The Truth Commission

Finding forgiveness is not always the easiest task and sometimes a can of worms needs to be opened before that can be accomplished. I recall during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as a press photographer whilst sitting in on some of those hearings, with camera in hand and waiting to capture an emotion on film that would tell the story. It was in those trials that I experienced what true forgiveness really entailed; even though I was awe struck by the severity of some of the violent crimes that when brought to light, with the horrific tortures and deaths of the innocent covered up and kept from the public’s eye. All the commission was looking for in most cases was honesty from the concerned offender. Most offenders operated under the government’s instruction. The National Party used some severe tactics to keep equality at bay. After Nelson Mandela had come into Power and for the sake of peace and reconciliation in South Africa a committee was formed, the Truth Commission sprung to life and in my opinion it helped free many from their resentment. In some cases it achieved its objective and as Christians there is much to learn from this sanctioned action. Why form a coalition that undertook to free war criminal from their diabolical actions in the Apartheid Era that ruled South Africa for decades?  

Observe some vital principles; it takes the powers that be to condemn or convict the offending parties, they have it in their power to pass judgement. Their intent was for those who crossed the line in “humanity” to own up to their crimes and to be honest about their involvement in them. Only then would a pardon be considered. Some received absolution whilst others didn’t. The question that needs answering, did they achieve their objective? The little I was privileged enough to witness has taught me the power of true forgiveness. I saw a mother who had lost her child and had sat through the entire questioning process as the truth about her son became evident. The gore revolved around his death mentioned and yet I saw a broken woman somehow find it in her heart to forgive her sons murderer. The embrace of mother and murderer highlighted with tears was gargantuan in light of so much hate that surrounds our world. We so often quickly react with such negativity for the smallest offense and here was a murderer who asked for forgiveness. As they stood eyeballing each other with the mother gazed locked on her son’s killer; she said, “I forgive you”. That action shattered him, the tears that filled his eyes revealed sorry, regret and humiliation. He was truly sorry for his actions and she now had the power to condemn or forgive and she chose the latter. Wow! I condone you “mother” and thank you for your action that is fresh in my memory twenty years later.

Do you see a similar picture as God chose to forgive us for our crimes? “Jesus in my place” must be our reality with a true understanding of what this means. God is God and He has it in His power to condemn or to forgive those who oppose His order. Sin is the offense and even if we have only ever sinned once in our lives, which is impossible we would still be guilty of a crime and subject to the punishment of that law, God’s law! The penalty, eternal death for all eternity with hell as our final destination; now some think that is a preposterous thought but God has so ordered it and as He is the final authority on the matter so the opposing opinions have very little bearing on the matter. He alone has it in His power to forgive or to Condemn and the sooner we realize this the sooner we can deal with whatever needs to be dealt with. If that man had walked into that hearing arrogant and conceited do you think he would have found forgiveness? Why then would it be any different with our attitude towards God? The sooner we find forgiveness for our sins. Just as the charged person stood before the Truth Commission and confessed his crimes, we too will have to confess our sins before the Almighty God and no cover-up story will be allowed. Honesty must be the order of the day if we are to have any chance of finding forgiveness.

God has made a way of escape for the sinner; “Jesus in my Place”. He has taken the punishment for my sin and has paid my debt in full. But what action did I need to take for this to happen? I needed to confess my sin acknowledging my fault and sin against God’s precepts. I was obligated to truly own them and then I needed to cry for forgiveness from the One who has it in His power to forgive, seeking out His forgiveness and only then will the light switch be flipped and illuminate the grandiose mercy I have been offered. Praise the name of Jesus! In the sunlight of what has been penned maybe these verses will now take on new meaning; "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)

Signing off

Tyrone

        

     

The Bible - A locked door or an open window?

I believe that the majority of people in existence pursue a life filled with blessings and yet how many strive to be blessed from God as their ultimate achievement? Health, wealth and prosperity high on the list of all and yet as we begin to test the formulas life has to offer we see that they lack substance. There are holes in the procedures to life that just don’t add up. Work, play and then more work with the looming inevitable outcome that knocks for all, DEATH! And then I am reminded that while we breathe there is hope for all to find God in their lives. There is something in a man that constantly propels him to look for more but I have lived long enough to understand we are never satisfied, until we come face to face with our creator.

Pay attention! Life is filled with empty promises that will never truly gratify; sure we can look back on our past and recall the “good times”, reflecting on what we say were great memories or so called great experiences. But if I really strip it down I am left wanting, let’s me illustrate my point. I remember when I was in the prime of my life, 22 years old on a yacht, “Sea Jay” in the middle of the Mediterranean Ocean with all its trimmings. It wasn’t enough! I needed more! Or much later on in life when I had a million rand in the bank, it wasn’t enough I needed more!

It is only when we come face to face with our God that the pennies will drop into place and life will begin to make sense. You will then have an eternal purpose that will energize you with tremendous hope with faith as your catalyst to drive you to your ultimate goal, which is an existence with God for today and into eternity. The only means by which we can achieve this is through repentance; we must all learn this valuable lesson and we must call upon the name of the Lord and ask Him to forgive us for our sins, if not nothing about our lives will change and the procession of clutching at the next so called opportunity to find satisfaction will continue as we look to quench our unquenchable desires. Sadly not everyone while come to this realization and yet the offer has gone out to all. Have you understood or is the hope of winning the “Lotto of life” still the only hope you have?

Let’s face it we are all driven to find blessings for our lives and here is the lesson that I have learnt from life with all its trimmings. True blessing, the blessing that is filled with substance and brings true fulfillment is this; “Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!” (Psalms 128:1) – Having considered all, the sole purpose for all is to fear God and to keep His commandments and yet I have also learnt that this is an impossible task. So what now? Mankind is doomed, who has lived a life without sin? Mandela, Ghandi, the Dali Lama or mother Teresa? They all have been subject to some form of sin somewhere along their journey, that is a given. But there was one who never succumbed to any form of sin in His life and because of that I will take note of what He has to say…

Let us reason together, if you need advice on a repair, who would one consult? Obviously someone in the know, someone qualified for that repair. I wouldn’t take my ripped trousers to a motor vehicle mechanic but rather to a tailor. In like manner why would I seek out the advice of those who have all been privy to sin if I had an opportunity to learn from the one that concurred sin? Who would be more qualified on the subject? The one with the doctorate! The one who passed the test! No other man has ever concurred sin in their lifetime here on earth, except Jesus Christ the man and what does he say about the blessings of life? What do we need to do to be satisfied? “There is much to do about life” from many differing voices but the only true master on the subject was the one who has concurred sin, the Lord Jesus Christ, praise his name! For the sake of clarity let me repeat my question, from whom will you receive your instructions? I have made my choice it is now up to you to make yours.

