I have kept the faith!

(2Timothy 4:7) “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

To be poured out as a drink offering is what happened to so many devout men of God. The Lord Jesus was cruelly butchered and was marred more than any other man as He paid the price for the sin of mankind. The Apostle Paul’s life spoke of complete sacrifice and it eventually ran its course, he was just about ready to be received into glory and he knew it; “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2Timothy 4:6-7)

There is much we can learn from these verses, let us then absorb what it teachers. Death and hardship will be the life of a devote Christian, it must be this way, it is what will teach us to walk in the Spirit and it is good for us to have other models that will inspire us to follow their example. This is the jist of what Paul looks to do as he sparked Timothy’s intent by his own hand encouraging him to get on with the task and to preach the gospel. I suppose outside of the Lord Jesus’s suffering one could argue that Paul suffered more than all for the sake of the Gospel.

As humans we have a built in tendency to look to survive, everything teachers us to somehow defeat death. There was a movie of late that was based on actual events. A young man full of adventure looked to climb boulders and explore unknown territory while choosing to do it alone. Then one day he found himself pinned out-of-sight by a huge rock in a gorged for 127 hours, for over five days he was trapped and alone with his thoughts. He was so desperate to live that he eventually found the strength to break his arm and then saw through the flesh of his own arm between the broken bones with a pen-knife. This option obviously seemed better to him than death. He survived and was eventually rescued.

It should be the opposite for the Christian; we should get excited when we see death in that sense as heaven now beckons. The ultimate test of where our allegiance lies. Is it life here on earth or do we really look for our hope to arrive? We all long for the day of the trump of God to sound; “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1Thessalonians 4:16-18) – But I wonder if our hope rests in heaven, I know it must! However do we look to escape death above the hope of heaven? It was not so with the Lord Jesus nor with Paul. Look at Paul’s tone; “and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  

    

There are very few pronounced examples like this man and what he learnt to endure through the hardships he faced for the sake of the gospel: - “Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” (2Corinthians 11:23-28)

Through it all he eventually arrived at a place where with absolute glee was able to echo these words, “and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  

As I look at this man great example it is very encouraging on the one hand but on the other I see my failures as a Christian magnified, it almost leaves me without hope. What have I had to endure, sure I bare many scars in my body, but all because of my own disobedience. I have lived a life of a “bruised reed” for much of my Christian life. Nevertheless I am not without hope, I am convinced that He who has begun the work in my life will see it through until I eventually open my eyes in heaven and see Him face to face. I cannot begin to explain how I long for that day, words elude me!

The Armenian’s like to drill home the point that a true believer may lose his way and fall by the wayside. I tell you this that if you are truly a child of God and if you have the Spirit of God you will never be cast out and left to rot in some gutter somewhere. We may even like Samson loose both our eyes alone our journey here on earth, but our hair will eventually begin to grow once again as God teaches us even through our disobedience to learn to walk by faith and to eventually find obedience for our lives. I suggest that they would argue the point that Samson did not make it, if we did not have record of His lasting faith in the book of Hebrews. God will never abandon one of His own! We must be confident in His ability to get us home. But there has to be a shift in our understanding, heaven must captivate even fibre in our bodies and souls.

So then it will not only be the strong that will be saved on that day but all who belong to Him, praise the glorious name of Jesus Christ the Lord, our God and King. He will not misplace one of His own, as He is the great Shepherd! And yes I can back this up with doctrine! “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:39-40)

Come what may let us hold fast to the confession of our faith.

Signing off

Tyrone   

   

Our Kings Response!

(Matthew 25:40)  “And the King will answer them…”

If we were left to our own devises or our own disciplines where would that leave us? It seems to me that only the Christian who looks to shoot its wounded. But it is the injured that needs the medic. While training as a Marine back in 1985-86 it became obvious that not all where capable of the same hardship, some took the training very hard and where cracked rather easily, while others seemed to never be taken over the edge regardless of what was thrown at them. And it was these young men who were singled out and given the opportunity to enlist within the special units of their regiments. The Infantry had Para-bats, those who jumped from aeroplanes and the South African Special Forces Brigade (popularly known as "Recces"); those who would venture into enemy territory without support to spy out the enemy. The Navy had Divers who went through vigorous training of a different kind as they were often in the water and starved of oxygen and so claustrophobia played its part and not many would qualify. The Air force had pilots and Physical Training Instructors (PTI’s); they were not really the Elite but needed endurance to qualify. And then there was the South African Military Health Service a branch of the South African National Defence Force responsible for medical facilities and the training and deployment of all medical personnel within the force.

