The amazement of magic

Amazement can sometimes leave us gob-smacked, we see something unfold before our very eyes and many varying emotions kick in. Many of you may have heard or seen the new kid on the block, “Dynamo Magician Impossible”. He performs acts that are humanly impossible to grasp. He gets a kick out of leaving his audience in astonishment, he performs his magic and when his spectators are trying to figure it out he disappears off into the distance. Our mind has been designed to settle any given situation we witness, but with these types of unexplained events it leaves the brain scrambling for answers. I am no longer amazed at what I witness but rather excited from a different perspective. I use the Word of God to help me figure out what is going on!

Did you know that there is an allotted time given to Satan to make war against the saints on earth, it is part of God’s sovereign plan. Think of life as if it is a play and God is the director, in chapter six and scene sixty-six Satan has the lead role but only for a short time. This scene is not far off! Why do you think magicians like Dynamo are involved in changing the perceptions of people’s reality? It was no different in the days of Moses! Except that today these types of marvels are seen throughout the world, television has made sure of that.

Many of his tricks mimic that which the Lord Jesus achieved whilst on earth.

Jesus walked on water; - “But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."” (Matthew 14:26-27) – Dynamo walked on the Thames – Jesus fed the hungry with fish- Dynamo fed the hungry in Khyalisha with fish from an empty bucket. Now many sceptics today question these events and interpret it with altered explanations; the water Thames event is explained away with structures under the water. Their minds can only ever accept a natural explanation because it settles their understanding. I am convinced that most of these types of people can only reason in the natural realm, it is what makes sense to them. Far too many unknowns are needed to arrive at their conclusions.

But what if another dimension was involved in accomplishing that event?

As Christians we are aware of the natural and the spiritual realms and they have not been subjected to the same rules. An angel is a spiritual being and unseen to the natural eye. God has ordained this order. I can obviously prove this from scripture; “There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.” (1Corinthians 15:40) – Everything that has been naturally created is within our grasp, that which has been spiritually created is outside the grasp of our natural faculties. Just because we cannot see something it does not mean that it doesn’t exist, we know it does! Christianity depends on the unseen; “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) – If this is our reality why do we struggle to believe that the enemy, Satan hasn’t been afforded the use of lying signs and wonders to deceive the nations? Did you not know that the world will ultimately believe a lie? “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false.” (2Thessolonians 2:9-11) – I need for us to understand that if something is false that does not mean it isn’t a reality, in other words a lying sign and wonder does not mean that what one witnesses hasn’t actually happened. What is does mean, is that it may be used to deceive someone into believing a lie.      

   

Life is all about conditioning and there are many players that play their part in that conditioning. The Christian has our great God, the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth; He is for us, thank you Father God for Jesus our great Redeemer. But as for the unbeliever they will be taken by Satan’s power and his lying signs and wonders will lead them into that which is false! Many organizations have been and will continue play their part in the the world conditioning, Hollywood a key player and now we see magicians coming to the fore, playing their share no differently to the time of Pharaoh and Moses; “So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.” (Exodus 7:10-12) – For us to try and explain away this text that the magician’s staffs did not change into snakes would be erroneous error. The text is clear! God is Sovereign and He allowed it. This happened prior to His judgment and I believe He is allowing it to happen again prior to His eminent judgement; a sentence that is coming upon the world that will be far worse than that in the days of Moses. The further mankind moves from God’s ordinances the more He allows them to be swallowed up by their own folly.

Here then is what is just over the horizon; “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” (Matthew 24:21-22)

I agree with Ray Comfort, we must earnestly pray for a revival, God is perfect in grace and we depend on his perfection to be gracious prior to His judgments. Father God be merciful I pray; stir up your saints both great and small, throughout the world to be instruments in your loving hands. Whatever you may need us to do in laying down our lives, give us the grace and resolve to accomplish whatever you have purposed; I humbly beseech you to glorify your name, for you alone are worthy of all glory.

Let us therefore make every second count as we lay down our lives for those still lost to these truths, let us preach the gospel with conviction in the hope that God may still save some and rescue those who have wondered off into the wilderness.

Signing off

Tyrone

     

Preparing our minds for action

Prayer powerfully working in conjunction with faith is appreciated by all but not witnessed by many.

There is so much I have seemed to have missed along my Christian pilgrimage because of the distractions life has thrown at me, or rather the stupidity of engaging in those diversions. The regrets of life can haunt us but the sooner we move past them the better; who doesn’t have some regrets? There are many things in hindsight that we could have done differently; I know this to be true for my life! How do I take something that has looked to destroy me along my journey and turn it into something positive? These are the type of questions we should be asking ourselves as another year closes in. The Apostle Peter teaches us these truths; “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” (1Peter 1:13-17) – When I read these verses I realise how I have failed dismally in so many areas of my life. Now what? Well, by the grace of God we no longer wallow in the mire, we dust the dirt from our knees, we disinfect the grazes and we press on in faith looking to Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith to restore that which once burn bright and clear. Regardless of your standing in Christ, there is room for all of us to be less selfish as we lay down our lives for one another.

Are you committed as you once were? There must have been a time in your life after salvation that it was obvious to all that something had happen, the patterns of your behaviour different to what it was once prior to salvation. We must diligently wrestle with our God in humility, but with a confident resolve to right our wrongs. We must beseech our God to put straight that which has been made crooked through the throes of life. For it will be worth it all, we will eventually receive our reward, eternity in the presents of our God and King. We have understood the hope we have in our Saviour and our lives must begin to mirror Him more today than it did yesterday.

