Affliction!

(Numbers 11:11) “Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?”

Life should never be a bed of roses; joy should always be with us, love for our brethren always evident and the struggle of the giving of our bodies to be burned on the altar must be part of our daily activities.

This must be part of a Christian’s life. Why? I often question this myself; surely life should be carefree and happy-go-lucky. This is a dream or rather a fairly tale that was never intended for the Christian.

“Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?” Our heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith.

There was a great man or old who fear God, shunned evil and was blameless. What a commendation. Even this man was selected by God himself to prove to Satan and the angels that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. His name was Job and as a man he went about his daily business always putting the Lord first. I know that I should walk in His footsteps but I most definitely lack, and I do not follow his example in areas of my life as I should. This must change and by God’s grace I will alter.

The lesson is twofold, firstly let us look at his example and what we can learn from him and secondly how God tests us to try our faith.

(Matthew 6:9-10)... "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We can see in this text that the Lord requires us to honour and bless Him and to also endeavour to live a life on earth as if we were with Him in heaven. This is a very difficult concept to fathom and to actuate. Nevertheless it is required of us.

With that in mind, let us look to arguably our greatest example after the Lord Jesus.

(Job 1:1) “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”

The Lord gave him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. He feared for his children souls as they liked to “party it up.” For Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." This Job did continually.

We can see he had a heart for God and a concern for His children. This was the pattern to his life, a rich man, but he most definitely had his priorities in order.

Now, something else was happening in the unseen world, it looked something like this; now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"

Satan’s reply is very interesting, "Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Job was oblivious to what had just taken place in heaven, but it was game on. He never knew what was coming; “Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?” The question that would soon be answered was Job’s faith worth anything? It will be exactly the same for all of God’s children to some degree as our faith must be experienced.

“Gilt is afraid of the fire, but gold is not. It is a poor faith which can only trust God when friends are true, the body full of health, and the business profitable; but that is true faith which holds by the Lord’s faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, and the light of our Father’s countenance is hidden. A faith which can say, in the direst trouble, “Though he slays me, yet will I trust in him,” is heaven-born faith. The Lord afflicts his servants to glorify himself, for he is greatly glorified in the graces of his people, which are his own handiwork.” C.H.Spurgeon

How will we ever know the music to a guitar if we never tough the strings? Or what an olive goes through to produce it fine oil?

The story of Job is detailed and has lots to teach. Time will not permit but suffice to summarize...

In one day this is what Job faced; “The oxen were ploughing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you." Imagine, we cannot even begin to image with any real understanding, but it is his reaction that is absolutely astounding.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

All came against him, his wife, his friends but never his God, God was busy refining him as he refines us. He was humbled by the great Jehovah, he also learnt much through his great trail and in the end we see the heart of God for His people.

“And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. And in all the land there were no women as beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.”

Wherever dearly beloved you may find yourself, I will leave you with this scripture;

(Romans 8:28) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Now let us not overlook how God received the glory through Job trail, Satan challenged him to a duel in front of many if not all the angels. It is our great God and King that triumphed as He always will.

Signing off

Tyrone

My Friends

(John 4:14) “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again... “

This morning my heart goes out to unsaved friends, those people who have shared my life in one form or another. To Richard, Brett ( Bandit),Warren, Gavin, Mike, and to anyone else who has crossed my path through my journey on earth. I am aware of my failures as a Christian and how you have examined my walk and found me wanting. However, this morning I would ask you to consider another. I agree I am a man who has failed time after time and if we were to analyse my life and all my mistakes we would need lots of time and be left somewhat depressed.

Today let us think as I know we can, to see beyond each other’s faults and look to the one who has no fault, the sinless lamb, the Lord Jesus. I ask you a favour, as you read, please thinks about His sacrifice on your behalf. I know what you are thinking; you think that your sin is keeping you from Him. You are correct, it is, but a sick person needs a doctor and not someone who is well. The Lord Jesus died on a cruel Roman cross some 2000 years ago and He did it not for the self righteous, He died to pay the price for sin and for sinners. He did it to keep all those who would repent and believe out of hell and hell will be a terrible place. It will not be like a bad holiday that will eventually end, it will be for all eternity, that means forever and ever unbelievers will end up there. It is a place where all those whose names are not found written in the book of life. In other words there is a journal in heaven called the “Book of Life” and in this book every sinner that truly repents, his name will be penned into this book. You could call it the book of membership, and only those found written in this book will escape the judgement to come.

(Rev 20:15) “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

You see it is clearly stated in scripture, it is not my opinion or hundreds of others you have heard say the same thing. It will unfold this way!

How do you get your name entered into this book you may ask? Good question, so let us answer that.

The bible is full of instruction on how to find life, and as your friend I tell you I have found life and it is like the text says, my thirst has been quenched. “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again... “

My eyes are open and heaven is my destination, I pray that your eyes will also be opened, so that you also may see. You say, you believe, but is that enough? The answer is simply, no that is not sufficient! I don’t think I need to prove that we are sinful in our natures; we all know that we are. Well if we realise that then we can never find ourselves in heaven with God because of sin. It is such a serious thing, God hates sin, He hates it so much that he made a way for mankind to be reunited to Himself and the only way He could do it was to send His Son, His only Son, to die in our place. God became a man, lived a sinless life, was judged by man, died on a cruel Roman cross and on the third day He rose again. Now it becomes personal, I believe with all my heart, He died in my place and because of that I fall on my knees and cry save me great Saviour and that is exactly what He has done, he has saved me from the Lake of Fire, how grateful I am.