And on the physical side just like the Air Force it was an easy ride for most, but even they had their “Elite”, they were known as the “Ops Medics”, those trained for the frontline of battle. I am told their training was also dynamic. These men needed a different kind of endurance, were they capable of high-pressure situation with their lives threatened while trying to save a life of another.

I clearly recall an incident that tested my resilience to a medical situation while undergoing training in Simonstown in Cape Town with a soldier and friend of mine, we were on the same course and we had been through vigorous tests over the year both physically and mentally without too much difficultly. However he kept a secret and he had never informed me that he was an epileptic, as this would have immediately disqualified him for this Coxswain course. In fact he would have been exempt from almost all we had endured over the year. One day while sitting next to me on a bus he collapsed and became to froth at the mouth and convulse uncontrollably. I had never witnessed anything like it and I panicked. I had now been shown my vulnerability and I failed the test; I was no longer in control and did not know what to do. From that day forth I had new respect for “Ops Medics”.

As Christians we all are at war and if we were to only look out for the strong what kind of hope would the stragglers have. We must learn to carry our wounded; they are just as much part of God’s army for Christ has also died for them. Why then do we look down on them as weak, have we forgotten where we once were? We were lost and without hope but now we have an eternal hope. So if we see our brother struggling let us as it were leave the comfort of the ninety-nine and go out and assist the one in need, even with the fiery darts flying over-head. But through this process let us remember this instruction from Jude; “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” (Jude 1:21-23) 

Let us all remember to do the work of the “OPS MEDIC”, remember the bruised reeds for Christ will not let them be broken.

“I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'” (Matthew 25:36-45) 

Signing off

Tyrone

Stand still!

(Exodus 14:13)  “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”

Sometimes it is good to take a step back and let God talk to us as we stand still. The hyper-activity in life seems to be filled with lots of stuff that is actually meaningless when it comes to God’s plan for our lives and sometimes we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place, confused and with so many voices, so many opinions, what is one to do? BE still and see the salvation of the Lord. I so hate the opposition of the flesh, it is like a dripping tap as it nags away, relentless in its objective. To get me to walk in unbelief and to fall into sin, and at times it has its way! Don’t you just feel terrible when you end up doing something that you know Christ died for to set us free from, and yet how often have I found myself wallowing in self-pity? However, I do understand that it is God’s design that allows it happens like this. It is called sanctification. A process to teach us to walk in obedience before a holy God and yet life seems to be filled at times with failure, it is at these times in our lives that we are most vulnerable. A hundred idea’s and different opinions often present themselves, but we must remember that we have an enemy who would love to see our demise. The advice we receive at times may seem sound but there are periods we need to “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.”

“Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.” (Hebrews 13:9) - What then does this mean? Let a good teacher then teaches us how to apply correct theology to our standing in Christ…

“a. They were divers and various (Heb_13:9), different from what they had received from their former faithful teachers, and inconsistent with themselves.

b. They were strange doctrines: such as the gospel church was unacquainted with foreign to the gospel.

c. They were of an unsettling, distracting nature, like the wind by which the ship is tossed, and in danger of being driven from its anchor, carried away, and split upon the rocks. They were quite contrary to that grace of God which fixes and establishes the heart, which is an excellent thing. These strange doctrines keep the heart always fluctuating and unsettled.

d. They were mean and low as to their subject. They were about external, little, perishing things, such as meats and drinks, etc.

e. They were unprofitable. Those who were most taken with them, and employed about them, got no real good by them to their own souls. They did not make them more holy, nor more humble, nor more thankful, nor more heavenly.” (Matthew Henry)

 And another great teacher…

(Exodus 14:13)  “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”

“These words contain God’s command to the believer when he is reduced to great straits and brought into extraordinary difficulties. He cannot retreat; he cannot go forward; he is shut up on the right hand and on the left; what is he now to do? The Master’s word to him is, “Stand still.” It will be well for him if at such times he listens only to his Master’s word, for other and evil advisers come with their suggestions. Despair whispers, “Lie down and die; give it all up.” But God would have us put on a cheerful courage, and even in our worst times, rejoice in his love and faithfulness. Cowardice says, “Retreat; go back to the worldling’s way of action; you cannot play the Christian’s part, it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles.” But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you cannot follow it if you are a child of God. His divine fiat has bid thee go from strength to strength, and so thou shalt, and neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy course. What, if for a while thou art called to stand still, yet this is but to renew thy strength for some greater advance in due time. Precipitancy cries, “do something. Stir yourself; to stand still and wait, is sheer idleness.” We must be doing something at once-we must do it so we think-instead of looking to the Lord, who will not only do something but will do everything. Presumption boasts, “If the sea be before you, march into it and expect a miracle.” But Faith listens neither to Presumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it hears God say, “Stand still,” and immovable as a rock it stands. “Stand still;”-keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, “Go forward.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

Life & Peace!

(Romans 8:6) “…but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

We are taught and told to have goals from a young age, which seems like sound advice, but once our eyes have been opened to the Spirit of God, all our driving energy’s must shift gears as we now focus on Spiritual things and put aside the traps of the flesh as all they can only every produce is death. We must start learning to place God’s Word above our suppositions and worldly influences.

When we look at a positive bank balance, this in itself makes us happy as the shackles of financial worries dissipate. It is a reassuring place to be, or is it? Obviously I am happier when tomorrow is taken care of, but this is not what the bible teachers as necessarily beneficial. Sure, I would feel financially secure and I would be justified by the Word of God as we are instructed to owe no man any debt but to love our neighbor’s as we love ourselves. But when my confidence rests, in the flesh and not in the spirit then I am still walking as a carnal man and death will be a reflection of my life. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-9) 

Christians must become the most dependent people in the world, they must depend on the mercies and grace of God and for every minute of every day. Only then will we be able to embrace life and peace. When we motivate our children to achieve in this world to the exclusion of setting this principle first and foremost in their lives we are teaching then to embrace death. Let us not lie to ourselves. “And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”” (Luke 9:23-27) - Obedience and heaven is now our only goal! Please do not over-read the point I now make, but embrace the principle!

“Brotherly kindness was due from Edom to Israel in the time of need, but instead thereof, the men of Esau made common cause with Israel’s foes. Special stress in the sentence before us is laid upon the word thou; as when Caesar cried to Brutus, “and thou Brutus”; a bad action may be all the worse, because of the person who has committed it. When we sin, who are the chosen favourites of heaven, we sin with an emphasis; ours is a crying offence, because we are so peculiarly indulged. If an angel should lay his hand upon us when we are doing evil, he need not use any other rebuke than the question, “What thou? What dost thou here?” Much forgiven, much delivered, much instructed, much enriched, much blessed, shall we dare to put forth our hand unto evil? God forbid!

A few minutes of confession may be beneficial to thee, gentle reader, this morning. Hast thou never been as the wicked? At an evening party certain men laughed at uncleanness, and the joke was not altogether offensive to thine ear, even thou wast as one of them. When hard things were spoken concerning the ways of God, thou wast bashfully silent; and so, to on-lookers, thou wast as one of them. When worldlings were bartering in the market, and driving hard bargains, wast thou not as one of them? When they were pursuing vanity with a hunter’s foot, wert thou not as greedy for gain as they were? Could any difference be discerned between thee and them? Is there any difference? Here we come to close quarters. Be honest with thine own soul, and make sure that thou art a new creature in Christ Jesus; but when this is sure, walk jealously, lest any should again be able to say, “Even thou wast as one of them.” Thou wouldst not desire to share their eternal doom, why then be like them here? Come not thou into their secret, lest thou come into their ruin. Side with the afflicted people of God, and not with the world.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Only once we take on the mind of Christ will we ever be partakers of “life and peace”.

It is time to shift gears and to walk in the Spirit, it must start now and if we already adopted this mind-set then we must look to feed it even the more.

Signing off

Tyrone

   

I am sure of this...

(Philippians 1:6) “And I am sure of this…”

It is a terrible thing to lose ones way or to be stranded without a plan. Last night I got a flat tyre on my way to our first midweek cottage meeting. I was stranded and there was nothing I could do, it was a rather uncomfortable feeling. To think that I did about 4000km over December last year without a spare tube and in some remote places while travelling alone without a single puncture. And then 2km from home I get a flat and need to leave my bike stranded overnight. Not a very reassuring position.

