The Bible

Of late in one of my recent posts I made the statement that “books are good but the Bible is better”, although I always knew that this statement was true; I seemed to miss a persuasive necessity to drive this reality home until I was sitting in a doctor’s consulting room as he was running late with his appointments, which afforded me the opportunity to read two chapters of Paul’s epistles. It was only then that it dawned upon me again that reading scripture certainly feeds the soul. Just by reading the Bible its truth began to pop with the beauty of scripture revealed in a fresh light. Regardless of what we think we know or what we have already read in the past the Word of God is an extremely precious commodity filled with fresh revelation to all who explore it with intent. Not “fresh revelation” as something new needs to be discovered, by re-inventing the wheel but new to the readers understanding which in turn fuels their faith and ignites our hope. These types of encounters are priceless… how do I know this to be true? “TT” (tried and tested)! God is faithful, He cannot deny himself and it is impossible for God to lie. The Lord Jesus is the Word, the one who became flesh and dwelt amongst us.

We all need to begin somewhere, the first step must be calculated; a determination to change our habits and resolve to read the bible; pencil time into your schedules, diarise your alone time with the Word of God. If God was determined to use His Word to sustain all of creation and He has given us His written Word that is freely available to so many of us, best we use it to deepen our relationship with Him. The Word of God reveals so many beautiful attributes of God which strikingly silence the opinionated suppositions of this world.  

Did you know that those who place their faith in lying signs and wonders above the importance of God’s Word haven’t understood the value of God’s Word and its saving power. You can always test the validity of any church by how much value they place upon the written Word. The world understands power by might, through weapons and the like, the Arms Race proves this point emphatically; it is not so with our great God, His Word is His strength and the enemy will always look to water down the Word even amongst those who falsely claim to be Christians. Have nothing to do with compromising the Word and it will be well with our souls. Look to it, trust it and depend upon it. The only true and living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob decided that the Bible would be His treasure map in order for us to find Salvation in His beloved Son and then to be sustained by the Holy Spirit which always points us to scripture, never away from it, Satan does that!  

There is a day coming; take note of what is highlighted; “Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The LORD utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; who can endure it?” (Joel 2:1-11)

Creation begun with words from God, time is also governed by His Word and the heavens with the earth as we know them will also end with His voice; “And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.” – The beginning of time as we know it. God then gave an instruction to Adam, do not eat from the tree of the “Knowledge of Good and Evil” which Eve disobeyed and then Adam followed her folly and sin entered into the hearts of all men from there-on in. Cain killed Abel! Moses went up the mountain and there he conversed with God and received the “Ten Commandments”, introducing the law of God to His people, the Jews, the seed of Abraham. The Word began flesh; the Lord Jesus Christ was born and brought with him salvation for all of mankind, for all who would believe in Him. And when time has run its course the heavens and the earth as we know it will be folded up as a garment with a new heaven and a new earth established. And all of these truths are found penned in the Bible, the written Word of God.

I trust we understand the value of the Bible and the insights it gives us to this life and the life to come. We must all learn to place our trust in it for it is a lifeline which God has afforded all those who seek out His will and purpose. By the good graces of God I am learning to love it more and more as the voices of this world drive so many from it. The Bible is our rudder to His will for our lives. Where will you stand on your dependency upon His Word, as for me and my family we will trust it from here on in, will you?

Signing off

Tyrone        

  

To have our consciences purged

I am thankful for the way in which God allows us to grow in His graces or not with faith as an underlying lesson attached to all of it; He is Sovereign! He sometimes allows us to bear fruit which in turn glorifies His brilliance and there are times where the tree remains barren for what seems like an eternity. The skill of the honed Gardener at work, the more I get a glimpse of God’s brilliant ingenuity the more I am humbled and my dead works are quickly silenced. The Holy Spirit opens this gateway and at times leads us into the spiritual world and shows us snippets of this great universal production that God is in the process of directing. We all have a part in His production, that is a given, whether we believe that to be true or not is irrelevant. The greatest Director, the great I AM, Jehovah God has set the wheels rolling with His invention and nothing will stop His will from unfolding. This is such a comforting thought and I treasure it with my entire being as it fuels my faith and helps to cement my hope in Him, the only true God.

What is it that you treasure the most? Is it a weekend away from the hustle and bustle of life, your yearly holiday, a healthy bank balance, or “goodies?” It could be your children, your partner or a potential partner that you still looking for. This list could be endless, however when we learn to treasure the Word of God above everything else we are most certainly on the right road, its only when we neglect the Word of God that we lose our way. This is why ever Christian, regardless of your gifting in Christ must make and spend an allotted time with their God through His Word the Bible. Christian books are good but the Bible is better and the Holy Spirit has been commissioned within the Godhead to lead you into all truth and just like David this will become our resolve; “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” (Psalm 25:5) – We wait on the Lord through prayer and supplication, but how will we know how to pray efficiently if we haven’t learnt from the forerunners penned in scripture? The Bible reflects our God and reveals the Lord Jesus in all His glory. We may not always understand the depths of scripture, for not all gifted as teachers, however we all have been given a measure of Christ; we will get glimpses of His glory when we spend time in the Word of this I am convinced. 

I am in God’s army and I have my instruction, which is to be faithful to His call upon my life. However there are many violent snares and individuals that look to stop me from ever finally arriving at the finish line, this God has also allowed. Just as car needs fuel so too does the Christian need the work of the Holy Spirit to fuel His resolve; without His work in our lives we would never arrive. Religion of any kind without the work of the Spirit in our lives will never produce anything other than dead works; “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. "A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me." (John 16:13-16)  

He is the fuel that gives us life, without Christ’s accomplishments and the Will of the Father working together with the Holy Spirit we will never reach our goal of repentance from dead works. I hope this is clearly understood. Although Scripture teaches us the varying roles of God, with God the Father as head; it is clearly understood that all of the Godhead (three in one) works in unison, without any hint of contradiction. Perfection personified!

To have our consciences purged from dead works is a miracle. This would be an impossible feat to achieve without His intervention; it all starts with the realisation of “Jesus in my place” and without that snippet of this reality hitting home we will always look to ourselves too arrive, which is beyond our capabilities, because of our sinful natures. There has been no exception to the rule, save the man Jesus Christ; the one who through the spilling of His own blood has purchased the ransom for many. Only those who have His covering will understand this term “repentance from dead works and faith towards God”, and without it that which I hone in on, will elude the masses. It will keep them continually looking for “stuff” to do in order to find favour from God, which is an impossible quest. Sure, there is plenty “stuff” to do but it will remain dead to our heavenly Father; it will pass-by unnoticed and we wont be able to pull on it as a drawcard when Judgement Day eventually arrives if those works have not been sanctified by the blood of the Lamb. These types of often public display will be appreciated by bystanders and they will receive their praise but not from God. Men may appreciate your efforts but not God. We have all fallen short of the glory of God; “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” (Romans 3:23-25) - Nothing we say or do will ever change this truth, outside of repentance for our sin and the acceptance of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. You could be Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi if you haven’t been sanctified by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ all your works will remain dead before God the Father and it will not give you a pass into heaven. In other words He isn’t interested in them and you won’t find forgiveness for your sins by them. Therefore let us stop wasting time as we progressively learn to trust Our God and King and pay attention to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our live as He stirs our consciences toward good works. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)  

       

Considering the workings of our consciences, my beloved brother Trent Eayrs opened my eyes to a deeper understanding of how the conscience works with its resolve. It is an awareness that help us understand the will of God for our lives. We do not drive those thoughts but God the Holy Spirit shows us right from wrong, training us up for godliness; when we err on the side of sin it drives us to a point of repentance and when it has run its course in a particular area of our lives we will understand the depravity of our sin, not to be repented of, over and over again. It brings us to a place of understanding, we begin to see and understand the price that Jesus Christ our Messiah had to endure and therefore we are repulsed by the sin that so easily besets whilst being trained up into godliness. We begin to learn that the pleasure of overcoming the deceitfulness of sin has greater reward than the taste of what that sin offers. Our consciences are our allies. There are times when we look to balance the scales of our sinful conduct, known throughout scripture as “dead works”, where we begin to rely on our own efforts to find favour from God instead of resting on the finished work of Calvary. We are instructed to repent from these effort and we must turn away from them as we learn to provoke one another towards good works; understanding that God alone must be glorified. Boasting of any form outside of His achievements has been excluded in God’s economy.     

There are times in a believer’s life where our sin can sear our conscience; it is one of those violent traps I referred to a little earlier in this post. As new born believers we are very in tune to our consciences and the slightest sin triggers it into action, however when we become dull off hearing and we look to ignore our blunders as repetition kicks in our consciences become seared. It is a treacherous place to flirt with as Christians, we must repent if that is where we find ourselves and just like David we must cry for help. Our plea must go something like this; “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalms 51:10) – Thankfully our God has immeasurable storehouse of mercies that He affords His children, without His longsuffering we would all be doomed, however He looks out for His own, but we should never ignore sin as acceptable, for it is vile in the eyes of God.

Signing off

Tyrone    

Separating the wheat from the chaff

After my post on “Remembering the poor” and the conditional snub I received, it once again drew my attention to our inherent nature that will look to excuse ourselves from applying God’s word to any opportunity we have in relation to helping our brothers in need. We instinctively tend to help those of our families, because “blood is thicker than water” but what of our needful brothers and sisters in Christ? We can be quick to cast aspersions on the lazy but not so swift to put our hands into our pocket especially if that means we will go without. In my opinion this is an intriguing consideration. So many will look for reasons of why not to help instead of suffering want, so I ask myself the question, why and at what cost?

There are so many thoughts bouncing around in my mind, but it would be a good exercise in separating the wheat from the chaff. Again I stress, it is the Word of God that always holds the key to any dilemma and if we are to end up on the right side of God’s instruction we must search the scripture if we are to resolve any given scenario. Be still; listen for the voice of God and the clutter will dissolve.

It only takes the smallest of errors in so many differing areas of our lives, for us to loose our way; with that in mind, what is our respected roles within this question; the aiding of our Christian families in need? The Apostle John has a steady instruction that we should all take sympathetic note of; “But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?” (1John 3:17)

I am cautious in my pondering as I need to examine my own heart in this matter, I must arrive at a conclusion as I ask myself, am I now looking to excuse myself of my responsibility in the hardships I now face concerning my work scenario and diminishing lack of income; combatting so many different opinions from within and without on the reasons for my current predicament. Am I doing as much as I could or am I waiting for help? One thing is for certain, the hardship I now face in this chapter of my life which seems to be never ending is part of God’s brilliance, even if disillusionment is my companion. I suppose that God alone would be able to really see where my heart lies on the matter. However when I remove myself from the equation, the Word of God stands firm and the instruction is clear, we are to look for reasons on how to help the household of God and not the other way around. This is the heart of a true disciple and our beloved brother James has this to say; “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!” (James 2:13-19)

It is one thing to be slothful refusing to work when the opportunity presents itself but quite another thing altogether when work is scares. This thought now brings me to a bothers judgment which God has blessed and obviously multiplied his ministry. My post a few days back from Charles Spurgeon summed it up beautifully, we are surrounded by those individuals (those who suffer want) to have our own hearts exposed, are we animated or passive with our application to those in need? I am convinced this is where the rubber hits the road and it’s a true reflection of where we actually stand as believers. A very sobering thought but extremely needful for our growth in the good graces of our Lord.

God is sovereign and each and every one of us without exception is exactly where we need to be as believers. True lessons of our growth as Christians will always come at a cost, the denial of self. The greatest example of this is the life of our blessed Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, with many other great examples both recorded and unrecorded that have followed suite. Will we be amongst that number? Time will eventually reveal all! Lets us remember to separate the chaff (the opinionated expressions of this world) which contradicts scripture. God help us to grasp these realities with our whole being and to bring Him glory with our obedience to that heavenly call.

Signing off

Tyrone       

    

     

Bitter-sweet

The human race, without exception and with all of its individuals has a priority list that they value and adhere too. “One man’s passion is another man’s poison”, is a very accurate analogy of where we all stand in our carnal comprehensions of life in general. Even with the hidden agendas we conceal there are always articulated signs which can be seen if looked for. Sin has done such a work on the world’s inhabitants that even the most moral individual will suffer from the same disease. The problem we all have, from the greatest to the least, is that we always look to excuse ourselves and accuse others. It is a human flaw and sin is the offender. Did you know that those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life will be sent to hell by the exact thing they condemn others by, their own sin and not the sin of another. This is the way of the world. But for the Christian we are instructed to be aware of this certainty; "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:1-3)  

However even the Christian if honest with themselves find a war that rages in this ethos of their lives. We all in our own ways look to become masters of disguise and conceal what we are ashamed of, this is a common attribute of our sinful natures; however we are no longer slaves to sin, if we have the Spirit of Christ in us. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2Corinthians 5:17)

The fact is that the new has come, the believer is now covered by the Second Covenant which is far greater than the first. Jesus Christ has paid the price for our sin past, present, and future. God has reckoned this to be so and nothing can change this truth. The Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh paid the penalty for the repentant believer’s sin. However if we continue in sin looking for grace to abound, then we probably still live with a deceived heart and this is probably one of the most twisted truths within the Christian faith, not that the truth is twisted, how could it ever be? But the wrestling within man’s soul is what can almost drive him to despair. We must never find ourselves excusing sinful behaviour; whether it’s lustful sin or any one of the other commandments of God as it will eventually be brought out into the open if we do not wrestle against it seeking out God’s forgiveness. For the scripture is very clear on the matter; “Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” (Matthew 7:20-23) – As Christians we have a responsibility to recognize the areas in our lives that rob us of our victories in Christ and to repent of those types of practises. It is a daily struggle that we all have to take seriously; it’s not about our brother’s sin per say but rather a reflection of ourselves that we need to address.

Creation has begun to rumble with far more intensity of late and that day draws even nearer. Time is something we all take for granted growing up, but as our end draws to its close we are often filled with regret. I saw this with my late father. Not the regret of Christ’s sacrifice on the believer’s behalf but of the time wasted with the gifts He gives us. Just as his life ended so shall it be for all of us, that great day will eventually arrive. Consciously I am becoming a lot more aware of that reality. God help us to use our time wisely…    

     

The time for childish behaviour, whatever that may be for you and me, must now end as our time on earth is very short. The message we need to get out to the world is that it is Jesus who has died for my sin and I need to let others know that this is all I live for. The Apostle Paul put it like this; “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1Corinthians 2:2) – Therefore let us encourage each other towards good works; “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people."” (Hebrews 10:23-30)

God help us to use our time wisely from here on in and not to take the sacrifice of our great Saviour lightly, as we only get one crack at this wonderful free gift of having our sins covered by His marvellous ransom. “Jesus in my place” must be our motto from here on in and not the accusing of others while we look to excuse ourselves; it is only the Lord Jesus who perfectly accomplished this feat and in ourselves we will never accomplish that quest.

Signing off

Tyrone

Remembering the poor

Of late my son and I have been constructing our way through the book of proverbs for the second time with the intent of deepening our understanding of God’s wisdom and His knowledge; I am fascinated that King Solomon, David’s son was probably the richest man of his time and how he would make so many references to the poor. It is an undeniable truth that we must sit up and take note of these references if we are to grow in the good graces of our Lord. I came across this post from Charles Spurgeon which would be good for us to take note of…

“Remember the poor.”

- Gal_2:10

“Why does God allow so many of his children to be poor? He could make them all rich if he pleased; he could lay bags of gold at their doors; he could send them a large annual income; or he could scatter round their houses abundance of provisions, as once he made the quails lie in heaps round the camp of Israel, and rained bread out of heaven to feed them. There is no necessity that they should be poor, except that he sees it to be best. “The cattle upon a thousand hills are his”-he could supply them; he could make the richest, the greatest, and the mightiest bring all their power and riches to the feet of his children, for the hearts of all men are in his control. But he does not choose to do so; he allows them to suffer want, he allows them to pine in penury and obscurity. Why is this? There are many reasons: one is, to give us, who are favoured with enough, an opportunity of showing our love to Jesus. We show our love to Christ when we sing of him and when we pray to him; but if there were no sons of need in the world we should lose the sweet privilege of evidencing our love, by ministering in alms-giving to his poorer brethren; he has ordained that thus we should prove that our love standeth not in word only, but in deed and in truth. If we truly love Christ, we shall care for those who are loved by him. Those who are dear to him will be dear to us. Let us then look upon it not as a duty but as a privilege to relieve the poor of the Lord’s flock-remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Surely this assurance is sweet enough, and this motive strong enough to lead us to help others with a willing hand and a loving heart-recollecting that all we do for his people is graciously accepted by Christ as done to himself.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

The Resurrection - Fact or Fiction?

With some intense points of views pressing home as I rolled out of bed this morning and with a single thought eventually silencing the other contenders let me endeavour to unpack that particular impression and do the subject justice as it is crucial for the Christians existence.

The topic; the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, is it fact or fiction?

There is the cry from so many opinionated sources throughout the world that Christ’s resurrection is in fact a fairly tale; but for the Christian without the resurrection as an actual fact could only ever imply one thing that our faith is futile. Without Christ’s resurrection as an actual datum we would be no different to any other religious niceties that can only ever tickle ones conscience as many find whatever suits them to falsely hedge their bets for the life to come. Some believe that they will be reincarnated, how they arrive at that conclusion can only proved that Satan’s trickery is at play. Has there even been any proof to their claims? Has a cow ever spoken to a grandson claiming to be their grandfather? Whilst others worship carved images which neither move nor speak. Superstition personified! So what of the Christian, what makes our belief any different from others?

