Trimming the sail

Throughout our lives it is never easy to face death as it is a constant reminder of our volatility. Growing up I never liked the thought of it, especially when it was someone close to home. But as life rolled on and I had now understood something far deeper than our carnal deaths as eternal life had now become the pressing issue, heaven or hell was the question I now faced, with that realized, could I have done more with the gospel message prior to that person's death? Sadly the answer is yes, I was found wanting…

I should have spoken out to my father, Nonna (grandmother) and others at a particular given time, but I didn’t! Here today and gone tomorrow; there are many accounts of regret with this reality alive and well. I am sure I am not alone with these types of thoughts…

Death attached to the reality of that person’s future existence had now become an overarching burden that would vex my soul. Whether I was walking obediently or in rebellion to the call that God had placed on my life, somehow I felt responsible. Have you ever had a burning desire to share the gospel with someone but for some reason held your peace? Has circumstance which is often attached to sin kept you silent? On reflection I do have regrets with the way I once behaved under the banner of Christianity, shame on me is the conclusion. But by the grace of God I will no longer live under the power of that death, for my Saviour has conquered death; “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” (Hebrews 2:14-15)

If you have similar thoughts it may just be time for you to forgive yourself and let your mistakes go for God is thankfully in the process of restoration in so many areas of my life; I will always be indebted to Him and yet never be able to pay Him back. “Jesus in my place”! How thankful I am to my God, Father, the precious love of my life, my hero, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who bled and died for me, giving me eyes to see, what a privileged man I am and all of this in spite of me, WOW! We serve a great God! God is love personified, God laid down His life for me, once an enemy of the cross and yet now I am a confederate with ability to sing praise to my God and Father, bless His name! ALL HAIL KING JESUS!

Within the bounds of life it is important to trim our sails from time to time. To sit back and examine our lives and the paths we are on, have we even veered off course; if by one degree today how far gone will we be a year from now if our rudder is not corrected? We have been given a guarantee, God the Holy Spirit is our compass who will keep us on track and teach us along the way. We have the Spirit of God, we have His Word, the Bible and we have our brothers and sisters in Christ. All of these are interwoven helps that we need to pay very careful attention to. Today may just be the time to be still and to listen, waiting with eager anticipation to hear the still voice of God as He speaks to us through His Son, our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, through the penned words of scripture. The Bible is our reference and that must never change. We must cling to it for our lives do depend upon SOUND DOCTRINE. There are many false messages being bandied around Christian circles but they will eventually all end in ruin. God will not tolerate lies especially when it involves Him and His perfection. He will never tolerated misrepresentation, if you doubt what I say; read the book of Job and this will soon become evident.

What about me, my commitment and the lack of it in so many areas of my life? I suppose we all have our weaknesses that always looks to rob us of our victory in Christ, the cares of this life press hard on all of us as they look to drive us towards unbelief, however I will trust in my God for I know the end result for God has shown it to me. Heaven is just around the corner, a place of tranquility, where hope will be a distant memory. There is a day coming where all of God’s children will take up their places in heaven and "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.” Faith will no longer be required for we shall see Him as He is, Wow! Hope will no longer be needed for we shall have arrived, but love will endure forever when we understand the magnitude of God’s commitment to sinful man who by the grace of God has found repentance as a way of life.

What I find very interesting is the understanding that Paul the Apostle had with God’s patience towards his children. It is obvious that Paul was a man that was totally committed to the call that God had placed on his life, he most certainly led from the front and yet he still pens these words; it would be good to commit this lesson to our lives and to follow suite when dealing with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Here is the instruction; “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” (1Thessolonians 5:14)

Signing off

Tyrone

     

  

Speaking in parables

(Matthew 13:33) “He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."”

Leaven does its work without noise; it works speedily, powerfully, effectively and eventually works its way through the body of the flour affecting all of it.

There are two ways of looking at the effectiveness of leaven, or yeast like fermenting agent if you prefer. Its proficiency can be used to draw analogies by highlighting many truths within an individual’s life and the Lord Jesus often spoke in parables teaching some very valuable lessons to those who had been given ears to understand. Not everyone will understand the lessons behind the allegory but that was always God’s intention. The gainsayer and the manipulator or the one seeking out God’s blessings for their bellies sakes will always misinterpret the intended message.

The gainsayer will twist the parable into a doctrine of devils and use it as a manipulation tool to feed his own selfish wants, But God will have the last Word, that is guaranteed.

However yeast if used correctly within its correct application to bring about change in the body of dough often results with a bakers masterpiece enjoyed by many. Faith will have a similar effect if applied correctly in any given circumstance; “the just shall live by faith”! We must learn to put our anxiety aside and in faith commit our causes to God, trusting Him, for God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. It is never natural to lay our independence aside as we learn to depend upon God’s provision, but it is most certainly extremely needful if we are to make progress with our Christian plight.

We can often end up toiling to no avail; here is a wonderful example that teaches us so much if and when we pay careful attention to the lesson…

“On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.” (Luke 5:1-6)

Let me break this down; there was a crowd pressing in to hear the master teach and only after the Lord Jesus had spoken life to the hearers and once he had their attention did He offer up a miracle. We must first hear the voice of our God speak clearly to us placing all of our dependence upon him before we will reap the true benefits of Christianity. The Bible is full of these types of examples, but how will we ever know the voice of God if we do not read the Bible? Reading with intent to study and learn must be in the forefront of our minds if we are to be instructed by the voice of God. God the Holy Spirit will teach us right from wrong. We must show respect to what is being taught and we must learn from the intent of this crowd that they were bullish when it came to receiving from Christ, which can be forgiven even though they wrestle amongst one another and “pressed hard upon him”. We have in like manner been commanded to approach the throne of grace with boldness; confidence must be evident in us when we seek our God’s face. We are not to be timid and approach God hedging our bets allowing unbelief to dictate. God is well pleased when we learn to apply faith to every one of our predicaments. The Apostle Peter had fished all day without any return but He had understood that it was God who had commanded Him to cast out the nets in spite of his situation; he had heard the voice of God speak! Often our efforts bring no return, but if God is for us who can be against us? The result was phenomenal, at God’s word Peter cast out the nets and the impossible then happened, the nets were filled to bursting, praise God!

God will always use an opportune time to teach us to rely on Him, but how can that ever happen if we do not understand the magnitude of these types of miracles in our lives? We must be prepared in order to comprehend the full measure of the lesson. The brilliance of God is rather phenomenal when realised. We have so much in us that always looks to drive us in the opposite direction, our independence must diminish and the sooner this is learnt the happier we will be. Our total dependence is in God’s provision and nothing else will hack it. This is why we often have to find ourselves in a position of want before the lesson can be learnt. Therefore let us not run from our dependency toward God but let us learn to appreciate what it can teach us, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

         

       

A vital lesson...

There are so many fundamentals we need to continuously monitor as Christians. It is so easy to become complacent and before long we will start to sink into the “slough of despond”. But what really presses home this morning is how often I make bad choices that lead me to the edge of the miry swamp that get me to feed off unbelief…

It’s not as if I am being persecuted per say and been physically stoned for my faith, as others were. That would be suffering for the sake of righteousness and with these types of acts God is well pleased. When I suffer because of my own stupidity then who is to blame? I have thrashed this particular drum for a long time now, and thankfully over time, because we have the Spirit of Christ in us we will learn to see our errors the way we should. It will take a lifetime, but God is rich in mercy and long-suffering towards His children, blessed be His name! His investment in those whom He has called and those whom He has chosen to fly the Christian flag will bring Him glory once the process has run its course and of this I am sure. The Lord Jesus Christ has completed the work, blessed be His name now and forever more!

On reflection at this stage of my Christian walk I am still aware of how volatile I can be at times and yet I see the merciful work of God in my life as He exposes the rot and shows me Christ. I have a responsibility to my Christian family to expose my mistakes so that you do not have to make the same mistakes over and over again. It is fruitless and brings with it a lot of hurt.

What is God teaching me?  

God works in the realm of the unseen, hence the just shall live by faith. We all have the written Word, the Bible to guide us along the way. We also have the Spirit of God in us that pricks our conscience and drives us towards His righteousness. But we still house all this beauty in an earthen vessel; our carnal minds drive us from God and not toward Him. Here is the Apostle Paul’s take on the subject; “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-8) – Therefore when I or any of us try to juggle the flesh and its passions whilst walking in the Spirit, it will always have the same result. Zero growth and idolatry dictating the way we live. Our priorities will become clearly evident to all those around us, this is what is meant by the Lords quote concerning our commitment, “You shall know a tree by its fruit”. 

If I am staring to learn correctly, then I must live by faith. I cannot claim to live by faith and then chase money as if there’s no tomorrow. It is a very simple lesson to understand but quite another to implement. But apply it we must if we are to live life peacefully before our God and Father. Put anything above God and we are living hostilely toward Him. Idolatry has then become a way of life and when we get it wrong it will result in misery. God will never share His glory with another, for there is no one like Him in perfection and we must learn to trust Him.

Take the snippet from Carte Blanc the other night with that slaughter of the Pilot whales. It caused uproar but there was no mention of God the creator, mankind worshipping the creature (God’s creation) at the expense of giving God homage. Do you see the error, just like a magician with sleight of hand misleading people? Obvious Idolatry at play and yet it seems to be such a worthy cause. Now there are many idols that captivate our energy throughout any given day. Money is first on that list, we understand that without money we will never survive and therefore we drive hard trying to build bigger barns. It is impossible to divide our energies whilst we determine to go to church and even serve in the church if we are driven by money. We must confess our error and seek out God’s forgiveness. We must be consumed with the God of our salvation, He is so worthy of that commitment, God help us to be consumed with this idea. We must be totally committed to Him. This is the ultimate lesson for all the Christians throughout the world. God first in every area of our lives, and this is easy to test. What is the first thing you do in the morning, take that thought into every minute of every day and then what do we end the day doing before we go to bed?

I am not for one minute suggesting that I have this worked out, but this changes me and not the truth. We must learn to walk the way our forefathers walked and that is to live by faith in every area of our lives.

Do not be deceived into thinking that God will condone our unbelief. I understand that He is patient with us and that He is willing to teach us this valuable lesson over a lifetime but the sooner this becomes our reality the happy we shall be with peace an overarching phenomenon in our lives.

Thank you Father for your patience with me, but please renew a right spirit in me so that my life will become a living testament of your grace and mercy.

Signing off

Tyrone            

Gospel for DUMMIES

To kick against the pricks seems to follow some without much effort whatsoever and yet others seem to glide with the stream. This is just the way life seems to unfold. Put two men in the same room under the same conditions with the same tools at their disposal and you are guaranteed different results. One will excel whilst the other may really struggle, why? That is a complex question but if we strip it bare, we will soon realize that God is Sovereign and He rules in accordance with His will. However as individuals within his production we all make thousands of decisions a day and we determine the action we need to take at any given time. We are not machines but are living souls and therefore God has created us with an ability to “adapt or die” yet always within the bounds of the parameters He has set out. We can only ever go so far.

We have all been subjected to the same laws; gravity doesn’t only apply to some, we are all governed by it and because someone is unaware of the laws of gravity that does not exclude them from its downward force. In like manner we think since we make so many independent choices throughout the day that we are the masters of our own destinies. That however is partly true but only within the bounds we have been afforded and yet I see another hidden rule that eludes the majority, which is the unseen lies of a man’s life which he believes will go unpunished if he dodges the ones he deceives. God has established a truth and just like gravity’s effect on all of us.

Here is a quote from King Solomon from the Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes; “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” – Whether we believe this to be true or not will have no bearing on the outcome. God will have the final say! That I can promise you and no stone will be left unturned. God is so brilliant that nothing will slip His attention. Have you ever tried to count the hairs on your head? That would be an impossible task and yet God could give you an immediate answer, in fact there are billions of people on our planet and He could give a simultaneous answer on all that live and His answer would be exact, wow, wow and wow! This is the God we are up against and we will never outsmart Him. He rules and reigns in accordance to the parameters He has set out and the sooner we submit to His reign the freer we live.

The very same God will judge both the living and the dead; what is meant by the living and the dead? We will all die! We will never live in this corruptible body forever that has been proved over time, mankind trying to cheat death to no avail. Egyptians mummifying their bodies in the hope of finding a cure to be brought back from the dead and all they have achieved is an archaeologist digging them up and people ogling at their dead bodies. Death personified! Death can never be cheated by mankind! But God who is rich in mercy has afforded all an opportunity to escape death, which is to offer sinners the opportunity to live forever. How? God sent His son the Lord Jesus Christ to pay a penalty for which he was not guilty of. Jesus Christ died for the repentant sinner and paid the price for our sins. God became a man, lived a life of sinless perfection and then bled and died for the sins of many. He is the substitute for all those who acknowledge their sins before a Holy God and seek out His forgiveness for their sins, we cannot look to find justification for our sins, and we need to own them.

Here is an example to help us understand the severity of our condition; let’s say a man has a failing heart and he is on the verge of death, what will he need to survive? Firstly he will need to believe that his heart is failing and only then will understand that without a new heart he will die; a healthy heart is needed for him to live, but before that can happen a donor must be found. Someone needs to die for him to live. Not any heart will do, it will have to match his blood type and so there is certain criteria needed for this to happen successfully. In like manner we are all guilty of sin and must understand our need for forgiveness, once that is understood we are on the right track to find clemency. Two thousand years ago God sent His son to live a life without sin, he then had to die as if he had sinned, he bled and died for me, and I now know this to be true. I’ve understood this and because of this understanding I’ve now been qualified to find forgiveness for my sin. I’ve repented and asked god for forgiveness and because He is a loving God He has now forgiven my trespass, my sins have now been covered by the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice and they will now be remembered no more.          

  

But what about those who reject God’s mercy? Even the wicked have been afforded God’s communal graces; the worst of the worst still breathe the same oxygen the child of God breathes. Questions that so many ask are why does God allow that? Why allow some murderers to get away with it? We have all been given a similar chance to find the grace of God in our lives. Let me put it to you this way, can you fail someone if you aren’t afforded the opportunity to write the test? If I reach the age of eighteen and I now want to drive a car legally, I need to get a driver’s license, easier enough to understand. But if I am not allowed the same opportunities as another, where is the justice? However there is always a criterion I need to meet to qualify for such a test. I need to study the rules of the road, write and pass a written test. I then need to learn how to drive applying those rules and then my eyes need testing and finally if I pass the entire requirements I will be given a driver’s license. However I can choose to drive without a license but that will be at my own peril and I will be subject to the laws of the land if caught out. The same principal applies to all of us, the murderer, the drunkard, the sexually immoral, the pedophile, the liar, the idolater, the sorcerer, fits of anger, the jealous and things like these will all be subjected to the judgements of God and these acts will exclude all those who practice such things from inheriting the kingdom of God. God has so determined it; however without the mercies of God, we would all choose the wrong options because we are by nature sinful beings. Sin is such a deceitful power that it even tricks people into believing that they are not sinful. We are quick to accuse others and excuse ourselves. Here are some verses that should help us get a better grip on things; “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience (the sin of our forefather Adam) the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Jesus in my place), so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:18-21)

