The Christian!

(Romans 1:7) “Called to be saints.”

What is needed to drive doubts with all it fears away? It has to be faith; it can only ever be faith in the finished work of Calvary. When we struggle with a particular sin what enables us to find victory? Do we now not have a way of escape as Christians in and through our great Saviour, of course we do! And if we stumble and fall because of our lack of faith, is it not the goodness of God that ignites our faith in Him, which in turn drives us to seek out His forgiveness? Of course it is! It is no longer bulls or goats or even turtledove that need to be sacrificed in order for us to find forgiveness, our great Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ has made the way, praise His name! We have all been called to perform the duties of saints. Who and what is a saint? The Apostle Peter was a saint but no more than any other repentant born again believe who believes in his heart the Jesus rose from the dead and confesses Him as Lord with their mouths. They are both as equally covered with Christ’s righteousness. To think that the Apostle Peter’s name will be mentioned amongst the foundations of the New Jerusalem (heaven) and then to think of us who are weak and frail Christians; bruised reeds amongst what appear to be tall straight usable reeds, how poorly we seem to fair at times, but does that make us any less qualified? Of course not! For if it did, then we would stand upon own righteousness, and not the righteousness of Christ, and let us never move far from this truth. 

It is about His accomplishments and not ours in that sense. It is once this truth is cemented deep within our hearts that we will then be useful to others. How so? Faith will take on a new dimension; we will be quick to remember that it is only the Lord Jesus who overcame the devil and defeated Him on Calvary’s cross. But the story never ended there because on the third day He rose again bringing with it power for us to walk in newness of life an enabling ability for every saint to find grace to overcome their greatest fears and what appears to be never-ending thorns in their flesh. The sin that once had such a hold on us now no longer has the same power as the shackles have been broken by our King. All that is left for the believer to process; will we believe this truth! Herein rests the key whether we walk in victory or in defeat. Remember Caleb and the giants as they were no match for his faith. He believed God, will we! We must!

We should not think that the Apostles received more than us. Their measure may have been greater, but then their trial would have been grander, nevertheless it was no different. We have all been given a measure of enabling faith to overcome sin in our lives. We must believe it! We will never be tested beyond what we are capable in finding grace to overcome; no never! “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1Corinthians 10:13) 

We all have access to the same throne room of grace and we have all been commissioned to approach it with boldness whenever the need arises. But then again our measure of faith is a gift from God and we are to be sober about this truth and not to think that we are better than our brothers when we walk in victory and they fail to find it or visa versa. There is no place for boasting! It is a gift from God. Nevertheless the facts are before our very eyes, we are to use what God has given us, and we must appropriate these truths in faith. Our eyes need to shift from self and onto the Lord Jesus if we are to walk in victory. No matter how steep the climb, our King has conquered the hill, praise His name! He is our Commander and He always leads from the front, He will never require anything from us that He hasn’t already dominated. But before my thoughts run away with themselves… now would be a good time to get someone else’s perspective…

“We are very apt to regard the apostolic saints as if they were “saints” in a more especial manner than the other children of God. All are “saints” whom God has called by His grace, and sanctified by His Spirit; but we are apt to look upon the apostles as extraordinary beings, scarcely subject to the same weaknesses and temptations as ourselves. Yet in so doing we are forgetful of this truth, that the nearer a man lives to God the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart; and the more his Master honours him in his service, the more also doth the evil of the flesh vex and tease him day by day. The fact is, if we had seen the apostle Paul, we should have thought him remarkably like the rest of the chosen family: and if we had talked with him, we should have said, “We find that his experience and ours are much the same. He is more faithful, more holy, and more deeply taught than we are, but he has the selfsame trials to endure. Nay, in some respects he is more sorely tried than ourselves.” Do not, then, look upon the ancient saints as being exempt either from infirmities or sins; and do not regard them with that mystic reverence which will almost make us idolaters. Their holiness is attainable even by us. We are “called to be saints” by that same voice which constrained them to their high vocation. It is a Christian’s duty to force his way into the inner circle of saintship; and if these saints were superior to us in their attainments, as they certainly were, let us follow them; let us emulate their ardour and holiness. We have the same light that they had, the same grace is accessible to us, and why should we rest satisfied until we have equalled them in heavenly character? They lived with Jesus, they lived for Jesus, therefore they grew like Jesus. Let us live by the same Spirit as they did, “looking unto Jesus,” and our saintship will soon be apparent.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

If we live by the Spirit!

(Galatians 5:25) “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

Good things never come easy! Is this statement a figment of my imagination or is it true. Life is a beautiful thing, ask any parent, ask a mother if child-birth is easy, she will without exception say it is very painful and do everything in her power to find a way of escape; there are many ways medical practitioners help short circuit the pain barrier, epidurals and the like, which must help, but look into her eyes after the ordeal and it is obvious the pain is soon forgotten as she cradles her newborn baby in her arms. Love and joy now rich within her heart, and as onlookers we witness her happiness, it was worth it all!

However how many mothers actually know why childbirth is painful? I am not convinced I would get a positive result. When a mother is in the process of giving birth and she cries out from the pain, and screams “why?” have you ever heard someone retort back, “it’s because of Eve’s sin”. It would never ever happen! But this would be a truthful response, it is a sentence from God past down onto woman, and only because of Eve’s sin, it’s as simple as that! Nothing complicated about it at all! Why the point, what’s its purpose you may ask? There is no random coincidence in God’s economy and the sooner we settle our hearts on this truth the freer we will be to walk in the spirit instead of always summoning to the demands of the flesh with is lusts. We are short circuit kings and love the easy out. I know I have already made this point but our great God loves to reward his children. If this is true which it is, what must we do to be beneficiaries of His reward? WE MUST WALK IN THE SPIRIT! Yes we must now begin to reason with a totally new set of rules which is not a set of rules but it is the liberty of grace.

We must forget the conditioning that our lives have taught us, all those rules through education and achievements that take priority. We now must leave all that behind as we now find our dependency on God our Father through Jesus Christ his Son, our Redeeming Saviour. We must learn to appropriate our Christian walk one day at a time and no more. We need to rid ourselves of all the rot and the garbage people have conditioned us to believe. It is no more than a daily walk, one day at a time is all that God requires from us. Will we trust him for today? Tomorrow will take care of itself!  We must settle on that mindset, as we are incapable of any more than this, in these earthen vessels (human bodies) of ours.

If we adopt this mindset then food, clothing and even shelter will be taken care of, it is a promise from God. With that worry out of the equation what then will be our reward? Obedience is better than sacrifice; we must let this truth sink deep. We must simply believe the Word of God, regardless of all its opposition. So if we believe what it teaches then we simply will obey its instruction, this is what “obedience is better than sacrifice” means. God the Father said to God the Son go to the cross and die and that is exactly what the Lord Jesus did, He obeyed! His obedience has now set us free; we are now sons of God because He obeyed. All we need do is look at our Redeemers great example and we will see a resolute calmness about the way he went about His business; and I say it is all because of His obedience. Once His heart had been settle there was no more wrestling. Remember the Garden of Gethsemane, there was a time when He looked to His father for the cup to pass, but once He resigned Himself to what was set before Him He overcame triumphantly, praise His name! Its design is no different for all of us who name the name of Jesus as Lord and King. But where we lose our way is when we shirk our duty to obey. We stop believing God’s Word and then walk in unbelief. We do it our way! May God help us to see!   

Now then apart from the obvious, salvation, the hope of heaven and the like, what is the reward from our God for all who obey His Word? It is not worldly possessions but the fruits of the Spirit. If money is our driving force we will be sorrowful, in fact any wants that supersedes laying down our lives for Christ will cause much pain for the believer. Why? Because God will not reward that! “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:3) - But when we take up our cross and follow Him, we will be rewarded. How so? This will be our reward; “…love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. “If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.” (Galatians 5:22-25)

This tangible truth fuels us to press on and we then can honestly echo the Words of our Saviour; “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew11:30) 

Signing off

Tyrone

Our Hope!

(Revelation 21:7) “… and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Our lives are rather interestingly ensnared if and when we view it from the surface; generally we are all alike. Most work in a job they would rather not, most try and save of get credit for a holiday; a rest and new excitement away from the norm of life. Generally we are driven to want “More”. But “More” of what must be our question. It is hardly ever more of Christ! Not really when examine our lives against the Word. How often do we long for more contention around the gospel or more suffering so that Christ may be exalted when we are tried? We are human and sold under sin! So by default we will naturally always look for the easy out, unless we see something is in it for us, we will look to avoid it like the plague. If there is a dream holiday that we are looking to have with friends or family, but we know that we will need more money than we have saved, we will make sacrifices, if we want it badly enough. The sacrifice will be worth it all as we shoot for our yearend holiday, it is our hope that drives us! These types of thoughts and actions are normal and we hardly have to see a psychologist to help us along the way.

But now as Christians we have the greatest of all hopes; for all who conquer, one day we will be like our glorious Saviour, we will live in a heavenly state forever, we will have a body like His, incorruptible, never aging and above all else our God and Father will claim us as His sons outside of faith. In person He will look us in the eye and declare to all in the heavens that He is our God and we are His children; “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:7-8)

How I long for that day! The drive I once had for life and the deceitfulness of “wine woman and song” was such a thief and it robbed me to the point of despair. Thankfully our God is greater than the snares of sin and He has put new life into me, I never deserved His mercy or grace. Why would He choose to rescue a wretch like me? Especially as my life was so full of folly, like a dog to its vomit, time and time again, all I am let to say is thank you Father God for never giving up on me. If I could explain how much despair I faced at times I would, but words elude me, it was a place of torrid torment and all because of my selfish wants. I beseech you beware of fleshy lusts that war against the soul.  

He has given us eyes to see! For those who can cry out, “I can see” we must now learn to trust, obey and believe in Him. Regardless of the trial of life, it is the trial of life itself that feeds our hope. And a people without a hope will perish. But we have the greatest of hopes, so let us now learn to focus with the eyes of faith and not the eyes of our apparent wants. If they do not make us more like our Saviour, they are all just decoys and lies.

What then must we be on the lookout for so as to obtain our ultimate goal, heaven?

Let us now unpack these verses as our beloved brother John has left us a wonderful hope but with it comes a warning; we have received a free love gift from the only One capable of imparting it, it is the gift of eternal life. There is nothing we can do in our sinful selves to deserve this gift. It is unmerited favour! Let us consider what we will receive as sons of God…

“By the tenure and title by which they enjoy this blessedness - by right of inheritance, as the sons of God, a title of all others the most honourable, as resulting from so near and endeared a relation to God himself, and the most sure and indefeasible, that can no more cease than the relation from which it results. By the vastly different state of the wicked. Their misery helps to illustrate the glory and blessedness of the saints, and the distinguishing goodness of God towards them.” (Matthew Henry)

But as children we now have a responsibility and we must examine our own lives. John Piper makes a statement and he says that we were never made for mirrors. His point is we were made to worship God and not ourselves, and of course He is right, but mirrors should play a part in our lives, they are there to help us examine ourselves against the Word of God. Let us then examine our lifestyles in conjunction with what it should not look like and if there be any wicked thing in us, we then need to find grace and wrestled with the “angel of the Lord” until we are freed from all practicing sin. Habitual on-going sin must have no part in our lives. Sin will be a thorn in our flesh until we eventually breathe our last, but we must be resolute in resolving to root it out of our lives. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2)

Let us now heed the warning…

“The sins of those who perish, among which are first mentioned their cowardliness and unbelief. The fearful lead the van in this black list. They durst not encounter the difficulties of religion, and their slavish fear proceeded from their unbelief; but those who were so dastardly as not to dare to take up the cross of Christ, and discharge their duty to him, were yet so desperate as to run into all manner of abominable wickedness - murder, adultery, sorcery, idolatry, and lying. (2.) Their punishment: They have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. [1.] They could not burn at a stake for Christ, but they must burn in hell for sin. [2.] They must die another death after their natural death; the agonies and terrors of the first death will consign them over to the far greater terrors and agonies of eternal death, to die and to be always dying. [3.] This misery will be their proper part and portion, what they have justly deserved, what they have in effect chosen, and what they have prepared themselves for by their sins. Thus the misery of the damned will illustrate the blessedness of those that are saved, and the blessedness of the saved will aggravate the misery of those that are damned.” (Matthew Henry)

We must be on guard against another one the devils tactics; thinking we can live as we once did without any change to our lives. I will conclude with Paul’s teaching; “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would. But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:16-21)

May grace abound throughout today to the glory of our risen King! Let us remember to pray for one another.

Signing off

Tyrone

   

Our enemy's tactics!

(Ephesians 4:27) “And give no opportunity to the devil.”

The Apostle Paul affirms that they were not ignorant of the devils devices, he was aware of his enemies warring tactics. Many great victories have been won by first studying ones opponents and then once their weakness has been exploited, half the battle is already won. We have an enemy like no other; he is far greater in statute than the greatest of war generals you could ever imagine. “Alexander the Great” conquered countries and kings but Satan has affected every man ever born from Adam, barring our great Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why nothing outside of His power will ever defeat Satan and his cunning tactics. The standoff between the devil and man is a foolish matchup; there will only ever be one winner, the devil! Now before it seems like I would be singing his praises, I will state that he is a liar and a cheat and has one ultimate goal and that is to get men and women to sin against God. He knows no other way as he was a liar from the beginning and he is the father of lies; “…He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) - Sin all started with him and it will also end with him; “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10) 

Once we understand the potential of our enemy, we will then not war against him hopelessly, we will now arm our minds with what God has given us to overcome, Jesus Christ our Lord and King, praise His name now and forever more.

You see how the Galatian church started their spiritual journey. They received the Spirit of God as they were given life, they were born again, and they were now children of God. But having begun in the spirit they now turned their attentions to being perfected by the flesh; “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-8) 

In other words they had started correctly but now had lost their way and began to find justification through works nullifying the work of Jesus on the cross. A gross slap in the face to our redeeming King. But before we run away with ourselves and be the first to cast a stone at our brothers may we look inward and repent where needed.

How then did I lose my way over the years? It is obvious; I was deceived into believing the exact opposite, Licentious became a way of life as I reigned myself to my many weaknesses in the flesh and excused them away. The devil had found out my weakness and he helped me exploit it. This is why “sound doctrine”, correct bible based teaching is crucial to every believers life. Why did the Apostle James emphasis this point; “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1)

Every instruction in scripture is out of love to help us be on guard against our roaring enemy and it would be good to heed its council. So to all my beloved sisters in Christ, who find a need to always hanker after woman teachers I say in love and out of great concern, be careful that you are not being led astray by the fiery darts of the devil. Paul is very clear with his teaching and the reason for it; “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” (1Timothy 2:12-14) – Can you see what has happened through time and the conditioning of our mind-sets, how Satan has brought in his wedge to deceive. God cannot change and His Word will never change. This is just another one of his many tactics to lead us astray. Please Father I beseech you give us eyes to see, so that we would be operational for you. This is a word of comfort and should be seen as such, it is for one’s own protection. It has nothing to do with the opinions of men or woman but all to do with the Word of God and its instruction, nothing more or nothing less.

Let me conclude with one of the greatest stories ever told, the account of David and Goliath… “And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you!" (1Samuel 17:37) – David never doubted that he would lose to this giant, he knew in whom he believed. Do we hold the same measure of faith in our hearts? We must!

Let us be sober in our reasoning but let us also stand upon the finished work of our Saviour throughout today and it will be well with our souls, come what may. Let us never forget why we are capable of overcoming trial in our lives, it is all because of our great redeeming King, praise His glorious name! It is when we stand upon Him that we will be the victors and nothing else will quite cut it; “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

Signing off

Tyrone

  

The flesh is weak, BUT!

(Matthew 26:41) “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

We finally arrived at home at 4am this morning, it was a tough drive and lasted for a full fifteen hours. Not much sleep but the question I ask myself, is the Lord Jesus as active in my thoughts as any other given day? Has sleep robbed me of glorifying His name? It has tried! The Apostle Paul saw sleep deprivation as a hardship in his life. How so? Maybe you think I am stretching it somewhat, and maybe I am. But let us look at what he refers to when defending his honor for Christ; “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. (2Corinthians 11:23-27)  - So without over emphasising what may be a fragile point let me make a very valid point; it was through his personal hardships that assured him he was in the will of God. Although he understood the folly of his boasting, he also understood who he belonged too.

This then is what I wish to draw our attention to; when we are weak then we will find strength to serve God; do we remember the Lord Jesus position before his face off with Satan. What was He doing before God the Spirit sent him His test? He was fasting and praying! In other words he would have been hungry. He may have been grouchy, He should have been weak, but in fact the opposite was true as he overcame the temptations of the devil. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” (Matthew 4:1-2) 

   

Do we see a pattern emerging? We should! When our flesh is denied any of its needs and wants, when it is weak, and we then call out in the Spirit to our God, we then enter into a place of sweet fellowship, and receive power to endure the normal temptation we would normally give in too. It is through these experiences that we grow the most spiritually, that is why fasting and prayer go hand in hand. The Lord obviously understood this as did Paul and so should we. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

“Blessed is the fact that Christians can rejoice even in the deepest distress; although trouble may surround them, they still sing; and, like many birds, they sing best in their cages. The waves may roll over them, but their souls soon rise to the surface and see the light of God’s countenance; they have a buoyancy about them which keeps their head always above the water, and helps them to sing amid the tempest, “God is with me still.” To whom shall the glory be given? Oh! to Jesus-it is all by Jesus. Trouble does not necessarily bring consolation with it to the believer, but the presence of the Son of God in the fiery furnace with him fills his heart with joy. He is sick and suffering, but Jesus visits him and makes his bed for him. He is dying, and the cold chilly waters of Jordan are gathering about him up to the neck, but Jesus puts His arms around him, and cries, “Fear not, beloved; to die is to be blessed; the waters of death have their fountain-head in heaven; they are not bitter, they are sweet as nectar, for they flow from the throne of God.” As the departing saint wades through the stream, and the billows gather around him, and heart and flesh fail him, the same voice sounds in his ears, “Fear not; I am with thee; be not dismayed; I am thy God.” As he nears the borders of the infinite unknown, and is almost affrighted to enter the realm of shades, Jesus says, “Fear not, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Thus strengthened and consoled, the believer is not afraid to die; nay, he is even willing to depart, for since he has seen Jesus as the morning star, he longs to gaze upon Him as the sun in his strength. Truly, the presence of Jesus is all the heaven we desire. (C.H.Spurgeon)

These types of trials are shirked by most, but do we see how God uses them to make us more like our Saviour. I pray that ours eyes will see. Twenty four years later and now I am only beginning to understand. Forgive me Lord!

Signing off

Tyrone

The Suffering Pilgrim!

(1Peter 4:12) “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

Assessment seems to be the order of the day for the pilgrim, their root of endurance will be tried through many different struggles. But this is nothing new. Through sickness and through health, through laughter and weeping, it must be this way, as this is the only way we will really begin to understand ourselves as our commitment to the Lord Jesus becomes evident.

I have been in the Cedarburg with my son Mongi over the last four days we have been on horseback and through some of the ancient historical sites of the San people, which in itself has been very informative, their old rock paintings speak volumes and it is here where the saying, “a picture speaks a thousand words” was understood by these nomads so long ago. They have left their legacy and we too will leave ours, may we learn to occupy until our Saviour returns or we breathe our last.

It was obvious that these people had been influenced by witchcraft and were lost spiritually. I am taken to the verse in Revelation where John saw a multitude of believers in heaven;  “And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:8-9) – So even among these remote nomads that travelled up the river and throughout the rocky overhangs of the Cedarburg a remnant will be ransomed by the blood of the Lamb. How great is our God! Brilliant is too small a word to describe His ingenious wisdom.

What legacy will we leave behind; I pray that our hearts would be gripped to preserver through whatever hardship we face to the glory of our great Lord and King. There seems to be an endless amount of testing needed for our lives, will it ever end I find my frail flesh question at times. Yesterday I drank some of the tap water which on the surface seemed a safe thing to do, it was not! It is in times like this that test our endurance; but we must never forget everything we face in life has a purpose and has been clearly thought out by our God. All is needful for us to become more like our glorious Saviour, instead of resisting the tests through life it would be good for us to use them to help us find grace and become more like our King. Suffering of all kinds is beneficial if we reason with spiritual wisdom. It puts a whole different perspective on the trial of our faith when we reason with a sound mind. We no longer ask why but how will this hardship teach me what the Lord Jesus endured while redeeming us back to God the Father. Peter is very specific and he instructs us in this manner; “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1Peter 3:12) – “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” (1Peter 4:12-16)

The context of this portion of scripture speaks of the hardships we must endure when standing upon the truth, come what may, sickness is a very weak substitute, nevertheless all kinds of suffering will have their part to play in fashioning us into the image of our great Saviour, let us therefore learn not to shirk the trial but to welcome it, as it will be worth it all. One day our hope will finally arrive and we will enter the Promised Land and we will receive our glorified bodies and we will forever be with our God paying him homage for all eternity. How I long for that day, even so come quickly Lord Jesus! But until then may we seek out the store rooms of grace to help in time of need.

Signing off

Tyrone   

 

A Father's Embrace!

(Luke 11:10)  “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

My initial thought pictures a child standing outside His father’s room in the early hours of the morning somewhat frightened to venture back the way he came as he remembered the emotion of fear that gripped his heart back in his curtain drawn room but now he faced a different dilemma the door to his father’s room. Thoughts foraged through his young brain; already he had begun to reason things out, would his father welcome him or would he be scolded for disturbing his sleep. Do you feel like that at times? Are we sometimes so frightened to approach the “throne room of grace” that we stand outside this massive room debating whether we are worthy enough to enter?

We will never qualify within ourselves, outside of the Lord Jesus’ complete work in and through mankind’s redemption. He has made the way, we will never find acceptance from the only true God outside of Christ. Why then do we feel that some days we are worthy than other days to enter the “throne room of grace”? It will never have anything to do with our achievements or our failures but only the finished work of Calvary, Christ has accomplished almost the impossible, and He has made a way for sinful mankind back to God the Father. He has qualified us (all who have His Spirit), it is about His achieved and it has nothing to do with our Christian progress. This truth will and can never changed. Let us not be confused, we must start with the understanding that in Christ alone we stand. No matter how we stumble and fall which to some extend disqualifies the Christians stance, it can however never change what Christ alone achieved on Calvary. It is mission accomplished! If a man one day stood upon a hill and proclaim to the crowd below that Jesus was the way the truth and the life and then soon after he no longer believed, would his indecision change history? Of course not! Regardless of the bad examples that we see around us on every corner, in fact my life has in time past been one of volatility. But nothing I or anyone could ever do would ever change what the Lord Jesus accomplished on Calvary, end of story!

It is only His achievement that the Father willingly accepted; it had nothing to do with us in that sense. Even John the Baptist was only a forerunner to make a way for the coming King, it was only once he had baptized the Lord through water that the heavens echoed these wonderful words; “and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17)   

Everything in our lives hinge on these two principles; “faith towards God and repentance from dead works.” It is God who will accomplish all that He has set out to do, no opposing questions asked! The sooner we learn to “let go and let God”, the sooner we find rest for our souls.

Now as that boy eventually worked it out He burst through that door into His Father’s room to find his Father standing with open arms and as the boy felt the warm of his Fathers embrace he heard Him say, “I knew you would eventually understand.” And as the tears rolled down the boys cheeks he too now understood.

Signing off

Tyrone  

Our conquering King!

(2Timothy 2:13) “If we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself.”

It is a glorious change in our lives when God graciously affords His children the opportunity to close one’s eye with Him on one’s mind and then to open one’s eyes with Him as our first thought as we wipe the sleep from or eyes. What has changed I ask myself? I do not have to dig deep to find the answer, as it is obvious. God remains constant in His perfect character, never tossed to and fro, how beautiful to behold his glory although it be through the eyes of faith. In fact without faith it is impossible to please God and without believing that He diligently looks to bless all His children when they walk by faith and not by sight we remain in a very uncertain place. The “slough of despond” will always look to penetrate our lives with unbelief and as long as we do not believe that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him we will be left wading in our puddle of unbelief.

So what has changed?  The understanding of this verse; “if we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself.” (2Timothy 2:13)

God is not a hard task master that looks to drive and scourge His children at every opportunity so that they are driven into shape. I thank my gracious God for all of those times in my life when that was needed, without the crack of His whip I would be in serious trouble. But to be able to rest our heads peacefully upon the breast of the Lord Jesus as the Beloved Disciple had done, is the sweetest of experiences.

So what has changed? My understanding of faith toward God; for so many years the snares and traps of this life have beguiled me into believing so many lies about my weakness in the flesh. I have failed to trust God in and through these experiences that has kept me bound by so many weak and beggarly elements that look to find life through my existence. And I am not speaking of gross sin per se, but sin nevertheless. The faith of David or Samson or even Joshua and Caleb is now a lot closer to the understanding of my heart than it once was.

The Lord Jesus wrought a mighty work on Calvary and then on the third day He rose from the dead and broke the shackles of every enslaving sin on the planet. This truth must not remain just theory in our minds but it must have its outworking in our lives. And it is only when we believe it to be true for ourselves that the words of the Lord Jesus ring sweet to the ear… “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30)

So what has changed? It has absolutely nothing to do with my inabilities as a frail man, but it has all to do with the conquering power of the Lord Jesus in my life. He has won the victory, there is nothing complicated to figure out all we need do is believe God and more specifically in every area of our lives where doubt looks to live. Let me now use a practical example to illustrate my point; in the past I would often go to sleep with a daunting thought impregnated on my mind, an ungodly thought and instead of seeking God’s face about the thought and wrestling with my conscience in faith calling upon the One who alone has the power to deliver, I would offer let it slip and try and ignore it. This was my first mistake! The very first instruction our great Saviour gives us when teaching us to pray is; “Our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God requires this mindset from his children and faith demands that we seek our God in order to find His reward. And no! It is not material wealth that drives us but rather zeal urges to put off sin and to put on Christ. Our goal must be to look more like our glorious Saviour. It is here that our Merciful Father rewards us. No ifs and buts! He then begins to root out those holds on our lives that once stood higher than Everest. What’s more is He loves to reward His children, for this I am so forever thankful.

It is when we bring back a bad report on all the giants in our lives that we fail to walk in faith, regardless of these monsters with their honed warfare skills our God is more than a conqueror, only believe in His ability and not our inabilities.

Signing off

Tyrone   

Perfection!

(Matthew 5:48) “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

I thank God for the brilliance in which He goes about His business. He is perfect and He needs nothing added to His character; if something was still needed to additionally complete God’s perfection it would then make Him imperfect and therefore have a need to find perfection from another source. This would make Him an Idolater! Which of course He is not and could never be! He is the only true living God and there is much more we could say on this point; about life, sin and sonship all in the confines of this one position. Time does not permit at present for us to explore any deeper. Nevertheless God is perfect and require nothing to complete his immaculateness as He is perfect, praise His name!

Therefore God must get his creation to imitate Him in every sphere of life. Hence the first commandment; "You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) - Harmony is found in perfection and God is perfect! And as fallen beings we are imperfect because of Adam’s sin and Satan’s deception. Yet we are commanded to shoot for perfection just as our Father is perfect; “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

Outside of sanctification this is impossible! We must never forget the accomplishments of our great Saviour and our great King, without His complete work we would all be doomed for hell. May we never forget Calvary, I do not mean through the ages of time and beyond as this is a given. But today may we remember what it meant for Him to lay down His life for me. Let us soberly consider our commitment and consider our friends that are doomed for hell as they refuse the only true Saviour for salvation; having said that, never let us forget that we too once where were they find themselves, lost and without hope. Have mercy upon their souls I pray my great heavenly Father. There was a time I believed I would be alright with God and all it was at the time was a lie, unless we truly repent (acknowledge that we are sinners and deserve to go to hell, we do not try and pretend that we have more good than bad to our lives). Break one of God’s commandments just once and you are cursed and destined for hell. We will never find acceptance from God outside of His glorious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only when this become our reality do we understand.

I pray for Brett and Louise and their newborn son Jordan that you would shake them to a place of true understanding of what it meant for you to send you only begotten Son to pay the price for repentant sinners. It is only your goodness Father that leads a man to repentance, be merciful I pray. Not because we have any merit within ourselves because we don’t but because you have it in your power to be merciful. And for all who have come to love the finished work of Calvary may we learn to embrace it even more, let Uncle Charles help us with the aid of our great God the Holy Spirit to see a little clearer…

“Looking unto Jesus.”

- Heb_12:2

It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, “Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.” All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that “Christ is all in all.” Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking unto Jesus.” Keep thine eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to him; when thou liest down at night look to him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail thee.

“My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness:

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Suppose Not!

(James 1:7) “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.”

I wonder why we so easily miscue the simplicity of the gospel. As I listen to ministry of late I sadly confess that there seems to be a dearth when Christ should be magnified and lifted higher than any other, there should be no one competing and sadly I understand the letter to the church at Ephesus a little clearer. I am not excusing myself from the number and I pray that God would forgive me and get me to wake-up. Our King is a risen King and nothing outside of His resurrection will free us from the traps of sin. He alone holds the keys to heaven and hell! It must always be about Him and not our intellect or any other tricks we try and use in aiding this glorious message. The Apostle Paul always seemed to wrestle with these truths. I suppose we have it in our nature to get in the way of God. How gracious is He? I am however convinced that God will accomplish all that He has set out to do.

If we will not freely take up our cross and follow Him in may be forced upon us, it will be a lot better to wake up to reality, we need to now respond to our masters voice. It is the love of God that compels Him to bring discipline across our path if needed, yet He will always allow us the opportunity to repent (remember the letters to the churches in the book of Revelation). Who has the wisdom of God but God, praise His Holy Name! It is time for us to wake up to biblical reality. We need eyes to see clearly. I pray Father God that you will reveal our blind spots, please hear my cry! O how worthy is the Lamb of God, He alone is to be praised, help us embrace Him with our whole hearts and not what is left after our covetousness. Help us trim our lamps and to be wise watchmen, less of self and more of Christ. Words come easily to most of us Father but search out our hearts I beseech you Holy God, supply what is needed whatever the cost. When I think of what it cost my great Saviour to save a wretch like me, what more can I say? I have used bold speech and I stand by my words and yet I fear the work that will be needed for me to see purer truths, and yet I ask that you would be gentle where possible, but above all else that your will would be done in my life and in the lives of all professing Christians. And we will not assume that we will received anything from you Father but with boldness we echo the words of Jeremiah the prophet; “I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.” (Jeremiah 32:40)  - May our hearts burn with a reverent fear for your will for our lives, as this promise has been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. This grace that now abounds in our lives must now begin to abound in good works. I feel I have so disappointed you Lord and should have been cast on the dung heap so long ago and yet I find your love more precious that silver as I am still afforded the opportunity to sing praises to such an almighty God. Enough trivia I cry! Help all lay down their lives for Christ as He has laid down His life for His bride, the church. May true faith have its way in all our lives!

In John Piper’s book “The Roots of Endurance” he speaks about men who have gone before us and this was their testimony; “But oh how jealous they were - as I am jealous - that we embrace the cross of Christ first and decisively as the grounds of acceptance with God, through faith alone, before we experience the cross as the price and inspiration of our own labors to endure in the battle of justice in the world. That is, they were careful to savor the cross first as the basis of justification before they experienced its purchased power for sanctification. Before the power of endurance came the pardon of guilt. Before the blood-bought enabling of righteous living came the free gift of perfect righteousness credited to our account because of Christ alone through faith alone.” (John Piper) – May we always remember our first love!

Time ticks by and when our time is up here on earth it will then be over, may we learn to occupy for His name sake from this day forth until we breathe our last breath.

Signing off

Tyrone

Mercy triumphs over judgment!

(James 2:13)  “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

An obvious trap we as Christians often face is the trap of doubt or uncertainty over certain discussion in our lives. Our enemy looks for us to always reason in the realm of ambiguity; plainly put we look for an apology to excuse our sin. It causes instability in our rational and that is the playground of the devil. Our beloved brother James highlights this for us in his epistle; “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:7-8) 

It is when we find grace to overcome the obstacles of life that we find peace; it must begin with our lives and we must not be too worried about those around us as this is another trap for us to skirt our own issues. If we ignore the sin in our lives we will be unstable in all our ways. Just as the mercy of God has set us free from the judgment of God, we too must show mercy on others when we are wronged as it will then set us free. “Mercy triumphs over judgment”. – “For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath shown no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Take notice here, (1.) The doom which will be passed upon impenitent sinners at last will be judgment without mercy; there will be no mixtures or allays in the cup of wrath and of trembling, the dregs of which they must drink. (2.) Such as show no mercy now shall find no mercy in the great day. But we may note, on the other hand, (3.) That there will be such as shall become instances of the triumph of mercy, in whom mercy rejoices against judgment: all the children of men, in the last day, will be either vessels of wrath or vessels of mercy. It concerns all to consider among which they shall be found; and let us remember that blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew Henry)

Our lives will begin to produce fruit when we walk in faith with a correct understanding to the application of biblical faith. “Faith without works is dead”, let us not therefore mislead ourselves that we have faith if there is no fruit to our lives. They work hand in hand! And the only way we will begin to produce faith in our lives is when we as Charles Spurgeon encouraged us yesterday to trust our God and to visit the “hill of faith” on a daily basis. Only then will we begin to understand the purpose of God in our lives.

“What must be the apostate professor’s doom when his naked soul appears before God? How will he bear that voice, “Depart, ye cursed; thou hast rejected me, and I reject thee; thou hast played the harlot, and departed from me: I also have banished thee for ever from my presence, and will not have mercy upon thee.” What will be this wretch’s shame at the last great day when, before assembled multitudes, the apostate shall be unmasked? See the profane, and sinners who never professed religion, lifting themselves up from their beds of fire to point at him. “There he is,” says one, “will he preach the gospel in hell?” “There he is,” says another, “he rebuked me for cursing, and was a hypocrite himself!” “Aha!” says another, “here comes a psalm-singing Methodist-one who was always at his meeting; he is the man who boasted of his being sure of everlasting life; and here he is!” No greater eagerness will ever be seen among Satanic tormentors, than in that day when devils drag the hypocrite’s soul down to perdition. Bunyan pictures this with massive but awful grandeur of poetry when he speaks of the back-way to hell. Seven devils bound the wretch with nine cords, and dragged him from the road to heaven, in which he had professed to walk, and thrust him through the back-door into hell. Mind that back-way to hell, professors! “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” Look well to your state; see whether you be in Christ or not. It is the easiest thing in the world to give a lenient verdict when oneself is to be tried; but O, be just and true here. Be just to all, but be rigorous to yourself. Remember if it be not a rock on which you build, when the house shall fall, great will be the fall of it. O may the Lord give you sincerity, constancy, and firmness; and in no day, however evil, may you be led to turn aside.” (Charles Spurgeon)

The Lord Jesus has so love us that He was prepared to die for the repentant sinner, may we come with boldness to the “throne room of grace” and find grace to overcome our temptation, as we too must be tested to see what it is, we truly believe.

We pray for strength Father God to lose our lives for your name sake so that we may find an eternal inheritance; whatever the cost our hope must be heaven! Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

The hill of Faith...

(Isaiah 40:9) “Get thee up into the high mountain.”

The “promises of God” are sweeter that honey in the rock, have we seen them and if so are we seeking them out as a bear would seek out honey in the rock. I can with assurance and without any fear of contradiction say that God does love to reward His children when they seek Him out. “For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19) – It was disobedience in the beginning that caused a rift between God and man and then it was the obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour that by obedience made a way once again for mankind to have fellowship with the only true living God. Although He paid the ultimate sacrifice by laying down his life and the position He held in heaven, it was His obedience to the will of His Father that although it would be silly to overlook all the great achievements of our Saviour here on earth and we would be foolish to do so. Nevertheless His obedience must outshine the rest of His achievements. In fact it was because of His obedience that he achieved what He accomplished. In the Garden of Gethsemane He face much turmoil as the flesh looked for a way of escape. How can I say that? Well it is in the text; “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." (Matthew 26:39)

We have to learn this lesson above every other lesson, God before us! Have I learnt it? Oh but for the grace of God I pray to learn to walk and talk with my God, just like Enoch did; A little deeper in conversation as the days go by. Yet we know that without “faith it is impossible to please God” but we also know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him out. “Obedience is better than sacrifice”! Our obedience must hinge on faith, and when we are obedient to obey God’s Word we find ourselves in a wonderful place, I would like to give this place a name, “the hill of faith”.

There are subtle deceptions that hinder the Christian into believing so many lies, believe them not as they will only bring misery, but when we trust in our God and in faith step out and sincerely seek out His will, “as on earth as in heaven”, yes we may be miles off the mark with the way we live at times it will have to change. God is in control!  But is there sincerity in our hearts that wants to please our God, God knows! If the answer is yes, then I can with absolute assurance persuade you to continue faithfully to visit the “hill of faith” because this is what it will do for your souls…

 “Get thee up into the high mountain.”

Our knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the base you see but little: the mountain itself appears to be but one-half as high as it really is. Confined in a little valley, you discover scarcely anything but the rippling brooks as they descend into the stream at the foot of the mountain. Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and widens beneath your feet. Go higher, and you see the country for four or five miles round, and you are delighted with the widening prospect. Mount still, and the scene enlarges; till at last, when you are on the summit, and look east, west, north, and south, you see almost all England lying before you. Yonder is a forest in some distant county, perhaps two hundred miles away, and here the sea, and there a shining river and the smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, or the masts of the ships in a busy port. All these things please and delight you, and you say, “I could not have imagined that so much could be seen at this elevation.” Now, the Christian life is of the same order. When we first believe in Christ we see but little of him. The higher we climb the more we discover of his beauties. But who has ever gained the summit? Who has known all the heights and depths of the love of Christ which passes knowledge? Paul, when grown old, sitting grey-haired, shivering in a dungeon in Rome, could say with greater emphasis than we can, “I know whom I have believed,” for each experience had been like the climbing of a hill, each trial had been like ascending another summit, and his death seemed like gaining the top of the mountain, from which he could see the whole of the faithfulness and the love of him to whom he had committed his soul. Get thee up, dear friend, into the high mountain. (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing Off

Tyrone