“God wrote a book” and in it is the keys to eternal life and peace on earth. It is here that we find the miracle of life and its starts with an encounter with Gods own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Bible we are afforded opportunities to come face to face with our God. That in itself is a miracle, once our eyes have been open to spiritual things; “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."” (John 3:1-3)

  

Therefore without our spiritual eyes receiving sight we will remain in the dark to spiritual things. Nevertheless for us to unlock the realm of what is spiritual we need to search out that which is spiritual; “God wrote a book”, we have the Bible at our fingertips and it is here that we will find the answer to life, if you are a sceptic don’t take my word for it; read, read and then read some more and watch the miracle of understanding unfold before your own eyes. As John Piper suggests the Bible can be view as a window filled with opportunities or it could remain a locked door that you will never look to enter, my prayer for you is that the Bible becomes your window of hope from here on in.      

Signing off

Tyrone

Opposites attract

“Opposites attract” is a song that Paula Abdul sang a long time ago. It had a catchy tune and was a hit back in the eighties. When considering some of the lyrics, it causes me to wonder and explore the depths of what in our lives attracts or repels? What is the trigger one could ask? I am so thankful to my heavenly Father, the only true living God who has it in his power to change the hearts of sinful men in and through His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ our beloved Saviour. Without the perfect work of Calvary opposites would most certainly not have found an attraction for one another, sin had taken care of that! But God who was rich in mercy made a way for our escape; “Jesus in my place”!

Our characters were so conflicted prior to salvation as we had our eyes so focused on ourselves that God never featured in our daily lives as He ort to have. Satan over time has learnt to soften even the hearts of sinners in disguise of what now will become a world consolidation, known as the “One World Order”. A pretense to unite civilians across the globe in to one big family; a lure no different to a bird trap filled with delicacies and then the tug on the rope. Lies and empty promises to those trapped in their sin. God on the other hand has taught and is teaching His children to trust His Word and to learn from it as an instructor who brings stability and peace when applied correctly. God the Holy Spirit has been tasked to bring about this change in a believers life, praise His name. All praise belongs to our ever wise God.

As Christians we need to be asking ourselves this question as we examine our own hearts and NOT the hearts of others. Do we love righteousness and hate evil? There must be evident fruit to our lives that proves this to others or we will be living in a false sense of security. Can a man profess to be Christian and continue to live as he once did? Obviously not! What is Satan’s decisive objective? To get a man to curse God so that he may die! But let us not be fooled into thinking that if we acknowledge God as the only true God but have no fruit to our lives that it will be well with our souls. If so, we have been hood-winked by the enemy. Our lives must begin to show fruits of the Spirit, which are; “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and the law is powerless against such a lifestyle. Now for those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” or at the very least must be in the throes of achieving that desired result. Acceptance for sin in our lives, that which crucified Christ to a cruel Roman cross will simply not cut it! If you find yourselves living with that type of mentality then you are still enslaved to the bondage of sin and surely you know that friendship with the world is to be an enemy of God. Opposite in this instance certainly does not attract. This is then the instruction, “come out from among them and be ye separate”!

Sin is the enemy of God whom He has defeated once and for all Christ accomplishments and it is the nemesis for any true believer and with hypocrisy playing its part in my life over time I will acknowledge the damage it has caused but I will not condone my behaviour in it. God who is rich in mercy is gracious and lures us to Himself in love, but let us never make allowances for our sin as the norm. We must strive against it and find God’s grace to overcome. We must hate even the hint of anything evil as it has done far too much damage to our lives already.    

Let us learn from our late brother’s encouragement…

“Ye that love the Lord hate evil.”

- Psa_97:10

Thou hast good reason to “hate evil,” for only consider what harm it has already wrought thee. Oh, what a world of mischief sin has brought into thy heart! Sin blinded thee so that thou couldst not see the beauty of the Saviour; it made thee deaf so that thou couldst not hear the Redeemer’s tender invitations. Sin turned thy feet into the way of death, and poured poison into the very fountain of thy being; it tainted thy heart, and made it “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Oh, what a creature thou wast when evil had done its utmost with thee, before divine grace interposed! Thou wast an heir of wrath even as others; thou didst “run with the multitude to do evil.” Such were all of us; but Paul reminds us, “but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” We have good reason, indeed, for hating evil when we look back and trace its deadly workings. Such mischief did evil do us, that our souls would have been lost had not omnipotent love interfered to redeem us. Even now it is an active enemy, ever watching to do us hurt, and to drag us to perdition. Therefore “hate evil,” O Christians, unless you desire trouble. If you would strew your path with thorns, and plant nettles in your death-pillow, then neglect to “hate evil:” but if you would live a happy life, and die a peaceful death, then walk in all the ways of holiness, hating evil, even unto the end. If you truly love your Saviour, and would honour him, then “hate evil.” We know of no cure for the love of evil in a Christian like abundant intercourse with the Lord Jesus. Dwell much with him, and it is impossible for you to be at peace with sin.” (Charles Spurgeon)

“Order my footsteps by thy Word,

And make my heart sincere;

Let sin have no dominion, Lord,

But keep my conscience clear.”

Signing off

Tyrone

  

    

Growing in wisdom

Ephesians 1:17 “… that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him …”

How much of what we own or store in our lives do we actually need and how much of what we suppose is of benefit actually works against our predestined call upon our lives? A catastrophic shift in our understanding needs to happen if we are to see clearly. When we examine the life of Christ we see that “faith toward God” His Father was first and foremost in every one of his deliberations. In fact when he could no longer rely on his hope in Him we see an anxious emotion materialize for the first time ever in our Saviour’s life and that sentiment has been recorded in the gospels to drive a point home that we need to pay careful attention to; our dependency on our God must become paramount in every area of our lives if we are to show the fruits of wisdom to others who are still blinded by their sin and seek God’s truth for their lives.  

