Living and active

We have all been given the same commission “that if we walk in the Spirit we shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh”. This is rather a thought-provoking phenomenon when we consider how daunting the task actually is. But before we unpack the application behind it all, it would be good to dissect our thoughts over our intentions which can only ever be tested by the Word of God; “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)  

Our carnalities have some stubborn deep rooted pre-conceived ideas that keep us chained instead of finding freedom in Christ; “It ort not to be so brethren”! I will not and cannot claim to have conquered in all areas of my life, I am far from that objective, however we are called to walk circumspectly; the Apostle Paul had this to say; “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1Corinthians 9:27) – I would love to conclude that I have finally arrived in this area of my life, but that would be a stretch of what is actually true. However there are most certainly areas in my life that have strengthened in discipline by the grace of God. And yet when I gaze into the mirror the remaining quests that needs work seems daunting and a lost cause, but I now know better than to believe that I cannot attain all things in Christ who strengthens me. It’s all about being honest with ourselves and finding grace to overcome in time of need. This is the theory: we must now make every effort in the Spirit to walk in such a manner that we can echo the words of Paul. This then is our goal! But before we can achieve a favourable outcome, we must understand how to apply ourselves to a constructive solicitation.

Honesty is the first step, God sees us for who we are but do we see ourselves as we are?

The flesh and the Spirit are made up of differing substances; just like water and oil cannot mix, so too must we understand that we cannot mix the Spirit and the flesh. Unfortunately this is where we often go wrong. We try and apply our carnalities to the instructions given to us by the Spirit. We often try to fix ourselves up from the outside in instead of from the inside out. If I have a virus that gives my body a rash, I then seek out medication that heals the rash instead of going to the root cause of the problem. I need to eradicate the virus and the rash will then take care of itself. Get the point?

The bible is full of illustrations that teach us these lessons; “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.'" (Luke 5:37-39)

This is why we are taught by the Lord Jesus this very valuable lesson; “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) – We now have a dilemma; we are Christians who have been born again, our spirits have been quickened by the Spirit of God but we have a flesh and blood body that houses His Spirit.       

       

This is why we must learn to walk in the Spirit and not under the earnestness of our old natures. There is a simple test that proves our application within our daily walks. It’s rather simple when viewed correctly through the eyes of faith.

Examine the fruit of your life and it will soon become apparent how we walk. Do you suffer from anxiety and is your life still filled with rebellion, or are you at peace in every area of your life? One may say, I am at peace in certain areas of my life but not others. Well then, we may still be a work in progress which we all are. However, this is obviously the evidence of walking in the flesh as to the contrast of walking in the Spirit. It can be easily tested.

Is my life filled with these attributes; “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Or is my day filled with; “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Now back to my first point; let us not make the mistake of singling out the obvious sins that we so easily pick upon whilst turning a blind eye to others, which have been equally mentioned in this text. Is your life free from sexual immorality but you habitually have “fits of anger”? Then sir, you are walking in the flesh and not the Spirit. And as we move through the list we will soon see where we are failing as Christians. This is a very hard text to get our heads around, but the point of any text is not to swallow us up but to free us and the only way this will ever be achieved is if we are honest with ourselves and with God, seeking out His forgiveness where we have erred. It is a continuous way of life for the Christian; we will have to be a person filled with self- reflection until the day we die.

But let us not lose sight of my main point and it is this; “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

In conclusion let me leave you with this very valuable portion of scripture whilst we remember that it will soon become obvious where we stand before our holy God and Father and what is required from us; “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:9-18)

Now it is up to us to find grace by the Spirit in time of need and to view all sin in the same category and not give some sins a pass.

Signing off

Tyrone

   

    

 

     

A radical conversion

I have a few probing thoughts that need to be answered by my Jewish mates or other friends and acquaintances who remain the skeptical concerning the true Gospel message. Jesus Christ the true Messiah has been rejected by many and especially by the household of Israel. Why?

As a nation, they have not accepted Him as their Messiah. But time shall reveal all and they shall be turned with tears as they look upon the Lamb that their fore-fathers crucified and this is how it played out…

“So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold the man!" When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God."” (John 19:5-7) 

There is an offer of God’s love which at present has been extended to all, to the Jew first and also the Gentile; “for God (The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes upon Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” It’s positioned for all to find God’s favour but a man must believe it is of God and from God in order to find this brilliant gemstone in the sparse deserts of righteousness scattered through the regions of the world.    

Here is my question? What would make a man do an about turn after a persistent lifestyle that they habitually followed, come high or low water? Before I get you to respond, I believe there would be value in sharing the testimony of the man in question.

There was a man named Saul, a young devout Jew who was a zealous individual to say the least. He was unlike me in character; a man not driven by wine, woman and song. A man with pedigree, an Israelite and a direct descendant of Abraham: the first man God made a covenant with after the great flood that wiped out the world, except for Noah, his family and the selected animals that were also rescued by God in the Ark which He had instructed Noah to build.

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly."” (Genesis 17:1-2) –

God had established this covenant with Abram or later known as Abraham, this was the man Saul claimed as his direct descendant. He was from the line of Promise according to God’s covenant and he, like others of today, was aware of his privileged position within Jewish circles.

He was a man filled with passion and he believed that killing Christians was honouring God. He was ignorant! This is a confession he makes later on in life: he believed Jesus Christ was a false prophet as he aligned himself with the Jewish rulers of the day. And after the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion he went from house to house seeking out Christians to imprison them and bring them to trial and with the intent of having them imprisoned, or even better, stoned to death.

It was a resolution that encapsulated Saul’s life! “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” (Acts 8:3) – “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1) – He was obviously obsessed with the task that he believed was helping God as a devout Jew to eradicate the vermin and those who oppose the Jewish faith as they believe the Lord Jesus to be a heretic. Only a false prophet would claim to be God and yet today they still await their Messiah, God will be merciful to them as He has been merciful to the Gentile. I would remind the reader that the Gospel started with Jews and not the Gentiles; the very first Christians were not Gentiles but Jews. The Jew is the chosen race, God has so ordained it, but has included provision for the Gentile; in fact it has always been in the heart of God to make allowance for those outside of the seed of Abraham, just so long as they aligned themselves with His laws and requirements.

As I have been spurned with these thoughts please forgive the deviation but it is needful to drive home my point; when Abram became Abraham and the covenant between him and God was honoured by God, Abraham was given a commandment to be circumcised with all of the men from his household to follow suit. And yet even those outside were given an opportunity to be included. They had a choice to make and here it is; “And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant." And God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.” (Genesis 17:9-15) – Note that even the foreigner was to be circumcised; Thus proving that provision was available even to the outsider way back then. God chose to be merciful even to the outsider. The mercy of God who can fathom it, praise His name!   

       

Now back to the account of Saul; then it happened on his way to Damascus he was struck to the ground and this is the recorded explanation; “Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.” (Acts 9:3-9)

There is much we can glean from this account of Saul’s encounter with God, however let me stay on point; he was blinded by God, and I will remind you that he was blinded not by some other god, but by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He was stopped dead in his tracks, and God blinded him because of his misguided perceptions. For three days although his eyes were open he could see nothing; a terrifying experience to say the least. Imagine the thoughts racing through his mind, “would I ever see again” could well have been one of them. Or “what have I done by killing off Christians”. It will be a question I will ask him if I get the chance one day. Which I will be afforded the chance one day as we serve the same God and heaven will be our final destination. We will dwell together throughout eternity because we have both confessed Jesus Christ as Lord.

Eventually Saul finds salvation in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and not by any merit of the law. He understood that the person he was persecuting was in fact the true Messiah. God took pity on him and saved his soul. In fact he became the Apostle to the Gentiles. God had singled him out to preach to those who had never known God outside of those foreigners in the household of Abraham. Although Abraham was told that he would be a father of many nations; it was a prophecy of what was to come and many gentiles now believe in the only true living God and have been saved in and through the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice. THE TRUE MESSIAH!

Saul’s name was later changed to Paul, a custom that can be found throughout the Bible after true salvation. Abram became Abraham, Saul became Paul and Simon Bar-Jonah became Peter.

Paul (Saul) then did an about turn and began to preach the gospel throughout many regions of the world and he suffered tremendously for it. What he had done to others was now being done to him. Here is what he endured for the sake of the gospel and this is his CV; “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.” (2Corinthians 11:22-31)

Let me now conclude with my opening question, what would turn a man like Saul (Paul) a devout Jew, who once rejected Christ as the true Messiah but eventually was willing to sacrifice so much for the sake of God’s call upon his life? I must conclude that he had a personal encounter will the Living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob of this I am convinced. But where does that leave you, have you personally encountered the living God or are you still caught up in your customs and traditions?

Are you amongst God’s elect, if so then call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved and your eyes shall be opened to the truth, but call out you must no differently to the call of Saul; "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Of this I am convinced that if you are of God’s elect you shall respond favourably to the name of Jesus the true Messiah.

Signing off

Tyrone

I AM WHO I AM

If you had to think about life in general, how would you sum it up? Would you choose an adjective like: ‘marvellous’, or would it be ‘exhausting’? One thing is obvious when we isolate all the “periphery noise”, we are self-seekers and it’s all about us. In fact we take it so far that many believe God is obliged to save us on our own merits. Life in general rewards the hard worker and we believe that if we just do enough we will make it into heaven, which is no more than a deception from the one who has blinded the world, the devil, which after salvation we understand that in fact the opposite is true. Grace is unmerited favour; it couldn’t be plainer to understand than that! However many still wrestle with the idea that they had something to do with their conversion, really?! One thing I have understood about myself is that there is no good thing in me, no matter how scrupulous I search for some hidden treasure that could ever warrant finding favour from God. I am rotten to the core and it’s as simple as that! BUT GOD who is gracious has extended to me a lifeline in and through the Lord Jesus Christ my beloved Saviour. God became a man and took my punishment by overcoming sin (all the times I was unable to act righteously) in His own body, and yet He became sin to set me free, if that isn’t unmerited favour personified then I rest my case. Individuals claiming to be “good” prove only one thing, that they do not understand their predicament.