Has God left anything to chance? No He has not! If we have lost our way and feel somewhat insecure we need this truth once again to grip our hearts, then we will find direction for our lives. If I look at my life over the last twenty something years and I think about the great highs and the very depressing lows of my Christian experience I then realize what caused me at times to lose my way. “UNBELIEF”! So what does that actually mean? We are “justified by faith”. If we find ourselves in a position of apathy to our God and King, then obviously something has gone awry alone the way. It would be good for us to search our hearts; I am almost convinced we have forgotten that God has left nothing to chance. We feel that we have been stranded and left to fend for ourselves. NEVER! For without fail our King will finish what He starts. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

These are such encouraging words, why do we let them slip in our unbelief. We think we are safe because of what we do and how we act, but it is not the case; we are only safe because of what Christ achieved on our behalf on that cruel Roman cross. It started there and it ended with His resurrection. We are the beneficiaries of His grace. If you head hangs low, I say remember the love of our King, He died for you and if He was willing to die for us when we were still sinners, let’s think on this… has that thought gripped our souls, for when it does we remember just exactly what an amazing feat this was. Jesus Christ and His ultimate display of love on show. There was no glorious pomp and ceremony, but a ceremony none the less and a cruel one at that. He was not praised as the king of Kings but slaughter like a murdering criminal, yet He was willing to do it while we were yet sinners and without hope. Meditate of this, mull it over and pray that God the Holy Spirit would help you make it your own.

Now with that thought settled look at this glorious text, pay careful attention to it and then erupt with jubilation; “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10)

Do not doubt, do not be troubled as we have the greatest of Shepherds watching over His flock and just look at what He does when we lose our way; “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” (Luke 15) – HOW MUCH MORE WILL WE BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE!

I therefore think that we forget this truth, this I why at times we lose our way, we begin to walk as we once did a life full of doubt and uncertainty, but no it is not so! If we have His Spirit and we belong to Him we will, no ifs and buts make it home to heaven, just believe! Let us echo the Words of our great brother Paul and say that we too are sure, “that he who began a good work in you (us) will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Let me leave you with these very encouraging words from a bother that saw this better than most: - “The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.” (Isaiah 37:22)

“Reassured by the Word of the Lord, the poor trembling citizens of Zion grew bold, and shook their heads at Sennacherib’s boastful threats. Strong faith enables the servants of God to look with calm contempt upon their most haughty foes. We know that our enemies are attempting impossibilities. They seek to destroy the eternal life, which cannot die while Jesus lives; to overthrow the citadel, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. They kick against the pricks to their own wounding, and rush upon the bosses of Jehovah’s buckler to their own hurt.

We know their weakness. What are they but men? And what is man but a worm? They roar and swell like waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame. When the Lord ariseth, they shall fly as chaff before the wind, and be consumed as crackling thorns. Their utter powerlessness to do damage to the cause of God and his truth, may make the weakest soldiers in Zion’s ranks laugh them to scorn.

Above all, we know that the Most High is with us, and when he dresses himself in arms, where are his enemies? If he cometh forth from his place, the potsherds of the earth will not long contend with their Maker. His rod of iron shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel, and their very remembrance shall perish from the earth. Away, then, all fears, the kingdom is safe in the King’s hands. Let us shout for joy, for the Lord reigneth, and his foes shall be as straw for the dunghill. (C.H.Spurgeon)

“As true as God’s own word is true;

Nor earth, nor hell, with all their crew,

Against us shall prevail.

A jest, and by-word, are they grown;

God is with us, we are his own,

Our victory cannot fail.”

Signing off

Tyrone

No Condemnation!

(Romans 8:1) “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Today is another early wake-up call, by default rather than intention. It is these types mornings that I anticipation I will see something a little deeper than normal. My mind wonders, it ponders, what is my great God and Father about to teach me? Maybe I need to be disciplined, will He correct me? But one thing I am convinced about and that is that I am in the greatest of hands. There is no safer place to be, as God gives his angels charge over me. If only God would open my eyes to see what Joshua and the Israelites saw when God commanded the sun and the moon to stand still at the time He defeated the Amorites, their enemies, destroying every one of them as we too look to destroy every enemy in our lives that keeps us from serving Him - “And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:13-14)

I wonder has there ever been a day like that for the believer. I would have to accept the fact that God’s Word will never lie. But have we been partakers of such a day? In type, there is no doubt that the Lord Jesus achieved exactly this for all who believe on Him, His resurrection and who now confess Him as Lord.

How so one may ask?

Has not the power of the shackles of sin been removed from the life of the sons of God? It has! Nevertheless “sin” persistently chips away at us on a daily basis as it strives to get us to walk in unbelief. We know this to be true! However when we understand what Christ achieved on Calvary, sin no longer has dominion over us. This seems to be very hard for us to comprehend. We know that we still sin at times although our hearts drive us to avoid sin whenever possible. We resolve to put sin away on a daily basis, or at least this should be what drives us throughout the day. Having been saved from such bondage, we now look to walk with a freedom loving God and keeping His commandments.

What thoughts then should we start the day with? We must believe the Word of God above everything else. Let me try and unpack what Christ achieved on behalf of the believer…

We were born into sin; we had no choice in the matter. A sentence of death was once our lot in life, until God chose to save us. There was no merit in what we could offer Him and yet He so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son to die in our stead. Almost an unbelievable truth! And yet we know it is true as our soul witnesses with the Spirit of God and we are reassured that we now belong to Him. Once we were dead but now we have life! Once we were blind but now we see!

However our day consists of accusing or excusing our actions. We either feel that what we are doing is right in the eyes of God or not. Our conscience helps us to understand sin. But even the unbeliever has a conscience; we have all partaken from the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil”. What then separates us from the unbeliever? We now have Christ Spirit and they do not! How then does this help us? Well in every way!

Let us consider what He achieved on our behalf and it may help us get a handle on the constant nagging issues of the fiery darts from Satan: - “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;” (Ephesians 6:16)

He is the accuser of the brethren! He constantly reminds us of our sin, but the truth of the matter is this, we no longer can be charged with any sin, past present or future sins as Christ die once and for all. We must believe this truth even when we are almost robbed of it by our sin. Faith teaches us to believe what God has accomplished on our behalf. Where it gets tricky is when we resign to habitual sin in our lives, we take on a mindset of lasciviousness and this we must never adopt as a lifestyle for when we do we will be disciplined by our loving Father. Nevertheless what we do will never change the truth of what God has achieved in and through His Son our Saviour. Even if I habitually sin which is not God’s way for the believer, I will never be able to take away what Christ achieved on Calvary.

If I give-in to a particular sin and say to myself, it is not possible to overcome, I then make God a liar, which is a very serious indictment and who would want to go there? I sadly through lack of understanding once lived there. There will always be consequences to our actions; hence my right leg is an inch shorter than my left leg, I am HIV positive and I have failed with two marriages. This thought even now looks to defeat my faith, but my King has overcome and although my life was once full of disobedience, I now have hope to find obedience in and through my reigning King, the Lord JESUS Christ. Praise His name! 

So you see even an apparent hopeless case like me can find hope in and through Him. No matter what life has dealt you all you need do is believe on the finished work of Calvary. We cannot take away what has already been done but we can forget those things that are now behind us and we can now press on with this high from God. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Today is the day of salvation, turn to Him and find life for we cannot die while Jesus lives, Praise His name!

Signing off

Tyrone    

He cares for you!

(1Peter 5:7) “…because he cares for you.”

It is the greatest of privileges to be called the sons of God and as children to be able to “call out” to so such a wonderful God and Father, the only true God! Our God, our Father! Let that thought resonate deep within our souls, pause-- and let us ponder that consideration and all its ramifications. -- Are there any ramifications? Absolutely not!

For every born again believer who confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and believes that God raised Him from the dead, are afforded the privilege of this wonderful access and it is no different to any other true Father son relationship. It is a marvelous privilege to be able to cry out “ABBA FATHER”.

How thankful I am for Christ’s selfless sacrifice. We are entitled to fall to our knees and cry to the only true God in and through the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord. And no matter how pre-occupied this great God is in ruling the universe while ensuring His plan remains on course, He will give an ear and intently listen to our cry, without any miscarry! And all because His great Son has made a way for us, praise His name!

So when we are down cast and feeling low, remember this truth; it is not might nor by power, that enables us to come, but it is only because of the spilt blood of the Lamb that when we cry out to Him our voice is heard, lets us the come to Him in the name of Jesus. No longer will the mountain shake as it once did. But our great King has died once and for all; “Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:25-26) - No other sacrifice will ever be needed. Did you hear me? No other sacrifice will ever be needed as Christ has paved the way!

Let no one lie to you, now as children you have Father-son freedoms. For four thousand years no man could ever approach the Father without being veiled, but now we have direct access to the Father through the Son. Why and how does this work? The why part is obvious; the Lord Jesus died on our behalf for our sin and we now have His Spirit, we now have access into the spiritual realm. And how it works is just as glorious: “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27) 

It is the Lord Jesus who now reveals the Father to us as we rely on His finished work. How I love my Jesus so and all because He first loved me! How fortunate we all are who now have eyes to see. The grace of God and their mercies never end, for this I will be forever thankful.

Our heavenly Father takes His role seriously; He is not like so many human dads, who put their lives before their children’s. NO! He is the greatest of all Fathers and He has a deep concerning care for us; when we cry out to Him, He is touched with our infirmities and all because of our great Saviour experience here on earth: - “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. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16) 

The Lord Jesus now intercedes on our behalf and we are heard. And now not only when we walk obediently does this rule apply, for if we disobey, our Fathers love is so great that He take time out from His busy schedule to discipline all 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)

We must and will learn to obey! I pray Father God please help us to have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit now teaches us. Who else has these rights and treats but the children of God! Think of who we once belonged too, was not the devil our father, he was until we were shown our need for a Saviour in and through our sin.

The Muslims call on a prophet Mohammed, the Hindu’s rely on Buddha, the Egyptians relied on the sky, sun, moon, plant, sex and plant gods and they were no match for Moses and Aaron. And then Elijah faced-off against 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah and they too were no match for our great God, in fact Elijah was bold and mocked there gods, he knew in whom he believed! We serve the only true and living God, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has opened the way for all who believe on Him.

There is no equal to our God and heavenly Father. But above all things our Father cares for us, so remember to call out to HIM!

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:6-7)   

Thank you Peter for these true and very encouraging words.

Signing off

Tyrone

         

A light Burden!

(Matthew 11:30) “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Our Christian walks leaves us in one of two three camps on a daily basis; firstly it could be filled with disappointment and failure as we find ourselves surrounded by “worldly sorrow” (on the surface it may look like repentance but is actually self-pity); secondly we could have a spring in or step and a psalm on our heart, even as we realize that in ourselves it is impossible to walk as Christ walked when He was here on earth. Grace becomes a reality and we begin to embrace the goodness of God in our lives and find ourselves thankful as we walk in His victory; in other words we look to our Saviour’s finished work and His Spirit that now lives in us which in turn enables us get through the day.  There is once again no real in-between, or is there? If I feel indifferent (believe in Christ’s dead burial and resurrection but the life I live has very little evidence to His resurrection); then I suppose, on the basis of what the scripture teachers I would be worse off. -- How so? “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:16)

When we consider this verse; -- “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30), it gives us an inkling to what the Lord teachers us and hopefully we will grasp the lesson. I suggest we will eventually all arrive at a true understanding to this lesson, so long as He (the good Shepherd) is leading us we will ultimately learn, I am convinced of it. Why? Well there can never be any greater teacher, than the Lord Jesus and if He has saved you, He will finish the work. Some are slower than others (I included), but He is far greater than my or any other opposition that He may encounter along the way. Best you believe this! “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” (Romans 4:5)

And just as my friend and brother Malcolm took a while to arrive at this conclusion, I too confer and I quote, “it’s taken a while, but I am now fully persuaded that living the Christian life is not humanly possible.” I think I know what he is saying, but I know what this means to me. We will hopefully get him to give us some input in the comments column.

For many years I and many other Christians have struggle with the carnal man and the spiritual man as seen in Romans chapter 7 and 8. But when the goodness of God the Holy Spirit turns on the light switch to this teaching and we get our suppositions out the way and we stick to what the texts is teaching us then the Christian walk becomes manageable. Let me explain; it is impossible for a man or woman to walk as Christ walked in the flesh both before and after salvation. We have inherited an enemy that lives and feeds off us, it is sin! When God created the man and the woman, he gave them trees in the garden to eat from, there was a “tree of live” and there was a tree of the “knowledge of good and evil” which was forbidden. Now when Eve ate form the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil” what we tend to overlook is that although sin found life in man it brought with it knowledge, not only of that which was evil but also that which is good. Now we know that God’s law is good, we know it is wrong to steal and as a young child when we lied to our parents no one needed to tell us we were wrong, we understood it from our conscience that we had just done was wrong. Here we have proof that our consciousness is alive to both good and evil. Now once they had eaten from that tree God acted quickly as He placed a cherub and a flaming sword in the garden to protect and stop them from eating from the “tree of life”. Why? Sin was now alive and before sin had been dealt with, life for mankind was no longer an option, death now lived!

It is only through what our Lord and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ achieved on Calvary that now removed the flaming sword and the cherubim from the tree of life. How was this achieved? Christ relinquished His authority and left the portals of heaven under the wish of His Father (God) and God the Spirit impregnated a virgin woman (Mary) with God’s seed and a child was born in a manger in Bethlehem. He grew up like any other child, he was subject to his parent’s authority, he went through puberty etc. Throughout the duration of his life He never once broke one of God’s commands, He lived a sinless life and therefore was now worthy to be sacrificed and conquer sin. It only ever needed to happen once. This is why when He died that cruel Roman death and was crucified for our sin and when God raised Him from the dead on the third day, that once again the “tree of life” was available for us to eat from, praise His glorious name!

This is why no man can come unto the Father but by the Son, Jesus Christ is the “tree of life”.

Now with that established the Apostle Paul’s lesson to us in Romans chapter 7 and 8 is simple. No other man but Christ could open the way for mankind to partake of the tree of life. If we find repentance in and through Him we in turn receive His Spirit, we are born again. A new beginning, we have now partaken of the tree of life and Christ has free us from our old bondage, sin! However as men we still have this knowledge of good and evil alive in us. We know to do well but we often fail. Why? - “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:14-17)

Even as Christians we still struggle with this on-going battle against sin but when we come to grips with this reality we find a freedom in depending upon His grace to get us through the day. Until then life is but a struggle.

We must forget to take on sin in the carnal man (naturally) as we will never win, it is impossible! This is why every minute of every day we must come with confidence to the throne room of grace to find assistance in and through the finished work of our risen Saviour to get us through the day. It is only when I relinquish relying on Him that I fail. This is a process and it will be an on-going (carrying something that is therefore readily accessible) saga.

When this becomes a reality then we too will echo these words; “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." – The Greek word for “easy” is Khrase-tos, is from the word employed, that is, (by implication) useful (in manner): - better, easy, good, gracious and kind. In other words Christ has made the way all we need to do is rest in Him and find grace to trust Him with our daily walk.

Signing off

Tyrone

     

            

A True Father!

(1John 3:1) “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God…”

Saturday was a day with most of my family as my nephew Wesley had just turned twenty-two. We do not have get-togethers as often as we should. It is good to be with family and who we see helps us to remember who to pray for. Times like these bring us back to a reality check of what is really important, the souls of our unrepentant family. The conversation is often around work and money and a lot of temporal trivia. But this verse should scream at us on days like these; “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36) 

It is clear from scripture that those of our family who do not bend the knee to Christ and repentant of their sin and believe in their hearts that God rose Him from the dead and begin to confess Him with their mouths to others that He is Lord, their Lord, they will not make it to heaven and hell will be their final destination.

There is a checklist against scripture we can use to verify whether someone is a true believer or not. To believe there is one God is not enough; “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!” (James 2:19)

Time for false love must end if that has been our portion, suppositions must end and they must end with us! God knows who are His!

By the grace of God while seated with some of the youngsters of the family and some of their girlfriends, I was given an opportunity to present the gospel when my youngest nephew Wesley aged fifteen asks me a very relevant question; “if you get drunk does that make you unborn again”? Now without trying to interfere with the question and over think it, which we have a tendency to often do, I turned it on him and asked him a question. I asked, “If you lie to your mother does that mean you are now not her son”?

“We can only ever be in two camps and these are the camps; “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” (Romans 8:9) – There is no rocket science needed to understand this truth. You either have been born again or you haven’t, there can never be an in-between. If you have His spirit living within you, this means the entire Godhead is living in you, you are a son!

If not then repentance is needed and if you call upon the name of the Lord He will not turn away from your request; “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13)

However, if we already belong to Him we belong to His household and if we get drunk or sin in any other area of our lives that does not make us any less children, all it shows us is that we are disobedient children. And the call for all of our lives is that we learn to become obedient children, this will be our on-going struggle for us as long as we have breath in this life. Now if we choose to ignore our sin and continue with a mind-set of lasciviousness (if we are blatantly lustful and unruly) God will not just throw us out as we disregard let’s say a friend when he betrays us. Our God is far greater than that! He is able to save from the uttermost to the uttermost. He will then discipline us as a father should discipline his child when he disobeys. Can I prove this thought from scripture or is it just a nice hopeful idea without any grounding? I can! – “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? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (Hebrews 12:6-8)

We are in one of two groups there is no in-between!

If we are not chastised for our unrepentant sin in our lives then we were never truly born again, and we should then worry, fall to our knees and ask God to save our souls. But when we are disciplined for our disobedience we then have an assurance that God is guiding us and that He will get us home, praise His name!

I am so thankful for all of God’s discipline throughout my life, yes I was once committed to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, Yes I did nearly die in a motor car accident when I was twenty-four, but God spared me and yes I am also HIV positive. But on reflection I would have it no other way; I am truly thankful that God never cast me to the wolves and left me to rot in some gutter, today is a day where I am able to praise His name and give Him all the glory, for He alone is worthy and He alone has the power in His hand to achieve such an amazing outcome. One day I will see Him face to face and then I will be able to thank Him in person, how I long for that day.

God will have His way as He teaches all His children to obey His voice, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

The trickery of the devil!

(Genesis 3:1) "Did God actually say?”

It amazes me how the same questions and struggles we face as Christians today, is no different to what every Christian faced in time past. Throughout the ages our enemy has used the same deceitful tactics looking to lure us into disobedience before a Righteous and Holy God. And it is not always with the obvious, like blatant sin that we are trapped. His greatest weapon would be the distortion of scripture. How do we know this? We look to what has already been recorded; “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "did God actually say,’ You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" (Genesis 3:1-3) 

Here we see Satan posing a question and probing for weakness in Eve’s understanding on God’s Word, "Did God actually say?” Let us examine what has been recorded for us by Moses on God’s behalf on this exact question. “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)   

Note: Nothing was recorded in this portion of scripture about touching the tree; there is no mention of it. But Eve answers the serpent’s question and adds to God’s instruction; now whether Adam misrepresented the message to his wife or whether Eve chose not to listen intently to God’s instruction is not certain. However eve’s response added to what God had originally instructed; “neither shall you touch it”, was her response to the serpent. An immediate avenue for Satan now to exploit; Note: He immediately goes for the jugular; “But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4)

“That which the devil aimed at was to persuade Eve to cut forbidden fruit; and, to do this, he took the same method that he does still. He questioned whether it was a sin or no, Gen_3:1. He denied that there was any danger in it, Gen_3:4. He suggested much advantage by it, Gen_3:5. And these are his common topics. 1. He questioned whether it was a sin or no to eat of this tree, and whether really the fruit of it was forbidden. Observe, He, by aggravating the exception, endeavours to invalidate the concession: Hath God said, You shall not eat of every tree? The divine law cannot be reproached unless it be first misrepresented. [3.] He seems to speak it tauntingly, upbraiding the woman with her shyness of meddling with that tree; as if he had said, “You are so nice and cautious, and so very precise, because God has said, 'You shall not eat.” The devil, as he is a liar, so he is a scoffer, from the beginning: and the scoffers of the last days are his children. [4.] That which he aimed at in the first onset was to take off her sense of the obligation of the command. “Surely you are mistaken, it cannot be that God should tie you out from this tree; he would not do so unreasonable a thing.” See here, That it is the subtlety of Satan to blemish the reputation of the divine law as uncertain or unreasonable, and so to draw people to sin; and that it is therefore our wisdom to keep up a firm belief of, and a high respect for, the command of God. Has God said, “You shall not lie, nor take his name in vain, nor be drunk,” etc.? “Yes, I am sure he has, and it is well said, and by his grace I will abide by it, whatever the tempter suggests to the contrary.” It was contrary to the word of God, which we are sure is true. See 1Jo_2:21, 1Jo_2:27. It was such a lie as gave the lie to God himself. [2.] It was contrary to his own knowledge. When he told them there was no danger in disobedience and rebellion he said that which he knew, by woeful experience, to be false. He had broken the law of his creation, and had found, to his cost, that he could not prosper in it; and yet he tells our first parents they shall not die. He concealed his own misery, that he might draw them into the like: thus he still deceives sinners into their own ruin. He tells them that, though they sin, they shall not die; and gains credit rather than God, who tells them, The wages of sin is death. Note, Hope of impunity is a great support to all iniquity, and impenitency in it. I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart, Deu_29:19.” (Matthew Henry)

We therefore must be diligent in what the Word of God instructs us to do; we must heed and obey its commands. If not, we will open ourselves up to the tempters lures of deception and deceit. We must examine what men teach! It will always be by grace through faith, but to be safe, we must follow the letter (Bible) God has left us as accurately as possible. If the Word teachers; “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) - This is exactly what will happen to those who do not find repentance in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, they will end up in the “lake of fire” no ifs and buts!

When men teach that there is no hell or propagate that God is love and because He is love He would never send someone to hell, it is a lie and that man or woman does the work of the devil. If you are part of such a church or organisation, flee from it. There are many other traps that seek the same objective, and sadly many snares are found amongst those who propagate that they are Christian.

God’s Word is the final authority and never the suppositions of men. My prayer would be that God would light such a fire within our souls that we would be diligent in seeking out His truth in and through our lives. May His name be praise now and forever more, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone