Not long now...

(1Corinthians 13:10)  “But when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”

How often have you noticed when speaking to other Christians that our emphasis is often misplaced when we talk about getting to heaven? If the truth be told I know we do not understand what that really means, as our understanding has been veiled by this corruptible body of decay, our flesh!

The Apostle Paul teaches us that our sight is obscured; we only get glimpses of heaven through the eyes of faith and yet I wonder after so many years why so many still apply their faith in a childish manner. Why is it that we haven’t given up our childish ways? Oh how I thank God for our helper, God the Holy Spirit! The One that leads us into all truth! “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (1Corinthians 13:12) 

What inspired Paul or any of the other Apostles to lay down their lives even unto death? They understood that they were fully known there could not have been any obvious hidden agendas in their lives; they were sold out for Christ. We all have many struggles, and that is undoubtedly by design; it is what we need in our lives to keep us crying out unto our God. Without these challenges in life we would not yell out for help. But I must confess that at times the pressures of life seem unbearable, but when I correct my focus I am wiser than that, as life’s tests are working together for my good. It is amazing how often I look for sin in my life to explain the reason why certain things are happening. It’s as if, I constantly believe myself to be under God’s discipline! “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:10-13) 

We must reason with soberness but it sure gets muddled at times; but only when I think like a child! Sin or unbelief is a wicked trap in our lives! That is why we must always look to our heavenly Father in hope of the resurrection; the day when this mortal body will take on immortality.

In order to fuel our hope we must reason correctly, we must not place our ultimate anticipation in heaven and the streets of gold, or the many mansions, but rather that we will forever be with our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1-3) – The main emphasis is not on heaven itself, but rather that we will be with Him. We will forever be able to have fellowship with Him; we will be in the best of company for all eternity. This then is what must fuel our faith! No wonder the Apostles were so willing to die for their faith, and more than that they did die!

May God help us all to put off our childish outlook on life. It will be better to be in hell with the Lord Jesus than to be in a place like heaven without Him and without our heavenly Father. This is the gift God has offered to every child of God who remains faithful unto the end! The prize is not merely heaven, but our Saviour will take us unto Himself! How I long for that day, even so come quickly Lord Jesus! 

For this truth to remain constant in a believer’s life, with all the cares of this life pressing hard upon us, it is imperative to wrestle to find God’s grace in time of need. It is not a given per say, we must seek it out in earnest. Remember Jacob’s tenacity! He wrestled with an angel for hours before receiving a blessing, how feeble I am at times! I know it cost Jacob a limp for the rest of his life, but that is a very small price to pay when we consider where he is. He is in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ having fellowship with Him. Hope no longer needed in his life. We still live and breathe, our hope still remains but there will come a day when we too will be in the presence of our great Saviour, to ever be with Him! “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” (Hebrews 12:12-13)   

May God help us not to be overtaken by the cares of this life, because before we know it, it will all be over. I recall as a young boy looking at older men and thinking they are old! Time stands still for no man, I am almost fifty! How time flies. Hang in there child of God, our God will see us home! Believe it we must! Before we know it we will be with our Saviour and in His presence for all perpetuity!

Signing off

Tyrone

Just to be sure!

There is much to-do on how one should read and interpret the bible, people love formulae and hate to move very far from them; an easy out, and why not? Who in their right mind would want to work harder for the same result? Sometimes working smarter is far easier than grinding away at something even with the right intention but ending up in the wrong place. “To do it right yea!”

The Baptists tell us that we must study scripture in an expository manner (is to explain and analyse information by presenting an idea, relevant evidence, and appropriate discussion or “used to describe writing that is done to explain something”). In other words to start with a book from the Bible at verse one and then to work your way through it to get the most accurate interpretation out of it. The Pentecostal believer will stress the point of letting God the Holy Spirit lead and they will jump around the Bible to get their point across. I am yet to find either willing to budge on their understanding.

Who then is right? In my opinion they both have their place. Take Charles Spurgeon a minister of God’s Word, who arguably was one of the greatest men God used in the 19^th Century. A man with phenomenal devotion to the Word of God, a man with an abundance of revelation! A man who held to Calvin understanding of Scripture and yet, I vividly recall a point he made in one of his sermons, I cannot quote verbatim but he said I believe in all of Calvin’s doctrine, and more! It was the “and more” that jumped out at me. What I understood by that implication was that we should all be diligent in studying the scripture; we shouldn’t just take someone’s word for it because they say so. Paul had this to say to Timothy; “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2Timothy 2:15)

The Charismatic church accuses the Baptists of boxing the Holy Spirit, which at times they may be found guilty of doing exactly that! However, God is not the author of confusion! There is a right and a wrong way to do things. If Spurgeon was more topical when preaching, what gave him the right to be so skill with his application to God’s Word? He even took it to the point in his daily devotions to use only part of a verse and then hone in on an idea. I would agree that there aren’t many Spurgeons around today. However, in my opinion, he worked from a platform of an expository understanding, and this in turn made him as effective as he proved to be. We too should follow his example, look at scripture in context to the passage and then only once we understand as much as we can from a book are we then able to glean from scripture as we search out topical verses to stress a point!  

The Baptist will say that by doing this we open ourselves up to error, which could also be true, but we are taught very clearly from the Lord Jesus that the God the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth; “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:13)

My conclusion then would be this; we must learn to walk by faith and be open to God’s direction in our lives on a daily basis, when we believe we have been lead into truth, it is imperative that we examine the scripture in context to confirm if what we have heard is in fact from God, or it is just a vain imagination. Not to doubt our great God but rather to receive confirmation from Him.

May God open the eyes of our understanding, to Him be glory for now and evermore, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone  

Birth Certificate

We will look at an event that took place in Isaiah’s life and we will each need to ask ourselves if we ever felt the same about ourselves. If not I pray God would be merciful allowing us to examine our hearts, because I am convinced if we haven’t then it would be fair to ask the question; “am I saved, am I truly born again”? If not we need to seek out God’s forgiveness in earnest, not simply trusting that we will make it to heaven but of a certainty know we are covered by the blood of the lamb; to know beyond a question of doubt that God has forgiven us for our sin! If not, we need to fall to our knees and cry out to the only true God, and not to the false religions of this world, as they are just illusions, a deception of the truth and will be found wanting on the day of judgment.

Let us put the scene into context…

Isaiah was a man whom God used to write one of the books in the bible (the book of Isaiah), a prophet used by God to speak to His people, who were at the time the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Jews were His people! But God in His grace and mercy has also afforded us (non-Jews) the opportunity to be included into His family if we come through the only true Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; the true Messiah! Without their rejection of Christ we who were never part of Abraham’s seed would never have been afforded this marvelous opportunity. But the invitation has gone out far and wide, in fact I doubt whether there are many places left in the world who have not received the gospel in one form or another. However there are a lot of pseudo gospels that will never save a soul. We must be sure!

Are you sure that you have been saved? If not do not let the sun set until you are sure… Perhaps or maybe is a place of instability, and who wants to live there?

Here is Isiah’s experience; “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"” (Isaiah 6:1-5)

Do we see ourselves as Isaiah saw himself as a man in deep trouble as he stood in the presence of the Lord? Do we echo the words “woe is me”? Or do we think because we say we believe but live no differently to the way we always have that that now qualifies us as Christians? Or do we say I am not as bad as the next person. If so I would suggest that we believe a lie, we have been hoodwinked! No one has the right to examine another; we must all examine our own hearts before God. I would even dare to suggest that 

there isn't a person alive today that could have claimed his own self-righteousness like Isaiah and yet the first words out of his mouth when he saw the brilliance of God was “woe is me”! This then in my understanding, we must all find ourselves having a similar encounter, where we utter these words, “woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips” before we can with any assurance claim to be the children of God! Where do you fit in with that in mind?

Here is a man who may help us understand what our next move should be…

“Ye must be born again.”

- Joh_3:7

Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are “born again,” for there are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it-the being “born again,” is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one, God alone can do the other. If you have then, been “born again,” your acknowledgment will be, “O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, thou art my spiritual Parent; unless thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ My heavenly life is wholly derived from thee, to thee I ascribe it. ‘My life is hid with Christ in God.’ It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me.” May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

To be content...

For us who now belong to the only true God, to those who are fortunate enough to cry Abba Father! We must all eventually arrive at this conclusion; our God is a consuming fire and His brilliance is so majestic and powerful that we are unable to come into His presence as men in the flesh, for if we did, we would literally disintegrate in His presence. Remember Moses’ account with God, how God hid him in the cleft of a rock for this exact reason. However with that said we also know that He deals with us as sons and not bastards! For this reason we are not only able but are entitled to cry Abba Father!  This places a totally different dimension on man’s (Christians) relationship with a God of such magnitude. But it also brings in an element that the Christian often tends to overlook, which is God’s chastisement into our lives. This aspect to God’s relationship with His children is of crucial benefit and importance to the believer. Without it we cannot claim to be His children! I daren’t go into the exact implication God uses to work this out in a believers life, which I will leave to God the Holy Spirit to convict and reveal the necessary in a believers heart. But I will be so bold to deal with the truth of this text as I understand it!

Far too often in times past I prayed for something to be gone from my life as if it has no place in it; why was it there? While in fact my actions had caused the result! A consequence to an action! Stop blaming God for the position you find yourself in, when in fact you are exactly where you need to be. A man may say, “why is my money dried up, I had an abundance not so long ago.” He spent it on debauched living, why would he even bother to ask the question? And yet our hearts are so wicked it is often the first retort! Remember the prodigal son! It was only when he came to his senses that the oil and the wine was poured into his wounded heart and the healing process kicked in. God in His brilliance, taking an absolutely hopeless situation and using it for the good of the perpetrator; ultimately bring glory to His name. I said eventually! Remember Samson, he may have lost both eyes, but when he came to his sanities, he called out unto the Lord his God and he killed more philistines in his death than his life!

I have made far too many mistakes in my life to mention them all, but through them I trust I can help others understand the consequence to so many bad errors will result in exactly that, “the baggage of the past”!  Nevertheless we must ask God to help us accept our wrongs, He most certainly does forgive those who truly repent, but to try and pray away our situation at times is nothing but folly! For me to ask God to heal me from HIV when in fact I was the one who ignored the warnings, I certainly have asked for forgiveness, which every true believer will search out, this should be obvious because without forgiveness we will never be able to cry Abba Father!  But, to ask the question why, when in fact we are aware of our actions when playing them out; it is imperative to seek out God’s grace to differentiate between the two, forgiveness and consequence! We must all find rest in the finished work of our Saviour; the Apostle Paul teaches us this lesson, if only we would learn from him; “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13)

Signing off

Tyrone 

Remembering the lost...

Another early morning for me as I excitedly wait for direction form the Lord of my Life. I wonder how many people around the globe are entitled to a similar privilege. Or rather how many of my friends and acquaintances have the same fortune of waking up at 2 in the morning, sitting at their desk and conversing with the only true God? It is an open offer; “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."” (Romans 10:13) - But how many have embraced this invitation? I am forever thankful that God almighty, my heavenly Father has afforded me this opportunity, praise His Holy name! Thank you Lord Jesus for drying on Calvary for me; a wrenched sinner like me!

 I am under no illusion that on the face of it, and with human reasoning, I most certainly do not deserve salvation. I have absolutely no merit in myself, on the contrary if I look at all the times I have failed even as a Christian, why would the Lord still bother with me? If the truth be told, even as pathetic as I am, He is perfect and He will glorify His own name, for His own name sake. There may be others out there who want to throw in the towel as they feel they cannot cut it as a Christian; failure after failure seems to be the order of the day. That may probably be true; BUT GOD is able to save from the extreme to the uttermost. I can assure you He has not given up on you, even if you have given up on yourself. This is one of the reasons He came to earth to live as a man in a human body to experience the weakness of the flesh. This is why He was able to say this to Peter; ““Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."” (Matthew 26:41)

He understands what it is like to live as a human. A shepherd like no other, the lion and the bear may be on the prowl looking to devour and they may even find a wandering lamb; but like prince Valiant upon his horse our Saviour always arrives in the nick of time. Just as the beast is about to sink his teeth in for the closing blow, our Knight in shining armour arrives with His flaming sword in hand coming to our rescue, praise the name of Jesus!

Even when we know we are in the place we should never be. Let us learn from these setbacks in our lives and avoid similar situations the next time around. These tests will come, as they must! We must however learn to be careful as Christians and stay away from the danger of the Fowler when we have it in our power to do just that. Do not venture into places that will test your resolve, we must go back to our “first works” as Christians, the time in our lives were we avoided the lying traps of life with such vigour. Why then after so many years do we slip back into the same routine we once avoided? The storerooms overflow with grace for every true believer, but we must come as we have been instructed to come, and that is with boldness, seeking out God’s grace in time of need.

How many faces flash through my mind’s eye of those who have come and gone, what has become of them I ponder? I am persuaded of this one fact if they were truly saved I will of a certainty see them on the other side, clothed in white. Do they lie desolate in some damp corner as life rips away as their faith, they are weak but He is strong! I beseech all my brothers and sisters in Christ to stop and consider those who once were but now seem to be no more, pause and pray for them with an earnest expectation, as we have been instructed to pray for one another, it is the way of the Christian! Remember them now and cry out to our God on their behalf! Be wary to disregard them as lost and forgotten, our God has not written them off; you may have but He hasn't! “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;” (Matthew 12:20)

It is love that covers a multitude of sins, just as Christ has loved us,  we ort also to love others…

I will leave us with this thought from our brother Jude; “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” (Jude 1:21-23) 

Signing off

Tyrone

My grace is sufficient...

No matter where we find ourselves, nothing more needs to be said…

I am quick to grumble… forgive me Father God and thank you for the reminder…

My grace is sufficient for thee.”

- 2Co_12:9

If none of God’s saints were poor and tried, we should not know half so well the consolations of divine grace. When we find the wanderer who has not where to lay his head, who yet can say, “Still will I trust in the Lord;” when we see the pauper starving on bread and water, who still glories in Jesus; when we see the bereaved widow overwhelmed in affliction, and yet having faith in Christ, oh! what honour it reflects on the gospel. God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring-that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as he is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace. There is a lighthouse out at sea: it is a calm night-I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm; the tempest must rage about it, and then I shall know whether it will stand. So with the Spirit’s work: if it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we should not know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we should not know how firm and secure it was. The master-works of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties, steadfast, unmovable,-“Calm mid the bewildering cry, Confident of victory.”

He who would glorify his God must set his account upon meeting with many trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts be many. If then, yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for his failing you, never dream of it-hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end. (Charles Spurgeon)

Tyrone

   

The Wisdom of God...

“Out of the eater came something to eat!”

Satan goes around seeking whom he may devour…

But our GOD more precious than gold, more brilliant than the glint of a diamond, sweeter than honey in the rock and He has a heart full of love…

It is without question that the trial of our faith teachers us many valuable lessons in life, but more than this, it is only when two crushing stones come together do we get the most out of the olive! How else would we get such a precious well sort out oil if there was no pressure placed upon the olive? No pressure no oil! Throughout the ages the olive has been of great value to mankind. Let us then learn from the oil; we need pressure in our lives to produce oil that is useful to us as well as others with us. It is the trial of our faith through our daily experience that teaches us the value of “oil”. We are quick to pray it away, why? Because we do not understand our God, our Father is greater than any earthly father could ever dream to be, why then would He look to bring us harm? He wouldn’t! Trust we must!

I stand in awe when I consider the greatness of our God, His ways are far from finding out. He has chosen to operate outside the realm of human reasoning and with great affect He works out His eternal plan! When mankind reasons, we find ourselves always asking the question, “why? How come if God is a God of love has this happened”, filters across the lips of so many. He isn't bound by the laws of gravity and the aging process, our God has no restraints! No wonder the Apostle Paul boldly says; “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1Corinthians 1:25) – Men think themselves to be wise but in fact they are foolish, educated men say things like, “there is no proof of God where is He?” But God has declared through the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans, to those who would dare to search the scriptures; “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:18)  - And yet in their arrogance they continue to pipe the same tune, trying their utmost to cause doubt in the hearts of the simple! The day of reckoning is just around the corner and there is a day coming, where every knee will bow to the Lord Jesus and confess Him as the Lord of lords and the only true God; they will all have to eat their bullishness! What a day of rejoicing it will be for the believer but for the heathen the lake of fire will be his portion! I beseech you therefore, proclaim the good news far and wide, and do not leave the gospel edict until tomorrow for today is the day of salvation. While we still breathe we have hope but for those who have gone on, their race is run and judgement waits! No second chances as it were! There is one of two outcomes: heaven with all its glory, or hell and damnation a sentence that will last forever.

Have you ever seen a person shy away from warning people from tragedy? Take the movie called “Contagion” as our example; an epidemic starts in Asia and travels abroad to the United States of America, a virus highly contagious and transmitted by touch. Once the news was out, there was no, “should I, why would I”, or people saying “I don’t believe it”, as the masses died around them as they sobbed for loved ones. This virus was so contagious it took no prisoners, in fact it was so aggressive that shortly after entering the humans body it began to mutate; straight on the offensive, destruction its objective! My point should be obvious but if not, let me spell it out. There is a day coming when the Lord Jesus Christ, the same man who died on the cross of Calvary; God in the flesh, the One who knew no sin, and yet He paid the price for sin as if He was indeed a sinner. The same God who paid the price for an unworthy sinners like me. He will judge the living and the dead! The trumpet is booming, men and woman across the globe are appealing to the “whosoever” to come, you needn’t be rich, you needn’t be poor, just come as you are; all have been invited, but come you must!

Woe to the one who rejects the invitation, judgement is looming just over the horizon. No other philosophy or religion will cut it, it may bring some relief here on earth, but as for the life to come every deception will all bow at the feet of Jesus!

There is but one criterion that qualifies mankind for salvation, they must acknowledge that they are sinners and that they need a Saviour. Where do you fit in?

Signing off

Tyrone

   

How do we know we love God?

How do we know we love God?

There are many facets to this answer…

But let us highlight some of the truths we are given from the Word of God, the Bible; the living Word will set us free if we learn to apply it into our lives.

It is important that we accurately consider the training from God’s Word so that we can hunt out His grace to correct whatever needs correcting, which is the purpose of any instruction manual! We are told “that in the last days the love of many will wax cold”; hate which hinges off a lack of tolerance will sadly be the norm. It is evident that this has already begun like never before, not in my lifetime anyway! Road rage is common news, just the other day a man fatally shot another man in peak hour traffic. There he was on his way to work and an hour or so later in jail with his life now turned upside down. Was he married, did he have children? If so, not only his life, but others who depend upon him now also suffer from the effects of his outburst. No matter how hard he wills things to be different; that is now engraved in the history books of time.

With the intolerance of hate lurking in the shadows, deep within the recesses of men’s hearts, no differently to a pit-bull waiting to pounce on its next victim, we as Christians must pay notice to this warning. Here is a clear instruction from the Apostle John; “If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1John 4:20-21) –intolerance for whatever reason will not cut it, if our reasoning supersedes the Word of God, it makes us a liar and the act of repentance must follow. If not we must then conclude that we cannot claim to love God! May I remind you as I firstly remind myself; If I do not find repentance and forgive my brother for any indifference I may have with him, I then cannot claim to love God, all it proves is that if I say I love God I am a liar! A stern warning from the beloved disciple, but it is imperative for us to pay careful attention to it! Let us be careful not to look for justification and not to reason with our carnal minds. Let us rather come to the throne of grace with boldness, seeking out resolve to make straight our crooked paths.

The next test is also found in the epistle of John and it proves not only to the believer but to other believers, whether or not, we truly are the children of God. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.” (1John 5:2-4) – Here we see that our faith, which is a gift from God, equips us to overcome the world. This is a lot harder to settle in our minds, for we all have a “thorn in the flesh”, an achilles heel that seems to plague us, I am aware that we have different struggles with sin, but we all have them! Nevertheless we must learn to find grace to overcome the various temptations we face as pilgrims here on earth. If not, we cannot with any assurance claim to be children of God! Oh how we need God’s intervention in our lives to be victorious Christians, but triumphant we need to be, we must learn to walk by faith! Yet we must find tolerance with a meek and gentle spirit when we see our brother straying, lest we fall into the same temptation and be found wanting. How we need you intersession my dear beloved Saviour! The Lord Jesus taught us to pray like this; “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) – Just as the Lord has considered us, we must also learn to ponder others and put them before our own needs. This then is true love!  

And finally we know that we love God when we can begin to accept that whatever may happen throughout the day, regardless of tragedy as we would understand it, we must be settled by this truth, that our God is in perfect control and it is not our place to second guess Him. Two days ago the main house was flooded, but I am convinced it was needful for all, if not it would not of happened! The Apostle Paul teachers us this truth; “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) – This applies to God’s children and not to those outside of His family, it is the called that God is fashioning into the image of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! We must learn to rest in the wise Master Builder’s ability as He fashion and moulds us, remember Job!  

Help us find rest in whatever it is we need to face so that we may bring glory to you marvellous name Father God and thank you Lord Jesus for your High priestly role you play in our lives. You are touched with the feelings of our infirmities and for this we are grateful!

Signing off

Tyrone

United by faith!

(Hebrews 4:2) “…because they were not united by faith with those who listened…”

What does it mean to be united by faith? Firstly it is imperative to understand that without “unity by faith” we play right into the “hands of detriment”! Faith is packed full of nutrients that has been designed by God to sustain the soul, no differently to vitamins for the body. Of late I have been struggling with some pain in my legs and according to my doctor; I lack the supplement magnesium… Instinctively I have now been forced to pay attention to my body’s lack, bananas now part of my daily diet! If I have no magnesium and I ignore my physique’s lack I am then forced to face the consequences, pain in my legs throughout the night! I do not get a goodnight sleep! Without suitable application to faith our souls will suffer and the joy of the Lord will elude us.

However I am not for one minute suggesting that in our application to faith by Christ Jesus our Lord, that life will be plain sailing, on the contrary life will be full of trials, it is through those tests that we will learn to live by faith; without them we would be no more than a clanging cymbal without any harmonious beat.

We needn’t look any farther than our brothers and sisters of old; Jacob was told to go and he went with staff in hand and yet it is through the trial of his faith and his dependency upon the Lord which taught him to trust in his God! It was no different with Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab the prostitute…

“And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets- who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-- of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:32-40) – We have all been sold a lie; we needn’t look far-off, as we and those closest to us, who call upon the name of the Lord love to “hedge our bets”. We have life policies, saving for rainy days and the like which reassure us that all will be ok! We say things like, “God wants us to have good careers”, oh really! If anything takes priority over our dependence upon our trust and our faith in God, we believe a lie! We have been hoodwinked and we need to repent and perhaps God in His goodness would repair a right spirit in us all! Be merciful Father God I pray, not because of who we are but rather because of who you are!

The writer of the book of Hebrews has sounded the trumpet; here then is the warning… “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.” (Hebrews 4:1-2) 

   

 My prayer for today would be that we would make it our business to ask God to open our eyes to this truth and reveal the lack in our lives so that we may search out His grace, in order to please Him.

Signing off

Tyrone

Be on Guard & Alert..

Be on guard and alert…

Stimulatingly in the early hours of this morning, sleep has evaded me, not that I normally suffer from insomnia, but I do love these times, when in the still of the night I find myself alone in thought with the Lord. I’m not sure my son feels the same as I clout away at the keyboard.

·         Sin with its lying effects must top them all; the deception of believing that self-gratification can outweigh the peace we find in Christ… the devil with his cunning beguilements has used it effectively from Adam and then some! Ah but the peace I experience even now as my thoughts explore the graces of the day and the wonderful Love of God my Father is unmatched. But alas I know that there will be some lure just around the corner looking to trip me up, but if I (we) can find rest in the finished work of Calvary, it will be well with our souls. Always be quick to cry out to the One who has conquered all, even Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour!

·         Be wary of vain jangling’s (babblings) it is no more than another decoy to shift our focus off the One we love!

·         The law is good but only if used lawfully!

·         Never to forget, although we were saved in our ignorance when we were still blinded by our sin, remembering that Christ died the ungodly and that we have been saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves, but it is a gift of God, therefore boasting in any form on behalf of the believer has now been excluded.

·         God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble…

·         To take our focus off ourselves and to consider others within the family of God, for one needn’t look far to find a brother or sister contending with a struggle.

·         To be quick to gaze at our reflection in the mirror of the fruits of the spirit and then to cry out to God our Father as we seek out His grace to appropriate the lack.

·         To my sisters in Christ, remember to learn quietly with all submissiveness and not to be out spoken as is the manner of some, especially with today’s booming voices across our country and the globe which is contrary to God’s order. It is no more than just another distraction to keep you from the peace of God. Remember the account of Abigail; “Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite.” (1Samuel 25:3)  - Did you know that it is through the foolishness of preaching whereby God has chosen to save souls? However the Apostle Peter gives us an exception to the rule and it applies only to women; “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.”  (1Peter 3:1-2)

·         Remembering that deception is not willful sin in that sense but rather a trap to trip one up into believing something to be true when in fact it is false! – be watchful and pay careful attention to God’s instruction for there is no shepherd like our Saviour the One who looks out for us. His instruction is for our benefit! We know that with God all things are possible and yet it is impossible for Him to Lie! “…so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie…” (Hebrews 6:18)

·         The Spirit expressly teaches us that in the later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons, let us therefore hold fast to sound doctrine, and at all costs to avoid liberal loose teaching opening ourselves up to these deceptions. If something sounds new or strange let us be quick to examine the scripture to see if that indeed is precise!

·         Avoid silly myths and rather seek out graces to correct godliness to our lives. Bodily exercise will profit our well-being but godliness must be far higher on our agenda as it holds promise for this present life and the life to come.

·         “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.” (Proverbs 3:27)   

·         Bring our children up establishing them upon the truth of God’s Word.

·         What has passed in our lives is history, from now on we must keep a close watch on ourselves and on the teachings from God’s Word, we must persist in it, for by so doing our example will affect those around us and who knows who mayA be converted by it, God knows, may we all earnestly with great zeal seek out His graces in our daily lives to bring glory to His Majestic name, now and forever more, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

True benefit...

(Hebrews 19:9) “…for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.”

The sooner we rest in this truth the sooner our lives will be filled with ease; not to be mistaken with a life full of slothfulness, on the contrary, the greater the need the grander the urgency! Urgency and contentment, how both words can fit together in the same sentence, one could be thinking. Why is it that the simplest of instructions from our heavenly Father are sometimes the hardest to appropriate? His instruction is so contrary to that which the world impregnates into our minds from a very young age, and then as parents we solidify these lies as if they were truths! It is time to leave behind the lie of this world and to once again begin to appropriate doctrinal truths from the word of God, to begin once again to prioritize what is of real value. To toss our lives into the winds of God’s Word so that the chaff may be driven away! To reassess everything that we were once taught! There are some trying times for the Christian just over the horizon, so let us embrace only that which will provide sustenance for the upcoming test! Judgement will and must firstly begin with the Christian. Our faith will be tested! “For it is time for judgement to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1Peter 4:17)   

We must seek out God grace like never before; we must become so dependent upon it that it becomes a way of life and not an exception to the rule. The greater our need the more we will learn to seek out grace in time of necessity. Hence the instruction; “for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.”

King Solomon, King David’s son asked God for wisdom before wealth or anything else and that is what the Word of God will give us if we pay careful attention to it. “Straw men” or “red herrings”, call them what you will; they are no more than lies to take our minds off what is of utmost importance and in this context it would be, to daily have our hearts strengthened in finding God’s grace for our lives; these temptations (diversions) often leads us down the wrong path as we pursue studies and careers to the detriment of having our heart strengthened by grace. We believe that money will lighten the load, it is a lie! “For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.”

I am persuaded by this truth; however I would confess that I am in the throes of learning this lesson and I have not yet arrived, for at times I cannot help the anxiousness I feel! Nevertheless I know in whom I believe! All hail King Jesus my Lord and Saviour!

Strength must come from my heart and not my wallet! This then is the lesson, may God give us all the insight to understand this valuable warning, for when we are settled by it, peace will of a certainty flood our souls and the joy of the Lord will be our portion…

Signing off

Tyrone

No Never!

(Hebrews 13:5) “…for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

The Greek word used here for “never” is oume’, which is a double negative strengthening the denial; in other words not at all, no if’s and buts, it is a statement of fact! Emphasising the point, no never! When we read the sentence, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”, look at all the negatives heaped together to confirm the promise.

This promise is not for personal interpretation, it is intended for all true believers in Christ Jesus our Lord! If we look at the context of Hebrews chapter 13 we see the writer making a general call to all the saints and not only an individual. This promise applies to ever true believer and not only the individual. It is a blanket promise to all who place their trust in their Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ…

This chapter is full of encouragement for the family of God and our responsibility one to another. I suppose one of the current lessons for me is this; I must be content with what I have. My current predicament is teaching me to put my faith in my God and not to chase money as it will not bring me closer to finding the graces of God in my life; “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."” (Hebrews 13:5) – But for me to find solace in this promise I must be convinced of this one truth that I belong to Him and I am a child of God, if there remains any doubt I will always play the guessing game!

Let me use an example… although my son Mongi does not originate from my seed, and although he has not been legally adopted, he is nevertheless my son with all the rights of a legally adopted son, I will always have his back and I believe he will always have mine. There is no doubt in either of our minds of what roles we play to one another, I address him as son and he calls me dad. There is no uncertainty within our relationship. Sure there are those even within my family that haven’t quite understood this truth, nevertheless he is my son and I am his dad, period!

Could you imagine how unsure he would be if one day he thought I was his dad and the next not. This is my commitment to him; I am his dad and will always treat him as my son. How much more then can we claim this promise from God; “I will never leave you nor forsake you”? Man is but flesh and subject to the volatility of the flesh, BUT GOD is God and can never change; “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) - find solace in that truth.

 

“I will never leave thee.”

- Heb_13:5

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 openeth a granary- door to give out food, there may be some one starving man who is the occasion of its being opened, but all hungry saints may come and feed too. Whether he gave the word to Abraham or to Moses, matters not, O believer; he has given it to thee as one of the covenanted seed. There is not a high blessing too lofty for thee, nor a wide mercy too extensive for thee. Lift up now thine eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, for all this is thine. Climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the utmost limit of the divine promise, for the land is all thine own. There is not a brook of living water of which thou mayst not drink. If the land floweth with milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk, for both are thine. Be thou bold to believe, for he hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”In this promise, God gives to his people everything. “I will never leave thee.” Then no attribute of God can cease to be engaged for us. Is he mighty? He will show himself strong on the behalf of them that trust him. Is he love? Then with lovingkindness will he have mercy upon us. Whatever attributes may compose the character of Deity, every one of them to its fullest extent shall be engaged on our side. To put everything in one, there is nothing you can want, there is nothing you can ask for, there is nothing you 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.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

A true sacrifice...

Psalms 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

There is so much in our lives to be thankful for, if only our attractions to that which glowed brightly in the dark constantly captivated our personalities, instead of the gloomy traps of uncertainty, which so often aggressively tear at the walls of our faith was the order of the day. How comfortably would we walk with our Saviour? May God continue to help the struggling pilgrim learn this lesson! Not all that glitters is gold refined in the fires of the trail of life; there is a day coming when all will be tried by fire; every work whether good or bad will be brought to God’s furnace and have to endure immense heat.

It is dawning upon me with freshness, a warm glow of satisfaction filters through my soul, as renewed realization of the grace of God is really gorgeous to behold, O what comfort I find in my Saviour’s tender arms, what reassurance, what rest! They are new every morning, when the fear of a current predicament is so large that it engulfs the entire mind, when hope is hardly realized, when the wicked one stands rubbing his hands together as if to gloat arrogantly, just as we are about to throw in the towel, and with one last desperate plight we fall to our knees with a broken heart and a contrite spirit and cry out to our God, “I can’t anymore”, it is here where our God loves, yes loves, to come to our aid, praise His glorious name! “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalms 51:17) - He is without doubt the greatest of shepherds! If only the penny would finally drop for the struggling pilgrim, no more toil, no more confusion, just sweet peaceful rest.  

As the arrogant and conceited man, mostly unaware of his predicament, would stand upon the hilltop with chest out and shoulders back with his haughty boastfulness, a persona of follow me I have arrived, trailing in his wake. How great the fall just over the next hill! I do not address those outside the family of God, but those within. How we could avoid such painful lessons; there is no need to hear our bones crack, as God the disciplines His children. Find rest sibling in the arms of our Saviour, for it is sweeter than honey in the rock!

We must heed the voice of our beloved brother Jude and flee from all that would ensnare. “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions." It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” (Jude 1:17-21)

Let the fruit of carefulness engulf our lives, stay away from all that is full of empty promises, chasing money will never bring satisfaction, leave it alone, our God loves to come to our aid in the desert. Trust and obey is my prayer today.

“Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!”

Prayer will always be a forerunner to mercy, let us therefore humble ourselves before our heavenly Father and grace shall assuredly follow…

Signing off

Tyrone

Grace our teacher...

If we are saved by grace, not of works, as it is a gift of God… which we are! It still remains that we must learn through faith to seek out grace.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8) – How then does grace work in our lives to get us to heaven? Life then must be full of varying trials to teach us our dependence upon the mercies of God. Life cannot be a cruise, it must be filled with hardship, how else would we ever come to appreciate this wonderful gift of salvation?

Let us go back many years, many epochs ago God chose a man by the name of Moses to save the Israelites from slavery out of Egypt. They were engulfed in great hardship! But before he used Moses to free them, even move hardships were placed upon them to help them realise their desperate state, just in case they never understood the severity of their plight. He used great signs and wonders to show them who He was and He uses similar rescue tactics with us. Not great signs and wonders like times of old, but that small still voice that rescues us out of our difficulty. Through prayer and our personal experience of Him coming to our aid is what it is all about.

I have come to understand this in a new light of late, how would I come to appreciate this truth if it wasn’t for various hardships in my life. It is only through my desperate state when I am forced to cry out unto Him that I realise I am unable in my own capability to rescue myself, that the magnitude of the grace of God will dawn upon me, as He comes to my aid. It is the same for one and all. The greater the responsibility in God’s kingdom, the greater the trial!

Let me explain…

It is only when I am desperate that I will realise how valuable the grace of God actually is. If life is a “bed of roses” and plain sailing how will I ever appreciate what I have been saved from?

Read through the accounts of Exodus and it will become evident what God’s intention was and now still remains. He hasn’t changed His approach, the same lessons that applied back then apply to us today. It is an example of how we should walk today, not to always ungratefully complain about out predicament but rather to be thankful for what we have in Christ. There is a promise just on the horizon, where we will enter into His rest, but until then we must seek out His graces to get us there. It is these trials that show us our faith, what it is made of!

“Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.”

- Job_10:2

Perhaps, O tried soul, the Lord is doing this to develop thy graces. There are some of thy graces which would never be discovered if it were not for thy trials. Dost thou not know that thy faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is too often like a glow-worm, showing but little light except it be in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star-not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. Afflictions are often the black foils in which God doth set the jewels of his children’s graces, to make them shine the better. It was but a little while ago that on thy knees thou wast saying, “Lord, I fear I have no faith: let me know that I have faith.” Was not this really, though perhaps unconsciously, praying for trials?-for how canst thou know that thou hast faith until thy faith is exercised? Depend upon it, God often sends us trials that our graces may be discovered, and that we may be certified of their existence. Besides, it is not merely discovery, real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials. God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains his soldiers, not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning them out and using them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers, and climb mountains, and walk many a long mile with heavy knapsacks of sorrow on their backs. Well, Christian, may not this account for the troubles through which thou art passing? Is not the Lord bringing out your graces, and making them grow? Is not this the reason why he is contending with you? (Charles Spurgeon)

“Trials make the promise sweet;

Trials give new life to prayer;

Trials bring me to his feet,

Lay me low, and keep me there.”

Signing off

Tyrone