The link to my book - Destroy and Deliver (Autobiography)

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

"Behold, all things are become new".

(2Corinthians 5:17) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

I remember as a newly saved believer I heard murmurs about bloodline curses and ancestral sin being echoed in the shadows, as reference is made to these judgements in the Old Testament within certain circumstances. "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: (Deuteronomy 11:26)

Moses concludes his general exhortations to obedience; “He sums up all his arguments for obedience in two words, the blessing and the curse that is, the rewards and the punishments, as they stand in the promises and the threatening, which are the great sanctions of the law, the purpose behind this was to ignite both hope and fear in order for them to chose wisely, if not there would be consequences. So now in the fullness of time God sent His Son to do what the law could not do, that is save us from the wrath of God. The law, which is good and describes the attributes of God, was there to teach us that we needed a Saviour; “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”(Galatians 3:24)

Therefore without a Saviour we would all have to face the wrath of God and that meant without exception! Everybody ever born would have ended up in hell if God had not shown mercy by sending the Lord Jesus to live on this earth without every breaking one of God’s laws given to mankind through Moses and then paying the ultimate price by dying on a cruel Roman cross on the hill of Golgotha. God judged His Son because of our sin! Now because His wrath has been satisfied by His Son’s sacrifice, we (all who believe) can go free! "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.” (John 3:16-17)

Now for some to suggest that after we have believed and been adopted into God’s family that we are still subjected to the sins or the fathers, is ludicrous! Let us reason as men and then we will look to prove the point by scripture. Let’s say we adopt an orphan into our family as he lost his mother and His father was executed for a murder he committed. Would we as his new parents now hold that to his charge! Would we say to him every time he was disobedient that we would punish him because of his father’s sin? Never, not if we understand the laws of adoption, the child now carries our surname, we are now his new parents and even if his parents were still alive they would have no claim to his life as he now belongs in our family. He would be entitled to every right and blessing of our other children. This is what the law teaches, how much more we are now entitled to with the only true and Holy God as our Father. He is far more just! This is exactly why the Apostle Paul teaches us; “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” If I was once subjected to the sins of my father, yet I have now found forgiveness and repented by believing on Him, by default that curse falls away, it must! There is a new beginning for every regenerated believer; this is what it means to be born again!

I have recently read how that by implication a believer must find keys to bind and lock the principalities of darkness from having access to us. Let me reiterate with a clear statement, Satan and His demonic forces are subject to God’s Sovereignty and that is without exception, he can do nothing without God’s permission. I am not for one minute excluding the “sins of the father”, but what I am saying is that after salvation they no longer have any bind on the believer, if they once did! If anyone suggest otherwise they do not understand the work of the cross and what He accomplished on our behalf. As the Lord Jesus hung on that cross, weak in the flesh as He battled to breathe having to push done on the nails through his feet in order to get the next breathe of air to fill his lungs, He said “IT IS FINISHED”. Our great Saviour overcame hell, death and the grave. Do you remember the man chained and demon possessed with many demons, known as Legion? He was in such a mess prior to his meeting with the great I AM, but after that encounter he was as gentle as a dove! “Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked. When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.” (Luke 8:33-35)

He now was a new creature in Christ, old things are passed away; behold, all things had become new for him. It is like that for all who have been touched by the hand of God, if not, then we need to examine our birth certificate and if we are convinced that it is in order and we still hold to the thought of curses having an effect on our lives then we need to change our diet and feed upon sound doctrine and the Apostles teachings. We need to eat from God’s word and not peoples opinions. Get away from that type of teaching and fast!

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39)

That would include ancestral sin, bloodline curses and the like! Let no one teach you otherwise, they may mean well, I know not their hearts, but God knows! Let us never undermine the accomplishment of our great Saviour and what he achieved on the cross for all of us who now have been given sight to see and now confess him as Lord and believe in His resurrection.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Corinthians 5:17)

“Some read it, Let him be a new creature. This ought to be the care of all who profess the Christian faith, that they be new creatures; not only that they have a new name, and wear a new livery, but that they have a new heart and new nature. And so great is the change the grace of God makes in the soul, that, as it follows, old things are passed away - old thoughts, old principles, and old practices, are passed away; and all these things must become new. Note, Regenerating grace creates a new world in the soul; all things are new. The renewed man acts from new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company.” (Matthew Henry)

How then would He still leave us handicapped to do His will? He wouldn’t and he doesn’t! All things are new! We start with a clean slate and all because of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. What we must now do is put on the Armour of God, and having done all we must stand in Him. We have no armour for our backs, because He has our back! He is the Great Shepherd! Praise His name, all honour and glory belongs to Him.

Signing off

Tyrone

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Be Vigilant!

(Psalm 142:3) “When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.”

Safety checks are needed prior to ones departure whether it is by plane bus or train; even our cars are given a better inspection before a long trip. I think I check the pressure in my tyres only when I go away on a holiday. But it must be done on a regular basis. Let’s say, yearly I travel by car to the Eastern Cape. Without exception I do safety checks on my car before departure, it may not be a full service but nevertheless I check the basics and make sure I am prepared for my journey. Sin is a treacherous trait to have been exposed too; we are all partakers of its fruit because of Adam’s sin. We are born into the wickedness it manufactures. Reflecting on my life this morning I am concerned about my casualness in particular areas of my life, I lack discipline and therefore lack obedience and I am caught off guard at times, in fact far to often I am left pondering the outcome as I say to myself, “enough is enough”! This morning I sincerely want an answer on where I am going wrong and I now wait in reliance of God the Holy Spirit to point me in the right direction. I am convinced I will be fed this morning and my rudder trimmed. It is the Word which gives life and so I now seek its direction! “Walk in the spirit and you will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh”. It is imperative for us all to seek out God’s face and His will for our lives on a daily basis. It must be daily, remember the children in the wilderness, they were fed manna from heaven but were not permitted to collect for the next day, and if they did, it would rot and be inedible. Everything they went through and all that they experienced was for our admonition. Let us draw some parallels from this text:

“And the people of Israel did so. They gathered some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it over till the morning." But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. (Exodus 16:17-20)

We can never gather to much of God’s word for our lives, we will always exhaust all of it, it is not as if we will ever get indigestion from God’s Word, like perhaps we find might happen when we over indulge in the wrong type of food. But it is also imperative to understand that we cannot gather today for tomorrow, it will not be sufficient for us to stand against the wiles of the devil if we have that mindset. We must search out the riches of His grace and it must be done daily!

I think it is important for us to understand that God does not want to squeeze us for the sake of righteousness to the exclusion of our love for Him. God happily blesses His children with that which is good. God gives us of the good things of this life, not only for necessity, but for delight, that we may not only serve him, but serve him cheerfully. This is the thought we must begin with in order to for us to lay down our lives cheerfully, if not our lives will be full of misery. The Apostle Peter has this to say; “For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” (1Peter 2:6-8)

Having said that all of God’s children have eyes with which they can see, we know when we are walking in obedience or disobedience. We need that no one tell us if what we are doing is right or wrong before the eyes of God. Unless of course we are still infants, and then they often show us up by their example anyway.

I am so tired of the disappointment in my life in certain areas of application that I am often left feeling rather weary, but why do I feel like this? The answer is simple and yet why do we lack application to it. Let us now consider the pattern we should follow on a daily basis. So for all who have tasted that the Lord is gracious let us take note; malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander is what hinders our growth in Him, we are instructed to put it off, as these are such sins as both destroy charity and hinder the efficacy of the word, and consequently they prevent our regeneration. We must not sit in the seat of the scornful as “bad manner corrupts good morals”. His (Peter’s) advice is to lay aside or put off what is evil, as one would do an old rotten garment: “Cast it away with indignation, never put it on anymore.” Now our flesh and the devils objective is for us to continually wear that old rotten garment. I am persuaded that if we find that we still wear it at times then we are doing something wrong, as it is no longer needed in our lives. I am reminded of Pauls instruction to the saints at Ephesus; “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11)

We are at war beloved; let no one convince you with any other lie. A good soldier must put on the mind of Christ and we must not make the mistake that I have so often made, I have in times past thought that because I have understood a principle in scripture I can tick it off as tried and tested. We must and on a daily basis put on the WHOLE “ARMOUR OF GOD”, if we fail to do this we will be vulnerable to the wiles of the devil and the weakness of our flesh. I am convinced that if we do not seriously take time to put on the armour of God we will fall into sin, whatever that may look like for you. I know my weakness and where I fall! We must do whatever it takes for us to put on the “Amour of God”, if that means that we need to get up an hour earlier, then that is what we must do! This battle is fierce, I am aware that the Lord Jesus has overcome and we stand in Him, but we still need to stand in Him clothed with His armour and not our old filthy garments.

“Make use of all the proper defensitives and weapons for repelling the temptations and stratagems of Satan - get and exercise all the Christian graces, the whole armour, that no part be naked and exposed to the enemy.” Observe, Those who would approve themselves to have true grace must aim at all grace, the whole armour. It is called the armour of God, because he both prepares and bestows it. We have no armour of our own that will be armour of proof in a trying time. Nothing will stand us in stead but the armour of God. This armour is prepared for us, but we must put it on; that is, we must pray for grace, we must use the grace given us, and draw it out into act and exercise as there is occasion. The reason assigned why the Christian should be completely armed is that he may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil - that he may be able to hold out, and to overcome, notwithstanding all the devil's assaults, both of force and fraud, all the deceits he puts upon us, all the snares he lays for us, and all his machinations against us. This the apostle enlarges upon here, and shows,

1. What our danger is, and what need we have to put on this whole armour, considering what sort of enemies we have to deal with - the devil and all the powers of darkness: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, etc. The combat for which we are to be prepared is not against ordinary human enemies, not barely against men compounded of flesh and blood, nor against our own corrupt natures singly considered, but against the several ranks of devils, who have a government which they exercise in this world. We have to do with a subtle enemy, an enemy who uses wiles and stratagems, as Eph_6:11. He has a thousand ways of beguiling unstable souls: hence he is called a serpent for subtlety, an old serpent, experienced in the art and trade of tempting. (2.) He is a powerful enemy: Principalities, and powers, and rulers. They are numerous, they are vigorous; and rule in those heathen nations which are yet in darkness. The dark parts of the world are the seat of Satan's empire. Yea, they are usurping princes over all men who are yet in a state of sin and ignorance. Satan's is a kingdom of darkness; whereas Christ's is a kingdom of light. (3.) They are spiritual enemies: Spiritual wickedness in high places, or wicked spirits, as some translate it. The devil is a spirit, a wicked spirit; and our danger is the greater from our enemies because they are unseen, and assault us ere we are aware of them. The devils are wicked spirits, and they chiefly annoy the saints with, and provoke them to, spiritual wickednesses, pride, envy, malice, etc. These enemies are said to be in high places, or in heavenly places, so the word is, taking heaven (as one says) for the whole expansum, or spreading out of the air between the earth and the stars, the air being the place from which the devils assault us. Or the meaning may be, “We wrestle about heavenly places or heavenly things;” so some of the ancients interpret it. Our enemies strive to prevent our ascent to heaven, to deprive us of heavenly blessings and to obstruct our communion with heaven. They assault us in the things that belong to our souls, and labour to deface the heavenly image in our hearts; and therefore we have need to be upon our guard against them. We have need of faith in our Christian warfare, because we have spiritual enemies to grapple with, as well as of faith in our Christian work, because we have spiritual strength to fetch in. Thus you see your danger.

2. What our duty is: to take and put on the whole armour of God, and then to stand our ground, and withstand our enemies.

(1.) We must withstand, Eph_6:13. We must not yield to the devil's allurements and assaults, but oppose them. Satan is said to stand up against us, 1Ch_21:1. If he stand up against us, we must stand against him; set up, and keep up, an interest in opposition to the devil. Satan is the wicked one, and his kingdom is the kingdom of sin: to stand against Satan is to strive against sin. That you may be able to withstand in the evil day, in the day of temptation, or of any sore affliction.

(2.) We must stand our ground: And, having done all, to stand. We must resolve, by God's grace, not to yield to Satan. Resist him, and he will flee. If we distrust our cause, or our leader, or our armour, we give him advantage. Our present business is to withstand the assaults of the devil, and to stand it out; and then, having done all that is incumbent on the good soldiers of Jesus Christ, our warfare will be accomplished, and we shall be finally victorious.

(3.) We must stand armed; and this is here most enlarged upon. Here is a Christian in complete armour: and the armour is divine: Armour of God, armour of light, Rom_13:12. Armour of righteousness, 2Co_6:7. The apostle specifies the particulars of this armour, both offensive and defensive. The military girdle or belt, the breast-plate, the greaves (or soldier's shoes), the shield, the helmet, and the sword. It is observable that, among them all, there is none for the back; if we turn our back upon the enemy, we lie exposed. [1.] Truth or sincerity is our girdle,” (Matthew Henry)

May God equip us to be vigilant in Him and find grace in time of need and may we remember that blinkers where designed for race horses and not for humans.

Signing off

Tyrone

Monday, 28 February 2011

True Faith!

(Hebrews 11:1) “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.”

The word of God, the Bible is available for most to enjoy, even in communist countries like China and the like, bibles are obtainable if sincerely sought out. For us living in South Africa they are freely available. It is the greatest seller of all times and it is full of wonderful truths. It helps us find answers to the pressing questions of life. Did you know that everything you need for life can be found in the Bible? Faith is found in the bible! Faith is not something we apply to ourselves as we learn to repeatedly tell ourselves we must believe and convince ourselves that we believe in something that is false. Faith gets us to believe in that which is unseen. I was told that I have HIV, which is true and then I am told not to believe the diagnosis as it is a lie, yet the virus is evidently in my blood, I have the virus! I am then told that there is sin in my life because I am HIV positive. The problem with this theory is the bible clearly teaches that God uses our bodies to get our attention and ultimately walk in obedience to Him. He often uses it to help us look to Him as we examine our walk with Him. Our bodies are a tool He uses to get us to sit up and pay attention. “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.” (1Corinthians 11:29-31)

So sin is forgiven through the Lord Jesus and His completed work on Calvary’s hill, the reason I am HIV positive is because of my own sin and God’s judgment, but I have now been forgiven as I have found forgiveness in and through Him, the Lord Jesus. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1John 1:9)

I found forgiveness and I was also restored to active fellowship (membership) within the body of Christ that I was then in fellowship with. Although I was once committed to Satan for the destruction of the flesh my discipline had now been lifted, I had to serve my sentence with one purpose in mind, I needed to sit up and pay attention to my lifestyle, it was there to teach me to fear God and walk circumspectly before Him. No different to someone who was found guilty for stealing and going before a judge and the after pleading guilty for that crime, a sentence was served to that individual and then carried out. The slate was now clean as the sentence for that crime had now been paid. I found forgiveness, nevertheless I still live with the HIV virus in my body, and it still has one intention and that is to destroy my white blood cells. It wants to take me out! This has nothing to do with faith! We must not confuse forgiveness with consequences. If we confess we will be forgiven, but the reaction to our action will and must still run its course. If I get cancer faith teaches me not to use all my energy to be healed as I am obsessesed with the illness but rather learn through my illness to glorify God. I may well seek healing for my body but if it is required that I live with the cancer/HIV then so be it, my hope shifts from me being obsessed with having my body healed but rather finding excitement that I may even sooner be in heaven with my Lord if he wants me home. That is true faith and the bible is our instructor, the Holy Spirit takes what is written and then inscribes it on our hearts, only then can we say we believe, it is a lasting work of God and not a man-centred futile effort to conjure up false faith. “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

If we have hope as Christians in this life only then we will be miserable! “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1Corinthians 15:19)

Heaven must captivate us in its entirety! We must always be looking beyond the now and we must look to the hope we have for then, it must be what drives us on a daily basis. Let no one tell you that you are sickly because you have sin in your life, it may well be true and it is a good place to start with self examination but if you have sincerely repented and found forgiveness and illness remains then find grace from the throne room of grace to look heavenward and that in turn this will ignite our hope for heaven. Let no one lie to you and leave you living in a condemn state, that as a bruised reed you feel there is no longer any hope for you, there is hope and His name is Jesus, only do not hope for healing in this life only but rather be captivated by the hope to come - heaven. If you are frail and your body is weak remember that one day you will receive a body, a glorified body that will not know pain, it will never age and it will be similar in makeup to the Lords glorified body, what a hope we have! This is the correct understanding of faith and this is what the bible teaches. I have not done this topic any great justice with any accurate expository unpacking of extended consideration to the subject, but it is the principle that I want us to understand and with that understanding I trust we can live in faith and apply our minds to God and find His will for our lives. Be aware of the decoys that are sent to trip us up. If He has begun a good work in us, he will complete it! I have been told that a true Christian cannot have illness in his life, which is a liar. I will prove that to you, Elisha the prophet who receives a double portion of the Spirit than that of Elijah died of a sickness. “Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die...” (2Kings 13:14)

Remember it is the Word of God, the Bible where we find all the answers for our lives, feast upon it and find everlasting life.

Signing off

Tyrone

Sunday, 27 February 2011

“You cannot serve God and money”

(Matthew 6:24) “You cannot serve God and money”

We all have dreams, hopes and ambitions but most of the time that is all man centred; it is all about self! But this is another great lie that the devil has sold us as an honourable attribute to have. Let me explain; without going into any specifics and singling out any pet subject let me rather speak in broader terms and leave the interpretation to your own consequence and the work of the Spirit in your lives. If grace has fallen on us as it has for some, our eyes have been opened to the message of the glorious gospel. Jesus Christ is real in our lives and we have received His Spirit and the Holy Spirit now lives within us, He is alive in us. “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” (Romans 8:9)

Think of it like a man occupying a house, prior to his occupancy the house stood empty, but now it has a tenant. We were all blinded by sin and walked around in the dark groping at the crumbs of life, yes even when we won best sportsman or the top academic award. All that type of achievement does is stroke ones ego, just another decoy in life to try and keep you away from the truth and living in it! Anything and everything that is man-centred is exactly what is says, it is about man and about self. The way we like to reason and I have heard these types of remarks made; “but it is not a sin, it is a good thing to be a doctor you are helping people” or “he has such talent I think we must send him abroad to develop that talent.” You are right if you say that on the surface none of those ambitions or goals is sin, however what we must examine in our lives is the difference between that which is man-centred and that which is God-centred. Anything that we do and I say anything or everything without God in the forefront of our minds is man-centred and therefore it is sin in itself. We all need daily bread to sustain our mortal flesh, if we do not eat we will eventually die, so we must eat, but when I take what I eat for granted, when I think as a man and believe I have the right to my daily bread and I overlook the grace of God in my life it is all about me and not about my great heavenly Father. Give us this day our daily bread.(Matthew 6:11)

We reason like this, “I work hard you know, so therefore I am entitled to a treat.” I hope you see the subtle deception with this kind of reasoning. We have been exhorted to imitate Paul as much as he imitates Christ, we pray on a daily basis; well I hope we do have a desire to be more like our Saviour. Man has invented many clever snares to trap the animal they hunt and with great success. Satan goes around like a roaring lion; with subtle deception attempting to ensnare those that now confess Jesus as Lord. Do not be fooled everything that is man-centred is not from God. All we need to do to confirm this to be true is to look at all the examples through scripture that pleased God and He got men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to pen those accounts. Let us look at the greatest faith chapter in the bible, Hebrews 11...

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 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. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.” (Hebrews 11:3-14)

These are all great examples of God-centred faith and they are there to help us understand how we should also live, if we want to be great, then we must lose our lives so that we may find it in Him and we must live in accordance to His will and not our wants. We must lose all our human endeavours wherever and whenever they rob us of our relationship with God our Father no matter how honourable they may seem. It is about heaven and our lives there and not about our lives here on earth. I know I have struck a nerve, nevertheless ask yourself this one question, what is of importance to you, this life or eternity? Whatever the answer will be will determine how we live. Let us not say both because we cannot serve two master; "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 6:24)

If and when I do anything in my life before I consider His will for my life, I walk according to my own lust and not His will! And if I am honest with myself I am guilty in so many areas of my existence, however this must not be excused as acceptable but rather let us repent of this type of reasoning and seek out grace to lay down our lives as Christ laid down His life for the church. I will end with the words of our great Saviour, “You cannot serve God and money”.

Signing off

Tyrone

Saturday, 26 February 2011

I Can See!

(Genesis 1:25) “... And God saw that it was good.”

To be born blind would be tragic, but it would be devastating to lose ones sight, the thought of not being able to see a beautiful sunrise as its rays shimmer off the morning dew, with all its beauty endorsed by God’s signature, would for me be unbearable. We all are similar yet differ in the gifts God has given us through His universal grace. But sight most of us have. I am a photographer by profession and therefore always seem to look for images in and through whatever my eyes behold. A photograph has the opportunity of capturing an image never to be repeated, you may see a similar event, but it will never be exact. How often with camera in hand have I been in the “Great Timbavati” (land stretch that includes the Kruger National Park) and been at a hyena den with its pups playing freely for all to see and thought to myself tomorrow I will come back and get better pictures, and even if on the following day they were still there playing on the same anthill, everything would look different. The sun now on the east with the completion of my surroundings having a different look and feel, there is a window of opportunity for a photographer known as magic hour, it is the best time to take a picture but the window of opportunity does not last long. {So is it for all of God’s children when He speaks, “As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."” (Hebrews 3:15)}

It is imperative to use that time well in order to outshine the opposition. It must not be taken for granted! So was it when I often planned a particular picture in my mind and got up long before sunrise with anticipation only to find the day overcast and the sun blocked by the clouds. This morning I am reminded how privileged I am to see and how thankful I am to God for my sight.

God is pleased with His ability to see and therefore blessed us with sight so that we can see the wonders of His works, which in turn exalts His name. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

This was one of the intentions of creation, us glorifying God in and through His creation, but before long Satan hindered the minds of men. To think that evolution is believed by some is a disaster. “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:21-23)

Have you ever really considered the power behind this statement, “and God saw that it was good.” It grips me this morning with freshness, let us consider the goodness of God but before we can understand His thoughtfulness we must have sight in order to see the truth behind this proclamation. We must understand that He created all things and see His brilliance through creation. But before we can do that we must consider the thinking behind His creation. We must see the change that He instituted.

Where we find, to our comfort, the first article of our creed, that God the Father Almighty is the Maker of heaven and earth, and the catalyst of His creation is through His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, the Word! “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:3-4)

What amazes me in creation is what God used to create, He created from nothing. We all know that we need material in order to construct. We need a pen and paper to pen our thoughts, we need wood for fire and we need material in order to build a shelter, but not God! He created the heavens and the earth from nothing! Ponder this with me. How brilliant is our God! The world is a great house, consisting of upper and lower stories, the structure stately and magnificent, uniform and convenient, and every room well and wisely furnished. But as the earth has not only its surface adorned with grass and flowers, but also its bowels enriched with metals and precious stones, so the heavens are not only beautified to our eye with glorious lamps which garnish its outside. The Hebrew word of God is Elohim, which tells us that God is the powerful creator. The manner in which God worked His brilliance is He created it, that is, made it out of nothing. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void...” (Genesis 1:1-2)

There was not any pre-existent material out of which the world was produced. The fish and birds were indeed produced out of the waters and the beasts and man out of the earth; but that earth and waters were made out of nothing. By nature we are taught that it is impossible that anything should be made out of nothing; the potter cannot produce a vessel without clay. Yet with the almighty power of God it is not only possible that something should be made of nothing, but in the creation it is impossible to consider any alternative, for nothing is more harmful to the honour of the Eternal Mind than to worship the creature rather than the creator. The power is of God and all the glory is to Him and Him alone must we pay homage.

The majority of mankind has the ability to see, and yet it is often taken for granted. But ask a blind man to paint a sunset, it will be impossible for him to capture it as seen by those who can see. We must be able to see the work of His hands, not only in creation by more importantly in our own lives. We all love the sight of beautiful things. With those thoughts in mind let us now be ever more thankful for our new birth, not only do we see the majestic works of his hands through nature but now we can see spiritual things, we can see heaven in its glory and only because of the work of Calvary! Without His intervention in our lives through regeneration we would still be blind. Salvation is the work of God. Just as he alone was involved with His creation so too is it He alone who quickens the soul “dead in trespasses and sins,” and it is He also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both “Alpha and Omega.” “Salvation is of the Lord.” How great is our God and how greatly to be praised! I thank you Father for sending your son to die in my stead so that I may see, and not only do I thank you for my sight but for the sight for all who echo these word, “I can see”. That day was no different for all who have been born again from that day when a blind man receive his sight. “They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.” (John 9:13-14)

May we also fall to our knees today thanking our Father for sending His son, our beloved Saviour for paying the price for our sin so that we can now go free and see!

Signing off

Tyrone

Friday, 25 February 2011

The Harsh Truth!

(John 12:25) “Whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

He that loves his life more than Christ shall lose it but he that hates his life but prefers the favour of God and his interest is in Christ shall keep it unto eternal life. It is Christ’s doctrine and He must insist on it to wean us from this world and to ignite within us a hope that will be everlasting. We must learn to hug Christ at the expense of this overpowering drive to love self and lookout for self. We must seek out grace to accomplish this; it is only for a season that we will have to endure with this body of corruption!

Just a little longer and the trump of God shall sound. There is a day coming when the trump of God shall bellow through the heavens and the dead in Christ shall be changed, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye men and woman will be going about their daily affairs and the next minute, awestruck as they behold their glorified bodies. A body that is incorruptible, immortal, never subject to the degeneration of death, it shall sure be a sweet day, the sweetest of days. Our abode will no longer be amongst thorns and thistles, we will walk upon streets of Gold with God as our God and Father as His radiance in and through the Godhead in its fullness available for us to enjoy, the Lord’s brilliance radiating light so that no sun is needed there. Nothing that is able to defile is permitted to enter those pearly white gates. The Word of God, our Saviour will be on His throne as we will serve Him as King, He will be magnificent to behold. That will be a glorious day, it is days like these when I feel a little weaker and despondent and somewhat insignificant that I need to be reminded of the hope we have in Christ our Saviour, and we need to consider Calvary and all His accomplishment there. Our eyes need to shift from self and others to Him; the safest place for the child of God is at the feet of Jesus... do you recall the account of Mary where she took a pound of expensive ointment from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus. She had understood the greatest place she could find herself was at the feet of Jesus; it will be no different in heaven, with our King on His throne with His faithful saints awaiting His instruction. “Have you not seen, have you not heard, have you not understood,” Mary had definitely understood that she needed to wash her master’s feet, no towel needed as she used her hair to wipe off the excess spikenard from her masters feet, no thought given to her own glory (hair) as it was of little importance to her as she beheld His glory! A very good example of how she was willing to lay aside her own life to lay hold of eternal life. She took what was precious to woman of that time, and used it on the Lord Jesus in abundance, it was so pleasant that all within the room enjoyed the agreeable aroma that now filled the space, except of course Judas the one who was a thief. He was so taken up by his own life that he missed her heart in the matter. A good example of one who lost his life! He loved his own life so much that he ended up with thirty pieces of silver, but all it produced was death! “And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.” (Matthew 27:5)

What about the woman caught in adultery? The law demanded that she be stoned, it demanded her life! What was she to do? There was nothing she could do within herself to save herself, but she was now at the feet of Jesus and she found life, no sweeter place to be found than at the feet of Jesus? For her, it was sweeter than that of the honeycomb, forgiveness can be found nowhere else but at the feet of Jesus. Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:10-12)

Probably amongst the greatest of all accounts was the sinner who needed to find forgiveness at the cost to her own humiliation. When have you ever seen such humility that this sinner finding repentance has shown us such homage washing the Lord’s feet with her own tears and wiping them dry with her hair.

“The great respect which this poor penitent sinner showed him, when he was at meat in the Pharisee's house. It was a woman in the city that was a sinner, a Gentile, a harlot, I doubt, known to be so, and infamous. She knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, and, having been converted from her wicked course of life by his preaching, she came to acknowledge her obligations to him, having no opportunity of doing it in any other way than by washing his feet, and anointing them with some sweet ointment that she brought with her for that purpose. The way of sitting at table then was such that their feet were partly behind them. Now this woman did not look Christ in the face, but came behind him, and did the part of a maid-servant, whose office it was to wash the feet of the guests (1Sa_25:41) and to prepare the ointments.

Now in what this good woman did, we may observe,

1. Her deep humiliation for sin. She stood behind him weeping; her eyes had been the inlets and outlets of sin, and now she makes them fountains of tears. Her face is now foul with weeping, which perhaps used to be covered with paints. Her hair now made a towel of, which before had been plaited and adorned. We have reason to think that she had before sorrowed for sin; but, now that she had an opportunity of coming into the presence of Christ, the wound bled afresh and her sorrow was renewed. Note, It well becomes penitents, upon all their approaches to Christ, to renew their godly sorrow and shame for sin, when he is pacified, Eze_16:63. 2. Her strong affection to the Lord Jesus. This was what our Lord Jesus took special notice of, that she loved much, Luk_7:42, Luk_7:47. She washed his feet, in token of her ready submission to the meanest office in which she might do him honour. Nay, she washed them with her tears, tears of joy; she was in a transport, to find herself so near her Saviour, whom her soul loved. She kissed his feet, as one unworthy of the kisses of his mouth, which the spouse coveted, Son_1:2. It was a kiss of adoration as well as affection. She wiped them with her hair, as one entirely devoted to his honour. Her eyes shall yield water to wash them, and her hair be a towel to wipe them; and she anointed his feet with the ointment, owning him hereby to be the Messiah, the Anointed. She anointed his feet in token of her consent to God's design in anointing his head with the oil of gladness. Note, All true penitents have a dear love to the Lord Jesus.

III. The offence which the Pharisee took at Christ, for admitting the respect which this poor penitent paid him (Luk_7:39): He said within himself (little thinking that Christ knew what he thought), This man, if he were a prophet, would then have so much knowledge as to perceive that this woman is a sinner, is a Gentile, is a woman of ill fame, and so much sanctity as therefore not to suffer her to come so near him; for can one of such a character approach a prophet, and his heart not rise at it? See how apt proud and narrow souls are to think that others should be as haughty and censorious as themselves. Simon, if she had touched him, would have said, Stand by thyself, come not near me, for I am holier than thou (Isa_65:5); and he thought Christ should say so too.” (Matthew Henry)

Sin is such a vicious enemy that it seeks to destroy the saint, it constantly rises its head to try and trip us up, and at times even thought it ought not to be so, we fall by it! How many have fallen in it? We need to be vigilant against the sin that so easily besets the believer; we must be on guard against it. However if we do sin we have a High Priest that when we confess our sin He is just and faithful to forgive us of our sin. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9)

I can honestly say there is a part of my character that I hate with such vigilance, I long for the day when I will see my Saviour as He now is, not bruised and crushed hanging on a tree but in all His glory, seated at the right hand of the Father. There is a day coming when His promise will eventually arrive in its fullness and we will be like Him. Even so come quickly Lord Jesus, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Thursday, 24 February 2011

The Fiery Trials of Life!

(1Peter 4:12) “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

Life within its circumstances may force us at times to change gears. Detours to life are evident to all when as we are under construction and therefore detours must be part of our lives. Let us consider that for a moment, why we would need change to our lives is simple; it is only through hardships that one’s character is formed. There is an advert I have recently seen a Johnny Walker commercial with Haile Gebre Selassie (widely considered the greatest distance runner ever – has set a host of world records, won two Olympics gold’s and captured eight world titles in events ranging from the 1,500 metres right up to the marathon.). He explains that as a young boy he had to run 20km to school every day, and that is where he learnt to find, as he puts it, “one big push!” Poverty and the lack of transport with athletic capabilities gifted from God. This man was given the perfect formula to help him find greatness as an athlete.

David had a similar experience, his life was full of blessings and he often would stand boldly declaring the victory he trounced in and through his God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, however his life was also full of tears and suffering, he spent time running from King Saul and lived in caves with a shortage of food. Life wasn’t always a bed of roses and neither should it or will it be any different for the child of God. The more God prepares a man for service the more he seems to be squeezed in order to glorify God. It was like that for the greatest of all examples; yes our great Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ was squeezed so tightly that in the Garden of Gethsemane He began to sweat drops of blood, God in the flesh having to endure suffering, WHY? The supposition is that Christ had suffered for us in the flesh, or in his human nature. The consequent or implication is, “Arm and fortify yourselves likewise with the same mind, courage, and resolution.” The word flesh in the former part of the verse signifies Christ's human nature, but in the latter part it signifies man's corrupt nature. It is important that we understand the makeup of our flesh, its corruptibility and its tendency to always look for outs! I find it interesting that Peter gives us this teaching, the boldest of all the original Apostles, he was the one to venture out and walked on water, he also cut off the roman centurion’s ear when coming to arrest the Lord but then also denies the Lord three times.Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." (Matthew 26:34)

I loved the Lords response to Peter’s uncompromising statement, “never me Lord”, how familiar are those words to your ears, I am guilty as charged! The Lord must have looked into Peter’s eyes with his piercing compassionate stare without even a hint of disgust or animosity and said, “But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:32)

It was needful for Peter to be brought down to size and to understand the weakness of his own flesh, as it was part of his process in killing off the old man, we too have to go through a similar process to kill off the lusts and wants of our old man. Many of us may say, like Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." (Luke 22:33)

And yet when he was challenged with that exact test he denied the Lord!

Words and promises flow from our tongues with such ease, but when they are tested they seldom stand up to the test, may God continue to be merciful as He will be to all His children and help us find grace in time of need to stand firm in Him.

Suffering is as much a part of a Christian’s daily life as eating and sleeping.

“Some of the strongest and best arguments against all sorts of sin are taken from the sufferings of Christ. All sympathy and tenderness for Christ as a sufferer are lost of you do not put away sin. He dies to destroy it; and, though he could cheerfully submit to the worst sufferings, yet he could never submit to the least sin. The beginning of all true mortification lies in the mind, not in penances and hardships upon the body. The mind of man is carnal, full of enmity; the understanding is darkened, being alienated from the life of God, Eph_4:18. Man is not a sincere creature, but partial, blind, and wicked, till he be renewed and sanctifies by the regenerating grace of God. How it is further explained, 1Pe_4:2. The apostle explains what he means by being dead to sin, and ceasing from sin, both negatively and positively. Negatively, a Christian ought no longer to live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the sinful lusts and corrupt desires of carnal wicked men; but, positively, he ought to conform himself to the revealed will of the holy God. The lusts of men are the springs of all their wickedness, Jam_1:13, Jam_1:14. Let occasional temptations be what they will, they could not prevail, were it not for men's own corruptions. All good Christians make the will of God, not their own lusts or desires, the rule of their lives and actions. True conversion makes a marvellous change in the heart and life of every one who partakes of it. It brings a man off from all his old, fashionable, and delightful lusts, and from the common ways and vices of the world, to the will of God. It alters the mind, judgment, affections, way, and conversation of every one who has experienced it.” (Matthew Henry)

So the next time we ask, “Why Lord?” let us remember God is preparing His children for greater things to come and it is only through suffering that we will become more like our glorious Saviour in character! “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

Signing Off

Tyrone

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

In Him Must we Trust!

(Hebrews 13:5) “I will never leave thee.”

No promise is of private interpretation. Whatever God has said to any one saint, He has said to all. When He opens a well for one, it is that all may drink. When He offers bread all may eat, for whosoever to the Lord may come He will not turn one away. The tragedy of it all we know that many will not come. In which camp do you belong? The Camp where the rivers flow with milk and Honey and you can see an abundance of blessing just waiting to be enjoyed, or are you amongst the sceptics - that believe that this is it, one life and then the end, you will be wrong! There were sceptics amongst the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, those who through generations came from the seed of his lions, there were those who did not believe that the Promised Land was there for the taking and yet two of the spies had a different spirit. They saw a land that had bunches of grapes the size of a man and two men had to carry one bunch. Yet the other ten spies saw giants in the land, what is it you see? Is life a drag, is it a grind and does it seem as if things only get worse! If you have a different Spirit, if you have been born again then you will eventually see the promise even if it now seems a little cloudy. I will remind you in time past, olives were placed between two stones and pressure was then placed onto the olives with a grinding action and through that process, sweet nourishing olive came forth. Let us consider an olive straight from a tree, it is inedible, but with a little bit of work and through time they are delightful to the taste. Olive oil must be the king of oils and olives are enjoyed by many but not all! So is it for the mankind, not all enjoy the sweet promises afforded the child of God. It is only those who see God’s promises that may enjoy what is seen. There is a granary and it is full to the brim, there is a door to give out food, there may be a starving man, a faithful saint in desperate need for its supply, who is the occasion of it being opened, but all hungry saints may come and feed too. The impartiality of God’s love on display, there is a throne room full of grace, is it not also for all, yes it must be for all and we are instructed to approach it with boldness. Whether He gave the word to Abraham or to Moses, matters not, O believer; he has given it to us as one of the covenanted seed. As blessed as they were, we are even the more blessed all because of the finished work of Calvary, because our Saviour, the greatest of the great defeated the devil and all His allies in one final battle. The “Battle of Britain” lasted 114 days where Hitler and his German Luftwaffe came at the British with 2500 military airplanes, Germany however were defeated by the British. Our Saviour had all of hell, not just the air force, but as much as hell could muster was thrown at Him, on that cross and out of His glorious mouth came these sweet words that now ring true to our ears, “IT IS FINISHED” There is not a high blessing too lofty for us, nor a wide mercy too far-reaching for all who would come. Lift up your eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, for all this is available to the saint, He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. When we are inclined to say, I can go on no longer let us remember, the olive! Let us remember Calvary and our Masters accomplishment there. Climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the utmost limit of the divine promise, for the land is all ours. There is not a brook of living water of which we may not drink. If the land flows with milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk, for both belong to the child of God. God has promised it and it is ours to be had! Be bold to believe, for He said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” In this promise, God gives to his people everything. “I will never leave thee.” Then all of God’s attribute will we have the right to, not because of who we are or what we may have achieved, but because of what Christ accomplish in obedience to God His Father. Is he mighty? He will show himself strong on the behalf of them that trust Him. Is he love? Then with loving-kindness will He have mercy upon us, have we not seen that in our lives, I know I have time and time again I have witnessed the love of God in my life. Whatever attributes may compose the character of Deity, every one of them to its fullest extent shall be engaged on our side. To understand, there is nothing we can want, there is nothing we can ask for, there is nothing we can need in time or in eternity, there is nothing living, nothing dying, there is nothing in this world, nothing in the next world, there is nothing now, nothing at the resurrection-morning, nothing in heaven which is not contained in this text-”I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

How sweet these words should and must ring true in our ears. To Him be glory now and forever more!

Signing off

Tyrone

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

The Old Man Crucified!

(Romans 6:6)Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin;”

To stand the test of time, to endure, to undergo whatever it may take to stand upon the finished work of Calvary; who will finish, and who will fall by the wayside? All pressing questions I now have probing my brain, so many different stories with so many voices in this world of ours. If it was not for the Spirit of God, how lost and opinionated we would all be. In ourselves we love to explore the hype of Christianity; somehow we have that built into us. Be warned, if it has not be written and then expounded on by the Apostles, we must hear warning bells no matter how appealing and cuddly the story may seem. We must give earnest heed to the apostles teaching, they have been single out by God to bring us His mind on so many issues pertaining to life and godliness. We must fight again the driving temptation to hanker after voices which seem to have more of an appealing story for us to follow. Whether their stories bear relevance or not to our lives, we have what we need and that is the “Canon of Scripture”. It is complete and as it has pleased our heavenly Father, let it also please us! Let us become leaches hungry for God’s word, so hungry in fact that instead of reaching for books written by authors of today, we would begin to instinctively reach for the Bible, books in themselves can teach us a phenomenal amount, so books can be very good for our spiritual wellbeing, however as some may have a positive effect, bad books, those full of opinionated ideas of what the scripture does not teach have been penned to tickle our ears and can unsettle many who are young in the faith. The power of the pen is greater than any fighter jet or atomic bomb, it moulds and shapes peoples understanding, but as good a help as it can be, the opposite is just as true, be cautioned! “For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts;” (2Timothy 4:3)

Even autobiographies need to be viewed with much caution; I have written my own story and am in the process of deciding whether to correct some wrongs in “my story” or to let it rest, once again that great well balance preacher Charles Spurgeon helps us reason with a sound mind. This is what he has to say about our past lives, prior to us repenting and finding forgiveness; “Our sins must be put to death with every circumstance of shame and self-humiliation. I must confess I am shocked with some people whom I know, who glibly rehearse their past lives up to the time of their supposed conversion, and talk of their sins, which they hope have been forgiven them, with a sort of smack of the lips, as if there was something fine in having been so atrocious an offender. I hate to hear a man speak of his experience in sin as a Greenwich pensioner might talk of Trafalgar and the Nile.
The best thing to do with our past sin, if it be indeed forgiven, is to bury it; yes, and let us bury it as they used to bury suicides. Let us drive a stake through it, in horror and contempt, and never set up a monument to its memory.
If you ever do tell anybody about your youthful wrongdoing, let it be with blushes and tears, with shame and confusion of face; and always speak of it to the honour of the infinite mercy which forgave you. Never let the devil stand behind you and pat you on the back and say, "You did me a good turn in those days."
“Oh, it is a shameful thing to have sinned, a degrading thing to have lived in sin, and it is not to be wrapped up into a telling story and told out as an exploit as some do.”
"The old man is crucified with him." Who boasts of being related to the crucified felon? If any member of your family had been hanged, you would tremble to hear anyone mention the gallows; you would not run about crying, "Do you know a brother of mine was hanged at Newgate?” Your old man of sin is hanged; do not talk about him, but thank God it is so; and as he blots out the remembrance of it, do you the same, except so far as it may make you humble and grateful.”

“EVERY new man is two men—every Believer in Christ is what he was and not what he was—the old nature and the new nature exist at the same time in each regenerate individual. That old nature the Apostle calls a man, because it is a complete manhood after the image of fallen Adam. It has the desires, the judgment, the mind, the thoughts, the language and the action of man as he is in his rebellious estate. He calls it the “old man,” because it is as old as Eden’s first transgression. It is as old as we are. It is the nature born with us, the natural depravity, the fleshly mind which we inherited from our parents. It is tainted by the old serpent and bears within it a dread propensity to his old sin.” (C.H.Spureon)
With those thoughts in mind let us rather leave those things that are behind us, let us not dwell on them where possible and let us run this race with diligence, cleaving onto every word of God, let our focus shift from one another and rather let us be captivated by CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED, let us remember His exploits as they will help us live more godly in Christ!

“The old old story it is ever new, the old old story praise the Lord its true, how Jesus died for me as well as you, the old old story praise the Lord it is true.”

Paul the Apostle teaches us this very clearly; “Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13)

The model we should aspire to is the legacy Paul left us and this is His legacy, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1Corinthians 2:2)

Signing off

Tyrone