The good fight

 

Once again sleep eludes me as my mind races considering the will of God for my life and the failures that so easily beset. The frailty of the flesh and the way it so easily hankers after so many contradiction. And yet the fight must go on, we must press towards the mark of the high calling of God. There is no other excellent we would ever truly hunt, how can one who has been touched by the grace of God have it any other way? Whilst we have breath we have hope, but then it’s over and it will be too late. We must make haste while the sun shines. “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”  (Hebrews 3:13) – Sin can be deceptive, look at the root of bitterness and the poison in its bite. Sexual immorality always looking for more, habitual lying to evade judgment to the extent where the conscience has been so seared that one doesn’t give it a second thought and the list goes on, it is boundless...

 

What sin does, is it harden our ability to place the will of God over our own contaminated selfish wants. So here I am, exhorting you to be mindful of these things. I would encourage you to return the favour, continue to remind me of what really matters. Let us not get caught up with the different understanding of various texts found penned for us in the Bible at the expense of unifying the body of Christ. I have lived long enough through the trial of my own struggles to understand this; God is building His church and the gates of hell will never prevail over Him. Read the book of revelation and you will clearly see different influence and the lack to application of the diverse churches, they all needed work. We all have room for growth and so let everyone who names the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour flee from sin, this must become our mantra; “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved”. This must be become a way of life in every area of our lives. It would be amiss of me to tell you that all will be well, when in fact for some it won’t be. Remember those claiming to know the Lord Jesus at judgment, when they began to mention their accolades, prophecy, casting out of devils in HIS name, and how does the Lord reply? “I never knew you”, that is quite an indictment. And then He singles out their lifestyles, the way they lived their lives, pay attention! “Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” – explained another way, you that work inequity, it is a lifestyles of those looking to frustrating the grace of God. These people who claim salvation were never saved. – “I never knew you” do you see the bridge?  Conquering sin in our lives through the Lord's finished work. Should we be speaking about these issues? “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” (2Peter 1:10) Read the chapter to get the context, but my point, we must find grace to confirm our calling and election to be of substance, it must always be about the will of God our Father. We must begin to bear the fruits of the Spirit, and we would fail to achieve this if we turned a blind eye to our sin.   

 

The time is coming when we will be in heaven with our God and Saviour singing praises unto HIM and what an affair that will be, even so come quickly Lord Jesus.

 

We must keep short account when it comes to sin. We must not bury our heads in the sand and ignore the obvious. Sin is sin and it cost the Lord Jesus his life to breach the divide, how can we habitually continue in it, frustrating the grace of God? We must be aware of it and find grace to overcome. And whilst the struggle is on, we must keep diminutive accounts and the way we do this is through repentance. This type of resolve would be impossible without focusing on our hope. So let me encourage you…

 

The time is coming when faith will no longer be needed to commune with our Father. We will see him face to face, how I long for that day. We will receive a glorified eternal body, which will be like the Lord Jesus’ resurrected body. In the ages to come we will be able to point out our beloved Saviour and inform others of what it cost Him to rescue us. He will continuously be praised and we will be the ones praising Him. Our home will be heaven, God will be our Father and we will be His sons. We will receive a new name that God himself will give us. We will be able to eat from the tree of life, which was forbidden after the fall in the Garden of Eden. We will not be hurt by the second death that millions if not billions will face. Some will be given rule over nations. We will walk with the Lord in white raiment’s. To the one who conquers they will be pillars in the temple of God, the backbone of a structure. They will receive great honour and be branded with the name of God. “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 3:21)

 

My final thought then, it will be worth it all, we must encourage one another to fight the good fight, because before we know it, we will be with our God, signing Him praises. It is therefore imperative that we search out the grace of God in order to overcome whatever obstacles crosses our path.

 

“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”

 

Signing out

 

Tyrone   

The will of God

 

(Mark 3:35) “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

 

Here we see the Lord Jesus making a statement, which fulfils the requirement for us all, if we want to be included in the family of God, it’s all about finding the “will of God” for our lives. Its can never be about our will but HIS!

