Christmas?

(2Corinthians 6:17-18) “Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

Today is a day where I can honestly say, I did not want to deal with the subject of Christmas, it is a day that traditionally is a holy celebration acceptable amongst western civilization like no other day throughout the year. Today is a day that even devout Christians will not dare to ignore, but the question of is it right or wrong I was hoping to avoid, I feel I must confront! We have been so hood-winked by this celebration, that I believe we have displeased our heavenly Father with this celebration as we run with the heathen locking hands in merriment because we have been blinded by a lie and a tradition of men. We have run with unbelievers and therefore entered into idolatry. Lets us examine some of the facts and see if we have understood anything pertaining to this holiday festivity.

The bible teaches that all things are lawful but not all things are expedient, so because Christ has paid the price for sinners and broke the enslaving hold that the law had on us (believers) and we are now not under law but under grace. We must never believe that we will be justified by works, if we begin to reason like this then we undermine the work of the cross and our great Saviours sacrifice. (Romans 11:6) “But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.” And, (Galatians 5:4) “Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace.” So we must clearly understand that we can never be justified by works, however that does not mean we must ignore the issues of life, anything that counters the truth should be addressed. If we are not willing to stand up and be counted who will plead the Christians plight! I agree there are bigger issues to address but today is a day that Christians often err by running with the masses, nearly everyone celebrated Christmas and many, if not most, have no idea of this day’s origin.

"Where did Christmas originate? Was it from the Bible or paganism? What is the real origin of Santa Claus—mistletoe—Christmas trees—holly wreaths—and the custom of exchanging gifts? Many are concerned about putting “Christ back into Christmas.” Was He ever there?"

The Reindeer, holly wreaths, decorated trees, mistletoe, season’s greetings, seasonal music, and Santa Claus are all associated with this holiday. These all bring warm feelings to those who celebrate it.

"All of this is supposedly centered on the worship of Christ. Surely the Bible instructs us to do all this—right? The answers will shock you! They surprised me as I was brought up with this tradition in our family and in fact I love it as I was the beneficiary of gifts, why would we not want to celebrate a day like Christmas?" Everyone is made to feel wanted and special, but to what extent are we willing to go to fulfill our dreams. We include so many traditions on the back of the birth of Christ. We include a man in a red suit with reindeers bearing gifts, how ridiculous is this concept, and what does he have to do with the birth of Christ? God has declared that He will not share His glory with another and yet we feel that we know better than Him and force His hand as we except Santa Claus, what rubbish! Forgive us please Father, for we have sinned!

“The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, adds, “Christmas…was not observed in the first centuries of the Christian church, since the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth…a feast was established in memory of this event [Christ’s birth] in the 4th century. In the 5th century the Western church ordered the feast to be celebrated on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of the Saturnalia, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed.”

“(Matt. 15:9) Christ said, “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” Christmas is not a command of God—it is a tradition of men. “Christ continued, (Mark 7:9) “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.” Every year, throughout the world, on December 25th, hundreds of millions do just that!” I understand that Christ was addressing Jews with their traditions, but the principal remains the same. The western world has made Christmas a man centered tradition and therefore the principle of what Christ said in the books of Matthew and Mark is now applicable today with the Christmas celebration.

When we act like the world we do not depict the instruction that Paul asks us to illustrate with our lives, “Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing;” He is addressing believers, if we look to the context of this chapter we see reference is made to avoid unequal yoking and then the chapter concludes with “Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

So the question we must ask ourselves is do we touch any unclean thing when we celebrate Christmas with the world? You know how I feel about today, but that is my view what will yours be?

A lot more could be said proving that today is not God centered and that Christ was not born today and the proof is clear for all to see if you wish to make a study of it.

It cost the Lord His life to save us, all who believe on Him, please let us not water down that great sacrifice, may we remember His death today and how He saved us from ultimate destruction where we should have been condemned to the Lake of Fire with Satan and his angels. Forget the reindeers and the red suited man, Christ and Christ alone must only ever be exalted and praised.

Signing off

Tyrone

Never to Be Repeated.

(Romans 3:23) “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;”

This is important for all to understand! The reason we need a Saviour is because we have all sinned, everyone who has every inhaled the breathe of life needs to be saved as they have all sinned and thus fallen short of the glory of God.

Take our schooling growing up as children, we were sent to school so that education could prepare us for life. Math’s was taught and we leant to add so that we are able to handle money and at least do basis accounting. It is something we require for daily living, and so it is with all subjects, we need them to be able to function in this world of ours or at least that is the intention of education. However through life we are tested by exams and we either pass or fail and if we fall short and fail then we need to repeat the year or the subject until we pass. So until then we cannot go on to a higher education. In like manner we also fall short of the glory of God and cannot enter into a relationship with God because we have botched our chances and all because of sin. We have received our grade and are sinners but God is righteous, in other words there is no sin in Him and because of His righteousness He cannot have a relationship with sinners. Now if every man is a sinner what must man now do in order to break the barrier that keeps them from God? No matter how he may try to establish a correlation with his own righteousness he is unable to have a relationship with Jehovah God because he is a sinner. However, we are able to have a relationship with the devil who appears as an angel of light; we may even believe that we will be saved by what we do and when we pray, we are praying to God, when in fact the father of lies is our father and god. This is a little harsh you may say! But when we logically break it down it is easily understood. If I am by birth born into sin then I have access because of sin into relationships with like minded people. We are cut from the same cloth, Satan is the father of sin and he has been a sinner from the beginning, therefore I have direct access to him as he has immediate admittance to me and my life, and why? Because of sin! God cannot stand sin and He hates it, yes He hates sin! But because He is love, He alone has the power to resolve mans dilemma, it was up to Him whether or not He would forgive and bridge the gap between Himself and mankind, but for Him to accomplish this, sin needed to be dealt with, it needed to be removed. Firstly would God be prepared to do this and secondly would He do it? He was not only willing to do it but in fact proved His love by doing it!

How I love Jehovah God, the only true living God! As God He could have chosen so many different options, yet He chose to save mankind from this tragic quandary. He could have said “let them all burn in hell” and He would have in His character of righteousness been within His rights. But His ultimate choice would cost Him dearly, He would have to eradicate sin once and for all and the only way He could do that was by judging sin and removing sin from the equation, in other words sin had to be dealt with by firstly judging it because righteousness requires that sin be judged otherwise righteousness would no longer be righteousness but sin. But a sinner could not pay the price for sin, someone righteous was needed to be judged as a sinner yet He could never have sinned otherwise He would not qualify in God’s eyes. Look at it like this, take every sin ever committed form the start of mankind (Adam) to the finish whenever that may be and stack them in a heap and then let them be judged by a righteous God. There sentence from the smallest of sins to the biggest will all receive the same condemnation, separation from God for all eternity. In other words the sinners will never come into the presence of God as sin will still separate them from entering into His company “for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness?” When we shine light into darkness, what happens to the darkness? It dissipates and light takes its place! SIN HAS TO BE REMOVED BEFORE GOD CAN HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH MANKIND.

