How and who will get us home?

(Matthew 24:13) “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Putting on and putting off or putting off and then putting on, which is doctrinally correct? I have arrived at my conclusion, but some imperatives need to be understood with regard to my findings, or rather the bible’s findings. The importance of the Holy Scriptures is to equip the believer with a correct understand of sound wholesome teachings aiding in conforming us into the image of Christ. It is there to teach us to walk obediently before the only true awesome God, our Heavenly Father. “Hallowed be His name”! Doctrine is there to equip us with biblical theory, helping the believer focus on their final goal, heaven. But if we get it wrong we tend to end up in some ditch somewhere. Thankfully it is the Lord Jesus who is working in and through us and even when we end up somewhere we shouldn’t, He continues to work with us.

But if we keep banging our heads against a wall, it eventually begins to hurt unbearably. It is only if and when we find ourselves falling to our knees and crying out to our God and King to come to our rescue that we are eventually set free, that is how it happens at salvation and so too must it continually happen in every area of our lives as we progress into Christianity. The necessity to rely solely on the grace of God is an authoritative and as soon as we take our eyes off this instruction trouble lurks on the horizon.

This I believe could be the biggest let down amongst believers of today, at least amongst those I come into contact with. I have been told by those who know me well, that as a young believer I had a tendency to rely on the grace of God as a license to habitually sin. And I will confess that there is much truth in that, my body is full of scars and my life full of serious consequences, but not serious enough to leave me in some ditch somewhere, praise the name of my great Saviour, the only true shepherd, He is willing to leave the ninety-nine in search of the wondering lost sheep. I have settled on my hero and His name is Jesus Christ the Lord.

Having said that these trying experiences are there as helps to teach us to depend on God’s instruction through His Word and to solely rely on His grace, and I do not mean as a license to continue in sin. God forbid we should settle there! This is not what the true definition of grace is. Grace speaks about favour from God, to be looked upon kindly. But we must understand our need to be looked upon favorably and this is where many Christians tend to lose focus, there is a predisposition to want to take back the reigns. At salvation we all understand this, it may not be immediate, but before long we realize the enormity of what it meant for Christ to die in our place. If not we haven’t understood the work of the cross.

When we look for practical applications in times past it is a good exercise to consider the Children of Israel as they journeyed through the Wilderness toward the Promised Land. There are many similarities between our lives and theirs and there is much we can learn from them. When we reach a crossroads in our lives how will we react? This is what I wish to highlight; God in and through the Lord Jesus is the only solution to all of life, let me explain; When the children of Israel fled Egypt and the Egyptians where bearing down on them they hit a snag, the Red Sea; What do we do in similar situations with difficulties or the combatting of sin in our lives, do we panic and take our eyes off the Lord Jesus or are we swift to run to Him? At salvation it is obvious we look to our God, we call upon the name of the Lord to forgive us for our sins through repentance and we are quickened in the spirit, our eyes are opened, and we are born again. But through the progression of time is this still our resolve? “And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." (Exodus 14:13-14) – Or does the trial of life become unbearable and we then rely on our own abilities to overcome? Think long and hard on what I am asking. Do we look to make a plan instead of remaining silent in that sense waiting for the Lord to deliver us? We can very often be subtly deceived; when we look to the imperatives in scripture, which is an essential for every believer and our lives. An example would be; “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (Romans 12:1-3)

Get the order wrong and we are no more than a clanging cymbal without any musical tone to it. We end up trying to put off and then put on instead of relying on the source of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ our high priest whereby we may obtain mercy in time of need. We must first put on in order to put off. Put off we must if we are to make it to heaven! But our total dependency must be on the Lord and no other, from start to finish. Many of us lose sight of this simple truth! May God help us to understand!

 “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13) 

Jesus Christ the Lord, the all sufficient atoning sacrifice for all who believe in their hearts that God the Father has raised Him from the dead, after His cruel death by crucifixion and if we confess Him as Lord with our mouths, we are given emphatic instruction that we will be saved. This does not mean that if I use this formula like the soothsayer Getafix from the Asterix comic concocting some magic brew in order to gain strength to escape the enemy that I am safe. But what it does mean is if these words are dear to my soul and God has opened my eyes to their truth, I will be saved! If Christ is Lord in reality and I truly believe that God has raised Him from the dead, I am given a promise, I shall be saved! I must however continue as I began, my sole dependency my always be on the Lord Jesus and nothing else in every area of my life, yes every area of my life. I am not for one minute suggesting that I have arrived as I am still a work in progress as we all are.

God help us to keep this in the forefront of our minds at all times.

I will end with this encouragement; “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21) 

Signing off

Tyrone

The proper time and the just way!

(Ecclesiastes 8:5) “… The wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.”

The law of God was put in place by God through Moses on the top of Mount Sinai when he returned with two tablets of stone with ten law engraved on them, not penned by the mind of a man or with the ink of men but by the finger of God. the only true God, the great I AM, Jehovah God used His finger to engrave His law for mankind into stone, the birth of the written law, the account now recorded for us by Moses in the book of Exodus.

This was no chance meeting, but ordained and called by God, no different to our encounter with God the Father in and through His Son the Lord Jesus. Just as Moses met God in person on top of that Great Mountain, we too must come face to face with this glorious risen Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. It was such an awesome event that any man of beast that came into contact with that mountain died instantly, except for Moses. Unless one has been invited it would be impossible to stand before a Holy God. It was some meeting and special preparations were set in place…

“On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them." And Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, 'Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.'" And the LORD said to him, "Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them." So Moses went down to the people and told them.” (Exodus 19:16-25)

Can you visualise this great spectacle, let you mind go and try and picture what was now taking place. On the one hand breath-taking whilst on the other a very fearful incident. Just one wrong move and you were dead! Let us not make the same mistake so many chose to make and that it to minimise this Awesome God. He is so magnificent, that fallen (sinful) flesh and blood cannot stand before Him and look upon Him and live. The tenacity of Moses pleads with God to see Him as He is and what is fascinating is God accommodates Moses request. But God has to hide him in the cleft of a rock…

“And the LORD said to Moses, "This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name." Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." (Exodus 33:17-23) 

Moses insistence reminds me of another great man and that is Jacob, although he was a liar and manipulator on the one hand, he had such a passion to be blessed by God that he was willing to wrestle with and angel even though it left him cripple; “And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." (Genesis 32:24-28) – Have we?

It’s the tenacity of both these men I ask you to question in your own life, have you been willing to make it your business to be blessed of God and have you come face to face with Him? We know that God has made a way for the whosoever! Although that encounter between God was with Moses and Aaron alone. It is now an open invitation for all. How so? God sent His only begotten Son to pay the price for sin and every sinner that calls out to him will be heard; "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)   

The only question I have is this, have who realised that and have you in that sense asked God to forgive and remember you in and through His Son? We are unless in ourselves because of our sinful states, but because the Lord Jesus Christ has conquered sin on Calvary, He has made a way and He has wrestled with God the Father on our behalves, but we must recognise this truth and call out to Him in order to be bless by God. Have you called out to Him? Religion will not cut it! We must cry out to Him from the very depths of our souls. I therefore urge you cry out while you still have breath.

Wherever you find yourself He is just a cry away, praise the name of Jesus, as He accomplish that which no man could ever achieve, He has open the door to heaven, but thieves and robbers will not be welcomed, there is only one door where we will be allowed to gain access and that is through the person of Jesus Christ the Lord! As He alone has paid the price for our sin!

Once again I leave you with this thought and encouragement; “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13) – But call you must!

Just as Moses warned his people, I now warn you in “type” of the requirements needed for you to come face to face with God. Brett (Bandit) I pray for you even now.  

Signing off

Tyrone

Christ our only hope!

(Ecclesiastes 8:12) “Yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God.”

Once one is sedated and places under the influence of any mind altering substance, in this case pethidine a scheduled seven drug, it makes it hard to function with pen in hand, one’s thought are fuzzy and apt to drowsiness. It is good to be out of hospital and at home with a clearer mind.  

I am thankful for the overshadowing providence we receive from God our Heavenly Father and only because of the blood of our Saviour the Lord Jesus. Without His covering sacrifice His providence would nevertheless reign supreme, the only difference, we would be bastards and not sons. We would possibly claim God as our Father, but all it would be is “pie in the sky.” We would be subject to His wrath if and when we got in His way, and yet now He is the greatest of Fathers in whom I shall boast. There is no other God before Him; every other gods or similar claims are like chaff in the wind, you can see it swirling in the wind but it has no substance and it is driven wherever the wind takes it. It is not so with Jehovah God, ever “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed and that without acceptation.

Thank you Lord Jesus for making the way open for all who now believed and who continue to call out your name, praise the name of Jesus! He is Lord and He has risen from the dead. No other religion or cult can claim this, as all their claims are empty chatter, lots of word by with no substance. Our great Saviour is the King of Kings; He is the Lord of lords and with that comes a certain truth that will run its course, do you know what that is? Every single person from Adam through to the very last person to be born into this known world prior to its destruction will kneel before the judgment seat of Christ and without exception and they will acknowledge Him as the King of Kings. The Bible teachers this very clearly!

All our lives and the wickedness they carry, failure in keeping God’s law, sin with all its perverse thoughts and the like will be played back if you like without any detail being overlooked. Who gives us this teaching? The Apostles of the New Testament give us inkling’s into various aspects of eternal judgments; even the Lord makes reference to hell on a number of occasions. But it is King Solomon that spells it out very clearly, look at his summation nearing the end of his writings after he puts it all out there. Pay careful attention to the way in which he uses his words; the book of Ecclesiastes leads into a very power conclusion, so pay it earnest heed; “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:8-14)

So there we have it for all to see in black and white, as real for those that lived back then as for us who live in the 21^st century. The message has not changed; it will not and cannot change, why? Because we speak about a historical account that factually took place some 2000 years ago and just as the One who hung upon that cruel cross, and died for the sins of others also rose from the dead, making away for repentant sinners to escape this ferocious righteous judgment. Back then some were saved by His selfless act of love, and some are being saved by the same act of love today. There is no new story! It will never change; it has been recorded in the heavens and will be remembered throughout the ages and beyond. This story is as real today as it was back then, and an invitation is still on the table for all who still breathe. My question is will you cry out unto the Lord Jesus, looking unto Him as your only hope, for He is your only hope, every other religion and message which excludes repentance through Christ is not from God but the devil. We must rely on His sacrifice to free us from that judgment still to come, it will happen, it is a given! "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; (Isaiah 55:6) 

Do not delay I say and I pray, who cares what others may say, I hope the reality of just the thought of your own sins, both secret and open sins if exposed for all to see will leave you speechless and drive you to a place where you fall to your knees fearing God, this is my prayer for your lives Bandit and Richard, why do you fear what others will think? Cry out to the Lord Jesus and He will respond, only mean it from the depths of though soul.

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. (Ecclesiastes 8:12)


Repent call upon the name of the Lord while he can still be found.

Signing off

Tyrone

Help from a friend!

I sit on the stoop of the Life Fourways Hospital after what seems to have been a simple operation, the aftermath of pain bearable for a change which is a pleasant surprise. As I am still a little groggy let us stay with someone that would feed us well…

 “Godly sorrow worketh repentance.”

- 2Co_7:10

Genuine, spiritual mourning for sin is the work of the Spirit of God. Repentance is too choice a flower to grow in nature’s garden. Pearls grow naturally in oysters, but penitence never shows itself in sinners except divine grace works it in them. If thou hast one particle of real hatred for sin, God must have given it thee, for human nature’s thorns never produced a single fig. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.”

True repentance has a distinct reference to the Saviour. When we repent of sin, we must have one eye upon sin and another upon the cross, or it will be better still if we fix both our eyes upon Christ and see our transgressions only, in the light of his love.

True sorrow for sin is eminently practical. No man may say he hates sin, if he lives in it. Repentance makes us see the evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally-as a burnt child dreads fire. We shall be as much afraid of it, as a man who has lately been stopped and robbed is afraid of the thief upon the highway; and we shall shun it-shun it in everything-not in great things only, but in little things, as men shun little vipers as well as great snakes. True mourning for sin will make us very jealous over our tongue, lest it should say a wrong word; we shall be very watchful over our daily actions, lest in anything we offend, and each night we shall close the day with painful confessions of shortcoming, and each morning awaken with anxious prayers, that this day God would hold us up that we may not sin against him.

Sincere repentance is continual. Believers repent until their dying day. This dropping well is not intermittent. Every other sorrow yields to time, but this dear sorrow grows with our growth, and it is so sweet a bitter, that we thank God we are permitted to enjoy and to suffer it until we enter our eternal rest. (C.H.Surgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

Our boast can only ever be in the Lord!

(1Corinthians 1:31)  "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Considering the way my mind works and how it turns over concerning the importance of making it to heaven, I have had an “epiphany”, but not as the deceiver would like us to believe and this example of his cunning; celebration around Christmas is a misguided affair where all get involved, from the Christian to the heathen. Something very wrong with that picture and it took the mind of a child to expose my mistake. Not that I am calling out Christmas per-say but it is a very good example to help highlight this “epiphany”- my revelation that I have received from God the Holy Spirit, the One who guide us into all truth. How have  I arrived at such a conclusion, let me unpack it for you, not that I am compelled too in that sense, but it may help the skeptic understand the concept behind receiving revelation. A simple thought springs to mind, after prayer and constant deliberation around God and His eternal plan. Think on this thought like a bee buzzing around one’s head, not enough to send someone into panic as the stinger of the bee only a distant threat, but enough of a concern to always be aware of its presence. I would wake up thinking on a particular thought and then go to bed wrestling for an answer. A Solution then springs to mind, but after some thoughts, many of them are disregarded as man-centered (a nice idea but just another lure), but when God places a thought into ones rational, you know because you know. So when one begins to unpack it, one finds that it is full of nourishment and very good for the soul. And it can always be backed by scripture.

Like I said I needed the mind of a child to see the answer. Only once I had returned to my first love was I made aware of the significance of a child’s mind. God has in His grace taken me back to the beginning and shown me the simplicity in salvation, lose your way and it becomes complicated. You could say that this verse has become very real to me of late; “At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;”” (Matthew 11:25) 

Let me by the grace of God unpack this life changing thought, and I am willing to go on the record with the conclusions I will now arrive at. It saddens me that we all have believed what I am now about to share somewhere along our journey, but we lose our way! Satan the mastermind behind what I will now reveal, but before we give Him too much credit, know this, it was our great Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ that defeated Him on Calvary’s Hill. Once and for all He has been silence by the blood of the Lamb. These are the facts behind recorded scripture, words penned by men inspired by God the Holy Spirit. The truth of it is that our great Saviour defeated every principality and power that opposed His will and the will of His great Father our great God. He cried, “It is finished!” And yet we still struggle with our walks and often lose our way, why? Because our adversary goes around like a roaring lion seeking to devour those weak in the faith, and not only the weak but he uses a different tactic for the schooled, or more mature. How does he do it? It will always be through some form of deception (the practice of deliberately making somebody believe things that are not true), always! You see it is the truth that sets us free; “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”” (John 14:6): - So then Satan’s objective is to keep us from the truth, which is the only way that will lead us home. Now with that in mind let’s also remember the enemy we have within. The Apostle John says it like this; “For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1John 2:16-17)

What then is the will of the Father? It is very simple, do not complicate it, the answer is to remember HIS SON! What is the will of Satan, to get you to forget, or divert our attention from the truth of His accomplishments? And babes, young believers and more mature men in Christ have been and are still targeted by the devil’s flaming arrows.

The boisterous babe is confident in their God’s ability to look out for them and eventually becomes nonchalant with their carefulness in what they do with their lives in general. They begin to take things for granted. They begin to believe they are bullet proof to sin, but before long they are caught in one of Satan’s traps. To put it plainly they take their eyes off the Lord Jesus!

The young men overcome the evil one, but only when their eyes are fixed on the Lord Jesus and not on their developing muscles and their athletic abilities. They are captivated by Christ and nothing lures them from Him.

The fathers of the faith have remembered Him, I could begin to mention many names of those who we could refer to as our fathers in the faith, and it would begin with Abraham, and end with someone more current like Charles Spurgeon, but all would say the same thing, look to Jesus and live.

Many reformed theologians have a tendency to highlight the importance of living holy lives, but I say if we get the order wrong it may just as well be a pile of straw fit for the fire, we must get the order right, which is look to Jesus first, do not look to be once again enslaved with the bondage of the law, the does and don’ts we as Christians like to conjure up. For if this becomes our unbalanced rational, we play right into the hand of the devil. How one may ask? We do exactly what the Galatian church looked to do, they got circumcised, why? They look for proof by living by the law and this is what Paul has to say about this type of reasoning; "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-11)  

The importance of this topic and its understanding it needs a book to expound it correctly. I hope I have by the grace of God done it some justice.

Let me conclude by simply spelling it out; everything in our lives from start to finish must always revolve around the Lord Jesus, yes everything! If not we soon play into the hands of Satan. We must however get the order right, which is not the putting off and then the putting on which I hear many speak about. They say we must put off sin and then put on Christ, WRONG! Satan looks to get us to reason like this by deceiving us into believing this lie. We must first put on Christ and then we will put off sin, nothing else will do. Look to Jesus and we will live. I am tired of all the mixed messages that send us down a path of destruction. It is all about the Lord Jesus, it has only ever been about Him, and it will only ever be about Him. Of Course the Godhead is glorified when He is given His rightful place, praise His holy name! No wonder the Apostle Paul uses these strong words; “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1Corinthians 1:23-31)

For this reason he makes this statement which must also be the banner for our lives as we carry it with us in every area of our lives as nothing else will do, God our heavenly Father will accept nothing less; “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1Corinthians 2:2)

The starting place for all if we have somehow lost our way would be to have the mind of a child. Placing our trust in him like a little child would place his trust in his father.

Signing off

Tyrone 

To be or not to be!

(Romans 3:28) “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”

“To be or not to be?” Is a serious question and it covers many dimensions to our lives. We could make our way through every aspect of our lives checking the truth or false boxes off one at a time, but what would be the point? All this would achieve is an attitude of accusatorial or pardoning lifestyles. “To be guilty or not to be”? But as a dear brother recently said it would be good to take at least ten looks at the Lord Jesus to every look at ourselves. It is crucial that we make this reality our own. If not our itch keeps nagging away and the more we scratch the more it itches. The law will never be kept by the works of the law, that itch has no cure outside of Christ. I am slowly starting to comprehend what this actually means. It is Mammoth!  It can get very confusing along the way, if those teaching give out mixed messages. On the one hand we are told to abstain, and to put on the whole armour of God, which we must do daily. But we measure our maturity and at times take it somewhat further as we look to our own works for justification, proof that we are true believers. We know from scripture that a tree cannot produce both good and bad fruit from the same tree. And when that consideration begins to itch it can get very destructive if we start looking inwardly to the exclusion of the ten looks we should be taking at our glorious Saviour and His accomplishments.

It is the law then that accuses us of sin, so when we break it we think on the lines like this, I am guilty! If I was a good tree why would I fall in that area repeatedly? Surely this proves that I am not a true believer! Do we see the downward spiral as it now begins to spin out of control? Hopelessness and despair the order of the day and many are ensnared by this persisting lure. I should not behave like this, why did I do that again? What is wrong with me? Am I brain dead? “Like a dog back to his own vomit”.  

Now this may well be a truthful reflection in part to one’s life, but what pattern is clearly evident? Me, me, and me! It was impossible for those who lived under the law to pass its test without failure, and this included all from Adam to Christ. This was the reason why God sent His only begotten Son to pay the price for the sins of mankind; their inability to keep the law. He accomplished it and no one else! It has not changed now after Christ’s resurrection if we look to the law for justification. We are and will only ever be justified by His achievements. Why then do we now think we can do it without His help? It was impossible and it is still impossible! Let that begin to sink deep as it resonates once and for all as a permanent mindset. It cost Him his life back then to excuse our sin and we will forever need to be excused by His act of mercy into the future, with the worlds that are still to come, they too will know about His great feat. It will never be about what we accomplished but always about His accomplishment! Ten looks at Christ and then one look at self in retrospect, and not the other way around!

Remember the “ten lepers” all where healed but only one turn to the Lord Jesus thanking Him for His act of mercy, the other may have mentioned that He had healed them when asked by others, but it was by the by. It was not so with the Samaritan, he returned and fell at the Lord Jesus’ feet giving Him thanks and acknowledging Him as the one who had cleansed him, whilst the other who now were clean look to the priest (the law) for justification. I hope you see the difference clearly! We will never be justified by the law; “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Romans 3:27-28)

The sooner we learn this the easier I believe it will be for all to take ten looks at the Lords accomplishment before we begin to look at ourselves for our own justification or disqualification. As a babe in Christ my life changed dramatically, I never gave much thought to the does and don’t that seem to now captivate my mind, all I knew that I had fallen in love with this great God, the Lord Jesus the One who died for my sins. My mind was engulfed with Him and not so much the law. Ten looks at Him to one look at self. Where did I begin to veer off course? Arrogance and pride no doubt playing their part!

We know that the law is good, but is was intended as a teacher to teach us that we are sinners and that because of our desperate state as sinners we needed help, we needed a Saviour, praise the name of Jesus! Now the world, all those who reject the work of Calvary still look to self-justification to be justified before a holy God. It is a futile exercise as it is impossible. Knowing this, why then do we still as Christians look for justification in what we do?

Remember it is at least ten looks at our great Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ before we take a look at ourselves. This I believe then will begin to re-kindle our first love if we have somewhat lost our way.

Signing off

Tyrone

Helps!

(John 4:24) “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

We have many helps as Christians and they all have their place. We have the Spirit, without Him it would be impossible to see heaven let alone get there. We have faith, which would remain man-centered without the work of the Spirit in our lives. How one may ask? Without God’s Spirit as the actual catalyst driving and guiding us individually, we would soon get lost, in fact to be more accurate we may even think that we are on the true Celestial road and on our way to heaven, but in fact we travel a road that has similarities but will eventual lead into a ditch (hell) and not heaven. Can I prove this thought from scripture, or is it just my imagination running riot? I surely can!

Let us see what the Lord Jesus said to those who were trained up in the scriptures, there was a certain man, who was a leader of the Jews, a spiritual leader, one responsible for getting his nation to heaven. And yet he was leading them down a road of destruction, he taught them man-centered philosophy even though he taught from the Holy Scriptures, He taught from the Old Testament, and even though he had a doctorate in theology he was as “blind as a bat”. Why? He did not have the Spirit of God enlightening the truths of God’s Holy Word, in other words the map to heaven was in braille. The blind leading the blind and both destined to fall into the dyke, unless God steps in and enlightens their path. This is how it happens in principle, circumstances and places may vary but unless God the Spirit quickens one’s spirit, we will remain as those who clutches at straws whilst in the dark.

Here is the account of Nicodemus as he tried to make sense of the Lord Jesus’ teaching on this exact subject…

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"

Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? (John 3:1-10)

This teaching is then fundamental, we must start here. Our Spiritual life must have a beginning and that is not when we are christened as infants. That is just another smoke screen to keep us from the truth and it is the same with confirmation. We must find ourselves in “type” falling to our knees and asking God for forgiveness for our sins. It is and must be a personal experience and not simply a religious exercise. Understanding that it is not through penance, or through works that we find forgiveness but only by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. If not, we may think we understand heaven and its calling but we are way off the truth, without God the Holy Spirit as our guide we would still be blind even if we read from the same Bible as those who are able to see. This is sometimes overlooked; in fact it is overlooked often. We speak as if we in ourselves have this great ability to change the course of history. We believe we are the ones who come up with brilliant ideas as someone special and we forget to give place to the greatest of teachers, God the Holy Spirit. The pride of man a wicked thing!

Having said that, we still need teachers, who are gifted as teachers by God and not by men, without them we would be lead astray at times to supposition and inklings. We may even get carried away by what we think is the leading of the Holy Spirit. It could well be His voice we hear, but unless what we perceive is confirmed by sound doctrine, we cannot and must not be lead astray by what we think we have received. Why? We have many enemies; the devil roars seeking to devour, while our own flesh leads us down a slippery path and looks to ensnare us in these three areas of our lives. The pride of life, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes; “For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1John 2:16): - It is only sound doctrine that will keep us from their entrapment. God the Holy Spirit, without exception always works in tandem with the Holy Scripture, the Bible! It is therefore those gifted as teachers that we must give earnest heed too. Who gifts men as true teachers? It is the person of the Lord Jesus who imparts this gift on to someone and not institutions. An institution may well help equip someone to be more skillful but it is not a given.

“But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." (In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:7-14)

The ability to teach sound doctrine is a gift from the Lord Jesus and not all have been given this gift and in particularly women will not receive the gift of teaching, hear me carefully on this, if not you will be led astray but what they think is true but in fact is not. Why are women not permitted to teach, Paul gives us an inclining to why they should not teach; “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”  (1Timothy 2:12-14): - If you as a woman do not like this portion of scripture, I would ask you to examine your birth certificate. I only mention this as we are taught that all scripture is there to teach us the ways of God and we must give earnest heed to their wisdoms. I fear for some, I cannot be more specific but as a brother looking out for his family, I have been lead and am now compelled to highlight this truth. I pray it will be well received! Beware of all that is not confirmed by God’s Holy Scriptures, the Bible! And remember that God the Holy Spirit whom God the Father has sent in the name of the Lord Jesus will only ever lead us to the truth; “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24): - And it is imperative that we not only understand this next portion of scripture but that we make it our own; “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-15) 

As Christians it is our responsibility to lock hand with one another as we guard against the errors of all that opposes the truth of God’s Word. My prayer would be even though we fail in many areas of our lives, may we never err on the side of that which is not comprehensive, as the Word of God shall endure forever!

Signing off

Tyrone

Removing the veil!

(2Corinthians 3:16)  “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.”

The most phenomenal accomplishment of all time is what Christ achieved for us one Calvary and it would be nice to settle on this. Even as Christians, no especially, our minds like to play tricks with us. It is at constant battle as it looks to find justification in the law to prove salvation and not in what Christ achieved but rather what we achieve in our daily lives. We constantly deny this but we always look to prove it, at least to ourselves. Day after day this seems to be our struggle. I am just wondering if I will ever be free of this on-going battle of looking for self-justification, even though I accept the fact that we will never be justified on our own merit but only by the blood of the Lamb.

We like to talk the talk but we often fail to walk the walk. I make reference to what we achieve by what we are capable of accomplishing with our lifestyles. We are bent on resolutions, I know I am and yet I am incapable of sticking to one out of ten, go figure! We often teach others from the Word of God, as we should! We unpack what we like to call sound doctrine and then when confronted with daily living and with what comes out of our mouths, I wonder have we really understood? There is no doubt we see heaven through a fogged window. We live in the realm of the terrestrial as heaven is a place that is celestial, it is a different realm, and it is spiritual. It is hard for our minds to reconcile the two and it gets jumbled at times.

The bible is very clear with its teaching and when we stick to it in plain sense; I believe it will hold us in a good standing before a righteous God. It will nourish our souls, but only if and when we use the denomination factor that brings light to all of scripture, and that is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, praise His name! Begin to focus on the bibles teaching without His life changing function and we will go astray with our application in living it out.

Yesterday a brother wonderfully expounded on the “old covenant” (the Law) as opposed to the “new covenant” (which is to be saved by grace through faith). He proved by scripture what most of us all know; we can only ever be justified by what Christ achieved on Calvary, it will never have anything to do with us and our achievements. How could it ever be any other way? And yet, knowing this, I constantly with many others look for justification that I deserve salvation by what I do or do not do. We all do! You may say that you are not guilty as charged, but just consider your steps this morning or maybe yesterday and before long you will understand my point. A life filled with hypocrisy, accusing and excusing, up and down, round and round, what seems a never ending battle. But is will end one day, it will run its course; time will give way to another dimension. Eternity will eventually arrive for all.

With all these on-going struggles in life, our daily deliberations; if we forget to look at our Saviour, who is our only hope, we will be smothered by doom and gloom. No wonder as brilliant as Paul was in his capacity to discipline his body he nevertheless makes this statement; “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Galatians 6:14): - Why then do we look to boast in our achievements before God, even if we keep it to ourselves, which we very often do. Maybe I am quicker to accuse myself than to excuse myself when I look into the mirror. Why do I do this? It is obvious; I forget Christ’s accomplishment on Calvary. No matter what people achieve or fail to accomplish, no one will ever be able to take away or add to His perfect sacrifice. “It is finished”!

Having now said what I have just said, we may struggle through life with these on-going battles, but because we have received His Spirit, we have this hope; “Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:33-39)

And yet, we believe this passage of scripture even the more when we walk as victorious Christians. Looking for justification in what we are capable of achieving and I am not sure that will ever change.

There are obvious sins that look to disqualify us as believers, but what of all those sins that we tend to conveniently overlook? We will and can never be justified by our own achievements, it may well leave in a peaceful state before God, but that is a different topic altogether.

May we constantly remember what it cost our Lord to set us free from the bondage of sin and death! How I long for the day when I will finally put off this earthly body and be free of its trappings once and for all. Even so come quickly Lord Jesus! Renew a right understanding in all of you wayward children I pray Father God as circumcision will never cut it! How I wish I was more self-disciplined and yet that is not where it is at, but it would help the turmoil I often contend with.

“In some sense the path to heaven is very safe, but in other respects there is no road so dangerous. It is beset with difficulties. One false step (and how easy it is to take that if grace be absent), and down we go. What a slippery path is that which some of us have to tread! How many times have we to exclaim with the Psalmist, “My feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped.” If we were strong, sure-footed mountaineers, this would not matter so much; but in ourselves, how weak we are! In the best roads we soon falter, in the smoothest paths we quickly stumble. These feeble knees of ours can scarcely support our tottering weight. A straw may throw us, and a pebble can wound us; we are mere children tremblingly taking our first steps in the walk of faith, our heavenly Father holds us by the arms or we should soon be down. Oh, if we are kept from falling, how must we bless the patient power which watches over us day by day! Think, how prone we are to sin, how apt to choose danger, how strong our tendency to cast ourselves down, and these reflections will make us sing more sweetly than we have ever done, “Glory be to him, who is able to keep us from falling.” We have many foes who try to push us down. The road is rough and we are weak, but in addition to this, enemies lurk in ambush, who rush out when we least expect them, and labour to trip us up, or hurl us down the nearest precipice. Only an Almighty arm can preserve us from these unseen foes, who are seeking to destroy us. Such an arm is engaged for our defence. He is faithful that hath promised, and he is able to keep us from falling, so that with a deep sense of our utter weakness, we may cherish a firm belief in our perfect safety, and say, with joyful confidence,

“Against me earth and hell combine,

But on my side is power divine;

Jesus is all, and he is mine!””
(C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone 

Remember!.doc

(Revelation 2:5) “Remember therefore from where you have fallen;”

Does a day go by where we are not passing judgment? Absolutely not! We judge a lot of trivial nonsense, and half the time it is exactly that, unimportant tripe! Opinionated summaries of peoples own finding on everyday life, from TV shows through to eating habits. A lot of time and energy is ploughed into these types of topics. Far too much time! We have been duped by sins into miss-guided energy with frivolous fruit in our lives to prove it. The car we drive the jeans we wear or the suburb we live in high on the agenda. It is a real concern for most and it can easily be tested. Test your next conversation and throw in words like “Pep Stores” (an inexpensive bare minimum convenience store), is a great place to shop. Now if one was from the Northern Suburbs that would be taboo, but if one lived in a squatter camp, that would be but the only option, or obviously one could rather steal. Have you ever wondered why the Lord has such a heart for the poor? It speaks of destitution, and it offers very little hope. It could force someone’s hand to do what they normally would not do, Steal!

Then of course there are those who do what they do regardless of the cost, they steal and leave a wake of destruction in their path. South Africa is rife with these types of criminals. As serious as this is, we often exert our energy in the wrong areas of life! We give far much time to the here and now. It is a no brainer that we must deal with issues in our lives where and when they appear, and who wouldn’t. We must address the daily issues of life, whatever that may be. It is the time spent on all that never materializes which alarms me. Worry, worry and more worry is high on our agenda. But we are taught not to fret, even though crime lurks on every corner, we still spend far too much time worried about things that never materialize. Misguided energy that is wasted on unfruitful twaddle!

Here then is our instruction, pay it earnest heed; "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:25-30)

I think on these words and contemplate the importance of such a portion of scripture. The Lord Jesus had much to say about a lot of things as He is the great I AM and everything He had to say and still says needs an attentive ear. And yet the Apostle Matthew penned this teaching and paid careful heed to it training, will we? We must!

I believe we lose our way as Christians when we forget about the simple instructive teaching we receive from scripture and we get to clearer for our boots. Knowledge puffs up, may we never forget the elementary principles of the basics of Christianity. Remember the church at Ephesus, they had got so involved with exposing error, and although they were commended for it, they lost their focus on who they were outside of Christ, miserable wretched sinner and nothing else. We too are no different! May we never forget our first love, and if we have then God help us to repent, before the candlestick is removed. A serious warning! Not from opinionated supposition that people have but from the mouth of Lord Jesus. When I consider the volatility of my life and how it has fluctuated over time, I must conclude that I have gone astray, when I have lost my first love. All this actually means, if I place something else before Him. Even if it is a worthy cause like exposing wolves dressed in lambs clothing, I will be guilty of the offense. Nothing must come between me and my Lord, regardless of what that may be.

I will end off with this encouraging rebuke; "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'” (Revelation 2:1-7)

To all those married sisters out there; remember the excitement prior to marriage, this then is exactly the point we need to embrace with both arms, we need to find that tingling feeling once again for our Lord and Saviour if we have let it slip somewhere along our journey toward the Celestial City. As for us men we need to consider our courtship when we look to win her over. We may have failed with our relationships but we daren’t fail with our King and this eternal relationship.

Signing off

Tyrone  

Be Angry!

(Ephesians 4:26) “Be angry and do not sin;”

It is as if I have a voice that talks to me when I sleep and as I wake. It is not an audible voice that filters through the air, but a graphic thought that forces me to consider certain truths about my life. It is often a challenge as it exposes the “true me” and not the “pretend me” and it varies from rebuke to encouragement. Sometimes we need to be reminded that we are new creatures in Christ and that we have a hope in Him and He will get us home. However there are also times when we need a strong rebuke, and this morning is such a day.

Even as Christians we become callous in certain areas of our lives and we tend to ignore certain sins as the norm. My life has been this way for a long time; I accept certain behavioral patterns but ignore others. I am thankful that when this begins to slip and becomes part of my daily routine it is God the Holy Spirit that admonishes me as well as all others who belong to Christ. If I am honest, I would have to deduce that I need a stronger hand then most, hence a body so full of scars. So before it gets to a place, where strong-arm tactics is used, let me give earnest heed to that small still voice.

I am truly grateful for having ears to hear, as it is the goodness of God that leads a man to repentance. This voice (a graphic thought) now challenges me to re-evaluate my position in Christ. It can never change in that sense as we either have His Spirit or we do not have it, we are either sons or we are bastards (a child whose birth lacks legal legitimacy). Nevertheless, as children we can walk disobediently before our Righteous Father. Obedience is better than sacrifice and yet we are still instructed to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. However, when we let certain habitual practices back into our daily routine we then sin and walk in disobedience.

Today is such a day and I have been challenged by that “small still voice”, call it the "conscience" if that sits better with you, either way, I now deliberate my life and my behavioral patterns and look to the Lord to find forgiveness and a change in practice.  

The Word of God is full of nourishment, but one must digest it to gain strength. It is not enough to look at it and admire it, it must be eaten! If not our Christian life will remain “pie in the sky”, and unfortunately many will enter through the broad gate. May God help us to be honest with ourselves and find repentance where and when it is needed.

We must be accurate with its instruction; I recall back in 1983 when I was on the rugby field and I was injured as I took a knock to my right leg. Internal bleeding in my right thigh was the finding. If only I knew what I knew now and I applied ice to the injury instead of “deep heat” (a muscle simulant), I would have recovered a lot sooner. Ice helps, as it brings down the swelling and it stops the bleeding only then should we get the blood flowing again to repair the area. Do it the wrong way round and we will suffer loss; in this case I was out for a number of weeks. I watched my team play from the sideline.

We must learn to apply sound doctrine to our lives to benefit from it. This then was my thought both last night and this morning when I woke; “Be angry and do not sin;” (Ephesians 4:26): - It is important to understand this instruction correctly, in the past, I have not had a clear understanding on its teaching! I often get angry with myself and my sin once I have already sinned. That is not the teaching! It specifically says, be angry before you sin, so that you do not sin. See the difference! Anger is acceptable, only if it is a help that fuels our minds and keeps us from sin. May God help us to administer this relief wisely! Grace is available for all who belong to Him as we have the right to approach God’s “throne of grace” with boldness.

Forgive me Father God, my great Jehovah as I have neglected this instruction for my life, I seek your forgiveness as I acknowledge my sin before you. Continue to teach me your ways and make me more like my great Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Help all your children across the globe put on the mind of Christ and help us to appropriate sound doctrine to our lives and not to accept certain sins as the norm for our lives, whatever they may be.

Signing off

Tyrone

The Living Water!

(John 4:14) “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.”

Have you ever sat down to consider how lusts and wants gratify for a time and then it is soon forgotten, we think that they will satisfy, but soon we work out it is only until the next time. Lust can never be quenched or satisfied! Take the desire for chocolate, when eaten it is smooth in one’s mouth and pleasant to taste, but overindulge and one will be left feeling somewhat bloated and uncomfortable. Sin in itself has the same kind of result. But instead of feeling nauseous it is the conscience that is affected. It either causes worldly sorrow, regret for our action or it brings us to a place when we seek forgiveness to find relief from the constant reminder that what we did was wrong. The bad regrettable decisions we make through life sometimes leave us with such a heaviness we tend to harbor them deep within the recesses of our minds and they never leave us, unless we find forgiveness.   

What makes us become so callous with some of our behavioral patterns, it is obviously sin. Sin is an awakening to both good and evil and yet without forgiveness from God, we will always be a slave to it. It is the law of God that teachers us what we should do, but it is sin that drives us to do exactly the opposite. How often have you told yourself that you would never do something again, only to prove that you were not true to you word. Think about your life! At any given time you may well have been sincere with a resolution, but before long you would have broken it. A case in point, New Year’s resolutions! We are all the same; this is why we need a Saviour! This is why God sent His Son to die in our place as He made a way of escape from the clutches of sin and its power. Even as a Christian who has found forgiveness and for those who have had their eyes opened to the heavenly realm, we all still contend with this on-going battle. But because of forgiveness we are able to endure the pressures of failure. Think on it as a pressure cooker, when the steam builds up to its maximum pressure and it is trapped in a pot, a valve releases the pressure. So too is life and the sin that so easily besets, when we are trapped in areas of our lives Jesus Christ the Lord is our release valve when we look to Him and we find forgiveness.

He is the only hope for mankind! The sooner we begin to believe in Him and we then put our trust in Him the sooner we will find peace for our lives. Without His forgiveness we will be in constant turmoil. Not only in the life to come as we escape the clutches of hell but also in the here and now.

“Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.”

- Joh_4:14

He who is a believer in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to satisfy him now, and to content him for evermore. The believer is not the man whose days are weary for want of comfort, and whose nights are long from absence of heart-cheering thought, for he finds in religion such a spring of joy, such a fountain of consolation, that he is content and happy. Put him in a dungeon and he will find good company; place him in a barren wilderness, he will eat the bread of heaven; drive him away from friendship, he will meet the “friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Blast all his gourds, and he will find shadow beneath the Rock of Ages; sap the foundation of his earthly hopes, but his heart will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord. The heart is as insatiable as the grave till Jesus enters it, and then it is a cup full to overflowing. There is such a fulness in Christ that he alone is the believer’s all. The true saint is so completely satisfied with the all-sufficiency of Jesus that he thirsts no more-except it be for deeper draughts of the living fountain. In that sweet manner, believer, shalt thou thirst; it shall not be a thirst of pain, but of loving desire; thou wilt find it a sweet thing to be panting after a fuller enjoyment of Jesus’ love. One in days of yore said, “I have been sinking my bucket down into the well full often, but now my thirst after Jesus has become so insatiable, that I long to put the well itself to my lips, and drink right on.” Is this the feeling of thine heart now, believer? Dost thou feel that all thy desires are satisfied in Jesus, and that thou hast no want now, but to know more of him, and to have closer fellowship with him? Then come continually to the fountain, and take of the water of life freely. Jesus will never think you take too much, but will ever welcome you, saying, “Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Wherever we find ourselves, our great King is just a call away, whatever our struggle He is just a prayer away. Let us learn to rely on Him for ever struggle we content with in our daily battle against sin.

Signing off

Tyrone