We will eventually arrive at a marvellous conclusion…

We are not called to apply faith to any novel idea but rather asked to believe God at his Word, however in His mercy He has gone to great lengths to prove that what we cling to is genuine. How so? The bible is filled with irrefutable proof, like prophecy (a man foretelling the future and penning actual events still to happen). At large the world is fascinated by prophecies from Nostradamus and yet they shun the bible’s truth which records zero errors pertaining to its foretelling of the future.

The gainsayer is often the man who has done zip study of the Bible, fascinating! Comments like, “I’ve read the bible” after reading a line or two, it is obvious that Satan has twisted their minds and they love darkness rather than light. Unless those in question cry out for help, sadly they will remain in darkness for all eternity. However while a person has breath there is still hope, but their sinful state must be recognized if they are to have any hope of salvation. For those closest to us who apply such reasoning to their lives we must continue to shine Christs light out into the darkness of this world. Be zealous for the truth and be bold with it. Our God is gracious and we must never forget where we once were in consideration of our understanding. But let us never confuse truth with tolerance for error. Compromise is not one of God’s attributes, its how Satan deceives.

The brilliance of God on display through the apparent mundane existence of the world’s population is often missed by the masses. The simple lessons in life often highlight the most marvellous complexities of spiritual truth if only we would pay attention to it. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not open to any such revelation, it is factual and binding. Even the unbeliever in a court of law would be unable to dispute that fact.

The man Jesus had died; they buried him in a tomb and covered its entrance with a large rock posting sentinels to guard it. Who in their right mind would ever protect a grave? That alone should get your attention as it assuredly highlights value. Those who insisted that Christ be crucified had paid off men to see their plan come to fruition. But there was one more hurdle the gainsayer had to overcome, the claim from Christs believers that he would be raise from the dead and they couldn’t have that so they took great precaution to keep that from happening, but to no avail! Who can stop Gods intentions? HIS WILL ALWAYS COME TO PASS! Just because a man or an angel should endeavour to thwart God’s plan does not mean that they shall be successful, unless that was always part of God’s overarching plan to unravel a deeper truth highlighting His brilliance.

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the ultimate manifestation of the cleverness of God; even creation as majestic as it must have been in my humble opinion does not compare to the mastermind behind Christ and his gospel. – Satan believed he had defeated God but was outsmarted by him, Amen and Amen! The Apostle Paul unravels this hidden truth like this; “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1Corinthians 2:6-8) – And then to think of what God has in store for His faithful is too much for my puny brain; “But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him". (1Corinthians 2:9) – Wow what a hope we have in our great Saviour…     

On the third day after the death of Jesus and just as it was predicted, here is one of the recorded accounts of two eye-witnesses and the unfolding of this event; “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."” (Matthew 28:1-10)

Imagine the excitement; the experience must have been so exhilaration for both women. Not only was the teaching of the Lord Jesus unfolding before their eyes, they were part of it and had their quota to play. It is the same for every born again believer, we all have our portion to accomplish in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. And just like they received mixed reactions to the “Good News” we shall experience similar reactions, therefore let us not be put off by such trivia. Be bold and share the gospel, it may just change a life.

These women were filled with fear and great joy, and ran to tell the disciples the good news. It’s their reaction that I wish to highlight; “Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.” (Mark 16:9-11) – Because some had not personally witnessed the Lord Jesus resurrection, they struggle to believe it. This however did not change the truth as it had already happen.

As this truth was now already in play, the enemy was also plotting their deceit; “While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.” (Matthew 28:11-15)

Sadly there was even doubt within the Christian camp but not for long; “As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!" But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.” (Luke 24:36-40) – And just like the Lord Jesus had raise Lazarus from the dead, God the Father had now raised Him from the dead. It was not a spirit whom the disciples now witnessed but Jesus in body.

Mission accomplished, the Lord Jesus had now completed his stint as a man and re-opened the bridge that Satan thru Eve in the Garden had shut due to his deception and her sin.

There were now eye witnesses of his resurrection…

Imagine a man charged of murder placed on trial. His defence attorney has a responsibility to do exactly that, defend him. But as soon as there are eye witnesses that come forward stating under oath that they witnessed him murdering the deceased his chances of acquittal rapidly diminishes.

