Gospel for DUMMIES

To kick against the pricks seems to follow some without much effort whatsoever and yet others seem to glide with the stream. This is just the way life seems to unfold. Put two men in the same room under the same conditions with the same tools at their disposal and you are guaranteed different results. One will excel whilst the other may really struggle, why? That is a complex question but if we strip it bare, we will soon realize that God is Sovereign and He rules in accordance with His will. However as individuals within his production we all make thousands of decisions a day and we determine the action we need to take at any given time. We are not machines but are living souls and therefore God has created us with an ability to “adapt or die” yet always within the bounds of the parameters He has set out. We can only ever go so far.

We have all been subjected to the same laws; gravity doesn’t only apply to some, we are all governed by it and because someone is unaware of the laws of gravity that does not exclude them from its downward force. In like manner we think since we make so many independent choices throughout the day that we are the masters of our own destinies. That however is partly true but only within the bounds we have been afforded and yet I see another hidden rule that eludes the majority, which is the unseen lies of a man’s life which he believes will go unpunished if he dodges the ones he deceives. God has established a truth and just like gravity’s effect on all of us.

Here is a quote from King Solomon from the Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes; “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” – Whether we believe this to be true or not will have no bearing on the outcome. God will have the final say! That I can promise you and no stone will be left unturned. God is so brilliant that nothing will slip His attention. Have you ever tried to count the hairs on your head? That would be an impossible task and yet God could give you an immediate answer, in fact there are billions of people on our planet and He could give a simultaneous answer on all that live and His answer would be exact, wow, wow and wow! This is the God we are up against and we will never outsmart Him. He rules and reigns in accordance to the parameters He has set out and the sooner we submit to His reign the freer we live.

The very same God will judge both the living and the dead; what is meant by the living and the dead? We will all die! We will never live in this corruptible body forever that has been proved over time, mankind trying to cheat death to no avail. Egyptians mummifying their bodies in the hope of finding a cure to be brought back from the dead and all they have achieved is an archaeologist digging them up and people ogling at their dead bodies. Death personified! Death can never be cheated by mankind! But God who is rich in mercy has afforded all an opportunity to escape death, which is to offer sinners the opportunity to live forever. How? God sent His son the Lord Jesus Christ to pay a penalty for which he was not guilty of. Jesus Christ died for the repentant sinner and paid the price for our sins. God became a man, lived a life of sinless perfection and then bled and died for the sins of many. He is the substitute for all those who acknowledge their sins before a Holy God and seek out His forgiveness for their sins, we cannot look to find justification for our sins, and we need to own them.

Here is an example to help us understand the severity of our condition; let’s say a man has a failing heart and he is on the verge of death, what will he need to survive? Firstly he will need to believe that his heart is failing and only then will understand that without a new heart he will die; a healthy heart is needed for him to live, but before that can happen a donor must be found. Someone needs to die for him to live. Not any heart will do, it will have to match his blood type and so there is certain criteria needed for this to happen successfully. In like manner we are all guilty of sin and must understand our need for forgiveness, once that is understood we are on the right track to find clemency. Two thousand years ago God sent His son to live a life without sin, he then had to die as if he had sinned, he bled and died for me, and I now know this to be true. I’ve understood this and because of this understanding I’ve now been qualified to find forgiveness for my sin. I’ve repented and asked god for forgiveness and because He is a loving God He has now forgiven my trespass, my sins have now been covered by the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice and they will now be remembered no more.          

  

But what about those who reject God’s mercy? Even the wicked have been afforded God’s communal graces; the worst of the worst still breathe the same oxygen the child of God breathes. Questions that so many ask are why does God allow that? Why allow some murderers to get away with it? We have all been given a similar chance to find the grace of God in our lives. Let me put it to you this way, can you fail someone if you aren’t afforded the opportunity to write the test? If I reach the age of eighteen and I now want to drive a car legally, I need to get a driver’s license, easier enough to understand. But if I am not allowed the same opportunities as another, where is the justice? However there is always a criterion I need to meet to qualify for such a test. I need to study the rules of the road, write and pass a written test. I then need to learn how to drive applying those rules and then my eyes need testing and finally if I pass the entire requirements I will be given a driver’s license. However I can choose to drive without a license but that will be at my own peril and I will be subject to the laws of the land if caught out. The same principal applies to all of us, the murderer, the drunkard, the sexually immoral, the pedophile, the liar, the idolater, the sorcerer, fits of anger, the jealous and things like these will all be subjected to the judgements of God and these acts will exclude all those who practice such things from inheriting the kingdom of God. God has so determined it; however without the mercies of God, we would all choose the wrong options because we are by nature sinful beings. Sin is such a deceitful power that it even tricks people into believing that they are not sinful. We are quick to accuse others and excuse ourselves. Here are some verses that should help us get a better grip on things; “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience (the sin of our forefather Adam) the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Jesus in my place), so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:18-21)

Regardless of the sins you’ve committed if you truly repent and seek out God’s forgiveness you will find it. There is no sin too great, but we must own our sin and not excuse it whilst accusing others. This type of mentality will only ever keep us from finding forgiveness and eternal life. I hope that is easy enough to understand.

The last question we need to answer is what about the judgement of the dead? Death in this instance does not refer to an unconscious state of once here and then gone. It is very clear from scripture that what this means for those who reject God’s mercy is that they will be in a state of consciousness and bear the magnitude of their rebellion against God for eternity. They will all end up in hell and bear the brunt of that decision, suffering unthinkable consequences forever and ever. Now whether you believe that to be fair or not, just like gravity has a downward force that prevents us from floating up into the air, if we reject God’s free grace offering to find forgiveness for our sins we too will suffer the consequences, God has spoken! With that now established we all have a choice to make; REPENT AND BELIEVE ON THE FINISHED WORK OF THE LORD JESUS OR SUFFER THE PENALTIES…

Signing off

Tyrone

         

        

Infinite

Put infinite, mercy and perfect into the same sentence and what do you get? We see a reflection of God that is life-changing; when we consider the magnitude of my request and our minds begin to methodically work by unpacking the enormity of Somebody that is infinite (immeasurable); hold that thought, do not undermine the immensity of what that actually means; God is boundless, as far as we can see when we gaze up into a starlight sky, God is there and then get your hands on the Hubble Space Telescope and gaze beyond this galaxy and into the next and God is there also. WOW! But it doesn’t stop there, the very same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is merciful in character… merciful? Yes, He has a tender touch, imagine a child delicately handling a butterfly, one wrong move and death would be imminent and yet even within our rebellion at times God is ever so gentle, teaching us right from wrong. Praise His name! He heals the brokenhearted and dresses their wounds. His mercy is so great that it forgives even the greatest of sinners from great sins. And we have done nothing to deserve God’s kindness; in spite of ourselves God is merciful. There is no merit on the behalf that sinners warrant such favour and yet God has afforded us a lifeline in and through His beloved Son, our cherished Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. He is ever so patient with the likes of men like me for God willingly teaches me the same lessons time and time again until the penny finally drops into place. There is nothing little in God’s economy, for we have already established that He is infinite and therefore His mercies must also be infinite, they are boundless, and wows of exclamations hammer that part of my brain which filters the awe of God. And to cap it all He is perfect in every area of His character, nothing can be added or taken away from Him to make Him any better than He already is. Let this resonate deep within your soul and your mouth will begin to sings songs of melody proclaiming the goodness of our God. Nothing within the hardships of this life will detract from the reality of that joy; it is a delight full of merciful musical notes that breathes life into every difficult dilemma we face. How does a man remain silent when this is realized? It is impossible to remain hushed and it causes me to chant, “If God is for me who can be against me.” Amen and Amen!

How I now long for the day when I will move from this life into the next, when this corruptible body of mine will take on an incorruptibility and become in type just like my glorious Saviour’s body, where nothing will ever be able to distract me from the presence of God, where I will be in His presence for all eternity and I will be able to cry out unto Him and sing about His goodness, not from a distance or through the vale of faith which feeds all of God’s children’s cemented in Christ with our eternal hope, but I will be in His presence and see Him as He actually is, WOW! How I long for that day to finally arrive! But until then, may God keep me faithful in the plight to which I have been called and that is to glorify your name in this crooked and perverse generation. To proclaim the mercies of my God and to beckon all to come the way of the cross and find true salvation in and through the wonderful redemption of my glorious Saviour’s sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Bless His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Repent, call upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved from assured destruction…

Signing off

Tyrone    

  

A valued relationship...

With so many pressures pushing inwardly on a man’s existence and with the daily necessities of life demanding their attention, I should be amongst the most miserable of men and yet I am beaming today with the joy of my salvation; with a refreshing realization that my sins have been forgiven, that my beloved partner, the love of my life, the one who personifies true love has set me free and paid the price for my sin. Jesus died in my place so that I may understand what I now appreciate to be of utmost importance to me for I have been freed to serve Him in liberty.

My heavenly Father, the One who has no beginning nor will He ever end, knowing what He knows and understanding all of His creation, life, death and everything in-between with an understanding of perfection. Sympathetic to my sinful character and how easily I am swayed by my own lustful desires, nevertheless has offered me a lifeline, He sent His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ to die in my place. My prayer for the band hood of Christianity is that God would bestow mercy upon His children this morning and give us all a fresh understanding of our first love.

We can all relate to relationships, the spark of any new found connection where everything pivots around that union, with every effort made by both partners to feed that wonderful emotion of true happiness. Come what made a blow on the cheek form an outsider with our new found love is easy to defend as we stand in defense of our partner even if they have wronged us. But over time the same events that we defended now become the wedge that begins to separate. The spark of love begins to dwindle and then comments like, “I no longer love him”, or “I have fallen out of love” begins to captivate our minds driving us apart. Sadly this is not only applicable within our carnal relationships but can become very real within our souls. As soon as repentance begins to become a distant memory that we did many years ago and we begin to accommodate certain sinful traits as the norm, BEWARE! We now need eye salve!

I have a question for you; do you honestly treasure the Lord Jesus today as much as you did the day you got saved and truly understood the magnitude of what that actual meant? When last did the waterworks of joy flow from your tear ducks as they now flow from mine, oh the joy of the Lord who can understand it? Bless your name my love! Your commitment is freshly revitalizing and it feeds my hope with new vigour as my mind begins to sing melodies to itself with a multitude of thoughts all being triggered at the same time, “Jesus in my place and thank you for saving a wretch like me”. Wow!  Do you have similar visitations? If not, the error of complacency has robbed you of what is rightfully yours in Christ and danger lurks, so I urge you to pay careful attention to our lovers warning; “'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 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. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Revelation 3:15-21)

Jesus is totally committed to this relationship come what may, but are we? Let’s make every effort to fight for it and give Him the love He affords us, bless His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen! Thank you Father God for sending Jesus Christ my love to die for my sin, your mercy and thoughtfulness is treasured. Your love has covered a multitude of sins. THANK YOU!  

Signing off

Tyrone     

 

An author's intention

When we analyze any masterpieces that have stood the test of time, we look to learn from these writings with the intent to deepen our understanding on any given topic. And if serious about our studies we try our utmost to get into the mind of the author’s commitment if we are to truly benefit from their stroke of genius; the over-arching intention is to always understand the author’s intent. Take William Shakespeare a playwright, poet and an actor; date of birth unknown; a man who lived for 52 years and then he died on the 23th of April 1616. And yet today many of his writing are still studied intently at schools and universities across the globe. However if we read his writing merely as a story without unpacking some of the underlying wizardry of his inscriptions we will miss so much of what he has to say. A gifted man! But what about giving God the same thoughtfulness; just imagine the benefit!

If I had one wish, it would be for my family and friends who have not realized the reality of my seriousness as to why I have an itch that needs to be scratched by urging people to find salvation in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and no one else. It is through the study of God’s Word that He has opened my eyes to this truth, praise His name! Any other claim outside of God’s endowment to be forgiven for our sin apart from repentance in and through the Lord Jesus Christ is nothing more than a LIE! How can I make such a bold statement? I have studied enough of the Bible to conclude that this is an obvious deduction.

It is a book filled with all sorts of drama, bloodshed, deliverance, intrigue, romance, super-hero type accounts that is hard for our natural minds to process, famines, wrongful imprisonments, wickedness that is beyond human comprehension and the list is endless but when we see God’s brilliance in the background as He works these wicked intensions from evil people and uses their wickedness to highlight His brilliance will never be understood by the novice. This will never be realized if we do not find intent to study Him in and through the Bible. But His Word if filled with so many hidden treasures that it brings a smile to my face causing me to fall to my knees and crying, thank you Father God for saving me.     

God wrote a book and yes He did use men to pen what has been written as a means whereby we would get to understand His character. That book is commonly known as the Holy Bible. All of its writings have been inspired under the influence of the Spirit of God. It was men who held the quill in their fingertips but it was God who filled their minds with His intent. He has left us with the BIBLE and it is what He has chosen to give us in order to explore His intentions concerning all of His creation. Neglect the reading of it at your own peril! I will now make a bold statement by making a promise to you, whoever you may be, that if you read the Bible with an open mind looking for answers to life you will be set free. You will eventually conclude and echo these words. “I was blind but now I can see”! God will open your eyes to the truth.  

When we compare a created being like William Shakespeare to the creator (God) and we give this thought some attention we will notice that the real genius lies with the Creator; He is the think-tank behind the desired result. An obvious conclusion is that the palpable intellect must then lie with the inventor. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the prodigy behind His creation and if we are to understand His intentions we must study His work. How could we ever make any accurate assessment about His intentions if we haven’t studied his works? This would simply be ludicrous. And yet, so many have so much to say about God and His mistakes but have never taken the time to study his writings, the Bible must be explored if we are to understand anything pertaining to this life and eternity; the foolhardiness of so many, claiming evolution to be true or other hocus-pocus philosophies as an answer to our existence only because it suits their lifestyles and it accommodates their sinful characters excusing the way they have chosen to live.

If you are an individual that believes in a higher being and that we can chose whoever we want “IT” to be, we prove our ignorance, nothing more! God has spent much time touching the lives of individuals and allowing men to pen their accounts so that we may learn to find Him. But in order for the light switch of truth to be flipped within our understanding we must be deliberate with our intention. Time is running out and hardship for all of mankind is just over the horizon, we must search out the deeper meaning to life while we still have the light to see. The night is coming and then it will be an almost impossible task to find liberty in Christ. Sure many will flock to what they believe to be the true Messiah but they will be mistaken. How do I know this? God has so declared it in His Word, the Bible! “Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” (Matthew 24:23-25) 

If I didn’t read or study the bible I would be oblivious to that truth. Get the point?

Has anyone ever been given a doctorate or taught Shakespeare without ever reading any of his works? Only a fool would listen to such a person claiming to understand the author’s intentions. In like manner for all the sceptics out there, don’t comment on God if you haven’t studied any of His writings; that only exposes your unawareness concerning Him, His creation and His plan for mankind.

Look to the Word of God to bring sight to your spiritual blindness, “seek and you shall find, knock on His door and it will be opened unto you.”

Signing off

Tyrone         

The ultimate lesson of life

Whilst giving the word “journey” some thought this morning the floodgates have opened as it directly relates to all in such a meaningful way. All of us are on a journey, the journey of life! This is not up for debate per say although we make many decisions along the way, we most certainly had nothing to do with our starts. Our parents came together whether in the throes of passion, or under a planned calculated mutual decision or maybe even outside of the bounds of marriage with sin playing its part, conception took place and then nine months later we were born. Obviously our journeys started from conception, but who can ever recall being inside their mother’s womb? But we can recall some childhood memories. Although we were never taught to tell our first lie, it happened and then it happened again and so on. Sin had begun to mold our characters. It’s not as if we deliberately chose to be sinful, it is who we are. Once placed in a compromising position due to varying specifics we will always look to protect our reputation and lie if and when needed to not be caught out. It’s almost as if we have a default button that engages without our consent, proving this one fact that all have sinned and fall short of God’s characteristics.

The question we find ourselves often asking is why did God make us like this? Well he didn’t! Our great grandparents (the first man and woman created) disobeyed a commandment from God and because of their disobedience we bear the brunt of their judgement. It’s just the way it is. One may cry “foul” whilst another may shout, “that’s not fair” but whatever your opinion on the matter may be it is irrelevant in the bigger scheme of things. God the creator is the final authority on the matter and He does not need our approval to implement whatever He chooses. He is God and we are his creation, the clay never dictates to the potter, it is always the other way around. The potter spins his potter’s wheel and he molds and shapes whatever he has decided. The sooner we realize this the earlier we will be able to skillfully tackle the task at hand, which is our pilgrimage and the God-centered decisions we make along the way.

I can with utmost assurance conclude that this is what I have learnt; when we start our journeys with a misguided intention it will always ends badly. Let me break this down to help us understand… if and when we have God’s will in the forefront of our minds with his will driving our decisions I can say with complete confidence it will end well. However when we disregard Him and place our own selfish wants as our motivation it will cost us the price of learning the lessons of life the hard way; resulting with much heartache and with many regrets. So the sooner we understand our position within God’s production the happier we will be. It is all about finding His purpose for our lives and it can never be the other way around. It often is and that is why we suffer such remorse.

With that now established we are left with many daily decisions that we ourselves have the power to implement. Now let us not under emphasize our roles in God’s sovereignty like the hyper-Calvinist may often highlight. It is obvious that God will have the final say with all of His creation and He will most certainly achieve every one of His purposes. But within His genius he has left us with the ability to make decisions along our journey. We didn’t choose life, that was outside of our choice, we all arrived through conception and were all conceived in the same way. But as we begin to mature we now face decisions that we have the power to implement. This morning I lay in bed and the alarm buzzed and so I was left with a decision, I could either hit the snooze button or get up and do what I am now doing, penning my thoughts onto a word document. Sure, I may well have been influenced by a God given willingness to contemplate various issues pertaining to life but the decision on whether to continue sleeping or get up was mine and not someone else’s.  I’m sure you get the point.

King Solomon, King David’s son was the man of wisdom. And he unpacks so many valuable lessons for us to learn from, but all his conclusions point to the same result and that is that everything in life is senseless within the bigger scheme of things, if we skew our perceptions about our journey here on earth it will be extremely costly. Here is his conclusion after considering life and all the decisions we make along the way; “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) – We must all eventually arrive at the same conclusion if it is to end well with our souls (that part of us which continues to live after we die), which is to give God His rightful place in our lives. This can only ever be achieved through repentance for our sin in and through the finished work of Calvary, a call or a cry unto Jesus asking Him to forgive us for our rebellion against God. It is not a difficult concept to understand but quite another thing to implement correctly. But it is crucial for us to find repentance if we are to have our fairy-tale ending.

Another very wise man teaches us this very valuable lesson about the decisions we make throughout our lifetimes. Paul the Apostle and not like King Solomon the man who tested life to learn from it. Paul received what he teaches us directly from the mouth of God; “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12) – With that established this is what he goes on to teach us about our decision throughout our pilgrimage; “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Here then is my final conclusion; we will face many decisions throughout our lifetimes but when we place our own selfish wants before the will of God in the bigger scheme of things it will bring us much heartache. God is merciful and He is patient with His children, praise His name! Without that trait to His character where would I now be, in a ditch begging bread? However I live to face another day filled with opportunities to learn from my Saviour and through the day test my decisions against the will of God for my life. This is a wonderful truth when realised. God has opened my eyes to His will for my life, where do you stand on this issue?

Signing off

Tyrone

     

  

     

     

The hard lessons of life...

There was a man from the land of Southern Africa, a man who was caught up by sin, a man driven by the pride of life with the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh dictating the way he conducted himself. He was not alone, many where driven by the same intensions. There was a time when he believed that the joys of life were to be found in wine, women and song; he was mistaken! It seemed to be the consensus of all who ran with him. But before long God had mercy on his soul and opened his eyes to the reality of it all. Every time he believe the lie by looking for fulfillment in an arena that could never be quenched he eventually realized that lust could never be satisfied. Of course it gratifies for a time but when it was over it left him hollow inside. What was a man to do? The solution was an obvious one, the call to repentance in and through the Lord Jesus Christ was the only feasible answer. Praise God for this knowledge; sadly everyone will not come to this realization. However God took pity on his soul and opened his eyes to the truth of His intention for mankind. He finally understood that Jesus had paid the price for his sin. It was an earth shattering eye opener. Praise God for His mercy and for His willingness to reveal the truth to that man.

For a time, life was good and that man pressed forward with great zeal with an amazing amount of liberty, serving God and learning from Him through the lives of other likeminded men. A man who was not given to too much study growing up as a child, had now became a man driven with passion for the reading of God’s Word and the bible became his most tangible treasured possession. But like most adventurous infants, he was a child full of zeal with very little knowledge trying to make head and tail of it all and sadly before long he found himself making erroneous errors being led away by the lust of his flesh once again. The places he refused to frequent had now begun to creep back into his life. Sin does that you know, it creeps up slowly and if not dealt with effectively and efficiently before long it would have subjugated its objective and that is to silence the Christian. A little leaven works its way through the entire lump of dough affecting all of it. We must never be fooled into believing that God will accommodate sin in our lives as the norm and that our sin is tolerable. God so despised sin that He sent His Son to die for it, so that those who find repentance in Him could go free.  

But God who is rich in mercy once again took pity on his soul and one night he woke up in hospital with a shattered femur with weights dangling off the edge of his bed as he lay in traction for six weeks. This then drove him once again to a place of repentance. He had learnt a lesson the hard way. I wish I could say that this was the end of the lessons he needed to learn but this was only the beginning. Now with one leg an inch and a half shorter that the other one the lust of his eyes drove him toward a woman that was in the throes of divorce. He fell into sin with her and before long he was then diagnosed with HIV. Excepting the errors of his ways he wanted to make right and under the counsel of his oversight they got married. But before long they were divorced and he was back to his sinful ways with wine, women and song once again driving him into foolishness. Although his eyes had been opened to the true meaning of life, which he was unwilling to push aside, he endeavored to live both lives with one foot in the Christian faith and the other in the world. He was committed to Satan for the destruction of his flesh. A serve punishment for his unruly behaviour and in hindsight he is thankful for God’s affection and willingness to discipline him; although it was extreme, he saw the beauty of its merits and once it had run its course it once again ended up with a right relationship with his God; the mercies of God who can measure them?

Years later after refusing to take antiretrovirals for the AIDS virus he was on the verge of death, but God one again graciously spared him his life and restored him into active membership within the body of Christ (the church). It was a time of many fond memories with God using him to speak into the lives of many teenage children as he travelled across the country visiting various schools sharing his testimony on the back of a book he had written highlighting God’s goodness in spite of his rebellious heart.

There was a lot of work still to be down in that man’s life and although he believed that he had learnt the lessons needed to walk uprightly before a holy God he yet again slipped into error and found a similar pattern materialize and he eventually found himself unequally yoked with an unbeliever. Weary from so many mistakes he married that woman, hoping that she would follow him in his faith.

This is what he has learnt; God is pure, He is holy and He will never be manipulated. If we start with a mistake it will always end badly. We must come God’s way and strip ourselves of our own selfish sinful patterns if it is to end well for us. Repentance must be our first point of call, nothing else will suffice! Do not believe any other voice or lie, pay attention to this man’s plea for he has paid dearly to learn these lessons and it needn’t be the same for you.  

The man in question is divorced again and now lives alone. Why would I expose and detail such stupidity from a single man’s life. The answer is obvious. Regardless of so many mistakes, which have had serve consequences; that man’s example has been a poor one, however even his foolishness is no match for the goodness and power of God mercy, God can bring even the most hardened of sinners to a place of repentance even if it takes a lifetime for that to be realized. It divulges his goodness, in spite of such recklessness and that man is now forever thankful to His God for such unmerited favour. He is often saddened when he is reminded of his idiocy and yet forever thankfully for the goodness of God that has found him out.

Signing off

Tyrone                       

"A good man"

To what lengths would a man go to protect his family? I suggest that he would do whatever he has within his power to save them from certain destruction. Although we all have a built-in mechanism that kicks in when we look to escape certain calamity, there is an overarching exception that overrules our “flight” response when it comes to our loved ones. But for us to take up our responsibility in these types of situations we must be convinced by the cause. The Lord Jesus is the prime example when we consider such an action and the Apostle Paul brings this to our attention in the book of Romans…

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:6-10)  

There are all-embracing points that we need to highlight in this passage of scripture for us to understand the magnitude of our rescue. Firstly it was God who instigated our salvage; we were all in the same camp, the campground of the sinner. We were ungodly in character and gave no thought to God’s production, His will, intention and purpose; we were all insensible to it! We were all driven by our own lusts and our own little worlds were the be all and end all of our existence. We were self-absorbed and gave no thought for the life to come and the judgement of God. Sin had taken care of that! We knew no better! However even within the common laws of the land we live in, ignorance does not excuse us of a crime and we cannot claim a pardon on the basis of “I didn’t know”.

BUT GOD took pity on us and without God stepping in and saving us from our downward spiral, nothing in our lives would ever have changed. But thank God for stepping in. We must understand where we were when God chose to be merciful. Look at Paul’s argument, he points out the mercy of God and explains that we were still blinded by our sin when the Lord Jesus Christ spilt his own blood to set us free. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It’s not as if we instigated the first step in the process of our salvation. God was merciful. Why? Because He has it in His power to save and He is perfect in love, wow! Let that reverberate deep within your soul!

Conversely there are far too many that claim salvation and yet continue to live as they always did. If I continued in my sinful ways as a matter of course excusing sin as my right because I am now under God’s grace and not the law, I have understood nothing! Or if I have come to realise that the practice of sin is no longer an option for me but for some uncanny reason I continue in it, I am then setting myself up for many heartaches and I will be subject to my Father’s discipline. This was most certainly part of my involvement as a Christian. I thank God for His discipline! He cares for His own and deals with them as sons. If I claim to be saved and live my old debauched life with a seared conscience and am left to that type of lifestyle without God’s discipline, then I cannot claim true salvation; “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” (Hebrews 12:8) – Why do I feel the need to highlight these particular points? It is simple, it doesn’t help to believe a lie and think that we will be safe when in fact we will face the penalty of that lie’s judgement. It is imperative that we know exactly where we stand. Examine yourselves in the light of the foregoing plugs and it will be very evident what needs to be done. We must be sure of our election and we must right our wrongs and repent (turn away from), this is critical for our eternal lives, do depend upon it. If you cannot with certainty say that I am a part of God’s army or I think I am saved, this kind of mind-set is far too risky and it is imperative that you do whatever is needed to be settled.

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” (2Peter 1:10)  

                                                                                                    

As a father if I knew that someone was about to break into my house and take my family captive and do terrible things to them, what would I do? I can assure you that I would do whatever was needed to protect them. I would take the required precautions to keep them safe come what may. But for this to be realized I would have to have inside information. We have that inside information; the Bible has so declared it! If we study it we will understand the beginning form the end, therefore study it because your life does depend upon it. Be sure of your standing in the sight of God. It is not enough to know that God exists; even the demons know that He subsists and they tremble because their time to be judged is just around the corner. We must be known by Him and the only way this will ever be achieved in our lives is to find repentance from our sin in and through the darling of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God being God and understanding the beginning from the end knows that He will judge the living and the dead. He has predetermined this from before the beginning of time. It has always been a part of His plan, and I would once again remind you that this is His production and He will have the final say in all things. He has it in His power to do whatever He chooses. He could have left us to our own devises and let us rot in hell, for we all have sin that has tarnished our lives. But God is full of mercy and has afforded us a lifeline in and through His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, praise God! Paul therefore highlights this idea and brings it to our attention; that while we were the enemies of God, He chose to rescue some. Why only some? I suppose for us to understand the benefit of light we would need to experience darkness. How would we understand happiness and the benefits it has within our lives if we didn’t understand heartache? They complement one another. How would we understand the love of God if we didn’t experience His forgiveness? We wouldn’t!

Therefore it is obvious that some will embrace the love of God and seek out His forgiveness, while others will reject it. The question we need to ask ourselves is in what camp do we stand? Is the mercy of God needed in our lives? I know that it is the most important aspect to my life and I am forever thankful for His mercy toward me. Jesus dying in my place and paying the penalty for my sin even though He had no sin, this is a mammoth breakthrough within my understanding. I cannot thank Him enough, He has extended me a lifeline and by the grace of God I will clutch onto it with both hands. What will you do with His merciful offer? The choice is now yours…

Signing off

Tyrone  

Grace a perfect work...

When the grace of God has run its course in an individual’s life it will result with a perfect work. This is just another undertone of God’s brilliance within His production. There are many examples throughout the scriptures that prove this.

However, we must remember that God is the director of His production; we must get into line if we are to end up as His ally. He will not share His glory with another. When we smudge the lines of choice we often end up with the wrong perception of the truth. What makes it difficult to get our heads around this reality is that we seemingly make so many choices throughout the day and our lifetimes, which leave us thinking that we are the ones who determine our destinies.

Let me break this down to help us understand. God has offered all the same invitation; He has call all to believe on His Son the Lord Jesus Christ and to find repentance for our sin in and through Him. There is no other option on the table for mankind if we are to reach heaven and all its glory. And yet some find this whilst others reject His free grace offer. Why? I do not profess to have all the answers but I know enough to understand it to be so. I have learnt that God is perfect in Character and therefore nothing can be added to His character to make Him better than He already is. Regardless of the perceptions that some have about this truth. He is perfect in love and his dealings with mankind will be perfectly just when time has eventually run its course. Although many factions have debated how individuals actually find salvation, I am convinced that it is God that instigates the salvation process in a sinner’s heart, without God initiating life no one would ever find Him. This is what grace means; it is a gift of God, it could never be earned by our own merits. If this wasn’t the case we would have something to boast about and be able to claim our involvement within the salvation process. Can I prove this? I most certainly can! Here then is the proof…

“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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:4-10) – When unpacked it is evident that it is all God’s doing and it has nothing to do with us initially. Only after salvation can we then find the ability to daily find the grace of God to produce “good works”; prior to this we are still dead in our trespasses and our sins. The initiation of our salvation is not our own, but it is God who has mercy on the individual and He makes us alive in Christ, it is His gift to certain individuals. If you think it through carefully and you stick to the text you will find no wiggle room in it. To suggest that we choose God would be inaccurate. Walk into a morgue and speak to a dead man and see if he responds.

Where the waters seem a little muddy, and I suggest “seem” is that God has a heart for all to find salvation. But if He doesn’t save how then will a man find the truth? They can’t!  

Once again this is just another indication of who we are dealing with; God is perfect and somehow somewhere in the middle of all this confusion the perfection of God’s brilliance is personified. I would once again remind all that this is His production and not ours; God does not need our approval for what He does. But we most certainly need His if it is to end well for us. The sooner we find this reality for our lives the freer we shall be to serve Him with sincerity.

God will judge both the living and the dead; simply put He will pardon those who find salvation for their sins in and through the finished work of the cross and He will judge those who don’t and somehow be perfect with his dealings with mankind, wow! This truth blows my mind and all I am left to conclude is to say thank you God for saving my soul. Why did He choose to save someone as debauched as me? I cannot give you an answer but I will boast in His mercy.

Both the vessels for honour and dishonour will play their parts within God’s production? Do you reject the gospel message as He has declared it, or have your eyes been opened to the sheer magnitude of His mercy? If you still sit on the fence regarding God’s mercy, I implore you to respond today by calling out to Him and asking God to forgive you for your rebellion.

God has scripted His production and it is well into the throes of the invention, in fact it is nearing its end. He has chosen some as enemies who reject His authority with others embracing Him with gratitude. Where do you fit in? I would remind you that our opinions count for nothing in the scheme of things, for they will have no bearing on the director’s production. God is in perfect control and He does not need our approval, but we most certainly need His.  

I leave you with this thought by the Apostle Paul; “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” (Romans 9:20-21)

Signing off

Tyrone

 

 

Finding our roles in God's Production

Spending time with an old school colleague and rehashing the last 30 years takes a man back to the mirror. I will confess that hesitation played its part within our conversation. I looked at a man who had been born into the Jewish faith. Whether his family played their roles within their communities as practicing Jews I cannot say, or whether he originates from the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I am unsure, nevertheless my mind grappled with the question, God knows! However, what I am sure of is that God has summoned all to find salvation in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us delve into and unpack another aspect of God’s brilliance when it comes to God’s production concerning Israel. Did you know that Abraham was born 1948 years after Adam and that Israel became a nation 1948 years after the death of Christ? Could this be a coincidence? Not for a second would I concede to that type of reasoning, God is brilliant and His ways are well thought through. Just another indication of how well His pre-production was mapped prior to the beginning of time. Nothing in the world has or will ever catch Him by surprise. We on the other hand are often caught by surprise when we take our eye of the ball. When life becomes about our little worlds and our independence supersedes the call of God on our lives we always end up in the dirt instead of fulfilling our actual roles within God’s masterpiece. Resulting with many regrets but thankfully if the mercy of God has called us by name the duration of these agonizing encounters will only last for a season and we will eventually be brought to a place of repentance; training us to differentiate the wood from the trees. Yes God is a gracious God and He is slow to anger and full of mercy. He is patient with our futility. The branches in our lives that bare no fruit will be pruned and in severe cases totally removed. God is building His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against whatever He has predetermined. He is the director and He will determine the final outcome of His production. It’s up to the individuals of the world to learn this lesson. Are we in the throes of learning these vital truths? If we have been called by His name I can with utmost assurance conclude that we most certainly are. Some like me have been amongst the problematic with many failures to their name, but praise God as He graciously continues to teach us right from wrong. 

It would be irresponsible of me not to remind you that both the enemies of God and His allies live in His world; earth is where we all live. It is obvious that sin has blinded the majority of its inhabitants to this reality. However there is hope and rescue for all who would dare to call upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rescue from all the trappings of God’s arch enemy, Satan as he endeavours to do everything in his power to keep mankind from uncovering this truth. He is doomed to the Lake of Fire and looks to take as many with him as possible. Where do you stand within God’s production? Are you a person who acknowledges that you are a sinner and need the salvage of a Saviour or do you run with the crowd that claims to be a good person and in no need of rescue? Only you can answer that question!

We have all somewhere in our lives fraternized with the enemies of God. In fact we were his enemy, sin has concluded all as the enemies of God; But God so loved that He sent His only begotten Son to pay the price for our sin. This is huge to our understanding when realized. Here is the heart of God personified; “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) – Therefore we must all arrive at the same conclusion if we are to find God’s rescue in our lives, we must all conclude that we are sinners and in need of a Saviour. Only then will the light to God’s production become real in our lives, only then will we finally understand our roles in it. Whether you are privy to this information or not, it does not change the reality of what God is doing with mankind. It is His production and not ours.

Where do you stand is the question you now need to ask yourselves? Are you for God or against him?

Signing off

Tyrone   

             

An Intriguing thriller...

With any intriguing thriller, you will find twists and keys to solving the mystery merged between the overarching plots. It often takes great commitment and dedication with your undivided attention engrossed upon the screen if we are to stay on point. If not, we will soon be clutching at straws and asking the question, “What’s going on”? And yet when these types of productions hit the mark with the box office and rake in astronomical sums of money, it is still a production that originates from the “created”. Simply put, it’s a production driven by mankind’s intellect, where their thoughts must be accompanied with differing  tools and material to create their production; without a movie camera it would be impossible to capture the production on film and then play it back on demand; whilst God’s brilliance only needs a word spoken by Him to create whatever He chooses. He SPOKE the worlds into being and out of darkness He created all things; which obviously gets me to conclude, that His production is far more intricate and that His brilliance is way above ours. Sadly the majority of the world’s population find themselves grappling in the dirt when it comes to God’s production and what fascinates me is the authority with which the fool makes certain assumptions. As if their opinion supersedes God’s! Claiming to have more insight than the Creator of the heavens and the earth; the blind leading the blind and both will fall into the ditch.

King Solomon was a very wise man and throughout the book of proverbs we see insight into his penned words of wisdom. He teaches us this; “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7) – On the basis of this quote examine where you stand; are you a person that claims to be wise but gives no thought to God and his dealings with you? Do you have no fear for Him? True knowledge must start with our understanding that we must give Him his rightful place if it is to end well with our souls. If our opinion has no place for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob we are simply men and women that claim to be wise but have been blinded by our own pride and remain fools. Sadly the world’s system has hoodwinked the majority of its population into the class of fools. It teaches civilization that if we have certain qualifications or degrees then what we have to say must be taken seriously when in fact we are blind, ignorant and have been tricked into believing a lie.

But before I go off on a tangent and exalt myself as someone more knowledgeable than the next person, I am reminded that I too once thought like the majority of the world, I too was blinded by my sin. I was a man driven by the lust of my eyes, the lust of the flesh and by the pride of life; a man who has repeatedly fallen into the traps of sin, trying to escape the realities of life. But God who is rich in mercy has opened my eyes to understand certain truths. I will be amongst the first to confess that I am slow to understand but God has extended an abundant amount of mercy to me, for which I am forever grateful. It is the grace of God that found me, rescued me and plucked me from the miry clay and not the other way around. Even after my eyes had been opened to the truth of God’s production I have since erred. Needless to say when the thought of “Jesus in my place” penetrates my understanding I am filled with thankfulness and I am quick to say Amen to King Solomon’s quote, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge“. For those who have been amongst the weak, of which I am chief, there is nevertheless hope in Christ, “whilst we have breath we have hope.”

Again I remind you that it is God’s production and not mankind’s that will stand the test of time. It is vital that we look to Him from here on in until we breathe our last breath. We must not let the cares of this life overshadow the reality of our existence. Regardless of our mistakes if we look to our God for deliverance He has proved that He is slow to anger and quick to forgive, Wow! Bless His name now and forever more, Amen!

God’s production is filled with characters that will be for or against His overarching plan for humanity; the offer has gone out to all. Turn to Him in repentance and find life. It is the way He has chosen to direct His production. We need to decide where we stand with His call upon our lives. The buck stops with us and one day we will give an account to Him and there will be no escape; “…Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:12-14) – There is a day coming when we will all stand before the only Almighty God and our lives will be played back to us; and for those who claim to be good rejecting God’s free grace offer will soon see their own wickedness and be judged according to what they did whilst on earth. The only covering that will save us from judgement is to be covered with the robes of righteousness that can only come from the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we get this robe? Simple, we turn to Him in repentance acknowledging our sin and our need for His forgiveness. It isn’t rocket science, even the simplest and the uneducated can relate to this call.

God’s production involves all of us; everyone who has ever taken a breath of oxygen is part of His masterpiece. We will only ever find ourselves in one of two camps; those for God or those against Him. We cannot claim to be neutral. Neutrality proves our unwillingness to commit.

To be continued…

Signing off

Tyrone       

  

God's Production... scene 2

Hopefully all who have been summoned to God’s production now understand that life and our existence revolves around Him and not around us. Sure we live our lives which rotate around our own little worlds, BUT it is obvious that it is the call of God that needs to ring loudest if it is to end well with our souls.

It might be a good idea to explore the realities of life after death in the context of God’s production. This is the underlying memo of all our certainties. We will move from this life to the next whether we are aware of it or not. We will eventually die and then our eyes will be opened to the rest of eternity and we will then exist in whatever state we chose whilst alive on earth. Everything in our lives teaches us this truth; there will be consequences!

Here is a harsh illustration to prove my point…

Many years ago a new virus raised its head, it is commonly known as the HIV virus. The epidemic of AIDS took the world by surprise. At first some believed that it was an infection that only affected the gay community. There was a media splash across the globe and it soon became public knowledge. Governments pumped money into their campaigns warning people about the virus. At first many South African ethnic groups believed it to be propaganda and I came into contact with some who believed it was a white man’s lie. It was not long before it could no longer be denied, having severe consequences on the world with Africa seeming to bear the brunt of this epidemic. So instead of the world turning to God in repentance, governments rolled out a “safe sex” policy encouraging the world to practice safe sex. In other words if we were to continue with our sinful behaviour and sleep around outside of the bounds of marriage we were reminded to wear a condom. Even with this knowledge I can vividly recall travelling through London at the time with massive billboards reminding all to practice safe sex. There is something within the human nature that lies to us and the power of denial has a great bearing on the bad decisions we make. We believe that we are “bullet proof” ignoring those types of warnings and it gets worse when we are under the influence of any mind-altering substance. Even within our depravity we believe that we will be safe. I once thought like this and even though I thought I would escape the virus, I didn’t.

In like manner God through His production has warned all about the consequences of sin and for all who reject His free Grace offer, which can only ever be found in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Miss out; believe some other religion or some other way and you will bear the brunt of His wrath. Hell will be your final destination! You see I once chose my path and ignore the warnings of HIV and the result is that I now live with the consequence of that choice, I am HIV positive. I almost died in 2001 but God spared me. And for those who reject the gospel message on God’s terms, will be privy to His wrath! Necessity has been placed on me to remind you that it is His production and not yours. Thankfully HIV will only ever affect me while I live here on earth but when rejecting the gospel message it will result with dire penalties for all eternity. Time on earth will run its course for each one of us, this is a given! But eternity will never end. Therefore we must pay careful attention to the reality of God’s production.

We can all relate to Hollywood Blockbusters and so let me use the movie 2012 as an illustration.

Amidst the events of a geological and meteorological super-disaster, a scientist discovers that the world is about to end and there was nothing that could be done to prevent this from happening, and so the world’s powers derived a plan to save some. They built Arks but these rescue pods could only house a specific number of people and so they keep the information to themselves. They decide who it is that should be saved. Although the majority of the world’s population were unaware of what was about to take place, it did not change the facts, it never could, the world was about to end. This was a story directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich and nothing would change the outcome, it was his production. In exactly the same way God has written His story and it is His production ending the way He chooses. The good news is that He hasn’t like Ronald Emmerich hidden any truth from us and called all to repentance. Can I prove this? I most certainly can, here then is the invitation within His production; “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13) – Unlike Emmerich’s production where only a select few with the correct qualifications make it into the Ark or the rich who needed to pay one billion dollars for a ticket. God has offered a free ticket to all who will come His way and that is through the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ His Son. It is His free grace offering and for all who call upon the Lord shall be saved from certain destruction.

This is an important message within God’s production; unless we repent we shall perish. There is no other alternative which God will accept, His way or no escape at all. This is God’s heart on the matter and His hope for all of mankind; “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.” (2Peter 3:9) – Without repentance in our lives we will perish, as I am obliged to remind you this is God’s production and not yours.

To be continued…

Signing off

Tyrone 

  

In the beginning God...

(Genesis 1:1) “In the beginning God…”

Understanding that in the beginning it was God who orchestrated all things is probably the most crucial piece of the puzzle if we are to fathom out our roles here on earth. Twist that bit of information and our perceptions will be skewed. We have an enemy that is in the process and with many varying opinions is endeavouring to deceive as many individuals as possible. Why is he so consumed with propagating lies? His intention is to defy God and to target those who have been created in the likeness and image of God, mankind! He is the villain and he has been summoned to play a vital part within God’s production.  

Today could be a day where God in His mercy would allow the penny to drop into certain areas of your life concerning your role in His production. But in order for this to happen it is imperative we understand and are convinced with the truth of this certainty that “In the beginning God…”.

Let our minds travel back in time to the instituting of this stint in God’s being. If I can drive home this truth to our understanding it will bring about positive changes within our lives, I am certain of this.

Many years ago God decided that He would declare his brilliance to all things created; in order for this to happen He needed a script and so He sat in the throes of the heavens and began to think things through, no different in type to the production of a movie or a play. There are three stages overarching any production; pre-production, production and post-production. The pre-production stage is time consuming, it is the think tank behind it all and many factors need to be considered. The storyline, money to cover the costs, actors to act out the production, cameramen, lights, varying location, costumes, the building of sets and much more. Without all of these “t’s” crossed and “i’s” dotted there will be problems within the production. In other words the costs must be factored into the production prior to the making of it if it is to be successful. God considered all that was needed for His production and we know that He was very pleased with the outcome; “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good…” (Genesis 1:31)

God is ever powerful and has all the tools needed to accomplish His production. And so He establishes this fact in the very first line of the Bible, “In the beginning God…” He removes any doubt about creation and its origin. Next He explains the catalyst used to show us how this all happened; “And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3) – The Apostle John gives us a deeper insight into this and informs us that the Lord Jesus is the Word; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1-3) – How do we know that this is a reference to the Lord Jesus? Because he later explains; “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

However we can never overlook the fact that God spoke the worlds into existence and that the same God became a man and paid the price for our sins. This was His intention from before the foundations of the worlds. It was part of His pre-production preparation. He hasn’t left anything to chance and rewritten the script along the way as some may believe; it was all carefully premeditated in the same way a script is planned out prior to production. How do I know this to be true? “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:4-6) – It is all about God showing us His brilliance, His production, His will and not our own. I trust that is clearly understood!    

It was by the “Word of God”, God commanded the light to come forth out of the darkness and so it happened. God is so powerful that when He speaks it happens. We need material to build something, He doesn’t! Somewhere in the curtains of the heavens God had a meeting, a post-production meeting if you like. The God-Head came together and considered their upcoming production. We see a picture of the Godhead (“us”) discussing the creation of mankind, which informs us of their debate; “Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26) - Here is a reference to God in the plural content; proving that God is made up of more than one entity and yet God refers to Himself as God in the singular. What is going on here? There are differing references which highlights the Godhead and without going into it in depth, here is one that proves the point; “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) – God consists of three individuals, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit; their minds are always in sink, with each individual playing out their own specific function.

Now back to God’s creation; the main characters within the varying roles of His productions are mankind and they were created in His image and likeness; “Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27)

God finishes creation; the scene is now set with the cameras already rolling with the scenes unravelling. Production well on its way…

It’s God’s production and not mine nor yours and we must always remember to keep this truth in the back of our minds. He is the director and He will direct and determine the specific roles for all of its characters. If and when we misalign ourselves with this reality it then becomes our production and not God’s and it will end badly for us.

When we read the Bible from cover to cover we see that it is filled with all the intrigue any blockbuster has. There are villains and heroes; there is love and heartache; there is suspense and brilliance interwoven within the underlined messages of the production. In a nutshell it is brilliance personified with all of mankind and creation playing their part in it, whether we are privy to it or not. If carefully unpacked we may only see a snippet of the magnitude of God’s brilliance, for we look at it through the eyes of faith but at the end of it all, we all will understand God’s intentions. But for now only those who come to this understanding; that it is God’s production and not ours, only these individuals will truly understand their roles in it. When a potter places a clump of clay onto a potter’s wheel does the clay tell the potter what to create? No! The potter always has power over the clay.

To be continued…

Signing off

Tyrone

"God so loved"

“I have decided” is an action we look to implement countless times throughout our lives; driven by varying intentions that make up our characters. Take yourself there and then stop and try to listen to your own heartbeat, do you hear it? The actual pounding of it cannot be heard without a stethoscope or an ear pressed to it. This is why we never accurately psychoanalyse ourselves as our perceptions about ourselves have been skewed by sin and why there is such a powerful lure that drives people to offload onto someone else. It is an industry that rakes in the big bucks; an industry that allows us the opportunity to facilitate our sin and get away with it, but only for a season!

For God has concluded all under the banner of sin; “as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” (Romans 3:10-11) – Religion teaches us to believe that if we apply ourselves to its doctrine that it will be well with our souls. It teaches us that we can find favour from God with our conduct when in fact we have been hoodwinked into believing a lie. “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” There is nothing we can do or say that will make us acceptable to God outside of the righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ and Him alone. “How can this be true?” one may ask. The answer is an obvious one, we have all been tainted by sin, and we have all been condemned under the curse of sin. Ask yourself the question, have you sinned today? If not today then what about yesterday and do that all the way back into your childhood and it will soon become evident that we have all been tainted by sin in one form or another.

Did you know that the Apostle John was often afforded that privilege and at times was allowed to lay his head on the chest of the Lord Jesus; he would have heard His heartbeat; the rhythmic thud of it as it soothed his racing mind, and possibly the reason why he was known as the “beloved disciple”. The one who got closest to the heartbeat of Jesus, Wow! Did you know that we have all been afforded the same privilege? Sure, it is through the eyes of faith, but nevertheless still on offer to whoever would dare approach the Throne Room of Grace. It is here where the Lord Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father and is waiting eagerly for the remaining few still to cry, “Save me Lord”! Only then will you be privy to His heartbeat.     

When I endeavour to consider the attributes of God, I must conclude that because He is perfect, mathematically, He must be exactly divisible into equal roots. There can be no lack in any of His characteristics. When something is perfect nothing we add to it will ever improve it. However I cannot help but conclude that it is the love of God that speaks the loudest to me, a sinner who was once condemned to death because of my sin but now freed from its penalty because of His love toward me. God the creator of the heavens and the earth sent His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ to pay the price for the sins I committed. I have now been pardoned of my sin, WOW!

Who can with absolute and accurate assurance measure the love of God? It’s depths cannot be plummeted! Today I am driven by faith in my Saviour’s finished work and I have a hope that one day when I finally take my last breath here on earth and open my eyes in the spiritual world where I will see my Redeemer for who He is, I will appreciate Him in person and this is all the motivation I need to press on from day to day. That day will eventually arrive and I will no longer be driven by faith or need hope to fuel me as it drives me into a pursuit of holiness. And yet the love of God will never leave me, it will be mine for eternity, what an awesome thought!

We make many decisions throughout any particular day but more often than not it is driven by the pride of life, the lust of our eyes and the lust of our flesh. But “GOD SO LOVED”! Have you understood this, has His love personally engulfed your existence? If not the offer is still available and all you have to do is reach out and grab it. For those who can say I can relate to the love of God as I have embraced it, then my encouragement is for you to squeeze a little tighter for the riches of God’s grace will never run dry for the Christian.

For now we must all be driven by faith in our God and what He has accomplished on our behalf…

I will now leave you with this thought; “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)

Signing off

Tyrone