But if I strip this thought down even a little deeper I realise that it is so deep rooted that even when realised, it still lives on. It is like a cancer, even after chemotherapy when the disease has been obliterated it somehow still managers to thrive. Self-worth is a virus so full of ego that a miracle is needed to purge it and that is why salvation can have nothing to do with us. It’s all of God! “It’s the goodness of God that leads a man to repentance”, His goodness and not ours.

The prophet Isaiah had this to say; “"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” (Isaiah 43:25) – pay careful attention to this one fact; He did it for His own sake and not because of who we are but because of who He is. When this penny drops into place we will then be able to truly understand our state before God and even after our rehabilitation we must hang onto this truth as our lives do depend upon it.

When Moses was on the mountain top with God and the children of Israel lost their way and began to go back to a life of debauchery filled with idolatry, God considered blotting them out and starting again. Amazingly it was Moses who reminded him of this one fact that if He killed all the people that He had saved from slavery that God’s enemies would mock His rescue; “And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you." But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’“ And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

” (Exodus 32:9-14)

Amazingly God is not enslaved to any laws of nature, He is the creator of all things and therefore nature is subjugated to Him. Time dominates our lives because our human bodies have a beginning and an end, but God had no beginning nor will He ever end; a mind blowing thought! I believe this is one of the points the Apostle Peter drives home when he makes this statement; “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2Peter 3:8) – It proves that He is not governed by time and that He is an eternal body. And yet although He knows the beginning from the end, we see that in His conversation with Moses He feels the moment almost to the exclusion of His overarching plan. I will tread carefully, like I said, “almost”. God never makes mistakes, He is perfect! What can we learn from this encounter? If God is Sovereign, which He is and nothing comes into fruition without His permission, which it true! Why would such a seemingly brash consideration enter His mind with His anger giving thought to obliterating the children of Israel because of their disobedience and starting over again with Moses? It is in the text, read it.

What I learn from this is that God has a character full of varying facets, for which I am truly thankful, He is God and as Sovereign ruler of the universe, He answers to no one. However I learn that He has a heart so big that it has melted my heart, bless the name of Jesus. I love Him because He first loved me. Have you been arrested by the love of God? God continually showing compassion to mankind when they didn’t deserve it, Wow! But like all things under the rule of time which will ultimately run their course. A child is born and then that person eventually dies with judgement looming and it will arrive for all! These are the facts according to scripture; the period of God’s grace would have run its course, and for the unbeliever the unbearable consequence of Hell looming as their final destination for all eternity. This is not a fairly tale friends, reject Christ and suffer the consequences. But for the faithful believer a time of rest and a co-existence with the only true and living God! How I long for that day to arrive!  

Today is a world wide celebration, Christmas is a day celebrated across the globe and although historically it is a day that has been high jacked by Satan with all the frills thrown into it, father Christmas and the like, I would remind you that if you chose to celebrate today as the birth of Christ and as a Christian please remember to share Christ’s birthday celebration with no other idols, for God is a Jealous God. And He will not share His glory with another, make a stand for Him and who knows it may just play its part in a person’s conversion.

I will leave you with this thought; “for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice…” (Exodus 34:14-15)

Signing off

Tyrone

  

    

Comfort

When we become enslaved to any one-sided affair we often tend to focus on a particular angle whilst overlooking another. This is a part of human nature, when we are offended our focus almost always moves onto the infraction from the guilty parties and we very seldom look at our part in the balance of truth on how we all arrived at a particular quandary. We are offended and yet we have upset another and so on. I suppose that there are always three sides to a story, but God will only ever judge righteously. Sure, as Christians we are instructed to put on the mind of Christ, in fact we have been commanded to rather take the offense even if we have been wrong as the guilty participant, this in itself proves the progress of our walk with the Lord; "To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud--even your own brothers!" (1Corinthians 6:7-8) – Our application within similar circumstances reflects our growth in Him. Our maturity as Christians can be measured. When the Lord Jesus was falsely accused of a crime He never committed, He held His peace, which in itself is remarkable. God requires nothing from us that He himself hasn't firstly fulfilled in the form of human flesh, wow! Bless His name now and forever more, Amen!

It is one thing to receive accolades from men but quite another when it comes from God. Our purpose in life must be to find commendation from God and not from men. Our examples can be found in scripture but Hebrews chapter 11 is a key chapter to motivate us to find grace in time of need.

With that established my thought must now move onto a balanced understanding of our God’s commitment to the suffering saint and this is why it is imperative that we understand that call, we have been summoned to suffer and yet I seemed to overlook this very important verse whilst conveying that message to those who I was looking to encourage; “For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” (2Corinthians 1:5) – Suffering and comfort work in harmony. What a glorious God we serve, although times will be tough, in and through it all He comforts us, wow! I cannot get to the bottom of God’s goodness when I begin to understand the love God imparts to the believer even through the toughest of trials. It was not so for the Lord Jesus Christ, whilst He hung upon the cross and although He knew no sin, He became sin for us so that we could escape the wrath of God because of our very own sin. As He hung upon that tree He cried out with a desperate cry of anguish; “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"” (Matthew 27:46) - He found no comfort in that hour while God the Father turned His back on His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He bore our punishment and in that hour God could have nothing to do with Him for He was judging our sin as the Lord Jesus bore it. Let that thought filter deep within the crevices of our your minds, let it captivate your soul with just a fraction of truth and we will soon begin to get a glimpse of the extent of our Saviour’s great commitment to each and every child of God and His promise to us that He will never leave nor forsake us in time of our need. What a God I serve, we serve! And as John Piper says: “although salvation is free it wasn’t cheap”. And as our late beloved brother Charles Spurgeon put it, “Oh, the depths!” is all that we can say, as we look on and marvel at this stoop of Divine love.”

In conclusion, although we have been called to a life of struggle, remember that within that struggle we will always find comfort in the One who has overcome, our High Priest. He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities; bless His name from here on in. There is a day coming when our fight will end and we will all enter into His rest, but until then let us remember to find grace in time of need and to stay the course, even so come quickly Lord Jesus, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone       

         

Attention!

Once again this morning a solemn thought has pressed home. Scripture is full of statements that will eventually play themselves out. There will be no wiggle room within the accuracy of so many actual declarations found within the covers of the greatest book ever written, the Holy Bible! This book is filled with brilliance as it allows men and women an insight into the great “I AM”; the only true God, with the words quickening our understanding as God the Holy Spirit guides and leads us into deeper truths, revealing so many pleasantries to the believer that allude the masses.

The brilliance of God who can fathom it! Two men read the same text and to the unsaved individual it is dry and meaningless, whilst to the child of God it speaks volumes and enlightens his understanding, causing him to revel in the goodness of God crying “Abba Father” (daddy daddy) at will and all because of the perfect work of Calvary, Wow! What privileged people we are! God is so filled with goodness and mercy; bless His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Mankind instinctively hankers after all things positive. As Christians we do not welcome adversity as we ort; for it is honing us for the imminent. In other words we are in training! There is a day in the not too distant future where things are going to spiral out of control for the Christian in many first world countries and we will be seen as the enemy and targeted as such. However, this is not what concerns me, but rather the conflict it will spark amongst family and believers…

“And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:10-13)

The human race are masters of disguise, it is easy to hide our actual guises from others and even ourselves. Sin has taken care of that! We smile at those we hate but only when the cost is cheap. Once the pressure begins to mount even the tightest of families will begin to crumble. There are many that claim to be Christian; “time will reveal all”! Did you know that it is only when you apply pressure to the olive that it produces the valuable oil we all enjoy? Trials test our faith and the Apostle James teachers us this very valuable lesson; “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds… (James 1:2) – for  they have a purpose, so do not ask yourself why is this happening to me, but rather what can I learn from any given situation. For by now we should all understand that we are in training for the greatest position in the universe; to co-exist with the great “I AM” as heirs and children with benefits of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Testing’s produce a resolve that prepares us for adversity, but without it we will battle to overcome the easiest resistance; when the Christian is singled out as the great arch enemy of the world! Will you and I be amongst the number that holds true? Or will we be exposed as imposers?  It’s the trials of our everyday life that prepare us for our final test whenever that may arrive. Let us therefore remember to welcome adversity for it is meant as an aid and not a hindrance.

Who then will be among the number that endures unto the end? I would dare to suggest that those who have been born of the Spirit and welcomed adversity, being trained by it, will most certainly be amongst that number.

With that established let us never forget that we are God’s work and He is the mastermind behind His brilliant plan. All we are required to do is find obedience in and through any given incident we face, applying faith toward God one day at a time.    

Signing off

Tyrone

    

Beyond hope!

Someone may be toying with an idea, knowing that the Word of God has been rather specific about a certain decision in their lives but they are hoping beyond hope that it will pan out positively.

How can someone look “beyond hope”? This is something all are prone to do outside of Christ. Sadly the world has been hood-winked into believing beyond the reality of any given truth that has not yet arrived. The reason for this is that man’s ways are variable whereas God’s ways are everlasting. God determines all that exists to obey His Word, even the seas stop where they stop and go no further; all of creation obeys His voice! Phenomenal, and yet certain!  Mankind on the other hand believes that if they ignore the Word of God all will be well. However for those who oppose His voice, I can with absolute assurance inform you that it will end badly. Some like to believe that they will be favoured just because they are who they are. Breech the Word of God and it will cost you dearly! Eve took a chance against the Word of God; God specifically commanded her not to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and she acted against it in spite of God’s warning and eventually experienced death, sadly she was not the first to die, but she ended up burying her son Abel whom her other son Cain had killed. A costly mistake! Here then is the lesson for all to observe and understand the consequence of disobeying the voice of God. A tone to His awesome power established way back in the beginning.  

I can with utmost assurance say that I am fully confident that if you heed the voice of God and trust it regardless of the opposing voices to it, it will be well with your soul, for this life and into eternity. God has promised to never leave nor forsake one of His own, praise the glorious name of Jesus Christ, my God, my Lord, and my Saviour. Bless Him even the more for here on in, Amen and Amen!

However ignore the Word of God at your own peril! But before it seems as if I am being rather harsh with my tone, please understand my heart in the matter, I’ve had to learn the hard way and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone else. It’s not necessary. Rebellion to God’s voice comes from the devil and his influence. If God says do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers is that not a warning for our benefit? It informs us that if we disregard his instruction there will be a consequence to our disobedience. It’s a help and not a stick. We must learn to apply that principle to every instruction through God’s Word and we will be so full of joy and peace it will almost be uncontainable. This is what it means to walk in the Spirit; there is nothing mystical to it. Disobey and it proves one thing, that we are carnal (a natural way of processing information) and have our minds set on the flesh and all it’s deceitful lures.

You may be asking, what about all the grey areas in my life, those crevices that are hard to breech, where you are not sure, do I abstain or indulge? The Apostle Paul covers this and apprises us to present our bodies unto God which is nothing more than a reasonable sacrifice. If we are born again, given the mind of Christ and we have His Spirit which has taken up residence within our bodies, then we no longer are our own independent individuals, we belong to Him as He belongs to us.

Christ had to die to redeem us from our sinful states and He took the brunt of God’s punishment for our mistakes and sins. We have been bought at a great price; “although salvation is free it isn’t cheap”! And by God’s design there will be a testing whereby our lives will be filled with decisions along the way; “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.” (Romans 12:1-2) – Therefore there will be areas in our lives that will need testing to work out right from wrong, but we must always use the Bible to find the correct answers and once we have the understanding needed it is crucial that we act on it, so that we may grow up into Christian adulthood, which will benefit us tremendously. But above all to bring our God glory as we shine like beacons of light in a world filled with so much death and destruction.

Let me leave you with a very comforting thought which I too received from another…

“Human action is frequently the hasty result of passion, or fear, and is followed by regret and alteration; but nothing can take the Almighty by surprise, or happen otherwise than he has foreseen. His ways are the outgrowth of an immutable character, and in them the fixed and settled attributes of God are clearly to be seen. Unless the Eternal One himself can undergo change, his ways, which are himself in action, must remain for ever the same. Is he eternally just, gracious, faithful, wise, tender?-then his ways must ever be distinguished for the same excellences. Beings act according to their nature: when those natures change, their conduct varies also; but since God cannot know the shadow of a turning, his ways will abide everlastingly the same. Moreover there is no reason from without which could reverse the divine ways, since they are the embodiment of irresistible might. The earth is said, by the prophet, to be cleft with rivers, mountains tremble, the deep lifts up its hands, and sun and moon stand still, when Jehovah marches forth for the salvation of his people. Who can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? But it is not might alone which gives stability; God’s ways are the manifestation of the eternal principles of right, and therefore can never pass away. Wrong breeds decay and involves ruin, but the true and the good have about them a vitality which ages cannot diminish.” (Charles Spurgeon)

In conclusion when it comes to the voice of God our heavenly Father let us treasure it way above anything else in our lives for it can be trusted. Praise His name now and forever more, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

 

      

Hoodwinked

Before a fisherman throws his line into the big deep blue, especially when targeting sharks, he baits the water with entrails and vial smelling slop and blood. His reason, to entice the prey towards his baited hook…

I see so many similarities to the fisherman’s techniques in everyday life. It has become rather frightening on the one hand whilst on the other somewhat the norm to my inquiring mind as it probes from thought to thought in relation to what my eyes witness throughout any given day. In conclusion it is obvious that the undertones of so many underlying messages carry great weight with a hook so enticing that people are willing to bite at the same traps over and over, oblivious to the end game. What is needed by Satan to hook his prey? “The lust of the flesh”, it’s as simple as that. The Apostle John words it like this; “For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1John 2:16) – But before I take this thought any further we need to establish a truth that exposes and confirms the one behind it all.

“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” His life was all about the will of God outside of his own selfish wants. He was a man that God acknowledged! Wow what a beautiful thought, to be acknowledged by the great “I AM”! However he had a family who were not like minded and it was all about satisfying their own carnal desires. Their lives were filled with self-interest and it was all about what they could take from this life and this world. Does that sound familiar when we gaze into our mirrors? Bigger houses, with more money and the like; Job was different in character and he shunned all that was evil! And it was God who put him to the test! This is how it happened; (see Job 1:6-12) - God looks out for His own, and Satan and all his fellow workers can do nothing to His children without God’s permission; this is a given! Why then do certain tests come our way? God understands our hearts, but we often skew a right understanding of who we are and what we are all about. It’s the trial of life that refines us into obedient children of God. Satan has one objective and that is to get us to curse God so that we too may die with Him in the Lake of Fire. But in order for Him to accomplish this objective He “chums” the waters in our paths to entice us to take the bait. He has become so skilled at this that even the professing Christian ends up believing that the “Prosperity Gospel” is of God and not from him, with bigger houses and more luxury for the Christian when in fact the opposite is true. True faith does not will us to have a cushier life, but it drives us to have peace even when we are surrounded by great trial. The Lord Jesus Christ is our example; with many other who have followed suit. This is how God views those who please Him; “... Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated--

of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:35-38)

In God’s opinion the world was not worthy to have these characters living in it, because of their own unselfish wants at the expense of a right relationship with Him. Satan the mastermind, luring men and women away from God through the lust of their flesh! A cleverly thought out intention by Satan as he probes the world with a numbing to all things pure and holy. How is this done, rather easily in fact considering that the persona of my brilliant God and Father is pure and holy as He only ever reflects His own righteousness, He is the great “I AM” the One who has no beginning nor will He ever have an end, He has scripted His plan for time and beyond and we are characters within that script. He has so loved the world and given us His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as our own personal sacrifice for our sins. But so many are led to believe that they are good people and in no need of a Saviour. Sadly this is the truth of our world today. Satan has lured them, as I too was once a part of that number, but God took pity on my soul in spite of who I was, a sinner in desperate need of rescue; and He graciously opened my eyes to these truths. Praise the name of Jesus now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

How then has Satan tricked so many people into believing his lies? Simply put, our love for sin is what drives the majority of the human race. And through the process of time we are in the throes of a downward spiral. It is getting to a stage of such proportion that we are now as a nation even honouring same sex marriages. Wow! However there will come a day in the not too distant future when God will say enough is enough and bring great tribulation upon the earth, in fact such tribulation that the world has never yet experienced. Considering that four thousand years ago God did destroy the earth with a flood and only eight souls were saved.

What is this “chum” I speak of? You needn’t look further than our very television sets to understand the corruption that is evident in our society today. A show like the modern family, with gay couples the norm, or women in leading roles ruling the world with their dominance and ruling men whilst twisting the Word of God and His order. No different to the beginning, in the Garden of Eden where he deceived Eve to disobey God; the evidence of Satan’s influence over the general population with human rights high on the agenda of most governments as they disregard the order of God. The devil has and is in the course of luring men and women into his deadly trap that will bring with it eternal consequences, hell the final destination.

However, today is a day where we still have hope and we can turn from our sin and cry out to a forgiving God as we seek out His forgiveness?

I will leave you with this thought; “As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."” (Hebrews 3:15) – In other words; “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13) – But we must all call out to Him if we are to escape the hook of Satan with today being a day that His offer is still on the table, and yet there is a day coming that is almost to treacherous to speak about but nevertheless knowledge about it may just save us from it; “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” (Matthew 24:21) 

Signing off

Tyrone

    

 

 

        

Knowledge

The resolve to heighten our knowledge is something we are all driven to do from our first breath. It is inbred into our makeups; it is part of who we are. A new born child soon learns what his mother’s teat is for and before long they know exactly where to go when hunger kicks in. And so life progresses and we all inquire after knowledge to equip us to better our existence.

What I find a rather interesting thought this morning is that the forbidden fruit placed in the Garden of Eden was all about the Knowledge of Good and Evil! The rest of God’s persona was never withheld from Adam. In fact God even allowed Adam to name all the beasts of His creation. Why was it held from their understanding, is the tenacious question.

I have a few pressing thoughts that drive home with a loud voice but before I unpack them I must first receive confirmation from the Word of God that they are in line with God’s voice and not my own imaginations. The Bible must confirm them before I can say with any certainty that they are accurate.

It is obvious that they were not ready to receive that knowledge at that time in their lives, for if they were, God would have allowed them access to it. Why were they not ready? When we consider the sons of God (the angels) who were created and who lived within the presence of God; they, just like Adam and Eve, saw God in all His glory and yet one third of the angels were banished from heaven for admiring Satan’s beauty over God’s goodness and for choosing evil over good. I suppose it may just have been a similar concern that God had with mankind, not allowing them to understand the difference so that they did not end up like the fallen angels, banished from God’s presence.

Why do evil people act on evil deeds? They actually believe it is more pleasurable to be evil than good. It becomes a way of life, but where we make the mistake is that we too believe that we are better than others on our own merits, when in fact we are by nature all drawn to sin because of the fall. No matter who you are, you are tainted by sin and have a skewed perception of what is good and evil.  Like the Lord Jesus taught, you may be faithful to your partner in practice but in thought ponder all types of indulgences, the conclusion, you are then guilty of adultery (God’s standard of what is good and not mans understanding of what he thinks is acceptable). That is the kernel of it all! There are no exceptions! Can I prove this? Yes! “As it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12)   

This knowledge that we now have, a skewed perception on what is good and what is evil (I speak as a man with a carnal mind-set and not with the mind of Christ) leaves mankind by default cleaving to that which is evil, even if they don’t know it! Which outside of Christ’s rescue, they are oblivious to their dilemma. You have been blinded by sin!

Let us go back into history to establish some important principles…

Prior to the flood God looked down upon mankind from the heavens and was appalled with what they had become and I must remind you that because of Eve’s noncompliance to God’s instruction in the Garden of Eden mankind had now ended up here and under the influence of the serpent (Satan), she short circuited God’s plan for mankind’s awareness of the true understanding of what is good and what is evil. They were not ready to receive the tuition about “good and evil” but she hankered after it regardless. Here is how the Bible records the state of mankind prior to the flood; “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them."” (Genesis 6:5-7) – Humanity had fallen very far from where it had all started no differently to the fallen angels that had been banished from heaven under Satan. And because of the state of mans heart (“his heart was continually evil”) God destroyed the known world by a great flood, except the few that found grace in the eyes of God, Noah and his family with the animal rescued in the Ark prior to His judgement.     

Therefore the law teaches us to apply ourselves to certain criteria and if we abide by Gods law we remain guiltless before Him. It is only when we break one of His laws that we stand condemned. This was the reason for the introduction of the Ten Commandments; it was to teach us what was required from us if we wanted a right relationship with God. God being merciful then introduced sacrifices to cover sins and once a breach happened in a person’s life; a sacrifice was required to cover that particular sin. God had singled out the Jews as His people and these laws then applied to them and this agreement is known as the “first covenant”. Which proved the point that it was impossible to overcome evil by our actions, the law was a tutor to teach us that we needed to find rescue. It was only after that had been established that God introduced a better covenant, the second, which abolished the first in and through the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)   

But in order for the second covenant to stand God needed to live as a man and overcome sin n the flesh. Which He did! Praise the name of Jesus now and forever more! – “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:28)

In other words the first covenant was something that needed to be continually repeated. A man sinned and then made a sacrifice unto God seeking out His forgiveness for that particular sin and so on. It was a repetitive requirement. That covenant has now been abolished because of Christ’s obedience. We have now entered into the era of the second covenant which is on offer for all of mankind and not only the Jew. Here is the proof; “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.” (Hebrews 8:6-7)   

    

And yet I will remind you, that God as the director, was never caught off guard, as it was all part of His scripted manuscripts, which He penned prior to the creation of the worlds.  Which will eventually arrive at a conclusion, with all of God’s people living and praising Him with the true knowledge of good and evil and from there on in only ever choosing that which is good. The inhabitants within the New Jerusalem (the new habitat for God’s elect) will now be in a position to differentiate between good and evil as God sees it. Good triumphing over evil! Praise God now and forever more, Amen!

This then will be the end for the pursuit of the knowledge of good and evil. There will be a final separation of all that is good and evil; “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."” (Revelation 21:3-17)

In conclusion none of us in ourselves can claim to be good people; this type of reasoning is a twisted understanding of what is true before God’s eyes. But God has not left us to our own destruction and has made a way of escape for the “whosoever”; turn to the Lord Jesus Christ repenting of all your ‘dead works’ (trying to score points with God by what you do and have done) and call out to Him asking Him to forgive and save you from the eminent judgement that is on the horizon known as the Great White Throne Judgement. You must be covered by the Second Covenant if you are to escape the judgement for your sins. Hang onto the First Covenant and you will be judged by it and with a single breach to it, you will be found wanting, with hell as your final destination.

Signing off

Tyrone    

   

Biblical Hermeneutics

To hear the voice of God speak into my life is at present my highest priority but only after understanding the position I hold in God’s family, I am a son of the only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is now entitled to call out to my heavenly Father in assurance knowing that I will be heard is most certainly a great comfort. To be known by God and numbered amongst the saint is of great privilege and to think it is only all because of God’s grace and His mercy. In spite of my pitiful character I have found rescue in Him, praise His name now and forever more, Amen!  

With that established what I really need now is to clearly hear the voice of God from here on in. “Noise” must be stripped from the equation for better results within our relationship and obviously it’s me that needs help. How can I be of more effectual service to my brothers and sisters in Christ without superficial confusion getting in the way is the pressing question?

If and when I want to remove background noise from an audio file I must evaluate the entire track in order to know what I need to deal. I could evaluate the track in sections and pull out the clutter as I progress but that would be a lengthy exercise. I recommend that we evaluate the problem openly and honestly and to the best of our abilities looking into a mirror.

So how do I hear the voice of God speak clearly into my life; firstly I need to remove any obstacle that stands in the way of His words reaching my ears. I need to remove the clutter. What then is the clutter? This is where the mirror of self-reflection is needed, not the mirror in your bathroom but the Word of God, the Bible is our mirror with God the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth. Its His Word through the pages of scripture that speaks into out lives.

Scholars teach us that we need to appropriate certain criteria to differing scriptures and this is known as biblical hermeneutics. I believe there is great value to their influence and yet I see some areas that may cause the clutter as our intellect looks to overrule the work of the Spirit. IT GETS IN THE WAY!

Paul instructs Timothy and it goes without saying that we should follow suit with our intent; "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) – We must make every effort to understand what the author’s intention was in his delivery, grammatically and contextually, which is helpful when unpacking certain truths from scripture. They encourage historical references to culture and the like which most certainly has its place but at times can cause a lot of “noise” when trying to understand the correct interpretation of the authors intent. Do not overshadow tradition and historical cultures over the simple meaning of the text. In my opinion this at times has hindered us from hearing the voice of God. They do however encourage us to understand different portions of scripture and apply different techniques to understanding them, the scholar says we must interpret a prophecy differently to a psalm or a proverb which should be understood and applied differently from a law. They say applying these techniques will aid in helping us to interpret, understand and apply the Bible. I agree with it in principle! However when I then hear some background “noise” is intellect overshadowing the work of the Spirit? Did you know that God does not depend upon the degrees or a scholars intellect to further His gospel? We have been saved by grace through faith and that's not a work of ours or even the work or the brilliance of the man who leads us to salvation, it is a gift from God. The working of God by the Holy Spirit will never share His glory with another, and why would He? He is God and has commissioned Him to function under His Production (the unfolding of life with the earth and its inhabitants as key figures in His creation). So when we stand in the way of the Spirit’s work we hinder our progress and the progress of those around us. Not that we could actually hinder His work; we stun our own growth, failing to remove the wax from our ears! Here is what God the Spirit does in our lives according to scripture; everyone would agree that we receive Him as a gift after becoming a Christian, in other words He takes up His abode in us, He is involved in helping us understand God’s will for our lives. Therefore it is time to get out of the way and “let God”!  We only see “sin” as our enemy when in fact anything carnal is the enemy. Just in case there be some resistance to that statement here is the proof; “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7-8)

God the Holy Spirit has great influence within a believer’s life whether you are aware of it or not; I can say with confidence that I am aware of certain areas in my life where He influences me; when certain scriptures are brought back to my remembrance without any effort on my part, it is obvious He lives. I do not learn memory verses to try and heighten my intellect. I just read and study the Bible and He does the rest; He brings verses back to my remembrance through any given circumstance where and when required. For this I am truly grateful! The Apostle Paul commissions us not to grieve the Holy Spirit for our salvation has been sealed by Him until the day of our redemption (see Ephesians 4:30) – He influences how we should lives. He is the unseen hero in our salvation! There is a lot more I could say about His functions, but time does not permit…      

With that established, this does not mean we go off at a tangent ignoring the author’s intent behind the text in scripture. That would be gross error and many are privy to such false interpretations. The hyper charismatics are guilty as charged! It’s all about their bellies and what they can get for themselves at the expense of others.

We must always stick to the text with literal Bible interpretation. I agree with the scholar’s most important law of biblical hermeneutics, which is that the Bible should be interpreted literally. Literal Bible interpretation means we understand the Bible in plain language. The Bible says what it means and means what it says. Mistakes are made when individuals try to read between the lines and come up with meanings for Scriptures that are not truly in the text. The prayer of Jabez a typical example of the many errors some fall privy to; Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!" And God granted what he asked.” (1Chronicals 4:10) – It was a request from a particular man that God honoured. However for someone to now jump to the conclusion and write a book teaching all that they are entitled to a similar claim from that one verse is a stretch of delusional imagination. This is a case in study which would prove the value of biblical hermeneutics.

There are however some verses that can be applied to all because they position all for the call; “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13) – And another; "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – Here are verses that has been extended to all “everyone” and “whoever”. It is an open invitation to all, do you see the difference?

The goal of biblical hermeneutics is to point us to the correct interpretation which the Holy Spirit has already enthused into the text. The purpose of biblical hermeneutics is to protect us from unfittingly applying a Scripture to a particular situation. Biblical hermeneutics points us to the true meaning and application of Scripture; "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) – A correct understanding of Biblical hermeneutics helps when we remove our carnalities from it from getting in the way, which in turn will keep the sword sharp!

There is much more that could be said on this topic, however in conclusion, we must learn to be sensitive to the work of God the Holy Spirit in our lives and we must absorb a confidence in His leading through our application of faith toward God with a correct tender of overarching Biblical Hermeneutics to our understanding of what God is teaching us. We must rely on His work in our lives to bring about God’s will. And only then will our ears be truly free from any “noise” in our daily Christian walks.

Signing off

Tyrone