 

God created mankind with an objective, for them to align their wills with His. There is obviously many angles to this, but in order for Him to be pleased with what He had created, mankind would need to align their will with His under a banner of choice. An ability for specific individuals to make independent choices, often refer to as “free will”. So how would God achieve His objective? We were not moulded as robots, we have the ability to choose right from wrong. But to understand this, we need to go back to the beginning, the first three chapters of Genesis is crucial to lay the correct foundation. Let me use Malcolm Harris’ example, when they ate from the tree of the “Knowledge of Good and Evil”, man’s conscience was activated. Prior to this awareness we would be guiltless, does a pack of wild dogs feel remorse when feeding on a live animal? No! They do not have a conscience, but we do, all because of our knowledge of Good and Evil. This is where the Law of God comes into play, it gave the Israelites a yardstick to hone in on God’s requirements. Fine tweaking right from wrong. However, we also know that prior to the Law of God, mankind was not guiltless, hence the flood, where God destroyed every living creature, save those in the Ark. Here we see confirmation of God’s judgment and why he destroyed the living; “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  (Genesis 6:5) – No application to that which was good, “only evil continually”.

 

Now back to the implementation of the Law; because of their sinful natures, all the law ultimately proved was that it was an impossible task. Sure provision was made for failure, hence the shedding of blood through sacrifice, grain offerings and washings. This is a mammoth study in itself, but best summed up like this; “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24) – Other interpretations use the word “schoolmaster” by implication the law was a tool to teach us that we could never live up to God’s requirements because of our sinful tendencies and in order to achieve God objective in our lives we needed a Saviour. Hence the introduction of the man Jesus Christ, the one and only to never breach the law of God and therefore he became a once for all time sacrifice never to be repeated. Salvation starts and end with HIM! “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2Corinthians 5:21) – The love of God personified!

 

What we now need to tackled, is how can we find the will of God for our lives? Obviously we need to be born again to have any chance in making the right choices. We need the Spirit of God's help. Can a dead individual make a choice? Did Lazarus choose to be brought back to life? As a dead individual did he shout "pick me pick me"? NO! Jesus said “Lazarus come forth" and he came forth. This is exactly the same way we are born again, God breathes life into an individual and only then are they armed to find the will of God for their lives. Prior to this they are dead, here is a crucial portion of scripture that we need to understand; “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—“ (Ephesians 2:1-5) - We have been saved by grace (especially the divine influence upon the heart), its God who gives us life, to ever conceive that we who were dead, out of our free will, chose God, does not align with scripture. Only once we have the Spirit of God residing in us are we equipped to find the will of God for our lives. Think of two men sitting in the same room under exactly the same conditions listening to a gospel message, why does one respond favourably whilst the other rejects the offer of salvation? Is the one better than the other? Are they both not under the same condemnation, dead in their trespasses and their sins? God has to intervene, without His influence nothing can or will ever change. Romans chapter 9 affirms this very clearly.

 

Now that we have been saved, do we become robots? Absolutely not! Life is a journey and we will make mistakes, some more than others, guilty as charged. Nevertheless, life is now all about choices and we must learn to find the will of God for our lives and only then like the Lord Jesus affirms will we be part of the household of God; “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” – This in itself is a process and this is how our beloved brother Paul puts it’s; “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  (Romans 12:1-2) – By application this can never be a robot mentality, but “free will” comes into play, we make independent decisions and must bear the brunt of the wrong choices. We now learn through the struggle of life, to live by faith and align our wills with the will of God. For the straggles, once again guilty as charged, those of us who are dull of hearing, the love of God disciplines us. See Hebrews chapter 12…

 

“To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” 

 

Signing out

 

Tyrone

 

     

 

    

 

    

 

 (Habakkuk 3:6) "His ways are everlasting."

