The Storms Calmed and the Seas Hushed.

(Psalms 107:29) “He made the storm be calm, and the waves of the sea were hushed.”

The seas rage and the wind howls but a simple “be still” from the Lord and all is well.

How we need to be reminded of the power that our God brandishes in His hand. Our lives and especially my thoughts at times can power on at a hundred miles an hour. This morning is a day like that. It is the simplicity of God’s Word that must bring my thoughts into captivity and by His Word I need to re-establish godly reason to my understanding. It is the Lord Jesus I must find! What is it that one night’s sleep is sweet, while another is filled with anxiety? The war rages on; “for though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4)

I do not plan the outcome of my thought patterns, it’s not like I sit with a pen in hand and plot the views and the route they must take, as if I was planning my weekly diary. They just happen! Periodically they are filled with mischievousness and unfruitful thoughts run riot. But thankfully they often are filled with majestic almost uncontainable feelings of my great God; Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These times are sweet and filled with peace. However, how would we ever learn if we were always kept safe and never tested? I have seen parent chiefly with their first child how they protect their toddler, how they watch the kids every move, but before long the youngster is crawling and soon walking and has learnt to manoeuvre around obstacles because they soon learn that by bumping into them it is painful. It must be by the trial of our faith that His wisdom and knowledge is learnt. We need restless nights; we need tryouts that will test what we believe. Not that God needs to know what we will do, as He knows all things, but we need to be tested so that our own hearts may see who we are in Him. We love to claim triumph prior to the victory. We may and must believe God and all His promises, we must embrace our hope with both arms, but we must with soberness consider our walk before the Lord. “Not all who say Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father.” We must be sure we are walking in the spirit and seeking out God’s will for our lives. Examine yourselves daily! Forget yesterday, today I need to fall on my knees and seek strength and direction from my Saviour to walk worthily in His vigour.

The bible makes reference to fearing God and even at times uses the word secret, as if it wields magical powers. It is penned like this; “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.” King Solomon’s summation of life was this; (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”

So, with all these truths bombarding our minds it is easy to lose focus on that which is important. We will look to another great example that will teach us to put our trust in the Lord Jesus.

(Matthew 8:24-27) “And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"

To trust and obey must be our resolve for today, as we know what sort of man this was and still is; He is our Saviour, God who became a man, the One who died in our place, paying the penalty of our sin on a cruel Roman cross. He had the power to destroy all who had passed judgement on Him but instead chose to remember us, by dying for us, entitling all who have repented and believed on Him to the privilege we now share, as we cry “Abba Father.” The privilege of addressing the only true and awesome God as Father is quite phenomenal. When I look at the path of destruction the wake of my life has left in its shadow, I could easily be overshadowed by doubts and fears whereby I cry “save me Lord”. I must cry out “save me Lord” on a daily basis, yet with a slightly different pitch to my voice. My prayer now has a new throw to its tone as assurance in confidence in my Saviours ability rings true once again to my ears. I remember that He has the power to calm the storms; I remember that He was the one who cried, “It is finished” as He hung on the cross. I remember that I can in reverence call God my Father, all because of the great act of Calvary. My mind now begins to find tranquil peace as the Word of God in and through the power of God the Holy Spirit brings every deliberation back into perspective. Last night may have been restless, for whatever reason, another thought for another day, but now an hour and a half later sensible rational is the order of the day. Thank you Father in the mighty name of Jesus for the privilege that in and through the workings of God the Holy Spirit all you children can and will be conformed to a new way of thinking. Help all of us I pray to learn what it means to follow the Apostle Paul’s instruction; (Romans 12:1-2) “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

Give us understanding so that in understanding we will make wise decisions so that we will not err. If we see with the eyes of our understanding we will not fall into sin. Understanding then will keep us from sin.

Signing off

Tyrone

God's Wrath!

(Revelation 11:18) “The nations raged, but your wrath came,”

What a frightening thought for all who reject God and His eternal gift of Salvation in and through the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The nations may rage, they may continue as they always have, even just like in the days of Noah; “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

That day will come as assuredly as the sun rises at the crack of dawn, so will the coming of the wrath of God in judgement befall the earth and on all who rage against Him. You may say because the spiritual realm is higher than the natural dominion and we cannot physically see the goings on around and about us and opt not to believe in its existence, I can assure you that doesn’t mean it isn’t real, It is as real as the pain you feel when you pinch you skin. Time stands still for no man, it is impossible to cheat time and so it will be impossible to ignore life after death in the spiritual sphere. God is a spirit and He is eternal, He has no beginning and neither an end yet He has created the spiritual empire and we all will somehow play a part in it. Some to life everlasting with a glorified body that will be incorruptible and it will be made up of the same substance that the Lord Jesus’ resurrected body consists of. Yet others, those you rage against God, all the “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things (practice) will not inherit the kingdom of God.” They will face God’s wrath, they will wish for death rather than His fury. There will be those who call for rocks to kill them rather than having to face an angry God.

(Revelation 6:16) “Calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” To them they will receive a judgement that I can barely even bring myself to pen, it will be so horrendous; they will be judged and cast into the “lake of fire” (hell) forever and ever. That means there will be no end to that pain, it will be a continuous gnashing and wailing of teeth. We all have experience pain in one form or another but the pain is soon forgotten when it subsides. However when it is active it is a terrible encounter, but imagine the familiarity never ending! Why, Why and Why will you not repent? Do you not believe this will happen, do you think God will be mocked? Or do you think this is all some fairy tale? I can guarantee you that all that the bible predicts will come to pass. Yes, one third of the earth will be destroyed by fire! (Revelation 8:7) “...And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.” Yes, there will be such tribulation on the earth that since its survival it will be the worst time it has ever had to envisage. It will be so treacherous that if God even in His rage did not have mercy and stop His judgement all would die. He wields the power of life and death in His hand and the sooner you learn to yield to Him the better off you will be. Resist Him and you will uncover the brunt of His wrath! (Matthew 24:21-22) “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”