We have a recorded account of those who actually saw the Lord Jesus after his death; in fact the evidence is so compelling that in court of law it would be impossible to deny the truth of his resurrection. He was seen by many witnesses; “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” (Act 1:3) - How many people actually saw him alive and well after his burial? The figure is staggering, both the woman at the grave and at least all of the disciples save Judas his betrayer could all under oath swear that they had seen him in the flesh after his burial. They had all witnessed him alive and well.

So once again I pose the question is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ fact or fiction? The answer is obvious! This is why I can also echo Paul’s sentiments; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16) – The door has now been opened for the truth saving power of the gospel to reach men and woman throughout the globe, for all those who believe in His resurrection.

As for the Christian we serve a God who has it in His power to save all those who come to this realisation, praise the name of Jesus now and forever more, Amen!

Signing off, or let me rather more aptly say, singing off

Tyrone           

     

  

          

    

The Journey

Having been driven to the banks of anxiety, my journey of late has been a worrying one, no matter how hard I have tried to ignore my reality and looked to apply the Word of God to my situation. It is one thing to say you believe the words of God but quite another to drink from them. We have all heard that “we can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink”. If it isn’t thirsty it’s never going to drink, even if there is a long stretch ahead where the wells will be scarce. Unless we are as wise as the camel we won’t withstand the journey. Lest we take in enough water to replenish all of our organs the passage would become an impossible quest.

We will face those types of journeys in our lifetimes. It is unavoidable if we are to reach the Promised Land and there is no skirting the toughest tests of life. It is true that everyone’s expedition must and will vary depending upon differing factors. A man cannot take fire to his bosom and not be burned and yet men like Job were blameless and look what God required from Him. So there are many differing influences that determine a person’s flight, but one thing is certain, all will have to travel the road to the Promised Land if we are to reach our final destination. Wisdom drives us to the Word of God (the Bible) if we are to eventually arrive. It is our lifeline in trying times and even our arch-enemy knows that and he will try to infiltrate the Word just as he did way back in the beginning as he uses wolves dressed as sheep to twist the truth of God’s Word. Therefore be diligent and on guard, just because a person may offer you water in your time of need does not mean that it hasn’t been doctored with poison. There must come a time in a believer’s life where he will have to understand the difference and make his stand.

Sadly for a long time now, even in my lifetime I have seen the “money preacher” preying on the weak; “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (2Timothy 3:1-5) - God will have the final say; praise His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!       

If you have been lead to believe that Christians should always be blessed, which we are, but not in the way the wolves present it. They say a person should never be sick for if they are they lack faith or if we suffer material want we also lack faith, this is not true in accordance of God’s Word as he is preparing his people for a far greater existence, a life of utopia and an eternity of son-ship where we will finally arrive. God the Father, the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit and heaven with all its glory has been reserved for the faithful. This means that our pilgrimage on earth will and must be filled with many testing times to prepare us for what awaits. These times will hone us into the image of our great Saviour, glorifying our great God as it silences the enemy. Job’s is the ultimate example, obviously after what our great Saviour needed to endure to set us apart. Therefore let us not shirk the trials of life but rather let us embrace them as an opportunity to grow in the grace and knowledge of our blessed Redeemer.

When the waters of life are on offer let us be quick to drink from them as it will sustain us through our desert expedition as we remember that there are many resting points along the way where life will be blissful. So wherever we are along that journey let us remember to hold fast onto the hem of our Saviours garment, the Word of God as it will sustains us, come what may.

Signing off

Tyrone

A reminder

As my understanding begins to deepen in light of God’s overarching plan of His production, “the bigger picture”! I find that I need to keep reminding myself that it is by grace I have been saved and in fact this truth mirrors our God and reflects His goodness; it had and still has nothing to do with my own merits. I was always a reprobate seeking my own lusts and desires as sin blinded me, even though I wore a cross around my neck in my unsaved state; it was impossible for me to behave in any other way, selfishness personified! Even though I wanted to believe that deep down I had a good heart it was rotten to the core; unlike a marred piece of fruit, which after being bitten into, the rotten portion could be cut out or eaten around, my heart was completely diseased. It is not easy to concede theses truths but very needful if we are to grow in the graces of our great God.

The song writer of arguably one of the greatest hymns ever written, “Amazing Grace” understood his/our predicament completely and this is why this hymn’s opening stanza begins like this; “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that save a WRETCH like me” a phenomenal observation but finally accurate. Immediately my mind wants to rush to my aid with a concluding thought that goes something like this; I was never a slave trader and yet I was a slave to sin; as we all outside of Christ. God requires this honesty from us and the Lord Jesus reminded the supposed teaches of the times about this truth; “And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."” (Luke 5:30-32) – Its not enough to say we are sinners but we need to actually understand how sinful we actually are and in need of God’s grace; we must cry out for help!

     

God is merciful and I suppose we grow into this understanding. The more our great God reveals himself the more we should appreciate our old condition.  I believe my understanding has deepened when it comes to God’s reasoning and His teaching relating to our repentance from dead works and faith towards Him. There was absolutely nothing I could have done to earn favour from God prior to the Lord Jesus’s sacrifice; He took the first step in reconciling man back unto himself. It was never nor could ever be the other way around. I hope you have all understood this, if not we will always be grappling at “stuff”, a little bit of this and that trying to find qualification on our own merits for God to hear our prayers. As soon as we begin to reason like this, we find a proudness that begins to overshadow the graces of God and we have now entered a state that God resist; “…Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1Peter 5; 5)

We have a responsibility to be meek but for this to happen it is crucial that we understand our position in God and who has enabled us to enter into heavenly places. Jesus Christ has begun and finished the work of salvation; it starts and ends with Him. We now rest in His achievements, not our own, and now with our faith locked upon these accuracies we march on trusting our God to get us home.

Sadly our old natures always looks for a pat on the back, it is part of our design. However we must absolutely realise that salvation is all of God and true Christianity, for there are many nominal Christian organisation that claim to be Christian when in fact they are not, is not like other religions that are filled with what the Bible refers to as “dead works” (efforts we make to find favour from God). It took God four thousand years to show our forefathers that our blunder in the Garden of Eden, the short circuiting of our awareness to both that which is good and evil in the context of His understanding has been thwarted by every effort ever made to repair our mistake. Even the First Covenant (the Ten Commandments) was concluded a schoolmaster to teach us that we needed God’s intervention and His salvation to overhaul our great grandmother’s mistake way back in the beginning. We are unable to cope with the knowledge of good and evil. We were never ready for it, and that is why I personally believe God withheld it from Adam, he needed to be schooled by God and not deceived by the devil and because of the outcome we now all have a skewed perception of what is good and evil.

This is an obvious supposition, sit around a table filled with differing personalities and bring up the death penalty and take a vote on who is for it or against it, and then dig a little deeper and you will soon see how skewed our perceptions are when it comes to implementing God’s Law! Everyone has their own ideas, not good enough! Let God be true and every man a liar! Therefore we cannot trust our own reasoning and must always trust the Word of God as our final authority. Even now as true born again believer we only see in part and need to be reminded of these truths.

Salvation begins and ends with God, without His intervention we would all be doomed to an eternity of wickedness. Why? Can one ever find unity when there are differing opinions on the same subject? Utopia can only exist in absolute unification and with God as the final authority; perfection has no blemish and does not make allowance for compromise, can light and darkness occupy the same space? We will all need to fit into His understanding of all things if we want to be blessed of Him. Thankfully God is a long-suffering God and He is far bigger than our puny egos. No one likes to be told they are wrong, unless wisdom is treasured more valuable than gold.   

We must guard against the beast that always looks to drives us towards pride, which parades itself in any form of boasting. The church at Galatia started well but soon erred on the side of error; they got saved but soon forgot these truths and needed some stern words to get them back on track; “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-8) – The long and the short of their struggle was that they had understood repentance but begun to move towards dead works to find their justification before God. They began to place their confidence in the law as they tried to earn their salvation; “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16) - The Apostle Paul stepped in with stern words righting their wrongs and this is why I love the Word of God and its ability to correct. I love my Jesus because He first loved me and there is no other way to cut this truth. I could never have loved Him if He didn’t first love me.

Repent from dead works and put your faith in God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, remembering that it is God at work and not our feeble efforts. However, we now have a responsibility to believe God and obey Him.

Signing off

Tyrone       

Reactions

To avoid a particular reaction a preferred action is required. A man cannot take fire to his bosom and not get burnt unless he is dressed in fire-protection gear; life has many such lessons it teaches us along the way. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and even some of the Psalms are written with such intent. They teach us how to avoid foolish responses to any given circumstance, teaching us to apply wisdom as the underlying motivator. Which when overlooked can all be summed up in this manner, “there is a way that seems right unto a man but the end thereof is death”. Unless we spend time studying those portions of scripture how will we ever know what it is that our “sister” wisdom looks to communicate? She is very wise; “Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call insight your intimate friend…” (Proverbs 7:4) – It is the insight of wisdom that steers the hearer away from certain death. It is all about our reaction to the knowledge we receive at any given time and it’s our reaction which proves our understanding in every facet of our lives. It is rather simple to work out if we would only be honest with ourselves, whilst looking to wisdom for guidance. We firstly need to trust God’s Word and then commit to it.

