A loving Father

Another year has passed and the years continue to count down as the last of days begins to near. I wonder if part of my brain has released a reflection mechanism which most certain was inactive as a child growing up or at least not as noticeable.

Age most certainly has begun to take its toll on me, not to say that I haven’t had my part to play with so many reckless decisions along life’s journey. Be that as it may, God is truly wonderful! I have certainly encountered my fair share of those who have questioned God’s love, as for me I will most certainly be forever thankful… “Jesus in my place” the sweetest statement to enthral my mind. Without Him I would be of all men most miserable. For many that statement is so beyond their reach that the mere thought of it would send their mind into cartwheels. However there are many that would proclaim AMEN to this beautiful expression; “Jesus in my place”! The love of God who can fathom it? Most things can be quantified, but never the love of God. Just when you believe you have a grip on it a fresh notion arrives and you once again realise how little you know. Nevertheless I know more than enough to confess that I will forever be beholden to God’s love. For those who have tasted of the sweet forgiveness of our heavenly Father in and through the Lord Jesus’ selfless sacrifice share my sentiments, of this I am persuade. Since his journey here on earth, millions of lives have been changed in one form or another and praise God that I am amongst that number. There is no other claim that I will broadcast with such vivacity bar this, that the love of God has rescued me. 

There is a day coming where those who arrive in heaven, whose number cannot be counted will praise our God and King for all eternity; “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) - For all the saints out there, I beseech you to sing praises to our great loving heavenly Father. There is no other name under heaven or on earth where an individual will find salvation for their souls, save the name of Jesus, the only true Messiah. As for the Jews and their understanding of this the truth it will soon also arrive for them and they too will turn and repent and call upon the name of Jesus, the same Jesus that their forefather called on to be crucified; “Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” (Matthew 27:22-23) 

The Love of God will honour his covenant with their great grandfather, the father of faith, Abraham. As a nation they will be once again grated into the vine of Christ’s salvation and understand the meaning of what I hold so dear, “Jesus in my place”!

What father has ever entertained such tolerance from so many wayward children? The power of His grace is adept in turning the most rebellious individual, that it leaves no margin of doubt, so that their transformation is nothing short of miraculous. Within our own characters we would never find righteousness, however once we make our way through the hustle and bustle of life and push throw the crowed and touch the Lord’s garment we are instantly changed and will never view life and the purpose of it all in the same tone. God gifts us with the miracle of salvation and He gives us the mind of Christ. We receive His righteousness and even when we stray from the call placed on our lives. No differently to the parable of the Prodigal son we somehow and somewhere come to our senses and find the strength to dust the dirt from our knees as we once again find the fortitude to cry out to Jesus and seek out his forgiveness.

     

What child by default through their differing personalities does not somewhere within this beautiful relationship end up pushing the boundaries? I would have to conclude that all of us err in one form or another and God lovingly disciplines us where and when it is needed, praise His name for this! He knows what is best for us! We must learn to let go and let God… we will all learn this lesson well or at least be changed by it.

To all those out there who just can’t find the strength to push through the crowd and reach out and touch the Lord Jesus, I am even now praying for you and as Nike would say, “just do it”! Only then will these types of posts truly begin to make sense.

To one day to hear the voice of God call me his friend, how sweet that will be. How much dying I still have to endure, however, be that as it may, I know it will be worth it all.

Signing off

Tyrone

Christmas time

There is a relaxing beauty trapped within the South African bushveld that cannot be easily replaced. Even though the hum of the air conditioner does its best to break the tranquillity of the soothing bustle as the birds and insects converse across the grasslands, thankfully I am able to distant that droning interference and just take in the moment. Similarly just like a cool pool is able to relieve an individual from the baking sun, so too does the bushveld calm me from all anxiety. As Christian we have all been commanded to be anxious for nothing! Easier said than done! Nevertheless a post we must aim for in Christ.

I have lived enough to understand the power of substance abuse, all it really achieves is an escape from reality, and only for a time. It is the “silly season” the Christmas holidays that affords so many individuals an excuse to indulge in a pass to excuse the flesh of some of its captivating pleasure as acceptable. And sure, the older we get, the better we become at disguising what we know to be an abomination to our heavenly Father from others. King Solomon understood this well. If it wasn’t for the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and his mind, “the mind of Christ” we would all be in serious danger of hell fire. But praise be to Him that although Christmas has been high jacked by Satan and his followers and many a Cristian has been taken by his plot to deviate from how we should conduct ourselves over this time and because we have His Spirit we are not totally fooled by the masses, praise God for this!

All I ask is that we be honest with ourselves and to all the Christian parents that still engage it the Christmas spirit with Santa Claus as a big part of the festivities, please refrain from the trickery of it all. It really helps no one in the bigger scheme of things. Especially ones children, all it achieves is to confuse them. It’s a unique idea that takes their eyes of Christ and places it onto someone else and promotes lies as acceptable.

The reason the Christian lives is to worship our glorious king, this concept may well be foreign to the masses, however, the Christian is well aware of the truth of this statement or at least should be. Jesus died so that we could be set free, there is no greater thought above or beyond the universe. Jesus paid the price for my sin, WOW! So why would I ever want to allow the decay of the Christmas festivities to deviate from that truth, I have made up my mind and I will stand firm on my persuasion. 

Although there may be many things we do that are barely acceptable to our heavenly Father and the idea of chopping down trees (mentioned in the book of Jeremiah) and decorating then with shiny things in the name of Christ could well be amongst that list, however doing it in the name of father Christmas is certainly not one of them. That in itself falls under an abomination before God. It is obvious that God is a jealous God and He will not share His glory with another, especially when his arch rival the devil is behind it all. Just so long as peoples attentions deviate from God’s intervention in sending a Saviour into the world so that individuals would recognize their sin and understand that they need to be saved from themselves and that God has afforded us all a chance to repent and call upon the name of His beloved Son our glorious Saviour to find forgiveness and be ushered into the fold of the only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

We must make up our minds, is Christmas a day to be celebrated as the birth of Christ, which is obviously not accurate if we had to study the actual times and seasons of Christs birth. A day introduced by the Catholic Church many years ago; it is a day that appeared in our calendar somewhere along the path of history as it was smuggled into our timetables and given its place. Then interestingly enough Santa Claus appeared on the same day and not another, just to throw in another “straw-man” so that the world could shift their attention to an alternative with great success. As Christians it is up to us to set the tone, especially when it comes to our families, without the hard conversations we may never be faithful in sharing the gospel effectively with those who have shunned Christ’s sacrifice.

Make a stand for our great King, the One who bled and died so that could have our names penned into the book of life, so what if you take a little heat in the kitchen standing over a steaming pot as your sister-in-law is force to address the issues of Christmas for the sake of the gospel and the sake of her families souls.

Many years ago and after just a little study I was convince about the truth of Christmas and by the grace of God have stood my ground. Whatever your conclusion, be firm on it but above all use this time to point people to Christ!

  

May the strength of Christs Spirit persuade all of this certainty and may it help turn the corner for the fence sitters.

Signing off

Tyrone

Water

Understanding the significance of washing throughout biblical history is very relevant for us today and there is much we can glean from when examining it a little closer. Washing of old dealt with various aspect and deeper underlying principles in the lives of the elect.

From the very beginning of time travelers would be afforded small amounts of water set aside to wash their feet. A spiritual analogy we can draw from; the closer we are to the dirt as we move across the plains of life, the dusty environment, the dirtier our feet become and a greater work is needed to renew our minds with the will of God for our lives. The tighter we cling to God’s direction in our lives the fuller we will be with the peace of God as it overshadows our aura. This is why so many outside of the will of God need to be helped by "shrinks" no wonder they can charge exceptional rates and still have people flocking to their doors. Everything that does not have roots in the equation of eternity, particularly to our roles in fulfilling the will of God as we use the BIBLE, HIS WORD and nothing else as our barometers will leave us wanting.

In order for us to understand the deeper meanings of life we must lay the correct foundation to our understanding, obviously we need eyes wide open and not wide shut to apprehend and this will only ever happen if God grants us the ability to see into His realm, the spiritual world. However the application remains true for all, which is this, we must understand the correlation between the world of carnality and that of the spirit and how they should both drive us towards a position of correction as we travel through life. King Solomon, David son, teaches us much with regard to trying to gratify our flesh as a means to an end. He sums it up like this; “and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7-8) – In other words, no matter what you strive for in this life if you miss the call of God it will be catastrophic.

Water and the use of it is a great clue to get us there.

Water and the Word of God correlates with one another, dirty feet need to be washed to remove the filth from them, studying the Word of God aligns our minds with Gods will for our lives and in turn renews our minds and equips us to put on the mind of Christ. Therefore, let us all be diligent when it comes to this area of our lives, for it will then result with great benefit and prepare us for the life to come which obviously has eternal concerns.

My prayer is this, Father God give us all the fortitude to be far more diligent in this area of our lives, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Nicodemus

(John 3:9)  Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? 