(Act 2:21) “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

So my question to you is will you call upon Him? I pray you do. Yes your life will change and yes you will find you no longer do what you once did. But don’t let the lie of will I miss out, miss out on what, and keep you from calling out to Him. Your eyes will be opened and you will see, and how beautiful the sight is. It is far more enthralling that the greatest sunset you can recall. There is only one way you can come, and that is through the Lord Jesus, It is that road only that will get you travelling in the right direction toward the Celestial City (heaven). The toll for that road is come as you are without a plea, confess your sin, repent and ask the Lord to help you turn from it, believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead and then go and confess Him as Lord.

Even now I pray for you by name, may God have mercy on your souls and open your eyes to see.

Signing off

Tyrone

Grace, Sufficient

(2Corinthians 12:9) “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..."

Everything we do should be to the glory of God, yet I know that much in my life does not glorify Him; why after all He has done for me do I still act and behave in ways that do not bring Him glory. We have to conclude as we have in previous blogs established, it is not about our attempts to save ourselves, if we could of achieved this then Christ would not have to have died on Calvary on our behalf. Yet He did and it was a sacrifice like no other! I say that I love the Lord and I do; only because He first loved me, but it is John the beloved disciple that gives us all a reality check. How does he do this you may ask? (John 14:15) "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” So to say I love the Lord is not enough, isn’t that a little extreme you may ask, why? How can it be, true love is to lay down your life for another. The Lord Jesus demonstrated Love for the world to see by laying down His life and dying on a cruel Roman cross, and remember He was always in the right. In other words He was hated and yet he never hated back. He was afflicted with whips, thorns and struck by men’s hands and never once retaliated. Love is not just words but she demonstrates herself in actions. It is James that does not mince his words, and I thank the Lord for straight talk.

(James 2:18) But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

One of the gifts is faith, so someone will believe and trust more than another. However, to avoid any confusion or to make any allowance for the flesh to take a gap as it always does when given a chance, James says to that person, don’t just tell me you have the gift of faith, show me your faith by your actions; in like manner, if we say we love the Lord yet we are never mindful of His will in our lives. Let me rephrase that. We all are to some extent mindful but is that enough, I don’t believe it is, how can it be, I must learn to lay my life down just as Christ laid His life down for me. So how much do I love? All I need to do is look soberly into the mirror and it will be clear. Forgive me Lord I have much love to learn.

Having said that let us look at our text, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..."

I think we can get confused with understanding this text; I know I have wanted to use this text as an excuse for sin in my life. That is not what it is teaching us. If we sin and we confess our sin then the Lord is faithful to forgive us our sin. This is very true, and I thank the Lord for His reassurance to this truth. I believe what we need to glean from this lesson about grace is not to trust in our abilities, our strengths, or even our disciplines. Our sole dependency must rest with the Lord. If I stutter when I speak and I nervously get the words out but they are life giving and full of wisdom and inspired by God the Holy Ghost, then surely I must learn to boast in my Lord and be pleased about my infirmity. Although I was not about to win an interpolation prize, what came out of my mouth were words full of life and seeing that I am full of pride and I want recognition, in this circumstance I was humbled. Get the point! There needs to be less of ourselves and much more of Christ.

All the strength supplied to us by our gracious Heavenly Father is meant for service, not for boasting or depravity. Consider Elijah, the Lord fed him with a baked cake and a flask of water and yet he was required to find sustenance from it for 40 days. The disciples were fed by the Lord and given instruction on how to feed His sheep. We must eat the bread of heaven, so that we may find strength for our Masters service. In the strength we daily gain from the Lord we need to labour for Him. I know many of us have much to learn about the design of the Lords grace and how it is to be used by us. Why does the Lord send the rain on a parched earth and give the genial sunshine? Is it not so the earth can bring forth fruit for mankind? The sunshine in summer was never purposed for the bronzing of our bodies. Even so the Lord feeds and refreshes our souls that we may afterwards use our renewed strength in the promotion of His glory.

Signing off

Tyrone

Another Spirit

Num 14:24 “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit...”

Here is a man that we can learn a lot from, as my brother so aptly put it last night whilst ministering, he said the other tens spies saw how big the giants were in the land, all they saw were obstacles, the cares of their life overshadowed them, forcing them to cry out, “the land, through which we have gone to spy it out, it is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are of great height. They could be referred to as men with their glasses half empty. But Caleb on the other hand brought back a different report of the same land. This is what he said, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." You could say he was the guy with his glass half full. But, bought analogies would be wrong. Sure Caleb’s outlook was the right one, of course it was, But not because he in himself was a positive outgoing go getter. That has nothing to do with God’s Sovereignty, he had a different spirit, that is all, and because of his different spirit he perceived things differently, he saw how small he was, how small the giants were and yet he saw how big his God is. You see not for even a second did Caleb doubt his God’s ability. I mean, not even a thought of doubt I believe entered his mind. Now we as believers have also received this same spirit, (Romans 8:9) “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit...”We see that it is God through His spirit that empowers a person to believe that his God is able. Let me explain this a little, we either have the spirit of God that indwells us or if not we do not belong to His family. The text is clear on that; “anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” So without Christ’s spirit we are like the ten spies and we see our problems and difficulties as grand and impossible to conquer. Yet, with the gift through regeneration (born again) we receive His spirit whereby we cry abba Father. We are now a part of God’s family. So why not sit back in an “Easy Boy Rocker” and wait for things to happen. NO! Have we understood nothing? As children and those who have received Christ’s spirit, we still have enemies that want us to walk in unbelief. We are given clear instruction that we still need to conquer the land, it will be ours, heaven will be ours, and the Lord Jesus will be our reward. Last night Gerhard fittingly divided the word of true and highlighted a few points that hit home. Faith in God really has nothing to do with our abilities, how we love to live here, we either excuse our actions or we accuse them, I am not sure we will ever; in this life at least, conquer this evil. Once again this has all to do with us and nothing to do with God. The more we dwell on our weakness the greater unbelief begins to grip our hearts, this in turn causes us to walk in disobedience. Our faith then shifts from God and His ability to our failures or our lack of ability. We now think like the ten spies even though we have the spirit of Christ. Wake up you who slumber, our God reigns, if indeed you have the spirit of Christ. So then it is not on your ability to accomplish, you should not have faith in faith, but our faith must reside with God and his ability. Get the point, it beautiful when we see this. We may change from day to day, but God never changes, once He has settled something in His mind it will be done. You may say look how I struggle over and over with the same trials, and this has been going on for a lifetime. Just remember you were not able to pay the price for sin, it was our great Lord, and He alone has overcome. It is now time to cast your eyes upon Him and his finished work. He will come again, so believe it, do not let the giants in your life obscure your vision, for He will come again and this time with a reward in his hand. May God have mercy on all of us so that we may like Joshua and Caleb embrace and follow God Fully, as partial obedience will have consequences?

Signing off

Tyrone

"War"

With so many voices out the in the world today it is tough not to be influenced. Even if we think we are immune it them, we are not. Just living from day to day and rubbing shoulders with the world and so many voices with so many varying outlooks. How are the Christians to survive? The simplest way to clarify it is as a brother in Christ and good friend once taught me. “We cannot put off without putting on.” Let me explain, if you know something is right and you do not do it, whatever it may be, then to you it is sin. God deals with all His children in like manner; we all have an enemy, the devil and our flesh. They both will do what they can to keep us from obedience to the will of God. Now, what advantage would we have if we knew not to lose our temper and when the urge came upon us to do exactly that and we did not bite our tongue, which we must do, and then we pace outside in the garden taking deep breaths to keep our temper at bay. It may be a help that we could use for awhile, but it would not be the right assist. Eventually because we are relying on our ability in ourselves, in other words we use the will and its power through discipline to endeavor to be more holy. Discipline is essential as a Christian, but we must not make the mistake I believe every Christian somewhere along his journey falls privy to. Remember Paul’s instruction to the Galatians church;

Gal 3:3 Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh? Remember what they where enforcing that all males get circumcised. In like manner we believe if we do and act in a certain manner, if we live up to a grade that we believe other will accept, then we feel justified and secure as a Christian. I understand and would agree that sin in our lives will cause unbelief, and it will rock our foundation. Do not misunderstand the point. Our eyes must move off our achievements if you could refer to them as such, I know for me I have no achievements and if someone was to find commendation, it would certainly not be because of my works or ability. Our eye must always gaze heavenward and we must always remember who achieved our sanctification. It was our great Saviour, the Lord Jesus. When He is in the forefront of our minds, when we reason soberly and realize that our best works and achievements are like filthy rags to the Lord, contaminated and imagine the rags the lepers use when bandaging their flesh, when they removed them, they were referred to as “filthy rags”. So, then our best work or achievements are also like “filthy rags” if they are down outside the finished work of Calvary, they will be condemned at the white thrown judgment. “Why having begun in the spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh?” the King James translation says, “by the flesh.” I think this reads better. This is a great example that contradicts the voices out in the world. Remember it is only the words of God that will endure forever; this world will pass away but not the words of God. Let us cleave to the voice of wisdom and turn a deaf ear to the herald of people’s opinions. So, how then do I put on? When temptation confronts me, it is simply not good enough to put it off. I must put it off but I then must put on. Put on What? In a nutshell the Lord Jesus, remember Him, pray to Him, thank Him, and Love Him. When the flesh tells you to be mean to someone, pray to the Lord, ask Him for strength, find grace as it is available freely to all who search it out and then go and be kind to them. One without the other will not help us grow in obedience. May God our merciful Father be merciful to all who call upon the name of the Lord?

Signing off

Tyrone

Discipline of Obedience

There are obstacles that hinder us to apply ourselves to a disciplined life in obedience to the will of God. This possibly is the greatest of all trails, when we suffer for wrongdoing; even unbelievers suffer for the foolish choices they make in their lives. This is as Peter says; do not be surprised when this truth unfolds in our lives. “What credit is when we do something wrong that we take it patiently, but when we do well and suffer, if we take it patiently, this is commendable before God.” Nevertheless, when we endeavor to find the will of God and apply ourselves faithfully to it, especially if you are like me and have made many mistakes in times past it can be rather confusing. All I now want to do is glorify my God and King.

This morning I am struggling to get this blog out as my computer seems to have crashed and will not startup. I am now on a laptop, but all my helps that I use to help me pen this blog are not on hand. My mind then starts to have a field day with questions like, should I be doing this blog or shouldn’t I? Maybe I am proud and conceited. If I was doing what God wanted me to do, then surely things would run smoothly, especially with something like this blog. Why get up in the early hours of the morning? Why try and appropriate good disciplines in our lives. As frustrating as it may be for the flesh, the answer to finding good disciplines in our lives in order to find grace and walk in obedience, is a must for every believer. The Word of God must supersede our feelings and emotions. This is a classic example I am using even now to illustrate this point. I am despondent, frustrated and feeling somewhat isolated. Look what Peter teachers us, “but when you do good and suffer for it, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.” Let me not make more out of this example than I should. Paul was shipwrecked, beaten, stoned and Peter thrown in prison and all because they preached the gospel. Nevertheless although my example may seem trivial in comparison and it is, the principle is what we need to grasp. Once again if we take God’s word and apply it in our lives, we will live an abundant life, I do not mean we will live abundantly with gold and silver, yet our lives will be filled with the fruits of the spirit. Remember what they are; “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such there is no law.”

Signing off

Tyrone

There is that great chorus I use to sing, but have not sung it in a while; “Thou the fig tree does not blossom and there be no fruit of the vine... yet will I rejoice in the Lord.” (Habakkuk 3:17)

How often I have thought those words, how often they have rung true to the fruit of my life and even today I must confess those words ring true. However we are not left to our own opinion whether we shall praise God or not. The very first word of the “Lord’s Prayer” reminds us that God’s name is t be hallowed. Praise is God’s most righteous due, and every Christian as a recipient of His grace, is bound to praise God from day to day. It is true that we have not been given any authoritative on how we should go about our daily praising. Nevertheless we have a new law written on our hearts that teaches us it is right to praise God; Paul encourages us to pray and sing,

1Corinthians 14:15 “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”

Although we are no longer under law but have been given liberty by grace through faith, this unwritten mandate comes to us with much force. Yes, it is the Christians duty to praise God. It is not only our reasonable service, but is the very pinnacle of a relationship with a triune God who first loved us, there was nothing to love, but on the contrary we were the enemies of God and yet he still chose to love us by sending His Son to die for us. We were once lost and on a road filled with destruction and our end ultimate disaster. BUT GOD, who is rich in mercy, called and saved all those who would be saved. It is not only a must for all Christians to praise God but it is now our obligation for this life as in the life to come we will continually praise our God, day and night. Not that we will have night as we now know it. Yet continuously our God will be praise face to face and in person by all his children. When we are heavy and the trails of life way us down, when we moan, let us not think that we are guiltless in this respect, or let us imagine that we may discharge our duty of singing songs of praise to our God. No, it is at these times we need to sing out even the more. We are bound by the bounds of His love to bless His name as long as we have life and breathe to praise His holy name, for He is worthy. So maybe that is why the fig tree does not blossom and there be no fruit on the vine. Maybe I am not rejoicing in my Saviour and maybe the cares of this life have begun to choke me. Look all and see, the Lord will be praise, call out unto Him, praise Him all ye saints praise Him. Gird the earth with your praises; may the melody of your praise fill the atmosphere so that God Himself will hearken from heaven and except the fruit of your lips and be well pleased with the music in His ears.

Signing Off

Tyrone

James 5:9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

I wonder how often we as believers just disregard the word of God. I have said it before and I will say it again when we ignore God’s word, it is only the one who discounts it, that suffers loss. It is a simple truth that cannot be ignored. So the encouragement is to heed the voice of God. It is a simple instruction with clear warning; do not grumble against one another. Our mind immediately runs to accusing others and excusing ourselves, we believe we have grounds to gripe. Do we? I am not so sure we do. Paul tells us to imitate Him as he imitates Christ. The lord Jesus was without fault and would have been justified to defend His honour, but we know very well that when he was reviled He reviled not! He had every right to retaliate and yet He held his peace. I must confess the war rages on in my members (flesh), it wants to point a finger at others at times, yet when I do it is always to my own detriment. I need to stop it, as it will be good for my spiritual growth. So let us stop grumbling, right now, whoever you are and wherever you are. If we refuse to heed the counsel of God’s word then look at the text, “so that we may not be judged.” But it is not a brother or a friend or even an enemy that will judge, but the Lord himself and “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.” “The judge is standing at the door. If we have grumbled then let us seek forgiveness, if we find ourselves still grumbling, may God equip us to find grace and to repent. We must!

Let us consider the communion we have around the broken body and the shed blood of our Lord. This is an ordinance that the Lord requires from us. (Baptism is the other requirement for a believer). We are to break bread as often as we would remember Him. If I had my own way, I would love nothing more than for believers to gather around a table with wine/grape juice and some bread, every second or third day would be good and in a prayer and fellowship structured meeting to remember His great sacrifice. Once every fortnight seems somewhat stretched. Let us dissect a few truths from Paul’s teaching on the subject found in 1 Corinthians 11... He starts by mentioning “that in the same night He was betrayed.” It is interesting that Paul mentions this because when we think about what Judas did and we look at his motive, it is obvious to see that he was thinking of himself before the purpose and cause of the Lord. Paul then goes on to instruct us that we need to eat and drink discerning the Lords body and if we do not to discern His body we will be guilty. Guilty of what you may ask? Guilty of judgement, the same judgement we will be guilty of if we grumble against our brother. It is exactly the same train of thought that Paul and James have. I will not go into any detail now, concerning the body of Christ, suffice to say that we are the members of the body of Christ; (1Corinthians 12:27) “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

Therefore, we all need one another whether we like it or not. Just as your physical body has need of the heart, lungs and kidney to keep us alive and healthy. So we need one another and more than that we need to give place to one another above our own wants and needs. When this starts to happen and God equips his entire saints to love how beautiful the sight will be, how glorified God would be. If we do not heed the counsel of God’s word in this area of our lives, remember we will suffer the judgement and reproach, not only from man but from God Himself.