Life in general has been designed for society to take their eyes from the only true God and to redirect them onto themselves and others who are seen in order to feed their drives and passions. Everything we are involved with screams independence! Wisdom flies another banner and it reads, “Dependency in our God”! Faith demands our undivided attention at all times. This is the lesson that needs to captivate our lives; Faith in our Saviour and in His finished work on the cross then helps us to understand what is of importance and what we should disregard as trickery from our adversary the devil. It helps drive us into a right relationship with our heavenly Father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Things like a fancy house and stylish clothes or the latest car is no longer high on our agendas; in fact we see them for what they are, which is nothing more than basic necessity to sustain our bodies for survival. If we take it any further than that we have been fooled into believing a lie and there is much for us still to learn as the wisdom of the call of God in our lives still eludes us.

Independence drives people for more whilst dependency upon our God cries my God shall provide whatever I need. The shift in what I want and what I actually need will then become apparent. It builds us up in our faith towards God. Did you know that the first building block in a believers life is; “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” (Hebrews 6:1) – I suppose all who claim to be Christian understand their need for God in their lives. Therefore the challenge I put out there is it is time to start living in faith towards God and not as a people who hedge their bets with one foot in the world and the other in heaven. We must learn to live as those who have made this truth our reality; “"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”” (Matthew 6:19-24)

Is anxiety a sin? I surmise that fear if allowed to take root in our lives could eventually become so consuming that it would eventually result in unbelief.

Coming back to my earlier point about Christ’s dependency upon his Heavenly Father, it was so secure that when the time came for him to pay for our sins it left a void in him that caused him to cry out in angst; “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"” (Mark 15:34) - This had never happened before and while God judged him on our behalf, for our sin, yes for my sin! Who can actually uncover the depths of this episode in our Saviours life with any authority? All I will say is what the text allows and that is that he paid for sinners, He took the penalty of others. I hope we understand the depths of God’s love and the measures He has taken to secure our salvation. It is mind blowing! And when I hear people say ridiculous things like “if God is love, why…?” all it really confirms is their lack of understanding whilst highlighting their foolishness. Our God is love personified and He has proved it, not that He needed to but He has, Christ felt His own Fathers judgement for my sin and it caused Him to feel the pain of separation so that we would never have to. Wow! Praise the Lord Jesus’ name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Let me leave you with this beautiful encouragement, Paul the Apostle was a man who suffered tremendously for the sake of the gospel but I beseech you to allow these honeyed words to wash over your soul; “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” (2Corinthians 4:6-10)

Signing off

Tyrone  

   

  

   

          

The husks of life

Luke 15:17 “And when he came to himself, he said…”

When I consider the foolishness throughout my life it often leaves me feeling regret, but just maybe I have been viewing in the wrong light, a glow filled with tarnished shadows. How then should I view what has kept me from the will of God in my life? As a learning curb to keep me from the errors of my ways, foolishness teaching me to become wise! Just how many times do we have to make the same mistake to find the light at the end of the tunnel? When stripped to an easy explanation, I suppose until the wood is seen from the trees. If we can learn to put God first when we always looked to sin to selfishly satisfy out need at the time, then we must conclude the lesson has accomplished its goal.

Often the greatest lessons learnt throughout life repeatedly come at great expense. Discipline is never easily welcome on any level but when viewed correctly it has great benefit and if applied correctly is always encapsulated in love. Love never seeks its own and only ever seeks in the aid of others. Did you know that Solomon, David’s son was the wisest man to ever live? At least up until that time in history. What gave him his wisdom, well obviously it was a gift from God, nevertheless I am astonished by Solomon’s writings; he wrote most of the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon.

I have often heard members of my family make statements like how wise could Solomon have been if he had 1000 women in his life? He had 300 wives and 700 concubines. On the surface we would all arrive at the same conclusion but when studied a little deeper it becomes apparent what was learnt from all these relationships. Experience taught him to arrive at a conclusive summation. In like manner our failure throughout our own lifetimes should have a similar result. “Once bitten twice shy” is something often coined to get a point across.

What then is my point about the mistake we have encountered over time? They must eventually arrive at a positive end and help us understand more about whom we actually are and assist us in searching out God’s graces the next time we find ourselves in a similar situation. Life teaches us lessons but God the Holy Spirit exposes our errors and leads us into truth, praise His name!

When we are dull of hearing as Christians it is the love of God that brings about a loving discipline to show us the error of our ways. At times the outcome may have dire consequences, like shattered femurs, HIV and even divorce. Although all of these things often expose our own foolishness they nevertheless help to bring about a positive change when understood. That is the God we serve! He is full of tenderness, patient endurance, and much more. His love will never tolerate our sin for God hates sin but often our sin leads us to true repentance. God takes folly and turns it into wisdom when it has finally run its course; now that is mind-blowing.

When we continue with the same pattern in our lives and it is filled with foolishness (anything that opposes the Word of God) we will always end up in the pig’s pen eating their husks. But it is often the husks of life that bring us to our senses.

Signing off

Tyrone           

No Pain no gain...

“No pain no gain” is a phrase I have heard more than once throughout my lifetime and it has played an integral part in molding my character. At times when applied correctly it has worked out advantageously. Who liked to study while at school, not many I would suggest but without the hours put into preparation for the exams the results end up speaking for themselves and exposes those who made very little effort; “no pain no gain”! The same applies on the sports field or throughout military training, “no pain no gain”! It is when we are driven to uncomfortableness that we learn so much about ourselves. I know that all will be able to relate to this type of pressure in some form or another. Life is sure to try us in these areas; even though this is the reality for a fallen world due to the thorns and thistle of life, it unquestionably if viewed correctly molds us into more rounded individuals. Now obviously if we work with clay we end up with pottery. Like for like! Our flesh has been thwarted by sin and it is irreparable. We need a new beginning with greater material to work with; hence the Spirit of God intervened. Praise His name!  

Sure we have learnt to do patch work; a doctor gives a man a new heart or a psychiatrist brings out a deep rooted hindrance to enable someone to face a deep fear. But it will only ever amount to patch work which will need to be readdressed in the not too distant future and if you read the Bible from cover to cover you will soon learn the value of this lesson, that it is impossible for mankind to become Godlike in character without the work of God the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need a new beginning, a spiritual beginning and only then can we begin to portray the fruits of our great Saviour, Like for like! The Old Testament teachings with all its sacrifices are very clear on this. Our own inadequacies should leave us understanding this one truth, that we will never achieve this by what we strive to do, we need help and God has sent that help, Firstly in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ where he lived as a man and conquered sin, the only man to ever achieve this and then the Holy Spirit to do the work in a repentant sinners life transforming him from a sinner into a saint. This is done by the Spirit and not through the work of our own achievements in the flesh. Our own efforts will only ever drive us deeper into sin. How so? As an alcoholic we may learn to stop drinking but we will then be sure to boast about the change in our lives. It won’t be boasting per say but we will certainly remind people how long we haven’t touched a drink for. A pat on our own backs whilst others then do the same. This is why the Lord Jesus was so direct with Nicodemus; “Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”” (John 3:3-5) – Like for like, we need a spirit to enter the spiritual realm and we need God’s Spirit to give us access into His domain. How do we receive His Spirit? Through repentance in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is nothing complicated about it and if anyone gives you some other means whereby you can be saved they are nothing but liars!

For those who now have been born again, there is a new saga we need to deal with, our very own flesh, which is the enemy of God. This must be realised for us to make the correct progression by the Spirit. We need to die daily so that we become more Christ like in our natures and this is a painful process! “No pain no gain”! 

      

In order for us to necessitate desired results in the areas we strive in there must be pain associated with it. We must learn to arm our minds with this reality; “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” (1Peter 4:1-2) 

I could look to specific examples in my life but is that needed? The only true example that stands head and shoulders above the rest is the Lord Jesus’ accomplishments whilst on earth. He conquered sin, Satan and death. Now that is worth exploring, he faced such immense pressure that he coined this phase, “foxes have holes and birds have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head”. Wow! If that doesn’t give us great insight to how he felt at times I am not sure we have understood anything at all.   

Our God is a brilliant God and every action is carefully weighed to achieve an unambiguous result. Without constant pressure in his life he could not claim to understand the pressures we face because of the weakness of our flesh due to our inherited sinful natures. As a man the Lord Jesus has claimed the highest accolade achievable and that is the title of High priest after the order of Melchizedek. When we study we get glimpses of what he faced to achieve this. The pressures he faced were immense but he was driven by love for a people lost to sin; all of us oblivious to our hate for God and so blinded by it that we crucified the Lord Jesus.  Nevertheless the Lord Jesus marched onward in the hope of completing the task which His Father, the great “I AM” had asked him to accomplish. The Lord Jesus needed to  bridge the gap that Adam had shattered due to his sin, which we, by birth have all inherited, we are all sinful beings – we were never taught to lie, that came naturally, which in itself proves that we are sinners. Christ needed to re-establish a fresh relationship with God on our behalf and the only way to achieve this was to conquer the immense pressure he faced. He ticked every box ever faced, praise his name!

We have been blessed by the Superior, why? Because He is love!  “It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.” (Hebrews 7:7) – However this must become our representativeness if we are to be benefactors of God’s grace in our lives. Needless to say that salvation is a free gift from God; “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 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-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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 2:1-9)  

    

Any achievement we receive in the flesh will leave us boasting, but if we understand that our new journey in the Spirit is a gift from God we will understand that our dependency is upon Him and not ourselves.

Signing off

Tyrone

    

LOOK

Why and what makes repentance so important for both the sinner and the saint?

This is a topic that isn’t easily understood when in fact it should be, we have many skewed perceptions concerning the importance of repentance before a Holy God. I believe our very first priority has to be honesty, which in itself isn’t easy to confront. Prior to salvation we are so tainted with the sin and the blindness of its lies leaves us believing we are something we are not. We like to think of ourselves as “nice” people and with hearts full of decency. It is so far from the truth that when realized it cuts to the core as God the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, without this reality in our understanding we will remain dead in our trespasses and our sins. Sadly many use these types of quotes, “he’s a good person”. Really! “As it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."” (Romans 3:10-12)   

If we view our sins as acceptable there will be no need for the work of a physician, the great physician, Jesus Christ our Lord came to save sinners and not the self-righteous. This is imperative for us to understand if we are to find His forgives for our SINS. Look to Jesus and live is the cry from the bottom of my heart. Have you learned what this means? Today will be a day filled with opportunities to look to Him and to find life. In times past we were drawn away by the lusts of our own selfish wants, will today be any different? I know we have been instructed to look to our King and to live in Him.

Have we understood the magnitude of wherever we find ourselves that our complete solution is found in the Lord Jesus Christ and no other? Has the penny dropped? Sin will always look to distract us from this our only true eternal objective, to find Christ is to find life! It is obvious for all who have been saved at our conversion, but have we really understood that this is only the beginning of what should be a marvelous journey.

Some may say I have problems, then look to Jesus and find His solution; joblessness may be driving you to the precipice of having to beg bread, then look to Jesus for sustenance. We are of more importance to our heavenly Father than the birds of the fields, rest in this assurance that He cares for you. You may be in bondage to a certain sin that will not let up, look to Jesus for He has overcome sin and all its trappings. Death may be looming as old age or sickness knocks at the door, look to Jesus He alone has the power to raise you from the dead. Look, look! Lock and load your gaze upon the only Saviour of this world, The Lord Jesus Christ is the only far-reaching solution for this life and eternity which is just around the next corner for us all. There are many cliché’s that we often hear people quoting when we are amongst Christians, but we must make them our own if it is to be well with our souls.

Praise God for His refreshing inspiration I received this morning as I lay awake pondering my first thought, to simply look to Jesus and to live! Wow, what great opportunities are in store for me to find my Saviour grace to get me through today. The trial of life is there to hone us into His image and not to mold us with our own selfish wants that are filled with lies and deceit and will only ever lead to death. Have we learnt this valuable lesson?

LOOK TO JESUS AND LIVE!

Signing off

Tyrone  

Reconciliation

(2Corinthians 5:18) “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;”

Reconciliation is such a pleasant word on my ear, it carries such a strong connotation and with its application in our lives it brings sweet release when there was only ever hate and anxiety molding certain relationships. One can easily fill in the blanks when it comes to the broken relationships that still exist in our lives. As Christians we should not be privy to any unattended break down in any of our interactions, especially amongst other brothers and sisters in Christ. This is so serious that John rebukes those who were claiming to be Christians; “If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1John 4:20-21) - We must always look to God’s Word for positive encouragement and when we are rebuked by it as it will always work out for our benefit when it is applied correctly to our lives, that is a given!

If we have an issue against our brother we must take it to him with the intent of finding reconciliation. Who then is our brother or our sister or even our mothers? This seems like a question that belongs on a chappies (cheap bubblegum sold in South Africa) wrapper. Superficially I would agree but it goes far deeper than that. We understandably have our immediate families linked to our genealogies and we often proudly display some memorabilia concerning our heritage. Take Louis Botha, the first Prime minister of South Africa, even though I have not actually the proof required to be totally persuaded, nevertheless I have been told from a rather reliable source that I come from the line of his genealogy, on my mother’s side; there is nevertheless a part of me that looks to hold onto that and when the opportunity arises I am quick to mention it. I even have a photograph of myself posing next to his statue outside parliament in Cape Town. We like to have an affiliation with those who are or were famous and yet when it comes to the greatest of all men, the Lord Jesus Christ so many hold back with their association to Him. Some claim to be Christians but never inform others of their conversion. This is a travesty and it needs to be rectified; if the shoe fits remember to wear it; we must be quick to share our hope with others and present the gospel to those who are lost and on their way to an eternity of hate and utter darkness. And yes! Even if we are despised for it, for the gospel message is the power of God unto salvation. The Gospel is a sweet message for those who respond to it. We have an obligation to others; this is part of our responsibility as Christians and it must become part of our daily dress; “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” (Ephesians 6:14-15) – Regardless of the pain it may cause to yourself or others it may just free someone from their sin and an eternal catastrophic outcome. The Gospel is sweet on the ear that receives it, IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION! It must be shared at every opportunity, let us therefore be sensitive with intent to present it at each opening.

Getting back to the question posed earlier, who then is our mother, bother or sister? But before we answer that let us set the scene…

When the Lord Jesus walked as a man here on earth and it must have been a typical day for him as he shared his gospel, presenting himself as the only solution to the world lost to their sin; nevertheless many doubted and some even accused him of having an unclean spirit. It is no different today, voluminous amounts of society will reject the true gospel message but there are some still to receive it and how beautiful it will be if received through your voice. I can only imagine the crowd as they gather to see his miracles; it must have been a jammed-packed affair. Then those summoned by his family came to him and “said your mother and brothers are outside”, I find his retort remarkable and it would be good for us to sit up and take note; “And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you." And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" – Obviously his kin was outside looking and expecting to find his favour. But this was his response; “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35)

The author’s intent in this statement is to get us to shift in the way we think about our families. We have a new family after salvation, the penny must drop for each of us because we will spend eternity together, not just seventy years, and therefore we must make every effort to repair broken relationships. People are watching our conduct as Christians. Reconciliation brings an amazing amount of peace to our souls, praise God now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone 

     

So many "Voices"

(Luke 5:31-32) “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." 

Considering all the voices we face on a daily basis, which of those voices do we allow to mold our lives? Which voice is the clearest in our lives? We are constantly bombarded by information, which molds us into the individuals we are. They define us into our characters and mold us into what we think we should become. The voice of fashion cries “brand names only”, whilst our wallets cry “Mr Price”. We see our neighbor driving a fancy car and we hear a voice say, “Wouldn’t that be nice” and then we fall into the crowd of coveters. We gain weight and a voice cries “it’s time for a diet” and so life consistently keeps us occupied with trivia and takes our eyes off the real issue, which is, life after death!

There is an enemy who is so determined to send his troops out into the world with messages of confusion and it is rife within our world today. When last did you take time out, sit down, settle yourself and considered the deeper meaning of life? Thankfully I have been afforded the opportunity by the grace of God to do that most mornings, but I must tell you it was never a given, it has taken discipline but I wouldn’t change it for the world. “Alone time” is where I can hear the voice of God whisper into my ear. It is not as if I hear an audible voice bellow from heaven. With God’s Word, the Bible open in front of me, He (God the Holy Spirit) speaks to me through it just as if a voice has hollered from heaven. At times He is bold and then a gentle whisper. Either way these are sweet times and I love them so, but how many declarations in today’s world instruct others to do the same? Why would they, Hollywood instructs us about the here and now and keeps us from thinking about lies which keeps us from the truth. Take the new movie Exodus, what a lot of bunkum! It was so inaccurate it will certainly leave the novice with a false evaluation on who God actually is.       

God on the other hand has continuously declared the same message, heaven or hell for eternity. Find forgiveness for your sin or pay the price for it.  It’s His way through Christ or destruction for perpetuity. There is no other option even though other voices cry out with additional possibilities, they are liars!

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1John 4:16) – Reject the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice for your sin and you reject the love of God for your life, simple! However God has always been motivated by a love that is perfect. Consider what perfection teaches us, it means exactly what it says; to be perfect means there can be nothing added to something or someone to improve it or him. God is perfect! His love is perfect! Therefore if God has a perfect character, this means nothing could be added to Him to improve whatever He chooses to do and with that said: His love drove Him to crucify His only begotten Son on a cruel Roman cross so that sinners like you and me could go free; escaping the prominent judgment looming in the not too distant future. There will come a day where God will judge the living and the dead! All this simply means those who find His forgiveness for their sin in and through the spilt blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, understanding that it was God in the flesh that paid the penalty for sin and more specifically my sin and yours. If and when we find ourselves on our knees seeking out His forgiveness for our own sins, whatever they may be! There is no sin too great that God will not forgive, so long as you sincerely seek out His forgiveness, admitting that we understand that our actions through life have offended God and deserved His punishment. God hates sin this is why He destroyed the world with water in the days of Noah, because sin ruled men’s hearts. Sin dictates and rules the lives of so many; we must see it for what it is. If we do not recognize ourselves as sinners we will never seek out God’s forgiveness. No differently to a sick person who understands their need for medical assistance and this is why the Lord Jesus coined this phrase; “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) 

Only when this genuineness is realized will the penny drop and then our eyes will be opened to the magnitude of God’s love in our lives. This is when the phrase that so many coin, being “born again” is understood in its rightful context. Without that action in our lives we will continue to clutch at straws and cling to so many differing voices seeking out their guidance, but they will only ever amount in leading the rebellious to “death” and the “perfect judgment” which is just over the vista leaving them all being cast into outer darkness. A treacherous thought but I can assure you on the authority of God’s Word that this will happen, I lie not!

His love is perfect! But so is His wrath! There will be no wiggle room for the one who rejects the gospel of Jesus Christ, reject God’s provision on His terms and you will certainly face the consequences of that for all eternity. Nothing we do within our own capabilities outside of God’s provision in and through the Lord Jesus Christ will save us from certain destruction. Every other voice is a lie and leads us down the wrong road, repent, turn to Jesus, confess your sins to Him and you shall be saved from the wrath to come. And this I declare on record for all the ages to come and I stand by my witness.

Signing off

Tyrone 

The faithlessness of some

(Romans 3:3) “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?”

This is a very important question to consider, if we are unfaithful to the call of God upon our lives does that nullify the faithfulness of God? To even think like that would be somewhat ridiculous. Regardless of any opposition to the will of God, it will not sway Him into any erroneousness. This is why it is important to understand His character. Doesn’t life itself teach you to understand certain facets of life through experience? How will one actually understand unless they embrace whatever needs understanding? It would be difficult to describe an apple’s taste if never eaten. We all are part of God’s creation and we all witness His brilliance each and every day of our lives just by breathing the air He has provided for us to survive.  

All have been afforded a chance to search Him out through the witness of creation; it proves His existence and His power. Creation informs me of His existence but the Lord Jesus Christ introduces me to Him. He is the One who has bridged the gap through His very own sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ died in the place of sinners, and because my sins, (past, present and future sins) have been forgiven I have been allowed to enter into a relationship with the only true living God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who goes by the name of the great “I AM”. This invitation is open to all and without reservation of colour or creed to all who will look to Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins; “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." (Romans 10:9-11)

Let’s face it, we will only ever understand what He decides to reveal to us. What has He revealed? All of us witness creation and we see God’s ability with all the intricacies of creation. Mankind witness’s creation every day of our lives and so we are all without excuse. What about those who decry His existence? “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) - There are many other claims made about how creation has come about. But it is clear from this portion of scripture that God will have nothing to do with it, He will not excuse any who entertain some other notion about His creation and He has chosen to reveal part of His awesome character through creation; we see and witness His power every day of our lives.

Now for those who continue to beat a drum that has very little rhythm if any at all, with lyrics that repeatedly oppose God’s involvement in creation, they are very foolish and yet claim to be amongst the wise. The bible speaks about such people; “For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1Corinthians 1:19-21) – let us reason together and break this down, we have a choice, do we believe someone’s opinion about creation on some evidential facts which they believe proves their theory about creation although they speak about something they never witnessed? Where were they thousands of years ago or do we believe the claims of someone who claims to have been there when it all happened? In a court of law who will be more reliable, an eye witness or someone who uses theory to arrive at his conclusion? Easy to call!      

In the beginning God created mankind and gave them (Adam and Eve) commands, they were given liberty under His authority, freedom to enjoy creation as they chose, except for one mandate, they were forbidden to eat from a certain tree. Understanding the beauty we see in creation which has been tainted by sin, which helps me understand that it is not as beautiful as it once was; “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.” (Genesis 3:17-18) - I can only imagine what beauty must have surrounded that couple. 

My love for nature and the time spent in many game reserves helps me get a clearer picture of how beautiful that place must have been. Utopia personified! If somehow given the chance I would without question want to visit it. When I gaze up into the skies and see the vastness of creation I am often left speechless, ogling the beauty of the night skies as dancing stars flicker within their orbits.

God will never share His glory with another and why should He? If you were Picasso would you allow someone else to sign you painting? Many fake paintings are sold off as originals to the untrained eye; it’s no different when it comes to those looking to defraud God of His creation.

Look to the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and your eyes shall be opened to a deeper understanding off all truth.

Signing off

Tyrone

  

Relationships

Relationships come and go and it is easy to prove this as a reality if one just looks at some of the stats on file. On reflection what once appeared to be a rock solid relationship often falls apart due to varying reasons. However when we get to the root of the problem, if honest we will see that selfishness has played its part in most breakups. “I didn’t get it my way”, or “I lost that warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach”. Instead of looking for the positives, there comes a time when looking for justification in the breakup becomes the order of the day. A reason for why I no longer need to be bound to my commitment. It frustrates me that as a Christian I have failed dismally in this area of my life. But for me to sweep it under the mat per say and not look to learn from my mistakes would be equally as foolish.

It is imperative as Christians to find the will of God for our lives. This is the call for all. Many make catastrophic mistakes along the way and sadly I am amongst that number. However my God is full of grace, full of mercy and He is patient with even the most unruly of His children, praise His name! God does not neglect His commitment in any relationship and how I love Him for that. I am reminded this morning of my impulsiveness but at the same time His commitment overshadows all of my weaknesses, hallelujah!

To witness my Heavenly Father begin to restore what the cankerworm has eaten from my life is very refreshing and I am able to echo these words; Jesus looked at them and said, "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God." (Mark 10:27) – To blotch what we had once been given and then to fall to ones knees in repentance seeking out God’s graces is the greatest destination known to me. Some create bucket lists for their time here on earth, “why shoot so low” I ask myself? God’s forgiveness is just a cry away; bless His abundant ability to even consider forgiving a reprobate like me. And yet Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour has died knowing the beginning from the end, this blows my mind! He initially forgave me for my sin way back in 1987 knowing very well that I wound make so many mistakes along the way and yet He was still willing to enter into a relationship with me, now that is love personified! There is no volatility with God He sticks true to His commitment and I am so thankful to Him for His overarching love, it causes me to cry no more folly my God and by your grace I will love you in return with all my heart.

My encouragement this morning is to those who haven’t quite cut the mustard as Christians, be encouraged and repent of your idiocy and cry out to a faithful God and Father who is quick to forgive. Having said that, sin is the enemy, give it no place in your life, as it will always look to rule. The purpose of Christ dying such a cruel death was to break the shackles of sin and He has shattered its power. It is now up to us as individuals to seek out God driven graces to overcome the obstacles that keep us from our intimate relationship with Him.

To be tricked into believing that God will tolerate our sin because we are weak is exactly that, a bogus thought from sins deception. We must look for His ongoing sanctification in our lives and when this becomes our resolve from day to day, restoration will take place in your lives and of that I am persuaded. How far can we fall? Read psalm 51 and it will soon become evident that God is quick to forgive just so long as we are devastated by our own sin.

How I long my great God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to nourish our relationship with greater intent, I am now yours, I belong to you and not my selfish wants; thank you Father God for your immense commitment in this relationship even when mine nose-dived. Thank you Jesus my great Shepherd, thank you God the Holy Spirit for your role in exposing my sin and causing me to acknowledge it by driving me to seek out God’s forgiveness.

I will leave you with these encouraging word from a brother who I have never met but look forward to our encounter in heaven one day for he has been of great encouragement to me through the toughest of times…

“I am with you alway.”

- Mat_28:20

It is well there is One who is ever the same, and who is ever with us. It is well there is one stable rock amidst the billows of the sea of life. O my soul, set not thine affections upon rusting, moth-eaten, decaying treasures, but set thine heart upon him who abides for ever faithful to thee. Build not thine house upon the moving quicksands of a deceitful world, but found thy hopes upon this rock, which, amid descending rain and roaring floods, shall stand immovably secure. My soul, I charge thee, lay up thy treasure in the only secure cabinet; store thy jewels where thou canst never lose them. Put thine all in Christ; set all thine affections on his person, all thy hope in his merit, all thy trust in his efficacious blood, all thy joy in his presence, and so thou mayest laugh at loss, and defy destruction. Remember that all the flowers in the world’s garden fade by turns, and the day cometh when nothing will be left but the black, cold earth. Death’s black extinguisher must soon put out thy candle. Oh! how sweet to have sunlight when the candle is gone! The dark flood must soon roll between thee and all thou hast; then wed thine heart to him who will never leave thee; trust thyself with him who will go with thee through the black and surging current of death’s stream, and who will land thee safely on the celestial shore, and make thee sit with him in heavenly places for ever. Go, sorrowing son of affliction, tell thy secrets to the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother. Trust all thy concerns with him who never can be taken from thee, who will never leave thee, and who will never let thee leave him, even “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” “Lo, I am with you alway,” is enough for my soul to live upon, let who will forsake me.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

            

    

Words

To have been given a voice is a very special; to be able to articulate our thoughts is phenomenal. We speak and then others respond or act in accordance to what has just been voiced. Animals articulate with sounds and actions to be understood. That in itself is phenomenal and those in the know study differing species to further understand their characteristics. Some even spent their lifetimes dedicated to that plight with many unanswered questions and yet God spoke them into being, completely rounded in their own class of differing species, Wow! Adam was then created from the dust of the ground, wonderfully formed as a man, an intelligent being and from the outset with capabilities to converse with his God. It’s not as if he garbled a word or two like infants do, it was Adam who gave names to all the animals. God has it in His power to create what and when He chooses by simply speaking it into being; now that is beyond human comprehension. This is the God I serve, praise His name! Some choose to serve angels, make believe gods and the like, but why would one shoot so low when God has offered Himself to us all? Angels have been created, just like Adam was created. Why would we choose to serve an invention when the inventor has called us to serve Him? The answer is obvious; we have been blinded by sin. But for those of us who have now been set free from the power of sins deceitful trickery and been given eyes to see the wood from the trees, praise God! And that happened when we called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us for our own sin. If that has not happened in your life then I can say with assurance on the backing of God’s Word that you are still blind and you cannot see.     

The power of words carries great substance in molding our characters. Hence the Word of God became flesh and dwelt amongst us. It was the spoken Word which created all we see, God spoke the entire universe into being, and it did not appear from an accidental bang! It was precise and very deliberate. God formed the universe with careful intent and when He had finished with creation, He sat back and concluded that it was “very good”. Do you know why the sea stops where it does? God’s voice has so ordered it. God spoke and it happened! He then created man is His own image, male and female He created them, with the ability to communicate in an audible fashion. God converses with us through the WORD, we have the bible. It is vital to study it to hear His voice or at the very least to sit under the ministry of those who study it. Now it would be difficult to speak as one who witnessed creation as I was not there at the time. But what I can say with assurance is what God has allowed men to pen about His involvement in creation. And for those who continue to make idiotic statements like, “the bible was written by men”, who should have penned the words found in the bible? Dogs or Angels! How would the scrolls through time have been validated? Moses was not yet conceived when, creation took place nevertheless God took him up on a mountain top and there they conversed. He got the information first hand; it wasn’t as if the broken telephone method was used! Someone heard someone say something somewhere… As for the New Testament most of the disciples witnessed personally what they have penned. They walked with Jesus and captured what they saw. Paul and John have seen heaven, have you? So on what authority do “some” make statements as if they are in the know? Satan questioned God’s Word, and so did Eve and look at what state the world is in. So let’s not be quick to blame God when in fact it was our great grandmother’s decision to disobey His Word that has caused such heartache throughout the world. Yes a man did write the book of Genesis and His name was Moses. Where did He get the information from? From God Himself! Sin has robbed some of the simple ability to logically make even the meekest of deductions. Nevertheless our God is greater than any obstacle, Jesus shed His blood to set us free, praise His name! Call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be set free.

We all have a voice and we all make certain assumptions, everyone looks to be heard. I know that what I have penned may be my opinion but of one thing I am sure that what I have declared is of the truth because I have used the source of truth to validate what has been said. It may only be part of the big picture, but it certainly will be enough to set someone on the right path if taken seriously. Look to Jesus and be set free…

       

Signing off

Tyrone

Great Reward

(Hebrews 10:35) “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.”

Let’s face it, who in their right mind does not enjoy receiving a reward? Life is all about rewards and a treat is away comforting when we have accomplish something important. Many work throughout the year and take a holiday at the end of it. My mother rewarded me with a car when I passed matric. However there was a condition attached, pass matric and you can have the Ford. Although I was a student motivated by sport and not education per say, the practicality of my mid-year results had left me well on my way to failure. I was going to fail if I didn’t do something about it. As an unsaved youth my head was all over the place and it was locked into partying and sport. I obviously realized to some degree the severity of my predicament, but I didn’t really take it that seriously and nothing really change until my mother said, “pass matric and you can have the Ford Escort”. It was now game on; there was a reward on the table worth pursuing. To the surprise of many, I ended up with the car keys in my hand. That and my father believing in me when everyone else had written me off as a candidate for failure is all it took to motivate me to get serious.

We must all arrive at a place in our own understanding on whatever we decide is worth fighting for. The Lord Jesus fought to keep sin at bay and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, His obedience has been rewarded. Let us never underestimate the importance of the reward. It feeds our hope! One day we shall see Him as He is and we shall be like Him, sensational! This will be our ultimate reward; the Christian will eventually receive that eternal gift. However, it’s the rewards we receive along the way that I wish to deliberate and hopefully motivate other to do the same.

Hopefully you’ve lived enough to understand sins destruction, and if not you will eventually see it for what it is; deceitful lies about promises that are filled with disappointment. On the other hand the rewards of God when realized are full of nourishment that satisfies the soul. God does reward those who diligently seek Him, praise His name, Amen and Amen!

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) - How are those who diligently seek Him rewarded?

“He must believe that God is, and that he is what he is, what he has revealed himself to be in the scripture, a Being of infinite perfections, subsisting in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Observe, the practical belief of the existence of God, as revealed in the word, would be a powerful awe - band upon our souls, a bridle of restraint to keep us from sin, and a spur of constraint to put us upon all manner of gospel obedience. (2.) That he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. Here observe, [1.] By the fall we have lost God; we have lost the divine light, life, love, likeness, and communion. [2.] God is again to be found of us through Christ, the second Adam. [3.] God has prescribed means and ways wherein he may be found; to with, a strict attention to his oracles, attendance on his ordinances, and ministers duly discharging their office and associating with his people, observing his providential guidance, and in all things humbly waiting his gracious presence. [4.] Those who would find God in these ways of his must seek him diligently; they must seek early, earnestly, and perseveringly. Then shall they seek him, and find him, if they seek him with all their heart; and when once they have found him, as their reconciled God, they will never repent the pains they have spent in seeking after him.” (Matthew Henry)

Simply put, we are to embrace all of God’s commands for our lives understanding that He will reward us for our obedience. Not that we will get great wealth and the like, that is the misinterpreted false gospel that some propagate. With “food and raiment” we must find contentment; “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” (1Timothy 6:8) - Nevertheless we will be rewarded with the “fruits of the Spirit”, God will reward us with these wonderful fruits if and when we seek out His will for our lives, and of this I am persuaded.

Life may throw many curve balls at us but it will all work together for our good so long as we have the will of God in our crosshairs. Keep focused with that as our priority, just one day at a time and it will be well with our souls. What are these rewards that God attracts us with? They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. To experience these rewards we must seek out grace driven tractability to crucify the lusts of our flesh. God help us in our resolve to be about His will and not our selfish wants.

In conclusion, we must not be fooled into believing that worldliness will bring about relief for our lives, it is filled with an empty promise of disappointment; “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 14:12) – If we have been miraculously saved by the grace of God we will eventually learn to cherish this verse and change the way we begin to live and God will reward those who diligently seek Him! Through the toughest of trials we can have the joy of the Lord causing us to praise our God and give hope to others who cannot see the wood from the trees.

Signing off

Tyrone  

Progress

Whilst stirring this morning under the cover of the duvet, my mind raced as it normally does and yet with clear direction. I thoroughly enjoy mornings like these as I wait in anticipation for an enlightening encounter with my God and Father. I know that today is a day that I will learn more of His character as God the Holy Spirit reveals just a little more, deepening my love for my Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

To understand the will of God is the pressing question. Who can actually fathom the depths of God’s Brilliance? Does the clay have understanding over the potter or does it have any power to manipulate its outcome? It would be useful to understand God’s character, to make every effort to study Him in order to understand His will for our lives. Without snippets of that knowledge it will always be about our selfish wants even when we say that we seek out Gods will for our lives. We needn’t understand all the instruction we receive at the time, that is where God manifests His brilliance, this is where He often silences the gainsayer and His reasoning will become apparent oven time. Hardships will receive their desired outcome, they will teach us the will of God over time and the sooner we arrive at this conclusion the happier we will be. The joy of the Lord will be our portion on any given day. It is when we view hardships with the eyes of our old sin-filled natures that we lose sight of God’s will. Be gone old wicked man, and fill my eyes my God with a vision of the cross.

God has given us many guarantees as His children certifying His commitment; “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-14)   

We have His Spirit and He guides us into all truth, so long as we look to Him for guidance and even when we don’t He exposes the sin in our lives causing us to desperately seek out God’s forgiveness. When we are dull of hearing, some may even be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that others may fear. Either way they all have the same intended purpose to conform us into the image of His darling Son, our glorious and gracious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Although we may not see Him face to face as some did, it is our faith that drives us into an intermit relationship with Him; we have the written Word as our reference; we must take every opportunity to study it as it teaches us about God’s character. We have everything we need to find the will of God for our lives for any given situation.

Understanding God in His perfection is a daunting task that we will only ever see in part. But we will certainly see enough to understand that He is the potter and we are the clay and that although He could have discarded us as useless matter because of our sin and our rebellion He rather chose to have mercy on us. When this is realized we will understand that we now belong to Him, we are no longer entitled to our selfish wants when they oppose God’s will for our lives. Our ongoing sanctification must drive us towards His glory.

Here is an example that will help us understand…

Joseph, Jacob’s son was in type an example of the Lord Jesus, he too suffered many things for God’s glory, but his suffering brought great relief to the children of promise. Although Joseph’s brothers’ hate caused them to do an unspeakable thing, by selling him into slavery and bringing a false report to their father, saying that he had been killed by a wild beast, it was all part of God’s will; their intention was obviously evil, but God is far greater than the evilest intention people muster. Never forget that truth! God is Sovereign and He will always determine the final outcome and we must learn to rest in that truth. Although Joseph suffered many wrongful accusations, he learnt to understand God’s will along the way. He was imprisoned under a false accusation but it was there that God really began to bless him. Go figure, in prison and finding the will of God, you better believe it! At the end of a great famine it was Joseph that brought rescue to those who set out to destroy him; God used him to save his family from starvation and this was his conclusion on all that he supposedly wrongfully faced; “But Joseph said to them, "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:19-20)

There are many other examples that teach us the same valuable lesson; Job and Satan’s interaction, Daniel and the lion’s den but to mention a couple. God is in perfect control of all things and we must learn to rest in His Sovereign will, come what may, because if God is for us who can be against us…

Signing off

Tyrone