Shield of Faith

(Hebrews 11:1) “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

This life we are now called to live by faith, let’s call it the “life of faith” it is the exact opposite of anything like merit. We accept it as one would receive a gift, we believe it because it is nourishment to our souls and it gives us life. “The earth drinks in rain when the heavens feed it, as the seas are fed by streams, as night accepts light from the stars and they all give nothing in return,” it is the Providence of God. He sustains life and it is all a free gift, it cannot be earned. We cannot earn faith, it is a gift, and in fact it is one of the nine gifts of the spirit. “To another faith by the same Spirit;” We are educated by scripture that declares, “for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.” So all of God’s saints have a measure of faith, without faith, it is impossible to please God.

(Hebrews 11:6) “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

There are two overshadowing point in the text above; we must have faith to please God, without faith he remains unimpressed with us; we must believe that our God is capable and will reward those who diligently seek him. So faith is a free gift, but once we have received it we must use it. However use it wisely!

Scripture often makes reference to the blind receiving sight, the lame made to walk again and it is always used in conjunction with a spiritual healing, foremost it speaks about salvation. Yet after salvation we are instructed to take up the shield of faith. Faith is part of our armour and it must be worn as the designer intended it to fit. We must not misuse or abuse this wonderful gift. What do I mean? Well firstly we need to understand what faith is and then what benefit it is to us. Faith is not; when I believe in something regardless of the evidence that does not mean I now walk by faith, it just implies that I have been beguiled into believing a lie. It is no good to have faith in faith, what purposes will that serve? I am HIV positive and now by faith I tell my mind that this virus is not welcome and it must be a lie as I will not accept that I have a virus living within me even though it has one intention and that is to kill me. Only a fool would conclude that HIV was not a virus. It is and I needed to live with. I have the HIV virus, but so what! My concern is not finding enough faith to somehow through trickery to try and will it away. NO, my faith is in the finished work of Calvary, praise the name of Jesus. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” My hope is not finding faith from some source that will help me denounce truth and believe a lie. Regardless of where you all may find yourselves, our faith must always take root in God’s promises. Let us look to some examples to illustrate this point. Hebrews 11, “by faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Look at Abraham’s application to faith, he did not know where he was going, but he packed up went anyway. Faith is more of a letting go of self than claiming self. Faith does not demand it does not act only when life is full of prosperity, in fact it is most glorified when it is under trial. “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.” She considered Him faithful, it was a promise from God to her and she believed God. Her faith was in His promise to her. She did not have faith in faith but faith in God. Do you see the difference? Let me use one more illustration that will drill home the point; “women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.” Faith had so gripped these woman that they did not rebuke their circumstance as if it was not welcome, but because of their faith in God’s promises (Heaven) they would not accept release while being tortured because they understood that God had promised to take them home and give them a glorified body that would not be subject to pain and they would live in these body forever. Faith ignites our hope and gives us the ability to believe God’s Word regardless of our stipulation. We must believe in the finished work of Calvary, no more and no less. We must trust Him and not be distracted by doctrine that has been watered down, remember, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Faith means we believe in God’s ability to get us home and not by our own merit.

As we are dealing with the armour of God and how the devil tries to find chinks in that armour; it is the shield of faith that is the most important of all our protective coverings, it must be used skilfully. For when this shield is expertly used it will keep out those fiery darts, the lies that try and beguile.

(Ephesians 6:16) “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”

Remember that our God has promised to get us home, not because of us, but because of His glorious Son, our majestic Saviour. Unbelief which equates to sin is what the devil will try and use to get you to drop the shield of faith. Take your eyes off yourself and look to the One who has overcome, it is all about Him and not about us. We will always accuse or excuse ourselves and others but let us rather look to our God and His promises.

Praise the glorious name of Jesus the only true Saviour, may we always be reminded of His obedience to His Glorious Father and may His works provoke us to walk in faith trusting our God’s promises.

Signing off

Tyrone

Stand Firm With Your Feet Shod

“And having done all, to stand firm.”

With the “belt of truth” securely fasten and the “breastplate of righteousness” fitting snugly and contentedly in place with the factual understanding that it is Christ’s righteousness and not our own; we are now ready to put on our shoes. We all have different size feet, so firstly we must understand what shoes it is we need on our feet and secondly they must be the right size so that we are not hindered in our movements.

