fall to our knees and call upon Him, He will see us through to the other side, and we must not lose heart. He will accomplish all that He has set out to do.

Maybe it is time to slow down, quieten our hearts and then to listen out for the voice of the Lord. He speaks in so many ways, but He will always instruct through the written Word. Let us not look for signs outside of what has already been penned.

(Hebrews 1:1-2) “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,...”

Now we must expect no new revelation, but only more of the Spirit of Christ so that we can better understand what has already been written.

Do you not feel in your own soul that perfection is not in you? Does not every day teach you that? Every tear which trickles from your eye, weeps “imperfection”; every harsh word which proceeds from your lip, mutters “imperfection.” You have too frequently had a view of your own heart to dream for a moment of any perfection in yourself. But amidst this sad consciousness of imperfection, here is comfort for you-you are “perfect in Christ Jesus.” In God’s sight, you are “complete in him;” even now you are “accepted in the Beloved.” But there is a second perfection, yet to be realized, which is sure to all the seed. Is it not delightful to look forward to the time when every stain of sin shall be removed from the believer, and he shall be presented faultless before the throne, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing? C.H.Spurgeon

Every day we are left with many choices that need to be made, I pray that we will, I will learn to present my body a living sacrifice. The cares of this life look to destroy, but be of good cheer our Saviour has overcome the world and all of its trials.

Signing off

Tyrone

Think!

(Ephesians 3:20) “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,”

We are often told in scripture to “think”; this word has a number of meanings, we could find ourselves using it to plot against or manipulate a position so that we "think" we will find favour from God. In other words we walk in the flesh by justifying ourselves by what we have achieved as opposed to what our Saviour achieved on our behalf, we “think more highly than we ort to think”, thinking in a boastful manner, assessing we are better than our brother as we have more understanding than he does, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned, etc. So unless we understand what we should do when the Lord Jesus instructs us to “think”, we might skew the instruction. I may think that because I am seen by my brother in my persistent commitment to an application, then I will justify acceptance because of it, and yet there are areas in my life where I still walk as a slave. God can and will never be fooled, he sees the heart of His children, He knows our inner most secrets, He knows all things, and He also knows the begining from the end.

These are the things I need to think on; I need to ponder His magnificence, and I need to walk with respectful fear, with it constantly making inroads into my life. I must be changed from the inside out not from the outside in. It must be a work of the Spirit. Nevertheless, I must wrestle against the strongman in the areas of my life that he still controls. There are many areas that need changing in my life, my commitment, my attitude, my thankfulness and the list could go on and on. But I must also guard against depression, which is another great ally of Satan; he uses it skilfully to cast down all weak and struggling pilgrims. I need to be sober about all those points mentioned above, but before I am swallowed up by them, I must THINK on Christ and His achievements. My eyes must shift off self and onto to My Saviour, especially when I am downcast and feeble in the knees.

When we think on the Lord Jesus, our memory, affection, and understanding must be exercised on all the things which we had heard, tasted and handled. Christianity is a very personal experience, or at least it should be. God dealing with me in my individual circumstance and teaching me to observe whatsoever I need to pay attention to, so that I may be equipped to do His will. How often have I hashed this, but remember no matter how you feel, if you are still making a botch of the call God has placed on your life, remember this, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it”. This is the point I look to make today, if we have sinned then we must confess our sin and seek out forgiveness from God. But we must not live in a state of remorse or worldly sorrow; this will only lead to death. Having done that we now need to forget those things that are behind and we need to press on as we THINK on the Lord’s achievements. Our minds need to be filled with life giving substance and if this then is the case in point, we will all begin to walk victoriously in the areas of our lives we so frequently fail in. This will be our lot in life when we Hold Him, and do not let Him go.

The word “ponder,” means to weigh. Make ready the balances of judgment. Oh, but where are the scales that can weigh our Saviour, there are none to be found. His riches and His mercies are immeasurable, they are beyond seeking out. I am floored every time I consider God’s mercy and grace, what a great God! If our understanding cannot comprehend, let our affections arrest; and if we battle to scope the Lord Jesus in the spirit with our thinking, let us clinch to Him in the arms of affection.