How often do we find ourselves flabbergasted by the varying degrees of filth which impregnates our planet and our lives? Then there is the confusion of it all that leaves us asking questions like, “how can these things be?” The longer God affords me the opportunity to have breath and life here on earth, the more I begin to understand the short sightedness of mankind. Sadly we are all taken by our own agendas and live according to our rules and not the voice of the ONE who is actually in control of all things. We believe, because we are capable of choosing today, that tomorrow will be no different and so life continues until that too is taken from us, what then? Will we cry out “how can these things be?” Sadly for some with that cry will come terrible torment, however that can be avoided; you do not need to have all the answers to all your questions, all that is required, cry out unto Jesus and seek out his forgiveness for your own sin. It is really as simple as that and then you will cry out, “wow, I never realised that before. It is only then that our journeys begin and we then struggle with other issues when we see our reflection against God's brilliance. We begin to notice the gulf between our characters and yet through the Lord Jesus Christ we can now have fellowship with the creator of the universe, mind boggling, whilst being impressively beautiful. God forgiving mankind for their rebellion against him, his will and his authority. 

God has open a way for us all, He send his only beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ to bleed and die on a cruel Roman cross to set the sinner free. However, do not be fooled, reject Christ and you will suffer the consequences. Do not believe the lie that God will still love you in spite of your rejection for His Son’s sacrifice, which is a false gospel. God’s love is encapsulated in the Lord Jesus Christ and outside of that covering, the love of God will elude you.

Where do you stand?

I believe that this man Nicodemus worked it out, God opened his eyes to the truth of it all and he no longer asked questions like “how can these things be?”

Signing off

Tyrone

The Magician

Endurance training is a means which helps us understand our limitations on a natural level. Temptation is a tool which is use to drive us towards sin and the more attractive the lure the easier the entrapment. However the greatest of all dangers in my opinion would have to be deception. A deceit that is so dangerous that it will have eternal consequence for all taken by it; the ultimate objective of our enemy, to defeat his/our creator and take as many with him as possible to an eternity of torment. Why would Satan look do this? I wouldn’t be foolish enough to say I have all the answers to that question; however I will state what I know to be an obvious observation. His objective is to belittle the great God of the universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, my Father! He wants to appear greater than Him in stature. His pride did not spring from a root of righteousness but sin entered in and therefore the rivalry began way before the creation of mankind. In a nutshell the devil wants to defeat God and all He stands for and for us to believe that he has no power would be an error of grave magnitudes. 

Did you know that when he was found out and banished from heaven that he was able to persuade one third of the angels in heaven to side with him. It boggles the mind, to think that angels that witness God brilliance still chose Satan over God! He was able to deceive them in plain sight, how much greater his ability to deceive those that are under his influence and are not truly aware of his presence, nor are they able to see him...

Who then is influenced by the sway of the devil? All of creation! Nevertheless it is all by permission from God. Without God’s consent his hands are tied. How do I know this? The book of Job makes this very clear; God gives Satan permission to inflict his servant. Why? To eventually glorify God in Job’s life, exalt his name and then Job is eventually rewarded for his faithful obedience.

Those who do not confess Jesus as Lord are automatically under the devils influence, why? Because he is the father of sin and we are sinners by nature. You do not have to teach a child to sin; they all learn to work that out for themselves. As I look back on my childhood, it didn’t take me long to realise that lying could keep the belt away from my buttocks, if I could be convincing enough, all I needed to learn to do was be convincing enough so that my deceit was believed as fact.

This will help you understand or not, depending on which side of the fence you sit; “Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:42-44)

1.     All those who do not love the Lord Jesus does not have the Fathers protection, in that sense... obviously the world and God’s creation is covered by His "communal grace" that effects all. Satan does not have total free reign, he only works within the parameters that God has afforded him, for now! But its only God’s children that have His loving affections.

2.    It is also obvious that those who reject God’s counsel, those who refuse to believe in the only true Messiah, the One and only Lord Jesus Christ belong to their father the DEVIL and they wish to fulfill his desires which are a string of lies that only carries with it intent to deceive.

Now no one likes to find out that they have been duped, but it is one thing to be tricked and then realign your radar to learn from your mistake and avoid it happening again.

Whilst we still have breath God affords us opportunity to find repentance. However, this now is very important please pay very careful attention to it; once we breathe our last, judgment waits, therefore there are no more second chances. It’s only in this lifetime, our lives on earth that God has afforded us time to find repentance for our sin in and through the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice, the rest of the voices you hear wafting through society is nothing more than trickery. The greatest magician of all times working under the cloak of invisibility.   

Therefore Satan’s ultimate goal must be to deceive as many as he possibly can and take them to their graves under a drape of deceit.

Where do you stand and who will you side with? I have made up my mind, as for me and my household we will serve the God of creation; bless the name of Jesus now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone