Repent and believe in the Gospel!

(Mark 1:15) "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

Pain is an everyday reality we need to contend with. My knee now throbs and unless something is done about it, it will continue to ache. It is impossible to ignore! Heaven and hell will be no different in reality, impossible to ignore! Pain should help us understand the concept of hell as we are told there will be a wailing and gnashing of teeth; “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.” (Luke 13:28) 

We must accept the fact that hell will be a place of agony, a place that at all cost must be avoided. Very few welcome pains, nevertheless deception has so twisted the perception of some, as they look to pain in stimulating pleasure, they are known as masochists (the condition in which sexual or other gratification depends on one's suffering physical pain or humiliation). This sect of individual’s endeavors to make a statement that pain is and can be pleasurable. But even if a mind was so twisted to find itself so far gone, entering into such practices, what they fail to tell you is that pain is only manageable if relief is administered. Let us use a simple example like my knee, the pain is bearable for a time, but before long I am looking for pain-killers to ease the pain. And as it has continued over time it forced me to see a doctor yesterday and I have now booked a knee operation for next week Wednesday. Many different manageable outs and hopefully an operation will do the trick. The hope of relief!

But hell will not be like that; there will be no relief whatsoever and it will not be a place of spurts of pain and then relief, but constant eternal torment and hurt.

The writer of proverbs teachers us that to fear God is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God and His sentence on all those who reject His offer of Salvation, in and through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ is a true reality. We must align ourselves with His terms, conditions and not our own cleverly thought-out plots to excuse ourselves for His judgment, as it will fail. We will nose-dive if we ignore His instruction, and be sure of this one truth it will be without exception!

So many opinionated voices out there, with their own idea of who God is and what will happen to us in eternity. If one seeks accurate answers on any topic, it is best to go to the source to find answers. It is God who has created the heavens and the earth; “For there is nothing hid, save that it should be manifested; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light.” (Mark 4:22): - I now speak the truth in love about a topic that so many look to ignore, but ignore it at your own peril. I will use the Bible (the Holy Scriptures) to teach us about this treacherous but very real place.

It is the teachings of the bible I will use as the final authority, and if you chose to ignore its warnings as heresy then you do it at your own risk. Firstly let us look at some of the warnings given; “And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28):- So then there is one who is able to sentence a person to hell, this person must excuse an individual from this particular sentence and it will be left up to Him to pass His judgment and not the suppositions of others. God will have the final say!

Some history on hell and those who now live there; “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.” (2Peter 2:4-9)

Do not be mistaken, hell is a very real place and its mouth is open to receive as many as will not repent and turn to God seeking forgiveness for their sins. Denial of such a place will not excuse anyone from such an abode.

How will we avoid such a place and what must one do to escape its torment? It is not about us trying to attain to some level of righteousness within our own character, to keep God’s laws is an impossible feat. We need to be covered by the blood of the only One who has accomplished this feat, there has only ever been one who has lived as a man and lived a life without sin, thereby excusing us (those who repent and believe) from the sentence of hell, praise the name of Jesus Christ the Lord! The law in itself has proved to us all that it is impossible to keep God’s commandments; therefore we need a champion to excuse us of our sin, in type, like David killed Goliath, so too did the Lord Jesus kill sin once and for all. It was a supreme sacrifice; in fact it cost the Lord Jesus His life as He paid the price for our sin. It is hard to comprehend how severe this actually was, as God the Father actual turn His face from His only begotten Son as He hung upon that cruel Roman cross; “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"” (Mark 15:34): - God the Son was for a time separated from God the Father, why? Because of mankind’s sin!  

The sole purpose of this account was to once again make a way for sinful men to find repentance in and through the blood of the lamb. Although Adam sinned in the garden separating mankind from a relationship with God, it was the act of Calvary, the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice that once again open away for men and woman to re-establish communication between them and God the Father. Every other religion and suggestions made on how we can make it to heaven is a lie from the pit of hell and Satan is behind it! Do not believe it!

What then is a man to do? It is simple; "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." As nothing else will keep a soul from the clutches of hell!

Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and find life and heaven will be your final destination; hell will have no claim on your life!

(Romans 10:13)  “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."”

Signing off

Tyrone

  

 

Learning to be thankful!

(James 1:12) “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

I have heard some people say you haven’t really lived if you haven't any regrets to one’s life. This is an opinion based on experience; I would on the surface accept this to be true, for my life anyway. However if one scratched a little deeper, would we arrive at the same conclusion? I am not sure I would as our hope in Christ overshadows our regrets or at least they should. Less of self and more of Christ; this would also include my daily thoughts. To find the right conditioning we must be trained by Christ, our minds must be renewed on a daily basis. It is an on-going battle that we can never excuse ourselves from, for if we do we will fall.

I would have done things very differently in my life, if I could re-visit them; this however is not an option for any of us. We must forget those things that are behind us and look forward, pressing towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus our Lord. In fact even if I am justified in my reckoning and I feel that I am not to be blamed for the place I now find myself, it is the will of God for my life. I am exactly where I need to be and hopefully learning to depend on Him more and more as I see that day approaching.

Our great God has the capability to use every situation to conform His children into the image of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It only becomes painful when we look to kick against the goads; “And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” (Acts 9:5)

It is a lot harder to swim upstream against the current that to sit back and use the stream as intended, swim with it and not against it. Rest in the Lord; be thankful for all we have both good and bad as they will help get us home to heaven. When we second guess our standing in Christ we call God a liar, a heavy indictment! We may not say it but we think like this; Why, I have wasted so much of my life, I have been tricked, why me! The answer is a simple one, because you have needed it. So, until we arrive in heaven this process will continue in our lives, changing us into the image of Christ! Yes, many bad choices may have left us with much regret; nevertheless we can and must learn from them.

We will never have to experience something that is not needed to achieve this outcome; changing us into the image of Christ. The olive only processes its delightful oil when placed between two grinding stones, when downward pressure is exerted on the olive and only then is it useful as cooking oil. But before that sequence the olive remains an olive! Try throwing a handful of olives into a frying pan and then fry an egg, a disaster as the egg sticks to the pan. Our lives are no different; we also need to have it milled out so that we may be of use to others.

Let us stop complaining and be thankful; it is not our prerogative whether or not we feel like praising God our heavenly Father. We have been created for this exact purpose and that is to be thankful for all we have received, starting with salvation all the way through to the oxygen we breathe. It was the murmuring Israelites that fell in the wilderness not the thankful ones; “Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, To-day if ye shall hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tried me by proving me, And saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was displeased with this generation, And said, They do always err in their heart: But they did not know my ways; As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.” (Hebrews 3:7-11)

Will we except and trust our God as we believe this one fact? That He knows what He is doing. If we answer yes to that question, then moaning has no place in our lives. Let us lay aside every sin and weight that looks to way us down. Let us run this race with fortitude, looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith. May God help us to be thankful for all we receive from Him, without exception!

Teach us beloved Lord to trust and obey!

Signing off

Tyrone

Saints and not sinners!

(Deuteronomy 4:33) “Did any people ever hear the voice of a God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?”

Pay careful attention to the small still voice of God…

It is another early start, just on 3 am as I eagerly await to hear the voice of God, I look forward to my Saviour’s instruction as God the Holy Spirit reveals never-ending truths about the shekinah glory of the One and only, my great King, the Lord Jesus Christ, which in turn energizers me in the inner-man, equipping me to walk victoriously before a Holy and righteous God. As I think on this, these words come to mind; “beautiful, beautiful Jesus is beautiful and Jesus makes beautiful the things of my life.”

God the Holy Spirit does it gently causing my eyes to see, but as soon as my self-reflection begins to overshadow the glory of my gracious King, I then begin to miss the mark and I lose sight of the greatness of our glorious King. My problems begin to overshadow His achievements and this then in itself is sin. It is not about what we can achieve but rather what Christ has already achieved by dying on that cruel Roman Cross, praise His name!

It is crucial that we come to terms with this truth, less of self and more of Christ and that also includes pity-parties! Our attention must shift at all times to the victories of Christ. Of course the Apostle James gives us very wise council; he teaches “faith without works is dead”. And yet we look to beat ourselves up all the time because we do not resemble similar fruits of those who have already run the race and kept the faith. I would suggest, it is because of this very reason; we forget to focus on what Christ has done and we look at what we haven’t achieved on His behalf. I know this to be true, as I often give unbelief too much time of day. These treacherous times of reasoning’s leave me downtrodden, but not quite broken; there is a time and a place for these emotions, but far too much time is given to them. I know this to be true, as it has played large part in my life.

We often cry our God reigns! We all believe that He is Sovereign, but how often do we always hear, “if only”! That type of reason does not exist in our great Saviour’s rational, it is foreign to Him. It cost Him his life to set us free from the bondage of sin and death, and I am not talking about the “do’s and don’ts” of our daily struggles. Should I or shouldn’t I drink this coke or eat this chocolate etc., is such a fickle understanding and it will leave us unstable in every area of our lives. When we reason like this we package our Saviour into box, forgive us Lord! He never ever thought on failure as an option. He came to do the will of His Father and He accomplished every jot and tittle to perfection. He has now set us free, huh some may sigh!

We are no longer sinners but saints (I speak to those who have His Spirit). The question we may still ask; but don’t we still sin? Yes! But not when we apprehend that Christ has already paid the price for all our sins, past, present and future. If this was not true then we would need to be judged for our sin and then the work of the cross would be incomplete, which it is not! He hung on that cruel splintered cross and cried. “It is finished!”

As I sit typing, these words continue to escape my lips, “I love you Father, I love you Lord Jesus.” Over and over again, I do not tire ether saying them or hearing these wonderful words, which is true and now very real. But when I think on the “woe is me” person in my life, I miss the essence of Christianity, which is; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Do you see that there is no law against the fruit of the Spirit, how could there ever be? Christ has paid the price for sin, once and for all! He has removed the bondage that the law of God once had over mankind. This is a fact, but will you dare to believe it? Believe it we must, or round and round the merry-go-round we go. 

It is all about the victory of Christ and not whether we make the grade or not in that sense. It was not because Caleb and Joshua had big biceps that they brought back a good report when they spied out the Promised Land. It had nothing to do with their abilities but everything to do with God’s promise. We too must articulate as they reasoned, if not we will cower away from the smallest of challenges. We will always be clutching for the lip of some ditch instead of gazing across the plains from a mountain top.

Why are we reminded to have communion as often as possible, for this exact reason; that we are to jog our memory about our Lord’s death and what it cost Him to set us free from the bondage of sin and death. Less of self and more of Christ and it will be well with our souls. Here is a biblical fact that the Apostle John uses leading into the book of Revelation about this great Man, God and our King; “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” (Revelation 1:5): - The Apostle Paul makes this statement; “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)   

Whatever the yoke, even if it would appear to be good in itself, if misappropriated outside of the finished work of the cross, all it will achieve is bondage and a annoyance to slavery once again. Circumcision is not sin in itself, but when we use that type of mentality to look for justification we do sin and therefore if we look to circumcision for justification it is sin. I trust my point has been made and clearly understood.

Therefore I will conclude with this question; are you a sinner or a saint? Both I hear some say. Both! How could we be both the old man and the new, I am taught that the old man is dead; “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:6-11)

If we now are dead to sin and alive to God, I will once again ask the same question; are we sinners or saints? Saints indeed! There is only one proviso; if we have been born again and if we have His spirit then we are indeed children of God and we then must align ourselves with the teachings from the Holy Scriptures.

It is a marvellous triumph that Christ achieved on our behalf; let us never forget what it cost Him to lay down His life so that we could go free! All hail King Jesus!

Signing off

Tyrone

It is more blessed to give than to receive!

(Acts 20:35) “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

The idiom “faithfulness” is a term of endearment but it also carries with it great responsibility. There are many areas in one’s life that demands faithfulness and yet so little of it actual exists with any meaningful fruit. Divorce is high on the list, which proves the volatility of mankind. Words like “unto death do us part, in sickness and in health, for richer and poorer” etc seems to be taking its toll on society. Even amongst Christians this truth seems to be wreaking havoc. I am sadly amongst that number, and I say it to my own shame. No matter how I may look to justify the reason for why I am now no longer married, the facts is this, I am no longer married and therefore lack endurance as a faithful husband. Guilty as charged!

Then what of our commitment to a body of believers, our faithfulness to a local church; I too was faithful for a while to a group of believers where I believe God had placed me; “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” (1Corinthians 12:18): - And yet now my priority is to self instead of others. We must guard against this warning from scripture, which says; “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:12-13): - Everything in Christianity and in the life of the Lord Jesus points us to His faithfulness, to His Father’s call and His total commitment to it. Faithful was He, even unto death! It is imperative that we begin to bare the fruit of faithfulness in our lives. This is now high on my list of priorities.

You may say I am faithful, praise God! But is there any area in your life that you see slipping and if so guard your heart against it? Through the process of time I have let many areas slip, but God in His faithfulness has brought me once against to a place of repentance and renewed a right spirit in me. How did this reckoning come about, it is simple, we must remember to put on the whole armour of God, for when we do, God is faithful to reward those who find obedience to His instruction. He is faithful in committing to His promises whatever they may be! I love you Father and I thank you for revealing this particular characteristic your wear with perfection.

There is a thief that looks to rob us of our commitment to walk faithfully before our great God and Father, as well as our lack of dedication to those whom you have called us to be faithful too. Many of us have fallen short is some areas of our lives, but I am thankful that through your faithfulness and your undying loves towards those whom you have call, to those you have chosen, you once again bring us to a place of reckoning and help us cry out to you. We are dependent upon you mercy and grace to survive in this perverse and wicked generation.

Where would I be without your faithfulness, in some gutter somewhere and yet now I am able to cry out, my God reigns and His mercies endue forever! Thank you Lord Jesus! It is the amour of God that protects us from the deceitful wiles of the devil; let us therefore remember to dress for battle. By so doing we find protection and will be able to guard against the thief who looks to rob us of our love for one another. It is the simple things we need to get right and not the moving of mountains.

Let us seek God’s face as we cry out to Him, “less of self and more of others”, as it is more blessed to give than to receive; “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" (Acts 20:35)

Have we learnt this valuable lesson? If not let us make it our goal to learn it and fast.

Signing off

Tyrone 

Creation Groans!

(Psalms 66:2) “Sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!”

Jesus, Jesus Lord to me, Master Saviour Prince of peace, ruler of my heart today. Help me remember that today is the day on salvation and as your children Father God we must dress for battle. It is grace that will equip us to put ourselves aside and to focus on the well-being of others and we know that we shall be tested in this area of our lives. Help me, help us, I pray become more and more like our great Kind and Saviour and help us become doers of the Word and not just hearers. Lets us learn to lay down our lives just as He lay down His!

Once again I am away from the comforts of home; I sit in the Free State with the wind howling drowning out any attempts of the birds trying to dominate the airways, it is as if God now speaks through the wind, it is nevertheless very beautiful to behold as trees and branches aggressively sway from side to side; “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Roman 8:19): - Can you hear creation groaning as it awaits the adoption of Gods sons, do you wait eagerly for Christ’s return, and have you repented and believed on Him? Have you put aside all your false gods and dead idols? Repent as that day draws nearer, much nearer than you think!

And once again I struggle with my power supply, internet connection and all that goes with it trying to post this blog and yet even with this minor frustration God reigns Supreme, praise His Name, Yes speak great Jehovah, make your presence known and let the wind call it out with gusto! Some may miss it for now, but all will eventually bow! But your children will praise you and exalt you high above all the earth, we will praise you, I will praise you! Praise Him all you children of the earth and again I say praise Him! All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name. Come and see what God has done: He is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man, it was one thing to part the Red Sea, this was a great feat and yet He has far surpassed it in and through His Son our great Saviour, yes the Lord Jesus Christ has paid the price for our sin, bless His name! Do you believe this, if so will you now confess it to others?

“It is not left to our own option whether we shall praise God or not. Praise is God’s most righteous due, and every Christian, as the recipient of his grace, is bound to praise God from day to day. It is true we have no authoritative rubric for daily praise; we have no commandment prescribing certain hours of song and thanksgiving: but the law written upon the heart teaches us that it is right to praise God; and the unwritten mandate comes to us with as much force as if it had been recorded on the tables of stone, or handed to us from the top of thundering Sinai. Yes, it is the Christian’s duty to praise God. It is not only a pleasurable exercise, but it is the absolute obligation of his life. Think not ye who are always mourning, that ye are guiltless in this respect, or imagine that ye can discharge your duty to your God without songs of praise. You are bound by the bonds of his love to bless his name so long as you live, and his praise should continually be in your mouth, for you are blessed, in order that you may bless him; “this people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise”; and if you do not praise God, you are not bringing forth the fruit which he, as the Divine Husbandman, has a right to expect at your hands. Let not your harp then hang upon the willows, but take it down, and strive, with a grateful heart, to bring forth its loudest music. Arise and chant his praise. With every morning’s dawn, lift up your notes of thanksgiving, and let every setting sun be followed with your song. Girdle the earth with your praises; surround it with an atmosphere of melody, and God himself will hearken from heaven and accept your music.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

“Even so I love thee, and will love,

And in thy praise will sing,

Because thou art my loving God,

And my redeeming King.”

May we never forget it is our duty to love our God because he first loved us, Thank you Lord Jesus for dying for a wretch like me!

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Dress for battle!

(Psalms 142:3) “When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.”

It’s that time of the year again in the Southern Hemisphere where the first rains are traditionally around the corner; in fact they are a little late or so it seems. Nevertheless the birds sing out with greater vigor and anticipation as if they now eagerly await some great event. Could it be rain, could they be beckoning God to open the Heavens, or maybe they wait for that great day that we too should be eagerly awaiting, the return of our Lord? Whatever their reason it would be impossible to oversee them as they look to be heard and unmistakably have been. Music to my ears! How great is my God! I cannot recall ever hearing such a choir with such gusto and deliberation; something is definitely up, at least for the bird kingdom!

We know that all scripture is given to help us get to heaven. All of it is important, but not all has the same bearing on our lives at the same time. It depends where we find ourselves on any given day, but one thing that is for certain we must all be trained by the Word of God. Yet some instruction would be applied weekly or on any other given day, for example; we see that fasting is part of the Christians arsenal and yet we could never fast every day, neither should we! But there is place for it where and when needed, there is times when we should draw aside in a prayerful manner and fast, this is more the exception than the rule. Then we have instructions that must be done daily and without exception, that is if we look to walk victoriously in the Spirit. We must put on the “whole Armour of God”; “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:13): - I have addressed this before but the mind places tricks on itself, it almost likes to believe that this topic is done and dusted. I said almost! This must become a habitual practice, we must put on the “amour of God” and on a daily basis. Without it we are vulnerable to the fiery darts of the devil, do not be fooled! Sure, we do belong to our Saviour as it was His work that saved us and not our own pitiful works, nevertheless now that we are Children of God we have been instructed to walk in a particular fashion, and we will never achieve this without the full armour of God. Not part of it, all of it! The Apostle Paul stresses this point in meticulous detail, the only part of the body that has no protection is ones back, we needn’t worry about what approaches from the rear as our King has given His angels charge over us and they have our back.

I know at times that I forget to get dressed for battle. It is like when I ride my motorbike I have boots that are cumbersome and a padded jacket that is hot to wear especially in summer. But if I reason with a sound mind I understand the advantages they bring me if I have a fall. I am often tempted to leave then behind and I reason like this; it’s just a little ride I am sure I’ll be alright! Is this how we think on the “armour of God”, one can never predict an accident that is why it is called an “accident”? So too, do we need to understand the value of the “armour of God”, the devil goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, it was the Apostle Peter that taught us this. Just when we think we have got things together, an unexpected trap presents itself and if we and not dressed for battle, it will lead to our undoing. We know that God resist the proud and stretches out His hand to the humble. It is the amour of God that ensures that we remain humble. But ignore part of that amour and we will be unstable!

Therefore let us remember to dress for battle and on a daily basis. It is up to the ranking officials in the army to prepare soldiers for battle. They set up a vigorous program to ensure that those under their command will be the best they can be when in the throes of combat. This is why Paul has instructed us to put on the “whole amour of God”, so that we can be the best we can be when the enemy approaches.

As a young believer I believe I was to be led by the Spirit. I still believe this but with a deeper understanding, do not be fooled into believing that no responsibility has been placed on the individual to train for battle. We must learn to discipline our bodies. In a nutshell we must put on the “whole amour of God”. That may mean we need to put time aside to dress for battle, no differently than when we put time aside to eat. It is a way of life and not a simple add-on. Let us therefore make it a daily practice to train ourselves and to dress for battle.

If you do not put time aside, I fear for you, as I know that even when I put time aside it is not enough as I have not mastered my dress behavioral pattern as yet, but we must heed Paul’s instruction with utmost diligence. The only way we will achieve this goal is more of Christ and less of us. May God here my cry, Amen!

More, much more I pray for all who belong to Him, it is essential to understand the importance of this encouragement.

Be blessed in Him my brothers and sisters in Christ wherever you may find yourselves across the globe.

Signing off

Tyrone 

Spirit and Truth!

(John 4:24)  “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

Life has so many subtle traps to it; we often do not even see them as such. Things we have come to accept as the norm and in fact if challenged with actual factual evidence there is a part to us that looks to resist even the facts withal our being. A case in point would be Christmas; if we had to go back and we bothered to study its actual origin we would be horrified. It is a pagan festival that has polluted society and left most believing that the Christmas celebration was founded by Christianity. It was not, that is a lie!

What is our instruction from the Word of God, without isolating a particular pet subject as many have their own and I would not want this now to become mine, but to say this; we, as Christian, would surely want to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth, discerning good from evil.

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24) 

It would then therefore be good for the Christian to know the truth on all subjects, wouldn’t you agree? Although knowledge puffs up, it is also useful if applied correctly in wisdom. It should make us more in-tune to the ploys of the devil and all his traps, whatever they may be.

“The truth is that all of the customs of Christmas pre-date the birth of Jesus Christ, and a study of this would reveal that Christmas in our day is a collection of traditions and practices taken from many cultures and nations. The date of December 25th comes from Rome and was a celebration of the Italic god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god. This was done long before the birth of Jesus. It was noted by the pre-Christian Romans and other pagans, that daylight began to increase after December 22nd, when they assumed that the sun god died. These ancients believed that the sun god rose from the dead three days later as the new-born and venerable sun. Thus, they figured that to be the reason for increasing daylight. This was a cause for much wild excitement and celebration. Gift giving and merriment filled the temples of ancient Rome, as sacred priests of Saturn, called dendrophori, carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession. In Germany, the evergreen tree was used in worship and celebration of the yule god, also in observance of the resurrected sun god. The evergreen tree was a symbol of the essence of life and was regarded as a phallic symbol in fertility worship. Witches and other pagans regarded the red holly as a symbol of the menstrual blood of the queen of heaven, also known as Diana. The holly wood was used by witches to make wands. The white berries of mistletoe were believed by pagans to represent droplets of the semen of the sun god. Both holly and mistletoe were hung in doorways of temples and homes to invoke powers of fertility in those who stood beneath and kissed, causing the spirits of the god and goddess to enter them. These customs transcended the borders of Rome and Germany to the far reaches of the known world.” (Last trumpet Ministries)

There is much more we could address but that is not where I wish to go this morn, my point is this, we often overlook the simplest things as acceptable and the norm and yet they are very improper. But I want us to look a little deeper than the surface, look at the spirit behind Christmas; it is about celebration and an acknowledgement of unity to those who are not necessarily Christian in the true sense of the word.

Look at what will happen when the anti-christ comes against the two prophets of God (probably Moses and Elijah). Notice the unity and the attitude of the world, those who are not true Christians, and yet their way of celebrating the death of these prophets is to send each other gifts.

“And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." (Revelation 11:3) 

“And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.” (Revelation 11:5-10) 

If we will not sit up and begin to pay attention to the obvious, where will that leave us when these real trials begin? Some say that the Christian will no longer be around when this takes place, it may well be true, time will tell! God Knows!

Nevertheless, remember blinkers were designed for race horses and not for men or woman.

I have just isolated a particular example, exposing blatant error that we choose to discount, this is but one example I could have chosen others to illustrate the many other subtle traps we by choice look to ignore. May God give us eyes to see, Amen!

This post is not about any personal vendetta against Christmas, even though I have chosen to no longer celebrate it with family and friends. It is about us becoming more alert to the delicate deceptions in life so that we can become more effective as Christians for Christ!

Signing off

Tyrone

To Silently Listen!

(Revelation 2:7)  “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Silence, to sit in it and to listen is not something I do often, at least conscientiously. But today will be such a day, I will take breathe and rely on another as He leads and hopefully if I listen closely enough I will hear some conclusive instructions. How will I do this? I will not dominate or force any topical study, I will be like a feather in the wind, and if it chooses to gust or change direction, I will float with it or be driven by it, either way I will rely on C.H.Spurgeon to speak to my heart without any predetermine manipulation on my part. I have no idea what he will address this morning, but I will receive it as a voice directed at me. 

But before we get there, is this something I would do as common practice? If you know me well enough you would know the answer to this question. But I also believe we should be more pliable at times, so that God can mold us into the image of His Son. We often get in His way (not that we could ever manipulate our great God, but you hopefully understand my point) with our pre-conceived ideas thinking that we are helping when in fact all we do is cause hindrance. Not one or the other, but rather a balanced approach to both, where and when needed or lead.

This morning I step out in faith wanting to be taught as well as have my heart exposed without any self-manipulation, I will silently sit and listen; I will use today’s daily devotion not knowing what topic it will address…

“The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.”

- Psa_33:13

“Perhaps no figure of speech represents God in a more gracious light than when he is spoken of as stooping from his throne, and coming down from heaven to attend to the wants and to behold the woes of mankind. We love him, who, when Sodom and Gomorrah were full of iniquity, would not destroy those cities until he had made a personal visitation of them. We cannot help pouring out our heart in affection for our Lord who inclines his ear from the highest glory, and puts it to the lip of the dying sinner, whose failing heart longs after reconciliation. How can we but love him when we know that he numbers the very hairs of our heads, marks our path, and orders our ways? Specially is this great truth brought near to our heart, when we recollect how attentive he is, not merely to the temporal interests of his creatures, but to their spiritual concerns. Though leagues of distance lie between the finite creature and the infinite Creator, yet there are links uniting both. When a tear is wept by thee, think not that God doth not behold; for, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” Thy sigh is able to move the heart of Jehovah; thy whisper can incline his ear unto thee; thy prayer can stay his hand; thy faith can move his arm. Think not that God sits on high taking no account of thee. Remember that however poor and needy thou art, yet the Lord thinketh upon thee. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Oh! then repeat the truth that never tires;

No God is like the God my soul desires;

He at whose voice heaven trembles, even he,

Great as he is, knows how to stoop to me.

I have highlighted the crisp clear voice of God the Holy Spirit in red and His sharp rebuke in blue while the reassuring truth of what is factual needs to resonate in my mind and this I will underline. I have silently listened! Now I pray God my Father as I have had ears to hear what the Spirit says to me, may I now be given the wherewithal to act favourably on what I have heard, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

The Wilderness!

(Psalms 65:12) “The pastures of the wilderness overflow.”

To pen an open letter would mean exposing oneself so that there would be no hidden agenda, no underhandedness would be at play, or at least on the surface. It would be a letter that should be read out allowed. However one must be confident with the subject matter as it exposes the heart of the one writing the letter. A diary on the other hand is a lot more personal, intimate thoughts and sometimes some very pressing issues are dealt with. Needless to say, not many make their personal diaries open to the public. There are many reasons for this and as I can speak first hand on this topic, let me share some of my thoughts. We believe some things to be personal; we use this as license to conceal certain sins within our own twisted minds. We also conceal certain things as we have experienced the reaction from those closest to us, when we err from their own preconceived ideas on how we should act and live, we disappoint them and their reaction often discourages us instead of encouraging us. We retreat into our shell no different to that of as snail. However if we remain silent and somewhat secluded we needn’t deal with any of the pressing issues of life, it would never help us! We must at times retreat into the wilderness and for this purpose only, to be renewed in the Spirit.

Is this thought supposition or can it be taught it from scripture?

If we look at some of the example, those instructed to take a journey into the Wilderness they at times encountered the angel of the Lord. God met them in their conflict! And even those whom we would perceive to be excluded from God’s grace.

Let us look at Hagar’s story; “And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring." So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, "Let me not look on the death of the child." And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation." Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. (Genesis 21:13-20)

This account is a peculiar when I reason it out; I understand that God would bless Abraham’s seed even though it was a man-centred invention to force God’s hand. Sarah had plotted it out and now she was casting out her original plan. She sent Hagar and Abraham’s son off into the Wilderness to die! I suppose much of our own lives are like this, we make choices thinking that they are right at the time but in fact all it has been is man-centred instead of those “good works” that have been prepared for us to walk in before the foundations of the world. Nevertheless even through this epic story of heartache and hopelessness God was just a call away! The goodness of God who can understand it! Let no one address my great God and Father as a hard task master, His mercies endure forever! The lesson for us in this account is we all need to find ourselves in exactly the same place as Hagar, in desperate need and without any apparent hope. It is only then that we will see the great hand of this awesome God unfold in our own lives. Until then it will be hearsay, it will never be experiential!

I would love to see someone try and convince Hagar that a relationship with God cannot be based on experience! It proves this point, which is; whoever breaks the law will be guilty of death, BUT GOD! Has and will intervene in our lives, all we need do is call upon the name of the Lord! “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13): - Just make sure you call out to the only true God and not some idol that is mute and dumb! Jesus Christ the Lord is our only hope!

Sometimes it will take a Wilderness experience for us to realise this! In fact I challenge you to seek out someone who did not experience such an chance meeting and go on to be one of God’s Elite. It is how we react in the Wilderness that will determine who it is we rely on!

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Few are Chosen!

(Matthew22:14) “For many are called, but few are chosen."

The Bible is very clear on what it would look like if we were enlisted amongst the elite of God’s calling, the special forces of God, a company of heroes! It would be easy to recognize them, as the world would view them as the scourge of the earth, “Oxygen thieves” would be bandied about amongst the heathen. And yet God would bellow words to his Celestial world like we read in Hebrew chapter 11; “of whom the world was not worthy.” And yet so many of us long to be amongst this number, I know I do! To be marked by God as one who is worthy to be called His son whom is learning to be obedient, and yet I know in many areas of my life this is not true. I am still view by the world as acceptable. “Wishy washy” would be a good description to my commitment of the role I play as a believer. Like a youngster singing in the mirror hoping one day to be a star. We all have dreams, what are your dreams? Maybe an alteration on your existing house, “just a little bigger”, would be nice! This is not the way of the “elite”; they went without so others could have! It is not rocket science and don’t pretend to be in a place you are not. I will not go there any longer! If I now give that thought consideration, do I still long to be amongst the elite of God? My answer would have to be, yes! What greater accolade could one ever receive than to hear these great Words from the only true God! - “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelations 21:7)

So then what will it take to be amongst the number that conquers, well obviously it will only be those who are born again and have received Christ’s Spirit. Those who have been called, those who have been predestines by God to be conformed into the image of His Son. Yet having said that, they will have a certain look to them and this is what they should not look like; just another cog in the wheel of society! It is easy to single out common sin, but we must be careful not to deceive ourselves with daily living as acceptable.

Let us not kid ourselves, this then is what the elite of God look like; they look forward to a city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God; They all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth; are we? But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city; And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-- who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-- of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. This is what God’s Elite look like!

I recall my military service; almost everybody amongst our number liked the idea of becoming an elite soldier as they were recognised as the best of the best. But in order to qualify, they needed to go through some very vigorous training and very few even made the first selection. The cost from the outset needed to be counted! So too is it with this great call from God, this call is the highest of calls and it will cost us our lives if we are serious about it. One could never be an elite soldier in God’s army if we walk around with leeks and garlic in our pockets. All this proves is that we are amongst the pretenders. Those who want to be someone they are not!

Now with that in mind, do I still want to be amongst the special forces of God? My answer Father God would be yes if I was to find favour in your eyes. On the merits of my life I would never qualify, never ever! But if God so wills something who could ever stop Him? So much time wasted in my life, maybe it is because I have so longed to hang on to the little I have, leaving me like a going cymbal, very loud but with very little effect.

If my thoughts be sincere, (God Knows) where to from here? I suppose I could wait like Jonah to be swallowed by a large fish and eventually spat out where I need to be. That journey must have been full of life lessons, his total dependence of the intake of a mammal’s oxygen level, a fish that lived under water. Something totally foreign to him, in fact so out of the ordinary that it brought about a change in his heart and he ended up doing God’s bidding anyway. Life’s lessons at play! He had been chosen!

Nevertheless it is God who chooses, it is no different to the Lord singling out the twelve disciples’; “And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (Matthew 4:19-20) – This in itself is miraculous!

So to be real, it is not up to the individual, we must first receive the invitation, but have we not all received that bidding, have we not found strength to fall to our knees and cry out to the only One who has the power to forgive and to forget and to open our eyes to heaven and its calling. If you confess Jesus as Lord then this must be true!

We all now stand before him as enlisted soldiers as allotment now need to take place, and for most it has, as you are actively involved with a body of believers; you have found your place of fellowship where you meet with others and supply one to another as God has intended right from the outset of His call. But there may be some that now linger in the shadows not knowing what it is we are exactly meant to be doing. Something along the way has robbed us of that initial call, could it be the lust of my own hearts, probably, but after an assessment it is time to at least by the grace of God call out and says I have counted the cost, and I am willing to put my hand up. There is no more a person can do, except respond in obedience when shown direction by God, His Word and His people. We often fall amongst the pretenders, our intentions may be misguided, and we may like the idea of true Christianity but be unable to endure life’s difficulties. (God alone Knows), but we must, or I must at least put up my/our hand and say hear my/our cry our great Jehovah.

Signing off

Tyrone

He will Himself Restore!

(1Peter 5:10)  “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

If it’s God Himself who chooses to restore, who would ever be able to stop him, not your closest brother or your friend could even have an influence over that restoration. It would be beyond opinions and the reckonings of men or even the strength of angels, although God may well chose these mediums to strength a brother once he has served out his sentence, a sentence of suffering. But that is not the point Peter stresses, he says that the God of Grace, He himself will restore the suffering pilgrim. As I have said in times past we are encouraged to suffer for doing that which is commendable. However will this restoration only apply to the believer that does what is commendable?

The context is this chapter is about humility and how God resists the proud, but give grace to the humble. So if a bad decision cause a man or woman to stumble and it gets them to a place of humility will God be the one who brings about the restoration? Yes I believe the scripture is full of these types of examples. David with Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite, Samson through a vigorous process of needing to break him down to such an extent that he lost both his eyes and yet it was God in person who ultimately came to his aid and his rescue; look at this verse; “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:7): - Does failure bring about anxiety? Does this need a retort? I think not!

I am not for one minute suggesting that we should not strive to find grace in time of need, so that we walk obediently before our Holy Father! That is a given! But what of the times we find that we fail dismally? Does that now disqualify us; I suppose before men this is true, it is Paul who gives us this teaching; “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1Corinthians 9:27)

But will God ever give up on one of His Children? It is not possible, sure heartache often plays its part in my life, but without this reassurance, as a simple man I would have nothing to hold onto and yet by the grace of God, He gives me the resolve from somewhere to remember this verse and to cleave to it will all I have; “…for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."” (Hebrews 13:5)

I suppose it is unfair to look to fallen men even though they too have been saved by the grace of God to understand or sympathise like our Saviour the great High Priest is able to sucker those who hurt in their time of need. He alone earned the right to be called the “Great High Priest”. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, or put another way He is aware of our anxiety as He too felt its power and yet without ever succumbing to it. It was of such strength that he began to sweat drops of blood. And yet when we fall He does not stand with a bucket of feathers and a brush full of tar. He beckons us to come and seek out His forgiveness. No wonder God needed to send His only beloved Son to die on a cruel Roman Cross and yet to be a man tempted in all points as we are and yet with no sin. What man has ever endured such a great accomplishment? None other than Jesus Christ our Lord and our God praise His name!

It is obvious we will disappoint our brethren when we fall, but do not be surprised when their reactions to our falls throughout life also disappoints in return. Remember that we do need one another but it is only our Lord that knows where and when to exert pressure and when to release it, so we all may remember to call upon Him in time of need. And may the rest of us learn to be sensitive to the leading of God the Holy Spirit. And yet this too is also a process.

Signing off

Tyrone

Our Long-suffering Father!

(Romans 8:29) “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”

What then is the purpose behind the mistakes we make and the lessons we should learn? The answer is obvious; to become more like our great Saviour the Lord Jesus. What now amazes me is it took an event in my life, a bad choice, something I should have learnt long ago and yet I found I made the same mistake. It is only a lesson learnt if we refrain from making the same mistakes. These lessons of life help highlight our relationship with the Lord and where we are along our journey on the Celestial Road. Our actions do not lie in that sense. My life has been a life full of regret; I have so much still to learn and I seem to be a habitual offender in some areas of my life. But to deny this about myself would be foolish but to give it pre-eminence so that my thoughts are constantly captivates by my weakness and I end up finding life a constant grind and a heavy burden would be just as wrong; “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1Peter 5:8) 

It is one thing to stand on the outside looking in at someone who has fallen and to pass judgment; their blunder is supposed to teach us fear so that we can learn from the mistakes of others! I wonder does it, or does it just end up making us judges?

If I am honest, as we all should be with ourselves and others, I wonder have I ever got past suffering for my own wrong-doing as opposed to suffering for doing the right thing at the cost of being falsely accused. This we know is commendable before God; “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.” (1Peter 3:17)   

Our lives seemed to be so filled with suffering for wrong-doing, no wonder we cannot get passed so many infant stages of our lives! Let me be fair and not speak for others, it is my own mirror I now gaze at. Yes there are certain areas that growth is obviously evident but there are also many that are stagnant; it is time to put off childish things. It would be good to also remember that we have fallen natures and that is why the Apostle Peter teaches us to fear the flesh; “Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” (1Peter 2:10-11): - if we are not wise with our choices we will end up falling in areas of our lives where we will regret ever making such silly choices. The very first fruit of repentance is “carefulness”, we must be careful not to put ourselves in a position where we may end up falling. When we were first saved, did we not pay careful attention to this warning, I know I did! And yet somewhere along the way I let things slip, hence so many regrettable bad choices.

I do not wish to make light of these areas in our lives but we can take consolation from the children of Israel in the Wilderness, it took them 40 years to get to the Promised Land where is could of taken them just a couple of weeks. Wherever we now find ourselves, remember that there is still work to do in our own lives, life is teaching us who we are and where we need to find repentance so that we may be conformed into the image of our great Saviour, no matter how far we seem to be from His perfect example, today is another day to repent and to look to him to find grace so that we may overcome in those areas of our life that seems to be a habitual drain.

If we were able, which is impossible as men to overcome, within ourselves we would never have needed the Lord Jesus to come live as a man and to conquer sin once and for all. We would have looked to do it by ourselves, an impossible task!

Let us therefore remember that the trial of life and the areas that we still fall in are there to teach us who we actually are, so that we can acknowledge our fault before God and one another, so that we may lock hand with each other, and pray for one another.

This is why we have been called; “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) – But it is the next verse that teaches us why this is needful; For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brother.” (Romans 8:29)

Forgive me, forgive us Father God for so many frivolous bad choices in our daily walks, we will not overlook them but we seek repentance, so that we will eventually learn to walk circumspectly before a Holy God. Thank you Lord Jesus for your example and I am sorry that I am such a slow learner. Thank you for your never tiring patience!

Signing off

Tyrone

Accepted in the Beloved!

(Ephesians 1:6) “Accepted in the beloved.”

What a state of privilege! It includes our justification before God, but the term “acceptance” in the Greek means more than that. It signifies that we are the objects of divine complacence, nay, even of divine delight. How marvellous that we, worms, mortals, sinners, should be the objects of divine love! But it is only “in the beloved.” Some Christians seem to be accepted in their own experience, at least, that is their apprehension. When their spirit is lively, and their hopes bright, they think God accepts them, for they feel so high, so heavenly-minded, so drawn above the earth! But when their souls cleave to the dust, they are the victims of the fear that they are no longer accepted. If they could but see that all their high joys do not exalt them, and all their low despondencies do not really depress them in their Father’s sight, but that they stand accepted in One who never alters, in One who is always the beloved of God, always perfect, always without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, how much happier they would be, and how much more they would honour the Saviour! Rejoice then, believer, in this: thou art accepted “in the beloved.” Thou lookest within, and thou sayest, “There is nothing acceptable here!” But look at Christ, and see if there is not everything acceptable there. Thy sins trouble thee; but God has cast thy sins behind his back, and thou art accepted in the Righteous One. Thou hast to fight with corruption, and to wrestle with temptation, but thou art already accepted in him who has overcome the powers of evil. The devil tempts thee; be of good cheer, he cannot destroy thee, for thou art accepted in him who has broken Satan’s head. Know by full assurance thy glorious standing. Even glorified souls are not more accepted than thou art. They are only accepted in heaven “in the beloved,” and thou art even now accepted in Christ after the same manner.(C.H Spurgeon)