Regardless of the sins you’ve committed if you truly repent and seek out God’s forgiveness you will find it. There is no sin too great, but we must own our sin and not excuse it whilst accusing others. This type of mentality will only ever keep us from finding forgiveness and eternal life. I hope that is easy enough to understand.

The last question we need to answer is what about the judgement of the dead? Death in this instance does not refer to an unconscious state of once here and then gone. It is very clear from scripture that what this means for those who reject God’s mercy is that they will be in a state of consciousness and bear the magnitude of their rebellion against God for eternity. They will all end up in hell and bear the brunt of that decision, suffering unthinkable consequences forever and ever. Now whether you believe that to be fair or not, just like gravity has a downward force that prevents us from floating up into the air, if we reject God’s free grace offering to find forgiveness for our sins we too will suffer the consequences, God has spoken! With that now established we all have a choice to make; REPENT AND BELIEVE ON THE FINISHED WORK OF THE LORD JESUS OR SUFFER THE PENALTIES…

Signing off

Tyrone

         

        

Infinite

Put infinite, mercy and perfect into the same sentence and what do you get? We see a reflection of God that is life-changing; when we consider the magnitude of my request and our minds begin to methodically work by unpacking the enormity of Somebody that is infinite (immeasurable); hold that thought, do not undermine the immensity of what that actually means; God is boundless, as far as we can see when we gaze up into a starlight sky, God is there and then get your hands on the Hubble Space Telescope and gaze beyond this galaxy and into the next and God is there also. WOW! But it doesn’t stop there, the very same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is merciful in character… merciful? Yes, He has a tender touch, imagine a child delicately handling a butterfly, one wrong move and death would be imminent and yet even within our rebellion at times God is ever so gentle, teaching us right from wrong. Praise His name! He heals the brokenhearted and dresses their wounds. His mercy is so great that it forgives even the greatest of sinners from great sins. And we have done nothing to deserve God’s kindness; in spite of ourselves God is merciful. There is no merit on the behalf that sinners warrant such favour and yet God has afforded us a lifeline in and through His beloved Son, our cherished Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. He is ever so patient with the likes of men like me for God willingly teaches me the same lessons time and time again until the penny finally drops into place. There is nothing little in God’s economy, for we have already established that He is infinite and therefore His mercies must also be infinite, they are boundless, and wows of exclamations hammer that part of my brain which filters the awe of God. And to cap it all He is perfect in every area of His character, nothing can be added or taken away from Him to make Him any better than He already is. Let this resonate deep within your soul and your mouth will begin to sings songs of melody proclaiming the goodness of our God. Nothing within the hardships of this life will detract from the reality of that joy; it is a delight full of merciful musical notes that breathes life into every difficult dilemma we face. How does a man remain silent when this is realized? It is impossible to remain hushed and it causes me to chant, “If God is for me who can be against me.” Amen and Amen!

How I now long for the day when I will move from this life into the next, when this corruptible body of mine will take on an incorruptibility and become in type just like my glorious Saviour’s body, where nothing will ever be able to distract me from the presence of God, where I will be in His presence for all eternity and I will be able to cry out unto Him and sing about His goodness, not from a distance or through the vale of faith which feeds all of God’s children’s cemented in Christ with our eternal hope, but I will be in His presence and see Him as He actually is, WOW! How I long for that day to finally arrive! But until then, may God keep me faithful in the plight to which I have been called and that is to glorify your name in this crooked and perverse generation. To proclaim the mercies of my God and to beckon all to come the way of the cross and find true salvation in and through the wonderful redemption of my glorious Saviour’s sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Bless His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Repent, call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved from assured destruction…

Signing off

Tyrone    

  

A valued relationship...

With so many pressures pushing inwardly on a man’s existence and with the daily necessities of life demanding their attention, I should be amongst the most miserable of men and yet I am beaming today with the joy of my salvation; with a refreshing realization that my sins have been forgiven, that my beloved partner, the love of my life, the one who personifies true love has set me free and paid the price for my sin. Jesus died in my place so that I may understand what I now appreciate to be of utmost importance to me for I have been freed to serve Him in liberty.

My heavenly Father, the One who has no beginning nor will He ever end, knowing what He knows and understanding all of His creation, life, death and everything in-between with an understanding of perfection. Sympathetic to my sinful character and how easily I am swayed by my own lustful desires, nevertheless has offered me a lifeline, He sent His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ to die in my place. My prayer for the band hood of Christianity is that God would bestow mercy upon His children this morning and give us all a fresh understanding of our first love.

We can all relate to relationships, the spark of any new found connection where everything pivots around that union, with every effort made by both partners to feed that wonderful emotion of true happiness. Come what made a blow on the cheek form an outsider with our new found love is easy to defend as we stand in defense of our partner even if they have wronged us. But over time the same events that we defended now become the wedge that begins to separate. The spark of love begins to dwindle and then comments like, “I no longer love him”, or “I have fallen out of love” begins to captivate our minds driving us apart. Sadly this is not only applicable within our carnal relationships but can become very real within our souls. As soon as repentance begins to become a distant memory that we did many years ago and we begin to accommodate certain sinful traits as the norm, BEWARE! We now need eye salve!

I have a question for you; do you honestly treasure the Lord Jesus today as much as you did the day you got saved and truly understood the magnitude of what that actual meant? When last did the waterworks of joy flow from your tear ducks as they now flow from mine, oh the joy of the Lord who can understand it? Bless your name my love! Your commitment is freshly revitalizing and it feeds my hope with new vigour as my mind begins to sing melodies to itself with a multitude of thoughts all being triggered at the same time, “Jesus in my place and thank you for saving a wretch like me”. Wow!  Do you have similar visitations? If not, the error of complacency has robbed you of what is rightfully yours in Christ and danger lurks, so I urge you to pay careful attention to our lovers warning; “'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Revelation 3:15-21)

Jesus is totally committed to this relationship come what may, but are we? Let’s make every effort to fight for it and give Him the love He affords us, bless His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen! Thank you Father God for sending Jesus Christ my love to die for my sin, your mercy and thoughtfulness is treasured. Your love has covered a multitude of sins. THANK YOU!  

Signing off

Tyrone     

 

An author's intention

When we analyze any masterpieces that have stood the test of time, we look to learn from these writings with the intent to deepen our understanding on any given topic. And if serious about our studies we try our utmost to get into the mind of the author’s commitment if we are to truly benefit from their stroke of genius; the over-arching intention is to always understand the author’s intent. Take William Shakespeare a playwright, poet and an actor; date of birth unknown; a man who lived for 52 years and then he died on the 23th of April 1616. And yet today many of his writing are still studied intently at schools and universities across the globe. However if we read his writing merely as a story without unpacking some of the underlying wizardry of his inscriptions we will miss so much of what he has to say. A gifted man! But what about giving God the same thoughtfulness; just imagine the benefit!

If I had one wish, it would be for my family and friends who have not realized the reality of my seriousness as to why I have an itch that needs to be scratched by urging people to find salvation in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and no one else. It is through the study of God’s Word that He has opened my eyes to this truth, praise His name! Any other claim outside of God’s endowment to be forgiven for our sin apart from repentance in and through the Lord Jesus Christ is nothing more than a LIE! How can I make such a bold statement? I have studied enough of the Bible to conclude that this is an obvious deduction.

It is a book filled with all sorts of drama, bloodshed, deliverance, intrigue, romance, super-hero type accounts that is hard for our natural minds to process, famines, wrongful imprisonments, wickedness that is beyond human comprehension and the list is endless but when we see God’s brilliance in the background as He works these wicked intensions from evil people and uses their wickedness to highlight His brilliance will never be understood by the novice. This will never be realized if we do not find intent to study Him in and through the Bible. But His Word if filled with so many hidden treasures that it brings a smile to my face causing me to fall to my knees and crying, thank you Father God for saving me.     

God wrote a book and yes He did use men to pen what has been written as a means whereby we would get to understand His character. That book is commonly known as the Holy Bible. All of its writings have been inspired under the influence of the Spirit of God. It was men who held the quill in their fingertips but it was God who filled their minds with His intent. He has left us with the BIBLE and it is what He has chosen to give us in order to explore His intentions concerning all of His creation. Neglect the reading of it at your own peril! I will now make a bold statement by making a promise to you, whoever you may be, that if you read the Bible with an open mind looking for answers to life you will be set free. You will eventually conclude and echo these words. “I was blind but now I can see”! God will open your eyes to the truth.  

When we compare a created being like William Shakespeare to the creator (God) and we give this thought some attention we will notice that the real genius lies with the Creator; He is the think-tank behind the desired result. An obvious conclusion is that the palpable intellect must then lie with the inventor. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the prodigy behind His creation and if we are to understand His intentions we must study His work. How could we ever make any accurate assessment about His intentions if we haven’t studied his works? This would simply be ludicrous. And yet, so many have so much to say about God and His mistakes but have never taken the time to study his writings, the Bible must be explored if we are to understand anything pertaining to this life and eternity; the foolhardiness of so many, claiming evolution to be true or other hocus-pocus philosophies as an answer to our existence only because it suits their lifestyles and it accommodates their sinful characters excusing the way they have chosen to live.

If you are an individual that believes in a higher being and that we can chose whoever we want “IT” to be, we prove our ignorance, nothing more! God has spent much time touching the lives of individuals and allowing men to pen their accounts so that we may learn to find Him. But in order for the light switch of truth to be flipped within our understanding we must be deliberate with our intention. Time is running out and hardship for all of mankind is just over the horizon, we must search out the deeper meaning to life while we still have the light to see. The night is coming and then it will be an almost impossible task to find liberty in Christ. Sure many will flock to what they believe to be the true Messiah but they will be mistaken. How do I know this? God has so declared it in His Word, the Bible! “Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” (Matthew 24:23-25) 

If I didn’t read or study the bible I would be oblivious to that truth. Get the point?

Has anyone ever been given a doctorate or taught Shakespeare without ever reading any of his works? Only a fool would listen to such a person claiming to understand the author’s intentions. In like manner for all the sceptics out there, don’t comment on God if you haven’t studied any of His writings; that only exposes your unawareness concerning Him, His creation and His plan for mankind.

Look to the Word of God to bring sight to your spiritual blindness, “seek and you shall find, knock on His door and it will be opened unto you.”

Signing off

Tyrone         

The ultimate lesson of life

Whilst giving the word “journey” some thought this morning the floodgates have opened as it directly relates to all in such a meaningful way. All of us are on a journey, the journey of life! This is not up for debate per say although we make many decisions along the way, we most certainly had nothing to do with our starts. Our parents came together whether in the throes of passion, or under a planned calculated mutual decision or maybe even outside of the bounds of marriage with sin playing its part, conception took place and then nine months later we were born. Obviously our journeys started from conception, but who can ever recall being inside their mother’s womb? But we can recall some childhood memories. Although we were never taught to tell our first lie, it happened and then it happened again and so on. Sin had begun to mold our characters. It’s not as if we deliberately chose to be sinful, it is who we are. Once placed in a compromising position due to varying specifics we will always look to protect our reputation and lie if and when needed to not be caught out. It’s almost as if we have a default button that engages without our consent, proving this one fact that all have sinned and fall short of God’s characteristics.

The question we find ourselves often asking is why did God make us like this? Well he didn’t! Our great grandparents (the first man and woman created) disobeyed a commandment from God and because of their disobedience we bear the brunt of their judgement. It’s just the way it is. One may cry “foul” whilst another may shout, “that’s not fair” but whatever your opinion on the matter may be it is irrelevant in the bigger scheme of things. God the creator is the final authority on the matter and He does not need our approval to implement whatever He chooses. He is God and we are his creation, the clay never dictates to the potter, it is always the other way around. The potter spins his potter’s wheel and he molds and shapes whatever he has decided. The sooner we realize this the earlier we will be able to skillfully tackle the task at hand, which is our pilgrimage and the God-centered decisions we make along the way.

I can with utmost assurance conclude that this is what I have learnt; when we start our journeys with a misguided intention it will always ends badly. Let me break this down to help us understand… if and when we have God’s will in the forefront of our minds with his will driving our decisions I can say with complete confidence it will end well. However when we disregard Him and place our own selfish wants as our motivation it will cost us the price of learning the lessons of life the hard way; resulting with much heartache and with many regrets. So the sooner we understand our position within God’s production the happier we will be. It is all about finding His purpose for our lives and it can never be the other way around. It often is and that is why we suffer such remorse.

With that now established we are left with many daily decisions that we ourselves have the power to implement. Now let us not under emphasize our roles in God’s sovereignty like the hyper-Calvinist may often highlight. It is obvious that God will have the final say with all of His creation and He will most certainly achieve every one of His purposes. But within His genius he has left us with the ability to make decisions along our journey. We didn’t choose life, that was outside of our choice, we all arrived through conception and were all conceived in the same way. But as we begin to mature we now face decisions that we have the power to implement. This morning I lay in bed and the alarm buzzed and so I was left with a decision, I could either hit the snooze button or get up and do what I am now doing, penning my thoughts onto a word document. Sure, I may well have been influenced by a God given willingness to contemplate various issues pertaining to life but the decision on whether to continue sleeping or get up was mine and not someone else’s.  I’m sure you get the point.

King Solomon, King David’s son was the man of wisdom. And he unpacks so many valuable lessons for us to learn from, but all his conclusions point to the same result and that is that everything in life is senseless within the bigger scheme of things, if we skew our perceptions about our journey here on earth it will be extremely costly. Here is his conclusion after considering life and all the decisions we make along the way; “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) – We must all eventually arrive at the same conclusion if it is to end well with our souls (that part of us which continues to live after we die), which is to give God His rightful place in our lives. This can only ever be achieved through repentance for our sin in and through the finished work of Calvary, a call or a cry unto Jesus asking Him to forgive us for our rebellion against God. It is not a difficult concept to understand but quite another thing to implement correctly. But it is crucial for us to find repentance if we are to have our fairy-tale ending.

Another very wise man teaches us this very valuable lesson about the decisions we make throughout our lifetimes. Paul the Apostle and not like King Solomon the man who tested life to learn from it. Paul received what he teaches us directly from the mouth of God; “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12) – With that established this is what he goes on to teach us about our decision throughout our pilgrimage; “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 12:2)

Here then is my final conclusion; we will face many decisions throughout our lifetimes but when we place our own selfish wants before the will of God in the bigger scheme of things it will bring us much heartache. God is merciful and He is patient with His children, praise His name! Without that trait to His character where would I now be, in a ditch begging bread? However I live to face another day filled with opportunities to learn from my Saviour and through the day test my decisions against the will of God for my life. This is a wonderful truth when realised. God has opened my eyes to His will for my life, where do you stand on this issue?

Signing off

Tyrone

     

  

     

     

The hard lessons of life...

There was a man from the land of Southern Africa, a man who was caught up by sin, a man driven by the pride of life with the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh dictating the way he conducted himself. He was not alone, many where driven by the same intensions. There was a time when he believed that the joys of life were to be found in wine, women and song; he was mistaken! It seemed to be the consensus of all who ran with him. But before long God had mercy on his soul and opened his eyes to the reality of it all. Every time he believe the lie by looking for fulfillment in an arena that could never be quenched he eventually realized that lust could never be satisfied. Of course it gratifies for a time but when it was over it left him hollow inside. What was a man to do? The solution was an obvious one, the call to repentance in and through the Lord Jesus Christ was the only feasible answer. Praise God for this knowledge; sadly everyone will not come to this realization. However God took pity on his soul and opened his eyes to the truth of His intention for mankind. He finally understood that Jesus had paid the price for his sin. It was an earth shattering eye opener. Praise God for His mercy and for His willingness to reveal the truth to that man.

For a time, life was good and that man pressed forward with great zeal with an amazing amount of liberty, serving God and learning from Him through the lives of other likeminded men. A man who was not given to too much study growing up as a child, had now became a man driven with passion for the reading of God’s Word and the bible became his most tangible treasured possession. But like most adventurous infants, he was a child full of zeal with very little knowledge trying to make head and tail of it all and sadly before long he found himself making erroneous errors being led away by the lust of his flesh once again. The places he refused to frequent had now begun to creep back into his life. Sin does that you know, it creeps up slowly and if not dealt with effectively and efficiently before long it would have subjugated its objective and that is to silence the Christian. A little leaven works its way through the entire lump of dough affecting all of it. We must never be fooled into believing that God will accommodate sin in our lives as the norm and that our sin is tolerable. God so despised sin that He sent His Son to die for it, so that those who find repentance in Him could go free.  

But God who is rich in mercy once again took pity on his soul and one night he woke up in hospital with a shattered femur with weights dangling off the edge of his bed as he lay in traction for six weeks. This then drove him once again to a place of repentance. He had learnt a lesson the hard way. I wish I could say that this was the end of the lessons he needed to learn but this was only the beginning. Now with one leg an inch and a half shorter that the other one the lust of his eyes drove him toward a woman that was in the throes of divorce. He fell into sin with her and before long he was then diagnosed with HIV. Excepting the errors of his ways he wanted to make right and under the counsel of his oversight they got married. But before long they were divorced and he was back to his sinful ways with wine, women and song once again driving him into foolishness. Although his eyes had been opened to the true meaning of life, which he was unwilling to push aside, he endeavored to live both lives with one foot in the Christian faith and the other in the world. He was committed to Satan for the destruction of his flesh. A serve punishment for his unruly behaviour and in hindsight he is thankful for God’s affection and willingness to discipline him; although it was extreme, he saw the beauty of its merits and once it had run its course it once again ended up with a right relationship with his God; the mercies of God who can measure them?

Years later after refusing to take antiretrovirals for the AIDS virus he was on the verge of death, but God one again graciously spared him his life and restored him into active membership within the body of Christ (the church). It was a time of many fond memories with God using him to speak into the lives of many teenage children as he travelled across the country visiting various schools sharing his testimony on the back of a book he had written highlighting God’s goodness in spite of his rebellious heart.

There was a lot of work still to be down in that man’s life and although he believed that he had learnt the lessons needed to walk uprightly before a holy God he yet again slipped into error and found a similar pattern materialize and he eventually found himself unequally yoked with an unbeliever. Weary from so many mistakes he married that woman, hoping that she would follow him in his faith.

This is what he has learnt; God is pure, He is holy and He will never be manipulated. If we start with a mistake it will always end badly. We must come God’s way and strip ourselves of our own selfish sinful patterns if it is to end well for us. Repentance must be our first point of call, nothing else will suffice! Do not believe any other voice or lie, pay attention to this man’s plea for he has paid dearly to learn these lessons and it needn’t be the same for you.  

The man in question is divorced again and now lives alone. Why would I expose and detail such stupidity from a single man’s life. The answer is obvious. Regardless of so many mistakes, which have had serve consequences; that man’s example has been a poor one, however even his foolishness is no match for the goodness and power of God mercy, God can bring even the most hardened of sinners to a place of repentance even if it takes a lifetime for that to be realized. It divulges his goodness, in spite of such recklessness and that man is now forever thankful to His God for such unmerited favour. He is often saddened when he is reminded of his idiocy and yet forever thankfully for the goodness of God that has found him out.

Signing off

Tyrone                       

"A good man"

To what lengths would a man go to protect his family? I suggest that he would do whatever he has within his power to save them from certain destruction. Although we all have a built-in mechanism that kicks in when we look to escape certain calamity, there is an overarching exception that overrules our “flight” response when it comes to our loved ones. But for us to take up our responsibility in these types of situations we must be convinced by the cause. The Lord Jesus is the prime example when we consider such an action and the Apostle Paul brings this to our attention in the book of Romans…

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:6-10)  

There are all-embracing points that we need to highlight in this passage of scripture for us to understand the magnitude of our rescue. Firstly it was God who instigated our salvage; we were all in the same camp, the campground of the sinner. We were ungodly in character and gave no thought to God’s production, His will, intention and purpose; we were all insensible to it! We were all driven by our own lusts and our own little worlds were the be all and end all of our existence. We were self-absorbed and gave no thought for the life to come and the judgement of God. Sin had taken care of that! We knew no better! However even within the common laws of the land we live in, ignorance does not excuse us of a crime and we cannot claim a pardon on the basis of “I didn’t know”.

BUT GOD took pity on us and without God stepping in and saving us from our downward spiral, nothing in our lives would ever have changed. But thank God for stepping in. We must understand where we were when God chose to be merciful. Look at Paul’s argument, he points out the mercy of God and explains that we were still blinded by our sin when the Lord Jesus Christ spilt his own blood to set us free. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It’s not as if we instigated the first step in the process of our salvation. God was merciful. Why? Because He has it in His power to save and He is perfect in love, wow! Let that reverberate deep within your soul!

Conversely there are far too many that claim salvation and yet continue to live as they always did. If I continued in my sinful ways as a matter of course excusing sin as my right because I am now under God’s grace and not the law, I have understood nothing! Or if I have come to realise that the practice of sin is no longer an option for me but for some uncanny reason I continue in it, I am then setting myself up for many heartaches and I will be subject to my Father’s discipline. This was most certainly part of my involvement as a Christian. I thank God for His discipline! He cares for His own and deals with them as sons. If I claim to be saved and live my old debauched life with a seared conscience and am left to that type of lifestyle without God’s discipline, then I cannot claim true salvation; “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” (Hebrews 12:8) – Why do I feel the need to highlight these particular points? It is simple, it doesn’t help to believe a lie and think that we will be safe when in fact we will face the penalty of that lie’s judgement. It is imperative that we know exactly where we stand. Examine yourselves in the light of the foregoing plugs and it will be very evident what needs to be done. We must be sure of our election and we must right our wrongs and repent (turn away from), this is critical for our eternal lives, do depend upon it. If you cannot with certainty say that I am a part of God’s army or I think I am saved, this kind of mind-set is far too risky and it is imperative that you do whatever is needed to be settled.

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” (2Peter 1:10)  

                                                                                                    

As a father if I knew that someone was about to break into my house and take my family captive and do terrible things to them, what would I do? I can assure you that I would do whatever was needed to protect them. I would take the required precautions to keep them safe come what may. But for this to be realized I would have to have inside information. We have that inside information; the Bible has so declared it! If we study it we will understand the beginning form the end, therefore study it because your life does depend upon it. Be sure of your standing in the sight of God. It is not enough to know that God exists; even the demons know that He subsists and they tremble because their time to be judged is just around the corner. We must be known by Him and the only way this will ever be achieved in our lives is to find repentance from our sin in and through the darling of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God being God and understanding the beginning from the end knows that He will judge the living and the dead. He has predetermined this from before the beginning of time. It has always been a part of His plan, and I would once again remind you that this is His production and He will have the final say in all things. He has it in His power to do whatever He chooses. He could have left us to our own devises and let us rot in hell, for we all have sin that has tarnished our lives. But God is full of mercy and has afforded us a lifeline in and through His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, praise God! Paul therefore highlights this idea and brings it to our attention; that while we were the enemies of God, He chose to rescue some. Why only some? I suppose for us to understand the benefit of light we would need to experience darkness. How would we understand happiness and the benefits it has within our lives if we didn’t understand heartache? They complement one another. How would we understand the love of God if we didn’t experience His forgiveness? We wouldn’t!

Therefore it is obvious that some will embrace the love of God and seek out His forgiveness, while others will reject it. The question we need to ask ourselves is in what camp do we stand? Is the mercy of God needed in our lives? I know that it is the most important aspect to my life and I am forever thankful for His mercy toward me. Jesus dying in my place and paying the penalty for my sin even though He had no sin, this is a mammoth breakthrough within my understanding. I cannot thank Him enough, He has extended me a lifeline and by the grace of God I will clutch onto it with both hands. What will you do with His merciful offer? The choice is now yours…

Signing off

Tyrone