Although Solomon teaches us that if we take fire to our bosom we will get burnt, our intellects teach us that this is an obvious conclusion, even a fool would understand that. But we must always look a little deeper if we are to begin to take Wisdom seriously. There is the obvious lesson and then there are lessons within the message. However in order to see that our eyes must first be opened spiritually, we must be born again! However it does not stop there, that is only the beginning.    

Some of our lessons through the throes of life have been experiential and so some have had to learn the hard way, whilst others have simply applied the truth of God’s Word to their lives and are at peace. Solomon was a man who personally tested the arenas of his life and although he learnt much, with it came much despair. He has experientially skilled life, both the good and the bad, it shouldn’t be necessary for us to make the same mistake, although many of us do. Thankfully our Father is a gracious God, He is patient with us, praise His name! Science teaches us that with every action there is a reaction; so, should it be any different for us?

The Bible is filled with examples of a man having two choices and the outcome is always the same; folly and wisdom on offer, sadly our sinful nature often drive us towards folly, but now that we have been saved and are the children of God we have wisdom on our side and it is freely available. However every day we are faced with choices that will always have consequences attached to them…

The Lord Jesus often responded favourably to the recipient’s request with the right approach. Let me explain; if we read through the gospels we soon learn that a person’s attitude, when applied in faith was never overlooked by the Lord Jesus. But for me to drive home my point it would become beneficial to look at some examples a little further into this post.

A person’s faith was often the motivating factor that got the man Jesus to react sympathetically and although He has risen from the dead and is seated at the right hand of God it has always been about believing God at His Word. Faith in our God is the overarching ingredient that drives us to make the right decisions, which finds the complimentary outcome to any given circumstance. We must all be driven by faith as it is the only way we will ever find peace with God; “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Romans 3:26-28) – Simply put, our dependency must always end with the Lord Jesus’ accomplishments and not our independence.  We must learn to depend on Him in every area of our lives. We must believe God at His Word. This must be our boast, that we believe God! If He has said it, it shall come to pass. Faith eliminates ifs and buts from every equation; doubt on the other hand generates exactly that.

Let me now drive home my point; there was a centurion soldier who was not part of the household of Israel but he teaches us how to apply ourselves to a particular dilemma he faced. Observe - “When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.” (Matthew 8:5-10)

“The centurion was a great man, yet he owned his unworthiness before God. Note, Humility very well becomes persons of quality. Christ now made but a mean figure in the world, yet the centurion, looking upon him as a prophet, yea, more than a prophet, paid him this respect. Note, we should have a value and veneration for what we see of God, even in those who, in outward condition, are every way our inferiors. The centurion came to Christ with a petition, and therefore expressed himself thus humbly. Note, in all our approaches to Christ, and to God through Christ, it becomes us to abase ourselves, and to lie low in the sense of our own unworthiness, as mean creatures and as vile sinners, to do any thing for God, to receive any good from him, or to have any thing to do with him.

3. Observe his great faith. The more humility the more faith; the more diffident we are of ourselves, the stronger will be our confidence in Jesus Christ. He had an assurance of faith not only that Christ could cure his servant, but,

(1.) That he could cure him at a distance. There needed not any physical contact, as in natural operations, nor any application to the part affected; but the cure, he believed, might be wrought, without bringing the physician and patient together. We read afterwards of those, who brought the man sick of the palsy to Christ, through much difficulty, and set him before him; and Christ commended their faith for a working faith. This centurion did not bring his man sick of the palsy, and Christ commended his faith for a trusting faith: true faith is accepted of Christ, though variously appearing: Christ puts the best construction upon the different methods of religion that people take, and thereby has taught us to do so too. This centurion believed, and it is undoubtedly true, that the power of Christ knows no limits, and therefore nearness and distance are alike to him. Distance of place cannot obstruct either the knowing or working of him that fills all places.”  (Matthew Henry)

In like manner we must value the words of God as our final authority to any given quandary we face in our daily lives and we must not only believe what is written but learn to apply the necessary instruction to our lives. This will prove that we are learning to apply wisdom to our lives and it will also show God that we believe Him at His word.

Signing off

Tyrone