(1Corinthians 11:27-30) Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

God views this so seriously that Paul tells us that if we do not give place to one another in love and we do not examine ourselves and judge ourselves. What do we judge? We judge to see if we are treating the members of the body in love. I will not say more than this, you yourselves will be able to examine your own lives and how you behave and act to others in your church. Look at how God will judge, “that is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” Rather serious wouldn’t you agree?

Let me confirm this truth by using one more scripture and let’s look at how the Lord taught us to pray. (Matthew 6:12) “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

I prayer my heavenly Father that you would continue to be patient with all your children and please forgive us for erring in this area of our lives. But, teach us to be more like our Saviour for His beauty when beheld is too beautiful for words. Help us be eager to search out grace from your throne of grace, to help in time of need.

Now to all of us how hold to this hope, remember our hope, be strong and vigilant and stand on the word of God. The day is coming when all those who will love His appearing will meet Him in the clouds in the air and what a day that will be.

Signing off

Tyrone

(I Kings 18:43) “Go again seven times”

The mind of a believer must be exercised differently to the way the world teachers us the think and act. Firstly, the carnal mind is blind to heaven and all that pertains to godliness. It is only once our eyes have been opened that we are able to see. How does this actually happen you may ask? What came first the chicken or the egg? Obviously the chicken, God spoke creation into being and in like manner we who were “dead in our trespass and sin.” Note we were dead, can a dead man see, can a dead man talk of can a dead man respond in anyway, the answer is obvious, NO! Salvation is all of God, not of man, we do not one day as a dead man decide to follow God and repent. It obviously seems to many that is what we do, as a Christian there was a time when you repented and knew that Jesus Christ had died for your sin and you either wept in your closet finding repentance or you responded to an altar call however that may have unfolded. Every true believer had to repent believe in the resurrection and confess Jesus as Lord. That is true, but let’s considers the event and unpack it a little. As I have already mentioned can a dead man do anything, the answer is a simple one, and he cannot. Does he have any of his senses intact, again he does not? So then how or why do we and I mean many think that as a dead man we are able to respond to God and repent and choose to follow Him? I thought like this once, it is ridiculous! Yet it is easy to see how we can overlook this truth. How you may ask? Well, when God calls and we in turn respond, who responds? Well we do the one whom God calls. So then I make the choice to respond to his call, well said, that is true. You see it is the call of God that quickens a dead sinner’s heart and opens his eyes to his sinful state; it is at this point that we see (our eyes are opened to see God) and then we call back in reply and then we find forgiveness. We are saved by grace through faith. Grace means we find unmerited favour, it is a gift of God. But, remember a dead man is dead, that is why he is called a dead man or a corpse. The corpse is brought to life by the mercy of God, remember the account with Lazarus, he was dead and God (the Lord Jesus) called out “Lazarus come forth,” and he found life, his dead body, was no longer dead but came alive. It is exactly the same way we find life, God calls we find life and then we respond and we begin our journey considering heavenly things with earnest. Let me use an example to highlight my point; let’s say we are on a plane sitting comfortably on our way to a holiday destination. We are thrilled as many pleasant thoughts of anticipation fill our minds with the upcoming potential. Suddenly panic fills the cabin as the captain voice over the intercom announces that engine failure will ultimately result in him having to crash-land the plane. Panic and pandemonium now run riot as everyone begins to think of dead and loved ones. In the mists of this bedlam a surprisingly calm voice of the captain announces that there is a parachute under each person’s chair. Both young and old grasp frantically for the parachute which in turn will save their life. Get the point? We first need to see we are in trouble before we will consider ways and means to escape. God opens our eyes we see we are in very serious trouble. We cry out, and Christ’s sacrifice for our sin brings forth the fruit of repentance. We now choose to walk in a certain manner, this is called obedience. However, we do not always walk in obedience, but we now have life in us to obtain mercy and find grace to be obedient children. This now brings me to our text, “Go again seven times”. Achieving a goal will be certain when the Lord have promised it. Although we may have pleaded with the Lord over a certain sin in our lives, or a character flaw, or anything that would keep us from walking in the spirit and keep us walking in faith as obedient children. How could it be possible that the Lord would turn a deaf ear to any of his children when it would it pertained to His glory. Look how the prophet on the top of Carmel Mountain continued to wrestle with God, and never for a moment did he give way to fear as a non suited candidate in the courts of Jehovah. Six times he went up the mountain with great anticipation but receive no evidence except the word to go again and each time he went, not as a defeated man or like a dog cowering with his tail between his legs. No! He did not dream of unbelief, we must not dream of unbelief but we must hold to our faith even as many times as seventy times seven. C.H.Spurgeon puts it like this “Faith sends expectant hope to look from Carmel’s brow, and if nothing is beheld, she sends again and again.” Faith far exceeds the misery of disappointment or failure, she pleads more fervently with her God. She is humble and yet she groans deeply, she sighs vehemently but will never relax the stay of her hand. How can she? She cannot, for she is the “substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen”. Our flesh and blood bodies require speedy answers, but believing soul must learn to be submissive, we must wait upon the Lord. Delayed answers may cause our hearts to search and question, it is somewhere here that I believe we as believers are vulnerable as doubt voices it opinion. However that is not the voice of faith, but rather the voice of doubt, let us not be confused. If we listen closely we will be able to tell the difference of the pitch in their voices. Doubt has also cause great and feeble to faint, and miss the blessing. I am guilty, yet I will press on in faith even if I have fallen seventy times. We must guard against this sin; we must pray and be watchful. At last the little cloud was seen, the forerunner of the torrents of rain on the horizon. Whatever your prayer, just as long as it is to become more like the Lord Jesus remain faithful for you will rise like a prevailing prince to enjoy the mercy you seek. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” Elijah was a man with like passion with us, his power was not found in his own carnal abilities, but in faith he committed himself to God. If his believing prayer purposed so much, why not yours, why not mine? If we step out in faith and bring our request that hinders us from walking in obedience, if we plead with our heavenly Father earnestly it shall be with us according to our desire.

Signing Off

Tyrone

The lumberjack

My thoughts this morning are heavy, how once again I ponder, time and how I have wasted it. But before I end up engulfed with worldly sorrow that leads to death, let us rather glean from a man that was full of the spirit and a man that used the gift God had given him well. Let us consider the lumberjack who will eventually visit us all!

“When in the forest there is heard the crash of a falling oak, it is a sign that the woodman is abroad, and every tree in the whole company may tremble lest to-morrow the sharp edge of the axe should find it out. We are all like trees marked for the axe, and the fall of one should remind us that for every one, whether great as the cedar, or humble as the fir, the appointed hour is stealing on apace. I trust we do not, by often hearing of death, become callous to it. May we never be like the birds in the steeple, which build their nests when the bells are tolling, and sleep quietly when the solemn funeral peals are startling the air. May we regard death as the most weighty of all events, and be sobered by its approach. It ill behoves us to sport while our eternal destiny hangs on a thread. The sword is out of its scabbard-let us not trifle; it is furbished, and the edge is sharp-let us not play with it. He who does not prepare for death is more than an ordinary fool, he is a madman. When the voice of God is heard among the trees of the garden, let fig tree and sycamore, and elm and cedar, alike hear the sound thereof.

Be ready, servant of Christ, for thy Master comes on a sudden, when an ungodly world least expects him. See to it that thou be faithful in his work, for the grave shall soon be digged for thee. Be ready, parents, see that your children are brought up in the fear of God, for they must soon be orphans; be ready, men of business, take care that your affairs are correct, and that you serve God with all your hearts, for the days of your terrestrial service will soon be ended, and you will be called to give account for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil. May we all prepare for the tribunal of the great King with a care which shall be rewarded with the gracious commendation, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

Arm Your Mind

(1Peter 4:1-2) 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.

As Christians all things become new! It is our mind and the way we think that I will consider in the early hours of this morning, the sun is far from rising and yet the birds have already began to call out, they speak another language, it is sweet to the ear. I am convinced they cry out, “to God be the glory forever and ever amen!” Ok, maybe not those exact word, yet they without question praise and give homage to the great I Am, the One who has no beginning or end, the One who is the Father of Lights and the merciful and gracious only true living God who sent His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus to pay the price for sin and redeem the called who where lost and without any purposeful direction, who where dead in their trespass and sin but now have found life. What a great God I serve and you serve all of you who believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead and have confess Him as Lord with your mouths.

“All things have become new!” At salvation we receive sight to see what we once could not see, the kingdom of heaven. We are taught that we are new creatures in Christ. We are told to present our bodies as a living sacrifice and we are also told not to be conformed to this world, but to renew our minds. How must we renew our minds? If we are left hanging in the air with this as an open ended liberal workshop, it would leave us to our own devises and a lot of guess work and a doctrine of experience and people’s opinion would reign supreme. I am not sure that already isn’t at work today. If we look around we see churches, people and opinions all screaming out to be heard and be recognised as the ones with the answers. However, they do not have sound doctrine as their foundation. Paul however goes on to teach us that by testing we may discern the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect. What must be tested? Firstly we must prepare ourselves for the test. Let me use a simple example like making a cup of coffee. I need a stove, a pot, water, a cup, some coffee, milk and sugar. I make sure I have what it takes to make a cup of coffee. It would be foolish to attempt making coffee without any of those items. In like manner the testing Paul refers to starts out with an appeal “by the mercies of God, for us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice.” The optimal benefit for believers to test the will of God for our lives must begin with our bodies presented as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship (reasonable service). He then instructs “not to be conformed to this world”, what does that mean? This is a subject without end! One point I will make, “let God be true and every man a liar”, and this would be a good place to start. The word of God is the final authority in this life and the life to come, it is our compass to eternal life and must be valued above all else. You may say what about Jesus? Yes it is all about Him, He is the word of God. Remember the Lords word, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” So, whatever the Lord has said and whatever is recorded in the word of God will come to pass, no debate, no casting of lots and no ballad boxes to hear the voice of the people. Whatever God has settled in his heart will come to pass.

If we can find ourselves settled with God’s word as marrow for our bones and eye salve for our eyes, if we can step out in faith and believe that God is for us and not against us. We must stop wrestling and always looking for the loop holes. There isn’t one! O that God would help us find grace to trust and obey.

Now that we have prepared ourselves we must now our arm our minds with correct information; what use is a gun without bullets? And what use are bullets that do not match the calibre of a particular gun? It may look threatening from a distance, but when called upon it would be rendered useless. In like fashion if we (believers) are not built upon the rock, when the storms come, great will be our fall. Therefore let us arm our minds with the right information; this now leads us into text...

“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.”

Peter teaches very clearly that since Christ suffered in the flesh, we must arm ourselves with the same mind. It will not help us if we try and arm our mind with any other wannabe different type of doctrine. This will be no more effect that a gun without bullets. As first glance the text seems harsh and unkind, but when unpack it with care we see God’s love manifest there. How you may ask? “Whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin”, it is only sin that keeps us away from the will of God for our lives. I want us to remember our Saviour encounter in the garden of Gethsemane, remember His prayer. He cried out, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." It was such an intense experience that He began to sweat drops of blood. His willingness to go his Father’s way has opened a way for you and me to have sweet fellowship with an almighty God and yet he deals with us as sons.

Now with that thought and our Saviour example in mind and we see what He accomplished on our behalf. Just imagine if we arm our mind with the same mindset, what we will accomplish for the will of God and how helpful will we be to others? We must arm ourselves with this mindset, we have no other choice. May our God continue to pour out His mercy and grace so that we may learn to walk in obedience bringing glory to His name. Yes, I agree some of our examples have been somewhat appalling. However, remember we must leave those things that are behind, and press on to the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Signing off

Tyrone

Caution, a must!

Is it not terrible thing to watch God’s children bicker amongst one another? I have witnessed it and still see it amongst believers. It is the canker worm which eats away, feeding on the unity of believers and before long he leaves his footprint, guile and bitterness replace what was once a peaceable fruit and if we do not addressed our own hearts and find grace to chisel him out, he will continue to contaminate all he comes into contact with and unfortunately the lambs (young believers) will be tarnished. Often we hold so strongly to our persuasion, which I believe God would commend. However, even if we are right about a biblical truth and are so driven to be proved right to the extent of sowing discord amongst believers, this will not be commended. I can tell on the authority of God’s word...

Proverbs 6:16-19

“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

If a thing be right, who are we to change it, or mould it into our tiny little world? We do not have that right; we may nevertheless twist something from God’s word to suit ourselves. That is not my point; we cannot and should not ever change God’s word to suit our lifestyle, we may all be guilty to some extent of doing this but that changes us and not Gods word. Having said that, it is only the truth from God’s word that will set us free to serve Him and walk in obedience. We never have the right to sow discord amongst brethren, for God hates this. What a serious indictment! Never should we as believers be swayed from sound doctrine, we must stand on God’s word, which is the sure foundation, with the Lord Jesus as our chief cornerstone. How must we do that? It seems somewhat contradicting you may say. On the one hand I must not sow discord amongst brethren and strive for unity; on the other hand I must never compromise God’s word. There are some truths in God’s word that we as believers must make our stand, it will be a hill worth dying on. An example that would depict my stand is that, “we are saved by grace through faith not of works lest any man should boast.” Christ alone has done the work, He alone has accomplished a means for our salvation. It is God who calls, it is God who saves and it is God who keeps us saved. Yet if someone does not agree with me on this truth, for it is true. How am I to respond, well once again it is the word which teaches us; there is a way in which all Christians must respond and it is with the spirit of gentleness and with patience.

(Ephesians 4:2-3) “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We can find grace to appropriate the truth from God’s word to one another. Paul gives us the teaching on love when we look upon her traits and gaze upon her beauty, how beautiful is she! “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

“Is not every Christian more than a conqueror through him that loved him? Living in peace, do not the saints fall asleep in the arms of victory?” (Spurgeon)

Victory in glorifying God must be our objective; the truth must be proclaimed and preached throughout this world. We must even be prepared to die on some hills, but amongst brothers may we tread with carefulness and in love.

Signing off

Tyrone

Thinking Right

There must come a time for the believer to forget those things that are behind and to press on towards the mark- heaven, our hope. I have through my journey here on earth found people with views on how confident they feel we should be with our abilities that obviously God has given us to achieve goals and prove ourselves as go-getters. To believe and then conquer would be their motto. We are what we are because that is where we are all, all because of the grace of God. If God has allowed me to go on in areas of my life and I have found obedience to press on, then God has allowed me to press on. However, one can be very easily lured into the trap of pride. Any form of justification that ignores the work by the Lord Jesus on the cross at Calvary must be categorize in life library and filed with the works of the flesh under sub heading of Pride. May God help us to find sustenance in the Lord Jesus and nothing else? Yet even if we have something in which we feel we could boast, our beloved apostle Paul reminds us about his achievements and then concludes like this in Philippians 3:7-9 “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

“Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Conscience accuses no longer. Judgment now decides for the sinner instead of against him. Memory looks back upon past sins, with deep sorrow for the sin, but yet with no dread of any penalty to come; for Christ has paid the debt of his people to the last jot and tittle, and received the divine receipt; and unless God can be so unjust as to demand double payment for one debt, no soul for whom Jesus died as a substitute can ever be cast into hell. It seems to be one of the very principles of our enlightened nature to believe that God is just; we feel that it must be so, and this gives us our terror at first; but is it not marvellous that this very same belief that God is just, becomes afterwards the pillar of our confidence and peace! If God be just, I, a sinner, alone and without a substitute, must be punished; but Jesus stands in my stead and is punished for me; and now, if God be just, I, a sinner, standing in Christ, can never be punished. God must change his nature before one soul, for whom Jesus was a substitute, can ever by any possibility suffer the lash of the law. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” Not God, for he hath justified; not Christ, for he hath died, “yea rather hath risen again.” My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, he is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what he has done, and in what he is now doing for me. On the lion of justice the fair maid of hope rides like a queen.”

C.H.Spurgeon

Having now quoted Spurgeon and agreeing with all that he has said to be true. I know my own heart, how it wrestlers against this truth. When I look at my life and the mistakes I have accumulated over my journey with time, it almost robs me of the truth of Christ’s accomplishment on that cruel Roman cross. It almost has victory, but He is greater than my failures, He is greater than my bad choices, He is greater than anything that can come against me, and I mean anything, yes even ourselves. With that in mind let us be gripped with this mindset; Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

What is done is done, it has been recorded, and nothing we say or do will change that. However, we can find grace to press on just as Paul encourages us to press on forgetting those things that are behind, good or bad, happy or sad. Today is the day of salvation, let us not harden our hearts but with grateful hearts remember our Saviour and His accomplishments, let our eyes drift from our own pity filled lives as we gaze on the majestic work of Calvary, and how majestic those works are, praise the glorious name of Jesus. Thank you Father for sending your Son and giving us the ability to see heaven and the hope you have set before us.

Signing off

Tyrone

Inheritance

Daniel 12:13 But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days."(ESV)

This morning I have a lot on my mind, there seems to be a number of thoughts looking for my brain to process and all at the same time. If we leave a stone unturned, on our journey to the Celestial City (heaven) who knows what treasures we would forfeit for all eternity? Our life here on earth must be measure against God’s word and this must be done daily. Remembering that we only get one crack at it, we have our lives on earth and then for all those who would not believe that Christ paid the price for their sin and was crucified and on the third day rose from the dead. The second death awaits all of them where hell is their destination with the promise of a wailing and gnashing of teeth for all eternity. The bible is very clear on this. Remember with God all this are possible but it is impossible for God to lie. He has the power to speak worlds into existence but cannot lie for He is Holy. As much as the Lord is love and full of it, the bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. My encouragement to believers is for us not to leave a stone unturned. This statement will need some explanation.

“But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.” An angel address Daniel, a man whose life was filled with obedience and the fruit of his life spoke volumes by highlighting God’s righteousness. When reading through the book of Daniel what really caught my eye was how this angel addressed Daniel, “O Daniel, man greatly loved.” God loved Daniel and still loves him. It would be good for us to learn from his example. So what then can we learn? Very few believers feel this holy jealousy for God like Daniel did; even those who in a measure walk by faith, as we all do if we have His spirit, yet how often do we mar the lustre of our lives by craving aid from man. Daniel never relied on man even when the provision was offered to him. He was offered meat yet ate vegetables. His purpose was simple and that was to show to all around, that His God reins. He would not allow others to receive glory, but his God only. David was another who refused to wear the armour of men and by faith in God alone brought down the great giant Goliath with a slingshot and a stone. “Faith is the substance (assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” When we face difficulties through life and we must, why do we run so hastily to friends and relations for assistance, if we remembered that the Lord is magnified in our dependence when we rely upon his solitary arm? Daniel and David believed and trusted in their God, will you? When the trails of life are upon us, it will be clearly evident where we stand on this point. For we all must be tried. For the trail of our faith will ultimately bring the fruit of obedience. Yes even if we have hashed it time and time again, it will produce its fruit to all those who have received God’s Spirit.

Why is it important to find obedience in our lives and to walk in faith? Firstly God’s requires it and therefore it must be done. Nothing else needs to be said. However the apostle Paul once again gives us insight to what the angel meant when addressing Daniel, “But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days." Some bibles translate it slightly differently. The Good News bible says “you will receive your reward.” The angel comforts Daniel with reassuring him and commending him on his walk here on earth and reminds him that his reward is waiting for him. Yes, obviously the Lord Jesus is the reward for all who believe on Him. But, there is more, more you say, how can that be? I agree the Lord Jesus is the all and everything, nothing else is needed. But obedience will be rewarded, let look at Pauls teaching in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15

“Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. “

There will be a judgement for believers; it will not be a judgement for sin, for our great Saviour has already paid that price with his very own life. The price for sin cans no man pay; it was bought by the blood of the lamb. There is only one road that leads to the Celestial City and the only way to start your journey on this road is to believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and to confess Jesus as Lord, you’re Lord. I believe that is why Paul stresses the point. “Though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. “ You see we cannot save ourselves it is only God who saves. Yet, along our journey down and up this road toward the Celestial City will come across the stones of the trails of life, we can pass then by, but just remember they just might have a precious stone, some silver or even gold under them. Daniel left no stone unturned, what will you and I do with them?

Signing off

Tyrone