Maturity

(1Corinthians 13:11) “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”

“God is good”, which is obviously true but the phrase seems to lack intensity on how brilliant God actually is; His character, is filled with goodness, Wow! Sadly mankind knows so little about Him and are often quick to arrive at many differing false conclusions. Satan and sin has taken care of that and yet our abilities to still find repentance was not completely removed, God had a plan that has come into fruition, Jesus Christ the Messiah dying in my stead. It was always apart of His plan, He was never caught off guard. He allowed his only begotten Son to be captured by wicked hands and then to be crucified so that sinners could go free and escape the penalty of the second death, where the judgement of God will sentence the guilty parties for all eternity.

Can you not see, do you not understand the measure and the depths of Gods grace that He has offered all and which still stands today? Currently the cry goes out “Clemency” for all the perpetrators, with no conditions attached, save the acknowledgment of ones sins. Admitting that we are in breech of God’s law and unable to live by it, no matter how hard we have tried.

This was the Apostle Pauls conclusion regarding his efforts in trying to live under the strain of it all; “For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” (Romans 7:11) – We all need to arrive at the same conclusion that sin is the killer and seeing that we all have fallen victim to it, the sooner we relinquish our part in it the sooner we can face our realities and then it will be plain to see HOW GOOD GOD IS!

Satan and sin looks to keep a person in denial when it comes to their sin. It is part of their design. On the other hand God’s goodness leads a man to repentance; “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4) – This is what we all need in our lives to receive our pardons from God for our own sin and not the sins of another.”   

Therefore whilst I am still under the power of sins spell, this will always be my outcome; “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” (Romans 7:18-21)

The goodness of God sent His son to die in my place and to free me from that bondage. But for that to materialise I needed to be born again. There is a requisite to be freed from the burden of the weight of my sin. God has afford me this privilege and I am not alone, there are many who have apprehended this; in fact the Apostle John saw the number whilst imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos as he was teleported into the future; “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"” (Revelation 7:9-10)

This is where our spiritual journey BEGINS; our new birth experience is where our eyes are opened to this truth. Please note that there is an emphasis place on “begins”, it is where we realise the merits that we thought we once had outside of God’s forgiveness was nothing but a lie. Trickery and deceit enslaving us to the hope that one day we would escape God’s judgments on our own virtues. Jesus has paid that price and no one else, bless His name now and forever more Amen!  

As babes in Christ we are protected by God and when I revisit that time in my life I am astounded by the change that God afforded me. My life did an about turn. The things that once drove me to my sinful behaviour miraculously vanished and it soon became apparent that I had been changed by the goodness of God. But like a child I began to grow and it was then that I needed to begin to learn the lessons every Christian needs to learn, which is to learn to stand on their feet and begin to walk as men in Christ. Blows taken and which I am still taking through life is preparing me for eternity. In hindsight I have now begun to understand the importance of it all. Without the trial of life pressing in upon me I will never arrive at my vocation. Which is, to be armed with the mind of Christ; “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.” (Hebrews 2:9-10)

We must all learn this vital lesson; “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” (1Peter 4:1-2) – Without suffering playing it roles in our lives we will never learn to obey the voice of our Father as we ort. It is part of His design; “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Hebrews 5:8-9)   

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” (1Corinthians 13:11)

Repentance is where our journey begins, but as we travel through life it will become apparent that without obedience we will never see our God as his children. We must learn to obey His voice in spite of the trials of life. This is the way for the Christian.

Our sufferings through life are not randomly selected but carefully designated events that draw us closer to our God and make us more like our Saviour, praise the name of Jesus and His brilliant design and this is why God is GOOD! His ingenuity is far beyond the understanding of those who reject his goodness.

Bless his name now and forever more Amen and Amen!

    

Signing off

Tyrone