Flesh at War with the Spirit!

(Romans 8:9) “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.”

To walk as humble servants before the Lord takes courage and our application must be accurate if we want to please Him. I suppose it is like eating a boiled egg without salt, Very bland! But put too much salt and it is almost inedible. So too is it when I apply worldly wisdom to my life hoping to have my ouster and eat it! This is not the call for all who believe that Jesus died, was buried and rose again. We have been bought at a great price. Let us consider that value for just a moment; could all the gold of China compare, never! To find the right balance is not very easy if we begin to reason once again as men, so let us rather reason with godly wisdom. God the Son, co-creator with the Father left the portals of heaven. God the Holy Spirit impregnated a virgin woman, where He then went through the exact same process as all who have ever lived. He was born as a baby, dependent upon His mother for milk. Then through the process of time went through puberty and eventually became a man. God in the flesh! When I consider the wisdom of God, my immediate reaction is, was that necessary! Of course it was for the benefit of mankind and as God chose this process to save mankind who is it that could ever question it? His ways are far above our ways. “For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.” (Psalms 97:9)

We could never ever begin to reason with any form of accuracy if we where to compete in a historical quiz show with God. The greatest of scholars would be left looking stupid. The very first application we must appropriate in our lives to find freedom in serving Him is to remember this truth. “Let God be true and every man a liar”, it is foundation when seeking out the answers to life. Let us take creation as an example; I often hear comments made about how billions of years ago this or that happened and we as people glibly except it to be factual. The question I often ask myself is this, “where you there or did you see it to speak with such authority”? But on the other hand, God was there as He created all things; He was present at the time. Now with that in mind, who and where should we go to find the answers for creation. Obviously to God the source, but He is invisible, that is true yet He has left us His spirit and the Word of God, the Bible! That is where we will find the accurate answers for creation and anything outside of that will leave us with theories and guess work. It is exactly the same for us in our daily lives, we must constantly remember to look to Him for direction and answers. If not, we will be guessing, we will be playing Russian roulette with our lives. Somehow I find myself repeatedly having to examine myself in this exact area. What is the right equilibrium to life as a Christian? Should I do this or that! It is easy to get “lost in translation”, not the translation of clear biblical doctrine but rather lost in the turmoil of life. We end up chasing the wrong things, a bigger house a better car and the like.

What then should I appropriate in my life; the theory is simple; deny yourself daily, pick up your cross and follow the Lord. How do I become more efficient in my application to this call? Do I draw up lists and tick them off as done and dusted, do I start in the Spirit and then complete the call to my life by the power of my human reasoning? Obviously the answer to those questions is no! What then must I do to be an effective witness for Christ? We all must learn from the Word of God and it clearly instructs us; “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41)

Everything in our natural design looks to travel in the opposite direction to God’s will for our lives. The flesh is weak and it has succumb and fallen in sin and continues to fall through life. Theoretically we must understand this; we must accept it and then be on guard against it. How? With prayer! The Spirit of God has never ever surrendered to sin and it never will, but the flesh instinctively yields to it. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)

They are separate entities and yet we live with both at the same time, when I was saved (born again) my spirit found life my sin was forgiven and yet I still house the Spirit in a fallen dying human body. This is what often confuses us. But it shouldn’t as we now know better. That does not mean we will no longer struggle with temptation and sin, all it means is that we now have the power to overcome sin if and when we use the right application to it. To reason as men with psychology and programs to conquer sin in our live would be wrong as we would be using something from a sinful source that in itself is sinful to try and defeat sin. It has no power over sin; it will never have the power to overcome it. God used 4000 year and the accounts of many through that time to prove to us that it is impossible as a sinner to be righteous in ourselves. This is why He introduced the law; it was to prove to us that we needed a Saviour. This is why He sent His Son to die for sinners and defeat sin as a man. But now that He has had the victory, we as His children are entitled to walk in the spirit. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

Do you see the shift that need to take place? And it must happen in our minds; we must understand it before we can claim it and therefore walk in it. The right application to correct doctrine will leave us living the way God intended us to live.

In summation, let us walk in the spirit and we will not fulfil the lust of our flesh. Let us put on the mind of Christ, it is the opposite of our natural reasoning, nevertheless when we live in Him we will have peace in our lives.

Signing off

Tyrone

Licence to Serve!

(Romans 3:4) Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged."

Grace = Licence to Serve. I saw this comment in the remarks column on another blog site and I thought it would be fitting to consider this a little deeper. We are covered by the grace of God; we can do nothing in ourselves to earn points in finding saving favour before God almighty. This is probably the clearest point the bible makes. Wherever you look you will find reference to this teaching; it was only the Lord Jesus who carried the burden of sin, without every sinning; therefore without his accomplishment here on earth there would be no opportunity for anyone to make it to heaven. Why? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. (Romans 3:23)

All have sinned and after judgment if found guilty, even for one sin, by breaking God’s law, the guilty would then need to be punished for sin. Why punished? God is who He is and He is righteous and therefore requires what is right. If a law is broken a price must be paid. That is what it means to be righteous, no wiggle room for family and friends. I have often heard people say, “I am a good person”, be careful with that sought of ideology it is just another lure, leading mankind away from finding forgiveness for their sins. Without forgiveness we will end up in hell. It will never be because we were a good person that keeps us out of hell, it can and will only ever be safe for those who have been covered by the blood of the Lamb. If the Lord Jesus did not accomplish what He did achieve here on earth, then all of mankind would have been doomed to hell forever. Think of it like this; there was a waiting room in the heavens full of waiting candidates; Abraham, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel, Job and many more who could see the beauty of heaven but there was a large chained gate that kept them from the actual presence of God and the only person who had the power and the key to unlock that gate was the Lord Jesus Christ. Now everything hung in the balance while He walked the face of the earth. Many opposed the Lord Jesus, Satan and all his heavenly allies, but be not fooled even men and woman were and are still on his side, even if they are not aware of it.

King David explains the account of Jesus on the cross like this; “Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—“(Psalms 22:12-16)

We can clearly see descriptive evidence (strong bulls of Bashan) that the Lord endured hardship in the spiritual realm while He was on the cross. And therefore we accept that there was a war between Satan and the Lord Jesus in the heavens. Yet without mankind’s involvement how would He have been crucified as a man. Get the point! Although we do not see into the spiritual realm with our natural eyes, we are still played like pawns by the forces of darkness, until we are set free by the glorious gospel message. If we are still blind to the Gospel and have not found forgiveness for our sin, in and through no other than the Lord Jesus Christ. We are part of Satan’s army and not God’s army. Hear me carefully now, if you do not believe that the Lord Jesus is the only way, the only true and the only way the you in person can escaped eternal damnation (judgment), then you are an enemy of the cross! Not different to me on the other side as an enemy of all the evil forces who oppose the only true and living God, Jehovah God, the Father of Jesus Christ my Saviour. I know I may often stumble with this and that in my life, and not be the greatest example in consistent application to the Christian lifestyle; I have made many mistakes along the way, but let it be clear that my banner is out for all to see and it reads, “Jesus Christ is my Lord!” My Saviour is the only way to God the Father and He is the only One who has the ability to keep all repentant believers from the clutches of Satan. No one else ever walked upon the face of the earth, lived their lives without ever breaking God’s law except the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, Ghandi, Mandela, the Dalai Lama, mother Teresa and the like all have been brilliant in their field, they have accomplished more that most in their lifetime, but if their message is not this: If they do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and became a man and live on earth without sin and then paid the price for sin, died and then rose again from the dead, so that repentant sinners could go free. Then they are the enemies of the cross, they are God’s enemies and therefore in opposition to His truth, which is the only truth! "Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged." (Romans 3:4)

What would it help if we had licence to serve, but we where serving a lie. Repent and believe on the only true God, He is the way the truth and the life and no man will get to His Father but by Him. Do not take the opinions of others lightly, there is a war, we have been in it from birth but now it is about to heat up, so choose this day who you will serve! Will we be amongst that number that stands for truth regardless of its price or will barter and negotiate with the wage of compromise? I understand that even the remnant are covered by grace and have been handpicked by God. “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. (Romans 11:4-5)

Will we be like Jacob and wrestle with God until we are blessed, even if it leaves us limping for the rest of our lives. Surely it will be worth it all! Or will we glibly go about our daily lives?

Grace indeed frees us to serve, let us just make sure that it is the Lord Jesus we serve and not another, “The kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” The world may put on a loving face but let us be on my guard when they where possible, as a time will come they will betray us as they did our Master, it may even be with a kiss. Their message will be a different message, there is no other true way outside of Christ that will lead a man to heaven, and every other way will be a lie! And only a liar with another agenda tells a LIE! Whenever a man is about to stab what is true, he usually professes very great reverence for it. They may even make reference to Jesus as a good man or a prophet, but only a false prophet would claim himself to be equal to God; “I and the Father are one." (John 10:30) He cannot be a good person and be full of lies only a deceiver behaves like that!

The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Be warned and on guard any other message no matter how nice and cuddly it may sound is a lie and has been back by hell itself.

Father God, hone our eyesight and help us keep the wolves at bay as they are on the increase. But we know our Saviour has overcome the enemy, in him we do trust!

Signing Off

Tyrone

Our High Priest!

(Luke 22:44) “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

In considering my HIV status, as tragic as it may seem to some on the one hand, but on the other it is a glorious opportunity I had been afforded, I have had the privilege to stand up and declare my allegiance to my Saviour the Lord Jesus in those circles. Without this virus I would not have had a platform. Although I live with this ailment, it is now helpful as a reminder of my disobedience as a young believer, for which I am grateful, not thankful for my disobedience but appreciative for the love the Father has shown me in this area of my life, as it proved my Father’s love to me from another perspective. How you may wonder? The answer is very simple but extremely clear, the only danger we have if we take this position too glibly and wilfully continue in sin that grace may abound, we will suffer consequences to our lives, hence the reason I am HIV positive. God disciplines those whom He loves. Nevertheless, in faith through it all I never doubted what Christ had done for me on the cross. Yet pride is a very dangerous trait to live with; “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6)

Samson is a good case to consider; although he was told never to divulge the secret of his strength, when he disobeyed he seemed somewhat surprised that he lost his strength. Nevertheless this I will say with confidence and I think I have understood what I am now going to say, he was thankful for God’s discipline in that area of his life even though he lost his eyes. He is now in the company of God and all those who have died in faith not yet having received the promise of their resurrected bodies as they wait patiently for the trump of God to sound! Discipline is a crucial part in a believer’s life and we must welcome it, as it will bring forth palatable fruit in its season.

For all who have now been through this adoption process - those who are born again, not by the will of man by the will of the Father, have now been given the privilege to call out “Abba Father”, to addresses with reverence and in love but with confidence, the only true God as their Father. Why? Only because we now have been given life, our eyes are opened, and we can see! We now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on Calvary. This is the qualifier, we cannot reject that message and believe some other message and claim the right to this adoption, as it will make us illegitimate children. There is a deception that sweeps across the globe wanting people to believe that there is another way to heaven, it is a lie! This deception may even get us to believe that we are entitled to the privilege of heaven when we pass from this life to the next, but that would not be true! Only those found written in the Lambs Book of Life will enter heaven and no other; “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15)

In other words all of God’s adopted children will ultimately find themselves in heaven, but impostors and the like will be cast into outer darkness. "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen." (Matthew 22:11-14)

There is only one way we are entitled to the correct wedding garment, we must call upon the name of the Lord, accept His sacrifice on your behalf, agree to His conditions and do not come with any of our own added agenda's and we will be welcome into the kingdom of heaven; “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21)

There is a side to this glorious gospel message that we often overlook; Jesus our High Priest! We get so bogged down by the trail of life and we see God as awesome as He is, as someone far above us, which He is, but we think along the lines that no one understands our predicament. This thought could not be further from the truth. From as far back as Moses and Aaron the high priest ministry was introduced to prepare us to understand the importance of that role. The Catholics believe that the pope is God’s appointed man for the hour, the high priest, one who intercedes on behalf of the people and communes directly with God. They are wrong! Those days of intersession by a man have long run their course. The final high priest was the Lord Jesus and no other man will ever be needed to intercede on behalf of the people ever again, as He has “finished” the work. We have a High Priest, He is God and yet He lived as a man. It is because of His life on earth as a man that qualifies Him for the role. How so? May we never forget and may God the Holy Spirit continually remind us, as He does, that the Lord Jesus not only lived as a man but in all points was tempted as we are tempted: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

I will confess this truth often eludes me when I am in trial. Forgive me Father when and where I have erred in the application to this truth. We must understand that the Lord Jesus does understand what we are going through, not only does He understand but has experience far more than we could ever begin to imagine. I can sympathize with someone living with HIV as I too live with the virus. You may feel for me, but you could never really come to grips with what it is to live with the virus as you do not have it. In the Garden of Gethsemane the Lord Jesus endured such hardship against sin that He began to sweat drops of blood. May we remember this in our time of trial! He is touched by the feelings of our infirmities!

“The mental pressure arising from our Lord’s struggle with temptation, so forced his frame to an unnatural excitement, that his pores sent forth great drops of blood which fell down to the ground. This proves how tremendous must have been the weight of sin when it was able to crush the Saviour so that he distilled great drops of blood! This demonstrates the mighty power of his love. It is a very pretty observation of old Isaac Ambrose that the gum which exudes from the tree without cutting is always the best. This precious camphire-tree yielded most sweet spices when it was wounded under the knotty whips, and when it was pierced by the nails on the cross; but see, it giveth forth its best spice when there is no whip, no nail, no wound. This sets forth the voluntariness of Christ’s sufferings, since without a lance the blood flowed freely. No need to put on the leech, or apply the knife; it flows spontaneously. No need for the rulers to cry, “Spring up, O well;” of itself it flows in crimson torrents. If men suffer great pain of mind apparently the blood rushes to the heart. The cheeks are pale; a fainting fit comes on; the blood has gone inward as if to nourish the inner man while passing through its trial. But see our Saviour in his agony; he is so utterly oblivious of self, that instead of his agony driving his blood to the heart to nourish himself, it drives it outward to bedew the earth. The agony of Christ, inasmuch as it pours him out upon the ground, pictures the fulness of the offering which he made for men.

Do we not perceive how intense must have been the wrestling through which he passed, and will we not hear its voice to us? “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” Behold the great Apostle and High Priest of our profession, and sweat even to blood rather than yield to the great tempter of your souls.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

Grace and the Holy Spirit

I started with a bible reading program this week; I hope to finish the bible from cover to cover in three months, I can remember the benefit I received years ago when I did this, when I read the old testament, spiritually I was in one of the best positions of my life, call it a pleasant peaceful spiritual high. I have the time on my hands, and we are told to occupy the day wisely. John piper urges us not to waste our lives, how much time I have wasted! But I love the Apostle Pauls encouragement, he instructs us to forget those things that are behind us, even if we have wasted time in our lives with trivial nonsense, we are told to forget what is behind and to press toward the mark of the high calling which is in Christ Jesus. Today is a day we can all start with new beginnings, if you have fallen into bad habits, today is the day you are afforded another opportunity to leave them behind, isn’t that a beautiful thought! We now have His Spirit, in fact we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Salvation, He comes and makes His abode with every true born again believer. He equips us for service to honour God. Do not confuse the outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit as found in the book of Corinthians with the infilling of the Holy Ghost (Spirit) at Salvation. Without the Holy Spirit guiding me in spiritual matters I would be like a dumb mute, in fact blind as well! It is frustrating at times of how bad a memory I have, I cannot remember names, and I struggle with the day to day activities that most people find mundane. However, although I have never been one to enter into the practise of memorising verses, I can say this, by the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, I am able to recall many verses without thought. It is all of God and has nothing to do with my several natural abilities. I am thankful for this attribute to my life it just reminds me of how dependant I am on my God and Saviour. Where do I get this thought from you may ask, well no doubt, the Word of God of course: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

The disciples must have seen their task in furthering the Gospel message as somewhat daunting, it was not as if they went from town to town with a note pad in the hand always making reference to what they had experienced when the Lord walked with them here on earth. The Lord reassures them, that they would receive a helper, not any assistant, but God the Holy Spirit! In fact He told them that; “even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:17)

Do we see the different approach to our understanding on the subject of the purpose of God the Holy Spirit? Because the hyper-charismatic’s abuse their so called right to call upon God the Holy Spirit, does that mean we should shy away from the correct teaching of what He has come to achieve, God forbid! I am ever so thankful for His work in my life; I am grateful for my Saviours resurrection and return back to His Father in Heaven. For as He taught, if He did not return He could not send the helper. Let us never forget His work in our lives, we may not see it as apparent as the daylight sun but be sure He is at work beyond our wildest imaginations; this is only true in your life if you belong as an heir to the household of God. Only if you have found repentance and you have believed in your heart that God has raised the Lord Jesus from the dead and you verbally confess Him as Lord of your life. I will make no pretences that I am not gifted as a scholar, and I am not amongst that number, but be warned that as a scholar, never forget the role of God the Holy Spirit in your life. Calvinists believe strongly as a rule in a God-centred application to life and we shy away from a man-centred mindset, but this I say, if you block out the work of God the Holy Spirit in your life and you do not recognise the work as His work, then you are living a man-centred life. How seriously does God take this? I will not speak as a fool and dare to speak on His behalf, but I will make reference to one of the Lord Jesus’ quotes; “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:32)

“We have been saved by GRACE through faith which is a gift of God not of works least any man should boast.” May we never forget this, we must always be reminded of this truth, we often begin with this understanding but soon we look to find justification by what we do and not what our Glorious Saviour has achieved on our behalf. He will share His glory with no other, and then again why should He! He alone bled and died on a cruel Roman cross, praise His glorious name! It is God the Holy Spirit who constantly reminds us of this truth and He will never let us forget it!

“NO TRUTH is more plainly taught in God’s word than this, that the salvation of sinners is entirely owing to the grace of God. If there be anything clear at all in Scripture, it is plainly there declared that men are lost by their own works, but saved through the free favour of God their ruin is justly merited, but their salvation is always the result of the unmerited mercy of God. In varied forms of expression, but with constant clearness and positiveness, this truth is over and over again declared.
Yet, plain as this truth is, and influencing, as it should do, every part of our doctrinal belief, it is frequently forgotten.
Many of the heresies which divide the Christian church, spring from a cloudness upon this point. Were that word "grace" but fully read, marked, and learned, the great evangelical system would be far more firmly held, and plainly preached: but forgetfulness that "by grace ye are saved," is a common fault among all conditions of men. Sinners forget it, and they seek salvation by the works of the law; they refuse to surrender to the sovereign grace of God, and entrench themselves behind the tottering fence of their own righteousness. And saints forget this, too, and therefore their minds become dark, their spirits fall into legal bondage, and where they ought to rejoice in the Lord unceasingly, they become despondent, and full of unbelieving dread.
Brethren, I am incessantly preaching here the doctrines of grace, they are growingly dear to me; but often as I preach them, I trust they are not wearisome to you; and if they should be, that sad fact would not induce me to be silent upon them, but rather urge me to proclaim them more frequently and fervently, for your weariness of them would be a clear proof that you required to hear them yet again, and again, and again, until your souls were brought to delight in them.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

And I John Saw...

(Revelation 21:2) “And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem...”

Do we long for what John saw? What do we see in relation to what he saw? Do we right it off as artistic exaggeration or not? There seems to be many opinions on how one should read the book of Revelation and as a matter of fact the Bible on a whole. The only problem I have with trying to overanalyze scripture or look for what it does not say is that there is a danger of becoming wise in our own eyes. I do not trust my flesh and the way it loves to be proved right all the time, it seems to want to gloat, but it has nothing to do with righteousness, it may fall under its banner but the victory is claimed by the “pride of life”, we must guard our hearts from this evil. And once again I am not saying we must ever deviate from the truth of God’s Word, NEVER! It is the Word that will endure forever, opinions only last as long as they are voiced and then they die off and are soon forgotten. If we cannot stand for what we believe then we will be like chaff in the wind, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. However we must take heed that we do not allow pride to win the day. Personally I have settled on a literal understanding of scripture where and when possible i.e. if we examine these verses; “the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"’ (Revelation 4:7-8):- We see creatures created by God that we have never witnesses with our eyes and so we quickly explain them away as a reference to something else, we say it must means something deeper! All of scripture has deeper meaning when we unpack the truth of scripture, but why would we not want to look at the text and not accept it for what it says. Surely God with His majestic power could create a spiritual being with six wings and eyes all over its body even if the creature has a face of a man. Of course he is able and I believe that is exactly what He has done so when we get to heaven that is exactly what we will see, a spiritual being with eyes all over its body, with six wings and a face of a man. Another point in case would be this; “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” (Matthew 5:28-29):- If I took this literally then I would have been blind long ago, in fact many men would not have eyes. I accept the fact that at times we must also reason with a sound mind and in this instance I must understand that what I must appropriate in my life from this verse is to seek God’s face and to find grace to put off looking at woman with a lustful intent and keep myself from situations that would feed my mind in this area where possible. I now have an instruction from the Lord Jesus that gives me insight on what I should be on guard against. Where and when possible I look to unpack scripture literally, when this is not possible I then look for its deeper meaning. This is where I have settled when unpacking scripture. And obviously contextual exposition is key, do not take a verse out of context and then build a doctrine around it, this will often lead to heresy.

Back to my original question; do we long for what John saw? And herewith are some of Matthew Henry’s thoughts entwined with a few of mine: In this new world the apostle saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, not locally, but as to its original: this New Jerusalem is the church of God in its new and perfect state, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, God the Father has dressed the city (bride of Christ) and He has beautified it with all perfection of wisdom and holiness, It is all for His Son our Saviour with us the saints beneficiaries to His obedience. It measures forty-eight thousand furlongs, or 2400km. Here is enough room for all the people of God as there are many mansions in their Father's house. The foundation of the wall, for heaven is a city that hath her foundations; the promise and power of God, and the purchase of Christ, are the strong foundations of the church's safety and happiness. The foundations are described by their number - twelve, alluding to the twelve apostles whose gospel doctrines are the foundations upon which the church is built, Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; and, as to the matter of these foundations, it was various and precious, set forth by twelve sorts of precious stones, denoting the variety and excellency of the doctrines of the gospel, or of the graces of the Holy Spirit, or the personal excellencies of the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven is not inaccessible; there is a way opened into the holiest of all; there is a free admission to all those that are sanctified; they shall not find themselves shut out. All the true Israel of God (Christians all those who accept the lord Jesus as the true Messiah) shall have entrance into the New Jerusalem, as every tribe had into the earthly Jerusalem. With twelve angels guarding it’s entrances, to admit and receive the several tribes of the spiritual Israel and keep out others. With inscription on the gates, the names of the twelve tribes, to show that they have a right to the tree of life, and to enter through the gates into the city. Because of Christ' finished work on Calvary there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free. Men of all nations, and languages, who believe on Christ, have by him access to God in grace here and in glory hereafter. These gates are crafted from pearl, and yet with great variety: Every gate one pearl, either one single pearl of that vast bigness, or one single sort of pearl. Christ is the pearl of great price, and he is our way to God. There is nothing magnificent enough in this world fully to set forth the glory of heaven. Could we, in the glass of a strong imagination, contemplate such a city as is here described, even as to the exterior part of it, such a wall, and such gates, how amazing, how glorious! Then inside the New Jerusalem we see its strong wall, and stately gates, and glorious guards; now we are to be led through the gates into the city itself; and the first thing which we observe there is the street of the city, which is of pure gold, like transparent glass, The saints in heaven tread upon gold. The New Jerusalem has its several streets. There is the most exact order in heaven: every saint has his proper mansion. There is converse in heaven: the saints are then at rest, but it is not a mere passive rest; it is not a state of sleep and inactivity, but a state of delightful motion: The nations that are saved walk in the light of it. They walk with Christ in white. They have communion not only with God, but with one another; and all their steps are firm and clean. They are pure and clear as gold and transparent glass. Nothing that looks to defile will have power over the saint’s incorruptible bodies anymore, what a glorious thought! No longer is there a need for a man made temple, as the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb is the temple. No sun or moon needed to give off its light as the radiance from God gives it light and its lamp is the Lamb, its gates will never be shut and there will be no night there. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, or anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Do you see the same city and is it the hope you yearn for with all of your heart, or is it just some exaggerated description of what seem to go over your head, something you do not give to much attention too, I pray not! It is as real as the air we breathe, and it is closer than we could ever begin to imagine. Time will eventually run its course and this New Heaven will eventually be ushered into existence by God. What a glorious day that shall be! May we learn to focus more on that which is eternal than that which is temporal.

Signing off

Tyrone

The True Light!

(John 3:21) “But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

Who is it we really depend upon? That question needs no verbal answer! All we need to do as we have often said is to look in the mirror as the retort stares us square in the face. If we don’t like what we see we could dim the lights, we then may hide some of our flaws but then we would not see as clearly. What is better, low light, hiding the creases and wrinkles of life which is obviously more flattering on the flesh, or sharp bright light which exposes every flaw, even the smallest of blemishes now highlighted. As a photographer, I will always look for the softest light when shooting a picture, it is always more flattering on my subject. It hides unwanted blemishes! Wildlife is something I love photographing, but to get the best images you only have an hour each side of sunrise and sunset in which to work, in order to optimise the best light and then you hope it isn’t overcast. We call that portion of the day, magic hour! I wonder why? The answer once again is obvious! Even a Hyena as ugly as it is on the eye is beautiful to behold in the right light. Magic, that is exactly what we all look for and not only photographers; I speak as a man who reasons according to the flesh. We spend time on our appearance to look as good as we can and a comment that is often thrown at me with camera in hand, “I hope you are going to make me look good” and I often reply, “The camera never lies”. We have been so conditioned; we hanker after lies without even knowing it. We use dappled light, a soft box or even the right angle to hide the flaws on peoples face when capturing a portrait. We mask things in our lives to hide our blemishes from others, BUT we can hide nothing from God as He sees all!

Now that we have the Spirit of God that lives within us, that is if you have been born again, we can either reason with our carnal eyes or with the eyes of the Spirit, which would be to our eternal benefit. Nevertheless we are left with a daily choice. The Word of God, the Lord Jesus is the true light of the world. What will we do? Will we look for magic light that if full of trickery and deceit or look for the true light to shine into our lives and expose our imperfections? I trust the latter will become more of our daily routine than the day before! It must be that way, if we are to please God our Father. There is a throne room of grace available to every child of God that we are allowed to draw from. No measure will be withheld from us, but we must seek it out with an earnest anticipation.

Whatever we have a yen for will give us our answer. If we look for continuous soft light hiding the blemishes in our lives from others then the flesh rules our lives. We are not walking in the Spirit and the more we live there the less effective we will be for God. But when we look to the Word of God as blinding as it may be at times, it brings forth fruit in our lives, bring glory to our God. Job was a man that God was not ashamed to call out before Satan and although he suffered extreme hardship, he never cursed God but honoured him even through his testing time. He welcomed the true light from heaven. It is a painful fixation when God exposes the sin in our lives but it is needful. May our cry be, shine Lord Jesus shine! We know that in the end it will be advantageous for all who walk in the Spirit and look to live with this as their lifetime ambition. Hard it will be on the flesh but it will be glorious in heaven and for eternity. The Apostle Paul had this to say; “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

It would be good for us to learn to live in the true light for when we get home our heavenly abode will be full of light, in fact no darkness will ever dwell there.

Signing off

Tyrone

And being not weak in faith!

(Romans 4:19) “And being not weak in faith...”

When things around us begin to crumble, what will keep us looking heavenward? Faith is the substance of things hoped for; it is the evidence of things not seen. When life around a believer begins to crumble, and hardships press in on their lives, it is only then that we will truly understand the measure of our faith. It is God who gives his children good gifts, and faith is amongst that number. We cannot boast in ourselves if we have a measure of faith that seems greater than that of a brother. Faith is a gift of God!

Now if we have the Spirit of God, if we are amongst the quantity in God’s family and we have been adopted by Him and we brandish the surname Christian, then we obviously have a measure of faith. Faith in Christ’s ability to get us home! It is God given and it comes from the Spirit of God. Remember Joshua and Caleb, they had a different Spirit! Faith equips a believer to focus in on their hope; heaven is a place where God lives, that will be our final accomplishment, where hope is no longer hope as she would have arrived. That is what faith drives a believer toward, regardless of the hardship along the way; faith will end up the victor. We often ask why me? Well in the context of faith, the answer stares us clearly in the face without any contradiction and says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Let’s unpack this verse; it will help us get a clearer understanding of why things happen and who will benefit by the trail of an enduring believer.

Firstly let us establish that faith and hope go together, the object of faith and hope is the same. It is a firm persuasion as well as an acclimation that God will complete what He has started in the believer’s life. His Promise is in Christ, has He not proved that by sending His Son, God in the flesh, to die on our behalf so that every believer may go free, yes He has! Because this persuasion is so strong it gives the soul a kind of control and present execution of those things, the soul is given substance by the first-fruits and samples of them: so that believers in the use of faith are filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Christ dwells in the soul by faith, and the soul is filled with the fullness of God, as far as his present measure will divulge; he experiences a considerable reality in the matter of faith. However God cannot be seen with the naked eye, His power is revealed to all in and through creation as well as a believer enduring hardship, “it is the substance of things hoped for.” Faith through one’s mind demonstrates the reality of those things that cannot be discerned by the eye of the body which is of a natural nature. A believer’s application in faith sets to its seal that God is true. It helps the soul act beyond the here and now and is driven by the hope we have in God. Even when the believer is hard-pressed and their lives seem to be crumbling around them, even when those around them think that there is no longer any hope for them, they are given the wherewithal to reach out beyond their worldly critics and often the worse critics are amongst believers. They find faith in Christ to suffer the anguish and endure the adversity. Remember Samson, he lost both his eyes but he slayed more in his death than in his life. When others witness this in their lives they are by default left pondering, they ask, “Why do they have so much faith in what cannot be seen as their lives seem to be crumbling, maybe this God that they proclaim as the only true God, just maybe, He is real”! Our trial will prove to others that God is real, that is why believers are put through trial. It not only helps us understand our hope to be true, but is also gets the doubters to sit up and take note. God is glorified throughout! When we reason with a sound mind it is no longer our man-centred ambitions that take precedence in our lives but our lives become God-centred and He receives the glory and how sweet that is to the believer! It is not something we plan or look for, Job never asked for His trial, yet he had to endure it, his faith was tested as it left him in full of boils and sitting amongst hot ash, crying woe is me! But the end result was worth it all! He ended up the victor and God's name amongst the angelic host was glorified.

This morning I woke up somewhat despondent, yet now I am full of hope as my faith has been re-kindled. How important it is for every believer to remember to trim the sail of faith and even the more as we see that day approaching. It is only the Word of God through the direction of God the Holy Spirit that feeds us with faith and thus ignites our hope to once again burn bright and clear. Remember believer to trim your sail!

I will leave you with the words of probably the greatest gifted preacher over the last two-hundred years...

“Christian, take good care of thy faith; for recollect faith is the only way whereby thou canst obtain blessings. If we want blessings from God, nothing can fetch them down but faith. Prayer cannot draw down answers from God’s throne except it be the earnest prayer of the man who believes. Faith is the angelic messenger between the soul and the Lord Jesus in glory. Let that angel be withdrawn, we can neither send up prayer, nor receive the answers. Faith is the telegraphic wire which links earth and heaven-on which God’s messages of love fly so fast, that before we call he answers, and while we are yet speaking he hears us. But if that telegraphic wire of faith be snapped, how can we receive the promise? Am I in trouble?-I can obtain help for trouble by faith. Am I beaten about by the enemy?-my soul on her dear Refuge leans by faith. But take faith away-in vain I call to God. There is no road betwixt my soul and heaven. In the deepest wintertime faith is a road on which the horses of prayer may travel-aye, and all the better for the biting frost; but blockade the road, and how can we communicate with the Great King? Faith links me with divinity. Faith clothes me with the power of God. Faith engages on my side the omnipotence of Jehovah. Faith ensures every attribute of God in my defence. It helps me to defy the hosts of hell. It makes me march triumphant over the necks of my enemies. But without faith how can I receive anything of the Lord? Let not him that wavereth-who is like a wave of the Sea-expect that he will receive anything of God! O, then, Christian, watch well thy faith; for with it thou canst win all things, however poor thou art, but without it thou canst obtain nothing. “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

Be like a Child!

(Mark 10:14) “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them...”

This morning I would like to explore my thoughts from a different angle, instead of dealing with the obvious, that which can be clearly seen from the text; i.e. the subject here is the children and the instruction is let them come with an emphasis placed on, not to hinder them from coming. Let us look a little deeper today and consider the reason for the disciples wanting to stop parents from bringing their children to the Lord.

Firstly they must have considered the Lord and therefore felt that they were acting in His best interest. They should have understood His heart in the matter; they had walked, talked and slept under the stars with Him. They saw how He went about his daily routine and witnessed his objectives. They obviously wanted to please Him! Except Judas of course, he was in it for his “own bellies sake”, but I do not wish to highlight his wicked exploits, let us rather consider the other eleven disciples and their willingness to want to please their Master. Everything about them was to please Him, sure they made many mistakes along the way, I am sure we can all relate to disappointing our Master, I know I can recount disappointments in my life. So many bad choices! All those bad decisions would fall under the category of wilful disobedience. But over time and in this blog much has been said on that, let us rather consider our actions when we thought that we were acting in God’s best interest, but we weren’t, just as the disciples thought in this account!

The disciples discouraged the parents from bringing their children to Christ; “They rebuked them that brought them”; it was as if they had been sure of their Master's mind in this matter, however He had lately warned them not to despise the little ones. Note:- He was unhappy that his disciples should keep them at bay; When He saw it, it was unpleasing to His eye, Mar_10:14. The question He poses to them is this; will you hinder me from doing what is good, from doing excellence to the rising generation, to the lambs of the flock? Christ is angry with his own disciples, He corrects their judgment and then overrules them and orders that they should be brought to Him, and nothing should be said or done to hinder them from coming; In fact He even makes reference to them as fitting, as those who belong in the kingdom of heaven, “for of such is the kingdom of God” and “suffer little children”, as soon as they are capable, to come to me, to offer up their supplications to me, and to receive instructions from me. Many of them if not all had come from the seed of Abraham. He owned them as members of his church, as they had been of the Jewish church. If we consider the Lord’s objective here on earth, did He not come to set up the kingdom of God among men? He came to live as a man without sin and then to die upon a cross and pay the price for sinners. His sole purpose was to do the will of His Father and that was to make a way for sinners, those who were once enemies of the cross, would eventually become allies of the cross, through repentance and the finding forgiveness in His finished work. They had not stopped to consider what David had penned in the book of Psalms 8:2 and what He later teaches in Matthew; “and they said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, "'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?" (Matthew 21:16)

Have you ever witnessed the simple wisdom that comes out of a child’s mouth when they are aware of who God and Christ is, I have! It is like sweet water and it revitalises the soul, it is beautiful to the ear. The simplicity in their reasoning can often be like a breath of fresh air after been bogged down in a stale unventilated room. “At that time Jesus answered and said,“I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” (Matthew 11:25)

With that said, let’s now draw a parallel to our salvation experience. Let us go back in time and let us remember how sweet and uncomplicated life seemed to be. All we wanted to do was feast on God’s Word; the Apostle Peter encouraged us to bask in God’s Word: “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1Peter 2:1)

Note:- when have you ever seen a newborn baby with traits of guile, malice, envies or evil speaking? A child as he grows may develop these traits but never a baby, which is the point!

In conclusion, we may often think we are doing the right thing in the eyes of God just like the disciples thought, but we may be miles off from acting in His best interest.

Father I plead with you this morning, be ever so merciful and teach us to be like little children in malice but mature in understanding; I pray this for all your children wherever they may find themselves through the world. If we have erred, help us to hunger once again to be like little children, sitting as it were on the knee of Jesus our Saviour, Lord and King and may we be ever so pleasing in your sight.

Signing off

Tyrone

Whoever believes will be saved!

(Mark 16:16) “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Now many believe, but what do they believe? Some believe in evolution others believe in some form of esoteric faith, while others believe in other gods. But the reference in this verse clearly warns all who read it that salvation will never be found outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, in fact all those who do not believe in Him will be condemned! It is almost to devastating to even mention let alone discuss, but as it is as real for those who believe in this glorious gospel message, the adverse of the hope is condemnation. There are always two sides to a coin. The denial of salvation through Christ accomplished saving work on Calvary will leave one facing an unthinkable damnation for all eternity. That will brings with it severe consequences and if I was not to mention those consequences them I would be no different to one of the devils allies, smoke-screening the truth, which is one of his damming traits, which he conspires to employ in as many lives as possible until it will be to late. When we pass from life to death there will be no second chances, if we miss this wonderful message of hope in and through the Lord Jesus Christ while we are still alive, we will open our eyes in torment, to what degree I cannot say as I have never been there but there will be a “wailing and gnashing of teeth”. In other words the pain in hell will be continuously painful, and it will have no end to it. But thankfully by the grace of God and by the blood of the Lamb if we believe and are baptised we will never have to face that torment. Christ saves not baptism! But having said that when we have been saved by Him we will look to be baptised (submerged in water) as it is our signature on our repentance document, it is our declaration to the world that we believe on Him and no other! If you say you believe but have not gone through the waters of baptism, I will ask one question, Why not? -“Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1Peter 3:21)

If you have not been taught correctly concerning baptism, this is one thing, but if you deny your need for it as an obstinate individual, for the sake of obstinacy, that would not be to your benefit. Everything the word teaches us if for our own admonition, it is there to equip us and enable us to stand against the wiles of the devil. Nothing has been penned to fill the empty space on a blank page. Every word and every instruction has been carefully orchestrated by God. Sure, I agree men have written the words, yet under the inspiration of the God the Holy Spirit, if we understand that to be true, who has actually penned the Bible? We must take every word seriously and we must obey God’s instruction in and through His Bible! If we ignore what we are clearly taught, then we will suffer loss! Let us be wise in our application to it. If we have obey and we now have the Spirit of God indwelling our bodies and He has saved us, then we can with assurance look forward to our hope in Him. We all stand upon His finished work, regardless of our standing amongst one another; He views each of us who believe and in the words of C.H.Spurgeon...

“The fatherhood of God is common to all his children. Ah! Little-faith, you have often said, “Oh that I had the courage of Great-heart, that I could wield his sword and be as valiant as he! But, alas, I stumble at every straw, and a shadow makes me afraid.” List thee, Little-faith. Great-heart is God’s child, and you are God’s child too; and Great-heart is not one whit more God’s child than you are. Peter and Paul, the highly- favoured apostles, were of the family of the Most High; and so are you also; the weak Christian is as much a child of God as the strong one.

“This cov’nant stands secure,

Though earth’s old pillars bow;

The strong, the feeble, and the weak,

Are one in Jesus now.”

All the names are in the same family register. One may have more grace than another, but God our heavenly Father has the same tender heart towards all. One may do more mighty works, and may bring more glory to his Father, but he whose name is the least in the kingdom of heaven is as much the child of God as he who stands among the King’s mighty men. Let this cheer and comfort us, when we draw near to God and say, “Our Father.”

Yet, while we are comforted by knowing this, let us not rest contented with weak faith, but ask, like the Apostles, to have it increased. However feeble our faith may be, if it be real faith in Christ, we shall reach heaven at last, but we shall not honour our Master much on our pilgrimage, neither shall we abound in joy and peace. If then you would live to Christ’s glory, and be happy in his service, seek to be filled with the spirit of adoption more and more completely, till perfect love shall cast out fear.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

Put on the Mind of Christ!

(1Corinthians 2:16) “...But we have the mind of Christ.”

Obviously the greatest example of all men in every area of lives for us to follow is the Lord Jesus; we will unquestionably learn the most from Him. However we have also been given other examples to follow and we must learn from them where and when needed. Job is one we must often refer too, as He can teach us many things. He was also a sinner working out His salvation through His life trying to understand the call that God had placed on his life. We must look at our lives and do the same, but the Word is what must guide us and not our emotions. Sure they will have their part to play, but they must never overrule the precision of God’s Word, the Bible! The hardships we all have to endure, I doubt will never compare with what he had to endure.

The Word is very clear on many things; some verses are left open ended but as for Romans 8:28 Paul makes a statement, it is not opened ended at all; “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Note: This verse addresses two qualifying criteria’s; firstly we must love God and secondly it must be about His purpose and not our own self-willed agenda’s. Our lives must be God-centred and not man-centred!

I was in two minds whether to share yesterday eventful morning with you but as it illustrates this point well, I have decided to do exactly that. I however am not even daring to compare this event to any one of the hardships that Job faced here while on earth. But his example helps us glean some vital principles that we must also apply to our lives.

Yesterday I was running behind a little on time, I had just finished posting my morning blog and as it was Wednesday I was off to play golf. I needed to get to Glen Dower Golf Course but what would normally take 30 minutes I now needed to do in less time. I wasn’t far off my calculations but I was still going to need to make up 5 or so minutes. I packed the Land Cruiser (4x4) with my golf clubs and a change of kit, got into my car and drove up the driveway, stopped the car, got out opened the gate, then I got back into the car drove out the yard and stop the vehicle to close the gate. I had done this routine at least 100 times,maybe more. I pushed the gear-lever into park or so I thought, I then got out the car with the door open and made my way still hurrying to close and lock the gate. On my way to the gate I heard a click as the gearlever clicked from park into reverse, the car began to move back through the gate. It happened all very quickly. Instinctively, I tried to open the driver’s door even wider so I could jump in and stop the Cruiser before any damage was done. Time was not on my side as the vehicle was now moving downhill it all happened in a flash. When I realised that I was not able to get into the car I needed now to elude the driver’s door and the gate pillar, or else I would find myself wedged between the two. I got out the way in the nick of time but as the door was still ajar it was ripped from its hinges. As I had now move backwards I tried to do the same with the passenger’s door but also to no avail, the car was moving to hastily, so without closing the rear door I now jumped into the driver’s seat as it had now cleared of the gate post. I still did not make it in time as I heard a crunch as the concrete precast wall gave way as my Prado annihilated the wall as if it was papier-mâché. Eventually I managed with the help of the wall and the cars brakes to bring it to a halt. The damage was devastating, both doors had now been ripped from their hinges, thankfully there were no bodily injuries but the smash up to the wall and the vehicle was a lot worse than anticipated.

My first thought was why Lord? What have I now done wrong, you see my life has been filled with so many bad choices and I have so many scars in my body to remind me of my folly through life, that I instinctively do a post-mortem on myself. I still think it is good to examine our lives on a daily basis. “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” (Proverbs 27:19)

It would not be to our advantage to go through life haphazardly and never giving thought to our actions as the Word teaches us very clearly that God chastens those whom He loves; “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:6-7)

And we also know although we are now sons of God we constantly battle against the thought of our hearts; “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." (Mark 7:21-23)

Yet having said that we are also taught that we now have the mind of Christ so we have been given the wherewithal to reason with sound reasoning: "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.” (1Corinthians 2:16)

It is imperative that we begin to reason with His mind in our daily walks with us always seeking out God’s will for our lives, we must in our journey here on earth learn to become God-centred and leave all our man-centeredness behind. That is the call for every child of God! It is a process and it will take a lifetime, but be that as it may that is the instruction for every child of God. The very same truth is clearly seen when we break bread (have communion), we are taught to examine ourselves so that we will not be judged with the world. If we do not then we may suffer His judgment and for this reason we may find ourselves weak and sickly and some may even sleep (die, not spiritually but our fleshly bodies will cease to exist) because this is not implemented in our lives. “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.” (1Corinthians 11:28-31)

Now back to Job, he was a man that feared God and shunned evil and yet He faced hardship. Why? The answer is clear, so that God’s name would be exalted especially through His apparent misfortune. The Apostle Peter understood this very clearly, this is what he has to say on the subject: “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” (1Peter 3:17-18)

Suffering in all forms of our lives teaches us to rely on the promises and the hope of God through Jesus Christ our Lord; it prepares us to become more dependent upon Him than upon ourselves. That is why a verse like {(Romans 8:28) “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose”} must be believed with all our hearts and never doubt as God is preparing us for a great honour where one day we will be with Him and receive a body like His dear Son that is incorruptible and will endure eternity without any more tears or pain, which is our hope! We must embrace it with all we have! Job’s motto must become our motto: “And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." (Job 1:21)

We must learn to examine our lives with the mind of Christ and if we need to repent because God in his love is humbling us, then let us do exactly that. If our hearts do not condemn us when we suffer hardships then we will have peace with God. Why, in the lives of a believer should we sorrow after a worldly sort, it is not welcome in our lives, because if we entertain those types of thoughts we know that they will lead to death. We have life and we have it in abundance, let us put on the mind of Christ and in so doing we know that we shall live!

Signing off

Tyrone