Foolishness of God and the Wisdom of Men

Have you ever stopped to consider this truth?

- (1Corinthians 1:25) “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men.”

I would like us to think about this proclamation as it will change the way we process everyday information if we make it our own. If it belongs to us then joy will be our portion for daily living. The longer we go on with the Lord the more we must learn to change the way we process information. What do I mean? We are taught by Paul not to be conformed to this world but by the renewing of our minds to prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God. So by trial and error through life with the Word of God as our instruction manual we must begin to understand what pleases our heavenly Father. To walk in faith pleases Him, to believe His word above our intellects when it opposes the Bible pleases Him, when we Hallow His name He is pleased, when Jesus Christ is exalts above all else God is satisfied, and when we in every area of our lives begin to trust and obey Him with thanks giving, even when the trail of our faith is pushed to its limit, it well pleases the only true and living God. If we are repenting and discovering forgiveness on a daily basis then our Heavenly Father is glorified and when He is glorified He is satisfied. We in turn will be satisfied when He is glorified. Theoretically it is not a difficult principle to understand, but finding the essence of its power is a process and that is why we need to prove His will for our lives.

I suppose one of the hardest of all lessons is to lay aside our own wisdom and in simple faith to believe God. However if we do not learn this lesson we will suffer loss. Rather let us surrender all! It will be to God’s glory but we will be the benefactors of this lesson.

Let us consider all the brilliant minds of our age; Plato (Philosopher), Hypatia (Universal Genius), Leonardo da Vinci (Artist), Albert Einstein (Physicist) and Avicenna (Persian Philosopher Physician) where brilliant in their fields and had a massive influence in history. The question I ask, where are they today? Have they not all tasted death? Yes they have and now they are in one of two places, they are either in heaven or in hell. They will all stand before the judgement seat of God. So all these brilliant minds that could well have been wise in their own eyes will see that God is majestically brilliant, they may not have realised it while on earth but they sure will understand now. They will see that even His foolishness supplants the best of human intellect. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men.”

We need not wait until death to begin to apply God’s wisdom to our lives, for then it will be too late. We all get one crack at life and then the judgement, let us therefore be wise and make wisdom our sister, trusting God, walking in faith as we heed His instruction through His Word, the Bible. (Proverbs 3:5) “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

We all have to find that our will becomes reliant on our God in every area of our lives. Remember what the Lord Jesus had to say to the ones who asked him about greatness in the kingdom of heaven. He picked up a child and put the youngster on His knee and said, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

We must always remember to trust God’s word and never let the “lie of exception” trick us into believing that we will find exemption. We will never find exemption against the written Word. If we remain faithless God must remain faithful He cannot deny Himself.

Help us Father I pray to trust your Word and to walk in faith, remembering the historical events in your Word, the episode of David slaying Goliath comes to mind. May we have a heart like His as it was well pleasing to You? We in turn also want to please you Jehovah our great merciful God, help us find faith like David and help us find grace to walk in faith bringing glory to your Holy name, Amen.

Signing off

Tyrone

“To be or not to be.”

“To be or not to be.”

“To be or not to be,” is a very open ended quote. It could mean to be kind or wrathful, generous or penny-pinching, to love or hate, to demand justice or to forgive, but as far as the existence of something or someone, it is or it isn’t. We either exist or we don’t! We have nothing to do with the choice of life, we do not have the right to choose whether we should be born or not. Life happens and we then exist. This is a principle we need to think through carefully. As a baby we find life through birth and then we subsist as we battle along endeavouring to make a mark in this brutal world of ours. Parents push and encourage us to achieve and be the best we can be at whatever we excel at. Our journey has begun, the thought of “to be or not to be” is no longer a factor as far as existence is concerned, we will have many choices to make along the way and sadly some have chosen to end their own lives by suicide.

Our journey of life has one eventual purpose only and that is to pass the test of life and we have been beguiled into chasing straw men as decoys of truth and purpose; education is important, but it will only benefit in this life as it often overlooks God and His purpose for mankind. When did a teacher ever point you to our creator outside of the subject, religious instruction? And even then it was more opinionated than biblical truth. I can honestly say, never can I recall a teacher even provoking me to consider the second death or the upcoming judgement (the White Throne Judgement). King Solomon tested life by personally experiencing all life had to offer, you can read all his findings in the book of Ecclesiastes, yet his final conclusion after all is said and done, READS “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." Now where in this world with all its drives and passions were we ever taught this truth? Where are you kids being taught this truth, the accountability lies with you the parents? It is a blessing of God to be blessed with children, but with it comes a massive responsibility. Every person ever born will face the judgement seat of God. Yes not all will be judged for sin as the Lord Jesus has paid the price of sin for many, but they will sit before the Lord as their works will be judged. So either way, all and sundry will and must sit in judgement before an Almighty God. This is a fact and no one will be exempt of this truth, and I say again, not one will cunningly slip through the ranks and avoid judgement, all must stand before the Lord and be judged. That means you, me and your children. What a massive responsibility we as parents have. May God open our eyes to understand the importance of this? We must at every opportunity point them to Christ and the price He paid for sin, and more so, for their sin.

We form many habits and I am not sure they are all good practices. We often suppose something to be right and therefore act without giving it much thought. Let me explain my thinking. We celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ, but nowhere is scripture are we told to remember His birth. So then where did we get it from? We do things because by traditions of men they have been handed down to us through generations, it did not come from God.

We are told however to remember Christ’s death, and we are also told to do this as often as we would remember Him; (1Corinthians 11:25) “in the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." So we must not necessary remember His birth, BUT we must remember his death, because it is his sacrifice that has given us life (all those who believe). Do you see the subtleties through various decoys life throws at us? Unpack your life and see what it consists of and then ask yourself why and for what purpose do I do what I do? It will be a good exercise. May God the Holy Ghost expose all the straw men in our lives and equip us to find the resolve through grace to put off what needs to be shed and put on what will glorify our Maker.

Today is a day that a man many years ago found the resolve to oppose a system of total dominance which was full of straw men. On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, he took on the whole Catholic Church with the Bible as his final authority and pinned his decree upon the “door of lies.” “To be or not to be”, he chose to be counted.

Today is Reformation Day, it is also Halloween, and it is also the day I was born. We never had a choice of coming into this world, but we do have a choice to be voices in a dying world, so what will we do?

Signing off

Tyrone

Importance of Prayer

(Revelation 5:12) “Saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb...”

Our day should always start with prayer as we have much thanksgiving to announce. We live by faith, but our sight implores us to cry out that our God is merciful, gracious and holy. The angels do not pray but they do constantly worship and praise God in adoration for the work of Calvary and cry out, “Holy holy is the lamb!” We will also one day no longer need to pray, but will forever cry out reminding all in the ages to come of the work of Calvary. How our blessed redeemer lost His life so that we could go free. To think that we may be found worthy enough to praise our God just like the angels do and cry out “worthy is the Lamb,” is mind propelling. The reward for all those who endure to the end is so great that Paul again tells us, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

If only we could take truth like this and tattoo it deep into our heart and minds so that when doubt and various trials rear their heads, just a quick drop of our cranium would remind us of our great hope. Jesus is coming again, He is coming to rule on the earth, He is coming to fetch his church, He will separate the goats from the sheep, He has defeated the enemy but will sentence Him to eternal damnation, and He comes with rewards and He will hand them out to all who remain faithful to Him.

Prayers help us to relieve our burdens, to excite our hope and it increases our faith. When the last thing you feel like doing is praying, that is when you need even the more to find the resolve by grace to cry out in prayer. Why? When there is resistance to your prayer life it means that something is either hindering your will to pray or there is war in the heavenlies where fallen angels opposing all those who belong to Jesus and try and cause interference between God and His children. Is he not the tempter, does he not go around like a roaring lion seeking to devour, are we not told that our warfare is not carnal but spiritual and if we could see into the spiritual realm we would be flabbergasted. There is a train of thought that tells us that Satan is already bound and the reason some Christians hold to this truth is the gospel would not have free access if he wasn’t already chained. I do not hold to that opinion, I believe the apostle teaching clearly tells us to be on guard and many times though their schooling which in fact was written after the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour. After his complete victory! We are told to put on the whole armour of God, and after having done all to stand, not to run but to stand. “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

It is prayer that fuels us to find the will to stand and to follow righteousness over sin; we may not always fly the banner of victory above our heads, but we must understand the theory to equip us so that our banners may at times soar.

Let me use an illustration to demonstrate how I believe we need to battle on in prayer even if it feels like our pleas are bouncing off a concrete wall.

Daniel a man loved of God can teach us a valuable lesson, he prayed for 21 days before his pray was answered, not heard but answered. “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” So we see Daniel prayed and for 21 days there was war in the heavens and eventually God’s angels’ fought through the opposition’s lines to bring Daniel the revelation. So as his prayer went out, it was heard and God sent a messenger to convey His message to Daniel, along the way they encountered the enemy and a battle took place and eventually with Michael’s help they were able to advance and reach their final destination. There are many differing outlooks on spiritual war in and around us in the unseen worlds. I believe that it is as real as me typing on this keyboard. It is a dominion that is spiritual and therefore only spiritual beings live and abides there. They will and do influence our lives, but we have a King who has defeated our enemy, therefore we stand as victors all because of Him. We must never flippantly speak as ignoramuses and want to take on the devil face to face. Even Michael the arch angel did not take on the devil in his own strength but rebuked him in the name of Jesus; “yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”

Never use bravado lingo to belittle the devil, if it wasn’t for our Saviour he would squash us like a bug.

Always remember why we are able to stand; praise the name of Jesus for he alone is worthy of all our praise and adoration. ALL HAIL KING JESUS!

Sin in our lives will be the other hindrance that will keep us from praying; but by pleading with our God in prayer even though you may have sin in your life, prayer will always expose it and help you confess it before your heavenly Father. And remember our heavenly Father is for us and not against us, once we have sincerely confessed our sin He is quick to forgive us. (Nehemiah 9:17) “...But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.”

So never say because I have sinned I cannot pray, that is a lie and trickery of the devil, because of your sin you now need even the more to pray.

May God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth and all created beings both celestial and terrestrial help us find grace to cry out in prayer to Him?

Signing off

Tyrone

The Power of Sin

(John 3:19) “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

If God decided that enough was enough and He said stop would it not end? Of course it would! I believe all would agree to this truth! God is sovereign and He will work out His plan, regardless of whatever opposition may come His way. How amazing the insight God has to all past and present events. This must equip a righteous God to work out His ingenious plan with precision. However imagine this power and the ability to see into the future in the wrong hands. Exactly what Satan strives for, but we know what his end will be, for the Word clearly spells that out; “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10) 

Let us mull over this thought for a little while; the devil and his angels ruling the universe, the thought is blasphemous, nevertheless what would that mean? It would mean sin would have free reign, law and order would be governed by the laws of sin. Everyone for self, dog eat dog, the Wild West would have been a tea party. How fortunate we are to have a God who has the character He has, remember He has no beginning, He has no end, He is who He is and there are no other God’s beside him. But there could have been! Not really, but let us just envisage it so that we can appreciate our Heavenly Father and give him due benevolence. How great is this God, look what He has done for mankind, did He not send His only begotten Son to live on earth and pay the price for Sin. Of course He did! He is a great God, full of love, grace and mercy. Praise His name all you people, sing songs of acclimation and exalt the Holy One, for He is worthy. Satan on the other hand beguiled Eve in the Garden of Eden, he gave her half truths. She ate and she knew she was naked, her eyes had been opened to the knowledge of good and evil, she knew right from wrong as her conscience had now found life. Yet with it all death was imminent and she was no longer an individual that would live for eternity but her body was already now in the process of death, it had begun to die! Now with this knowledge and her misguided understanding there was also another tree in the garden, the tree of life. They were allowed to eat from that tree, but if they had eaten from it then sin would have lived forever. But thankfully God placed cherubim’s in the garden to protect the tree and did not permit anyone to eat from it. Sin always has a lure that will satisfy for a season but its end will always be the same, death! It can never be quenched. The bible teachers us this, yet I am able through my own experience to second this truth. We want and soon desire becomes greed if not kept in check. We lust and soon we are governed by it. That is the fruit of sin, it will and can never change, and will always be in opposition to God’s will. And yet with sin very much alive God through wisdom formed the world, how amazing is that statement! We see sin and tragedy all around us and often the thought of “why” flashes though our puny brains. In wisdom God has formed the universe. It is at times like these, when I am thinking along these lines that a verse like this really excites me; “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" (1Cortinthians 2:9)

So even my imagination is unable to visualize what God has in store for all his chosen. I think I can envisage, but I can’t, my brain is incapable of processing that information, the reward of heaven is too great to fathom. What a mind blowing thought, I love reflections like these! No wonder Paul makes bold statement after been caught up into the third heaven like; “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” He is motivated by our reward, the Lord Jesus, God the Father, God the Holy Ghost and heaven with all its trimmings. What a day that will be, even so come Lord Jesus!

How powerful is sin, it is so powerful that nothing outside of the Lord has the power to break its shackles. It governs relentlessly and has an agenda to destroy. It has a strong backbone which is almost unbreakable and it has a deceitful king who is known as father of lies, the devil. Why would anyone choose sin over the Lord Jesus? The bible tells us why; “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. “(John 3:19-20) 

We see the power of sin and how it is able to beguile, people will chose to be evil rather than repenting and exposing their sin so that they can find forgiveness from an ever loving God. So those people who profess to be kind in their character but reject the Lord Jesus (the light) are all evil and have a hidden agenda. You say that proclamation is a little harsh Tyrone, that is not my hypothesis, but the Word of God declares it, in fact these were the word of the Lord Jesus.

May many sinners repent and believe on the Lord Jesus while it is yet daytime, for the night is coming and then it will be too late.

Signing off

Tyrone

PS I will have to make a big decisions today on what direction I will need to take re my ongoing saga, may the Lord Jesus come out victorious, please pray that His will may be done... thank you.

Praising God

(John 15:19) “I have chosen you out of the world.”

I believe this doctrine, which happens to be true will be debated until we, the elect make it to heaven. Once all the Father's chosen have been ushered into His eternal plan we will no longer debate this truth but rather bask in His mercy for all eternity. It is then that we will see His brilliance like never before. We will know what it meant when Paul quoted verses like this; “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” We will grasp that it was not so much our ability and wise choices that kept us saved but rather in spite of ourselves we were kept saved by God’s grace and mercy. And by the power of His spirit in the finished work of Calvary. When any believer makes a brash statement like, “when I chose God” he has not thought it through very well. Look at our text, “I have chosen you out of the world.” Yes I agree He was addressing the disciples but look at our Saviours prayer to His Father and some of the statements He makes which will prove my point. “I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.” It is clear to see that the world or the people in it are not the Lord’s concern but rather those whom the Father has given Him. “I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12)

It was God’s will for someone to betray the Lord and Judas did as it was written, in other words according to His plan. Judas nevertheless is accountable for his actions. What a scary thought! But while the Lord Jesus was on earth surrounded by trial and purpose to fulfil His Father’s will, He amazingly still had time to remember you and me in His prayer; "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” (John 17:20)

All those who confess Jesus as Lord will be saved the Bible is our teacher.

The reason I stress this point; it is at times like these when we have moments of weakness, when uncertainty surround our lives and we are unable to find the “joy of our salvation.” We need to understand the intricacies of God’s plan and more importantly God’s plan for his chosen. It is a must! Grasp this truth as it constrains us to walk in victory as we lay down our lives for one another. It gives us confidence to believe in His ability and not our failures. If only the strong make it then God will receive glory, but when the stragglers who have been chosen, make it, imagine the shouts of admiration our Saviour will receive for His keeping power.

“Here is distinguishing grace and discriminating regard; for some are made the special objects of divine affection. Do not be afraid to dwell upon this high doctrine of election. When your mind is most heavy and depressed, you will find it to be a bottle of richest cordial. Those who doubt the doctrines of grace, or who cast them into the shade, miss the richest clusters of Eshcol; they lose the wines on the lees well refined, the fat things full of marrow. There is no balm in Gilead comparable to it. If the honey in Jonathan’s wood when but touched enlightened the eyes, this is honey which will enlighten your heart to love and learn the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Eat, and fear not a surfeit; live upon this choice dainty, and fear not that it will be too delicate a diet. Meat from the King’s table will hurt none of his courtiers. Desire to have your mind enlarged, that you may comprehend more and more the eternal, everlasting, discriminating love of God. When you have mounted as high as election, tarry on its sister mount, the covenant of grace. Covenant engagements are the munitions of stupendous rock behind which we lie entrenched; covenant engagements with the surety, Christ Jesus, are the quiet resting-places of trembling spirits.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

It was the Lord Jesus who purposed to do His Father’s will and it is the Fathers will and promise to give us (all who seek out the Fathers will bringing Him ultimate glory) to His son, in fact this all took place before the foundation of the earth. “And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world...” (Revelation 17:20)

I am so secure in this promise that until the Lord changes His character and becomes unfaithful I am eternally secure. I am protected because I know that He cannot change His character, for He is light and in Him is no darkness. How I love you my God and I am forever thankful. Help all your children see this truth so that they may rejoice in you, bringing glory to your great name.

Even David danced before the ark telling Michal that election made him do it. Let us go forth today, leaping and jumping and praising God.

Signing off

Tyrone

Loosing when it is right

“It is a faithful saying.”

It is at times like these that I am thankful firstly to my Lord and Saviour for his Faithfulness. Without that the human race would be doomed for an eternity of damnation and a final destination in the Lake of Fire, but for all believers that believe in the resurrection and the finished work of Calvary have an imperishable hope of everlasting life and to ever be like Him. We will be incorruptible, righteous (the ability to always be right), just think about that. Never making another wrong decision, never choosing sin over righteousness, how I long for that day!

It is mornings like these that without God the Comforter (God the Holy Spirit) quickening and reminding me of this hope, the pressure of life would squeeze so tightly that it would be hard to find a reason to live. That may seem somewhat dramatic, but the cares of this life and having to deal with the consequences of bad judgments made in our lives is a fact of life.

I woke up this morning with a quote from C.H.Spurgeon repeatedly reverberating in my mind, “if a thing is right, though you lose by it, it must be done.” But what if you are indicted with a list of what is false. Even if they have some truth to them but they have been screwed out of context, what does one do then?

If I look at our greatest example the Lord Jesus, I see continual false accusation thrown at Him. He was called a drunkard because he drank some wine, He was charged with being unclean because He mixed with gentiles and so on. The bible tells me that the accusation above His head on that cruel Roman cross read; “and the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Again the ruler of that age asked; - Pilate then went out unto them, and said, “What accusation bring ye against this man?” There was a lot of finger pointing yet not one charge could stick as the Lord Jesus was righteous, is righteous and always will be righteous. He did not defend His own honour, but His Father did! How I now want to react as a man defending my own honour to all these allegations that I read in my summons for divorce which I received yesterday. What is a man to do?

Please forgive me for my selfish request, but please pray that I would do the honourable thing, whatever that may be, ultimately glorifying my heavenly Father even if I suffer lose. All I will say is if I agree to the divorce summons I would be agreeing to certain accusations that would be false and they could possibly tarnish me in the future, i.e. a job character reference and the like.

“Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” (1Timothy 4:6) 

“Christian service must bid us diligently to maintain good works. We must have the root of salvation in free grace; next, the privileges of that salvation in the life which now is, and in that which is to come; and we have also the two great branches of suffering with Christ and serving with Christ, loaded with the fruits of the Spirit.” C.H.Spurgeon

All these truths must somehow find life to glorify God in every believer’s life.

Forgive me my heavenly Father for my sin in not having the fruit of joy in my heart today; please restore a right spirit within me.

Signing off

Tyrone

“Fruit of the poisonous tree”

(Matthew 16:18) “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

I am hard pressed this morning and carry a heavy burden not for myself but for those who desire to seek God’s truth with what I believe to be, sincerity. Yet the enemy, the devil would cause a hindrance distorting God’s Word just like he did in the Garden of Eden. I love the words the Lord Jesus used when addressing Peter,

”and I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” I am comforted by these words as they are powerful and final. God’s church will prevail and it will accomplish what it needs to complete. There is absolutely no doubt about that! However, I see so many winds of doctrine preached by all and sundry and yet not based on sound doctrine. I cry out, O my heavenly Father why do you allow it? I then hear a small still voice pointing me to scripture and then I understand, but it still pains me to see how many lambs (young Christians) put so much filth to their mouths. A baby uses its mouth to test by tasting, I am sure we have all noticed that everything they find and get their hands on goes straight into their mouths. It is the parent’s responsibility to watch out for them and keep them from danger or infection. What person would stand by and watch any youngster get his hands on a razor and not lovingly remove it from him. We are our brother’s keepers! We must look out for one another! I beg you to understand my heart in this matter; we have an enemy and he is real and his sole purpose is to deceive and lead God’s children astray. There is only one of two camps we fall into, God’s army or Satan militia. There is no neutral camp; NATO only exists in world governance. We either belong to God with the Lord Jesus as our king or we are of the devil our father, and Jesus put it to us like this in the gospel of John, “you are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.”

As children of God and because love now constrains us we must seek out the Fathers will for our lives. It is not mystical, it is not some strange dream or vision we need to find to purpose our lives, and I say again it is not mystical. Why? Because God has spoken to us in these lasts day through his Son;  “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (Hebrews 1:1-2) I warn you and ask all to be careful not to take whatever seems edible into your mouths. “Fruit of the poisonous tree” is a legal metaphor in the United States used to describe evidence that is obtained illegally. The logic of the terminology is that if the source of the evidence (the "tree") is tainted, then anything gained from it (the "fruit") is as well. In other words, whatever comes from Satan no matter how edible it may appear because he is tainted his fruit will also be tarnished? He will often appear as an angel of light to deceive even the elect if possible. Deceived simply means to be misled, so we think it is the truth but in fact it is a lie. However when “Sound Doctrine” is our staple diet and we are quick in running to God’s word like the early church to see if what is being said is actually true, then we will be secure and find solace. Let us be astute and diligent in examining scripture. Let me now give you actual warnings in God’s Word that will backup what I am saying.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” (2Timothy 4:3) 

Here you see sound doctrine in not high on their agenda, we see the time for this will be in the last days, and why will they do this? For their own lusts!

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” -John Piper

It has always been about God’s will and His plan; we need to find His will for our lives...

 “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Here we see many prophesiers, miracle workers, those professing to cast out devils and many other wonderful works all done in the name of Jesus. The Lord will then turn to all of them and what comes out of His mouth is terrifying, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:21-23) 

Even our great Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed, “if it be possible let this cup pass from me, but not my will bit yours be done.”

We do not need to be running after strange fire and Fruit from the “poisonous tree”, the Word who is the Lord Jesus (the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst men) is more than sufficient to get us home, but it is only those who do the will of the Father that will make it to the Celestial City.

I beg of you to see my heart in this matter please view me as a brother looking out for his siblings and not as an ogre looking to pull the plug on the party.

May the good Shepherd lead us in the path of righteousness to do our Fathers Will bringing glory to his Holy name?

Signing off

Tyrone

Children or Not!

Sometimes we need to be reminded of our sin; not to dwell on it, never to dwell on it, but to rather be thankful from where we have been saved. Decoy after decoy is thrown at us through life entangling us into a vortex of sin. It is one thing to be blind as we ignorantly case sin hoping to quench our lustful desires, but when we have eyes to see and we still ignore the Word of God we enter into very dangerous ground. It is like entering a mine field, you do not know their exactly location, but you know they are there. This morning I choose to remind myself of some of my foolish pronouncements. The reason I do this is so that I may remember the consequences that followed.                

I do not wish to debate son ship and where and when we will or will not be saved. The Armenian tells us we can lose our salvation, the Calvinist tells us we can’t and the hyper Calvinist says it doesn’t matter what we do because God is sovereign and He will work out His plans according to His good pleasure.

I am persuaded that if you are a son of God, if you have been born again, if the Father has drawn you to Himself and if God the Holy Ghost lives within you I believe the Word is very clear you will never be lost. I will say that again, you cannot and will not be lost. Why do I make such a brash statement? I must now explain myself, so much for not debating son ship! God will never relinquish His glory to another; never, if He did it would make Him an idolater, which He could never be, as there is no other true God beside Him. Let us reason together and I will use our common sense that God has given us for calculation. And then I will point us to scripture which I believe proves this point. If God ever lost one of His true children, not the wannabes, not the unrepentant religious pretenders or those who make merchandise out of the gospel, but His elect then Satan would have the upper hand and could claim victory over God’s children, but He cannot and will never gloat in God’s presence.

To all you parents I will pose a question. Have any of your kids ever not been one of your children? They may have often disappointed and upset you, but have they ever not been your descendants? The answer is obviously NO! How then do we think for one minute that we are more caring and compassionate than God himself, how ridiculous! The Bible teaches us that as parents we are evil and yet we know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Heavenly Father who is good not know how to give His children good gifts. That is my first point as a principle.

The Lord Jesus has received the commission of saving and keeping God’s entire elect saved until they are glorified. Let me now back that up with scripture; “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.” (John 17:9) So God the Father elects people to be saved and then they respond to His call sometime within the duration of their lifetime by repenting and believing the finished work of Calvary and they are then handed over to the Lord Jesus who has the responsibility of shepherding them. Paul the apostle who was originally Saul was a murderer of God children; he persecuted Christians and had them killed. But we are told that he was called in his mother’s womb. That means God chose Him even knowing that he would kill Christians and he wasn’t called after he killed them but before, nevertheless he may have only responded after those treacherous acts of murder, but he was emphatically called before he was born.  “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace.” (Galatians 1:15) 

He (the Lord Jesus) is the good shepherd and not a hireling, so when danger confronts one of His sheep even if it is their fault and they wonder from the flock he destroys the lion and the bear. He always looks out for them. I am told that the customs of the good shepherds in the times of old went something like this; if a lamb continued to stroll from the flock he would break its leg and then put the lamb on his shoulders and would carry him until it had mended. The lesson would be not to wander!

In about 1991 I cannot be sure of the exact year I had been saved for about 4 years and had unfortunately began to drift from a zealous Christian to a hypocritical one, I was walking in disobedience. The change was not immediate but subtle at first and then before long I was with my old mates drinking and carousing like a hooligan. You see it started with the thought of sitting next to a stranger in a bar drinking a soda and proclaiming the gospel to all who would listen. Before long it was a beer in my hand and then I looked and behaved like one of the crowd. What a tragedy! One night with the usual crowd together and in the mist of the party atmosphere the comment came, “you see Tyrone a leopard cannot change its spots.” I must tell you although alcohol had flowed freely, it cut deep. On my way home that night I don’t remember much except that I recall a rescue worker (a fireman) with red hair trying to free me from 16v golf with the Jaws of Life. I remember saying, “hurry up can’t you see I am stuck” and his retort was “can’t you see I am trying,” and then I woke up in the Johannesburg General hospital with a steel pin though my shin bone and weights hanging off my leg. I had shattered my right femur form the impact of a head-on collision. My leg had been broken.

Let me be very clear I am not for a minute suggesting that we should flippantly ignore the call of obedience to our lives as believers. If you don’t and you are a child of God He (our Great Heavenly Father) will discipline you and the cost will have consequences and it may even cost you your life.

“And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ”My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” (Hebrews 12:5-8) 

You see God will and does look out over His children, if your life is lacking discipline and there is no correction by God to it then fall on your knees repent and ask the Lord to save your soul. If there is constant discipline talking place in your life and you are somewhat like me and bear the scars in your body then learn from them and find the grace to begin to walk in obedience.

To all of those who have no idea what I am talking about may the God of truth shine into your lives exposing your sin and open your eyes so that you may truly repent and find life.

Signing off

Tyrone

God or Money?

(Matthew 6.24) “You cannot serve God and money.”

Without sap the tree cannot exist and so in like manner vitality is essential to a Christian. “There must be life - a vital principle infused into us by God the Holy Ghost, or we cannot be trees of the Lord.” A typical challenge life throws at us is if we do not work then we do not deserve to eat. However when I examine my own life, I see truth to this text, “You cannot serve God and money,” or we will lack energy for service. Please do not wrestle with God’s Word endeavouring to juggle His word to suit your lifestyle as that would not be beneficial. We need to find grace to appropriate all His wonderful truths into our lives. It seems overwhelming at times but it will always be to our benefit.

Our lives are mysteriously interwoven with life; just like the sap of a tree by what force does it rise and then descend again supplying all the nutrients the tree needs to survive? Nevertheless it survives as God gives it life. A tree does not question its maker it just exists, sure it needs to be nurtured and watered to survive, but does God not open the heaven and supply all its needs, He sure does!

Consider how a potato is grown in the dark; it is surrounded by soil until harvested. If we could trust like the potato that’s what Angus Buchen must have meant when He said we must have “faith like potatoes.” The Lord makes reference to the lilies of the field, “and why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin.”

My thoughts are all over the place this morning, but it is not my thoughts that must take preference to my life, I must rather explore the Word of God to find bearing for it. There is safety there!

A new chapter in my life must now begin, my furniture is in I had my first night in a new abode that will be my home for some time I suspect. To be anxious is a sin, yet it is a feeling that at this time in my life is hard to keep at bay. I am without employment and now ingesting well into my reserves, what is a man to do? Find a job obviously, that is a must. I am a qualified photographer with a journalistic background and I had a job in the press arena. However, I will not find employment there very easily as we all know South Africa is in the process of change and Black Empowerment is the order of the day. As a white male going on in years the probability of employment from a newspaper is highly unlikely. That means I will have to freelance and begin to trust God’s Word even more as necessity to feed myself becomes a reality.

It is not the change of lifestyle I dread, going from a lifestyle of cigars to the bare necessities. That will be beneficial I believe. I remember chasing money in the stock markets; I would not confess to hunting wealth, all I wanted to do was make a lot of cash. After all was it not my responsibility to provide for my family. Yes it is the man’s responsibility to provide; “What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?”  (2Corinthians 6: 15)

What happened was money became the end and no longer a means to an end. Let me explain, God must always take preference in every area of our lives, whenever anything overshadows His existence in our lives, it is idolatry. When money becomes fuel that drives my life, then I am an idolater. “You cannot serve God and money.”

On the one hand I am now thankful as money is sparse and therefore it cannot control my life as it once did. Greed is real and wicked and that is why we are instructed to give to those in need. In doing this we deny ourselves and squash greed as an embryo before it takes root and grows into a brute beast with one intention- to destroy!

Have you ever wondered why so many simple poor rural people who have Christ’s Spirit, those who are born again, radiate such joy? I believe they serve God as money is scares and they do not hanker after it. “You cannot serve God and money.”

The lesson for me to now learn will be to work so that I do not become a burden on others. But having said I must learn to trust God to provide. Does He not feed the birds of the air? I do not mean to sit on my hands and wait, but I do mean for Him to open doors and then to act. So pray if you would for resolve for me to glorify God in this area of my life.

May the Lord’s Day be sweet to all who view it as such?

Signing off

Tyrone

Finding Strength

(Luke 22:32) “But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

How often do we all imagine, in one way or another, what we could be doing for God’s kingdom here on earth. I know I would love to be like Peter and through my failures find strength to strengthen my brothers.

Satan goes around walking to and fro on the earth, we are told by Peter “like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” Interestingly the Lord Jesus addresses Peter like this, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat.” I can to some extent understand what that means and unfortunately it is not a one off occasion. It is not as if we are tested once only in a certain area. It is nothing like a driver’s license, we pass and the license is then ours for life, we are never tested again. Yet life and its high calling is not like that, daily we need to pick up our cross and follow Jesus. That means each and every single day we may be tested in the same area of our lives and when we do not find victory our burden becomes heavy and it should be light.

We have been commanded to walk in joy; it was unbelief and sin that kept the children of Israel out of the Promised Land. It is sin that keeps us from walking in joy. Listen carefully to what I am saying. Sure the trail of our faith does cause an atmosphere of pressure that at times seems to engulf us. But even if we don’t fall victim to it, we may still feel heavy from its test, but when we come through it victoriously, joy is its fruit. I have no doubt about that. It is only when we fail the test that we are downcast and carry the heavy burden that the Lord Himself has carried on our behalf. So we carry something that does not need to be carried.

I suppose that is how it will be until we put off our bodies of corrupting flesh.

So let us remember the basic fruit’s of repentance. “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

Every day then we must make a conscious decision to examine our hearts before God remembering that He see everything, we can hide nothing from Him. Do not let Satan or his ministering demons of darkness get you to believe a lie. That is his way; remember the Garden of Eden and how he beguiled Eve. He still goes around roaring speaking lies into the minds of the weak, stand on the truth of God’s word and he we depart from you, until the next time. This is the way it is and this is the way God intended it to be. “Father may you give you children strength to stand, I pray.”

A bind eye we must not turn to this truth but rather look to the author and the finisher of our faith, even Jesus Christ our Lord for grace to overcome, and where we do fall let us repent and search out God’s forgiveness, for He will forgive us if we are sincere . Yes, even if it is asking for forgiveness every day for the same sin. The hope we all have, is that one day we may be victorious in whatever area we struggle, it may be more than just one area but the principle remains the same, acknowledge our sin, repent and stand on God’s word and then put our minds to overcoming and this must be done on a daily basis. (Matthew 6:34) "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” It must be done daily for this exact reason. It is hard enough just getting through one day at a time, if and when we try and take on more than one day at a time we are soon swallowed up by failure.

The very first fruit of repentance is carefulness; if I am weak in a particular area then I must avoid that place, I must!

Let me be personal; yesterday was a particular difficult day for me as all my furniture arrived with a delivery note from my wife that read Ashman (maiden name) instead of Arthur and I still haven’t received the summons. It is now the actual realisation of closing a chapter of my life and beginning a new one. Volatility is something of a character flaw that lives with me. In times pass I have said blow it and gone out on the town forgetting God mercy and my Saviour’s sacrifice and let rip. A friend informed me that all my old acquaintances were gathering to celebrate a birthday and asked me if I was coming? My frame of mind was racing with thoughts of a failed marriage, disappointment and anger wanting to raise its head. It was a perfect trap setup just to lure me. But by God’s grace I am able to say, life has taught me some profitable lessons; “fear God and keep His commandments for this is the soul duty of man.” If I had succumbed to the invitation the probability of me drinking and drugging were on the cards. My point! Be careful and do not venture into places you know you will potentially fall, that would not be the fruit of carefulness.

“But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." I think when Peter denied the Lord three times it taught him his own volatility and this in turn helped him help others.

Our particular struggle and more so when we find victory in it I believe it will equip us to have compassion on others and then we will be capable of fortifying others.

May we all be resolved to lay our lives down for one another just as Christ laid down His life for us.

Signing off

Tyrone

Sin

(Romans 7:14) “But I am of the flesh, sold under sin.”

Hopefully we understand our sinful nature and how through Adam we have been sold under the banner of sin. A child is never taught to sin, it comes naturally to a toddler. However I do agree that some children’s sin is easier to see then others, but that is true of life, even adults differ. Nevertheless a child is not taught to manipulate with screams as it maneuvers with precision and before long mom is on beckon call. This is the fruit of sin; “but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.” Sin with us as its victim is a reality that we will never escape outside of Christ. Let me explain; because of Adam’s sin the Bible teaches us that because God is “Holy and Righteous” He is unable to turn a blind eye to sin, let us liken sin to a terminal illness as it will be fatal to every sinner that does not find repentance in and through the Lord Jesus.

At the age of 27 a doctor told me that I was HIV positive, although the virus had been around since the early 1980’s, in South Africa in 1993 that was really bad news, you could say it was lethal, it was looked upon as a death sentence. It was impossible for me to ignore! When the words from Doctor Steve’s mouth penetrated my ear drums, life for that split second slowed down and just like Hollywood often uses film in slow motion to depict someone’s life about to end, I was in a movie, my own!

My point is it was impossible for me to ignore the news, I was terminal or so I thought. I could not overlook the facts, now I want you to consider that I was a man “sold under sin” and yet I am able to respond and seek out help. I am still living with the virus and obviously the Sovereignty of God comes into play but anti-retroviral medication is what has kept me alive thus far. I have been involved with support groups; in fact I headed up Johncom’s support Group and “denial” plays a large part in many infected people’s lives. They pretend that this virus will overlook them and then they try and ignore the inevitable, death! In like manner sin will also bring death to all who choose to live in defiance to God’s call for all to repent and turn from sin to the living God. I will remind you blinkers (Brett/Richard are you paying attention) where designed for race-horses and not humans. A day is coming, just like I have witnessed people die with HIV, who pretended that they never had the virus and yet death never escaped them, how could it! Death will not escape all those who do not repent and turn to Jesus to find life. Why? Because He is the anti-retroviral that will prevent death and the Lake of Fire.

God almighty takes sin so seriously, He cannot and has not turned a blind eye to it. The punishment of sin is death, period! Every single person ever born, the billions of people that have live and died and all who are still living on earth today will be judge for sin. There will be no exception. Think about how serious God takes sin, so seriously that to save mankind from total torment were teeth will gnash and dying souls without its finality will wail long into eternity. What an unwelcomed thought, but nevertheless true! God is love and that is why He sent His only begotten Son to earth where He lived without sin and die for sinners to pay the price for sin. God judged sinners and sentence all to a death sentence but found a righteous way to save mankind (only those who repent) by sending Jesus to die in their place. How amazing is the love of God? When I understand what it cost the Lord so that I could go free, my soul cannot but sing out, “amazing grace how sweet the sound that save a wretch like me.”

So will you be like the ostrich and put your head in the sand hoping because you cannot see the danger that it is looming, which is even right at the door, or will you call upon the name of the Lord, thank Him for the sacrifice of dying on your behalf on a cruel Roman cross on a hill called Golgotha and turn from your sin and repent? “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

I am praying even now for all my mates, but Brett and Richard your names even now are being prayed into the heavens.

Signing off

Tyrone