Reflections

Reflections on both old and new fruits are fresh on my mind this morning. The store room of grace is full of tender fruits that we sometimes tend to overlook, look unto Jesus and see how gracious He has been. It is easy to forget where we have been saved from. A lifetime full of aimless wandering in the dark clouds of uncertainty, with so many unanswered questions; “what is life all about” used to ring loudly in my imaginations. We are born without choice, live for a limited time and then we die, surely there was more to life was my question. Wine, woman and song seemed to captivate my heart as a teenager into early manhood, with the motivation to achieve on the sports field thrown into the mix. But yet still such an empty void filled my life. Maybe travelling abroad would negate the desperate need for answers, but to no avail, however it was through my travels that I heard the call from this awesome God and by the end of it my heart began to soften to that appeal. Our God is an awesome God, even in my blindness I vividly recall His gentle voice coaxing me towards the true glorious life changing message of the Gospel and then it happened, praise God, I would never be the same. No longer the anxiety of that nagging question, “what is life all about?” I now know the meaning of life! There is only one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and He had called me by name, what joy, what glee, filled my soul.

Sure, there have been many bad choices since that time and I have any scars to prove my folly, however the question about my existence never again to be questioned, praise the name of Jesus! Life and all its challenges are there to teach us to depend on His unending graces. At times we make the wrong choice and often pay the price for it. Nevertheless our God is a God of unfading love and He deals with us as sons and not bastards. He is a Father who cares for our wellbeing. We may put our hands to the plough and then for certain reasons remove them and return to our vomit, But God who is rich in mercy uses the circumstances of life to remind us of what is of importance, “to fear God and to keep His commandments!” My God is an awesome God and He reigns within my heart, thank you Lord Jesus for you ultimate sacrifice, without you unwavering commitment I would still be dead in my trespasses and my sin, I once was blind but now I see! The price for my sight was immense, it cost you your life and in consideration for a wretched sinner like me. I am forever grateful, thank you Father God for sending your Son to die so that I could go free, the most unworthy of candidates and yet you chose to save me, what grace, what love, THANK YOU!

 Signing off

Tyrone

Not why but how?

“Not why but how?” The test of our faith must come, it will be part of the Christians life, and it has to happen to prove our legitimacy for all who belong in God’s army.

When I was a boy I thought like a boy, but when I became a man I was forced to think like a man. Now much of what I do is still full of childlike attributes, some of the slang I used back then I still use today. Words like; guf (to swim), wally or lemon (someone who acts without thinking) and the like are still very much a part of who I am today. I suppose that keeps my mind young in a sense, I may be wrong. But that is not my point! The reality of having to be responsible for others is now a factor of life I now face. Necessity has become part of my life, God has so ordained it! If I do not work I will not eat, and those whom have been placed under my care will suffer. Both the Christian and the heathen have this responsibility as adults. The sin of one man has forced us to face this actuality with death as our end; “And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."” (Genesis 3:17-19)

However once we are contractually bound to Christ through salvation, we are called to wear a specific hat, the hat of the Christian. The rules of engagement now differ from our lives prior to our commitment to Christ and visa-versa. Christ now looks out for us as His sheep. He will never falter with His responsibilities, that He has already proved by dying on a cruel Roman cross for all those whom the Father has given Him; “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” (John 17:9-11) – With that established and our great Saviour looking out for us, we have a new set of rules that we must now understand and make our own. We have been contractually bought with a price of God dying in our place, not for His sin as he had no sin, but for our sin. The price could not have been higher; nevertheless it has been paid, once and for all. We now belong to God and we are enrolled in the book of life. With that said, we now need to understand the rules of engagement!

Here then are some of those directions; “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” (Peter 4:12-14) - The Christian will and must be tested, it is part of the script that God has orchestrated. Therefore be encouraged when we face the tests life throws at us, especially when we are persecuted for our faith. The absence of that type of test must make us question our standing in Christ. Our existence must not now be based on our emotions per say but rather on sound doctrine from the teachings of the Bible.

There are other tests we also face, the trial of our faith! Those tests that force us to trust God regardless of what we face when in need and which causes us to worry. These tests root out all our hedging as self-sufficient individuals. The deeper we pursue these avenues of faith the stronger our dependency becomes on our God. Abraham is the father of faith and this is why he has been given that title and not by men but by God; “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10)

Our lives in eternity will be based on the faith we learn to apply to our daily lives here on earth. We tend to lose sight of this from time to time, but it needn’t happen, this is why I love these times of reflection as it helps us to trim our sails. God give us the strength to fight the good fight of faith in Him. We have a store room that we as Christians have the privilege of approaching with confidence so that when the test is severe we know that He will make a way of escape and supply the grace needed to get us through the trial, refining our faith, strengthening our weak faith and bringing glory to Him. Without this reality in our lives we will remain but babes in Christ!

Signing off

Tyrone   

      

    

   

     

Mongi's question

My son asked me a question yesterday after having understood these truths, which are these; “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20) – Having understood that those who can see creation are without excuse concerning the authenticity of God, because creation itself teaches us that God through creation has proved that He is alive and well. Secondly, when we come under the spoken word, when the Gospel is preached he has also understood that this is how God has chosen to save sinners; the Gospel is preached, people hear the message and then some respond favourably to it and they are saved; our eyes and ears playing a vital role in the equation in finding salvation in and through the finished message of the cross.

This was his question, “what about those who are born mute, deaf and blind?” His enquiring mind looking for a valid answer. When we confront these types of questions how should we answer? Avoid being wrapped up in these kind of debates as they are nothing but ploys of our evil minds to avoid the real question, what have we done with the message of the gospel? Charles Spurgeon has this to say; “Leave all curious inquiry about election alone. Go straight to Christ and hide in His wounds, and you shall know your election.” We must point people to Christ and get them to look at themselves and in so doing it will force them to make a decision about themselves and not others. Always come back to the good news of the gospel on a personal level and I believe we would have sown the seed correctly.

Remember Paul’s encouragement; “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1Corinthians 1:17-18) – Why then bother with trivia when those looking for reasons not to believe keep looking to justify their unbelief. We must preach Christ and Him crucified as it will carry with it power to save those who are being saved.

One of the main reasons I stress this point is that we must learn to trust scripture with a greater assurance; in fact “faith is the substance of things hoped for”; we hope when talking with others that they will be saved, for the most part of it our sharing of the gospel is honourable; we have freely received salvation through the gospel and when the opportunity arrives we want to freely give back. However, when application is to be effective it must be applied to the letter. Our presentation often lacks clarity and when side-tracked so much time is wasted on trivia that only ever takes our eyes off the truth. We must drive the Gospel home; this is where God has invested all His power in the salvation message. Why then do we sometimes think we can do a better job than God with clever arguments? We must learn and ask God the Holy Spirit to drive this truth deep within our minds and so when people look to side-track the gospel message with objections we can gently bring them back to what really counts, their need of a Saviour, because of their sin. Christ came to die for sinners, not the gainsayer! Gently prove to them that they are sinners, remembering we too have been saved from our sin and once that is realised the message of the gospel shall reveal its power, “forgiveness for all their sins”! Salvation outside of that message is an idea of a better life, goodies and things instead of true saving power and that kind of message will eventually run its course and before long those who once claimed to be saved will be denouncing Christianity. “But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. (John 6:64-66)

The essence of the Gospel message is that Christ came to die for sinners and He paid the price for our sins on a personal level, this then must be our focus; God help us understand the gravity of this truth when sharing the gospel with others.

Signing off

Tyrone   

      

Do not be surprised

(1Peter 4:12) “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you…”

I suppose in being fair to this text, the Apostle Peter’s trial was harsh in comparison to the trials I face and most of us will ever have to endure. Not many of us will end up crucified on a cross for our faith. However in type we have all be called to endure affliction for the sake of the cross; we have been called to die to self and at times this can be very testing. One thing we must never do is be surprised by the assessment. We have been told that this will be the life for the Christian. When we keep asking the question, “why”? All that proves is that we haven’t counted the cost of what it means to be a Christian.

Unless we die with Christ we can never live with Him! As hard as it is for us to die the Apostle Paul irrevocably makes this statement; “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) – When we accept that dying to self is for our benefit; through the trial we learn to comprehend the magnitude of what it meant for Christ to suffer on our behalf, we get small glimpses of what He went through and when proven, we come through refined on the other side bringing glory to God. Irrespective of what we suffer, if we can learn to accept whatever God places in front of us it will teach us valuable lessons even if we do not quite understand the degree of it at the time, be sure of this one fact it will smooth out some of the rough edges in our lives, bringing glory to God. However when we shirk the test and do our best to avoid what is placed in front of us, we learn very little and remain stagnant in growth. God help us to understand the value of these tests in our lives!

God is sovereign over all! Nothing will or can ever happen to the Christian outside the will of God. Our paths have been carefully mapped out ultimately to bring God the glory. Thankfully He is patient and longsuffering with His children. Some obviously need a lot more discipline in learning these valuable lessons and I am amongst that number. Nevertheless I am thankful for His correction, without it I would be lost. To God be the glory now and forever more, Amen!