There is an inexhaustible fullness of grace and mercy in God, which the prayers of all the saints can never draw dry. Whatever we may ask, or think to ask, God is still able to do more, abundantly more, exceedingly abundantly more.

Signing off

Tyrone

Is love our treasure?

(Matthew 6:21) “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

At times, I find it hard to read scripture with a clear conscience. I do love and hate the way the Word of God cuts through the smoke screen of my flesh and then goes straight onto the chase to where ones heart is exposed and left bare. This text is like that, even now it cuts deep, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” All I need to do is honestly be honest with myself in all areas of my life. Sometimes in some areas of my life I may tick the box as checked, but honestly there will always be room for improvement, but those areas do not overly concern me, it is the areas that have a big cross next to them that seriously unease me. How do we measure our love for God? The beloved disciple John, the only one afforded the privileged in finding rest for his head, as he habitually lay upon the chest of the Lord Jesus and there he listened to the steady pounding of His heart beat. The pulse of life beating in his ear! It was his privilege and his alone; if anyone understood the love of God it was John and this is what he teaches on the subject; (1John 5:2) “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”

How must our lives prove to one another that we have love one for another, what example will be evident in our lives toward the regenerate (born again children of God). The foundation of it must be our love to God, whose they are: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God,”

Our love to them appears to be sound and genuine when we love them not merely upon any secular account, because they are rich, or have knowledge, or kind to us, or have fellowship with us at the same church, but rather because they are children of God and the spirit of God dwells in them, they have also received the gift of salvation, they might differ, actually we will often differ in some areas on understanding, we must be long suffering with each other and pursue unity of the faith. (Ephesians 4:3) "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." I agree true love will never be to the exclusion of sound doctrine as there is much of that now being bandied about within the so-called Christian ranks. "Saddleback" and the like, but that filth will only affect the goats and not the sheep; the sheep will hear their master’s voice and flee to Him.

Why must we love one another? Because it is a simple requirement from God to us and this will be a yardstick to examine own hearts, if I say I love God and cannot find love for His children, then I am liar and I deceive myself. Let the Word of God penetrate my life so that it destroys the chaff, all that opposes the will of my Father must no longer has any permission and place to my life, it must be driven far from me.

In a sense God’s children are twice His children, they are the offspring of Adam through creation, and I agree they are fallen beings, we all are, but we have been created in the image and likeness of God. They are offspring by creation and they are His sons through adoption in Christ. They all have the privilege of addressing God in this manner; “Our Father which art in heaven.” The Lord Jesus taught this!

Here is authority: If I am a Father, where is my honour? If I am a son, where is your obedience? Here we see affection mingled with authority; an authority which does not provoke rebellion; and yet my life has been filled with rebellion, why and where is it that I continuously erred? I must pin down any area of my life which in turn takes my eyes off my wonderful Saviour. This obedience is not forceful and it does not demand any hard pressed requirements that crushes me and builds resentment in my life to love God. Why then do I stubble in this area of my life? May God have mercy on my soul and on all those who in like manner need help in this area of their lives? The obedience which God’s children yield to Him must be loving obedience. This must become part of my character; I must learn to love as I have been loved. I must not go about in service to God as a slave to his taskmaster’s toil, but run in the way of His commands because it is my Father’s way. We must yield your bodies as instruments of righteousness, because righteousness is our Father’s will, and as a child who has received so much love I would now want to abide in His will, my Father’s will!

Father!-Here is honour and love. How great is a Father’s love to his children! That which friendship cannot do, and mere benevolence will not attempt, a father’s heart and hand must do for his sons. They are his offspring, he must bless them; they are his children, he must show himself strong in their defence. If an earthly father watches over his children with unceasing love and care, how much more does our heavenly Father? Abba, Father! He who can say this, hath uttered better music than cherubim or seraphim can reach. There is heaven in the depth of that word-Father! There is all I can ask; all my necessities can demand; all my wishes can desire. I have all in all to all eternity when I can say, “Father.” C.H.Spurgeon

May God open the eyes of our hearts so that all His children will have a passion of love burning bright for one another, may its flame be seen from afar off and speak sincerely resulting with our own lusts and needs dwindling into insignificance when we consider the needs for our brothers/sisters.