 

The unknown is something we are well aware and at first I wanted to allocate blame to "sin" for this condition, but prior to sin there was an unknown, the “knowledge of good and evil”. God’s creation in the form of man and woman were not permitted to venture down that road. It could well had something to do with God’s previous creation, the fall of the angelic beings. But this is simply an educated guess, God knows! Mankind’s ways are full of variance, but God’s ways are everlasting. Ever since we rebelled against God way back when, six thousand years ago, when Eve thought she knew better, sure she was deceived, but deception will never excuse our actions. She looked to rush God’s plan. Although she carries the weight of the blame, we are all guilty as charged and sinners by nature. The deeper I gaze into God’s spiritual dimension, simply put the more the bible is studied, I find myself peeling back the layers of amazement, which I will only ever refer to as the “Brilliance of God”; Every plan thwart by the enemy has and will be turned on its head as if God had himself instituted the plan. Deception will never catch God unawares, NEVER! God is the same “yesterday, today and tomorrow”, His character will never change, not like us, chaff in the wind.

 

When we look at the finished work of the cross, are you not astonished at the beauty that is now ours? The absorption of something so vile, cruel and wicked. The complete punishment the Lord Jesus received, to have his face marred from the blows it received, his body beaten to a pulp and then crucified. God in the flesh, the One who knew no sin was now being punished for sin, please let that resonate! Reject this offer and there’s no hope for you, zero! "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved."

Isaiah paint this picture for us; “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:3-6) – On the surface of this historical event, we see so many of his follows, dejected as they witnessed the Lord’s crucifixion, they felt defeated. Satan and his follows looking to devour and destroy God in the flesh and for a time there may have well been some celebration, BUT on the 3^rd Day HE rose again, hallelujah! Praise God!

 

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

 

If God is for us who can be against us? However for those who do not align their wills with His, judgment is looming...  

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

Heritage

 

Heritage is something that intrigues us all, we all like to know our history when it come to our ancestry. The “Black lives Matters” movement that is now in full swing has piqued the interest of many. Samuel L Jackson has now travelled down a road seeking out his origin; Gabon in West Africa and this documentary can be viewed on many platforms. I am told that I come from the lineage of a Prime Minister, on my mother’s side. My grandfather’s father’s bother was supposedly Louis Botha, South Africa’s first Prime Minister. The truth be told, there is something that the flesh loves about the boast of a legacy. My step brother Mike, traced his linage back to William Wallace of Scotland, better known to most as Brave Heart, in fact, he even framed a placard that paints his wall. But all of this heritage ride on the wave of death, all of those individuals are now dead. Seventy years or there a bouts and then the end for all. What a dismal hope when viewed laterally against eternity, the part we do not see, and yet somehow we all know exists, time without end and all that entails, our eternal futures.

 

Our souls will live on beyond the end of days, whether we embrace a blissful existence or cursed torment, all depends on our spiritual heritage. This now become a fundamental truth that we daren’t miss. God sent his only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ to defeat the curse of sin, and the way in which he achieved that was to live a life of sinless perfection and then pay the price for the sins of many, by being sentenced to death by crucifixion as if he had sinned. It was his sacrifice that opened a way for sinners, you and me, to re-establish the connection Adam had with God in the beginning. This amazing attrition of love from Jesus Christ, the One who laid his life down for his enemies. He was buried and on the third day, God raised him from the dead, and there are many eye witnesses to verify this truth. Those who saw him alive and well after being buried in a tomb. Then the time came for his ascension and he ascended back into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of his Father, where he arbitrates for all those who rely on Him, every born again believer. Kapow! Now that’s the heritage that excites me and my boast is most certainly in HIM…

 

Our bodies will all face death, but He has conquered death, He rose again! Our initial heritage, we all children of the devil because of our own sin, but HE has conquered sin! All those who rely on the finished work of the cross, will receive glorified bodies, just like His, a body that will take us into eternity and beyond. But for those who reject and turn their noses up to our blessed Redeemers accomplishment they will face the Lake of fire and torment will be their lot into endless hopelessness…

 

For all the fence sitters, and those who still breathe the oxygen God has afforded them to sustain their mortal bodies, there is great news, pay very careful attention! “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” (Roman 10:13) – But call you must, your future depends upon it. As for me and my household we will serve the Lord...

 

Signing out

 

Tyrone

Our response to God's call...

 

An ineffectual call will always land on deaf ears, but an effectual call will always reap its desired result; salvation in and through the finished work of the cross. All glory, will always, into the ages of eternity, belong to our blessed Redeemer, the Great, the One and only Lord Jesus Christ, the One in whom I will boast. Amen and hallelujah!

 

Election; those who God has and will save, from the vilest of the vile, the meekest of the meek and those in a deep hole of desperateness, they will be turned, for when it happens, it highlights the brilliance of God. Why does the same message save one and not another, think about it, two people in the same room under the exact same conditions and only one responds favourably. Why is one hardened whilst the other laps the message in like a dry sponge soaks up water? It is a rather simple answer, the call was either ineffectual or effectual, pay careful attention; Think on it like this, two cars parked in a garage, the ineffectual cars battery has run flat, the is no power to crank the engine, there is no spark! The effectual cars battery is primed by the Spirit of God and turns over with ease. One is capable of response whilst the other isn’t. No matter how hard we try to convince someone to believe, if they haven’t been elected it is a fruitless exercise, of this I am now convinced!

 

The hour when the Spirit of God works in the sinners life, the day when someone openly declares; “I believe, I can see, I can see”, is a miracle. It’s only when we start to humanize the process that we get bent out of shape, remember the Lord’s words to Nicodemus; “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)

 

How do some get saved and others not, and I’m not talking about those who come along for the ride for a time and then bail out, they were never truly saved. Read John Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress… or the parable of the sower also illustrates this well. But those whom God has chosen from before the world began, they are the elect. The twelve disciples, hand-picked before they were even born. Jesus selected them individually to teach them the way. Look at Peters explanation; “So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” (1Peter 2:7-8) – The gospel they heard was ineffectual. On the flip side those effectually called, case in point, the Apostles. He said follow me and the account reads: “immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” Other encounters with men in scripture tell a different story, one man wanted to first go bury his father and then he would follow the Lord. When the Spirit of God works in a person’s life, nothing will and can take preference over that call. When God said let there be light, it’s not as if the light debated whether to shine or not.

 

This does not detract from the gospel message going out to all… “If Judas had not been an apostle, he could not have been a traitor; if men had known the way of righteousness, they could not have abused it.”  (Matthew Henry)  

 

Think of it like this, a writer pens a novel and he/she creates the characters in the book, some are villains and then there’s the hero. God scripted His plan and it is now working itself out exactly as He has willed. Do not be fooled into ever thinking that God can get caught off guard. Through the chaos of life, He has ever “T’ crossed and every “I” dotted. Did you know that even Judas Iscariots betrayal was predestined? In other words scripted in Gods manuscript, someone had to hand over our Saviour. The Arminian (the free will thinker) believers accept as truth that he has a choice, did pharaoh have a choice or was his heart hardened to glorify the brilliance of God’s deliverance for the enslaved Israelites? Think it through, you decide. I am not here to sway your decision, I have settle on what I believe. The next objection we need to address is this, “then God is unfair!” But the Apostle Paul silences that thought very smartly; “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—“ (Romans 9:18-23)    

 

How does this play out in the lives of so many that claim Christianity as their own; it’s the love of money that sways them to place their greed above the true gospel message. They twist the Word for self-gain. Judas Iscariot in a manner is the father of such men and woman. Beware of the love of money, because from such a mind-set, springs the root of all kinds of evil. True Christianity encapsulates the will of God, whilst a deceiver rides on the back of the gospel as a means for self-gain and sadly there are many who have travelled this path. “The blind leading the blind and both fall into the ditch.”

 

Christian let us be as wise as serpents and yet as gentle as doves; “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 

 

Signing out

 

Tyrone