The enemies tactics 1

 

Understanding the enemy and his tactics is a common thread appreciated amongst any of the Great War heroes. And yet we have so many factors that need calculating when it comes to living the Christian life. All other religions understand the need to conquer the flesh and its passions but lack the wherewithal to achieve the desired result. Only because they rely on their abilities to reach a certain outcome and because they are sinful by nature, when pressed hard enough, will always end up failing. We are all born into sin and fall into the grouping, sinner! However, this classification is not stamped into our passports even through it should be, it would help us understand our state before a holy God from the outset. This is where the enemy has tricked people into believe a lie. Acceptance of our sin is dependent on the individual’s circumstances. Or rather a need to live a life that suits their needs, in spite of their defiance towards the law of God. Tolerance from others has become the order of the day, with very little consideration, if any towards God’s law. Democracy a word absent from God’s way of thinking. His Word is final and not up for debate when it comes to doing things under the banner of righteousness. He is righteous, we are not, even if some think they are. It’s like trying to mix oil and water, it will never happen. Liken human flesh to oil and God to water, you can put both into the same container but unless one of the two changes its structure they remain alone. The water unable to penetrate the oil and vice versa.

 

Our arch nemesis, the devil and his armies has a single objective, which is to get each individual “to curse God and die” (see the book of Job) and he will do whatever it takes to trip up the greatest follower of Christ. When it comes to the unbeliever he needn’t worry too much, for they have latched onto his mandate and are living as they please with him as their father. How do I arrive at such a conclusion? Everyone that acts out against the teachings of the Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ is doing the devils bidding and therefore whether knowingly or not, have play into his hands; “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  (John 8:44) – Anything or anybody that contradicts the Word of God in any form or shape is playing into the hands of Satan’s objectives. This is where a decision needs to be made, do you believe this to be true or not? “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – In other words any religion that does not acknowledge that the only way to God the Father is via the Lord Jesus Christ has played into the hands of the devil and have believed a lie. Even so called Christian organisations have erred for the sake of power and shifted their mediator to Mary, the mother of Jesus who in her own right was a sinner like any other. Sure, I will not underplay her role, for who am I? She was blessed amongst women, chosen by God to give birth to Jesus, the only begotten son of God. It was though her womb that he entered the world and was given a body of flesh and blood. Through his life he achieve the near impossible, he lived a life of sinless perfection, never breaching the laws of God. The very first and last human to ever achieve this, hence the power he now yields as Saviour to all who dare to call out to him, through repentance, acknowledging their sin. Mary a wonderfully privileged individual who also needed to acknowledge her sin and need for a Saviour. She too had to call upon the name of Jesus to find forgiveness for her sin. When an organisation instructs you to pray to Mary as your mediator, they have played into the hands of the enemy and Satan has achieved his objective. You are believing a lie as your solution to achieve your objective, which is ultimately heaven, is it not?

 

We all want to end up in heaven, by hook or by crook is most of the world’s end game. There is no hook or crook when it comes to God’s mandate with regards to the Book of Life, here are the facts; “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) – What does this teach us? There is a book, the Book of Life, a registry in heaven with the names of those entitle to enter it, those whose names are not penned into that book will end up the Lake of Fire. I wonder how many people have been honest about this fact. How many funerals have you been to where the motto not been “rest in peace”? There will be no rest in the Lake of Fire.

 

God has made a way for all of mankind to be ushered into his kingdom, heaven is a real place and the reward for all who come God’s way and fight the good fight of faith with the Lord Jesus as the pivot to it all. Without him, no heaven, the Lake of Fire awaits.

 

Therefore I will leave you with these encouraging words, and I tell you a truth, I am not lying, this is what you need to do to have any chance of making it to heaven; “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

 

“To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen”

 

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone   

Considering the Variables

The fantasy world allows us to escape into a realm that gives an individual the upper hand. It levels the playing field and allows our minds to right the wrongs we witness. We lap it up because there is a small part of us that would love to be like them. From an early age in our lives we want to be praised and especially by our fathers. When we become a Christian the shift is server in so many areas of our lives but the need to impress our Father never changes, except now we have a new Father and He is the Father of lights, the creator of the universe. An impossible task if left to our own devises, but blessed be the name of our beloved Saviour Jesus Christ, the ONE who made this task attainable. In him we have the ability to bring glory to God. However, there are some variables we need to consider…

 

·        We have an enemy that will do everything in his power to keep us from our objective. He uses our old habits to nullify the work of the cross in our lives. If you were once a compulsive liar, he will get you to fall back into that behavioural pattern. Or if money was your thing, he lures you with it and may even trick you into exploiting the gospel for the sake of your carnal desires. The list is endless, but be wise in your deliberations. See things for what they are, look into the mirror and ask God to show you who you really are and then something can be done about it. The Lord Jesus gives warnings in the book of revelations when addressing the churches and the pattern throughout has the same emphasis; “he who conquers” will be rewarded and “he who has and ear let him here what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

·        Here is a fact that will come to pass; “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”  (Matthew 7:21-23) – Do we habitual ask ourselves on a daily basis is my priority the will of my Father and am I sincerely striving to find the grace I need to overcome the hypocrisy of my life?

·        “many are called but few are chosen”  (Matthew 22:14) – What does this mean? Think of it like this, a group of individuals respond to the idea of becoming a paratrooper, they like those wings that decorate a shirt and the prestige it brings. Many enlist for the course but before long the intense training takes its toll and many wash out. Only a handful receive the accolade. “Many are called but few are chosen”.  

·        Therefore, it’s about learning to put off our old natures as we learn to put on the mind of Christ, It’s imperative, if not, we  may find ourselves standing amongst the many. I don’t know about you but that thought has often jolted me into action, but by the grace of God here I stand. How often I’ve had to dust my knees off to seek out God’s forgiveness. “While we have breathe we have hope.” There can be nothing that carries such weight in our lives. Family, children and their needs must remain a distant second.

 

With that now as a backdrop let us hear Peter’s instruction; “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” “

(1Peter 1:13-16)

 

There is a cost, we must die daily, and yes, some will have to die and are dying for their commitment to Christ but that is nothing new, many have been martyred for the sake of the Gospel and there will be more just over the horizon. Beloved it will be worth it all, we have a hope that stretches beyond our wildest dreams, you perceive that the imagination of the comic book cartoonist have learnt to wet our appetites, “you ain’t seen nothing yet.” The faithful will receive glorified bodies just like our Saviours glorified body; WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE! Whatever the cost, let us encourage one another to good works that glorify our heavenly Father. I have another confession to make, I eagerly long for the day when I hear the voice of my heavenly Father ushering me into his kingdom, how I long for that approval and yet in the same breath my gaze will shift to Christ accomplishments understanding the responsibility which grace has taught me to play my part in the equation. It’s obvious that we have been saved by grace, which is a gift of God, but we have our parts to play. We must learn to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

 

“To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

Are we learning?

 

Are we learning, have we learnt how to position the cross of our beloved Saviour on our shoulders correctly or is the pain unbearable? Or have we out-rightly refused to go anywhere near it? Christianity is a life filled with valuable lessons that we must eagerly embrace and then pass the test. If we haven’t understood this aspect to our Christianity then we are either unsaved or infants in nappies still groping for a dummy. The entire point of being conformed into the image of Christ is to understand a portion of His sufferings and the only way we will ever apprehend that reality is if we also suffer for the sake of righteousness. Until then, we are bystanders or simply an audience that has gathered to listen to stories and novel ideas from the preacher. “Unless a seed dies it abides alone.” 

From the day of Salvation, war-room training kicked into gear. It’s the navigation of this conflict, flesh against the spirit that had me pinned for many years of my life, however God is greater than any obstacle that looks to interfere with His will and the sooner we yield to His will, the easier it becomes. Not that the suffering subsides, but because our minds have accepted the fact that we need to mimic our Saviours behaviour in areas of our lives that were once impossible. Because we have now been enlighten by the Spirit of God we are no longer caught off guard when a trial presents itself, we now know what needs to be done; accept, count it all joy, and then through steadfast prayer find grace to nourish us through the examination, until it is over. It will come to an end…

 

This may help some of you, we often find ourselves, or at least I find myself looking for wiggle room when it comes to the trials in my life. Allowances of justification which excuses my behaviour in certain areas of my life, which is no more than sin looking for domination. I’ve landed on a mind-set on these areas of my life; “no wiggle room!” That’s it! as simple as that, when in doubt all I say to myself, “no wiggle room” and then I look to find grace to embrace the scrutiny. That’s all it really is.

 

When the Lord Jesus called out to Simon Peter whilst he was fishing what did he ask him? “He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”  (John 21:17-18) – God will determine our trial in life, it’s not up to us to shirk the investigation, and we have been saved to bring glory to God, period! How does someone like me arrive at such a conclusion? Someone who has left a trail of destruction in his wake? For those who have read my autobiography you will understand. Although my example has not been like our beloved brother Paul, who was never disqualified by the way he lived his life. My example is the exact opposite and I has failed dismally in every area of my life, BUT GOD! Who is rich in mercy has removed the veil from my eyes and in a sense renewed a new spirit in me. He has afforded me the opportunity to own my sin, find repentance for it and now renewed my zeal that once burnt bright and true. Christian if you love the Jesus with all your heart and you have matured in HIS finished work, I never want to hear you asking the question, “why me?” “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”  (1Peter 4:1-2) 

 

It couldn’t be clearer, it’s the suffering we face that enables us to resist our selfish wants and focus on the will of God, which brings him glory. Get out of the way, just say to yourself when looking for the escape hatch, “no wiggle room”. I am not saying we will always walk in victory, even though we should, but our mind-set will be one that is always geared towards victory. And then there is the great equalizer, once we become too big for our boots, we are brought down to our knees very quickly, and are quickly reminded that boasting of any sort is excluded. Our goal is this; “Our Father in heaven thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Everything is the world opposes the will of God, however we are no of this world, we have the Spirit of Christ. Let us at least live to the glory of HIS finished work. We must stand out as we are now entering into a time of the anti-christs reign, whom the world will lap up with open arms. The New World order is about to launch like never before.

 

“Peace to all of you who are in Christ.” 

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

Behold the King is Coming

Behold the King is coming to rule and reign as King of kings and Lord of Lords. This will be the second time he visits our planet in bodily form. Two thousand years ago he willingly came to his own, the Jews and they rejected him as their messiah. Thankfully this opened the door for the gentiles, you and me. He presented himself in meekness with a purpose which he achieved in spades. He came to do the will of His Father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a lamb who we sent to the slaughter, where he was spat upon, and then crucified, a time of humiliation, but this is imperative to note, he willingly laid down his life and paid a price we could never pay. He died for the sins of the world, a sacrificial lamb without spot or blemish, in other words he was without sin, and he took the brunt of our sins. WHY? To open a door, which in turn enables the seeker to find forgiveness for their sins. Prior to his sacrifice this door remained shut. So unless we are forgiven in the Lords sacrifice our prayers will fall to the ground unanswered. Mankind trying to reach the great “I AM” on their terms, an impossible feat. It’s like me picking up the phone wanting to speak to the president and expecting his undivided attention, but to the power of trillions. But now I can, because Jesus has bridged that divide through his death. My sins are covered, he paid the price for them, and it is a done deal. I am forgiven, I cannot be tried for something I have already been tried for, and the law refers to that as double jeopardy. Although the sin is mine and I own it as such, once I call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, He has it in his power to forgive or not. Why? Because he has already been judged for it. My sin has been judged, Jesus took my punishment. Now if that doesn’t melt my heart nothing will, thank you Father for sending your only begotten son to die in my place and for my sin, thank you Lord Jesus for sending the Holy Spirit and opening my eyes to this truth. I have settled on the fact that some see this truth whilst others frown upon it, that’s just the way it will be, but I will shout it from the roof tops, MY JESUS SAVES! And on that note, I have a confession to make, forgive me Father for always squirming as I look for wiggle room when it comes to the sin in my life, no more! Help me, aid all of us lay down our lives to the full intent of your call. “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” is an offer that is reaching its expiry date. WAKE UP all of you on the fences.     