We all know the story, the sweet gracious story of how He sent His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus, eternal God, to become a man and live a righteous life on earth by never sinning and then being judged for sin. As He hung on that cruel Roman cross with nails supporting His fragile frame, it was there that sin was judged once and for all. Righteousness could have no part with the punishment of sin. Therefore when the Lord Jesus was judged for sin, He cried out; (Matthew 27:46) “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Here we have proof that God being righteous judged sin and in fact He turn his face from His very own Son, which in turn get the Lord Jesus to cry out as He is all alone and it is there that He defeats sin on the cross, praise His name!

Now the bundle of all sin we have spoken about was judged and if we as human beings are not covered by His blood then they will need to be judged by a righteous God for sin, but if they have His covering then they are no longer subject to that judgment as the price has already been paid. How then do I find the lord Jesus’ blood as a covering for my sin? It is extremely simple, I need to repent of my sin, acknowledge that I am a sinner and will and need to be judge for sin, but the good news is someone already has paid the price for my sin if I call on Him in repentance and believe this glorious gospel message and believe that He has risen from the dead, the bible teaches that I will be saved. Saved from what? From judgment!

What a great God I serve, I say exalt and praise His name all you people, He is full of mercies and His love endures forever, fall to your knees, repent call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved.

Signing off

Tyrone

The Silly Season.

(1Peter 4:4) “Wherein they think strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:”

It is the time known as the “time of celebration”, this period over the December holiday all over the world celebrates Christmas and New Year. It is the time to put on your party hat and let your hair down and so what if you overindulge slightly, ever one else will also be excusing that sort of behavior. It must not be this way for the Christian; we must stand and make our mark against such celebration. We must not be like we once were, we need to come out and be separate. In fact it would be a good thing if you find all the unsaved amongst family and friends speaking evil of you because you do not run riot with them in the same excess of riot. It is at times like these that we are able to by our example hopefully speak to the onlookers that we have found a better way and we have such a hope in Jesus Christ our Lord that although some may choose to belittle us by speaking evil of us, some may enquire after our hope and who knows God may even be merciful to some of them and open their eyes.

It is an important principle that Peter wants us to understand and expects us by default because we are born again and have God’s spirit living within us, that we must imply a control that separate us from the world. We are being watched by the world, so that when we err, onlookers excuse themselves for their own sin. If we flounder then those around find justification in their own debauchery, not that they will have an excuse on judgment day, but we will be responsible to some degree for our testimony that they used to justify their own behaviour. In periods passed I have failed miserably in this area, I shudder to think of how bad my pattern in times past has been. I have been foolish with my behavior and have often regretted the scars I have left in my wake. I have paid dearly for my foolishness and will suffer loss on judgment day, that I am convinced of, but forgetting those things behind, how will it help if I wallow in the failures of my life, all it will do is suppress my walk of faith and keep me from loving God as I am drown in self-pity. Worldly sorrow will bring forth death, but Godly sorrow with contentment will bring forth life, not to be repented of. We must be the light of this world, if we will be amongst family and friends that have seen us err habitually, it is now a perfect opportunity for us (God’s Children) to set the record straight.

We must heed the counsel of Peter and there must be a visible change for all to witness; the chapter must read something like this; “Wherein they think strange that ye run not with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:” It has to if we mean business with God. I am not laying down a law of what we should do or should not do, were we should go or where we shouldn’t. I will leave that to your own wise judgment, so be wise in the matter, but I will say this world is watching do not think otherwise. May we all find strength in Him our Saviour to be the light He intended us to be, if we have blundered in times past like I have, then we need to forget those things behind us and press on; (Philippians 3:13) “Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before.” I understand that the context Paul refers to with this statement is no to give up in doing good and not to use a check list finding justification by all the good he had done as a Christian. He was not about to say he had done enough and therefore he could go into retirement. However the principle remains the same for all if we have had a treacherous testimony then we can and must use this verse to press on and find motivation in the spirit to produce good works. If you find yourself ensnared in the web of sin, come out and be separate I say, there is no better time than the present to call upon the name of the Lord, so call I say and find life in Him, for Jesus Christ the Lord is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and He will open His arms to you and you will find repentance in Him if you truly repent.

May we use this opportune time, this festive season to come out and be separate and may we by our example cause sinners to repent and turn to us so that we may minister life to then in and through the act of Calvary and Christ and Him crucified. I am not aware of anybody who has not heard of the gospel, many may not have received an accurate gospel message that is another topic all in itself. Our example is of utmost importance, and like I said if we have failed in times past, because we still breathe, we still have an opportunity to be an example now, today is the day of salvation, may our example speak with volume and may it be heard for miles. May God help us find grace in time of need so that our lives may be a reflection of Him.

Signing off

Tyrone

The will!

(1Peter 4:2) “That ye no longer should live the rest of your time in flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”

We are faced with choices on a daily basis acting on many of them without much thought. We brush our teeth; we eat breakfast and we may even take a shower. All these acts are part of a daily routine which requires our minds to process information and then we act upon that information.

Peter reminds us that our minds will often get us to want to process information that will hanker after lustful thoughts that men feed. Greed, self indulgences and the like, these are all by-products of sin and the fall of man. But we have been clearly instructed not to live in that state. Why? It is rather obvious, whatever we feed we become. If we constantly indulge in the “lust of men” we will neglect the will of God, but if we consciously seek out the will of God, we will put to death the deeds of the flesh. We often over analyze this principle and start to look for life changing acknowledgements that will prove to ourselves and others that we mean business with God. However when we get it wrong all it is, is another effort to please man and not the will of God. All we need is to be conscious of the Lord Jesus and His example here on earth. He laid down His life so we could go free; in like manner we need to lay down our lives so that we can also be free.

What will make us free? Well we will be free when we are no longer a slave to sin; if I am still bound by some stronghold then I am not free but bound. The strength on the law is sin, so every time I am compelled through weakness to succumb to a particular sin then I am not free but a slave. This is not a difficult concept to understand, the problem we have, is we often excuse ourselves for the sin. When we live in this state all we do is prove that we are not free but a slave. This can be a very obvious reality for many Christians; Peter appeals to us (God’s Children) “that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” It is important for him to mention this point and to teach on it, so he does with boldness. But, will we pay attention to his urgency, if we do not then the fruit of our lives will be full of uncertainty and lots of groping in the dark. Maturity will be found when we apply Peter’s teaching to our lives, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith in this area. We must deliberately process what we are on about on a daily basis and examine it against scripture. If we can pray that God would expose the areas in our lives and be truthful with ourselves then we can resolve to find the will of God for our lives. In other words we must now live our lives to the revealed will of the Holy Spirit. I deliberately do not want to break this down in point form, but rather allow ourselves to be honest and examine our own hearts and then find grace to act on the areas that need work. If there are some dark deep secret sins that need addressing then we must attend to it, it cannot be ignored! It must not be no be allowed to flourish under the banner of sin, we must wrestle with it and find grace to deal with it. Do not categorize any lust to the will of man, no matter how small it would appear to be, as something we have permission to overlook, we do not! We must remember the suffering of our Saviour and understand that It was an attitude of “all from Him” so that we could go free, now we must at least start by looking into a mirror which will reflect our lives so that we can begin to find the will of God in the areas were we have neglected His will.

Look at an example of a man when men were being martyred for their faith, they were faced with certain death, what choices did he have? They could have denounced their faith but chose not to. “That he no longer should live - in the flesh - Governed by the base principle of giving up his faith to save his life; to the lusts of men - according to the will of his idolatrous persecutors; but to the will of God; which will of God is, that he should retain the truth, and live according to its dictates, though he should suffer for it.”

Our flesh is the persecutor and our will want us to hanker after the lusts of men, but it is a lie that enslaves us and binds us to the weakness of the flesh and sin. We need only find the will of God for our lives. When we seek out His will we will be freed in our consciences to serve Him without so many stumbling blocks keeping us away from the throne room of grace where many blessings and Godly delicacies are freely available to all His children.

Signing off

Tyrone

God meant it for Good

(Genesis 33:2) “And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.”

The thought I consider this morning is how we protect those closest to us. Jacob was on the run from his brother Esau and instinctively he devised a plan to protect His loved ones. He split up his caravan into three parts, all those of least importance to him where placed in the front with his wife Leah and her children in the second column and then another gap with his most prize wife and child Joseph right at the back. His intention for strategizing with this plan was ultimately to protect his entire household, but clearly we can see he gives Rachel and Joseph the greatest chance of survival against a vengeful brother, Esau!

How often will God test our commitment to Him by stripping us of what is closest to our own hearts? It is hard for us to hide our true feelings; I know I wear my heart on my sleeve, just like Jacob did with his counter plan against Esau, imagine how the rest of his family began to resent his father’s blue eyed boy. We know this to be true because they (the brothers) sold Joseph into slavery and lied to their very own father and with a lying tone of harmony they declared that he was dead and had been devoured by a savage beast.

Here is another account of how God’s sovereignty will never be disrupted by man’s plots to change a promise that He made to Abraham.

How will God bring you to a place of testing, He must, as this will expose our hearts and we will see that they are carnal and often devise wicked plans against God’s will, that is their makeup! I am not suggesting that Jacob was wicked as he favoured Rachel over Leah or Jacob over his other sons, but the rationale I would like us to consider is how we will by default protect what is most valuable to us at the expense of others. Often wealth can be included in this bracket, this is the way it is. That is why I think the Lord Jesus used an example like this; (Matthew 10:37) “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

Somewhere we will need to be tested in the quarter, I think! I do not lie this down as a definite truth for all, but some will be tested in this area.

Joseph was taken through horrendous times and yet He came through it all with flying colours. He learnt through his trail that people around him meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. His trial ultimately brought great reunion between his family and it climaxed with an embrace of father with son. It was such good news that Jacob was revived in his spirit and found a new zest for life. I pray we will always remember that God is Sovereign and is always in control, He never drops his guard. He is who He is, He cannot be who He is not, He is no actor, He is the real deal, He is the only true living God and He will have His way. We need to remember accounts like this and understand that He will bring the best out of every situation for His children, has He not proved it by sending His beloved Son our great Saviour, even Jesus Christ the Lord. He proves it time after time and we must remember that we have the Word to remind and guides us in the paths of righteousness.

So let us not be blindsided by the testing of life as we battle to understand why things happen, God is molding us into the imagine of our Saviour, it is a painful process but a needful one. Peter teaches us; (1Peter 4:1) “Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;” So the one who was without sin, the Lord Jesus had to learn to put off sin (learn to combat temptation and not give into it by sinning) by suffering in His flesh. If it was needed for Him in the flesh how much more then for us is suffering needed because of our sinful natures?

May we be given strength to find grace to apply ourselves to this truth and be reminded that God our Father is in control even if we do not understand how and why things may be happening in our lives.

Signing off

Tyrone

Everlasting Love

(Jeremiah 3:13) “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.

Electing love, how great is the electing One! Election something so foreign to our rationale that we think it cannot be, but is exactly what God has done in His mercy, He has chosen those who will be saved? How can that be we may asks ourselves, yet this everlasting Great Jehovah has paid the price for sin and has in His infinite wisdom chosen to save sinners. The scripture is clear that all have sinned so every person does indeed qualify for salvation. However it is not the self righteous and the pompous do-gooders that He has singled out, it is the really sick individuals that He has often elected and chosen to save, because it exalts His own name and when did He made His mind who He would save. The bible is clear; He made His mind up before the foundation of the world who He would save, and from the very first to the very least, that means over a period of 6000 years. (Revelation 17:8) ”And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world…” In other words a role nor registrar was filled in before creation. What a mind gnawing thought when we unpack this idea, God choosing every single person that will be saved and then saving every one with the Lord Jesus claiming His ability to lookout for them as the Good Shepherd without ever losing one of them. Many do not agree with this understanding of salvation and God’s keeping power to the extent that “once saved always saved.” But I would like us to stop, think and just consider my train of thought just for a minute, let us say this actually was true and it is exactly what God accomplishes. Not one is lost except the son of perdition (Judas) as it was written and pre determined by God as someone had to betray the Lord. Think of the intricacies of what that would entail, an individual with his own personality and a baggage of sin that God forgives him for, yet the consequences in many cases still needing to be dealt with. Now compound that by say a million all at one time with an active enemy trying to destroy the faith of some. Do we get the picture I am depicting, all these happenings across the globe and all this apparent confusion when we as humans use a rationale in working it out, all we end up with is a brain overload, but not with God! He is so magnificent and so full over wisdom and we already have had glimpse of His brilliance which is now evident for all to see. (1Corithians 2:8) “which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory:” We see God planned to save the world by sending His Son to the cross to die for sinners and yet no one was able to see what He was up too, if they would of known that it would save sinners they would not have crucified Christ. God magnifies His own worth by exposing the lack of wisdom of His enemies. God laughs at His enemy’s plight to derail Him. He proved by the act of the cross that He is greater than all, both man and principality and powers. In like manner when God saves and if He is able to keep all whom He elects to be saved, my question to you is who will be exalted? Man, most definitely not! He will be illustrious in spite of man’s disability to disrupt His Sovereignty. His wisdom and the enormity of it will silence all and sundry, this is the God I serve. He is far greater than any rival; in fact there is not even a pittance of comparison. How majestic, how sovereign and how brilliant is the only true living God. Beyond any human comprehension, our mind are unable to delve into the depths of His wisdom, we do not even scratch the surface, but a day is coming when we will see Him as He is and then when we fall down and worship our King, and we will wonder how was it that I did so little understand.

Have faith in the keeping power of our King as He is able to save from the uttermost to the uttermost. He is our redeemer trust in Him and it will go well with our souls. Let every doubt be killed by the sweetness of His kiss.

Signing off

Tyrone

Why the Sabbath?

(Exodus 20:8) “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

Today is the 19^th of December and a Sunday, a day of rest or a Sabbath day as most South African find that they do not have to work on a Sunday. Whether the Sabbath is on a Saturday or Sunday is not the point, the Lord Jesus reminds us that the Sabbath was instituted for man and not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27) “And he said unto them, the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:” It is one day of the week were we do not need to work but rather to find rest in Him. In the Wilderness the children of Israel needed to gather food on a daily basis. However on the Sabbath day they did not have to gather as it was a day of rest for them. It was their reward for their obedience from God to them. If the principle is clear and we understand the purpose of the Sabbath then why do we not take it and make it our own. We should remember to relax and rest in Him; we should just sit back and feed on Him, Church, a good Christian book, the bible, fellowship with other believers and we should begin to embrace this principle more and more as we see that day approaching. What day? A day that is just over the horizon, the day when an angel will sound a trumpet alerting heaven that the eminent return of the Lord Jesus is here. That it has finally arrived! It is only those with the Spirit of God, only those who have been born of the spirit, the explanation the Lord Jesus gives to Nicodemus in the book of John chapter 3 explaining the new birth. All those who belong to the Lord Jesus and have been sanctified by His blood, all the true sheep and not the goats that feed amongst the sheep. We are warned by the Lord that there will be two in the field the one taken and the other one left behind. (Luke 17:36) “There shall be two men in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.” So if we have an opportunity to gather with other believer on the day of our rest then lets us find reason to do that instead of reasons why we should not gather with other believers. The point of fellowship is so that we (like minded people) can encourage one another to press on, to believe our God and remind one another that there is a day coming when it will all be over, the rest for every believer is just around the corner. That is why we have also been given the Sabbath day to ultimately remind us of our final rest in Christ and in Heaven, within the walls of the New Jerusalem. So remember today and find rest in the Lord Jesus, by remembering the sabbath, may it stir up our hope for that eternal rest that is coming. What a day that will be when we meet our Lord and Saviour in the clouds, when corruption will be swallowed up by incorruption, may that truth captivate you mind today and may we all find rest in Him, Amen.

Signing off

Tyrone

God Totally Satisfied

“It is enough; now stay thy hand.”

I am fascinated by the heart of God; there is a side to Him that is so soft and gentle, that it does not seem possible! He is the only true God with all the power in the universe and the ability to wield it as and when He chooses and He still find it in His heart to say “it is enough!” Perfectly and righteously within His character to continue with His ruling and yet He says “enough”, and commands the angel to stay his hand. I hope you see this side to a God of great mercies and how full of grace He is and a God who always seem to want to be merciful even in judgment. He seems to always be looking for someone to bless, when I consider this attribute to God I am left totally gob smacked! What an act from our beloved Saviour who accomplished everything for us (every believer) on Calvary. It is obvious why the Lord instituted the ordinance of “the breaking of bread” and how we are to partake of that ordinance as often as we would remember His death. Our great heavenly Father now willingly invites us to come to Him with boldness as a son, because of His Son; He finally is able to be merciful because of His Sons obedience. I hope you have seen the magnitude of what this actually means. How grateful I am and yet I look back and not so long ago and I hang my head in shame. How you loving woe your children to find an obedient walk even if their life has so often spoken with an opposing tone. I do love you so Father as you first loved me, please help me lay down my life and keep your commandments. I do take solace in the fact that I am not alone and the only son you have that at times has not obey your voice, It should not be this way! I confess I err more than most, but I realize even David found that He had to repent and confess his sin not only once but whenever the need did arise. (2Samuel 24:10) “And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto Jehovah, I have sinned greatly in that which I have done: but now, O Jehovah, put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.” Read this chapter and you will see that David understood that God is full of mercy; (2Samuel 24:14) “And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of Jehovah; for his mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man.”

There will and must always be consequences to our sin, yet forgiveness we have because of the Lord Jesus and His own sacrifice. It is far better for us to commit ourselves unto the Lord as He is full of mercy, man and the prince of the power of the air, the devil will only look to squeeze and bleed you, so the sooner we realize this truth the better off we will be. Turn to Jesus and you will find life, in He is the fullness of living. Christ did totally satisfy God’s wrath against sin, once and for all, God now chooses to righteously without any partial judgment be merciful and not ever have to look again to stay His hand in judgment form those who are cover by the blood of the lamb, they have already been judged and punished, not that they received their just punishment, but the Lord Jesus received it on their behalf. How amazing is the love of God! Do you see it, can you catch a glimpse of His mercy. It is no wonder that David pens statements like this; (Psalms 25:6) “Remember, O Jehovah, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindness; For they have been ever of old.”

Mercy has been part of God’s character always, He has never changed, all that has happened, in the process of time is that He sent His Son to complete His eternal plan making an open declaration of His character and He has and will show to all that He has a heart full of love, as God is love! It is one thing to say something but it can never be question if what is said has been acted upon. Vengeance is mine says the Lord, and a day is coming when every knee will bow and confess Jesus as Lord. Every single soul ever born, will be brought to His knees and acknowledge the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary. How wonderful it is for all of us who now have seen a glimpse of the magnitude of what Christ’s act has done for us, by dying, so that we could go free. May this be submerged deep within our hearts I pray as this accomplishment is massive and we so often glibly overlook the enormity of it. May God forgive us as He so often does as He realizes that we all but flesh, a day will soon arrive and we will see our Saviour as He is and we will worship Him in person. How I long for that day, even so come quickly Lord Jesus so that all your sheep may pay you your rightful homage at the marriage feast of the Lamb.

Signing off

Tyrone

Wind!

(Genesis 8:1) “…God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;”

The wind is obvious to all, it cannot be missed! Yet we do not know where it comes from, or where it starts and we have no idea where it will end. Yet God in His Sovereign plan with creation included the wind, and we see that He uses it at times to bring healing and at times to bring judgment. However, we see after the flood when God had judged the world by water He brought a wind to clean up all that was submerged. We also see that the Lord Jesus makes reference to the spiritual birth as a wind when addressing a religious man who thought He was saved but yet was not and still needed salvation. He likens our regeneration to the wind and how it is available for all to witness and yet it only affects some of us as we see His glory and our eyes are opened to see heaven for the first time, heaven’s door is visible and we suddenly have an urgency to enter through that door, even though we may have been brought up in a church going household. We were dead in our trespass and sins until the Lord Jesus said come forth and we saw our sin and our need for a Saviour. We then fell to our knees in repentance and called out to the One who was able to save, praise the name above every other name, praise the One who knew no sin yet the One who died for sinners, yes there was a day when we came face to face with our Saviour, ALL THOSE WHO NOW BELIEVE, God the Spirit has always been around probing the heart of sinners just like the wind, but I recall that day very clearly when that breeze blew and touched my life and opened my eyes to the need of a Saviour and then it happened. If you have been fingered by Him, do you remember that familiarity, are you grateful to your first love? Do you recall what He has done for you, I do and am thankful! Maybe not nearly thankful enough but my love for Him is growing on a daily basis, for this I am thankful. I trust you relationship is fresh and you have embraced Him today, if not then remember He say “Come”, He is not harsh and unapproachable, as I have been with people in my life at times, please forgive me Lord. If sin keeps you from Him it is simple, repent and ask Him for forgiveness, He will forgive you, just turn to Him, He is willing and able.

I have been surrounded by wind on my bike and it has got me thinking, hence me considering the importance of it.

Everything in life in one form or other points to our creator, it declares His majesty, His brilliance and reveals a portion of God’s never ending attributes. They are so vast and have such depths that we could never explore all of His Elements, but that doesn’t mean we must not try! Read the Psalms they filled with glimpses of who He is. God is love, which is not just a casual statement, HE IS LOVE! His character is full of love, yes we see judgments and destruction by God where He brutally destroys the enemy’s who oppose His people. Love has to protect their own. Yet with all His power, consider how a God with the ability to do whatever He chooses, then selects to send His Son to die for those who are His enemies, if that does not floor any doubt that God is Love, then you must not be able to reason soundly. Look at this verse that Paul uses to illustrate this very point; (Romans 5:6-8) “For while we were yet weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: for peradventure for the good man some one would even dare to die. But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

So to all of you who are battling to see your hope clearly, but you look forward to one day that you will make it to heaven to ever be with the Lord Jesus, remember this, that if God sent His son to die for you while you were His enemy, how much more will He save you by His life, if you belong to Him He will not give up on you, He will get you home. Believe it as it is true.

Signing off

Tyrone

Come!

(Matthew 11:28) “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Christians have such a great shepherd, He is tender hearted and willing to carry if need be and he does go after His lost sheep, He is not lazy and slack with His commission of ushering many into the kingdom of God, into the street of Gold. He will accomplish all that the Father has requested from Him. Not only will He accomplish it all, but He will do it without spot or blemish, He will achieve what no one else can, as He is the Good Shepherd.

When I consider the demand of the law and the harshness of the Mosaic Law and all its intricacies I see a lot of doing, and yet I see the gentleness of our Saviour as He says, “Come.” When I look at other religions, even those that proclaim to fly the Christian banner, but they do not! I see a lot of self justification as people blindly endeavor to earn salvation by doing things, and yet Jesus says “Come.”

Do you see what a wonderful Saviour we have, I’ve said it before and I will say it again, it is not only the strong that will survive, praise God for the strong in faith, we need everyone of them, but no matter who you are or where you find yourself in this raging battle of unseen forces at war over your soul, remember that the Lord Jesus has already overcome, it is finished. I realize that it is hard to accept it is finished as we are still breathing and we are subjected to time. But it is over and done with the Lord Jesus declared that very truth before He breathed His last on that cruel tree, He cried clearly and precisely, “it is finished.” When I contemplate this truth a great swelling hope captivates me as I want to run and shout it to all and then I remember that I am in a room with no one around and so I settle and cried thank you to my God and Father for his love toward me in sending His Son to die for me. Even with all the ongoing struggles I face each and every day, I am not driven by a God who demands results from me, he says, “Come.” How I begin like never before to love this place of rest, thank you Jesus for beckoning me to, “Come.”

So wherever you may be this morning; whether you are in a valley or on a mountain top, remember to “Come.” “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” May your rest be sweet in Him, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Jesus Only!

(Genesis 35:2) “So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.”

The more I confront people with the Lord Jesus as the way, the truth and the life the more I realise how a social gospel begins more than ever to appeal to so many. Comments like it’s all the same God, it doesn’t matter what we call Him. It matters to such an extent that God Himself has infactically told us that He will not share His glory with another! Why would or why should He, there is no other God beside Him! This social tolerance that now will grow and begin to raise her voice with a vigorous determination is at the door waiting for the opportune time to make her grand entrance. She will cut an oppose all who will not tolerate the acceptance of all religions. If any religion discounts the work that our Glorious Saviour paid so dearly with His own life to save sinner, who where prior to salvation the enemies of God but now have enlisted in God’s army, we must, at all costs defend that selfless act of the Lord Jesus and we cannot and I will not accept any compromise on that truth. All have an opportunity to turn to Jesus repent and be saved, but they must come through the gate of Calvary, no other way will God accept! My encouragement for us all is to be gentle as doves but as wise as serpents, as the enemy is seeking to destroy the faith of the weak. But our Saviour will carry us through as He is willing and able, praise His name. However we must never succumb to the norm and demands placed on true believers to tolerate lies and accept them. There is only one way to heaven and God the Father and that is through his precious Son. His name is Jesus, not Mohammad, Buddha or the Dali Lama. The reason is very simple; all the other gods people worship never claimed that they died for sinner. It was the man Jesus who paid the price for sin by never sinning and yet He died for sinners. I appeal to you in love, as this reality will begin to become more taxing even to people living in democratic governments. We must be bold to confess our Saviour before all, especially those who oppose; it may even free them to believe. Everyone believes in something, even the atheist’s believe, they claim to believe nothing, which is not possible for we have been created with a searching soul. We must confess our Lord before men and He assures us that He will then confess us before His Father. (Matthew 10:32) “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” I do understand that we do not all have the same function in the body of Christ, so for some it is a lot easier to declare our allegiance to Him before others. But I am praying even now, that you may even if with stammer lips, but with confidence make it clear to others, if and when the occasion presents itself to confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and for boldness to make no exceptions by entertaining foreign gods.

He is the Way, the Truth and the life...

There is no other way to God the Father, no other sacrifice will ever be accepted, you can sell all you have and give it to the poor and it will still keep you out of heaven if you come in the name of another god. Jesus Christ the Lord is the only sacrifice God has and will ever receive, thank you Lord Jesus for dying for me, when I behold the magnitude of your glory, although it has been veiled so that I only get glimpses of you glory, tears of gratitude and joy floods my soul.

“God’s got an army marching through this land with healing in their hand,” is the word of a song. I would like to change it slightly and say, God has got an army marching through this land and we have truth in our hands. Lets us be bold with it and declared to every lost religion that Jesus is able to save, but it must be on His terms! They must, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Christ Only!

(1Corinthians 15:2) “By which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain.”

It is one thing to doubt our salvation because of our own short comings, because we find volatility a constant enemy. But must never find an excused in doubting our Saviour as the only Way, the only Truth and the most certainly the only one who can provide us with eternal life. If this comes into regular question then we must consider if we are truly saved. Salvation is a gift of God and we cannot earn it but we may seek it out, we have the opportunity to cry out onto God and wrestle with Him in earnestness to find His favour. But we must never lose sight of how it is we will find His support, it will only and always be through His Glorious Son, Jesus Christ the Lord, there can be and there will be no other way to find His goodwill. Therefore if you doubt His existence then I can assure you need salvation, I would encourage you to call out and repent of you unbelief, confess your sin to the Lord Jesus, step out in faith, trusting that God will do a work in you. When He acts it will be certain, how I love His ability to change people hearts and their perceptions. One day you think you understand and argue your point with others and the next day you humble find yourself sitting at the feet of Jesus and your perceptions have taken on a makeover as you now believe the truth and are no longer deceived with a lie. Thank you Jesus for your amazing act on Calvary and all that necessitates. Please be merciful for all those who struggle to see you as the truth, the way and the life.

For all of us who have seen and now understand that there can be no other way to the Father but by the Son, let us hold fast to the word that was preach and saved us. It was by the power of the Spirit, but it was through the preaching of the Word that cause life to revive us. Paul uses a strong tone in encouragement and instructs us to “hold fast” but we are to hold onto the Word which was preached, we must never forget the importance of sound doctrine. We must never make an allowance for any other god or anything that opposes the Word who is the Lord Jesus; (John 1:1) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We must remember not to give even an inch on this truth, never! It is so vital, it will carry us well into eternity and it will affect family and friends who have not yet bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus, it must as He has the power to quicken the dead to life. (John 1:12) “But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name:” Therefore we must only preach and share what is true to others if we accommodate anything outside of Christ it will never be able to produce life, the sooner we learn this lesson, the more affective we will be as witnessing Christians. Paul puts it this way, (1Corinithians 2:2) “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

May your day be filled with boldness to declare your commitment unto the King of Kings, may your witness bring forth fruit to the Glory of our King.

Signing off

Tyrone

Take Courage!

(Jude 1:22-23) “And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

I must openly confess how I begin like never before to hate, yes hate, the fruit of my flesh as it persistently looks to produce sinful fruit against every good intention I may have to put it to death. This constant war we fight of the spirit which is good and holy, against the fallen flesh that can do nothing but sin. That however does not mean that we must to be slaves to sin, because we are now under the law of sin and death. We are now under the law of grace. (Romans 8:2) “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” What sin does is weakens my faith and therefore gets me to doubt my salvation. We must never accept sin in our lives, we must never condone it, the war and the battle against sin must be a constant resolve to put it away, whatever it may be. Our lives must constantly be full of repentance and humility before our gracious heavenly Father, if we sin and fall and we repent He is just and faithful and will forgive us of our sin. (1John 1:9) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So my beloved sister if you find that life is squeezing so tightly that you find that you doubt you very own salvation, please remember it is not about what you have achieved but what Christ Himself did on that cruel Roman cross, He died for many and you where in His thoughts when the onslaught of the wicked one was upon Him. He was remembering the weak in faith, because not all will be strong, it was never meant to be that way. The weaker a believer is the more He needs to be carried, may we all remember what Peter so boldly taught “God resists the proud but He does give grace to the humble” and it is grace we all need to get us home. So be of good cheer, we have a Saviour who not only has the ability to get us to our heavenly quarters but is willing to achieve the very objective. He will accomplish what He has set out to do, and that is to present a spotless bride unto Himself before His Father in heaven. If you believe in your hearth that Jesus died for you and you believe that He rose from the dead and you confess this openly with your mouth, the bible very clearly teaches that you will be saved. Take courage all you that find doubt a constant companion, my great Saviour has conqueror every doubt they could throw at Him, He even had to confront His own Father turning His back on Him because of sin, our sin! He cried, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” Look to Him if you suffer from doubt as He knows exactly what turmoil you are in, trust Him, He has overcome, He was victorious so you will also be victorious, even if you are unable to see it now. Call out to Him with all your entire being and He will restore your faith and strengthen you; He has the power to accomplish exactly that.

If we look back in history and use the bible as our reference, it does not surprise me that mankind has the same struggles from generation to generation. The dynamics of life take on a slightly different perspective, today we drive cars and are bombarded with marketing like never before, but the same enemy raged then as he does now. Sin is his weapon and to get us to fall into sin is his main objective. This truth must resonate deep within our minds and we must not glibly put it in the back of our psyche. We must constantly remember to wield the shield of faith and lunge with the sword of the spirit. We must believe God and His willingness to save all His children, do not believe the lies from the Father of lies, He was a liar from the beginning and He will continue to lie seeking out His own will, the will that defiantly resists all that God is and stands for. We are at war, so I encourage all of you who are somewhat bruise to lock hands with a brother or sister that will point you to Christ, we need each other, this is God’s design, the body of Christ is where we will be strengthened, so make sure at every possible opportunity you look to find yourself in fellowship with other believers and not with the enemy (unbelieving friends) that will feed you doubt. Avoid at all costs anything that will defile and stain the flesh with sin.

May God our ever knowing, ever powerful, the One who is full of mercy and grace hear our cry and He Himself pour in the oil and the wine to repair whatever needs repairing, so that we may serve Him with a clear conscience.

To Him be glory forever and ever Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Loves Attributes.

(1Corinthians 13:1) “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”

There are two parts that need to be considered with this verse, the first is to contemplate the tongues of men and of angels; in other words the languages of men and of angels. Secondly that without love I will be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal, I will be piercing yet without any sweet melody. This morning I will leave you with what I believe Paul taught on this subject, I will try not to get side tracked, as I want us to consider love this morning. For me his teaching is clear, so much time and debate across Christian circles and from their pulpits have cause stumbling blocks to hinder sweet fellowship around our Saviour. He teachers that we must not forbid brothers to speak with other languages, (1Corinthians 14:39) “so, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.” Yet, it must be done with order, (1Corinthians 14:27) “If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.” The gift of tongues is orderly or at least should be! For someone to say that they have no control over the gift is contrary to scripture; (1Corinthians 14:32) “and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.” That simply means if I have the gift of speaking in tongues I also have the power to speak where and when I choose, I will not find I have no control over it. I may well have a great urge to use the gift as I am prompted by the Spirit to burst forth, but I will never be forced in that sense. However not everyone will speak with tongues to prove that they have received the Holy Ghost. The gift of the Holy Spirit (Ghost) is different to receiving Him as a believer. In other words when God quickens someone who was dead and brings them to life they in turn receive the Holy Spirit. The point is that I do not hold to the premise that we must speak in tongues to prove we have received the Holy Ghost, but we must speak in tongues to claim the gift of tongues, that is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit. (1Corinthians 12:30) “Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” I trust you see the difference!

Be that as it may, regardless of where you may stand on this particular subject, I want us not to be so obsessed with a particular subject that it causes blindness that hinders our love one for another. Without love we are just hot air, sure I understand and agree that love and truth hold hands and will never be separated, as they complement one another. Love has a face that is beautiful to behold, it is hard to resist even if we are bitter. Consider a man at the feet of Jesus when He hung upon the cruel Roman cross as He cursed and mocked the King of glory, picture the Lord looking into the mockers eyes and crying out to His father, “Forgive him Father as he does not know what he is doing.” What would that cruel sinful man have left in him to continue with his railing accusations? We all have a conscience and although habitual sin will sear and dampen it, it nevertheless with never be totally extinguished. How often we forget our Saviour’s act of love when we are hard pressed by others even when we are in the right. This is what a Christians walk is all about, we need to lay our lived down for one another. We must never compromise truth, that would not be love, but in gentleness we must endeavour to win the gainsayer. Sight for every believer rest at the feet of almighty God and He will determine who is given repentance and who will not receive it. “God does resist the proud but gives grace to the humble.” We must never lose sight of the fact; we are what we are because of God’s grace and His mercy toward us. There is a great temptation amongst every believer, whether young or old to want to glory as if we are better than our brother, as many do have a cleaner track record. Praise God for them! But if we lose sight of the truth in this regard we may find the tumble painful. Paul reasons like this... (1Corinthians 4:7) “For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” Love will acknowledge God’s mercy and grace in and through all. Let us look at her beauty; (1Corinthians 13:4-8) “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. May our God and Father grant us such love that we will never compromise His truth for error but that we would find such compassion deep within our hearts for the lost that all loves glorious attributes may become part of our characteristics in our endeavours to correct where needed and to “keep ourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” (Jude 1:21)

May the love of God silence every doubt that raises its head as we remember our Lords broken body and His shed blood on our behalf, bless His glorious name, Yes I say BLESS HIM, Amen.

Signing off

Tyrone

God's Test.

(Deuteronomy 13:3) “You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

How we love to hear good news, especially if we are the benefactors of that tiding. People play the lotto hoping for a life changing win, they seek out personal opinion hoping for information that will tickle their ears, we are at times drawn to seeking out such information and it will often be at the expense of God’s will for our lives. Yet at times we must confront this testing! It is God who tests, look at our text it tells us that people in authority (prophets) and dreamers (people who like to fortune tell) will at times tell you things that tickle the ear and it will be sweet to hear, but it will be contrary to God’s Word, what are we to do? The answer is a clear one; we must align all with scripture and sound doctrine. Why is this so important, you may ask? After all what harm does a little bit of positive news bring? It may be harmless, unless it is God who is testing your hearts and souls. Will we treasure Him before everything else is the question? I will remind you that God has spoken clearly and that no new revelation is required; Will we be satisfied with what we have received or not! Wherever we may find ourselves in life, rich or poor, sick or healthy, married or single it does not change what we have received in Him, our glorious Saviour.

Let us mull over what God has done for us! We were at one stage in our lives enemies of the cross, we were all on our way to hell and rightly so, and all because of the sin that ruled our lives. Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God became a man and lived without sin and then died for sin, so that all who would believe on Him could go free. We do not understand the magnitude of what this means if we even dare to give an ear to personal prophecy and read too much into dreams. We have received so much; we are now children of the only true and living God. Why are we not content with what we have in Him? I do not include all in this statement as I do not know your hearts but God does, so if you are clear in this matter may the Lord continue to bless and keep you. I on the other hand am guilty at times looking for an out to the trails of life, I must confess that I may even be tempted with my mind wondering with what someone once said to me through some premonition or a dream I once had. Be careful I say it could just be God testing our hearts. If He tests me I want to please Him by bring glory to His name, silencing the critics. Enough though much damage has been done by choices in my life, there will come a time when we all have to stand up and be countered. The shaking has begun! But then again God has always tested His people to see where their allegiance lies. He weathered them back in the days of Moses as He will need to weather us today to see if we will truly trust Him. Remember their rebellion back then; (Hebrews 3:8) “do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness.” We need to be tested so that we can be strengthened by its trial; (James 1:3) “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” Let us no longer run and look to the beggarly (the crumbs of blessings) elements but let us embrace our hope and let us be reminded of that great hope; We will one day forever be like our Saviour, we will be sons of God and He will be our God for eternity, not just a couple of years that some small worldly blessing may carry, there is no comparison, and we must not lose sight of our eternal hope. It is our hope that will feed and drive us to lay down our lives for one another. Look at the words of our beloved brother Paul who endure such hardship in bringing us God’s truth through his teachings that can now be found in this beloved book, the bible. Here is just one of His great encouragements to us as believers; (Romans 8:18) “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Let us with that in mind remember why we need testing, may God give us strength to resist foolish and vain babblings as all they will do is lead to more ungodliness, even if what is said appears to be from a godly source.

I tell you why I think this point I make is important, we are warned and I believe the caution is because God loves us so much that He wants to enlighten us to the future by using His Word He tells us that in the lasts days many will come to deceive, so we know now, let us not be caught off guard. How will the deception come? We are clearly told what to be on the lookout for; (2Timothy 4:3-5) “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering...”

It is obvious then hold fast to sound doctrine, be content with where you find yourself and remember to embrace your hope. May we remember to pray fervently for one another as the prayer of a righteous man will achieve much! We must also remember that we are righteous because of what Christ achieved on Calvary and not on what we accomplish. We stand justified because of His blood that was shed for us, all who believe.

Signing off

Tyrone

Stand-In

My days have been rather challenging of late and so I have left you in far better hands than myself... If you are interested in why I am posting my blog with C.H.Spurgeon, look at my other blog tyronektm690.blogspot.com

“So shall we ever be with the Lord.”

- 1Th_4:17

Even the sweetest visits from Christ, how short they are-and how transitory! One moment our eyes see him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but again a little time and we do not see him, for our beloved withdraws himself from us; like a roe or a young hart he leaps over the mountains of division; he is gone to the land of spices, and feeds no more among the lilies.

“If to-day he deigns to bless us

With a sense of pardoned sin,

He to-morrow may distress us,

Make us feel the plague within.”

Oh, how sweet the prospect of the time when we shall not behold him at a distance, but see him face to face: when he shall not be as a wayfaring man tarrying but for a night, but shall eternally enfold us in the bosom of his glory. We shall not see him for a little season, but

“Millions of years our wondering eyes,

Shall o’er our Saviour’s beauties rove;

And myriad ages we’ll adore,

The wonders of his love.”

In heaven there shall be no interruptions from care or sin; no weeping shall dim our eyes; no earthly business shall distract our happy thoughts; we shall have nothing to hinder us from gazing for ever on the Sun of Righteousness with unwearied eyes. Oh, if it be so sweet to see him now and then, how sweet to gaze on that blessed face for aye, and never have a cloud rolling between, and never have to turn one’s eyes away to look on a world of weariness and woe! Blest day, when wilt thou dawn? Rise, O unsetting sun! The joys of sense may leave us as soon as they will, for this shall make glorious amends. If to die is but to enter into uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is indeed gain, and the black drop is swallowed up in a sea of victory.

C.H.Spurgeon

Patience

How vast are God’s way, they far above our ways, we cannot even begin to at times contemplate His brilliance. Let me not speak for you; let me rather confess that I can’t! What I have in mind this morning; is when we seek God’s face but we seem to get a negative response, hence the word seem! For I do not believe that God can be negative as He is Light and by negative I mean He will never work and allow things to berate out in opposition to His will. We will often need to wait for prayer to be answered.

“Jacob did not get the blessing from the angel until near the dawn of day-he had to wrestle all night for it. The poor woman of Syrophenicia was answered not a word for a long while. Paul besought the Lord thrice that “the thorn in the flesh” might be taken from him, and he received no assurance that it should be taken away, but instead thereof a promise that God’s grace should be sufficient for him. If thou hast been knocking at the gate of mercy, and hast received no answer, shall I tell thee why the mighty Maker hath not opened the door and let thee in? Our Father has reasons peculiar to himself for thus keeping us waiting. Sometimes it is to show his power and his sovereignty, that men may know that Jehovah has a right to give or to withhold.” C.H.Spurgeon

We plan and pray but often the opposite seems to happen, that does not mean we are not being heard! Often it is because we are heard that God works with His children to will and do according to His good pleasure which is often contrary to our wills. But we must begin to learn to align our wills with His. This is a process that will continue until He comes to take us home or when we breathe our last. I am now due to unforeseen complications on my touring trip back in Bloemfontein, 270km further back than I was yesterday. Yet through it all with the bike not running and trying to fix it with my limited mechanical knowledge to no avail. I realize that if I had not broken down I would not have found the kindness of a total stranger and his help overnight. I hope that my witness spoke to Him of Christ’s saving grace and who knows where that will lead. My prayer remains the same, to draw every closer to my Saviour along this trip; I am confident this prayer will and is being answered. May the Lord open our eyes so that we may see with understanding. Remember all our prayers are filed in heaven and if not immediately answer they are not forgotten. Let not despair shut our mouths, but may we continue with earnest to offer up supplications to our heavenly Father in and through His Son our Saviour, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Signing off

Tyrone

Is that all I ask?

“To be like Jesus all I ask is to be like Him”, this comes from a song I sang years back, but it is quite a statement. When I consider His accomplishments, and there is so many that the bible tells us that if all His good deeds had been recorded all the books in the world would not be able to contain His accomplishments here on earth. Let that sink in, contemplate who this man was, and who it was that came to earth, born of a virgin and then died for the sins of mankind, who by default all because of Adam’s sin where and are still born as sinners. He never ever sinned, not once. Yes He was God in the flesh, he was subject to the volatility of the flesh, and He went through puberty like every other boy. If He stubbed his toe he would have felt the pain and so on.

I am obviously able to understand the body and its ailments, however the Lord Jesus was never born into sin as the seed that conceived Him was from God and not fallen man. He did however come from an ancestry that was promised to Abraham and we see that He came out of the lineage of Boaz, Ruth’s Husband, they had a Son Obed and then He has a son Jesse and then came David, who eventually became king. And Jesus was born to Mary down that line of parentage. So He was born through the lineage as the bible had predicted, yet without mans seed affecting His righteousness in sin. God impregnated Mary, a virgin woman with His seed and a child was born to her. She was his mother and it is right to say that she was the mother of Jesus the man but could never be the mother of God as God has neither beginning nor end; we must understand this error, as it is claimed in some religion circles even today. Mary is worship as the mother of God. God has no mother, for someone to have a mother it means that they must have a beginning they must be born or created: God was never born nor created! Jesus on the other hand was born as a child, God in the flesh, so His carnal life had a beginning, that is true but His spiritual life has always been. He is God! So God became a man, yet he never ever sinned, nonetheless He was tempted in every point like we are; now that is an amazing statement from the writer of Hebrews. (Hebrews 4:15) “For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Consider this man Jesus, what a man He was! He had faith so that He could walk on water; ah, you may say that as God He can do anything, well said, but remember He also understood the weakness of the flesh and all its potential hang-ups. It would be a good exercise to ponder some of His exploits and challenges, think about His life on earth and then stand back with your mouth ajar, gob smacked by the man Jesus, bless His name!

What a great Saviour, thank you Jesus for dying for me.

“So all I ask is to be like Jesus”, is that all Mr. Songwriter! The truth is that we will be like Him, when we see Him as He is we will receive a body Like His, what a day that will be. I move my arm as I type and I feel the twitch of tennis elbow, my leg is stiff from my fall yesterday and my body aches just from the ridding my motorbike. A day will come where there will be no more pain, this is a fact my beloved family in Christ, we will be changed, “it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” There is a day coming in the not too distant future when we all that believe and confess Jesus as Lord will receive a body like His, we will forever live in His presence with God as our Father, even so come quickly Lord Jesus!

Signing off

Tyrone