Even with all these warnings, “the nations raged” and “your wrath came.” So the facts remain the same. Yet in all this upcoming gloom and doom it has been written, (John 3:16) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” There it is for the world across every nation tribe and tongue to embrace and lay hold of eternal life. (Acts 3:19) ”Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.” Today you have the chance to do exactly that, repent and turn your eyes upon Jesus and look full into His wonderful face. He alone can save you from the wrath which will come both in this life and the verve that is still coming. The saying that is flippantly bandied about “you only die once” is a lie from the very pit of hell. For most there will be a second death and that will mean hell forever and ever. (Revelation 2:11) “He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” (Revelation 21:8) “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

To you my friends that have had some influence in my life that is why I can call you my friends, I appeal to you, Bandit, Richard, Warren and Trevor take heed to the warnings I as a friend share with you, my prayer is that you will find repentance and escape God’s judgement. I leave you with this... “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Fall to your knees and cry out to the only One who is able to save, cry out to Jesus and your sins will be forgiven you. There is no other way whereby a man may find forgiveness and be saved. I prayer Father that you would have mercy on these men; you alone can open their eyes to see. I pray that you mercy may reach them and faith through grace would find them. I pray to you my heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ your Son and my Saviour as you alone wield the power to grant the request of my prayer.

Signing off

Tyrone

Loyalty

(Lamentations 3:58) “0 Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul.”

How sweet it is when our comfort is sure. When we can declare with the prophets of old; “0 Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul.” But when we waiver in our comfort and say, I think, I hope, I trust, that God has pleaded the causes of my soul; when we speak in doubt we reveal fear with our own words, we are in doubt! However the prophets of old never spoke like that they spoke with melodious voice of full assurance, there was never a hint of suspicion in their voices. They would carry a banner that read “Full Assurance” and everyone that crossed their paths would have no doubt in which God they served, they would have known that their God was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Do we carry the same testimony? Do family, friends and work colleges know that we serve the same God the prophets served, do they know that we are separate from any other religion and that we have pledged our allegiance to the King of King and no other! Do they? They should you know! God is a jealous God and He will not share his glory with another. We must make it clear like our brothers have in times past. We must never accommodate any other religion who excludes the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary. I say never! We must love those who have been blinded by lies but must make it very clear that there is only one Saviour that has the power to reconcile man to God, and that is God’s Son, even Jesus Christ the Lord. The war now rages on and the weapon Satan now wields with vigour is getting people to realise that God is real because he (Satan) is real, yet he is all about lies as he has been from the beginning. The lie he now skilfully uses is the reconciliation of all people tribes and tongues across the globe as world religion enters the realm of tolerance. We must accommodate other people religious views for the sake of peace. But I tell you if we lodge such a mindset we are in danger of God’s wrath. Be warned, we war not in the flesh; “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.” You have been called by an almighty God for this very purpose, you where not born in the dark ages but you now live in the 21^st Century, this is the war we will now need to combat and we no longer like our brothers of old fight with swords and spears. The Lord Jesus will return to fetch His bride and usher them into the marriage feast. I however believe before that event actually takes place a sifting must take place as God is merciful in long suffering and will fairly make provision for true Christians to make their stand against the enemy, even if it costs them there life, or at the very least a charge of “hate speech”, leaving them guilty of the charge.

Typology (the study or systematic classification of types); Let us look at previous examples on How God acted prior to Him passing His judgement. The flood is a good case in point as we see those whom God destroyed and those whom God chose to save. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, I am not about to discuss why He found grace (favour), nevertheless we are told in the text, (Genesis 6:8) “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” So God instructs Noah to make an ark, which Noah builds to specification. Noah then gathers into his ark all living animals in pairs. God then destroys the earth and all living that was not in the ark with His flood. A terrible judgement but a judgement from God, an unstoppable act as God had purposed it and so it happened. What I find interesting is the time and the businesslike manner all must have witness in the preparation this man Noah was involved with. He was purposeful in his deliberation to accomplish God’s request, He believed God and therefore acted on His command. In like manner if we believe in the act of Calvary for our lives we must with deliberation make it clear to all we come into contact with, that there is only one Saviour and that it is only in Him that we will find the way, understand the truth and through Him find life. The clock is ticking and it is God who has commanded it to tick; it cannot and will not be stopped. When Noah closed that door it was God who opened the heavens and the rains fell, and there was no escape, not the highest mountain could save them, not the most appealing religion or any accommodating temperament will be able to save mankind from the upcoming Judgement that God will pour out on mankind. So be bold and find grace in love and with a gentle spirit declare the truth of the gospel to all and sundry. What they do with the message is not our concern in that sense, but we must make it very clear without any loop holes the Jesus Christ alone has died for the sins of mankind and if we do not repent from false religion and believe in His finished work we will be subject to God’s judgement just like they were in the days of Noah. Can we see from Noah’s paradigm that he echoed the words of our scripture reference; “0 Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul.” He found favour in God’s eyes, just maybe because He too believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob long before they were born.

There is a reason I stress the point of Christ and Him crucified as our war-cry. Apart from all the obvious reasons, in Christ alone, by faith alone and through grace alone I see another wicked enemy raising its head as it will frighten with unforgiving vengeance and will test the sheep and this test will separate them from the goats. It will shake the foundations of many, but those who stand upon the rock, even our Lord and Saviour, will be made to stand as He has overcome. Trust Him and it will go well with your souls. It will eventually get so out of hand that the world itself will call an alliance to destroy the enemy, God’s chosen. Now whether we as Christians will still be on the earth when this happens is debateable, some believe in the pre-tribulation, some in mid-tribulation and others in post-tribulation rapture. Nevertheless whenever the Lord shall return we must all agree that opposition will come as that day approaches? Laws even in our country have already been passed against what is called “hate-speech”, in other words if I make a statement from the bible and tell someone that; (John 14:6) “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I am guilty of hate speech and I do not respect other people religious rights and therefore can be brought up on that charge. What will we do? Should we fear man or God? The answer is obvious! (Matthew 10:28) “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Don’t you just love the word of God, I do! Our Father always gives us the answers we need in and through the bible. So this weapon will begin to fatten as the devil and his forces begin to manipulate with it as his time approaches, he will demand it from God and God will give it to him and it will eventually end up here; (Revelation 11:10) “and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.” The world will sent presents to one another when they are killed. Read chapter 11 of Revelation to see the context of my point, time no longer permits me to elaborate. So let us keep in mind the importance of declaring clearly and with accuracy that it is only in and through the finished work of Cavalry whereby a person can find salvation and by no other means will a person enter into heaven but rather face an eternity in hell, if they neglected so great a salvation. May we find grace to be bold with this endeavour to witness our loyalty to our God and Saviour.

Signing off

Tyrone

Judge Not!

(Matthew 7:1) "Judge not, that you be not judged.

How often have I without any actual deliberate intension caught myself judging others? I must confess my mind likes to justify itself in excusing myself while accusing others, my thoughts must not hold to this pattern, and they must be stopped in their embryo. Why? Well because the word of God instructs me in caution; “for with the judgement we pronounce we will be judged, and with the measure we use it will be measured to us.” It is good to be reminded with scripture, with strong words like these, it keeps us remembering the cross and Christ’s finished work on it. It is for our benefits and will keep us humble, recollecting that “God resists the proud but give grace to the humble.”

“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” No matter how I look to translate this text of scripture, when I look in the mirror I will always find room for improvement. We all will! Consider that it is in faith alone, through grace alone and not of works lest anyone should boast that has opened our eyes to see God’s plan for mankind. It is a work of God and it is His mercy that entitles us to call him Abba Father. So when we see a brother stumble we must restore such a one in love and gentleness lest we find ourselves justified in our own eyes setting ourselves up for a hard fall. Remembering always from where we have been saved. So when dealing with an issue amongst brothers in Christ we must always esteem him higher than ourselves, this is the lesson I believe the Lord wants us to grasp. (Romans 2:1) “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.”However we must not be trapped by the wiles of the devil to think that we must never judge anything. We must! What then am I permitted to judge? When I judge I must always have this mindset; “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (1Peter 1:17) And if you call on him as a Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” (1Corinthians 2:15) “The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.” In other words have your eyes peeled to spot error, opposition to God’s Word.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?”

We must look out for the wolves who dress like sheep and come to destroy the young. We must be resilient like David was when the lion and the bear came amongst the flock to kill we must lay down our lives for one another, even if it means rejection from our own. But we must expose these wolves with certainty in gentleness and in Godly fear least we become puffed up in our own imaginations. How will we recognise them? “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

We must embrace this perfect and good gift that God has given us, salvation with the hope of eternal life. We must make it our own at all costs, we must run this race with vigour and determination, we must repent and put of sin when needed, we must rejoice always and again the Lord said “rejoice!” We must lock hands in Christ and be willing to die for one another as there is an enemy that goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Let us take a few on the chin for the sake of our brothers, so long as it keeps them looking to our wonderful Saviour and He is exalted. Remember His example, and how immaculate it was!

Let us remember then not to judge as one who is better than another, for what have we received that we can claim for ourselves? Is it not God who equips us with the armour of God, we must uses it but we never can claim it as our own in that sense, we must however make it our own but we must always bear in mind that it is God who supply’s all our needs. I will leave you with one of my own quotes that I wrote in the front of my bible some years back; “Remain humble, stay low and deep in His Word.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Understanding Prayer

(Matthew 7:11) “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

How often I have heard believes pray, why is this happening? Or please make this horrible situation go away. When we become desperate in our prayer we are often in danger of losing sight on God’s will and our wants take priority. We lose perspective, but before we can pray with the right motivation we need to understand how we should pray. Our foundation to prayer must spring from our new life in the spirit. We once were dead in our trespass and sin but now have been quicken and made alive in and through the finished work of Calvary. The Lord Jesus is our example; to find an answer in a maths equation an example is normally used by the teacher to educate a scholar on how to find the result. When the student understands the theory they can then apply the formula to the problem and will end up with the correct answer. The theory is however imperative and must be understood plainly. So let us consider the basic fundamentals of this "high call" for all of us who believe and have received the spirit of adoption whereby we are able to cry “Abba Father”. To all who have understood that the price of sin has be bought with the blood of the Lord Jesus and that everyone who rejects His sacrifice will in due course face judgement and end up in the Lake of Fire (hell) for every and every. I appeal to all of us who love to fall on our knees and pray to God our Father; how He loves to hear the prayers of the saints, in fact their prayers all being stored in heaven to be used upon the golden altar in heaven. They are deeply treasured. (Revelation 8:3-4) “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.” God is happy when the saints make supplication unto Him, it honours Him as God and do we not love to exalt our God, I do! When we get to heaven and the angel offers up the prayers of the saints on the golden altar you may even hear your voice echo to the glory of God. What an overwhelming thought!

We fall into a dangerous trap when we begin to misuse this privilege that God has afforded us. I think the apostle James gives us the best teaching on the misuse of prayer and explains to us why we find life frustrating at times. He tells us that we often pray and expect an answer to prayer but we never receive our request. I have often heard people explain it away like this, “in God’s time”, but if our prayer is outside the will of God, it will never be answered to our liking, how could it ever be? The Deceiver may have permission to lure us by the deceitfulness of sin and we may even think our prayers have been approved by God, when in fact they could never have been as they are outside of His word and His will. Yet when we receive this type of grant and we benefit from it at the expense of others, our consciences tell us that something is ajar. Foundationally we must start right to end precise. Let’s look at how James puts it; (James 4:2-5)... you covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"?

We must understand and grasp that our existence now as believers is to find God’s will for our lives. So when we look at the Lord Jesus’ exemplar we see the attitude “of not my will but thine be done”. We will always be tempted to pray and ask for the wrong things until we understand the importance of God’s will. Why must it be this way? God is sovereign and therefore is in control of all things in existence, yes choice is afforded us as we can align ourselves with His will or we can run to sin. However it is only that which He has willed and purposed that will carry His blessing with honour.

Let’s look at another example; the destruction of all living through the flood some four thousand years ago. (Gen 6:7) “So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them." We see that God had determined that He would judge the earth and destroy it by water through a flood. What if Noah pleaded with God to change His mind and he prayed day in and day out that God would repent. It would have fallen on deaf ears as it would be a prayer outside the will of God. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and He followed God’s instruction and built an ark. His prayers must have revolved around How to build the boat, how to gather the animals, and what provisions to take along. All these prayers hinged around the outworking of God’s resolve. How would God then not answer his prayers, how then would God not answer your prayers when we pray in accordance with His will? But how can this Almighty God Jehovah give you the desires of your heart when they are contrary to His Character and His will, you answer that! Therefore we must put others before ourselves and pray with earnestness to find grace in time of need to apply ourselves to His will in our lives and if that is our testimony, how then will we not find grace to walk in the spirit in accordance to His will. God is for us and will never be against His children, but we must learn to find His will in our lives. “How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” May His will through His blessings be our portion for today.

Signing off

Tyrone

Trust and Obey

(Psalms 5:1) “Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning.”

My Great God unto you alone will I pray! As my voice harkens unto you I know that you will hear my cry, in the morning my voice will weep with anticipation as you ears are open to my voice. You pay attention to my supplication, thank you Lord Jesus without your obedience my words would fall on deaf ears. My sin would have seen to that. However I am now covered by your righteousness and on your merit I can cry out to Jehovah God and He now listen to me, thank you my Saviour. “What it meant for you the Holy One to take away my sin.” I call out and the only true God, the Divinity of the heavens and the Earth, the great I AM, the One who has no beginning nor end, The Almighty who can never be corrected as He is Perfect, The One who has shut the seas with doors that cannot be seen as He has commanded them so far and no further, when at times we hear his complaints as the thunders below and lightings flash through the sky declaring His awesome power and much more could be said, in fact so much more that all the books in the world would not be able to contain His vividness. Because of your sacrifice Lord Jesus when I lift my voice to the heavens I am heard. Tell me then, who else is as privileged as those who have the spirit of God? David understood this well and in like fashion the beauty of this truth is becoming more and more of a reality to me. I am in this army and in this militia I have a part to play. I must always remember my dependence on my Captain and King, it is when I think I have understood and got the drill together that I then stumble. “God resists the proud but will give grace to the humble.”Then said Jesus unto his disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Yet I am also told that; “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” How do we now marry those apparent opposites? Firstly they are not opposite but rather complement one another when applied with understanding. Let me explain, we must deny ourselves and find God’s will for our lives, the Lord Himself learnt to obey through suffering; he learnt to obey God’s will over sins rule; (1Peter 4:1-2) “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” That is the mindset we must except and follow. When we support this truth in our lives we then realise that although yoked it is the Lord who carries us. Think of it like this, an ox is burdened with a yoke when he tills a field before the farmer plants; we are also trouble with a yoke that is unfamiliar to us as we have a will that opposes God as it is fallen and all because of sin. But when we begin to understand that it is the Lord Jesus that uses the strength of His own arms to lift and drive us who are yoked to Him through the trails of this life. When this dawns on me and I relax in my yoke I realise that my feet do not even touch the ground and therefore I can honestly say my yoke is easy and my burden is light. It is when I wiggle and squirm to be free of this yoke that life is hard. The lesson for us all is to learn to trust and obey. I will leave us with this thought, “obedience is better than sacrifice.”

May mercy and grace work together just for today so that we may learn to trust and obey.

Signing off

Tyrone

Finger of God

(Exodus 8:19) "This is the finger of God."

Do we actually realise the power our great God and Father wields in his finger. How much influence He has on all that happens around us, in our lives and for our benefit. It is always working for our advantage and nothing happens that will ultimately lead to regret. Do we truly believe this? Well if we examine the context of the account in Exodus we can clearly see that God always exalts His name above all. He always purposes His will before the will of others. The reason for this is He is God and there is no other true God beside Him and so He must exalt His strength an authority displaying His rule and dominion over all. He can never allow Himself to be lorded over as this would make him an idolater. He will and must always keep the reigns of life’s existence firmly in his grasp. There is so much chaos, life is so full of sin and if eternity was captured by sin, then all of life and its purpose would end up in pandemonium and not peace and serenity. There is a day coming when the lion will lay down with the lamb, there will be rest for the righteous but there will also be death and a wailing and gnashing of teeth for all the ungodly that rejects Christ sacrifice on Calvary. For all those who fail to acknowledge God as the great I AM and to those who will not fall on their faces and repent for their sin, will end up in Hell. Sin has blinded them from the truth as it once blinded me, has mercy Father and open the eyes of those who your children have on their hearts to reach with truth. Imagine if for one second God left the “Tree of Life” unguarded in the Garden of Eden after Adam had fallen in sin. What a disaster that would of resulted in! Sin would have captured the right to eternal existence in life and not death. Sin and all its captives will be around forever and ever not alive and living but contained by God in the Lake of Fire for eternity and constantly dying. Christ's accomplishment, a remarkable feat on a cruel Roman cross where he died and paid the price for sin so that sinner could go free. Yet not all sinners will go free but only those who repent and believe on the finished work of the cross. Those who in their own imaginations know better and they, like Frank Sinatra “do it my way” will reap God’s wrath. What a terrifying thought! God holds life in the one hand and death in the other, having the power and dominion over both. It has always been like that and will always be that way. Yet as God is righteous He must act within His character and will always be just, He is who He is and has neither beginning nor end, He is perfect in righteousness and therefore requires judgement for sin. He will and must always destroy anything that opposes life and light, sin being the greatest of enemies and it needed to be destroyed. “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” It is the brilliance of how God has chosen to attack and destroy sin that delights my soul. He could easily have decided to doom mankind after Adams sin and cast the lot of us into hell. Yet when we examine His plan as God the Holy Spirit mercifully opens our eyes to its truth I am captivated by brilliance. (Romans 8:3) “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” How great, brilliant, majestic, wise, all knowing and never caught off guard is this God who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who goes by the name Jehovah. Many will be ushered into heaven because of this brilliant plan when it appeared that all was lost and some of the angels in heaven began to exalt Satan, how our Saviour, the unselfish One silenced all the critics, praise His holy name.

(Revelation 7:9) “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”

Now that we have the right to be called the children of God let us remember to trust Him and believe in His mastery. He is ever knowing and forever wise, stop trying to make a plan, enough already, trust and obey and it will go well with you.

Both blessing and curses glorify God’s authority; He will bless his children and will even use the enemy to show the world His greatness; look at our text and how He hardened Pharaohs heart so that His people could see that their God was ever powerful and in total control. His name will forever outshine every other name and how that delights my soul. Your children are forever grateful for the power you finger wields and how you have chosen to love us by sending you Son to die in our place that we might go free. Words eludes me to express my gratitude, such a perfect act of your love demands my soul, my love and my all. Help me and all who confess your name before men to find grace so that we may lay down our lives exalting your name as it is lifted higher than any other.

Signing off

Tyrone

Pray Without Ceasing!

(Ephesians 6:18) “Praying at all times in the Spirit.”

Now that we are fully dressed and really for battle, considering that this is not a normal battle, but a spiritual one, we as soldiers do not have to run aggressively like hero’s into the frontlines wanting to take off the enemies head. His head has already been removed; the Lord Jesus our King has already defeated the enemy on Calvary’s cross. Whilst on the cross He cried out, “it is finished.” That is why we are not called to find justification in our own fighting abilities, we are clearly told to stand; “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” We must get to our feet on the back of Christ’s victory and by faith believe in His finished work. Come what may, faith will keep us on our feet, so that we may stand to His glory and may our God receive all the glory when we are made to stand. Yet while we stand our minds and our lips must contentedly be in prayer, which will help us stand. “Praying at all times in the Spirit.” Remembering the last item of armour we now wield in our hand, the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. Scriptures argument are the most powerful of weapons when repelling temptation, remember it was the word that Satan used to try and lure Jesus into sin but it was the word that Jesus used to repel sin and temptation. I will remind us to always view scripture in context, when we do not look to its context we can easily get mislead and believe it to mean something when in actual fact it has nothing to do with what we want it to say. This is one of the devils master weapons. How can I make such a bold statement? Remember in the Garden of Eden he twisted God’s words to get Eve to fall in sin. He tried the same tactic some four thousand years later with the Lord Jesus; you can read the account in Matthew chapter 4. Today I believe he uses this weapon at will and lures many into his trap of deceit. Let me use an example to illustrate this point, Matthew 6:33 is often quote like this; But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. In other words when we want goodies for ourselves, wealth and blessings can be ours because all these things are available to us, all we need to do is just believe. All that now does for our flesh is get us to believe a lie and we force blessing into our lives, I will even goes as far to say that we may even be blessed but from which source have we been blessed? Is it from God or has the devil lured us to mislead us into his trap of deception, it is often the latter. Let have a look at it in context; “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Do you see the difference? We must first seek God and His righteousness, in other words our lives must revolve around His righteousness and when that happens we can now believe his promise because we have contextually applied this verse to our lives. We have aligned our wills with His. It is no longer about what we want but about what He requires from us and that is to pursue His righteousness and when obedience is tried and proved we will reap the reward of his promise, and in this portion of scripture the reward is food and clothing. Therefore we must be “right” in understanding before we will be “right” in application. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” In other words if we want faith to rule our live we must pay careful attention to the word of God. We must learn to be skilled with this sword we now brandish in our hand. Now with that understood we can buckle all the rest of our armour with prayer. “We must join prayer with all these graces, for our defence against these spiritual enemies, imploring help and assistance of God, as the case requires: and we must pray always.” Not as though we should to do nothing else but pray, for there are many other duties of Christianity and of our respective stations in the world that are to be done in their place and season; “but we should keep up constant times of prayer, and be constant to them. We must pray upon all occasions, and as often as our own and others' necessities call us to it.” However even when we are busy with other Christian activities and even our secular lives, work and all its chores must still always be done with prayer as their driver. I believe there is a time and a season for all things, but prayer is not seasonal and must be a constant appendage to our daily lives regardless of the season. (1Thessolonians 5:17) “Pray without ceasing.”

How I love the brilliance of God’s wisdom in and through his Word, our instructional manual for life, if only we would lean to use it as if our life on a daily basis depended upon it, which it does, how skilled we would be in declaring His righteousness to the world. How we would free our kin in Christ who have been mislead by the wiles of the wicked one, even the devil as they chase goodies that moth and rust will destroy, instead of His righteousness which will leave us with gold, silver and precious stones for all eternity where moth and rust cannot destroy.

Be merciful to us our great God the Holy Spirit admonish God’s children I pray, begin with me, may our great God and Father and His great Son our glorious Saviour be exalted on earth as it is in heaven and even beyond our wildest imaginations.

May we stand dressed smartly in our armour which God has equipped us with having it buckled with prayer throughout today remembering that we need only find grace for today and we are not called to worry about tomorrow as tomorrow will take care of itself. Remember you brothers in Christ today and prayer for someone you have never prayed for before, it is good to sometimes take our eyes of ourselves and be thoughtful of others, and there is always someone in greater need and under superior trial. May we find grace to love our brethren as we lay down our lives one for another.

Signing off

Tyrone

“The sword is the word of God”

“The sword is the word of God”

I am back in the suburbs of Randburg and it was good to get a night’s sleep in a familiar bed. It is at times like these that I just want to find a rock in some distant land and be like John alone and away from the world. But this is clearly not God’s intention for many of our lives, we must face our trial and the trial of our faith will in its season bring forth fruit. It is in periods like these when decisions need to be made that we must always turn to our Saviour and remember the battle and our armour. We must attend to its detail and dress consciously always reminding ourselves that the battle is the Lord’s and all we need do is stand. But on what must we stand? Well obviously we should understand by default that at salvation we had been given the gift of God’s spirit, who now lives within us and that we stand on our foundation, which is Jesus Christ. We must have a basic foundational understanding of repentance from dead works and faith toward God. Which simply means; we can do nothing to earn our salvation and we will trust our God no matter what may come. We must embrace those two introductory truths and make them our own. (Hebrews 6:1) “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.”

However when we consider the “Armour of God” we see that our sword in times of battle must be wielded. We must find direction from the Word of God. Council must be based on God’s Word. We must not look outside of God’s word for direction, absolutely out of the question if we are to stand against the wiles of the devil. Whatever it is we need to face and address it must be done with the bible open and all concerned gleaning from its instruction. I say this when believers need to address an issue amongst each other. When unbelievers are involved reference can and possibly should be made to the word, but with caution, and this is why I make this statement; (Proverbs 9:7) “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.”

The sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, has power. “The word of God is very necessary, and of great use to the Christian, in order to his maintaining the spiritual warfare and succeeding in it. It is called the sword of the Spirit, because it is of the Spirit's influence that He renders it efficacious and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword.” In fact it is so powerful that the writer of Hebrews has this to say, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” How comforting is that? All we as believers now need to do is take the word of God seriously and to start living by it and if that is already your testimony then we need dive deeper into its depths for great treasures have been stored there. Even when my thoughts and intents carry the wrong motivation, I am persuaded that by looking to God’s word with an earnest expectation I know that God will reveal the error of my way if need be and He will also vindicate when that is required. My eyes are upon you my great God, the only true God of the heavens and the earth. There is victory for me in the blood of Christ my Saviour, o yes there is victory for me! The world and our enemies may conjure great plans to destroy they may even call on Goliath’s sword with great swelling words. Intimidating to the natural eye, but when we look at it with spiritual understanding then we like David can say; “and David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you!" What I now find very interesting is how the world will try and get us to respond. Their advice is to fight fire with fire, but we are to fight fire with the word of God, which is the sword of the spirit. Watch how Saul displays his mindset; “Then Saul clothed David with his armour. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.” I love David’s response to all the manmade intuition; “and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field." Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” I love the reasoning David gives Goliath before he kills him; “and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand." David then takes the sword of his enemy and cut his enemies head off with his own sword. How great is our God, trust and abide only in His council as we know that He is righteous and will act in righteousness, all we need to do in trust and abide in Him.

May God the Holy Spirit mercifully reveal Christ in all His glory to us in and through this precious Word, the bible! May He continue to correct, admonish and teach us all thing pertaining to godliness.

Signing off

Tyrone

(Ephesians 6:17) “And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”

How I have grown to love the word of God, in fact I m so taken by it that I can honestly saythat my role in the universal body is to point people to this God saturated all inspiring beautiful life giving Word, which is Jesus Christ. Paul teaches us that there are many different local bodies (churches) and that each church is made up of many members, we need every part of our bodies even if some think they do not belong. “For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office:” So our finger are attached to our hands which are connected to our wrists and so on. Without our arms we would be without fingers. Without our legs we would have no feet. Without our hearts pumping blood to all our vital organs and limbs we would die. Kidneys are vital organs; they filter all impurities and keep out the garbage. They are needed even if we cannot visibly see them. Think of how much attention woman give to those parts of the body that are visible. Most women give their faces lots of consideration, unless of course it is veiled. How many women have you ever personally seen that does not put on make-up before she goes to work? Attention and care is given to their faces. Most of us liked to be groomed and therefore we all in one form or another pay attention and even spend money on what we think will help. I have a friend that spent a fortune on trying to stop his hair from falling out. It was important to him and so he was willing to pay money for a treatment that would keep his hair. Women pay a fortune on cosmetics hoping that they will age better when using them. However not many will spend the same amount of time and effort on the kidneys, yet without them we would die. They are needed and they will do what God designed them to do whether we like it or not. They do not need permission from our brains telling them to operate; they just function as God intended them to task. The body of Christ must and will eventually learn this lesson if we are to give God full glory and honour remembering that our Saviour the Lord Jesus is the head. “So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally member’s one of another.” WE NEED EACH OTHER, that is God’s design and the sooner we learn this the more fruitful we will be as Christians. Even those individuals that you always try and avoid, they are needful, in fact they are probably more needed than you could ever imagine. “And those parts of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness;” This is exactly what Paul teaches us in Corinthians. Is that not true of the kidneys; I think we would all agree. We at time want to treat the Word with the same hostility; if it does not coincide with our lifestyles then we think we are better off without it. Another lie and remember we lose when we do not heed the voice of our God.

Our sword will be of no use in battle if it remains in its sheath. We must draw it and learn to skillfully wield it. It has power that is even able to bring down strongholds of the mind. How great is our God, how I am learning to love His wisdom. I am so thankful that I am in His army. So remember we are our brothers keepers we need one another and there will be some among you that God has place as “kidneys” and their function should be to always point you to sound doctrine, the word of God. You need them even if at time you do not like what they have to say. As long as what they say is word based and not simply an opinionated opinion, then we must all be willing to receive them and more so what they bring to the body of Christ.

Tomorrow Lord willing we will look into this subject a little deeper.

Signing off from Hennops River in Pelindaba

Tyrone

Faith Tested

(1 Peter 1:7) “The trial of your faith.”

Let’s compare life to a race, a Grand Prix. There are rules all the competitors must adhere to in order to stay in the race, However if these criteria are not met then penalties or disqualification are eminent. They can tweak their engine and even shave our tyres for better grip, as longer as we stay within the confines of the race regulations. Motorized skill is required in setting up the vehicle so that the driver may have the best possibility of winning the race. The driver himself must feel comfortable with the cars race setup. Week end and week out this is the team’s objective. The courses change every fortnight and therefore the setup must change; the driver normally drive one of two machines but depending on the weather and the tracks shape and surface the mechanics and technicians will endeavour to give their driver the best possible chance of winning. Not everyone wins but everyone wants to at least finish the race. What is worse is if a driver leads the race and then just prior to the finish has engine failure and cannot finish. It leaves him and the entire team bitterly disappointed.

So what is my point you may ask? Life is challenging with dissimilar conditions on diverse days yet the rules remain the same, we cannot bend them when we think no-one is watching. There is no place we can hide. Our great God and Father sees all, there is no whole black enough to hide from Him. We cannot and should never want to hide from view, if and when we do it can only mean we are not open faced before Him and therefore have entered into sin in one form or another. We try and bend the rules to make it easier for ourselves yet we are in danger of disqualification if we do not heed our set of laws. I agree our regulation is covered by an all encompassing word that covers every action, Grace. We are not limited in our freedom to walk and serve our Saviour, we can do nothing to earn our salvation, and we are not saved by works. If we started claiming salvation by our own works then we would undermine the amazing work of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ and his victory on Calvary’s hill, called Golgotha. Yet we are instructed and called to walk worthily of our title, “sons of God” or “saints”. We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice which is expected of us. Our minds must be transformed by the renewing of the word on a daily basis. It is the trail of our faith that helps us understand what will please our God. There is no other method whereby we may be tried and honed into Christ’s image outside of our faith being tested by trail. Yes I always look to fight this in myself as do others, but that will never change the truth. I need to learn as we all do that in testing we are strengthened in character to lay down our lives so that our salt would not lose its flavour. For if salt is flavourless what use would it be in food, it would be rendered inadequate and disposed of. Remember the armour of God and how that will keep us resolute to think in this manner.

Today is another testing day I see on the horizon, I often ask myself and the Lord is this necessary and I always get the same answer, yes! Why then do I always look for another way? It is the way our fallen flesh responds, it always looks for the easy way out, which by the way is a lie in itself. We think it will be easier to possibly ignore an issue by skirting around it, but all it does is compounds it. I meet today with oversight to discuss the direction of my ongoing split in my marriage. Divorce is prominent, yet how I go about the finalisation of that will determine a lot of different possible outcomes. I will ask you all to remember me in prayer on this particular challenge I now face. I pray that the Lord Jesus would be glorified even in such a tragic disaster. Divorce is something God is not pleased with although some provision has been made for it. The rule nevertheless is to remain together as long as you both shall live. This is no longer possible so I prayer that my testimony would shine and bring glory to my Saviour.

I leave with another C.H.Spurgeon quote that resonates even now in my thoughts; “if a thing is right, though you lose by it, it must be done.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Everlasting Arms

(Deuteronomy 33:27) “Underneath are the everlasting arms.”

I believe it is helpful at times to glean from others. It facilitates in a way that keeps us from self absorption and helps us remain humble. The easiest way to have an opinion is to be an armchair advisor. I saw it with my colleges yesterday; we discussed the Springboks and their game against Ireland. Many were quick to blame the coach, whether they were justified in their accusations is not my point. The point I wish to make is when we stand on the outside without any accountability it has no actual bearing on what we say or do as we are just bystanders with a judgment. It will not affect the selector’s choice for the game against Wales. So to be Christians with an outlook unless we are willing to get on the field with the players and get our hands dirty then our inspection carry no heaviness. When we take a step back and look down on our lives as we inspect them, we are often left wanting. It is at times like these that others must step in and minister to us. Or we could be so focused on a particular topic that we get blindsided by it. Let’s say we harboured a grudge against another, it shouldn’t be but in reality it happens and every time we begin to have fellowship around God’s word something triggers that grudge and off we go like a steam train bearing down a mountain slope without brakes. We find we cannot let it go, why? It does not help us or others. But in reality we will encounter days in our lives where sin is victorious in one form or another or when our hope does not shine as brightly as it should and we may grow weary. What are we to do?

“God-the eternal God-is himself our support at all times, and especially when we are sinking in deep trouble. There are seasons when the Christian sinks very low in humiliation. Under a deep sense of his great sinfulness, he is humbled before God till he scarcely knows how to pray, because he appears, in his own sight, so worthless. Well, child of God, remember that when thou art at thy worst and lowest, yet “underneath” thee “are everlasting arms.” Sin may drag thee ever so low, but Christ’s great atonement is still under all. You may have descended into the deeps, but you cannot have fallen so low as “the uttermost”; and to the uttermost he saves. Again, the Christian sometimes sinks very deeply in sore trial from without. Every earthly prop is cut away. What then? Still underneath him are “the everlasting arms.” He cannot fall so deep in distress and affliction but what the covenant grace of an ever-faithful God will still encircle him. The Christian may be sinking under trouble from within through fierce conflict, but even then he cannot be brought so low as to be beyond the reach of the “everlasting arms”-they are underneath him; and, while thus sustained, all Satan’s efforts to harm him avail nothing.

This assurance of support is a comfort to any weary but earnest worker in the service of God. It implies a promise of strength for each day, grace for each need, and power for each duty. And, further, when death comes, the promise shall still hold good. When we stand in the midst of Jordan, we shall be able to say with David, “I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” We shall descend into the grave, but we shall go no lower, for the eternal arms prevent our further fall. All through life, and at its close, we shall be upheld by the “everlasting arms”-arms that neither flag nor lose their strength, for “the everlasting God fainteth not, neither is weary.” C.H.Spurgeon

We must get our eyes off ourselves and onto others who have locked hands in the trenches in the depths of the battle zone. The skirmish rages on, but we must be reminded that we are not alone, there are also others with their eyes fixed on the Celestial City even if they are taken by the surrounding beauty at times. They will soon be reminded of the hope that is able to sustain and drive them onward like good soldiers. Remember to encourage one another, even the more as we see that day approaching.

May grace be our portion and may we love with a sincere heart and be taught to be genuine by the trails of our faith.

Signing off

Tyrone

The Helmet of Salvation

(Ephesians 6:17) “And take the helmet of salvation.”

So then faith is imperative for every believer as it helps to quench the fiery darts of temptation. Temptation will come as it must arrive for every believer. It endeavours to get us to sin and walk in unbelief or disobedience. With the shield of faith strapped to our arm in a ready position we need now to take our helmet, the helmet of salvation. The helmet that saves! The helmet secures the head and protects that which instructs the body to act, the mind. Think of it as a transistor full of probes sending electronic messages to the brain arming the body to act as a good soldier. Salvation must be the objective contemplation that infiltrates our minds. It is the “helmet of salvation.” This helmet will fill our minds with great considerations of hope and of our life to come in the New Jerusalem. It will be worth it all, whatever we must face, that is what our helmet will repeat over and over renewing our minds. Let us consider what it was that help the Lord endure the cross, are we not told? “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.” The joy of the nails been driven into His hands, O the pain He must of felt as he grasped for air as the only leverage he had was the nail through His feet which supported him to the tree and so he would of had to have pushed up on that supporting nail to get a lungful of air. Not once but over and over. I don’t see that as a joyful incident. Nevertheless we are told that He endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. So then joy is fuelled by the reality of the hope and the rewards promised by God. He must have seen the hope of His resurrected body, His right to be called a high priest, His name which has a higher honour attached to it than any other name and that His seat at the right hand of the Father awaited Him. I also believe with all my heart He saw the potential of a multitude of sons being ushered into heaven for His Father as He knew that He would as the last Adam become a live-giving spirit. He saw joy in the hope of what was to come so that his pain on the cross had little bearing on the overall outcome. How we need to be armed with the same mindset. This hope will purify our minds and keep our souls from being tarnished by Satan. We may even be tempted to despair but hope keeps us trusting in God and rejoicing in Him. We must also look to others that have been noticed and mentioned by God and draw strength from their example; “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-- of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised.” Think about all these great men and woman of God who by faith and with the helmet of salvation fixed resolutely to their craniums has yet not received that which was promised. They are in heaven but their bodies have not yet been clothed with incorruption, they wait for us and all those who by God’s grace will be escorted into His great Kingdom. “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” So if they wait patiently for us, surely we should run this race with joy for the hope that is set before us. Let us take our eye off all the distractions by fix our helmets strongly, bolt them in place if necessary, but at all costs may we look to the hope of our salvation and on a daily basis, never more than one day at a time. We will remain focused when we follow our instruction manual (the Bible) to the letter, so one day at a time no more no less.

Let me leave us with a though of what will be ours; (Rev 21:4-8) “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." and he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

“And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

When God purposes something it comes to pass, He cannot lie it is impossible for Him to lie. There is a day coming where there will be no more crying, no more pain, there will be new beginnings and don’t let me get started there as we will be here for a long time, but it will be magnificent and mind-blowing that I am sure of.

So let us remember to always position our helmets of salvation in such a way that they offer optimum protection to our understanding. They must always remind us of the good hope of salvation.

Be strong in the Lord’s victory, look to His example when drawing strength for today and do not concern yourself with tomorrow as tomorrow will take care of itself.

Signing off

Tyrone

Antonym

(Hebrews 3:19) "So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief."

Let us look at a few antonyms this morning; faith’s opposite is unbelief, obedience’s flip is disobedience, hot is dissimilar to cold and love is contrary to hate. If we were to put these on a graph they would be on opposite ends. However it is their root that concerns me. The root nourishes and supplies the body with supplements that a plant would need to survive. Faith’s root is full of nourishment and its root is good as it comes from God. Faith is a gift of the spirit and therefore is from God. In fact without it we cannot please God. Unbelief on the other hand is not from God but its root resonates with the enemy. Unbelief is a destroyer of faith and its fruit will cause a believer to walk in disobedience. Let us now look to scripture to prove that.

“So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” We are taught to look to the children of Israel in the wilderness as an example so that we can learn not to make the same mistakes. I know we often blunder, I know I do. But the point we must draw from there example is to learn not to slip-up. Or let me say to make less and less errors. We must walk in faith and not unbelief. As soon as we walk as they did we are in danger of not entering into the Promised Land. So let us look at what they did to keep them from God’s promise. (Hebrews 3:7-8) Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness.” We will be tested and this is only proved through familiarity, interestingly tested antonym is green. Green speaks of fruit that is not yet ripe. Green tells us that it is not suitable for consumption and is not yet ready for ones palate. I recall as a youngster eating a lot of green apricots from a tree in our back garden. They left me feeling terrible and sick with indigestion. We will and must be tested if we are to be of any benefit to others, testing will ripen our fruit so others may freely eat and be nurtured. However we must not always mutter against the trial. Their murmurings lead to unbelief and ultimately keep them out of the Promised Land.

(Hebrews 3:12) “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” You see it is evil unbelieving hearts that lead them to fall away from the living God. So what will help evade us from falling into the same trap? “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” We must resolve to encourage one another, pick up the phone and make the call, encourage someone even if you think they do not need it, we all need encouragement. Every day we must exhort one another that is our instruction. It will help us not to be hardened by sins deceitfulness. “And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?” So disobedience will keep us from entering His rest; this is an interesting point. The word rest implies a place of relaxation; I visualize myself on sofa with a book or sitting by a stream listening to nature echo songs of praise to an Almighty Creator. Whatever rest may mean to you it will be some form of respite. Let us call on our memories to highlight a point that I will now make. When we are walking in obedience and making melody in our hearts, I think it would be fair to say we are restful in our souls and others enjoy our company. Yet when we find that complaining is all we do, we are anxious and not restful and therefore we are disobedient and are tricked into believing lies which in turn cause unbelief and sin is then the fruit of our lives.

“So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” No matter what our trail may be we must look to our hope, we must look to the reward of the Lord Jesus and heaven. The children of Israel in the Wilderness got so lost in their journey that sin enters and unbelief robbed them of the hope that would be theirs. We must not be robbed by sin and unbelief we must look to our Saviour the author and finisher of our faith. He is coming again and He will come to reward all those who remain faithful unto the end. We will receive glorified bodies, and they will be like His resurrected glorified body. We will be called the son’s of God and God will be our God and Father. The enemy, the Devil will always try and get us to sin and at times will succeed, however we must not look to our failures, but rather to our hope and walk in faith which in turn will keep us from sin. This war will rage on from day today, but there is a day coming when we will enter into His rest. May our hope reverberate in our minds throughout today and well into tonight!

Signing off

Tyrone