 

Did you know that there is a book in heaven and it’s called the Book of Life? For the angel to inscribe your name into it, it can only be once you have called upon the name of the Lord that you will ever peak his attention. I was ask a question from a dear friend, “Why can’t God just forgive you?” The answer is he will and he does but only if you come through the finished work of the cross. No one else has that accolade to their name, NO ONE! God hates sin and he will always judge it, a penalty for that breach must be paid, there is no impartiality with God, HE is righteous. Hence the sentence Jesus paid on behalf of sinners, therefore if I ask God to forgive my sin in person without the Lord Jesus’ cloak covering me, my sin remains, and hence that day will soon arrive where it will then be judged, the Bible refers to this event as the Great White Throne Judgement, where every sin that hasn’t been accounted for, those sins that Jesus has already nullified and already been judged for will be brought into the light and judged by God. Once a guilty verdict is passed, the Lake of Fire is where that sentence will be served.

 

It’s simple to understand, the only question you need to ask is do you believe it to be true or not?

 

Behold the Lord is coming and this time he won’t be on a donkey with a meek demeanour willing looking to laid down his life as he once did, THIS TIME! He will be riding a white horse and arriving with grandeur as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, where He will rule with a rod of iron. Best you be found wearing His coat of Arms. Or else!

 

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." (Revelation 19:11-16) 

 

Signing out

 

Tyrone

 

The will of God

 

The obvious actions where we fail is clearly the link to our carnal passions, our insolence to God’s law, often referred to as sin, which proves where we stand. Whatever that looks like for you. It is tailor-made, the time when our wills get the better of us and instead of resisting, we yield to the temptation. We even twist sin to slot into the grace of God. what do I mean by this? we accommodate sin in our lives and play the grace card, the card that excuses our sin with the words boldly inscribed, "we are under grace not law". we have been deceived if we ever cling to that type of mindset. All it proves is that our will at that time is far more important than the will of our heavenly Father. It’s a tragedy! That why the scripture is so full of warnings: be careful, do not be unequally yoked, and do not forsake the assembling of yourselves to mention but a few. It’s because we are dull of hearing and we make it harder for ourselves and sadly we all fall in this area of our lives. But our mind-set must be looking to overcome, period! We have storerooms of grace open to us. The unbeliever does not! Both camps have what I would call God’s general grace; we are all privileged enough to breath oxygen that keeps us alive, but special or specific grace only ever belongs to the believer. Those who have believed in their hearts that Jesus has been raised from the dead and who confess Him as Lord of their lives, the Christian has the ability to push through the temptation as God has given them the wherewithal to find grace in time of need. It only when we revert to our carnal way of thinking that we fall back into our sinful ways, “to be carnally mind is death.” God wants us to find victory over our sin, which is His will for all of his children!

“In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”  (Romans 8:4-8)

The voices out there are getting clearer, with an under arching cry of FOUL! Race/ homosexuality/equal rights/ freedom to choose and whatever else people deem right in their minds eye, no one has the right to challenge their choice. But now I say with clear intention, what about God’s choice? It’s time for some of us to stand up and be as passionate as the voices out there. Enough! I say. Christian let us remember to echo the sentiments of our beloved Saviour. “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  (Matthew 12:50)

 

Will we echo the words of Joshua “as for me and my household we will serve the Lord”, But I say, regardless of my households persuasion and by the abundance of God’s grace in my life, I will serve the Lord! My prayer is that I would truly learn to put God first in every area of my life, so beloved please pray for me.

 

If we had to summarize the Lords objective and why he came to the earth as a man to free some to serve the living God, what would your answer be? Some would say to conquer death and sin, others might say to free mankind from the traps of their sin... I will leave you to voice your own findings in your minds eye. And although all of these truths play their part in the Lord’s objective there is a far greater driving force that we need to uncover, which is, the Lord Jesus came to do the will of His Father, period! Whatever that was going to take is what drove our Saviours intent. The Garden of Gethsemane highlights this beautifully; “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”” (Matthew 26:39) – his flesh, his natural instinct was looking for and out and yet regardless of the anguish he faced there and then, he was driven by something greater, the will to please His Father.

 

The question we need to ask ourselves is simply this, am I living for myself or for the will of my Heavenly Father? Please pray for me and let us be mindful to pray for one another.

 

Blessing to all in the finished work of the cross and glory to the One and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

Will

 

We all have wills that we look to satisfy. These types of thoughts seems to occupy our minds most of the time. My will this morning was to have a cup of coffee and so I know punch keys and simultaneously drink coffee, my will accomplished. Without looking for more evidence to prove my point, just let your mind explore the driving force behind our wills and it will soon become apparent what our lives are about. “I” is what really matters, it’s "my will" that counts. It’s my number one priority. However, as a Christian my precepts now need to change. Not that God has changed, He is the same “yesterday, today and tomorrow”. His requirements remain constant, His expectation are impartial and His law the yardstick. Both the Christian and the unbeliever will be judge by the same set of rules, in the highest court in the universe, which I will call, “the Court of Judgements”. A place where every individual who has experienced life on earth will be judged. And nothing less than perfection will suffice. The Bible refers to this event as the “Great White Throne Judgement” and make no mistake it will be a grand event. All those who do not have Christ as their advocate and clothed in His righteousness will be found wanting.

 

With this in mind what should our wills look like? The unbeliever has absolutely no chance of pleasing God. Why? He has turned a blind eye to to the lifeline God has thrown sinners, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ the Lord. It’s not enough to believe that he exists, did you know that even the demons believe and they tremble. Why? They also know that their judgment is coming. You see it all comes back to our wills, we must align them with God’s will and his endowment for salvation, which is, Jesus Christ. If not we will fall short on Judgement Day. The key to success isn’t monetary security, its finding forgiveness for our sins so that we may be exempt on Judgement day. And the only way we can achieve this is through repentance and calling out to the One who has the power to save, Jesus Christ the Lord! Regardless of the score you are trying to keep, which looks to excuse your sin and excuse others of theirs. If your will constantly chases that objective, you will come up short, end of story.

 

Our wills must shift from selfish motivations, to this type of mind-set “What would Jesus do?” It’s really all about the will of God and until we understand this, we will at best, remains babes in Christ. I want you to do me a favour and break down some of your actions. Habitual actions that happen without too much thought. Dissect them and it will become very apparent where we stand on our commitment to the will of our heavenly Father. We are so busy with life that we “just do” what we do. A thought springs to mind, our will is then ignited and more times than not we succumb, we scratch the itch even when it’s contrary to the will of God. We buckle to sin. As Christians we must learn to avoid kicking against the goads? We needn’t look any further than our Saviour example, explicitly in the Garden of Gethsemane. There is much we can learn from this event. We must take on theory before we can apply it into our lives. We must have the right understanding of what is required from us as children of God ("Because a double minded man is unstable in all their ways"). Jesus the man was under such pressure in the Garden that he began to sweat blood. Now medically, I am not sure how far one needs to travel to reach this point but Jesus endured and all because he wanted to please His Father. If that doesn’t melt your heart, I am not sure anything can.  What is the Fathers will? “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40) 

Even if we don’t understand what we are going through at the time, when we finds God’s will for the situation, blessings always follow and when we are blessed spiritually it certainly revitalizes our bodies. Look at the result of the Lords victory, because Jesus endured how many look and have looked to him for salvation? Too many to number… Why? All because he endured the temptation as it was the will of his Father.

 

“Not my will but thine be done” must become our mantra if we want to reach the lost for the sake of their salvation. Hopelessness is what leads a person to the foot of the cross and once there, they then look up, see the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice and that’s where they will make a choice either way. Only those clothed in the righteousness of Christ will escape the wrath of God. Why? Because only the man Jesus lived a life of sinless perfection, yes! He never breached one of God laws thus making it possible for the “whosoever” to find forgiveness for their sins in HIM. Outside of that, hell will be your final destination.

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone

Do not be conformed...

 

Do not be conformed but transformed in the way we process information through our minds, with the aim of being converted into the image of Christ and it all begins with our understanding on faith, which is a affluence on the things we hope for. So long as that hinges on the ultimate will of our heavenly Father, no matter what is thrown at us we will find grace to overcome, its only when we get in the way of our transformation that we have extra heartache. Which earthly father doesn’t want to give good gift to their children, how much more then will our heavenly Father look out for His children. Once the lesson is learnt a blessing follows. Sadly the same lesson can take a lifetime for some.   

 

The secret is aligning our perceptions and our understanding on the will of God for our lives. This journey  lasts a lifetime. How often do we pray and yet we do not receive? Why is that? Because we ask amiss. Our minds get in the way of our Fathers will for our lives. This is how we need to process information, trust God for our lives, even when everything around us screams “RUN!” Abraham the Father of faith is a perfect example, he was willing to sacrifice Isaac the son of promise, because he believed God. I wonder what was going through his mind once he had tied up his son and placed him on the altar, try and allow you mind to comprehend, there he stood knife in hand and ready to strike. Was there doubt in his mind? The writer of Hebrews doesn’t give us any, absolute commitment in faith towards His God.  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

 

It’s easy to trust when we have enough money on hand to buy a loaf of bread but something altogether when our pockets are empty. I know, for most, this experience would remain a distant thought and not a reality, so I say, find something that’s specific to your situation and apply yourself in faith through your mind’s eye and then see that chink in your life as an opportunity to glorify our heavenly Father. Its easy to run with the though, why me? This in itself goes far deeper than the surface, of this I am convinced. Nevertheless, it would be good to at least land on this conclusion; why not me! We often end up reaping what we have sowed, however God is gracious and when we have learnt the lesson he will bring reprieve. And even if it doesn't come, will we stand firm on the finished work of the cross? Its at these times in our lives that we need to tap into the hope that we as Christians have. Unbelieve thrives in uncertainty.   

The world looks to highjack us with a "victim" type mentality. And Satan feeds the lust of our flesh, that which cries out within our minds, an itch that needs scratching, nothing more than us looking to quench our sinful activities. An action of reflex... Then we have the lust of our eyes, when we see something that we want and are so driven by that thought that we will do whatever it takes to possess it. And finally the pride of life, “how dare someone wrong me, who do they think they are?” and revenge kicks in. These are the attributes our beloved brothers John and Paul warns us to be on the lookout for when it comes to the worlds influence. “Do not be conformed” is Paul's warning, “put off" that way of thinking and replace it with Abraham’s way of thinking, in faith, trusting our God through the trial and not buckling under the pressure. Theory is a wonderful gift from God to us, but does it really count if we understand a truth but lack applying its effect into our lives. As I look into the review mirror, my life has been filled with hypocrisy, not understanding a truth and then applying myself to it in error. Only because I wanted to indulge in a sinful habit and excuse my behaviour as acceptable. I used grace as a license to sin for a time. Its obvious to conclude such a thought when we obviously walk in rebellion to the call of God upon our lives. It is easier to repent from such a position. But what of our standing when we believe we are more or less towing the line? If we are honest and call on the grace of God to strip us bare and understand our own minds, its these areas, the little foxes that spoils the vines that we must not ignore. And this is how it sometimes plays out; understanding a truth but lacking the commitment to it. Let us not make this mistake, when we “put off” the ways of the world, we must “put on” the way of our heavenly Father. When temptation arises, how do I handle the trial? Do I grit my teeth and bare it for a while and then say enough and yield? It’s only once we come through the trial without yielding that we succeed. Theory is never enough to glorify God, we must be practical in application. So how do I succeed? When the temptation arises, I purposefully run to the cross. In that exact trial I stop what I am doing and open the bible and begin to read. This is how we “put off” and “put on”. We shift our focus from the temptation onto the finished work of the cross, we take our eyes off our struggle and remember what it cost the Lord to die in our place. This is transformation as opposed to conformation of the world’s way of thinking.

 “To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.”

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone