The chicken or the egg

(Acts 2:39) “…everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."

How often have you heard reference made to the chicken or the egg? What came first the chicken or the egg? This is a fabulous example of what should be an obvious deduction of the Christians relationship with the only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is obvious the chicken came before the egg; God created and then “they” (all of His creation) were instructed to go forth and multiply. The chicken first and then the egg, God first and then the saved individuals change in character. It is impossible for it to happen the other way around. If you are amongst the sect of Christians that believes that you chose God before he chose you, or God could see how good you would become in the future on your own merits and this is the reason why you can now claim to be a Christian. It cannot be so, I am convinced that it has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Him.

If it’s the egg mentality that looks to dominate your reasoning all that illustrates is that you are still acting out of a carnal understanding pertaining to humanism, which lacks faith altogether. How so? It is the same mind-set of the chicken and the egg. What came first and if you are one that gravitates towards the egg, it denounces creation as we have come to understand through the teachings of the book of Genesis. Without God’s intervention there would be no egg. This is a point we must grasp with clarity, if not we will be opening ourselves to a whole lot of potential dangers when it come to our pride an arrogance. Until we truly understand that it is God who chooses and calls and we can only ever respond favourable when He initiates that call. Until then we will never see Him for who He is. This understanding frees our minds up to honour Him with due benevolence.

Let us reason this out; why do we pray for loved ones that aren’t saved. We need God to hear our prayer and intervene on our behalf. If this was not so, we could send a lifetime with well constructed deliberations to try and persuade people to see what we have seen, that Christ is the only true answer to our existence. How often have you been shut down when you have approached loved ones with that type of presentation? God must initiate life into a person that is dead in their trespasses and their sins before the light switch is flipped. Saul who later became Paul is a classic example of this truth. A man who persecuted the church and had Christians killed, hell bend on his own ideas of what he thought was right until God intervened in person; “Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”” (Acts 9:3-5) – Its when we understand this that we will be free to serve God without any hint of pride feeding our attentions with that nagging voice that we once believed that salvation had something to do with us. God is merciful and gracious and without His role in our conversion we would still be groping in the dark for the answer to life.      

We need Him for everything in our daily lives. The sooner this becomes our actuality, the easily life will become to bear whatever is thrown in front of us. “If God is for us who can be against us?”

With this understanding in tow, let us explore David’s psalm; “A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalms 23:1-6) - David certainly understood this…

Spend time in this Psalm and see what God reveals to you about His interference in your life Christian and it will be sweeter that honey, praise God for His involvement in our lives, without it we would still be dead in our trespasses and our sins, praise His holy name now and forever more, Amen and Amen! Thank you Lord Jesus for the call that you placed upon my life, you are truly worthy of all praise and honour. Boasting has been excluded. I am truly a by-product of your grace and please continually remind me of this fact, which will keep me humble, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Dead 2

God has reckoned every person ever born to a woman except for the Lord Jesus Christ, dead and trapped by the power of sin and unable to approach him in righteousness. His rescue was an event that needed to happen in order to change the dilemma of mankind; Hence, the miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation now available in and through the finished work of the cross.

Verse one of Ephesians chapter two makes this very clear; “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”.

Verse two then addresses the Christian reminding us that we also once walk like the rest of the world; “in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—“ (Ephesians 2:2)

Lets us unpack this in more detail…

There are three plugs that need to be understood concerning our state before we found forgiveness in Christ. - The first point that needs to be unpacked is that we were no different to the rest of civilization, even though we all chose our identity within the differing sects offered to us in the world. I was one that liked to be associated with the jock, whilst others liked to roll as an academic. The rich makes fashion the be all and end all of their existence and so on. And then there are those on the breadline who will at all costs want to be associated with the rich by wearing branded clothing, even though they can barely sustain their bodies with the necessary supplements required to keep them in a healthy state. The list is endless, I am convinced that no one is an original, we all take on an identity that we think fits us the best and then we do what we can to live within that reality. If honest with ourselves, we all need to conclude that we all once walk after the course of this world. Secondly unknown to us back then, we were all swayed by the devil, sin had taken care of that; following the prince of the power of the air, each and everyone of us was under the sway of the devils influence; Resulting in an obvious fact the same spirit that now works within the sons of disobedience; all those outside of God’s influence.

We are by nature bond-slaves to sin and Satan; it is obvious that the devil has some power over mankind (by God’s permission) here on earth or in the lower regions of the air. There he is at hand to tempt mankind and to be as destructive as he can. Prior to us receiving the Spirit of God as our helper when we were “born again” or truly saved through our repentance for our own sin if you prefer; where we found the light switch to God’s existence and it was flipped becoming our new found reality. Nevertheless we were all once under the sway of the devil. Do not think for a second that this was not your truth. It important that we understand this, for if not we will also miss the wonderful rescue that is now ours in Christ. It’s the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ that has saved us from Satan’s power; the mercies of God, who can fathom them?

Therefore, once we start to see what we were prior to our rescue from the world’s sway, Satan’s influence and our hopelessness outside of God’s intervention in our lives, we will understand the miracle of salvation in a new light, with the mercy of God in the forefront of our minds.

Let us never forget where we have been saved from; a place of absolute despair and destitute for damnation. BUT GOD felt a need within the character of His mercies to intervene and save some of us, all praise belongs to our God now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Dead!

(Ephesians 2:1) “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”.

The promises of God are steadfast and sure, they can never be breached. His treaties will speak into the ages of eternity, of this I am persuaded. It has nothing to do with the faith that I have been given to believe in my great Saviours finished work. His promises remain true, and only because God is who He is, the great “I AM”! Praise God for this certainty in a believers understanding, God will see His children through this life and into the next. Faith drives our hope which will be encapsulated for all eternity by the love of God. Faith and hope will pass away, but the Love of God will remain forever.

If honest, I suppose there is a thought that plagues my conscience as it looks for justification in and through my own works. When I am doing what I think is required from me I have peace with God, but when I stray onto the curb of God’s highway my faith is challenged. This is why we need the Word of God constantly reminding us of His truths which reveals His character. We serve an awesome Father who is filled with merciful attributes. However for us to understand the gravity of His mercy in our lives we first need to understand who we were and if unsaved who you are outside of Christ’s finished work on Calvary. Without this observation illuminated with extreme clarity we will miss God’s beauty altogether.

We serve an AWESOME GOD! And we are a privileged people who have His Spirit housed in corruptible flesh, which now entitles us (the Christian) to cry ABBA FATHER, Wow! This means “my Daddy”! God was willing and able to send His Son to die for those dead in their own trespasses and sins; opening a door that was once locked and impenetrable for pathetic sinful creatures like you and I.

I need you to stay with me now as I endeavour to unpack what Tyrell Hagg unpacked so well in our weekend’s morning service. The portion of scripture that needs unpacking is our understanding of Ephesians chapter two; these were some of his thoughts, with Ray Comfort’s deliberation of repentance interwoven into my understanding of the subject and then of course the greatest influence of all, the Holy Spirit, who quickens my brain cells in conjunction with the scriptures, without whom I would remain brain dead on all of Gods matters.

It would be good for us to spend some time here, so God willing we will break this up into a number of posts so that we do not miss the richness of God’s mercy.

The more desperate our plight the greater the rescue; the evidence of hopelessness begins to snuff the life from us. Most of us can relate to those types of experiences somewhere within our journeys here on earth. But in order to survive something needs to drive us towards a motivated mind-set. Whilst in the marines many years ago, I can vividly recall falling ill with Pneumonia and whilst being drilled I collapsed with my drill instructed having much to say about how pathetic I was. He assured me as well as the rest of the platoon that I would not qualify as a drill instructed, “I didn’t have the salt for it”.

When I arrived at Oudsthoorn Infantry School where I was to complete my infantry leg of my marine training and although I still had a note from the hospital excusing me from training because of my infection; a sick note excusing me from all strenuous activities for the next week but all I could visualize was my instructors mouth pronouncing off on how I would fail. It was enough to motivate me; “I’ll show him”, so I crumpled up the note and later finish the course with distinction. On returning to Simons Town, the marine head quarters I can recall the adulation I felt as I looked him in the eye as an equal. All I needed to motivate me was pride, which in itself is sin; in hindsight proof that I was dead in my sins.

This is the fact of our existence outside of Christ; “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”. Prior to salvation everyone is dead, spiritually dead regardless of what we or others may think about our own spirituality. Religion as a whole lies to us on this matter. Until we understand our state before a holy God and until the hopelessness of our plight dawns upon us we will never appreciate the life we now have in Christ. “Born again there has really been a change in me”, is a song the Christian now sings with true understanding.

However until this reality births upon us, we will never truly understand what it is we have been saved from. We were dead and our sinful actions proved the fact. Hagg used this example which has thrown many off the true understanding of what that really means. We could be shark or spider bitten dead, one is easily seen because of the destruction to the corpse whilst the other a pin prick bite not easily seen and yet both just as dead. Prior to salvation we were all dead in our trespasses and our sins. Whether we were guilty of murder or whether we thought our lives were squeaky clean, with a minimal amount of sin attached to it. Both, in God’s reckoning, just as dead!

God willing we will unpack this in a lot more depth over the next few weeks.

Signing off

Tyrone

  

     

It's Time!

(Hosea 10:12) …for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

Consequences to our sinful behaviour needs a recompense to right our wrongs, this is a requirement that God in His righteous character demands. It would appear that the righteous of God cannot act outside of what is holy; He is the yardstick whereby that measurement is dignified. It cannot be trusted to another, He alone has reserved that judgement. Mankind has had there judgement impaired by the intrusion of sin, which is in total contradiction to God’s personality and His laws. It is easy to test the power of sin in our own lives, even if we are oblivious to its destructive power. When caught in an act of embarrassment, something done behind close doors, what is our natural response? We lie to cover it up and go to great lengths to hide what we understand as a crime, if not we would be open with it. A detective is employed to find clues to unravel a mystery with the perpetrator looking to cover their tracks. A kid is caught with their hand in the cookie jar and they blame their brother; “he told me to do it” and so on. It doesn’t take much retrospection to conclude that we are naturally sinful from a very young age. The Bible is clear that every sinful act shall be judged!     

History teaches us this principle with unequivocal certainty, read the Old Testament and God’s dealings with His people and their enemies and it will become obvious that nothing passes by unnoticed.

Courts have been setup to run countries which are there to bring law and order. However, well trained defence attorneys use the law to their advantage to lessen a sentence or even get a guilty party acquitted. It is not so with our God, He misses zilch and He will bring every action that is in breech to His commandments to the fore and it shall be judged in righteousness. He shall do the judging, saints on the other hand shall judge angels; “Do you not know that we are to judge angels?” (1Corinthians 6:3)

This is why the greatest story every told is the account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only true Saviour of the world. God sent His righteous Son to die for unrighteous sinners. There is and will never be a greater act of love ever witnessed through the ages of eternity. God chose to rescue those who prior to salvation would have had their spot reserved in hell. For those who do not find forgiveness for their sins in and through the Lord Jesus Christ will suffer His wrath. The offer has gone out and the invitation still stands, what have you done with it? Have you heard the Gospel message and disregarded it as a “crutch” for the weak or have you seen the urgency behind this wonderful offer of love? Is the Lord Jesus Christ a precious treasure to you, or is He a tiring repetitive name that you disregard for “those people”. He is the most valued treasure of my life and I am forever thankful for the rescue He has afforded me, praise His name now and forever more, Amen!

There is a voice that has gained momentum and is in full fight and the louder the knock of death the more prevalent it becomes; mankind trying in their own strength to do righteous acts which will always be tainted by their own sinful deductions on what is right and wrong, in the hope that they will escape the judgement of God, that will never happen! The Bible has spelt out this truth with certainty; “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13) – Its God who will do the judging and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. The only way to avoid this judgement, the sentence for our sins, is to have them covered by the blood of the Lamb and to have our names penned into the Book of Life; “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15) – And the only way that our names will ever be inscribed into that glorious book is if we own our sin, confess it before a holy God and believe in the finished work of Calvary; His death, His burial and His resurrection. It is not a complicated message to understand but we all have a choice to make, I have by the grace of God made mine and I confess Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour, I belong to Him just as He belongs to me.

To all my friend that are still on the fence, Bandit, Paul, David and even Richard the time for God’s reckoning is just over the horizon and it is time for you to reconsider your stands on life and the alternatives that have been thrown out there, they are all lies and will lead you to a Godless eternity with the Lake of Fire as your final destination.

Please be merciful to them Father God just as you have been merciful to me. Praise, glory and all honour belong to my Saviour, your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone  

   

          

                                    

Contentment

(Philippians 4:11)  “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”

Ball sports teach us that timing is everything when it comes to finding the “sweet-spot” of any particular game, only then can we claim that we are in the “zone”. Golfers, tennis players, cricketers and even authors would know what I am talking about, a time when everything just seems to “click”.

Christianity is no different if we begin to view our experiences throughout life with the right mind-set. But in order for us to arrive at a place of harmony; we need to have ears attentive to God’s instruction. They must be tuned into being able to differentiate between “yes” and “no”. Just because we are capable of attaining certain spoils throughout our lifetimes, if and when our timing is off it will result in disaster. But if God say “GO” nothing will stand in our way and our quests shall be blessed.

A case in point would be the most beautiful story ever told, the gospel. God send His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ to die a cruel death to set repentant sinners free from His upcoming judgement. However in order for me to find deliverance, the Lord Jesus’ life was filled with intrigue and he was hard pressed as a man. He confessed, “Foxes have holes, birds have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” Even his life needed His Fathers timing attached to his endeavours. There is a time and a place for all season in our lives and we must learn to openly accept this truth. God teaches his children “the way of the Master”- our Saviour knows best. It is through our own experiences that these lessons will be learnt.

Remember his very first miracle when he turned water into wine, a request from Mary his mother; “When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come."” (John 2:3-4) – The request of her timing was off even though He accommodated her request. We too must come to a place in our lives as Christians when we understand the timing of God’s intervention in our lives. The Apostle Paul understood this well, he knew that his existence and the call that God had placed upon his life was all about the furtherance of the gospel. Our lives are no longer our own, they have been bought by the blood of the lamb.

“For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content”. For a man to make this claim and actually mean it speaks volumes. Can we make such a statement? Our journey through life should drive us towards this understanding. There must be a time of abundance and times of suffering want. However, along the way we must learn to become content with what we have. This is where we will find rest in our Saviour.

We have a natural tendency to force God’s hand when we are in need. But when urgency begins to dominate we will be restless. The peace of God is found when we have learnt this lesson well and it’s only through the trial of life that we will begin to understand.

Thank you Father God for your patience’s with me and I pray that you will continue to teach me these spirited lessons along the way, for they are for my benefit and when understood in full they will bring you the glory; of this I am convinced.

Money is something we all need to survive in this day and age, but when our drive for it is thwarted we will never find peace; of this am I also persuaded.

Faith is needed for us to learn this lesson well and we must have ears that are fined tuned to the voice of our God. King Saul feared the people over the instruction that God gave him when it came to the slaughter of Amalek and it cost him his kingship. We must all strive to be like King David, a man after God’s own heart, this then is my prayer; renew a right spirit in me. Thank you for the trails of life and the way they teach me obedience.

I love you Father, all glory and honour belongs to our Saviour and His total commitment to your instruction whilst here on earth, bless His name now and forever more, Amen and Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Warnings

The scriptures are full of one-liners that are filled with a wealth of truth, which implies no escape from its deductions. However once we view them through the eyes of righteousness, we will find rescue. Misguided analysis or mistaken application will always end badly. If we want to power up an appliance we need electricity, a plug serves its purpose rather well with a cover which conceals all the dangerous wires, and the pug socket protected with it own cover keeps danger at bay; handling electricity is dangerous if we ignore the “warnings on the box”.

Ignore the cautions at you own peril. In like manner if we ignore the caveats in scripture it will cost us. We must learn; I must seek out God’s guidance to become more diligent with certain instructions found in the Bible. A case in point would be verses that are not easy to swallow but nevertheless mentioned by the One who had no sin, the Lord Jesus Christ. If He felt the need to point them out, we must conclude that they have their part to play; if the shoe fits we must wear it, but if we refuse it will cost us.

When we let sin prioritize some of the key decision in our lives it can have dire consequences; our consciences bearing witness to our folly when we hide it from the onlooker. It’s only the Spirit of God that has the skill to root out the rot. The Word when used skilfully will bring an individual to a place where a decision needs to be made. Illustrations that highlight the hidden agendas of the heart can be easily observed in these two examples; observe the deceitfulness of our hearts when we seek out truth with a hidden agenda or ulterior motive.

“And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."” (Matthew 19:16-22)

With such a clear instruction, why are so many being sway by a false Gospel message where wealth and prosperity is the pivot of its existence? The enemy proves a point that the Words penned in the Bible are life changing and all he needs to do is to get people to miss its schooling and twist the emphasis of it and he has won the skirmish; he may win battles along the way but he will never win the war, that victory belongs to our God. 

The text teaches us a great lesson, where our hearts are there our treasures will be also. But in order for us to learn this lesson well we must first be stripped of that which keeps the message at bay and in this case our comforts must be stripped and money must become scares if we are to have any chance in understanding the core of our hearts when it comes to our dependency upon coinage. These types of thoughts are never easily welcomed, but needful if we are to grow up in the stature of our Lord and Saviour; if we are to mature with the mind of Christ concerning our dependency upon Him and not to have confidence in our own independence.

When we examine the scriptures with intend we find a principle that is core to the ultimate test which proves out loyalty to Christ, but how often do we simple glean over them not respecting their teaching as we ort too? We forget to place ourselves in the scene as the one who needs addressing. This is when we glean the most from Christ’s teaching; when we ask ourselves, “What is this teaching ME”?

Another hard pill to swallow is this; "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:34-37)

These are examples of what it means to respond favourable to the Lord Jesus’ call on our lives and it will soon become evident in a persons life where they stand on these issues. We must never forget that “if God is for us who can be against us”. When we make this truth our own, examples like these will help us understand our need of Him. Faith demands our obedience to God’s instruction and if we ignore the warnings it will be for our own account.

Signing off

Tyrone

To never thirst again

(John 6:35) “…whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Another intriguing thought that has germinate this morning, is those who rebel against the word of God will always end up on the loosing side. Deceit leads us to believe we have won when we have in fact lost. Satan and his cronies will always endeavour to lead the believer into his web of simulation. Just enough to lure us in and just enough to keep the individual hooked on whatever door has been opened to them. Lust will never be able to be quenched, it is impossible. Our need for water proves the point rather well, we drink when we are thirsty and over a period of time the thirst subsides; until we are thirsty again and so the cycle continues. It is no different with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh or the pride of life. We are always looking for our next fix; it cannot be any other way, our sinful natures have taken care of that.

However when we come to Christ, He is the eternal water that refreshes, He alone has the power to achieve this; once we have truly been born again and drunk from His cistern, we will never thirst again. What do I mean by this? It’s not as if we will never have to be refreshed by Him, which must happen on a daily basis if we are to keep our guard up. But we will never seek out any other answers concerning the kernel of life, which is too call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved from the billions of varying lures of our flesh. He is the eternal water who unquestioningly satisfies. Other religions may keep your attention drawn to its teaching, it may tickle your ears just enough to appease your consciences, but that’s all it will ever do.

“Jesus is the way, the truth and the life” and no man can approach God the Father in any other way. Satan is aware of this and tirelessly throws out decoys looking to deceive. Sadly he goes around like a roaring lion seeking to devour as many as possible, but his days are numbered.

Money is one of the greatest lures and it leads to a serious sinful mind-set which is covetousness. Sexual lust another, the list is endless. Nevertheless the point I hone in on is that which will equip us for the trial of life and it is this; “Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”” (John 6:35)

This is a fact that will always satisfy, find Christ and you will know what it means to live.

Signing off

Tyrone

Power belongs to our God

(Revelation 19:1) "…Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God”.

Salvation is to be found in Christ alone, glory belongs to our God and the power to break the shackles of sin can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Law was introduce to show mankind what God requires concerning His standards and to teach us that we could never live up to it in our fallen states, Eve’s sin had taken care of that. We are therefore born into a yoke of slavery were sin is our lot in life and from a very early age we prove that we are sinners by our actions. As we grow our sin becomes a lot more prevalent and if left to run riot we degenerate further into its web of deceit; enslaved by the power of sin is our lot in life; this is the Apostle Pauls understanding regarding the power of sin; “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15)

The only weapon that is capable of breaking the shackles of sin is to be covered by the finished work of the cross and to receive the Spirit of God as our captain who now guides and leads us towards truth and enables us to find grace to walk in the Spirit and overcome that which once enslaved us, sin with all its trickery was how I was governed prior to salvation. As new creatures in Christ we now have an ability that we never had before and that is to break the power of the bonds of sin in our lives, PRAISE GOD! The Lord Jesus Christ defeated sin and its control once and for all and He did it as a man. ALL HAIL KING JESUS!

With that established, there were those you lived blamelessly concerning their implementation to the letter of the law. In other words they followed its instruction guiltlessly. When the law demanded a certain decree concerning their breach to it, they applied themselves to it. Saul was a man who claimed to be amongst that sect of individuals, a man who walked blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord; there were others; Zechariah and Elizabeth also fell into that category; “And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.” (Luke 1:6)

Throughout scripture we see examples of individuals that followed the letter of the law blamelessly. Quite a remarkable feat when we consider how this was achieved, in and through their mental states of mind, but not without a measure of faith attached, they needed to believe that they would be forgiven from a God invisible to the naked eye. Having to apply oneself to a set of ordinances without ever wavering is quite phenomenal, but obviously possible, if this was not the case, verses like these would not be penned; “And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.” (Luke 1:6)

 

It was obviously conceivable to follow the letter of the law; but obviously impossible not to fall into sin along life’s journey; ““What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.”” (Romans 3:9-11) - Hence the reason for the Lord Jesus Christ becoming a man and living a life without sin and then dying to break its yoke, once and for all.

The law was a teacher to guide those selected out by Him into a way of life that God expected from them. Prior to Christs victory on the cross provision through varying sacrifices was afforded the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, commonly know today as Jews. The Law of God through Moses was therefore introduced – However any one of those sacrifices was only ever a temporal solution of their breech to God’s laws. Although the decrees of God’s instruction to Moses on Mount Sinai would have certainly covered Gods personality, it reveals His character and the way He conducts Himself with His creation. It was not a set of rules for one and then an exemption for another. It’s important for us to understand this. The sons of God (the angels) that breeched his commandments in heaven were also cast from heaven; they never receive a second chance, hence Satan and one third of them are now his enemies and they continue to deceive mankind as they look to keep as many as they can from finding salvation in Christ and the finished work of Calvary. Their intention is to trip mankind up and take as many as they can with them into the Lake of Fire, which was a place originally prepared for them; "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41) - This is the war that rages! But there is a day coming when God’s judgement will bring an end to this conflict.  

Both the Gentile and the Jew, all of mankind were born under the curse of sin and we all need a salvation that is permanent and not temporal. This is why there can never be any other way of finding our way to heaven; PRAISE THE NAME OF JESUS! He alone is the One who has broken the shackles of sin and therefore if we do not find forgiveness for our sin in and through Him and not another, our final destination will be everlasting torment with the Lake of Fire as our eternal home.

The call has gone out and it still reverberates across the globe, have you heard the call? If so, what will you do with God’s invitation? Will you shelve it, or do you understand the urgency of it? God has spoken! “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” For tomorrow might be too late and the doors of forgiveness may close, I therefore urge you to fall onto your knees and to seek out Gods forgiveness for your sins, as He will not turn one away; “For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13)   

"Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God”.

Signing off

Tyrone

Election sure

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

“Make you election sure” is an encouragement given to the believer by the Apostle Peter and he attaches a promise to it and if applied correctly we “will never fall”, wow! Time to sit up and take note; for far too long have I been duped by the lie of “its OK you only human”. We are new creatures in Christ and our conduct must prove that truth. You shall know a particular tree by it fruit. To name a variety of fruit trees without the evidence of their fruit attached to their branches would be far more difficult than if they had produce ready to be plucked and eaten. To differentiate one fruit tree from another by their leaves alone would require a skilled eye. Hence the Lord Jesus made this statement; “you shall know a tree by its fruit” and not its leaves. The Christians testimony must be above reproach; something I have failed dismally in, throughout my lifetime, however if and when God begins to renew a right spirit within an individuals heart, who can halter the God given change that begins to germinate? I Praise God for that. Excuses for living in the flesh and succumbing to the temptations we face throughout the day as the norm, is not the way forward for the Christian, but rather a corrupted understanding of a twist on Christian life. A mind-set that now robs us of our victory in Christ is this lure, “has God said”; Satan’s lure to confuse a Christian’s conduct.

It would be good for the one who claims Christianity as their own and often makes these types of confessions; “I LOVE YOU LORD” to pay careful attention to what Peter is teaching us. He summonses us to obverse the divine nature of Christ of which we have been privileged to share in; if understood and heeded we will escape this world’s corruption and its sinful desires. Until then we will be like the man who constantly falls into that dark ditch, a place most Christian have ended up somewhere along their journey. Sadly the slow learners like me have taken some hard knocks because of it. However, God is long-suffering towards His called, which even now I am eternally grateful for. Without His protection I truly understand that that dark ditch would have been my lot in life. But praise God for His willingness to discipline His children. Thank you Father for the love that you have bestowed upon me, I can see a lot clearer now.

To believe that “once saved always saved” if not understood correctly will trick the pretender into believing that they are in fact safe when they are not. There has to come a time in a believer’s life when it is obvious to all that they in fact do belong to the Lord Jesus, no differently to the fruit tree that has fruit on it. A believer may find themselves in the throws of discipline and only the mature believers will understand if their faith is in fact real. For the sake of the gospel we must all move through those transition periods in our lives as fast as possible. How is this achieved? Obviously everything is linked to the grace of God, but Peter gives us some instruction on how this can be accomplished. In order for us to escape the corruption of this world with its sinful desires and “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2Peter 1:5-8) – If and when we lack these attributes in our lives he concludes; “for whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” (2Peter 1:9) – However if we begin to live under the guidance of the Spirits counsel correctly, this promise will be ours; “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” (2Peter 1:10)

The called will learn to live under the rule of God’s Spirit and God will get them home, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Without sin

(Hebrews 4:15)  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

With the sun still nestled below the horizon and with the darkness of night concealing the shapes that are easily seen in the sunlight as I peer through my large glass sliding door my thoughts are taken to the consideration of the Lord Jesus Christ putting on his own mind. We (Christians) have been called to put on the mind of Christ but He was and is Christ. It was his mind and his dedication to it that now allows us to follow in His footsteps. What was that like I wonder? He understood the call that God His Father had placed upon his life like no other and yet he was clothed in a human body, which needed food and clothing for its sustenance. There were times in his life that he drew aside and fasted before confronting the enemy; denying the flesh its demands, hunger cravings and the like to strengthen the Spirit within, a valuable observation for our consideration.   

He was driven by faith, but a faith that could see clearly, understanding His dependency as a man upon His Fathers provision. His vision was not marred as ours at times are. He was consistent with a face of flint set on the will of His Father. He allowed no distraction to thwart his quest, praise God!  

He grew in the same fashion as all the other boys around him, pimples and the like must have been part of his experience. And yet as he grew whilst the pressures of life began to press in on him, he never committed a sin. Fascinating is all I am left to conclude and I know this to be true for the scripture thus teaches us this certainty; “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” – This indicates that he didn’t have any super powers per say, he bled like everyone else, with Satan and all his demonic soldiers from the spiritual world that is as real as the keyboard I now punch away at, which eludes the concepts of mankind’s carnal sight. Nevertheless these forces pressed in upon the Lord Jesus with such force and with a single intention to get him to sin, they failed! The man they could not get to breech one of God’s laws; a man who always walk in the Spirit regardless of the fleshes demands whilst nullifying the power of God's law over him. When a man learns to walk in the Spirit there is nothing that will catch him off guard. Once this truth is clearly understood I trust we will hold sin and the power it once held over us in a new light.

Even now as Christians we fight a raging battle against the lying tongue of sins entrapment. The promises of empty lusts only ever temporally satisfy, it will never be enough, sin cannot gratify. Ask a wealthy man what drives him, and you will soon find out the answer to that underlying truth, “MORE”!  The Spirit on the other hand promises truth and a lasting satisfaction which is encapsulated within the fruits of the Spirit, which are; “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” – The Lord Jesus obviously lived under the rule of the Spirit leaving the power of the law useless against his flesh. A phenomenal consideration if we only begin to get a glimpse of what that actually entailed.

Through the throes of life his journey was like every other; birth, suckling, teething, subject to his parent’s authority, God in the flesh allowing his creation to instruct him under the law of “children honour and obey your parents”; puberty, adulthood and manhood. He never breached a commandment of God, and under no circumstances ever told a “white lie” or having a misplaced thought that lead to intent. This is miraculous in itself and the point we must not miss it that because of it all Jesus Christ our risen Saviour has earned the stripes to wear the t-shirt of understanding the struggles of our human weaknesses and this is why these words have been penned to help us realise that He really understands the human body and its frailty; “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.” God became a man for this very reason, to right what Satan had wrong, praise God for His victory as a man; “Jesus in my place”, a song that I love to sing from the very core of my gut.

When we face our temptations throughout the day all we need do is to cry out to Jesus for he is capable of sympathising with our struggles. Grace is needed to overcome the trial, when we succumb to the temptation of sin, in that very moment we prove that we do not hold Christ’s sacrifice in high regard and we value the sin more that we value His sacrifice; it’s as simple as that. We have all erred in this area of our lives, but we must resolve to put on the mind of Christ seeking out His grace in time of need, and always ask the Holy Spirit to remind our minds what it cost the Lord Jesus Christ to buy us our freedom, a cruel Roman cross and all that went with that; God the Father rejecting His only begotten Son as He paid the price for our sins, a time of complete despair for our great redeemer. Just imagine what he must of felt at this exactly moment; “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"” (Matthew 27:46) – An event in Jesus’ life that actually happened. And he did it for you and me, for all those who now confess Him as Lord; He has bought us our freedom.

It is now up to us to mortify the deeds of our flesh, to take revenge on that which once had us enslaved to sin and the power it once wielded over our engagements. Christians now have the mind of Christ, when we say “I cannot”, we only prove that we still live under an element of unbelief and we lack faith in the finished work of the cross. The “giants” in our lives are greater that the promises of God, which is a lie! Do you remember the account of Joshua and Caleb and the other ten spies? The typology of that account has much to teach us concerning our mind-sets on this topic.

Jesus understands our human frailty, he lived in a human body, but he also understands and has proved the workings of the Spirits power over the weakness of our physical appetites. Just as he learnt to live under the Spirit influence over his regular human thirsts, we too must follow suite if and when we want to please our heavenly Father. Grace is needed to overcome and it is available to all those who confess Jesus as their Lord. Do not let the deceitfulness of sin beguile us into believing that we cannot overcome, it is simply a lie that has robbed me of far too much.

Signing off

Tyrone

Bound

(2Timothy 2:9) “… But the word of God is not bound!”

There are many ways to bind individuals and for many varying reasons. A thief is sentenced to a term in jail and is bound by the constraints of his punishment. He must serve a term of imprisonment and abide by the rules of that institution if it is to fair as well as can be expected. When the criminal does the binding it has a similar effect it keeps his victim at bay while he loots. Sin and its power have this effect on mankind, its sin that binds a person to do that which he also hates and when the damage is realised regret sets in. There are many examples that we could glean from and whether the motive to bind is honorable or dishonorable we understand the effect of “binding”. However the Word of God cannot be bound, praise God for that. We must learn to depend upon it as our lives rest on its instruction.

The Spirit of God cannot be bound or either swayed to preform actions regretted, He always acts out of righteousness. He is the light of the world, who leads men and women into truth. It’s when we learn to appropriate what He teaches into our live that we will become useful, if salt looses its flavour what use is it? As Christians we have an enemy that always looks to plunder and rob us of this privilege, the Christians call to duty is to put on the mind of Christ, which will always lead us towards His truth in any given circumstance. But in order for this to happen we must apply what is taught into our lives on a practical level.

This is where an individual will find freedom and not in the traps of society that have been designed to misguide our thoughts as it endeavours to captivate us with its snares; money and the lies it is able to formulate in an individuals mind is one of the biggest lures of all. Covetousness, simply means; to want what somebody else has. The mind of Christ teaches us this truth on the subject; “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” (1 Timothy 6:8) - Do you see the extreme opposites at play, one is driven by the lust of our flesh whilst the other by the Spirit of God. Easy measures to establish were we are on the subject. We must be honest with ourselves and we will soon see how we fair on this topic.

God has been merciful to me concerning the reality of the lust of money and how its sway drives individuals away from God and not towards Him. Not only has He help me understand matters of the heart concerning money, but has placed me in a situation for some time now where on a practical level it has been more that a thought but I have been living its reality. We habitually need these types of examples in our lives for the lesson to stick. Our flesh drives us in this direction, the move we have the move we want; “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10)  

The Spirits lesson on the other hand is the less we have the less we actually need and the happier we are. God’s ability to use the opposites to teach us the basic fundamentals of the Christian life often astounds me and how brilliant He actually is. Ever wise all knowing God, the only true and living God, Jehovah, the great “I AM”, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and also the God and Father of all those who confess Jesus as Lord and believe in His resurrection. To put on the mind of Christ in this area of our lives means; “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” (1 Timothy 6:11)

Please help me Father God to find the spirit of gentleness when I am confronted by these snares that looks to throw me off course. They are often not far from home and sadly the flesh and my old nature is often stirred away from gentleness instead of towards it, I seek out your forgiveness and ask you to renew a right spirit within me concerning money and our necessity of it. Continue to help me put on the mind of Christ in every area of my life and not only the parts that are more conclusive to change.

One thing I am persuaded of is that you are in perfect control and we have been called to live by faith and when you decide that enough is enough in a particular area of our lives so it shall be. And if not, we must find contentment wherever we find ourselves, thank you Lord Jesus for your perfect example, and thank you for drinking the whole cup that has set so many free, whilst helping others realise the freedom that you have bought for them in your finished work, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

A morning post

“They weave the spider’s web.”

- Isaiah_59:5

"See the spider’s web, and behold in it a most suggestive picture of the hypocrite’s religion. It is meant to catch his prey: the spider fattens himself on flies, and the Pharisee has his reward. Foolish persons are easily entrapped by the loud professions of pretenders, and even the more judicious cannot always escape. Philip baptized Simon Magus, whose guileful declaration of faith was so soon exploded by the stern rebuke of Peter. Custom, reputation, praise, advancement, and other flies, are the small game which hypocrites take in their nets. A spider’s web is a marvel of skill: look at it and admire the cunning hunter’s wiles. Is not a deceiver’s religion equally wonderful? How does he make so barefaced a lie appear to be a truth? How can he make his tinsel answer so well the purpose of gold? A spider’s web comes all from the creature’s own bowels. The bee gathers her wax from flowers, the spider sucks no flowers, and yet she spins out her material to any length. Even so hypocrites find their trust and hope within themselves; their anchor was forged on their own anvil, and their cable twisted by their own hands. They lay their own foundation, and hew out the pillars of their own house, disdaining to be debtors to the sovereign grace of God. But a spider’s web is very frail. It is curiously wrought, but not enduringly manufactured. It is no match for the servant’s broom, or the traveller’s staff. The hypocrite needs no battery of Armstrongs to blow his hope to pieces, a mere puff of wind will do it. Hypocritical cobwebs will soon come down when the besom of destruction begins its purifying work. Which reminds us of one more thought, viz., that such cobwebs are not to be endured in the Lord’s house: he will see to it that they and those who spin them shall be destroyed for ever. O my soul, be thou resting on something better than a spider’s web. Be the Lord Jesus thine eternal hiding-place.?" (Charles Spurgeon)