There will be an obvious distinction separating the goats from the sheep and it will be the trial of our faith that will make this evident. The wannabe Christian will be exposed as the pressures of life begin to increase and it will surge from hereon in. We are now living in exciting times, even creation is beginning to groan a little louder, have you notice? Tolerance for Christianity even in democratic governments begins to wane; it is no longer fashionable to be rigid about our belief in one God; tolerance for other religions is high on the agenda of many governments. Gone are the days where a person can stand up proclaiming this truth in government schools; “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) – As Christians we must remain dogmatic on this truth, even if it costs us our lives; in so doing our hope will be obviously noticed by all and peradventure God may save some through our example.

Forgive me for using this example again but I can think of no better experience to illustrate a point; I recall my “JL” training at Infantry School, how the corporals pushed us and just when you thought it was over they pushed some more, our bodies taken to a level of enervation, but somehow our minds carried us threw. It was hard to understand at the time, but in retrospection I am thankful for my military experience it taught me many valuable lessons. It was a preparation for what was to come. Christianity is no different in principle, we may not understand the trail of life at the time, but it is for our benefit and before long we will give praise to our God on what were the most trying times of our life. This is the testimony of the saints who have gone before. The key to remaining focused is our HOPE! What kept me going in the infantry school? I knew if I got through what they threw at me I would eventually qualify as a platoon sergeant. I had a hope! The difference now is we no longer have to rely on our own abilities; it is the grace of God that will get us home! Nevertheless it is our HOPE which will keep us focused! Our Saviour has overcome this world we need now only rest in His victory, praise His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

As we move into the New Year lets us find focus in these three words; faith, hope and love. Faith in our God and not our own independence; Hope in the promise for the faithful, heaven and all it splendour, with love driving everything we do as we lay down our lives for one another.

Signing off

Tyrone   

       

Eliminating Anxiety!

We often look for input from others when we want to resolve perseverance in our understanding; especially in the areas of our lives where we struggle the most. We all melee in one form or another until peace betters our carnal understanding; “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)   

Faith kicks in, we believe God for the victory and if we stay the course we witness the strongholds shackle smashed through our persuasion in Christ’s victory on the cross, which eventually frees the individual in their struggle. We are not alone in our struggles and there is a need for brawls in our live for it teaches us endurance; “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36)

God’s Words are a light to our footsteps, the lamp which lights our steps is always at arm’s length and when our vision becomes clouded it is easy for the Christian, with intent, to page through God’s written Word. Before long the road that began to look daunting is no long dark and scary but well illuminated with every hole and trap exposed so that they are easily avoided. This is one of this reasons I have learnt to love God’s Word; the Bible is the greatness guide of all. A dead book to those who are spiritually blind but for us who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb a lifeline for our daily existence; it is fascinating that two people can read the same text and it will be death to the unsaved and life to the saved, God’s perfect brilliance evident!

I suppose for my Christian brothers and sisters in Christ my encouragement would be this; we must learn to trust God’s Word even the more as we see that day approaching. Instead of wrestling with certain truths that we are taught let us rather seek out God the Holy Spirits power to implement what we are shown with less resistance. Here is an example; “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6) – This verse has been high up on my priority list for a long time now and yet it amazes me how often it looks to haunt me. Anxiety looking to rob me of my peace in God! So our circumstances rear their heads and get us to panic in some area of our lives, we then forget what we have been taught not to be anxious and before long panic sets in leaving us with raw fingernails. I guess this happens to all of us to some degree; however when the road becomes frightening every Christian has the right to stretch out their hand and to flip through the pages of the written Word which will trim our sails! It will readjust our skewed perceptions! Jesus Christ our Lord has made a way for us, praise His name! There is nothing you can do that will exclude you from the privilege of approaching God’s throne room of grace. So long as we all come in confidence and with humility!

You may be saying to yourself I have made terrible mistakes, and I will say who hasn’t. A sick man needs a doctor; the Lord Jesus came to save sinners and not the self-righteous. The God-Man, Jesus Christ, the One who knew no sin and yet be became sin so that we could go free. Never forget that we were the enemies of God when that happen but now we are the sons of God!  

Instead of fighting with God’s written text let us rather learn like little children to appropriate it in faith and to trust our God. You needn’t look far back in your Christian walk to know that what I say is true, that time when God came to your rescue, when you let go and let God! It is good for us to be reminded of such epic events in our lives. It helps to recharge our souls.

It is time for us to become adults in Him, we needn’t be surprized when the screws are tighten and we feel the pressure of life bearing down on us; look at these verses; “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.” (2Timothy 3:12-14) - We needn’t ask questions like why? We have been informed!

Our perfect God is working everything out in our lives for our good; let us learn to rest in this truth! – “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

Signing off

Tyrone    

The inconsistencies of mankind verse the perfection of God.

The inconsistencies of mankind verse the perfection of God. A topic well worth understanding as it will free the mind from some of their strongholds. There needs to be a breaking down in the formation of the building blocks that sin has cemented to our thought patterns. The book of Romans is of great assistance when unpacking this subject.

Let’s do some self-reflecting; how often do you find yourself saying I will do this or that but wane due to some interference? It may or may not be a valid reason why you cannot kick the ball with your son in the garden, but to him all you have done is broken your word; the times I have said something and for one or other reason gone back on my word, actually revolts me. And yet sin has taken care of that attribute in our lives, it is who we are! Here are some verses to back up this reality; “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:18-20) – Now some astute scholars would suggest that Paul is making reference to us prior to salvation, which I cannot accept, why? Test it against your own life after salvation; have you never again failed in that area? If you can which honesty say “yes I haven’t”, then by all means take the teaching of those verses prior to salvation but if not and you have been found wanting as I have, then we must in my opinion conclude that this reality is still relevant to us after salvation.