As hard as the reality of life may seem at times our great God and Father is moulding us into the beautiful image of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

We have an enemy that goes around like a roaring lion, who has made it his duty to prevent this growth. In faith let us learn to trust God through it all as He is for us and not against us, His ways are far higher than our carnal understanding at times but be assured of this truth, He is in perfect control. Let us then learn to rest in His perfectly orchestrated plan. To God be the glory now and forever more, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone      

       

An everlasting love

(Jeremiah 31:3) “…I have loved you with an everlasting love;”

If God has said, that He will love with an everlasting love it must mean exactly that, everlasting (never coming to an end). It could never mean a love that will eventually run its course; that could never be! He is not like a man who at a time will say his vows, “for better or worse” and then if things do not pan out as previously thought he will be quick to throw in the towel. Divorce rife even amongst the church, once so many mistakes are realised by believers its leaves so many with such heavy burdens; the “strong” frowning upon what they have never been privy too, somehow feeling justified by what they haven’t done. If that be the case their perception are most certainly cockeyed. As Christians somewhere along our journey we fall prey to mistakes, entertain so many wicked thoughts and carry out such dreadful actions. The actions of some are more pronounce than others. I know as I am guilty as charged! However when we stumble our God does not hold that to our charge. This is the most phenomenal thought when actually realised and I don’t mean on an intellectual level but when it resonate deep within our hearts it is so liberating. Praise the name of Jesus! You see salvation is a gift of God, it can never be earned! The only reason we will ever be accepted by God is because of what the Lord Jesus achieved on Calvary and not by what we think we have earned and deserve, that is religion and it is dead!

Satan gets us to question our position in God by challenging us on our own merit, when we think we do well we have liberty but when we fail, and haven’t quite cut the mustard then we are not worthy, this is a lie from the pit of hell! We are always worthy because we have been sanctified by the blood of the Lamb, period! God will always encourage and correct us from a position of son-ship, when we need discipline He will bring it about but our position in Him will never be in question. If it could be any other way there would be a place for boasting, which is sadly at times evident amongst Christian; boasting has been excluded! “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) – Where we can be tempted to make the mistake is once we have been saved we now think we need to prove ourselves and earn our salvation; The Apostle Paul addresses this; “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3)

Our love for God must spring from our hearts and not our minds as a form of duty but rather we love because He first loved us. This understanding will free us to embrace our heavenly Father not out of duty but out of love. If we can grasp this truth it will be well with our souls. The banner we fly with absolute assurance is this; “if God be for me who can be against me?” Praise the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, for He has freed us into this relationship with His Father who is now our Father. We now cry “ABBA FATHER” and are treated as sons by the God of the universe, hallelujah!  

With that said; when God has decided to do something and He has sealed it with the promise of His Word it will never be undone, for neither height nor depth, nor will any created thing be able to undo those who have been sealed by that promise. For someone to suggest that God‘s promise is subject to our actions is ludicrous; as if we could get God to break His Word, as if His creation wield such power. What His love will do is melt a person’s heart and with it bring about a change of recuperating love if sin has somehow damaged our faith along the way. Do not yield to the voices contrary to God’s Word, they are nothing but lies! His love has saved us and His love will get us home. Think it through! Even if the recipient did not want to be covered by that love what chance would they actually have? Who can resist God’s will? In fact this point can be proved; but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  - This commitment is not about men but about God! He initiated everything pertaining to that love; He has so chosen to “love with an everlasting love”. We now only love God because He first loved us, period!

The question now that needs answering is who will be covered by His love, for not all will make it to heaven? "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) – all that is now left to do is to call out to the One who has the power to save us from our sin, all hail King Jesus! “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13)   

Signing off

Tyrone

  

  

The cries of the watchmen...

(2 Kings 11:18) “…And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the LORD.”

Throughout the ages men have posted watchmen in various places, at different times and for countless reasons. God has posted watchmen over His Holy Word, those who guard against erroneous teachings which contradict true salvation; we need their voices to remain accurate in these last days prior to the Lord’s return. It is these watchmen that have the best vantage point and they are often the first to see the enemies advance prior to their attack. It would be ludicrous to ignore their cries!

The cleaning out of the house is what is now needed; the emptying of all which does now edify, foreign gods, pride and the like must be recognized and eradicated with the aid of God’s grace. We must search it out as it is freely available to all who believe in their hearts that God has raised the Lord Jesus from the dead and that He now lives interceding for us as we confess Him as Lord with our mouths. The day will come when our Saviour returns to fetch His bride and many will become weary saying, “why does the Lord delay his return”, it is those people who will begin to eat and drink with the drunkards having no oil in their lanterns who will lose hope. There is a narrow gate that must be entered and we must stay true to our course to enter by it; be assured of this; “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, "Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; (Hebrews 10:35-37) – We also understand that that day will come as a thief in the night, and nobody knows the hour of His return save our heavenly Father. This is why faith in Him is of utmost importance, regardless of what we see happening around us, we know in whom we have believed. All His promises will come to pass there will not be one assurance left unchecked. Praise His name now and forevermore, Amen and Amen!

We need the voice of the watchmen to ring true in our ears as they watch out for God’s people. It will not always be about pleasing melodies but at times there shall be a sharp cry to take cover. Be warned, there is someone waiting in the wings in the not too distant future that will appear as the saviour of the world, He will appear to be dressed correctly but he shall be a ravenous wolf. Here then is our Lord’s warning; “Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:23-27) – Now whether the Christian will still be here or not I cannot say with any certainty, there are different estimations of thought on when the rapture (when God will catch believers up into the air, to ever be with Him, they will not taste death) will happen; some watchmen cry Pre-Millennium while others Mid and finally some cry Post- Millennium, God knows! However what I will say is that as that day approaches a conditioning of the minds of mankind will materialise as it is already stylish, peace is high on the minds of world leaders and they will continue to bring this message. Its banner will read “Peace Peace” and this will take place on a global scale.

Be sure to encourage those who sit in the towers looking out for your well-being; feed them well with nurture of the fruits of this Spirit, for God has set these watchmen up as it has pleased Him. We need to stand together encouraging one another in our hope, even more as we see that day approaching. Our God will get us home of that I am convinced; bless His name now and forever more, Amen! Praise and honour belongs to our commander and chief, all hail King Jesus!

Signing off

Tyrone

    

                                                                                

Green Peace

The more we move into the 21^st century the louder the “Green Peace” voice will bellow, it will reach far and wide and become a way of life for our little ones, as teachers incorporate it as part of any teaching syllabus, eventually carrying more weight than the learning of the alphabet. We would soon have come full circle; there is nothing wrong in itself in making every effort to save our planet, after all God made man the custodian of it all; “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15) – If we neglect our responsibility and disregard all the warning signs there will be consequences to the outcome of its existence.    

Even though this kind of reasoning may carry some weight and catch our attention, what is wrong with the picture above? After all if mankind does not right their wrongs who will keep our planet from destruction?

Concerning having almost come full circle, what does that mean? I trust most would already have worked out the answers to these questions, but for the sake of those who haven’t quite understood let me elaborate; With regard to the breakdown of God and man’s relationship it originally started with men worshiping the creature (creation) rather than God the Creator and because of this God then gave them over to more serious self-destruction; even though on the surface the world seems to be doing the right thing, they have been deceived! “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:18-23)   

When the world runs off now galloping at full speed, putting things into place to save our planet at the expense of giving the Creator the glory as the Originator of all creation, both the great and small only prove one thing, that they are fools! Test it for yourselves, what emblem does green peace fly as its banner? This is what they stand for, consider their logo; “The Greenpeace logo consists of a simple wordmark that features the organization’s name in a playful and engaging way, reflecting its eco-friendly philosophy and spirit. The green and white colors add freshness and appealing to the overall design, while symbolizing eco-friendliness, peace, prosperity, health, balance and stability.

The Greenpeace’s merchandise is also hugely well-liked and well-respected and the organization’s logo appears on virtually anything you can imagine to buy.” Not a mention of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the creator of our planet, earth!

Do they not know that regardless of their efforts God will eventually destroy this planet and He will create a new Earth? "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)  And “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Revelation 21:1)   

What then is the lesson? We must put God first in all things, looking to Him to steady our ship. We will never chance the eventual outcome as God has so ordain the new heavens and the new earth and in its season that will come to pass, but what we can now secure is our relationship with Him and find ourselves included in that new creation as allies and not His enemy.

The Irony of it all is this; mankind’s actual efforts will turn on them as destruction unfolds and death looms even the birds that they have tried to preserve will end up turning on them; “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great." And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.” (Revelation 19:17-21)

What then is my conclusion; we must preach the gospel to a lost world for it is the power of God unto salvation, this must be our first port of call, without this realisation those who ignore the free gift of God in and through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ will be taken by the wrath of God! There is still time for loved ones to turn, by the grace of God let us make the time we have now count.

Signing off

Tyrone   

We will go...

(Joshua 1:6) "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.”

This is the call for all you who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; only the intensity of our measure will vary from person to person depending upon our gifting. All have been instructed to share their new found hope with a lost and dying world. Most will reject our message, but some will be set free by it. It is for the hope of the few that we must seek God’s grace to apply the gospel to our daily lives. It has pleased God to save some by the foolishness of preaching. For the Christian there came a time in our lives when a word was preached in season that changed our outlook on who God actually is; it changed our perception on the meaning of life, our eyes were opened to the truth when we in person came face to face with Jesus Christ the Lord. As it happened for us so too may it happen for others, there is no one beyond the clutches of God’s gospel, it is GOOD NEWS! Let us now make it our intention to adorn it for the sake of those yet to be ushered into the kingdom of God.

Let today be a day whereby God opens doors for us to share His goodness with others. Let us be sensitive to the leading of His spirit. Seeing that God chose to love us, let us not choose to love another for He is Jealous for our love. He has paid the ultimate price to secure our love, His blood has bought our freedom, we now belong to Him, and we are not our own to do what we want at the expense of His will for our lives. We must call on His grace to find obedience and to rapidly respond wherever He chooses to send us. We trust Him to get us home to heaven and He too is jealous for our trust. What love has He bestowed upon us that we should be numbered with the sons of God. God help us drive the realities of this truth deep within our minds and souls sparking us into action for His name sake.

He is jealous for us, may we too be jealous for him…

Signing off

Tyrone     

Either Or!

Either or, but never both at the same time! Can light and darkness share the same space, can they co-exist? Not unless there are other obstacles in the same space that obscure the light causing shadows. Only then I suppose the shadow could create a dark corner. But remove all impediments and darkness will instinctively flee from the light! We can draw from this example “in type” as a principle when considering our walks before God.

Can the flesh and the Spirit co-exist? We know that we have our treasure in an earthen vessel; we have Christ’s Spirit living in our very own bodies, if in fact we have been called by God, if we have truly repented and been born again of the Spirit. Look how the Apostle Paul stresses this point; “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:9-13)

Note:-

It is obvious that we are still alive and live like every other person, we eat, sleep and breathe air like all flesh, but something happens at salvation, God’s Spirit enters the believer and the body is reckoned to be dead because of sin. Christ lives in every believer; this is how we now are able to understand spiritual truths that were once hidden from us. Our spiritual eyes have been opened. This is not something we can be taught, it is a miracle. It is a free gift from God which encompasses His grace, which in some way is attached to repentance. Our physical bodies are reckoned to be dead; they live by the power generated by the Spirit. We must now understand and learn to live by faith, it must become a banner to our daily existence, and we must walk in newness of life. We must learn to flip the light switch of the Spirit as it were and all the rot will be forced to flee, in the same way darkness is force to flee from light. The flesh and the Spirit cannot share the same room, the way we conduct ourselves will be EITHER OR, never both at the same time! It is obvious that we can move between the flesh and the Spirit. But when we live by the rules of the flesh we can only ever produce fruits that bring death, we have all been called to live in the Spirit and in so doing something wonderful will begin to happen, we will start to kill off all the works of our flesh, that is a given, God has so ordained it! No ifs and buts! And by so applying ourselves to this understanding we will live with an abundance of God’s fruit of the Spirit ruling and reigning in our lives. This is what it will look like; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. An amazing prospect for every believer; why then do we at times lose sight of this reality? It is simple to understand if we would just ask God to show us what we need to do and here it is; “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” (Galatians 5:16-17)   

We must learn to trust our Father in every area of our lives with this application, and we must stop hedging our bets by putting faith on the mantel piece as we make alternative arrangements for our lives. When we live with that kind of mindset we have not learnt to walk by the Spirit, you fill in the blanks.

Wherever we go, whatever we do, God not only witnesses it but shares in our actuality; look at this strong rebuke which I have most certainly been guilty of, I am sorry my Lord and King for my lack of understanding in this area of my life but thank you for your forgiveness, may even the hint of this kind of thought never ever enter my mind again; “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1Corinthians 6:18-20) – The only way we will ever achieve glorifying God in our body is to walk in the Spirit. May God open our eyes to the truth and may we grow from strength to strength with our application, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone      

   

Will the dust praise you?

As we grow into our characters and the years chip away molding each individual into whom we eventually become. Some will leave a legacy of greatness while other will sooner be forgotten. Look at the great Nelson Mandela, for most of his life he was not recognized and locked away in a prison on Robin Island. And yet he stuck to his guns, hoping to change the world was his dream, which eventually blossomed into a burgeoning tree seen and admire by the world. In 1994 he was set free and later became the President of South Africa, breaking down the partitions of apartheid. Loved by the world! Yet his dream came at great cost and it was only late on in life where he reaped his reward, prior to his fame he needed to endure much suffering, it was the way his journey had been mapped. It is obvious he achieved the goal he had set himself, a life well worth remembering. I wonder if we really saw his life for what it actually was, how many times he hit the wall, wanting to throw in the towel; God alone knows the depths of his struggle.

Is it any different for us? Life has many valuable lesson, some very painful and even near death experience are necessary to mold us into the person we ort to become. Thank God for the work of the cross, praise the name of Jesus, all other biographies fade into the distance in comparison to what He achieved for mankind. He broke down the partition of sin and made a way for all those throughout the ages who would call upon His finished work seeking out His forgiveness for their sins. Not only freeing the black majority of South Africans from the bondage of apartheid. All creeds from the world have now been invited to come and find freedom through Him. But the message is a clear one, through Him and no other. My goodness! When this penny drops for us, it should jolt us into action for the sake of God’s kingdom. We must all learn to “dress” the gospel for the sake of God’s glory; our lives must be driven to “adorn the Gospel” because it is the greatest message a man can give a dying sinner.

I love the words of David as He communes with His God; “"What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!" You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” (Psalms 30:9-12)

David’s reality must certainly become our actuality. If not what profit are we to God our great Father? We are no different to the dust of the earth dead and without voice. We must learn to praise our God and even more as we see that day approaching. If we remain silent why should He keep us around? The wonder of the cross, what the Lord Jesus has achieved on our behalf is phenomenal, and all because we have been sanctified by Him. The riches and the mercies of God our Father are beyond finding out, they could never be restrained and all because of Jesus Christ the Lord. All hail King Jesus! With that said, should that now give us license to rely on His mercies as we wallow in our self-pity, remaining silent for days on end, Nay let us learn like David to beseech the Lord to keep us alive, because we have learnt to praise and thank Him for His goodness in spite of what the day may throw at us. We have much to be thankful for!

Hear my cry O Lord and be merciful to me for I wish not to be silent so that my mouth may praise your name throughout today, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone  

Putting off all that robs us of our victory in Christ...

When we are caught up with trivia, the dregs of the chaff of life, the issues we make mountains out of when in fact they are small stones that the souls of most shoes would barely recognize, nevertheless at times we are so engulfed by them that they initiate an emotion in us crying, Woe is me! The mundane woe is me syndrome, an emotion which looks to rear its head up like a spitting cobra ready to strike. The scary truth to this reality is that it has often had victory over us which then robs us of our victory in Christ. It leaves us wallowing in the pigsty of self-pity. Our enemy then rubs his hands together crying, “Objective achieved”! However when we reason with the eagle’s eye of acumen, nothing in fact should ever rob us of our victory in Christ, for He has overcome all opposition. It fascinates me how it is so often the little foxes that soil the vine. And yet it shouldn’t surprise me, sin is at war with our endeavour’s to become more and more like our glorious Saviour, nevertheless when we walk in the flesh we most certainly remain a defeated foe. Every Christian has been called to walk in the Spirit. The Apostle Paul teaches us this; “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)   

  

“Me thinks”, that the reason for our pity-parties is that we do not see ourselves for who we really are; Individuals that deserve hell and yet we have rather found mercy and now been covered by the grace of God; Jesus Christ paying the price for our sin! The believer has been set free from all destructive probes that oppose God’s judgments. When we understand this I suppose we will never demand any rights that we think we deserve. If we can settle our minds on this actuality we will then be a lot more useful in serving our Master. For us to reach a little higher than our groveling experiences we need to look to the Rock that is higher than us. It’s at these times in our lives that we need to cry out in prayer unlatching the bolts on our side of the door as I can assure you, the bolts on the opposite side have already been unlatched, Jesus Christ our Lord has achieved that once and for all. It would be very adolescent not to take advantage of this freedom we have now been afforded. Praise the name of Jesus now and forever more!

Let us now therefore put off all that robs us of our victory in Christ, let men be men bearing the reproach of our Saviour, it is the very least we can resolve to find God’s grace to accomplish in our daily lives; “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1Peter 2:1-3)  - There is a proviso for us to achieve this goal and that is we must have “tasted that the Lord is good”, why else would we look to be ridiculed, what would be the point?

May God quicken the importance of these truths to our hearts and may they become our dress for battle.

Signing off

Tyrone 

The reality of the Lake of Fire...

(Revelation 21:8)  “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

Once again I have been confronted with a sober thought that has sprung to mind, life in its entirety! Not just our existence here on earth but the full picture considered for what it is; our reality! The full picture and not only that which most have been deceived to believe about life on earth and then the apparent smell of roses for all that pass from this life into the next regarding our spiritual existence in eternity; a timeless reality after death but in a spiritual form. How often have you heard family and friends say that a loved one in now in a far better place regardless of the way they have lived their lives, irrespective of what God has taught us through His word, the Bible!  In other words we have all been born as babies then live life here on earth, then we die, are buried and because what happens after death is unseen; no one has actually live there and then lived here, save the Lord Jesus Christ after His resurrection; “"Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”” (Luke 24:46-28)  - These were eye witnesses that saw the Lord Jesus’ resurrected body after His death.

He proved to them that there is life after death, they handled his resurrected body, and it wasn’t an airy-fairy mystical body like “Casper the ghost” but very real and tangible. No different in likeness to what our bodies will be like when we pass from this life into the next. We do not die in that sense but move into a different realm, this is our reality! Our physical bodies will certainly die but our souls will live on. An Idiom like “I can sleep when I am dead” is a lie! And for most there will not be the smell of roses but sulphur burning in a lake of fire. Why? All because most will not yield to the message of the gospel! Some may embrace the idea on their own terms but this will never cut it. It will not help you escape God’s judgement! God has chosen to use the realm of faith as a key to get us to escape His judgement, He has made a way in which we may escape the Lake of Fire (hell), but only for all who will trust and obey His gospel. Why has He chosen to do it this way? Who are we to question God? We are His creation and we must align ourselves with His choices or pay the price. There is nothing complicated about that! Will we embrace the gospel or not? Will we follow the Lord Jesus example or not? Will you remain defiant as I have heard many speak like fools regarding the free gift of salvation? We cannot say we are good people because we are not, just look in the mirror with an honest heart and that will be soon realised. Expressions like, “I trust that the good I do will out way the bad I have done”, it will never meet God’s requirements that I can promise you! The Bible is very clear on that. “All have sin and fall short of the glory of God”. Only the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted by God and unless you are covered by His spilt blood, hell will be your final destination, period! But God has made a way for all who in faith believe His promises; seek out His forgiveness will earnestness and it will be well with your soul. Come God’s way and life for eternity will end well. Reject His mercy and it will end badly!

There is not only one death but two and the only way to escape the second death is to have our names written in the book of life. In order to be enrolled in that book we need to come the way of the gospel; “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15)

To my dear friends, it is not enough to sit on the fence. I know this is a sobering thought, but lets us rather face this reality now because on the other side it will be too late and there will be no second chances. My prayer would be for you to surrender to Him, the One who is worthy of all surrender, even Jesus Christ the Lord, praise His glorious name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone   

"Faith in Prayer"

When we pray there must be a note of “faith in prayer” visible, without believing that our prayer will be heard or answered is not how we have been taught to pray! Fervency must be the anchor to all our prayers regardless of how we feel. “Easier said than done” one may say, whether we be on a hilltop or in some dark ditch, it shouldn’t change our anticipation to be heard. This was the way in which David expressed himself. His prayer never sounded like this; “Holy God if you choose to hear me please come through for me”. If was never passive but always honest with faith as its rock! Regardless of the sin or the hardship David faced whether by fault of his own or not, he knew in whom he believed. The only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob his Rock, his Fortress and he had learnt to put his trust in Him and Him alone. “David a man after Gods own heart”! He never lived a life of lip service but proved his faith in action; killing bears, lions and taking off Goliaths head with his own sword.

Teach me my great God the instructor in all truth, help me see as I ort to grasp, help me utter words with power and conviction, believing God as I pray and not “if and maybe” type of prayers, I realize I have a long way to travel in this area of my life, forgive me! but with that said I know in whom I believe and I pray that I will grow in strength with my “faith in prayer”, pleasing you heavenly Father and bringing glory to my God in and through the finished work of Calvary. Without the perfect gift of Salvation I would be blind groping in the dark at some arbitrary nonsense passing the time, even possibly increasing in knowledge or feeding the sin in my life as I flipped through the internet, but now I find myself crying out and communing with my Rock in anticipation that I will be heard as I am heard and all because of Jesus Christ my Lord, praise His name! God hears my cry because I have been sanctified by the blood of the Lamb; if that doesn’t get you to air-punch I am not sure what will!

There is no mountain too high or valley too deep that we will not conquer when we reason with a sound mind, “for if God is for us who can be against us”, Hallelujah and Amen!

“If God brings us to it, He will bring us through it”!

Regardless of the pressures of life our God is a Sovereign God and He rules with power and might; He reigns from heaven about and His ways are beyond our carnal minds finding out; they can never know the intricacies of His reasoning. Just trust and obey for we know in whom we have believed, period! Come what may, who will ever be a match for the King of kings? Not even death was able to keep Him in the grave and He is my God and your God if you confess Him with your mouth and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead. I most certainly believe that to be true for I know it is true!

David was convinced of many truths concerning His God, let us learn to follow suit. Let us be quick to confess our sins and to forgive others who trespass against us. This is palatable fruit from the true believer, it is evidence that our God reigns within our hearts. You will know a tree by its fruit!

Thank you Father God for David’s example and for so many of the psalms that he has penned, I too pray make me a man after your own heart, quick to forgive those who may trespass against me, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone 

True Repentance

True repentance, what does it look like when studied under a microscope? It must be “true” to start with; it cannot be aligned with anything false, it must not carry with it any secret agenda with any ulterior motive. “I give because I got” or “I got because I gave” will not cut it! Or will it? It is obvious that if I give my tithes to the church hoping to get tenfold in return that I have an ulterior motive. We work in order to receive a salary. As a salesman if I do not make the calls I cannot get the orders, the more calls I make the greater the potential I create for more sales. I therefore need to call on customers to generate sales; my objective is to make money in order to live. I need to give of my time and energy to get a return.

However when considering “true repentance” it looks a little different when examined, how so? Firstly, repentance and grace need to work in harmony to justify the right result. Let’s say I see a man begging for daily bread and I have ten rand in my pocket, the price of a loaf of bread, the money is mine and not the beggars but I still have it in my power to give him the money or not; the choice is mine to do what I want with my money. I am presented with an opportunity to give or not to give. However if I give hoping to get a return then I have an ulterior motive but if I give expecting nothing in return I am then acting graciously. He has done nothing to deserve the money but I give it to him anyway. When we begin to operate in this realm we begin to understand the nature of our God. It is a free gift no differently in principle to what God has afforded me; His grace covered me and I found forgiveness of my sins, I did nothing to deserve it! God acted kindly to me because He had it in His power to forgive. This then is a free gift it wasn’t earned by anything I did or could do.

Salvation can never be earned the price is unobtainable. It is impossible to meet every requirement of God’s law. Only the man Jesus Christ was ever able to live a life free of sin. He alone now has the power to forgive mankind for their sin and He has chosen to do exactly that. But not all will find forgiveness for their sins. Why?

Let us reconsider the beggar, would I have given him my money if he hadn’t of asked? How would I know that he needed the money if he didn’t beg? It would be hard for me to second guess he was in need of my help if he did seek it. I suppose God has chosen to work in a similar realm, we must seek out His forgiveness in order to find His mercy in our lives. It is obvious that God understands that all need His forgiveness to escape eternal damnation. Why then doesn’t He save everyone? This is God’s domain and we as mere men cannot speak on His behalf, I certainly will not be that foolish. The Apostle Paul puts it like this; “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"” (Romans 9:18-20) – God is Sovereign and will accomplish whatever He has set out to do, this is a given! He is the conductor of the entire universe and we as individuals are caught up in our own reality, we live, eat and breathe our own lives; we are accountable to God for them. We will not have to give an account for how our neighbour has lived his life; that is between God and them. But we will certainly stand before the King of kings and give an account for our own lives. This is very clear from scripture, whether you believe it to be true or not has very little bearing on this truth, God has so willed it! “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” (Revelation 20:12)

With that covered what is the individual’s responsibility concerning true repentance? It is impossible for one to find favour in the sight of God on their own merit, “for all have sinned”. We must all come to the place just like the beggar and cry out for the forgiveness of our sin if we are to be covered by the grace of God. If not we will suffer want when we need it most, on the day of judgement.

I am reminded of the time when the masses gathered to hear from the Lord Jesus, some wanted food, others wanted healings but there were in fact a few who looked beyond their pitiful state in this life and wanted more, they wanted forgiveness. We can come to Jesus for many different reasons, what is your reason? I am thankful that He has forgiven my sins!

Now since the gospel has gone out to the four corners of the globe, we all have heard the gospel message and we have been left with a choice; do you see yourself as a sinner that needs forgiveness for your own sin? If so you must call out to God asking Him to show you unmerited favour; "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:12-13) - It is then obvious that we must call in order to be saved. Some will call while others won’t, but what will you do?

Signing off

Tyrone

    

       

God's Goodness

In times past people used to seek the king’s advice in order to find wisdom for any given situation or settle a dispute. It was at the palace that people needed to queue in order to be heard. But those days are long gone, even if you find yourself in a humble shack, we as Christians are not hindered by location, we can all cry out to the King of kings and seek at His wisdom. God has made a way for all who seek his face. If it is a dispute you need counsel on or a miracle in your life all one needs to do is cry out to Him. He is but a call away!

I thank God that not only the privileged have been invited to come, but the call has gone out to the “whosoever”. Do not look on your particular situation as dire, for it is far from that. Jesus is touched with the feelings of all who belong to Him. In fact the worse off you may be, the better your standing before Him actually is. We need to be needy to have His ear bent to our cry. God loves those you trust and rely on Him. He loves to be needed! And I love that I need Him! To be reassured of this one fact that the God of all creation is on my side and all because of the finished work of Calvary is a glorious thought. Praise the name of Jesus Christ my King!

Those closest to us may be dying of some dreaded disease, lost in the vortex of their sin, either way it is comforting that we are able to cry out to the One who has it in His power to heal and to save. Do not lose hope when our calls are not answered to our liking, know this of a certainty our God hears our cries. He will always act in accordance to His good pleasure and what father does not want to give “GOOD GIFTS” to his children, what joy we experience when we see a smile beam across the face of a loved one, how much more glorious must that be to a God and Father who sees life for what it is? He undoubtedly knows what is best for us. Let us not second guess His will for our lives, as He is in perfect control. The water of the seas stay the ground by the simple command of His voice, how much more will He care for those who are alive and seek out His obedience for their lives?

The trial of life is a very real reality but our God is Sovereign over all, let us never forget that. To walk by faith and not by sight is the call for every Christian; "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 fooAd, 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? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:25-34)

Our God is an awesome God…

Signing off

Tyrone