Our feet are to be shod with the preparation of the gospel. What goes through our minds when we put on our shoes? Do we not silently speak to them telling them that we are about to mission somewhere? I know that most of my day around the house I am normal barefoot, but when I get onto my bike, regardless of the temperature, I look for my bulky riding boots and on they go. It is a simple precaution and a wise one at that, so that I have some fortification against potential injury. In like manner we must not put on sandals when boots are needed. I recall some twenty three years ago as a young man I found myself in the South African Navy, in their Marine division. I was sent with a handful of others from Saldana to Infantry School which was inland and there we trained to become instructors or officers. About half way through our training we all had to face the dreaded “Vas-beit” (teeth gritting encounter) and if we did not complete it we were off course. The most important article of clothing was our boots. They needed to be well worn and moulded to the shape of our feet. It was not good for the soldiers that had recently exchanged old for new, for they soon would pay the price for their choice. Fortunately as I was one of the few that came from the navy and had black boots instead of brown ones, so the flat soles I had fitted to them a while back where overlooked. We marched for 5 days on tar roads through heavy mountainous terrain resting only at night. At night-time the same protocol happened as the Lieutenant bellowing over the loud hailer, “All with blisters on their feet see the medic tent.” Because of the intensity of the heavy equipment we were required to carry and the pounding our feet took, all the boots that had not already been shape to the foot resulted in blisters. It was really tough for those who got blisters on day one.

Their choice had not been a wise one! We all herd their screams! The medic tent was filled with instructors waiting for their entertainment and daily stress release therapy. What would happen was if you had a blister the medic would take a syringe and inject methylate into your blister to dry it out. The noise that came from that tent eventually even kept those with blisters from it. It was important to have good worn boots to tread the rough ways, surmount through difficulties, and hold out to the end.

We are clearly told to have our “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” What does that mean? We must choose the correct footwear and we must get them shaped to our feet. They must wear comfortably. Let us now consider what it actually means, “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” We must be ready always to tell others of what our Saviour accomplished on Calvary. When we step out boldly and tell others, it strengthens us as believers and we now no longer use our footwear as a fashion statement but proclaim a message of hope to a dying generation. Let us not look for reasons why we cannot proclaim the gospel of peace to others, but rather let us look for opportunity to minister potential hope into the lives of others. Shoes protect whose feet? Do they not care for the one who wears them? They certainly do! Remember the point of the armour of God; it is to help us to STAND. If we do not address all items with care we are vulnerable to the wiles of the devil. We must step out in faith; it is for our own benefit when we declare to others the gospel of peace. Look how our Apostle Paul puts it in Romans, “As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" It is a beautiful sight to look upon feet that have been shod with the preparation of the gospel. How welcome the gospel ought to be to those to whom it is preached, because it showed the way to salvation, do you not remember the efforts that someone at his own expense of time preached the gospel to you, I do! It is God the Holy Ghost that will work and to do according to His good pleasure, He will save who needs to be saved, He will convict of sin and of righteousness and of judgement. He will always do it right and far better than any of us. However we must preach Christ and Him crucified nothing more nothing less. There will be times when we are tempted to venture down a road of distraction on issues that may skirt around the gospel. Avoid them at all costs as they will lead to more ungodliness, CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED is all sufficient. Always ask someone what he has done with the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice on his behalf. Ask him does he believe that Christ alone is the only way a man can be saved. Speak of sin and what it cost the Lord to die for his sin. Speak about the upcoming judgement and how Christ is able to save him from it. Do not however compromise and water down His sacrifice for it cost our Saviour his life, praise His name. All hail King Jesus our Lord! It is a message of hope, bringing good news and peace into the hearts of all those that believe. So next time you are in two minds whether or not to share with someone, remember by sharing you will have “your feet shod with the gospel of peace” and you will be using the amour God has given you for your own benefit as it will help you to stand, “and having done all to stand.” There will also be the potential of the hearer benefitting and finding life as his eyes are opened and he finds true repentance. The devil will endeavour to silence us, but we must declare the gospel of peace to all and sundry. If you find yourself in an awkward situation and the people you are with do not know your stand when it comes to Christianity, then I implore you do not remain silent, if you do you will be lured into sin and then regret it. Some dirty joke or the like will put you on the spot and often you may roll with the crowd and laugh with them, not that you want to but you feel compelled to, it shouldn’t be that way. So when you are given an opportunity to declare Christ and Him crucified, do just that. Do not lose heart if it seems that our words fall on deaf ears, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Tomorrow Lord willing we will look at the aspect of the shield of faith, this aspect of our armour really excites me.

May the God of peace give us a concord to quieten our minds and to find boldness to declare to others our hope that resonates deep within our hearts!

Signing off

Tyrone

All God's Amour

(Ephesians 6:11) “Put on the whole armour of God.”

Why must a soldier go into battle with all His armour? Well, the law of probabilities may test that, if he leaves off any item he may regret it; it may cost him his life. So any trained soldier will give careful attention to detail in that regard. In the spiritual realm, it is an obvious fact that if we leave off any piece of the armour God has given us, we will fall prey to the “roaring lion”, even Satan and all his wiles.

Let us then examine why each piece is advantageous. Paul tells us that our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. He also tells us that the day is evil, forget yesterday as it has past, what is done is done. Today is full of warfare, evilness lurks around every corner and he has laid his snares. The devil will always attack the truth; he often if not always begins there. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say?” Or he will try use the truth to get you to test the Lord Jesus and His word by twisting it out of context. The Lord Jesus had fasted forty days and was hungry, he had a need, and His body required food. “The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." Do you see how important it is to have our waist girded with truth? If we are unsure of what truth is then we become double minded, should I do this or that or maybe it will be different this time around, it is all trickery and a lie, do not believe anything outside of God’s Word. For when our waist is bare and not protected by truth we are like water and get tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. We are easily enticed and before long we are in tears and looking for repentance. We must have a high regard for sound doctrine, it will do us well in this ongoing battle. Because when doubt presents itself and it will, we can look to God’s Word just as our Saviour did and respond in like manner. “But he answered, "It is written, “'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" And when the devil shifts gears in offering us wealth and prosperity, we must have no part in his offer. “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "‘you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'” The Lord did not say to Satan that he did not have access to the wealth of this world, but rather rebuked him and used scripture in context to prove to us that his waist had its armour on. I trust we see the benefit to standing on the truth of God’s word. “Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.”

The very first article of armour that needs careful attention when we dress is truth, and interestingly it covers our reproductive area. It was designed in such a way that without it in place no other amour could be fastened securely.

Will we be like men that sow their seed without much thought fathering illegitimate children as and when their need arises? We must not listen for what we think we want to hear, but rather what God has actually said. Once again I will with boldness declare that if we do not heed our God’s almighty voice we will be the ones who suffer loss. However, that will only happen if sound doctrine (correct contextual teaching of God’s Word) is not held in high regard.

Next we are told to put on the breastplate of righteousness, that which covers our hearts a vital organ, that which pumps blood and supplies the rest of the body with oxygen so that it can function fruitfully. Righteousness must be our breastplate.”The breastplate shelters the heart. The righteousness of Christ imputed to us is our breastplate against the arrows of celestial wrath. The righteousness of Christ implanted in us is our breastplate to fortify the heart against the attacks which Satan makes against us. The apostle Paul explains that by “putting on the breast-plate of faith and love.” Faith and love include all Christian graces; for by faith we are united to Christ and by love to our brethren. These will deduce a diligent adherence of our duty to God, and a righteous manner towards men, in all the offices of justice, truth, and charity.” Our hearts are protected by righteousness; sin opposes righteousness, so when sin is rife in our lives and we have been lured by it we have forgotten what was right in the sight of God’s eyes. We must always remember Christ’s example, it must be about God’s will and not ours, easier said than done at times but nevertheless this is the call for every believer. We are not justified by our own works but, we are called to be righteous. We are called to live in Christ’s finished work. We must guard against sin which robs our joy in the Lord and secondly we need best to understand that we are only righteous because of the righteousness of Christ, which being imputed by God, and received by faith, is a guard against, and repels the accusations and charges of Satan, and is a security from all wrath and condemnation. So even when we trip and fall, we are not saved because of our ability to stand, but remember when we stand the devil will flee from us, until the next time. If we fall let us remember to stand on the finished work of Calvary, confess our sin and find forgiveness from our every gracious and compassionate Father who will be just and faithful to forgive us. The breastplate of righteousness is the finished work of Calvary and therefore even when we are downcast and are low in spirit let us remember our great Saviour and remind ourselves that it is not about our achievements but His. So when the devil roars, let us remember it is only a roar and not a bite, because our Jesus has overcome.

We will look at the rest of the armour tomorrow, Lord willing.

May God help us to find grace to stand and having done all just to STAND!

Signing off

Tyrone

Our Great God

(Isaiah 54:7) “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.”

This day ought to be celebrated; all the saints shout with proclamation, “our God reigns!”

Great is thy faithfulness, and most worthy are you to be praised. There is no other God beside you, this is a fact, but even if there could be which there isn’t, we your children would never look to anyone else but you our great Jehovah. I love you and thank you for your mighty power, your tender love, your never changing righteousness, your unwavering faithfulness and for sending Jesus your Son, my Saviour to pay the price for my wickedness and tainting sin. How the words of the song writer, “who saved a wretch like me,” rings true. If I could which I can’t pay back this debt of unmerited favour that while I was yet an enemy, you set your Son to die for me. O what great love is this, my God? Who can fathom it, the depths of your love has no bounds; the riches of your wisdom could never be weighed and knowledge your wear as a garment never grows fainter. HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD, sing now all you birds of the air, sing out and praise this great Creator, our God reigns! Cry out to Him all you people for his mercies endure forever. He is worthy to be praised, so praise Him. Praise Him in creation, how grand is it’s exquisiteness to behold. Who could ever measure the depths, breath and height of this enormous God? His immensity is beyond measurement. And yet a day is coming when puny man, all those who have repented and believe on the finished work of Calvary, all those who have trusted by faith that which they have seen with the eyes of faith, all those who with their mouths have confess the Lord Jesus to others and in their hearts have believe that after He died on that cruel cross, on the third day that God the Father rose Him from the dead. For all of us with this confession a day is coming where grand words from this enormous God will proceed from His lips as He articulates, “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

How I long for that day, what a day that will be! I often wonder if there is a multitude of saints which John points out to us in the book of Revelation and declares that they could not be numbered. Yet they are from ever tribe, tongue and nation, where will I be in the masses, where will I be when this great God of ours proclaims these words? If there is to be an inheritance, which is clear from scripture and those who where most faithful are positioned near the front, then I would be somewhere to the rear, nevertheless wherever I may be, just so long as I am there and I hear those words, “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. “

When the truth of our God’s greatness begins to resonate in our mind by the renewing of the mind by the word of God our text become no longer just words, but reality reverberates, look at David’s example when He slew the bear and the lion, he understood that nothing could separate him from the love of God and from His protection.

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” Will we trust our God? Give us the will to align our will with your will, so that you may be praise and exalted above all else. For you are truly worthy. I love you Father, I love you great Saviour and I love you God the Spirit and thank you for enlightening to me my Great Rescuer, even Jesus Christ my Lord.

Signing off

Tyrone

Ps “Today is the anniversary of the landing of King William III, at Torbay, by which the hope of Popish ascendancy was quashed, and religious liberty was secured, 1688.” C.H.Spurgeon

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.”

AMEN

Weakness is Strength

“For my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

If God’s ways are far above our ways, when He acts He performs by His own rules and when we see those moving parts in action it’s breathe taking. “For my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

God will never share His glory with another, why would He? He alone is God and He shares the rule of His universe with no other. The scriptures are full of clues to His brilliance and the way He has chosen by wisdom to deal with mankind. In our text we see a rule and the principal of “strength made perfect in weakness.” Let us ponder and unpack what this actually means. We practice to get better, if I have been gifted as a ball player, then by training my gift is honed and I get better. That is a no brainer! If I go to gym and bring to bear my body when I do my first arm curl I find I am weak, but as time goes on I get stronger through training and the weight I use for the curl increases as I enlarge in strength. I therefore by strength training get stronger by strength; you could say my strength is made perfect in strength, the complete opposite to how God has chosen to work with us. The regime God uses is, “for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

We have looked at Jehoshaphat’s over the last couple of days, so let us stay with his example; we have a great illustration of God not sharing His glory with another, when God works there will be no mistake to whether His hand is in it or not. Listen to me carefully, when people claim healings, be warned, as there will be no confusion to whether or not someone has been healed. It will be miraculous, it will be mind blowing, and it will be evident to all that God has moved. Let us look at this account in 2 Chronicles 20; Judah was under the rule of King Jehoshaphat and a great multitude came against them, there were so many persons that Jehoshaphat fear for his life and the existence of his people. They were trapped and defeat would be ultimate. Now the scene was set for God to move and show His luminosity, “for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Here were a people in dyer straights with death looming but GOD was with them. How amazing the instruction Judah receives, they are told not to fight but to stand, huh! How can your muscles get stronger if they are not trained? Surely they thought that they needed to do something, well they did, but it was contrary to human intellect. “You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you." This is our lesson, give it to the Lord for the battle is His and not ours. Once you have given it to Him do not be quick to take it back, for when we do we walk in unbelief.

“A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God’s work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness. When God’s warrior marches forth to battle, strong in his own might, when he boasts, “I know that I shall conquer, my own right arm and my conquering sword shall get unto me the victory,” defeat is not far distant. God will not go forth with that man who marches in his own strength. He who reckoneth on victory thus has reckoned wrongly, for “it is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” They who go forth to fight, boasting of their prowess, shall return with their gay banners trailed in the dust, and their armour stained with disgrace. Those who serve God must serve him in his own way, and in his strength, or he will never accept their service. That which man doth, unaided by divine strength, God can never own.” C.H.Spurgeon

The apostle Paul puts it this way, “for the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” A lesson we naturally resist, but like anything we ignore in God’s word, it is always to our own detriment. May God give us strength to be weak and to remain humble so that He will receive all the glory? Who was praise when Judah defeated the enemy? God alone received the glory; there was no mistaking that fact.

Remember when the Red Sea parted what a glorious manifestation of God’s regal power, the news even spread to Jericho and Rahab the harlots was save because she acknowledge the work of God in that event. People still try even today to somehow explain that event away, what a joke! When God decides to work, there will be no mistaking His hand in it.

The Lord Jesus has paid the price for sin, “no man can come unto the Father but by Him.” God will and must always receive the glory.

Signing off

Tyrone

Look Heavenward

(2 Chronicles 20:12) “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."

Jehoshaphat may not have known what to do will a multitude of his enemies bearing down on him, he no doubt feared for his life, however what he did do was cast his eyes heavenward... “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."

There may be a horde of enemies that seem to be against us, be like Jehoshaphat and remember the great victories God’s people did experienced when their eyes where upon Him. Do you recall the children of Israel marching from Egypt through the wilderness towards the Promised Land? Firstly when God promises something it is sealed, no ifs and buts, and secondly they were tested on a daily basis as we also are. Never forget we travel the Kings highway and we stride toward the Celestial City, not all who cry Lord Lord will enter those great pearly gates, but only those who do the will of our Heavenly Father.

Sin had entered the camp and God was not pleased as He never is when His law is transgressed. Do you remember their sin? They moaned against God and Moses and complained about their food. Sin is not always fornication and adultery, those are easy to see, it is our hearts and the resentment we find there that can have severe consequences when it harbours umbrage. May God give us eye salve so that we may see; I trust you now recall the account I bring to mind, it was the account of the “fiery serpents.”

“Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.” Yet they were given an ultimatum, they could choose to not look at the snakes (the care of this life) but rather look at the bronze serpent that Moses had on a pole. If they had been bitten all they needed to do was look to the heavens. It no longer was a case of not knowing what to do as they had received instruction on what to do, they needed to look at the bronze serpent that Moses had on a pole and if they did they would live. And the LORD said to Moses, "make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." We know the significance of that example in our lives we too were dying and we looked and there we saw our bleeding Saviour hanging on a tree for us. Who would see Him? All those who would believe, and all those who did look would see Him. Praise the name of Jesus for He is truly worthy.

We now know what to do, and it is good to be reminded, “but our eyes are on you." Remember the encouragements we received yesterday, it read, “(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. So TODAY is the day of our salvation, let us look to the one who has already overcome. He has passes the Fathers test with an immaculate result, He does stick closer than a brother, remember to look to Him, remember to rely on Him and remember to trust Him even when your situation seems desperate, for He is able and He will get us Home, you best believe. I leave you with this thought; do not worry about tomorrow, “for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.”

May the God and Father of resting peace give you peace, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Annihilation

(Matthew 18:9) “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.”

Although my eyes seem heavier this morning as sleep clings to them, there is gladness in my heart. The beauty knowledge supplies when wisdom has made a grand entrance. To lie down last night to sleep with a heaviness and yet to arise this morning to singing birds and insight to what once was burdensome. How I love my sister Wisdom, she is beautiful to behold, when the morning light reveals some of her hidden exquisiteness it leaves me grasping for breathe. How I love times like these! How great is my God, How vast His wide domain, to begin to tell these lips can only start. So let me start...

Last night I received a phone call from a good friend and he was full of advice as he always is. It is amazing how unwelcomed instruction is at times. King Solomon teachers us in the book of Proverbs that, “where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counsellors there is safety.” So as long as my analyst’s base their advice on biblical doctrine I must welcome them. Nevertheless the trail of life always wants us to oppose sound counsel and endeavours to get us to walk in the flesh. This is a natural reaction to our natural fallen state. It is at times like these that we are most vulnerable and sin comes a knocking. He will temp all in different areas, yet with the same objective, to get us to walk in unbelief and to fall in sin. It is what we fear the most that we will normally end up having to face. That is my familiarity, and I am not quoting scripture, that is just my opinion, which I have personally experienced.

When we are fearful what should we do? When fear comes upon us let us remember King Jehoshaphat’s example; he set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. He remembered the promises of God to our fathers and he brought to memory, through prayer, all of God’s great victories where He killed the enemy to save His people. We need to do the same with industriousness. We need to be vigilant when fear comes upon us, we must find grace through our resolve to walk in obedience. Our will must be His will. This thought is so overbearing but remember we need to only pursue His will for today. We need to chew only small chunks at a time; this is why we are instructed to walk one day at a time. It is an impossible task if we start worrying about next week and how we will overcome some upcoming event. Stop thinking like this and believe the Word of God and trust it. The Lord Jesus through Matthew teaches us; "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” May God have mercy and write this truth deep within our hearts. I believe the battle of faith is won or lost right here. O the cares of this life, why do we worry so? Forgive us father I pray!

As I tossed and turned last night with heaviness, whether in my dream or just through my thought patterns I cannot say, nevertheless I considered the brutal instruction God gave Israel in times past to destroy the enemy, leaving no one alive. When I considered this, on the surface it seems very harsh, young children being slaughter like animals, why? It then became clear, how can God allow that which is evil come against those He loves, that wouldn’t be love. Let me explain my findings; the enemy of God is Satan whose fruit is sin. So then to get God’s people to sin is the devils objective. God on the other hand sent His beloved Son to pay the price for sin. It was a onetime sacrifice. When we habitually sin in an area of our lives we walk in disobedience and unbelief is evident. So whatever causes us as God’s children to walk outside of Christ victory on the cross we must put off? “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.” If my eye does the work of the enemy why then should I keep it? It is better to tear it out; “it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.” Yes we have been sanctified by the blood of the Lord Jesus and we cannot earn our salvation that is a fact. However, Paul in the book of Romans poses these questions to us; “what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” By no means! “How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

We need to be diligent in carefulness, if you know sometime to be right and you do not do it, and then it is sin.

The reason God destroyed even the children when the Israelites overthrew their enemies was for this exact reason, SIN! If the children were allowed to live and through their lives influence God’s people and sin would eventually work its way into the camp. Remember that it was only Abraham’s descendants that had received the law. Before sin can take root it needs to be uprooted. That is why we are taught that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Ok you may say, but what about sin that has taken root in my life. The answer is not very pleasant but needful, “and if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.” I have heard but cannot verify its authenticity that some have literally applied this verse to their lives. That is very extreme I agree but what would be the better result, in hell with two eyes or in heaven with just one, you decide.

May the God of immeasurable mercies pour out His mercy on us His children so that we may find obedience to walk in our Saviour’s footsteps?

Signing off

Tyrone

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