My last stand

(John 13:38) “Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me?”

Why have so many in time past deliberated the point with such vigour. Calvinism opposed to Arminian. If it is like my brother says to confuse brothers in Christ and to win an argument then this point is futile and I have totally missed achieving my objective... This was never my intention! I have one concern and I will spell it out in my last attempt to wear my heart on my sleeve for all to see and understand why I stress eternal security (perseverance of the believer) for all whom God have saved. Life is so full of deception and traps that are set without as well as within church organisations. The church should be a safe haven for all who believe, to achieve unity of the faith should be the leader’s goal, obviously without compromising truth (sound doctrine), and it must always be done with a spirit of gentleness and in love. This will take a great effort in working it out and possibly a lifetime, but it must be what motivates every true believer, we must lay our live down for one another, anything short of that is pride and God will resist the proud! When our country prepares for war and we stand shoulder to shoulder with each other in agreement, all those prepared to enlist; once they have signed the document then they are regarded as a soldier in that army. They are afforded every privilege available to them but they must be willing to lay down their lives for their country. They all receive a uniform that identifies them as having enlisted. There is no doubt or confusion, if they themselves have signed on the dotted line. I agree that much of scripture encourages us not only to run but to finish the race, only those who finish will receive a crown. That is the message Paul preached and that is the message we must preach to one another, and even more so now as the screws start to tighten as God begins to shake the earth.

As a rule in today’s day and age I am sure you will agree with me that a cheap gospel is preach. Emphasis is placed on blessing and not repentance, the gospel is offered as a vogue that one should at least try out and then make up their mind. Money is what drives today’s gospel in many apparent church organisations. We are not surprised as we have been warned that this will happen! (Romans 16:18) “For they that are such serve not our Lord Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent.” This is a trap that is out there that we must avoid and because we have been warned by our loving Father in and through His Word we must take note an act accordingly. Who must been warned? All of God’s children must be cautioned. Just like everyone enlisted in the countries army must be warned if an attack is in the offing.

I accept and agree with you that on a daily basis we as children of God must make a choice; (Joshua 24:15) “And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.” Lot’s wife was saved out of Sodom but her heart was still with Sodom, she had not truly pledged an allegiance to Jehovah God. She was coming along for the ride, do you see the difference. I hope so! That is why she looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.

Where I think it I would like to emphasis my concern would be that because of the weak gospel message that is preached today and the methods used to convince people that they are saved, by repeating words etc and without witnessing true repentance in a new converts life, leaders of churches then tell them they are saved, or because they utter some words that they have been coaxed to say and then are told that they have received the Holy Ghost, they may well have received the gift but maybe not! Time will tell! When in fact they have a form of godliness but do not have the spirit of Christ, they are not born again; they are still dead in their trespasses and sins. Yet they think that they are save, nothing in their life changes, but they are told that all will be alright when in fact it won’t be until true repentance is given to them by God. They join the church and never really get involved; there is no fruit of repentance and yet they are told that they will be saved because they put their hand up in a meeting. This is when we will be guilty before God in making false converts and when they fall away we then say you see you can lose your salvation if you once were saved. But they were never saved in the first place so they do not count as saved in God’s reckoning, because they never were born again. That is why I stress that both sheep and goats feed together in the same pastures, but only the sheep will get protection from the Great Shepherd. He is the great shepherd and not a hireling; (John 10:13) “He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” But God! (John 10:14) “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,” Therefore the relationship between every born again child of God knows their Saviour the Lord Jesus also knows them, this is on a personal level!

The individual must be persuaded by the Spirit of God that they are in God’s army. He will have a witness, not from men but from God. Now it is not our place to go around like some hero doing the work of the Holy Spirit, God forbid we even entertain that mindset, determining who is and who isn’t saved, and who will or won’t be saved, that is God’s domain, all we are told is that we will know a tree by its fruit. If and when we make mistakes what will our response be to our mistakes? Will we be proud or humble, will we look to be justified or will we seek forgiveness. That in itself is a fruit that we can judge.

Now because I have failed so often as a Christian, maybe that is why I have a burden for all the saints that struggle so! My concern is for the bruised reeds and the smoking flax’s. There are those who always seem to be lagging as they do not have the strength of the fitter Christians. I am convinced that God will never give up on them; He tells me this through His word. (Isaiah 42:3) “A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” My heart is for the weak my brother Malcolm; we may make the mistake of writing off a weak brother or sister just because they never seem to be able to cut it. If God has called them and given them His spirit and we leave them by the wayside then we are just like the hireling and not like the good Shepherd. May God give us the wisdom and the strength to carry all in need of assistance? We may be battered in the rescue operation, so be it as long as they may find a rejuvenated spirit to press on toward the mark of the HIGH CALLING which is in Christ Jesus. Not only will the strong make it, but all whom God has called and chosen will make it and not one will be left behind. This will glorify of Father and His abundant brilliance. May we be willing to be used in rescuing the weak as God loves them and has had mercy upon them as he has had mercy upon us?

The strong can take care of themselves its the weak that need help! If you are part of God’s kingdom today, then tomorrow you will not be a stranger, you cannot be a son today and a bastard tomorrow. You can however be a son walking in disobedience, which in itself is a completely different subject.

(Jude 1:22-25) “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. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

In other words let us not be quick in writing off believers who may have strayed from the faith and yet it was clearly evident that sometime in their life the Lord meant everything to them, they are bruised and the evil one seeks their soul but may God use us to snatch them out of the fire, but be sure if God would use you to hate the garments stained by the flesh.

Signing off

Tyrone

Other Input

Let me glean from others this morning, so that I may be sure that I am not a man who would cling to a particular subject by constantly beating out its tune so that it no longer sweet to ones ear but rather an irritation. The Word of God must be sweet to the ear of the believer! It will admonish, teach and correct when needed, but it will always bring forth life. Death is where we once were but now we live because of God’s mercy and Christ’s sacrifice.

“Ye are Christ’s.”

- 1Corinthians 3:23

“Ye are Christ’s.” You are his by donation, for the Father gave you to the Son; his by his bloody purchase, for he counted down the price for your redemption; his by dedication, for you have consecrated yourself to him; his by relation, for you are named by his name, and made one of his brethren and joint-heirs. Labour practically to show the world that you are the servant, the friend, the bride of Jesus. When tempted to sin, reply, “I cannot do this great wickedness, for I am Christ’s.” Immortal principles forbid the friend of Christ to sin. When wealth is before you to be won by sin, say that you are Christ’s, and touch it not. Are you exposed to difficulties and dangers? Stand fast in the evil day, remembering that you are Christ’s. Are you placed where others are sitting down idly, doing nothing? Rise to the work with all your powers; and when the sweat stands upon your brow, and you are tempted to loiter, cry, “No, I cannot stop, for I am Christ’s. If I were not purchased by blood, I might be like Issachar, crouching between two burdens; but I am Christ’s, and cannot loiter.” When the siren song of pleasure would tempt you from the path of right, reply, “Thy music cannot charm me; I am Christ’s.” When the cause of God invites thee, give thy goods and thyself away, for thou art Christ’s. Never belie thy profession. Be thou ever one of those whose manners are Christian, whose speech is like the Nazarene, whose conduct and conversation are so redolent of heaven, that all who see you may know that you are the Saviour’s, recognizing in you his features of love and his countenance of holiness. “I am a Roman!” was of old a reason for integrity; far more, then, let it be your argument for holiness, “I am Christ’s!”

C.H.Spurgeon

Just in case there was any confusing points with regard to the responsibility of someone God has elected (chosen), because mercy has found us out that more is required from us. We will be corrected along the way if we take the call lightly, remember Paul, he lost his sight for days, remember Samson His was blinded by the Philistines and so and so on but because of God’s faithfulness in spite of Samson’s disobedience he nevertheless made it home to heaven.

May we be persuaded to lay down our lives for Christ as He laid down His life for us, remembering that we have been bought with a price far greater than gold and silver, we no longer belong to ourselves but to God for Him to do with us according to His good pleasure. We need much grace to accomplish and this requirement is only our reasonable service. Give us Grace we pray our heavenly Father, Amen

Signing off

Tyrone

Paul's Example!

(Matthew 22:14) “For many are called, but few are chosen."

This morning I would like to draw our attention to the Apostle Paul who God used mostly through written doctrine to teach the church how to conduct itself. He corrected Peter and although he was not married, yet he taught on marriage. But where did it all begin for him? He was chosen by God to be the Apostle to the gentiles (you and me, those born outside of the house of Israel). I trust that we will be able to see and understand the difference between the one who is called and the one who is chosen!

Firstly let us consider who would be the called? If we consider the parable that precedes this clear statement, it is obvious that the invitation to the wedding feast goes out to all in the nearby vicinity. No one is left out, rich and poor, old and young alike; the appeal goes out to all. (Matthew 22:9) “Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.” But the greatest call of all is not a parable but rather an open public call! (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. Just like the wedding call the Lord Jesus as recorded in the gospel of John makes an appeal by inviting the whosoever to seek repentance and find forgiveness though His act on Calvary. The call has then gone out to everyone, and it is our responsibility as believers to preach the gospel to every creature hoping that God may save some. God must give them life before they can respond in repentance. A dead man cannot respond until He has life. Once he has received life, then he will with his mouth make confession unto salvation. (Romans 10:10) “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” So we choose and make decisions once we are able see, once we have been born again (make alive in the spirit), we can make no choice prior to God’s intervention, because we are dead, He must firstly give us life. This depicts the fullness of the grace of God and Paul teachers that while we were yet sinners and enemies that He sent His son to die in our stead. This is an amazing privilege for all of us who believe and have received the spirit of God. To ever even think that we had the power as dead sinner to believe prior to God’s intervention is beyond me. I am rather simple and I do not have any doctorate, but even if when reasoning this point through with simple common sense, how can a dead person do anything? I remember seeing my late father in an open coffer and when we were alone I reach over to hug him, he was cold and unresponsive, as much as I wanted him to somehow acknowledge my attendance it was never going to happen as he was dead!

The called then is to the world and all that live in it, regardless of colour religion or creed. “Many are called”, yet what keeps the many from responding to this glorious message? The text in John 3 tells us; (John 3:19) “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” Would God reject any that call upon Him? No! (Romans 10:13) “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Therefore the called we have dealt with, but what of the chosen, and when are they chosen. The chosen have all clearly be chosen before creation. Let us now consider the Apostle Paul and his ministry and hopefully draw some truth from it to help us understand this apparent difficult text.

(Galatians 1:1) “Paul, an apostle--not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—“This verse confirms that man had nothing to do with Pauls call to the ministry.

(Colossians 1:1) “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,” this verse then confirms that Paul was an apostle by the will of God and it was not his own choice.

(Ephesians 1:4) “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” It is clear that God chose him before the foundation of the world. I think were we get caught up with not understanding the truth of this doctrine, which is not the originally the doctrine of Calvin but the doctrine of Paul’s teachings. We are blinded by a superstition!

Now let us look at his life; as a man he went about persecuting the Christians, in fact to such an extent that those that he caught were put to death, we know that he was present at Stephen stoning. (Acts 7:58) “Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.” (Acts 8:1) “And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” It didn’t stop there with Saul (who later became Paul) he was so fixated on the Jewish plight in his blindness that he continued with a vengeance; (Act 8:3) “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” He must have heard that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, but because he was dead in his trespass and sin he could not see it, so he did what he did and killed and imprisoned Christians. I want us to remember that God had chosen him before birth and yet as a man he persecuted God’s elect. God knew that in His foreknowledge and yet He still chose Paul to be used greatly as an Apostle. I trust that is clear for all to see! Saul was on a road to Damascus when God made a guest appearance unto him, and “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.” He couldn’t see heaven or the Lord prior to this encounter, but now he could, it is exactly the same for us until God flashes His light into our lives we will remain blind!

It is interesting the words the Lord chose to use when calling from heaven, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Saul then response and asks, “Who are you Lord?” and the Lord answers, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Bingo the lights go on, Saul become Paul and He then is persecuted for the Gospels sake, and he was to suffer like no other! Look at the turn around; (2Co 11:23-28) “Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”Paul was not only called but he was chosen, all the chosen will make it to heaven I am persuaded of this. (John 10:27-29) “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”

May we hold tightly onto our hope whatever difficulty we may face, if you doubt you calling, then fall to your knees call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved!

In His service

Signing off

Tyrone

Boasting in our Hope!

(Hebrews 3:6) “But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”

How often have I said in the past that I shall not enter heaven, how many times have you had similar thoughts. My younger brother reminded me that whilst reading my book he took some foot-notes at around the age of 14 and last night He asked me a question, he asked, “Do you believe once saved always saved?” Most of you should know my stance on this by now, but for the sake of clarity let me make it clear. A true repentant born again believer who has received the spirit of Christ who has been called by God, before he was born and before he had done neither good nor evil, if it is a true conversion without mans interference in using schemes like the alpha course, or a marketing technique they have adapted from the worldly wise, if it is God that opens their eyes and out of blindness miraculously have been given sight for them to see, if they who once where dead but now have found life, then I do believe a true convert cannot lose their salvation. Why you may ask? God never fails when He has determined to accomplish His purpose, He never has and He never will! The reason He may have asked me this question is possibly to give himself an excuse, a licence to sin, he is now 18 years old and is about to venture abroad and taste life, he is leaving home officially for the first time and I pray that God would work with Him and save his soul. Please remember to pray for him if you have it on your heart his name is Ryan.

The reason he asked me this question was that in his annotation he had made a note of the fact that I specifically made mention that if you are once saved that you could lose your salvation. Yes, I have changed my view on this. How and why, must be the next question! Well it was a struggle for a while, wrestling with scriptures all over that spoke about what seem to be contrary to this, but with a careful study it became a lot clearer, and with the help of other giants in the faith and there understanding. These were some of my initial concerns! God called a people out of Egypt, with some of them travelling through the Wilderness for 40 years, and some never entered the Promised Land. They had all begun the journey, they had even painted their door posts with lambs blood so that the angel of death would passed over them and not killed their first born like he did throughout the rest of Egypt. They were actively involved with God's people and with Moses. It was a similar account with Lot’s wife, she was saved out of Sodom and yet she disobeyed and looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. I could make reference too many similar examples, but never once is she (lot’s wife) mention in scripture as being righteous. She may have been included in the rescue operation but the focus in reference is all around Lot and not her, until she doubts and is turned into a pillar of salt.

There are warnings in the book of revelations to most of the churches, and serious ones at that! Here is one of them; (Revelation 3:5) “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” I remember even quoting this verse to prove that you could lose your salvation and it was from the pulpit. At first glance it would appear that your name could be in the book of life and then scratched out of it. But all it says is that it confirms if we walk in obedience that our names will never be scratched out of it. So to the conquerors, they will be clothed in white garments. Who then will be the conquerors? All those that God has called and chosen; the Jacobs but not the Esau’s even if they did grow up in the same household. Now enough speculation let me use scripture to back this up; Ephesians 1:4-11, (1Corinthians 1:1) “Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,” and so on and so on...

Salvation is a work of God and it is about His will, it has always been that way and forever will be. When we say we have the power to lose our salvation, we enter into a very dangerous realm. In other words we say that God does not have the ability to save us, because of something we did or didn’t do, this is a very serious indictment! We move from the security of His protection and begin to walk in unbelief, because of sin invariably; we do the work of the devil by undermining our God’s sovereignty, let us never be found guilty of this charge and if you have been as I have been, please God forgive us of this implication.

I would like to draw to a close with an illustration depicting the brilliance of God almighty; throughout time Billions of people have been born and millions through time have been called and chosen by God, they have received the spirit of God and they all will end up in heaven. Take ten million people, born in different eras all through history with different culture and different challenges, and then consider the book of life which was penned before the foundation of the world, in other words before creation. (Revelation 17:18) “...And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.” Over a period of 6 million years maybe a little more, consider the brilliance and the praise God would receive and will obtain when all make it to heaven without one ever being lost. Men hushed, principalities silenced and the only true God exalted and praised for His wisdom and sovereign ability to accomplish His will, even when all may seem to be against Him. Nothing will and can ever oppose or stand in the way of our great God, He will be praise and we will praise Him, for His mercies endure forever, for all those who belong to Him. Yes there will be goats amongst the sheep, there will be true believers amongst counterfeit believers, and there will be tares amongst the wheat. It was meant to be this way, it is part of God’s plan and His will. As we remember when the book of life was penned, before creation, look who now enters the kingdom of God! (Revelation 20:15) “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Is our God brilliant, He is more than that, He is gleamingly far above any word I can find to describe Him, He goes by the name of great Jehovah! This is the God I serve!

In conclusion, doubting one who has often said, “I fear I shall never enter heaven.” Fear Not! All the people of God shall enter into heaven, why would we fear death, and for when have we ever feared going home. God is in control! So feeble and weak one, fear not if the spirit of God has elected you to His household. Some may say, and then we have licence to sin so that grace may abound, but no God fearing saint would have this mindset, who would deliberately want to go and bite the hand that feeds it. “No one else shall have thy portion, it is reserved in heaven for thee, and you shall have it ere long, for there shall be no vacant thrones in glory when all the chosen are gathered in.”

What kept the children of Israel out of the Promised Land? (Hebrews 3:19) “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”

Believe God and trust in His ability and not your own inabilities, it is all About Him and His will and we the children of God are the benefactors of His grace. If you have the spirit of Christ then you belong to Him and God will treat you as a son, even if you need to be disciplined. What father does not discipline his child? The spirit of God will enable you to believe! It is all about His mercy, not our abilities or else we would have something to boast about. (Romans 3:27) “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.” So faith removes the temptation of boasting far from us. (Hebrews 3:6) “But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” So we may boast, but only in our hope in Him and His ability to get us home!

Signing off

Tyrone

The River Jordan

(Job 40:23) “Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.”

When all else fails is God not enough to satisfy you? Are you not complete in Him, or do you look for quiet satisfaction and rapturous delight elsewhere? Does the cares of this life engulf you with all its troubles? When we find ourselves deep within the River Jordan, and we look upon the Behemoth’s of life do we cower away into the corner of doubt, or do we swim swiftly to the overhang of unbelief? Where we consider that not all music blown from harmonious instruments, or drawn from living strings, can yield such promise as we find in our gracious God, our heavenly Father, for when He promises something it will surely stand the test of eternity! Why would we want anything but God? Christian here is all you will ever need and it is to be found in and through the Lord Jesus and His glorious Word. Put your trust in Him and everything else will begin to fade into insignificance when the hope of His eternal glory takes route in our lives and begins to uproot all unwanted doubt and unbelief. This will happen as God is able to keep and deliver the bird from the fowler’s hand. The capacity of wealth found in our God, who can measure it? When our soul finds rest in Him, there is a deep sea of bliss, a shore less ocean of delight; all we need do is come and bathe in it, renewing our spirit and when we enter the waters of change, spiritually reforming our mortal bodies into the image of our Saviour glorious example, when our example begins to take on the form of His paradigm, although often hazy and distorted, nevertheless our lives begin to mimic His life, what joy does that bring to a believer? In fact so much delight that when we see the change in our lives even if the transformation be small, it causes our souls to joyously sing praises to our heavenly Father. When we have finally grasp that God is our Father and words like; “I will be their God” rings true to our ears, however do not refer to other having to convince us that we are saved and reassuring us that we belong to the King of Kings. No, rather when you have understood that God is for you, that He is your Father, that the Lord Jesus paid the price for your sin as a individual, when this truth resonates deep within your soul, it is only then will you enter His ocean of delight. When you swim for an age that you find no shore, dive throughout eternity and you will find no bottom. I am not always finding victory as a constant achiever in the river Jordan, but what I can say without any fear of contradiction, is I have taste that the Lord is gracious and it is sweet to wash in the Jordan, where he abides even when the river becomes turbulent and when the waters rush against my mouth so that I gasp for air I know that my Saviour is there!

May we always keep in mind who it is we call Father, may we bear in mind what the Lord Jesus accomplish on Calvary by His death and may we walk in faith trusting our God for He is willingly and able to carry us through whatever it is He was predetermined for us to endure. Father help us understand if need be that to dwell in the light of the Lord will ravish us with love and equip us to rejoice with unspeakable joy.

Let us not be swayed; “Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Contentment?

(Jude 1:18) “They said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions."

The Apostles, the forerunners of the faith have warned us of what we must be on the lookout for. This battle that we are part of is fierce and deadly and it will use whatever means it can in order to get us (God’s children) to walk in unbelief. Love will always warn us of all pressing dangers.

Judgment must begin at home, if the apostles have warned us that “in the last time,” and we are now in the year 2011, two thousand years after Jude actually penned this statement, we must conclude that the probability of scoffers being evident today is almost a banker. I must look into the mirror and ask myself am I a scoffer? Do I constantly run after my own ungodly passions? It is easy to be truthful in finding an answer to this enquiry, all I need examine is how much of my life do I lay down for others, is it all about me, or am I surrounded with an attitude of helping others in need. I will agree that we all could do more, but that is not the point. Do I serve the Lord Jesus for self gain or do I have His attitude, He laid down His life for His sheep, for if I have His Spirit then I must also bear His fruit. Can an apple tree bear thorns and thistles? In like manner a true repentant sinner will look to be more like the Lord Jesus. I also understand that we may make many mistakes along the way, of which I am chief, but there must come a time when God in His mercy begins to impart wisdom unto us in the areas we fail miserably. Wherever you may find yourself, remember you can always turn to the Lord Jesus, call out to Him and He will administer the perfect dosage of grace required. Our Father is ever wise, ever knowing and full of mercy. Repent and be free!

We can learn much from the Apostles; Paul through experience learnt to be content wherever He found Himself. (2Corinthians 12:10) “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Can we echo these words? Because our strength in Christ is found when we are confronted by calamities and the like, it is then that I am strong; it is then that I have no intellectual answer explaining my situation away, but I am dependant on the strength of the Spirit in me, to get me through the trail. Paul was not only willing to accept his position in Christ but he was content in it, are we? We should be, because when we show disgruntlement with or circumstance then we have not understood this principle. May God help us to find freedom in Him so that we will be effective members of His body, the church!

Signing off

Tyrone

Loves Warning!

(Luke 17:32) “Remember Lot's wife.”

Love is a trait full of warning; it must be if it will stand up to the true test. Let us consider an example, if you had knowledge about an event that only you were aware of and it was a certainty, what would you do? Hollywood has often used examples like this to illustrate a pending disaster, the C.I.A finds out that a bomb is about to go off in a certain city and they cannot save those in the city yet one of the agents family lives there. What will he do? He will warn them of the danger and advise them to get out and save themselves. He may not be able to go into the finer details about the bomb because of his pledge of secrecy to the government but as he has a son whom he loves with all his heart and would exchange his life for his without blinking an eyelid, he will warn him and get him to flee the city. Love will come to the rescue! It must if the love is sincere.

(John 3:16) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Here we see that God knew that He would have to judge sin and therefore demonstrated His love, not with lip service, but by giving sinners an out by sending His only son, God in the flesh, to pay the price for sinners and yet He was without sin. There can be no greater example of love; this proves that God is love! All He requires now from sinners is for them to acknowledge their sin and understand that they are guilty as sinners and that God must judge sin and that the sinner’s sentence will be server, they will all be cast into the Lake of Fire (hell) for all eternity. The only way to escape that destiny is to repent and acknowledge your sin and ask God to forgive you for your sins, you must then understand that only through the Lord Jesus can you find forgiveness. There is no other way, no other god and no other formula one can apply to escape the findings of God. You must also believe that although the Lord died, on the third day he also rose again from the dead and this is why we who were once dead now live in Him. Do not worry too much about any formula that you must apply to find forgiveness, if you honestly fall to your knees and cry out unto the Lord to be saved, He will save you, He will not turn one away, for He is love! Having said that today is the day of salvation, but there will come a day when that offer will no longer be available to sinners, so I beg you to pay earnest attention to the seriousness of your pending decision. My friends, who have not yet bent the knee to the Lord Jesus, Richard, Brett, Trevor, Warren, Mike and Gavin time is still in your favour, but for how much longer, a judgment is coming, please take this decision seriously and do not put it off, act today!

How then do I use a verse like the one above to depict God’s love? Because God is love He will warn us of the potential imminent calamity that is on the horizon. Let us look at Lot’s example; I see a lot of us, my brothers in Christ falling prey to this decoy that the devil lures us with, I also am guilty of Lots mistake, but because we have been warned we must act accordingly, and turn form our error. Wisdom will cause us to act differently!

Lot believed God and acknowledged Him as the only true God, but the mistake He made when Abram asked him what land he wanted to occupy, he made a poor choice, he chose the land of Jordan that was well watered but it would come with a price as the city Sodom was there. The constant pull of sin through the lust of the eyes, and the lust of the flesh would be his wives downfall. This is why Luke tells us to remember Lot’s wife! We must be careful with all of life’s lollypops, they are designed to suck us in to the vortex of sin, be careful as carefulness it the first fruit of repentance. The more we have the more we stand to lose! Be content with what we have and give thanks for were we find ourselves, let us not strive for more, it may be our downfall, “Remember Lots wife.” Love has warned us; let us give it the attention it requires!

Signing off

Tyrone

Walk in the Spirit

(2Corinthians 10:3) “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh…”

If only we understood the urgency Paul refers to when penning this statement;

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds), casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ;” helping us to understand that life isn’t only about what we see, taste and handle, but rather about what Christ achieved on Calvary. By the grace of God I can say that I am convinced that whenever we try to find justification by what we do in the flesh, we have fallen prey to the enemy and his cunning devises. We have then taken our eyes off our Saviour and His accomplishments as we then place self justification on what we have done instead of what He has done. Do not get me wrong, James is very clear that faith without works is dead. Our faith must produce works; however we must not generate works from a platform of legalism but rather from a platform of grace as we fall more in love with our Saviour. We must not strive so that everything we do becomes a burden; it actually ends up crushing us and hinders our ability to bear fruit in the Spirit. I know this can get tricky to understand with clarity and we can often make the mistake of having begun in the spirit to now find justification through the flesh. Remember the Pharisees and how they learnt to manipulate the law so that they could live in the flesh with their hearts far from God and appear to be doing the right things before man, the Lord referred to them as hypocrites. (Matthew 23:13) “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter.” Pride will always be resisted by God.

Remember you stand or fall before God! Do not think because you find justification from men that you will be accepted by God. Only those who acknowledge the work of the cross and the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice will ultimately be justified by Him.

I am convinced that Paul understood the secret to walking in the spirit, it is there for all to see and I am also starting to understand the simplicity of it. We are multifaceted being and Satan uses our complexes against us. How, you may ask? He get us so caught up with life and all that goes with it, he makes us focus on our problems so that they become issues in our lives and when a concern has fully matured it will bring forth death. However when I remember what Christ accomplished on Calvary I then understand that…

(Romans 8:38-39) “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Everything pivots on Jesus Christ our Lord, the devil understands this and will use our circumstances to get us to take our eyes off the Lord Jesus and on to our problems. This is where we so often fall prey to his exploits, if we knew what time the thief would break in and steel would we not make provision to catch him or keep him out, we surely would! If we now understand how we so often return to the weak and beggarly element in our lives and take our eyes off our beloved Saviour, then maybe we must approach life from a different direction. God the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and He does this by using the Word of God, the bible!

Why do you think Paul with all his accolades in the flesh chose to disregard all of them as he boldly declares that everything else in live besides the Lord Jesus and His death counts for very little. (1Corinthians 2:2) “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

What it means to walk in the spirit as opposed to walking in the flesh is rather a simple application, so effortless in fact that we often miss it! WE MUST TAKE OUR EYES OF OURSELVES AND LOOK AT THE LORD JESUS! Fall in love with Him, think about what He achieved while on the earth, thing about all He had to go through and remember that He did it for you and me. What a great Saviour, He who has begun a good work in you will see it through unto the end. Do you believe this, I do and I am thankful that my name has been called, are you?

I will leave you with a chorus we use to sing when I was newly saved and it is remarkably apt; “turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of the world will grow strangely dim.” Remember this and walk in the spirit making melody in your heart and praising God!

Signing off

Tyrone

God For Us!

(Romans 8:31) “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

When I consider what makes me tick, what drives me to do the things I do, I realize that I am constantly beating myself up as I lack the ability to be more Christ like on a daily basis. Some days are better than others, but they are never consistently the same. I accuse a lot more than I excuse. I appreciate that it must be this way in the context of on-going sanctification; our thrust must be to lay down our lives so that Christ may be formed in us. I just wonder how much of that driving force is from the flesh and not in the power of the spirit. If I really understood what it meant for the Lord Jesus to free me from sin and death, would I live the life I now lived? So many of us get caught up with the beggarly weakness of life as we run with the masses and are driven by all the same goals unbeliever clutch too.

May God help us be more like the saints of old, might we be willing to wander in sheep’s clothing, homeless and in the Wilderness if need be. I am not suggesting that we look for extra trials; life has enough to contend with! It is our perceptions to life that worries me, family and friends alike all seem to be caught up with the same mundane drive of life, work education, and death cover. What about all the great examples that God chose to show us through His Word, the Bible! We look at the great faith chapter and we see the praises the writer gives to His people, Rahab the harlot, Samson is also mention and what about a man named Jephthah who sacrificed his daughter for the cause of God. When these great warriors of God are mentioned, often I hear people highlighting their faults, but when I read God’s faith chapter I see Him praising them. What have you done for God lately? I ask that question to provoke you, not to push you into your shell and to be filled with worldly sorrow that leads to death, but rather to urge you to be great for God, to walk in His victory, to remember what He was willing to do for all of His siblings. If Christ laid down His life for us, then it could never be unreasonable for God our Father to ask us to present our bodies unto Him so that He may shape and mold us into the image of His beloved Son, the One who pleased His father well! We must begin to believe that He is for us and not against us. HE IS, FOR US! When we begin to raison d'être correctly we will see the things of this world growing strangely dim as the hope of heaven begins to grow into something so beautiful, that we will be willing to lay down our lives and not be so caught up with conforming to this world. For the day is soon approaching were we will stand shoulder to shoulder with Samson, Rahab and Jepthah in the New Jerusalem, Do you believe this? I certainly do! I will however confess that when people look at my life and my ensample do they really say without doubt that they can see that I believe this? Does my daily life speak of Christ and my hope? I know I am found wanting in many areas, having said that though, I will press toward the mark of the high calling which can only be found in Jesus Christ my Lord. Although I have made many mistakes and I will continue to make mistakes, I will forget all that is behind me, yet I will above all remember that if my God is for me, who then can be against me. Praise His glorious name!

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

Signing off

Tyrone.

Life in the Spirit

(Romans 8:13) “For if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”

This verse is so importance that it should grip our hearts and bring about a change in our everyday lives. Yet if we do not acknowledge the destructiveness of the flesh and we somehow feel that we are immune to its disparaging power, then I think we cannot understand salvation and therefore may think we are saved when in fact we are not!

This war between the spirit and the flesh will continue until we put off our flesh, death will be sweet in that regard as the constant battle between these two enemies would have run its course. Death will have its reward! Having said that, when we breathe our last, then we can no longer find reparation for the mistakes we have made by seeking God’s face and finding repentance. It is a beautiful privilege to be able to call upon our God and ask for forgiveness when we have stayed from the truth and we no longer walk in the spirit but are slaves to the flesh. The flesh can only produce death; the danger of finding justification through the flesh is a constant skirmish we must always be aware of. We must put to death the deeds of the flesh by walking in the spirit and when this becomes a way of life, then we will have peace with God, and we will live.

So while we still breathe may we make it our lifetime goal to master the art of walking in the spirit. It can only ever be done through the work of Calvary and only after we have received Christ spirit at salvation. The one thing I struggle with most in my life is the consistency of applying this instruction from Paul to my life. I seem to be like a yo-yo at times and forget what it cost the Lord to free me from the bondage of sin and death. I am in constant repentance and have to often call upon my heavenly Father and ask Him to forgive me. How thankful I am that when we fail, he does not cast us aside as you would a bone once the meat has been cleaned from it. He is so great that I can barely contain my absolute bewilderment when I consider His love and mercy, and then when I consider His grace the wind is knocked out from me so that I can barely breathe. How great is our God! (Proverbs 24:16) “For a righteous man falleth seven times, and riseth up again; But the wicked are overthrown by calamity.”

No matter where you may find yourselves this morning, no matter how you may have fallen in this area of your life, if the flesh is the dictator of your life and death surrounds you, remember that God is able, not only is He able but willing to forgive you of your sins, turn to Him, repent, and you will find forgiveness, but we must acknowledge our sin and our shortcoming in this area of our lives, otherwise how will we become more like our Saviour? We must also remember His example and how God taught Him obedience through suffering. When the going gets tough may we find refuge be in our Lord and Saviour, even Jesus Christ our Lord. No matter how many times you may have fallen in a particular area of your life, remember the skin from your knees will heal as long as you call upon the name of the Lord.

Lord forgive me and all those who have received the spirit of God who struggle in this area more than most; Help us to be mindful of what it means to walk in the spirit, so that we may find life and live pleasing you by bringing honor and glory to you, our God.

So to all of us who profess to be children of God may we be mindful of this truth;

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Renewed Strength

“Let the people renew their strength.”

- Isaiah_41:1

All things on earth need to be renewed. No created thing continues by itself. “Thou renewest the face of the year,” was the Psalmist’s utterance. Even the trees, which wear not themselves with care, nor shorten their lives with labour, must drink of the rain of heaven and suck from the hidden treasures of the soil. The cedars of Lebanon, which God has planted, only live because day by day they are full of sap fresh drawn from the earth. Neither can man’s life be sustained without renewal from God. As it is necessary to repair the waste of the body by the frequent meal, so we must repair the waste of the soul by feeding upon the Book of God, or by listening to the preached Word, or by the soul-fattening table of the ordinances. How depressed are our graces when means are neglected! What poor starvelings some saints are who live without the diligent use of the Word of God and secret prayer! If our piety can live without God it is not of divine creating; it is but a dream; for if God had begotten it, it would wait upon him as the flowers wait upon the dew. Without constant restoration we are not ready for the perpetual assaults of hell, or the stern afflictions of heaven, or even for the strifes within. When the whirlwind is set free, woe to the tree that hath not sucked up fresh sap, and grasped the rock with many intertwisted roots. When tempests arise, woe to the mariners that have not strengthened their mast, nor cast their anchor, nor sought the haven. If we suffer the good to grow weaker, the evil will surely gather strength and struggle desperately for the mastery over us; and so, perhaps, a painful desolation, and a lamentable disgrace may follow. Let us draw near to the footstool of divine mercy in humble entreaty, and we shall realize the fulfillment of the promise, “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.”

C.H.Spurgeon

Signing off

Tyrone

Power!

(Proverbs 3:27) “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, When it is in the power of thy hand to do it.”

Have you ever stopped to consider the power that God wields in His voice, He speaks and creation appears, out of darkness He caused light to shine? From the deep he spoke and light appeared, and from that He caused the universe to exist, when we see with our eyes as they peer into the distant and absorb all of the beauty of creation, do we ever realize that in the beginning there was darkness. (Genesis 1:1-2) “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

We see that God can do what He wants when He wants as He at will has the ability and the power to execute all His desires. Us on the other hand do not have this ability, and thank God for that! Imagine if mankind as a fallen being, awake to sin as sinner had the same ability God had and we could choose what should or shouldn’t be. What a scary thought! Have you ever sat in a group over dinner or the like, with a mix of male and female and spoken about a controversial issue like the death penalty? If not then you will not understand my point but if you have then this summit will be clearly understood. Every individual has their own opinion and they will drive it home if given the opportunity. With that said, where would we find common ground to rule and create? I suppose we could form governments that will rule as they now do, some democratically while other rule with a soviet fist. But if we look at history, what happens when a man like Hitler comes into power and almost overthrows the world through war. Yet in the process He wipeout six million Jews! I could spent days looking at various examples through history establishing my point. Mankind has discovered and uses cloning to bring forth life, where will that eventually end? Will we begin to mass produce human embryos like the way Hollywood depicts it in the movies, like the film "The Matrix"? In conclusion it would be disastrous if we had the ability to create as God has. One last fact, we now can successfully use artificial insemination to help woman have kids. But let us consider the implications to this technique, male sperm is used to fertilize the eggs, one fertilizes egg is never the norm. Two to three gametes are them fertilized in case some die off, then the best looking embryo is chosen and placed into the woman’s womb for the duration of the pregnancy. What happens to the other eggs? They are left to die. When does life begin in Gods reckoning? Is it at birth or is it at conception? Now if I throw this out for debate, what do you think the response will be? One truth I am convinced about is that everybody will have their own outlook. Be that as it may, what if life begins at conception, what will then happen to the spirit of those unborn fertilized eggs? Are we then potentially sending our own children to hell? I do not emphatically belief that all children who die end up in hell if they have not repented and believed on Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf. And yet I do not with assurance say that all children that die prematurely will end up in heaven. This is a domain left to God’s judgment; He will be just as He is just and righteous.

Having said all of that, we must never lose sight of the power we do have in our own worlds. It is rather beautiful what God has equipped us with; we can chose to bless someone. Take a homeless man standing on a street corner begging bread, we can either turn a blind eye or reach out to him and provide provision for his need. We have it in our power to be kind when others are choosing to be mean. Think about this amazing gift God has left us with. I do not wish to force any obligation onto you in any particular area of your lives, but what I will stress is what God stresses:

(Proverbs 3:27) “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it.” Sure the context of this verse instructs us to reward those who deserve rewarding, but think about the opportunity you have to reach out to someone in need. Will we think about orphans and widows? Remember how God reached out to us by sending His son to die in our place, may this cause a love to well up within our hearts and to make this year a year of giving of ourselves to the need of others, remember not to forget to entertain strangers. Why would I say that you may ask? (Hebrews 13:2) “Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

Signing off

Tyrone