What has change after our born again experience is that we have all been given the mind of Christ; “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.” (1Corinthians 2:14-16) - We can now understand spiritual truths, and our thoughts deepen as we grow in Him, nevertheless to some degree at salvation we must understand who God is and what He has done for us in and through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. He has forgiven us for our sin, which deserved and required punishment but because of God’s grace we have escaped that punishment and all because Christ has paid the full price for our sin! The grace of God! This is a miracle and it is spiritual perceived. Through this God given miracle we are now sanctified by the blood of the lamb and perfectly acceptable in God’s eyes. We have been reconciled to Him because of His perfect grace. In his perfection He was able to free His enemies and make then allies, but more than that we are now sons of God! God has made a way!

Nevertheless the war of right verse wrong continues to bombard our minds and we need to fight for daily sanctification. And the only way we will ever get through our struggles correctly, is to find grace. Some may have learnt to somehow keep sin at bay in certain areas of their lives, though some technic or program but if it is outside of the provision of the grace of God is will only ever leave a man boasting. Here is what I would refer to as the greatest of all verses expounding the point; “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) – The danger we face as carnal people is we like to work under asperses of independence. We get saved and now we believe there is a certain path we should follow, which there is! However the mistake the church at Galatia made was the same mistake so many of us make, which is this; “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.” (Galatians 1:6-7) – We get save in the spirit and then we look to earn our salvation though the deeds of our flesh. This is a common mistake amongst believers and we need to trim our sails regularly so that we do not lose our way.

This is where the beauty of God is most evident. In His perfection, which is complete, it’s not as if God acquired grace to give out, He is grace, He never developed it but He is perfect in grace. In other words complete and nothing can ever be taken from or added to God’s grace for it is perfect. Why did God send His Son to die for sinners like us? The answer is starring us in the face. Because He is grace and in His eternal plan God is working that out perfectly; with no blemish, His perfect plan unfolds even though some curse God as they worship His creation, not acknowledging Him as the creator. God does not flinch for a second but continues in perfection to offer grace to His enemies. Wow! How big is our God!

Do you see how futile it is for us to boast about anything we achieve in Him? We are sinners saved by grace, imperfect, tainted by sin and yet God sees us as righteous, perfect because of Christs sacrifice. Only God’s perfect grace has accomplished this and obviously the perfect love of God completed Him to be merciful, Wow! As soon as we look to take some sort of recognition for our own feats we forget about the perfect grace of God. This is why we are so aptly taught that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble! “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:6-7) - His perfect grace becomes our reality when we learn to trust Him in every area of our lives. Sure we will experience grace in the areas we yield to God, but what about all the secret hidden pockets in our lives? May God help us to trust Him even more as we see that day approaching. I suppose when we understand that we cannot help God with this process, it may just free us to serve Him the way we should.

Today is Christmas and if you are persuaded that we must celebrate today as the day of Christ’s birth, I plead with you do not then share it with other idols like Santa and the like, make sure you message is clear and concise, used today to propagate the gospel as you side-line the straw men that have been designed to take our eyes off God’s grace!

Signing off

Tyrone     

     

  

  

Quick and Easy!

My step-dad was in hospital again, he has reached that age where his body is starting to fail, if it is not cancer it’s something else. The rules of life’s arrangement reaching a climax, which we will all eventually confront; the throes of death looms for all for we are born to die! Sin has taken care of that!

Along the journey of life we have been taught to seek out quick and easy fixes; people gravitating towards new diet pills and the like, just as long as it works without too much effort. “Quick and Easy” a way of life for many! Something totally contrary to ongoing sanctification in Christ for the Christian; God does not work with “no more nails” as an easy alternative, the lessons we are taught along life’s journey is painstaking and carries with it many tears. But God who is rich in mercy is persistent with His children and continues to nurture us even when we are brazen! We have to “learn obedience through suffering”, this is the only way we will learn true obedience. “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Hebrews 5:8-9) - A very foreign concept to our natural understanding but perfectly worked out in God’s brilliance.  We must remember that God is perfect in everything He does; “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)  - This means that there can be no better way to learn obedience! Suffering through the trials of life will work out perfect obedience when it has run its course, Wow! When our minds are unable to reconcile certain truths, this does not mean we should not believe the written Word of God. In fact faith demands our commitment to the Word of God, if we oppose it in any way all that proves is our unbelief!

Our lives should not be filled with quick and easy fixes, although we are always looking for them. We ask brothers for 10 step programs and even our pastors teach us application through their ministry. “Give me a list of what to do” is our cry! Many believe that if we follow a list we will achieve true obedience. Surface Christianity will never take us any deeper; our lives must become saturated with the gospel; it is about life and then some as we believe in our perfect Father God to work it out in our lives. HIV, cancers, heart attacks, unemployment and the grind of life are all working for our good and the Word is very clear on this. It is time for us to start believing the actual Word of God over our own pathetic suppositions and all the negativity of erratic voices from a dying world.

It is important that I qualify this thought; it is only for the good of those who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb. To those who have been called by the most High. If there are those who have rejected the message of the gospel then the same things that work together for our good are working together for their destruction. Nevertheless God is glorified through both, molding and fashioning the universe in accordance with His sovereign will. The sooner we learn to accept this reality the happier we will be. Everything we see unfolding through life, both the good and the apparent evil will always end up glorifying our God! How do I know this? Because He is perfect, and perfection cannot be tainted in any way, even though I may not understand it completely, this changes me and not God, praise His glorious name now and forevermore, Amen and Amen! Faith demands our loyalty to this truth!

Here is a verse that proves my point; “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  - Therefore the lovers of God have a journey to march and at times that excursion will get rough, but whatever happens along the way, it has been designed for our eternal benefit. Yes even death, disease and retrenchment are all working together for the believers good and to the glory of God. Faith demands that we accept this truth even when our mind through circumstance wants us to believe something else.

Just before I am misunderstood, I have not ever implied that if we have cancer we must not acknowledge our cancer and blame the disease on unrepented sin in our lives. We must not be chumps! It is no more than a lie, false doctrine and a ploy from Satan. God forbid we even think like that! We must all eventually learn through our most difficult times to give God the glory for everything that happens; it is for our good! Did you know that Elisha, the man who received a double portion of the prophet Elijah blessing, died from a sickness, which had nothing to do with the sin in his life. Sickness may result from disobedience in our lives, but not always! Remember Job! And even if we are dull of hearing hardships and illnesses are often there to teach us to open our ears as we learn to depend upon our God and not to rely on our independence, which we have all in some form or another been hoodwinked into believing that she is our kin when in fact she is the enemy. True Faith depends on God and takes Him at His Word; it does not rely on our independence to get us through any given situation, this type of reasoning proves unbelief and we must repent from it!  

Signing off

Tyrone      

There must come a time

There must come a time where I (we) stop telling the stories of other and we start living our own! Not that we would ever dare to stop telling the Gospel story, for that is where the power of God lies. This was the Apostle Paul’s legacy; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

Everything we do must revolve around the true Gospel of Jesus Christ! I have notice throughout scripture that the accounts of Godly men, often spoke about their exploits, even though they were intertwined with the accounts of others.

Who wrote the first five books of the Bible? It was Moses’ was it not? It most certainly was! And yet under the unction of God the Holy Spirit he pens many great accounts involving himself. God was please to record his faithfulness and to record it for us so that we can learn from his example. With the intent for us to now follow in his footsteps.

When we continually refer to others and their accomplishments I think it excuses us of similar exploits. We say he was a great man of God and we are just simple men; there is nothing we can do that can compare, really! Are we not covered by the blood of the Lamb, are we not the children of the living God? At the very least we have it in our power to close the door praying with humble intent, with faith in our God and saturated with hope. The Apostle James has this to say, pay careful attention to it; “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” (James 5:16-17)

We admire men and woman with penned stories of their great undertakings and we are impressed by them, it is time like never before to look at our own lives as we begin to model them after Godly men. We must become doers and not hearers only! “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22) - We must cry out to God for His favour in order to achieve exploits that will be well pleasing to Him, which in turn will bring Him honour and glory.

I’m tired of the negativity, the lack of faith I see ruling my world and people’s opinions that breed unbelief. What will please my heavenly Father? What will bring Him glory? What will silence the enemy? We have already proved from scripture what we could be doing to improve our relationship with our God and Father. My thoughts are drawn to Hebrews chapter 11. Faith in action is what is appreciated by God and we know that lukewarmness is frowned upon by the Lord; “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3:16-19)

Money and our standing in the community is the enemy, it gives us a false sense of security! Chasing a dream of retirement on an Island and the like is also the enemy. We must repent from such mind-sets and begin to apply ourselves with zeal towards the light. Wherever we see His light (God’s instruction) let us learn to run to it and not from it. Forget the rationale of the mind and all its trappings. More often than not they are the enemies of the cross.  

What must we become in Christ? We must lose our lives in order to eventually find them! Do you see it? Is it beginning to resonate, God’s ways are different to the worlds traditions, when we learn to walk by faith trusting in Him, He will then reward us, not necessarily with money but with the fruits of the Spirit, which are; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-25) – There is a new way of life for the Christian, why have we been so hoodwinked? The majority of us have got it wrong, God help us to see this clearly!

But before we make another mistake let us affirm the only reason we have been perceived by God is because we have been covered by the blood of the Lamb, we have been sanctified by what the Lord Jesus has done for us on an individual level. Salvation is all of God and it is a free gift! But because we have freely received we must begin to freely give to those in need. True Christianity is about laying down our lives for others and this must become a way of life for us all. I realise that this thought in itself can be daunting, it scares the living daylights out of me at times but I am convinced it is the way for the Christian. Our God will come alongside and supply all that is needed. Christianity is all about trusting God and we no longer have to implement our own to plans. When we put something else in place of faith, just in case it doesn’t pan out, we prove one thing, our unbelief!  

Why then are we still so caught up with our own lives? It is obvious we haven’t understood the call of salvation and the way of our Master. Bad teaching has played its role but we also have our own agendas that we continually contend with and this is why we keep rehashing the stories of others instead of writing our own stories whereby we glorify our God.

The writer of Hebrews pens stories about men and women who God honoured by mentioning them, some by name and others by deed. Nevertheless they pleased God; we must diligently begin to sanction that we live by faith. Forget the lies of this world and the opinions of the gainsayer. We must make it our goal to please our heavenly Father by trusting Him in every area of our lives and until this happens we will continue to feed that void in our lives. It is no more than unbelief, which feeds our anxiety!

Where must we start in rectifying that which the cankerworm has eaten? Firstly, let us dress for battle; let us put on the whole amour of God – read Ephesians chapter 6! How often have I put time aside to fast and pray? “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-38) -Today may be a good day to start! We all have many unsaved members in our families and it may well be a worthy time like never before to start crying out to our God for their salvation!

Time is short and the curtain is drawing shut on those who will not respond to the free gift of salvation, but while we have breath there is still hope! When God shut the door to Noah’s Ark there was no more hope for those outside and they all drown!

Signing off

Tyrone

  

      

Overcoming evil with good

(Romans 12:21) “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

“Be not overcome of evil. Let not the evil of any provocation that is given you have such a power over you, or make such an impression upon you, as to dispossess you of yourselves, to disturb your peace, to destroy your love, to ruffle and discompose your spirits, to transport you to any indecencies, or to bring you to study or attempt any revenge.” He that cannot quietly bear an injury is perfectly conquered by it. (2.) “But overcome evil with good, with the good of patience and forbearance, nay, and of kindness and beneficence to those that wrong you. Learn to defeat their ill designs against you, and either to change them, or at least to preserve your own peace.” He that hath this rule over his spirit is better than the mighty.” (Matthew Henry)

This verse is for all but only fits those who have matured in the Spirit. It is a fundamental reality that we need to make our own. It is the brilliance of God personified in a people that were once lead about by the whims of sin. It proves the maturity of a believer, I suppose we can obviously prove that Christ achieved this throughout his lifetime and it came to a head when He died on the cross overcoming evil once and for all! There have been many others who have shown similar traits to our great Saviour. Stephen was martyred and this was his testimony; “And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:59-60) – He overcame the evil that he faced with these words, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." It is beautiful to behold, and God is glorified with such an act of love. In fact is was so pleasing to God that the Lord Jesus got off His throne and stood while He watched what was unfolding; "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

It is through these types of acts that I begin to understand verses like these with clarity; “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 3:10) – Many of us look to justify ourselves when we have been wronged as we look to repay evil with evil, we claim it is our right, when in fact we have no rights and all it proves is we are yet babes in Christ! Regardless of how long we have been saved, the command is clear, “overcome evil with good”!

We must wrestle for this to become a reality in our lives.

God helps us to put on the mind of Christ!

Signing off

Tyrone  

     

Endurance in Christ!

When we are physically verified, we normally get weaker as our endurance is tested. We have all watched the Comrades Marathon and you see it clearly, the gun sounds with all beginning their race, cheerful, laughing and with smiles on their faces but before long the grimaces are clearly evident. Even the most experienced athletes begin to show fatigue. Our bodies have been designed in such a way that the longer we plug away at something the harder it gets. But it is not so for the Christian, sure many may blunder along the way, I suppose for many of us this is needed to teach us to depend upon our God. Nevertheless through it all the Christian grows in strength as the journey progresses. Our faith is strengthened the longer we walk with our Saviour; “They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.” (Psalms 84:7) – The harder the Christian is pressed the more they depend upon the grace of the Lord to get them through any given situation.

It is not so for the natural natures of the common man, more often than not the harder they are pressed the more they look for escape. I have not received a monthly salary for many years now and I still have bread on my table. There were times when the pressure got to me and I reasoned with my natural mind ending up in debauchery, this type of reasoning by the grace of God has run its course and that place I never want to revisit. It is filled we sin and hopelessness. This is why we have such a high rate of divorce, alcoholism and drug addiction throughout the world. Our natural minds are slaves sold under sin!

But God who is rich in mercy has afforded the Christian different parameters to govern their lives. It is only when we lose sight of our hope that we find ourselves in the pigs pen eating the slop with the pigs. I know for I have been there! But my God, the forever faithful One has even used those situations to teach me my dependency upon His provision to get me home. Never lose sight of that reality. We are weak and frail, but He is ever powerful and we belong to Him, we have the mind of Christ! This miracle became our reality when we were born again. “He is for us and not against us”! What a wonderful truth, let that resonate deep within your souls.

This is our reality…

“They go from strength to strength. There are various renderings of these words, but all of them contain the idea of progress.

Our own good translation of the authorized version is enough for us this morning. “They go from strength to strength.” That is, they grow stronger and stronger. Usually, if we are walking, we go from strength to weakness; we start fresh and in good order for our journey, but by-and-by the road is rough, and the sun is hot, we sit down by the wayside, and then again painfully pursue our weary way. But the Christian pilgrim having obtained fresh supplies of grace, is as vigorous after years of toilsome travel and struggle as when he first set out. He may not be quite so elate and buoyant, nor perhaps quite so hot and hasty in his zeal as he once was, but he is much stronger in all that constitutes real power, and travels, if more slowly, far more surely. Some gray-haired veterans have been as firm in their grasp of truth, and as zealous in diffusing it, as they were in their younger days; but, alas, it must be confessed it is often otherwise, for the love of many waxes cold and iniquity abounds, but this is their own sin and not the fault of the promise which still holds good: “The youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.” Fretful spirits sit down and trouble themselves about the future. “Alas!” say they, “we go from affliction to affliction.” Very true, O thou of little faith, but then thou goest from strength to strength also. Thou shalt never find a bundle of affliction which has not bound up in the midst of it sufficient grace. God will give the strength of ripe manhood with the burden allotted to full-grown shoulders.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Before long we shall see Him for who He is and what a day that will be!

Signing off

Tyrone

         

Christ our treasure

(2Corinthians 10:3)  “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.”

My thoughts have begun to bud new foliage and it is rather exciting as they are new to me. I have reached a point in my walk where the scenery has changed and it is exciting. Third Day sings a song with these lyrics; “we have to walk through the valley to get to the mountain top” and once we get through the valley and stand on that mountain top looking back over the terrain we have travelled, it takes on another dimension and it is beautiful to behold!

The more I ponder a thought, which the world propagates about independence and getting ahead in life, the more I begin to understand what a lie it is. It is fleshly and devilish! The father of lies, the devil has put this thought into the minds of people and Christians are lapping it up.  

Let’s now attempt to prove that by the Word of God…

John Piper makes this point; our lives revolve around stuff and we make the things of this world our treasure when in fact the Lord Jesus Christ is our treasure. We all have to learn to appropriate this truth into every area of our lives. There is much work to be done!

For most of us it is Christ and… when in fact it should be Christ alone! Let’s break it down. Christ is real to every Christian, He has to be! But much of our Christian walks involve the mundane things of life: work, food, clothing, cars, holidays, and the like. Although they are real issues and we all need them what I have come to realize is this; they take our eyes off our call to obedience. We believe that as Christians we need to be involved with stuff to survive in this world. Money plays a large role in our existence. Needless to say the more I examine the scripture the further I understand that we have been hoodwinked by these types of thoughts. We think that we are justified by being diligently faithful to our jobs. However if it is at the expense of our spiritual call to walk in newness of life we have been deceived. We place far too much misguided emphasis on this verse; “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” (2Thessalonians 3:10) – I am not for one minute suggesting that we must be slack and lazy, on the contrary, we must be diligent when opportunity presents itself but God must lead us and not the other way around.

Pay careful attention and do not miss this. We worry so much about survival that we miscue the instruction and all it proves is that we lack faith; “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 6:30-33) – It is our fleshly needs that rob us of faith!   

We believe that we must do paraphernalia for God, in other words life is about sacrifice when in fact it should be about obedience. We do not realize as we should that Christ is there for us and not the other way around; He is the one who looks out for us and intercedes for us! Our awareness on this is restrained but we need to understand the complexities of what this actually means; “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:26-31)

Faith never needs any other alternatives, it is self-sufficient! It drives us to depend on God’s provision and not our own abilities. All the great men of God teach us the same lesson; their dependency on God and not their own abilities. Read Hebrews chapter 11 and it will be clear.

Jesus Christ is our treasure and if we can learn to live like this in totality it will be well with our souls, no more striving for temporal things and the burden of independent will be lifted from us. No more competing with the Jones’ will be necessary. God will supply what is needed I am fully persuaded of this!

The flesh drives us to wage war in the flesh, it is a deception, put it off child of God as we are no longer children of the flesh but the sons of God. We have been commanded to walk in the Spirit; this means that we must trust our God in every area of our lives and the sooner this becomes a way of life for us the fuller our joy will be. It is not stuff that determines how blessed we are but rather the joy that beams from our faces and our lives which proves how well we have learnt to obey.  

Signing off

Tyrone 

Perfect in Mercy

Who appreciates a gift the most? Obviously those who need it best! That is just common logic, pure mathematics! Give a king a loaf of bread and see how thankful he is; but give a beggar the same loaf and watch the glee light up his face. Cure a sick man of a terminal illness and see his gratitude light up the room. Offer a man a tablet to guarantee no more hair loss and it will mean nothing to him if He has a full mop of hair on his head, bid it to a balding man and watch him make sacrifice after sacrifice to win that bid and keep his hair.  Free a cruel man of his sinful nature and watch him love like no other. These are just some of the reasons why the Lord Jesus teaches us this truth; “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." (Luke 7:47) – Therefore my conclusion; for us to be effective in God’s Kingdom we must understand our sinful natures and be repulsed by them if we have any chance of effectively laying down our lives for others. I am convinced that we could almost measure the gravity of this on a scale. Understand the extent of your forgiveness and watch the love ooze out toward others. Consider yourself morally above average and it may be hard to find love in your heart for those in need.

Can angels understand mercy? They obviously have a conception of mercy but certainly never understand mercy as we do. How could they? They are in God’s presence day and night and continually see Him as He is; Jehovah God the great I AM! Angels in heaven have never known sin and failed in this area of their lives as we have, without the perfect intervention of our great God extending His mercy to us, time and time again. This must be hard for them to comprehend. What of the fallen angels? They understand sin as they chose to follow Satan over God and for that were cast out of heaven waiting for their destiny to arrive, the Lake of Fire. They do not understand mercy but are vexed by it as they see God’s mercy in our lives and yet it eludes theirs, no wonder the angels of darkness hate us so and look at every opportunity to trip us up. Be sober, be vigilant, we have an enemy and he is the roguish enemy of God, however he has already been defeated, praise the glorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord and because of it he is twisted with bitterness. By the grace of God let’s not be lured by his flattering lips that are only ever full of lies, for he is the father of lies. We Christians are forever grateful for the mercy that covers our lives, even flippant with it at times, God forgive us, which He does; praise His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

How could an angel ever understand forgiveness as they have never experienced such mercy? We have called out in desperation at times and God has come to our aid. Having understood our sinful natures it has constrained us to cry Abba Father! Obedient Angels speak about the holiness and justice of God; they sing the righteous judgements of the Lord; “And I heard the altar saying, "Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!"” (Revelation 16:7) – They understand who God is; they understand that He is true and just but mercy they have not known as we have because they have not known sin. We alone have been tainted by sin and therefore understand the forgiveness of God. Now those who have not responded positively to the gospel can neither understand the mercy of God because they do not recognize their sin for what it is. We must understand our sickness in order to seek out a remedy to heal our condition. Only a sick man seeks out the aid of a doctor; “And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."” (Luke 5:31-32)

Angels have no need of repentance, in fact that is not on offer. The mercies of God have melted my heart, how I now long to react with obedience with more proficiency and yet I have so far to travel, but God who is rich in mercy patiently continues to work with a wretched sinner like me. It boggles my mind! Needless to say I will forever be grateful because He is merciful! It is our sin that drives us to seek out His forgiveness, WOW!

When we are in trouble we need certain attributes more than others, this is our constitution. When we are hard pressed we need comfort, when we suffer lack we need supply and so on. It is the mercies of God that come to our rescue! It is God’s mercy that confronts our need at any given time. His justice demands judgement for our wickedness but it is His mercy that has now made a way for us to escape that wrath. His mercy compelled Him to make a way of escape for sinners like you and I. Because He is perfect in mercy, it has driven Him to be merciful, this is such a massive thought and yet wonderfully refreshing.

We were lost and without hope, already condemned because of one man’s sin; Adam introduced us to death but God’s mercy has thrown out a lifeline to all. While we were the enemies of God, He sent His Son, who knew no sin to pay for our sin. Why? Because He is perfect in mercy! This is the God who has ransomed me, I am forever grateful for who He is. How far does that mercy extend? Who could ever measure it for it has no end! But the Apostle Peter has this to say; “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (Peter 3:9) - Having understood that God is Sovereign and perfect in all His attributes how does my mind reconcile some people being saved whilst other will end up in hell? I will not suggest understanding where mercy and justice meet, but what I am convinced about is that somewhere in God’s perfection they unite. It cannot be any other way for if it was that would make God imperfect but we know that He is perfect and nothing can ever be added to perfection for if it could be that would prove one thing, imperfection.

Our God is perfect in every way; praise His name now and forever more!

What have you done with God’s mercy?

Signing off

Tyrone    

       

      

Our enemies

(Matthew 10:36)  “And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.”

Salvation is the best of all possible gifts, there is no greater gift available to mankind than the gift of new life in Christ. For us to be forgiven for our sin is phenomenal, it is so far removed from what we have been geared to believe through the throws of life: our lives are filled with merit attached to commitment in varying fields. Study hard and then get rewarded for those studies, become a doctor and then reap the rewards of the medical profession, drive a Porsche! And yet salvation is a free gift outside of our own virtues; “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved—“ (Ephesians 2:4-5)

Salvation belongs to the One who has the power to forgive whomever He wills and yet it has nothing to do with the one receiving the gift, outside of us understanding in one form or another the merit of the free gift, which is this, that it is all of God and no one has ever earned the right to find His favour other than the One and only, the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are obviously different shades of grey when we gaze across our globe. Morally some are whiter than others and therefore we instinctively place them on a higher pedestal of honour but God views us all dressed in filthy rags and in need of His mercy. We have all been branded as those tainted by sin, and we are classed as sinners. Sinners can never in themselves enter into His presence, which would be impossible. No differently to a leprous person banished to a Leper Colony. God needs to step in and make us as white as snow; He does the saving in and through the finished work of the cross and all we need to do is accept that gift with open arms.

Boasting has been excluded! In other words we are all sinners in need of a saviour, regardless of our moral standing within our communities; “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)  

    

With that established we are now numbered amongst the sons of God and need to learn obedience through the sufferings we face in our daily lives. It’s these very trials that teach us obedience, we must learn to face our assessments and not shirk them, this does not come naturally, and it must be done through the Spirit. He will change us into the image of God if we pay careful attention to His guidance. God is for us and not against us! We no longer have any rights, and selfish wills have been bought by the blood of the Lamb. Therefore because we have freely received God’s free gift of salvation, reconciliation must be high on our agendas. We must make every effort to preach Christ and Him crucified to those who are lost and still blinded by their sin.

Not all will receive this instruction with gladness, nevertheless if we endure correction where needed we will be numbered amongst the saints. The sooner we learn to appreciate God’s voice at His Word the happier we will be. Everything He has purposed both past, present and into the future will come to pass just as He has declared it. One of the reasons we can take assurance of this fact is because God is infinite and He is perfect in all His attributes. There is no blemish in Him, it is who He is! He has had no beginning, He always was!

When we reason like men we must conclude that we are flawed and therefore our best efforts on a moral level may at times get us close to perfection but there will always be room for improvement, it is not so with God for He is perfect. The reason for this is that outside of Christ we have death looming over us. God can never die for He was and is and is to come. He is not bound by time, we on the other hand will expire, that is our flesh will die. We must learn in totality to put our faith in the One who is perfect. This concept is so foreign to our conditioning that outside of the realms of faith it will be impossible to achieve. God has given us the wherewithal to operate in the realm of faith in Him; this must become a way of life for us all. Read the Bible carefully and you will soon learn that God has never commended anyone for their independence. His voice echoes through creation commending only those who lived by faith. Read Hebrews 11! I have lived long enough and made far too many mistakes not to understand this! We must totally depend on the One who is perfect, for we are far from impeccable. In Christ alone we must depend, breathe and live!

Those closest to us outside of Christ will always have a different agenda; they are blind to the things of heaven; “Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."” (John 3:3) – This is why when the pressure really begins to mount they will always look for self-preservation even at the expense of betraying their own family member to save their own skins. To them heaven may be a nice thought but it will never be their reality, they are blind to heavenly things and if God has declared it, it will come to pass. We must be prepared for that certainty.    

All we must do is fall to our knees and beseech God for mercy so that they too may find forgiveness for their sins. Nevertheless not all will find His favour. Our loyalties must lie with God above even the closest of our family members. This is a requisite God has placed on all of His children and some may be tested in this area of their lives, even to the point of death; “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:21-22) - It will be worth it all!

It is never pleasant to consider the severity of these types of possibilities but if we have knowledge of what may happen we can prepare ourselves for the inevitable. I would rather be warned of the storms on the horizon than to put my head in the sand like an ostrich pretending that all will be well, when in fact disaster may be looming. Without oil in our lanterns we stand no chance against such onslaught. It is now time like never before to strengthen our relationships with our God. We must fight for whatever is needed to accomplish obedience in Him.

Signing off

Tyrone

   

  

Perfection

(Psalms 50:2) “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.”

Having now understood God for who He is, He was never created, but has always existed. All His attributes co-exist in perfect harmony. The triune God in total unity with every decision He (they) has ever made. There has never been a need to vote, or to debate over a split decision pertaining to creation and all which energizes its existence. God uses Himself as a yardstick when evaluating that which needs improvement, for He alone is perfect in completion. We know that some of God’s creation was created in perfection in one area but not in totality. Satan (the king of Tyre) is referred to as perfect in beauty, that is to say He was created perfect in beauty after his kind; "Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” (Ezekiel 28:12)   

But God alone is perfect in totality!  I know that thought is almost inconceivable because of who we are; we have been tainted by the sin of one man Adam, but we who now belong to God because of what Christ achieved on our behalf, have received the mind of Christ. We now have the capacity to search out spiritual truths.  

How refreshing it is when we learn a new truth about our awesome God and Father. Somewhat similar I suppose to Moses’ experience, where He gives us glimpses of His beauty. It is obvious we do not understand His attributes as we ought, but that which we see is spectacular. One day we will see Him as He is, “when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be”. To see Him for who He is, the great “I am” in all His glory! But until then we have a responsibility to search out the scriptures seeking out glimpses of His splendid attributes.

God shines forth in perfection, perfect in justice and mercy with His sovereign power reigning supreme. The throws of life, filled with wickedness look to denounce that truth. People posing questions like, “if God is love how does He allow such wickedness to reign throughout the land”. O foolish man what right does that which is created speak out against the creator of all things! “Does not the potter have power over the clay?” The time will arrive when all things will be set to order and then His plan will be evident to all. For now we see through a glass darkly, our vision has been marred and yet God’s perfect mercy has been extended to all; “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.” (John 3:17) – What have you done with God’s mercy? Have you embraced it with open arms or do you still shun His goodness? The day is soon approaching when that mercy would have run its course and the offer of salvation will expire. I implore you not to put it off any longer; “For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." 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 10:11-13)

Therefore the beauty of God’s mercy has been declared to all, for God sent His son to save sinners from themselves. The question remains: do you understand your need for a Saviour or will you save yourself? It is only the fool who has said in their heart that there is no God!

Look to God’s mercy as it is available to all who call upon His name, but call you must!

Signing off

Tyrone  

  

    

Be sober be vigilant

What about all those emails you have received over the years; the ones that come more often than not with good intentions, the ones that end like this;

“This prayer is so powerful. 
Pass this prayer to 12 people. 
Do not break or ask questions. 
This is a test. 
Does God come first in your life? 

If so, stop what you are doing & send to 12 people. 

NOW WATCH WHAT HE DOES!”

I may just as well walk up to a slot machine or buy a lotto ticket and hope for some miraculous result. I am sorry to burst your bubble but this is no more than wizardry! This may seem a little harsh if you have been active with those types of emails, but it is important that we look out for each other concerning the truth according to God’s Word. Remember we have an enemy that walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is the archenemy and his greatest weapon is deception.

God has called us to be sober and vigilant; “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1Peter 5:8) - We have a natural tendency to avoid any form of hardship, but suffering has been designed to teach us obedience; “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Hebrews 5:8-9)

We have been called as children of God to test what people “put out” under the name of Christianity. Faith teaches us to believe God at His Word; in other words we must apply ourselves to the teachings of God’s word and not the opinions of men. “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2Timothy 4:2-4) – Let’s face it, who would not choose blessings over sufferings if they did not know any better? But we have the mind of Christ, which is to say if we have been born of His Spirit.  

Let us break down these types of emails; “this prayer is so powerful”, as if there is some magic attached to it! It has a formulae that if followed we will be blessed by it. Look at the subtlety, “this prayer is so powerful”, not our God is powerful! Trust is placed on the prayer and not upon the One we are praying too. I have seen a similar pattern emerging to this one; “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.” (Romans 1:21) – We must be careful to pay particular attention to our daily activities in Christ. The world is looking to save the planet with all of its creatures; but many of those organisations believe in evolution and not in our God as the creator. They serve that which has been created but give no glory to the creator of all things, our God! On the surface it appears that if we save the rhino we are doing the right thing, but will we donate to those who are anti-God? If we do we are coming alongside an organization that is anti-God. What should we do? Do some research and if they are pro creation by all means support the cause, if not stay a million miles away!   

  

In like manner avoid anything that is not founded upon the rock, which is Jesus Christ our Lord. We are then told to “pass this prayer onto 12 people”, I am not sure if that number is linked to the twelve apostles, it may well be. Now it becomes evident that a formula is apparent and here comes the instruction; “Do not break or ask questions. This is a test”. It is a test to see whether we will examine its context the way we have been instructed to. The Berean brethren were commended for examining what was taught, we too must follow suit. “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) – As soon as you see something asking you not to question (“do not break or ask questions”), alarm bells must ring loudly in your ears. Do not be sucked in with any form of manipulation playing on your weak conscience, “this is a test”. God has given us clear instructions with regard to how we should pray and pray we must but it must be done in secret. Our faith does not hinge on any formula no matter how appealing it may seem at the time, our faith depends upon God meeting all our needs with lessons along the way to teach us obedience and our sole dependency must be upon Him.    

     

Faith teaches us to believe in the unseen God, our heavenly Father, and not some mystical recipe that will bring us some good fortune.

Be sober, be vigilant…

Signing off

Tyrone