Words are easily voiced and even penned, it is the action to what has been penned that I pray for. Hear my cry, Abba Father; make us all more like our glorious Saviour, even Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.

Signing off

Tyrone

Hold On!

I realised that I often get caught up with my own agenda, as this blog is an appendage to my life. All that has happen is that the daily journal that I penned with my own hand, no longer happens. It now happens in the form of this blog. My most private thoughts and the war that goes on there often find its way to my daily blog. So when I sometime run away with myself, forgive me as I wrestle with my own struggles. I realise that I may even come across bigoted at times, this was never my intention, and it never will be! Therefore, sometime I like to hear from someone far better equipped than I will ever be to speak to all of us. He helps to steady the rudder, as today is a day my ship needs steadying. Cling and hold onto that which is precious!

“I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us.”

- Isa_63:7

And canst thou not do this? Are there no mercies which thou hast experienced? What though thou art gloomy now, canst thou forget that blessed hour when Jesus met thee, and said, “Come unto me”? Canst thou not remember that rapturous moment when he snapped thy fetters, dashed thy chains to the earth, and said, “I came to break thy bonds and set thee free”? Or if the love of thine espousals be forgotten, there must surely be some precious milestone along the road of life not quite grown over with moss, on which thou canst read a happy memorial of his mercy towards thee? What, didst thou never have a sickness like that which thou art suffering now, and did he not restore thee? Wert thou never poor before, and did he not supply thy wants? Wast thou never in straits before, and did he not deliver thee? Arise, go to the river of thine experience, and pull up a few bulrushes, and plait them into an ark, wherein thine infant- faith may float safely on the stream. Forget not what thy God has done for thee; turn over the book of thy remembrance, and consider the days of old. Canst thou not remember the hill Mizar? Did the Lord never meet with thee at Hermon? Hast thou never climbed the Delectable Mountains? Hast thou never been helped in time of need? Nay, I know thou hast. Go back, then, a little way to the choice mercies of yesterday, and though all may be dark now, light up the lamps of the past, they shall glitter through the darkness, and thou shalt trust in the Lord till the day break and the shadows flee away. “Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses, for they have been ever of old.” C.H.Spurgeon

Signing off

Tyrone

Choose!

(Joshua 24:15) “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve,”

Amazingly we will serve something, even if I claim to be an atheist; I still serve all that supposedly represents “no god”. My life is driven by what I can see outside the realm of faith. Therefore I hanker after, let’s call them, ‘no gods’ that are seen. My house, my car, my banks balance etc. In fact I am in one of two camps, I am either in the camp of Jehovah or my father is the devil and I live with him.

(1John 3:8) “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

You might say that every Christians still sins, many are hypocrites, in fact Tyrone you have been a hypocrite in your life walking as a Christian. I will have to confess, your concern is so noted and it is true. However, I have repented of my sin and by the grace of God I no longer walk as I once did. Yes every Christian will still sin, but it will not be habitual sin, if that happens something is not in place, we must do some serious self examination and repent and seek forgiveness where necessary. Having said that we are also taught by John if we say we have no sin in our live then we are liars.

(1John 1:8) “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”The difference between the believer and a non believer is that the Christian has confessed and believed on the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice, he serves Him as Lord of their lives and because of this; his sin is covered and has been dealt with on the cross of Calvary. There was only “One” who could have ever paid the price for sin, yes the Lord Jesus (God) became a man and lived life on earth for thirty-three years, yet without sin in His life, he never once broke the law of God and therefore He became the only eternal sacrifice that God the Father would accept. In times passed the priest had to offer up a sacrifice for his sins and then for the sins of the people. Eventually this practise was no longer require by God and it ended, the Lord Jesus had now come and paid the ultimate sacrifice, it was a once and for all time sacrifice, never to be repeated, the bible puts it like this; (Hebrews 7:27) “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.”

So a Christian will sin but his sin is covered and forgiven because the Lord Jesus has paid the price for that sin, the penalty for all sin, past, present and future has been paid for by the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary. The non believer on the other hand is already condemned because He has not believed in the only begotten son of God and he will therefore be judged by God for his sin.

(John 3:18) “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

You all get the picture; I trust is clear and easy to understand.

If you serve another god with another understanding of who God is, Mohammad, Buddha, the religion of Islam or Christianity in a religious form that will never bring forth life, in other words you are a vaccinated christian that never received the spirit of God and you have not been born again, you speak of the same Jesus in your church but you have absolutely no idea who He really is, you have been vaccinated from a young age and you never really got the real intended Christian life changing truth that will set a person free. Then I do not speak to you as it would be pointless, this message is for those who can see, only if you are able to see what your Saviour has achieved on your behalf on Calvary, will the question what Joshua poses to God’s people have any bearing in your life.

We all serve some form of god; the text that Joshua poses to his people, is very simply this; “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, chooses this day whom you will serve,” I do however realise, this will mean nothing to you if you have not personally seen the miracles of God in your life. I am not making reference to some con artist that stands up in the name of Jesus and pays a man to sit in a wheelchair and then deludes the simple to believe that he has been healed. This did happen! A mockery of Christianity runs riot in some circles but God knows who are His, His sheep hear his voice and will run to Him when He calls. Do you hear His voice in this text; “choose this day whom you will serve,” As for me and my house we will serve the Lord! It will be impossible for those who have not witnessed God in action in their lives to choose Him!

Joshua posed this question to a people who witnessed God saving them out of slavery, He fed then from the heaven with manna and then quails, and He brought the walls of Jericho down with a shout. He gave them the land of Shechem, the same land He had promised to their father Abraham. Miracle after miracle they witnessed, it was only after such a dramatic build up to their lives and because of that buildup God now says to them and to us, all who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, He says, “choose this day whom you will serve.” His appeal is to believers; Joshua was by example very clear throughout his life, who he would serve, but he now makes an open confession before all and he says, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” The Lord will bring all those who claim to belong to Him to a crossroads; today your name may be called, “choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: whether it be your banks balances, maybe it is pride which God will resist, or whatever other form of idolatry that would want to keep you from a total commitment to the only true living God, Jehovah! “As for me and my house we will serve Jehovah.”

“Choose this day, now that the matter is laid thus plainly before you, speedily bring it to a head, and do not stand hesitating.” M.Henry

May God be merciful to all His children who resist His will, but may His will above all things take preference, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

A Planted Tree

(Psalms 1:3) “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers...”

If I consider God’s ingenious intellectual all knowing brain I sand in awe as I normally do when considering one of God’s attributes. To realise that He knows His children systematically, all those whom He has called from before the foundation of the world, God knows them by name and knew them as such before they where even born. What a phenomenal thought, almost impossible for our humanistic brains to process, but to God this would be a simple task, He is perfect and understands the beginning from the end. He knows all things past, present and into the future. If we think we can get to know Him here on earth, firstly it would be impossible outside of salvation, we must be born again, and if God has given us life by imparting His spirit unto us individually and personally then we will build a relationship with Him but only in part, as we now live in this world through the realm of faith, which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We must constantly be reminded of the finished work of Calvary; our "First Love" must always be in the forefront of our minds as we learn to have a Godly fear for God, it will then play out with respectful reverence. However we must also remember the purpose of Christ’s obedience; He is the first fruit of many sons that will be brought to glory. He has bought us son-ship through His sacrifice and although we have not been confirmed as sons by God which will one day take place and in person; (Revelation 21:7) “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” We must believe it by faith and exercise this truth in our lives. God the Holy Spirit itself bears witness in our lives to this truth. We have the privileged to approach God respectfully and humbly, yet with confidence as we have entered into a Father-son relationship, we now are entitled to these Father-son privileges, it would be wise for us to get to know our heavenly Father and the only way to do this would be to study His attributes, get to know what He enjoys and what He detests etc, why?

In building a relationship one builds a bond of trust, we must learn to trust our God, regardless of what life may throw at us. Unless we have built a relationship with God our Father in the bonds of love and we haven’t yet learnt to trust Him more than we trust our earthly fathers we will always have doubt as a companion and who wants a friend like that, I certainly don’t! My objective, my goal, is to understand Jehovah more than ever before, I want to with John Piper echo these words and believe them with all my heart, not just say them because it sounds right; “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied with Him.”

How will I achieve this? Firstly I must not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or on the wicked. I must avoid the company of scoffers. My delight will be to meditate of the law of God day and night, the law teachers us about the character of God, we can glean from God’s law and understand who He is and what is required from us to please our Father. He knows our character, he knows whether we avoid evil or swiftly run toward it. This part of my character is examined first, because those that will keep the commandments of their God must say to evil-doers, depart from us! When I run in the opposite direction to whatever is evil even when it appears harmless on the surface, this is where wisdom begins. I know this to be true because of what Paul teachers us on the fruit of repentance; A tree will yield particular fruit, a pear tree pears, an apple tree apples and a tree of repentance the fruit of repentance, which we see in this verse; (2Corinthians 7:11) “For behold, this selfsame thing, that ye were made sorry after a godly sort, what earnest care it wrought in you, yea what clearing of yourselves, yea what indignation, yea what fear, yea what longing, yea what zeal, yea what avenging! In everything ye approved yourselves to be pure in the matter.”

In other words what carefulness surrounds my life? I must make it evident that my sorrow in repenting is a godly sorrow, it must work in me great carefulness about my soul, and to avoid sin, and please God; it will shaped also a clearing of myself, not by insisting upon my own justification before God, especially while I persist in my habitual sin.

I must learn to surround my life from the morning well into the night with the law of God, God’s Word must be an appendage to my life as if my life depended upon it, and it does!

If I begin to live like this and apply myself through the spirit and not by the flesh, I am assured by my heavenly Father, that I will be like a tree planted by a river of water and I will in its season bring forth fruit, that God would be well pleased with, in fact He himself is the Gardener and will prune that tree to yield fruit up to its potential quota.

Everything rests with the will our God’s sovereignty, from beginning to end, whatever He has willed and set in motion will come to pass, that is a fact! However, we must assume responsibility for our actions and cry out to our Saviour and remember that there is a room full of grace that we can draw from as believers. The unrepentant do not have access to this room, but to all who fall on their knees and confess unto God and repent of their sin have access to this room and its supply. This is such a wonderful room, I have had the privileged to draw on its supply and I can confess that it yields beneficial pleasantries that have been sweet to my life and helped my relationship with God our Father, in and through His beloved Son, my Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we can heed the counsel of what David teaches us in this Psalm, it will be to our benefit and regardless of how barren our tree has been it will in due season bring forth fruit.

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers...”

Let us not look for counsel from the ungodly, let us remember to avoid the wicked or to sit in the seat of the scoffer. Let us feast on the word of God with an unquenchable hunger. And regardless of what trial may come let us remember our God and what He has already accomplished on our behalf, salvation in and through our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise His name, now and forever more, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

The Husbandman

(John 15:1) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.”

It is now the summer season and with it comes many pleasantries; the sun and its warmth have many advantages, picnicking in the open vast spaces within Gods creation or braaing (barbecue) around the pool, lots of fun to be had in the sun. We have moved from spring into summer, the fruit trees yield their fruit and we enjoy their taste and nourishment. In fact we have a pomegranate tree in our garden and as far as I can remember it has produced inedible fruit, but just maybe this year its yield will be edible. The likelihood is negative, but as I look at the already formed fruit although still green, I have notice that this year the worms have not infected the fruit, not as yet anyway. Time will tell whether I will find enjoyment from this tree and its fruit. Like I said, up until now there has been no benefit from its fruit, unless you are a worm, in fact the fruit drops from the trees and dirties the surrounding area for someone to pick up and discard in the rubbish bin. On purchasing some fruit last week I noticed that pomegranates were easily the most expensive of all fruit at the fruit market. There is a shortfall in supply and therefore their price out of reach for most consumers. One could buy a bag of most fruits for the same price as one pomegranate. A lot of churches and those individuals who claim Christianity as a lifestyle often are as rare a find as pomegranates. I know I have been amongst the number of the guilty as charged. But my point is that while we breathe and live we have the opportunity to call out to Jesus and be pruned by our Heavenly Father, so that edible fruit will eventually be evident, do you believe this? Well, if you have the Spirit of God living inside you and if God has chosen you from before the beginning of time, find assurance in this, that we will eventually produce fruit to our lives. When we look to a vine we look for grapes and when we look to Christians we look for Christianity; fruits of the spirit will be evident to their lives, if not then we may eventually be chastised with death, yet fruit will be evident, as all God’s children will make it to heaven. Yes, we may well suffer lose, but nevertheless we will be carried into the presence of God because our marvellous Saviour has overcome hell, death and the grave on our behalf, all Hail King Jesus! But that is not our heart in the matter we must all look for obedience in our lives to bring honour to our God. He will teach us to obey, so the sooner we learn to yield the painless it will be.

In reflection of my own life I now sit and wonder about the same truth to my life, for as long as I can remember I have made a mess in and around my life and others have had to clean up. I have a lot of remorse over so many bad decisions in my life; I have not been a tree that year after year has produced palatable fruit, enabling believers to feed from its fruit, in fact at times that tree was regarded dead by many; In truth there was a time when I almost believed the same, maybe you find yourself understanding your life to be similar to mine. You are rather despondent, your hands hang low and your knees shake feebly, and then I implore you to cry out to Jesus, for He cares for you!

I thank God my Father for sending His beloved Son into my life, Jesus is the true vine, we are the branches, and they must in its season bear fruit. Correctly, this does not only refer to a season alone but many seasons, year after year punning happens and then fruit comes forth. The Father is the Gardener and if the tree is never pruned, the tree will never reap its potential. It is only through pruning and obviously the root (Jesus) that supplies the vine nourishment and when they work together in synergy the believers fruit will be most enjoyable and rewarding to all those who eat from it.

It is up to the Gardener to determine where and when to prune; how thankful I am that the Gardener in our lives (believers) is none other the God the Father. There could never be a better husbandman and for this I am forever grateful. I say to all, be of good courage, although you as a branch bears little fruit and the branch has been cut back leaving you exposed to the harshness of the sun, the heat may almost be unbearable, but hear me very clearly, if God be your Husbandman, in due season that tree and that branch will yield it fruit.

We are safe in the hands of our God; if we have been born again by His spirit and confess the Lord Jesus as Lord with the Father clipping back our lives as we walk through life with all its challenging temptations which I have on many occasion failed in my attempt to walk circumspectly before a Holy God, what are we to do?

Fear not for faith will see us through, we must remember that we are justified not by what we do, but rather justified before God because of what Christ has done. Our lives will and must be cut down as far as our branches initial node if need be, but because of the finished work of Calvary we will in season bring forth fruit palatable to others. We must never forget who the Gardner is, He understands a lot more than we will ever understand, and if we are His children will he not look out for us, most certainly! We must rest in our God, come what may we must always remember this truth; (Romans 8:28) “And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.”

He has a purpose and when we rest in our God’s purpose and His will, be sure that in due seasons all His trees will yield it's produce. I understand all the self willed sinful actions to my life has been useful for firewood only, but it is not over yet while we still breathe there is hope. May our hope rest solely and securely on Jesus Christ our Saviour in this life and for the life to come, to Him be honour and glory, we exalt the name of our King and we are thankfully grateful to God our Heavenly Father for the necessary pruning He does to our lives, even if we do not understand it at the time.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be found by us all?

Signing off

Tyrone

Vanity

(Ecclesiastes 12:8) “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.”

The character of man’s heart is full of vanity. He may not realise it or even understand the extent of it, but when we dissect the heart, its drive and it thoughts, then it is clear to understand why all is vanity. Solomon has amazing insight on the subject and it would be good to heed what he has to say. From as far back as I can remember, whether it was making sure I got the last sweet or the best seat in the car as a young boy, it was always about me. If I am honest with myself, has that change much? I can’t say with any certainty that it has, sure I may be looking at times to bless others, but as a rule it is always about me and my needs. I get up and wash, I eat breakfast, I have coffee, I make money so that I can buy food and goodies, and I save money so that I can have my next holiday. I, I and I! Obviously a lot of the things I do are extremely important and commands from God that I need be carried out, I must work or else I do not deserve to eat, etc. However I always err on the side of vanity and this is where I go wrong, it is my perception of life that is off balance and this is what needs adjusting. How different I am to my great Saviour. When I consider Him, I stand in awe when I see how he came to serve; God himself came to lay down His life for mankind. It is almost incomprehensible if I look at my wants against His selfless acts. I am so exposed when I look at His example, I want to crawl into a corner and slit my wrists, not really, but the expression rings true!

Why do I spend so much time with such senseless stuff? I know that it does not bring glory to my heavenly Father when I behave like this. “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.” What does Solomon mean when he makes such a statement?

Through the whole book of Ecclesiastes he unpacks many examples pertaining to life and his achievements. He constantly explores every avenue with this in mind to understand life and our purpose here on earth in relation to God as the Creator with us as His creation. He constantly reminds us that there is very little benefit between those who have abundance and those who are forced to go without. Men gather wealth through much toil so that they can leave it to someone else. Have we ever seen a hearse towing a safe, it has never happened and it never will! Solomon had more wealth than any before him and yet he makes the statement, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.”

Solomon labour's this point time and time again throughout this book, he sets out to make sure that the readers get his point; to seek for that satisfaction in God only and in their duty to Him which they can never find in the creature. He repeats his text, making sure that good understanding has come through to the reader on the penned wording. But he has built a strong case through many examples to prove his point. Yet he uses examples that are easy for us to articulate, they are very close to home and if we are honest with ourselves and with the text there is no place for us to hide, our hearts are exposed. Having exposed our hearts he now wants to leave us with instructions on how we should live. But firstly let’s see what we shouldn’t do! We should not run after vanity as all is vanity; all things in the world are vain; all creatures are subject to vanity; man in every state whether rich or poor, sick or healthy is altogether vanity: and Solomon affirms this with great confidence, after he had shown that not only childhood and youth are vanity, but even old age; the infirmities, sorrows, and distresses of which he had just exposed, he deals with all issue in death, the last end of man, when his body returns to the earth, and his soul to God the giver of it. We all sleep eat and then die, the evil as well as the righteous and both end up dead (in the flesh).

He concludes that all things under the sun are not only vain, but vanity itself, extremely vain, vain in the superlative degree; I am not sure I believe all Solomon teaches, that does not nullify God’s word but it exposes me, for if I did consider it my life would look very different. But of this truth I am absolutely persuaded, when God declares a truth to us from scripture, firstly it will come to pass and secondly if we align ourselves with His teaching we will end up as benefactors, this is a fact! So I should on a daily basis look to lay down my life for my brethren, but I don’t, I would go without so that others would not, It saddens me when I consider my lifestyle and the lap of luxury I feed off. I hope my perception of this begins to have a drastic change to my life. Scripture is there to rebuke us when needed, not that we should fall into a great depression but rather be provoked to good works. May this lesson of Solomon teach us to view all of life as vanity and help us understand the reality of it; with food and raiment we must be content; (Matthew 6:19-21) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Solomon eventually wraps the chapter up with these words, in his summation of life and all our responsibility to it he thus concludes; (Ecclesiastes 12:13) “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandment, for this is the whole duty of man.”

This is the lesson Solomon teaches and the Lord confirms it and highlights the point by mentioning Solomon in the above portion of scripture in the book of Matthew.

May I have ears to hear and eyes to see what God is saying to me and then may you also find the mind of Christ in this matter.

May God have mercy on our souls and quicken our understanding in this area of our life, O how we need it!

Signing off

Tyrone

The Feet of Jesus!

(James 4:10) “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

When I consider life and the beauty of creation I am swept away with memories of some of the exquisite places I have seen in my travels. Islands surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the beauty of Cape Town with Table Mountain the backdrop to her splendour, the aridness of the Skeleton Coast and it's salt roads or the ruggedness of the Timbavati with its distinctive terrain and wild animals roaming free with the most amazing sunrise and sunset often on display. The list goes on and on, God is truly magnificent with creation through all the beauty we have the privilege to witness. It often motivates us to look for our next adventure and we put money aside so we can find a dream holiday in order to be one with nature. I even bought a 4x4 to help me with theses dreams. What and where would your dream holiday be? How much would it cost and could the poor afford the same luxury? Think of the families in their tin huts with barely enough food to get them through the week, they may dream of a getaway but without any real hope of ever accomplishing their desires.

But God who is rich in mercy has afforded all his children equal opportunity; both the rich and the poor, how so you may ask? As I was looking through some of God’s Word last night a wonderful realisation of the goodness of God refreshed my soul as I considered creation and all it beauty, my thoughts were then drawn from creation to the Lord Jesus and I began to contemplate some of His glorious attributes and finally a beautiful thought dawned on me and gripped my heart. I am thankful to God the Holy Spirit for moments like these; we should all search them out and cry to Him for continuous revelation about our Saviour.

I can honestly say without fear of any contradiction concludes that my dream holiday would not be a geographical location, what is now more appealing is who would be with me. I no longer have to wait for school holidays or a holiday season to accomplish my vision. Others have understood this lesson, but if we really understood the importance of these messages by the examples of other, through what they have taught us, we would live here. We wouldn’t have to spend so much time hankering after our next beautiful holiday.

So who then are the teachers that speak? The demon possessed man who was now in his right frame of mind, Jairus with his dying daughter, Mary the sister of Martha through the death of her brother Lazarus, Mary and her pound of ointment of pure nard, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary after Jesus had risen and finally what the angel instructed John not to do in the Book of revelation chapter 19:10.

They all understood the importance of the beauty of the feet of Jesus, there is nothing in all of creation that compares with the feet of Jesus. They understood this, they had not only seen Jesus and been with Him but they had the privilege of sitting at His feet and in each account they were all extremely blessed.

The demon possessed man had a legion of demons cast out of him; he no longer had to live in chains. Mary received her brother to life again, she was so thankful that her prize possession that she almost certainly use on her own body, the pound of ointment of nard, very costly, but the death and resurrection of her brother had caused her to give up her most prize possession, and with this she anointed the feet of Jesus, and, as a further token of her reverence for Him at her own expense, she wiped them with her hair, and everyone present were the benefactors as this sweet pleasant aroma filled the house. When we sit at the feet of Jesus others will also find blessing from our encounter. When Mary Magdalene and the same Mary encounter Jesus on their way back to tell the disciples that He was alive and that He no longer lay in the tomb where they had buried Him, His resurrection furnishes them with abundant matter for joy. How they now even more than ever before appreciate the feet of Jesus. How beautiful were the feet of the Lord Jesus to them, it must have taken an age for them to eventually let go, but when they did they found a spring in their step as the urgency must have pressed them hard to reach the disciples and bring them these good tidings. Jesus had risen from the dead, he was alive! We must not however bow down to men or even angels or any other form of idolatry. When the Apostle John was caught up into heaven and he saw the brilliance of an angel he fell to his knees at the feet of the angel, but was quickly instructed by him not to do it as an angel is messenger of God and a fellow servant with us. He directs him to the true and only object of religious worship; namely, God: “Worship God, and him alone.” It is only the Lord Jesus who has earned the right to demand our obedience in this area of our lives. Even creation has its traps, when we find ourselves admiring creation to the exclusion of our creator we enter the realm of idolatry.

May their examples spark within all of us an urgency at every opportune time to sit at the feet of Jesus, whatever your circumstance, wherever you may find yourself along this sometimes difficult journey along the celestial road toward the pearly gates of heaven, might we always remember the blessings to be found at the feet of Jesus. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

God the Holy Spirit may you write these truths deep within our hearts, may we resolve from this day forth to live at the feet of Jesus. Father we thank you for every blessing you bestow upon us as your children and all praise and honour belongs to Jesus Christ our saviour for laying down His life so selflessly accomplishing your will in every area of His life so that we may go free. All this we ask and pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and for your glory, Amen

Signing off

Tyrone