Salvation

(Job 28:28) “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”

I was introduced to my Lord and Saviour about 22 years ago; I had just finished my National service in the South African Navy (Marines) and decided to travel abroad on a working holiday. It was during this debouched seven month period that questions on the purpose of life began eat away at my understanding on life, like never before. I cannot with any authority tell you how God in His mercy decides to bring us to a place where we see our sin and repent and find forgiveness for it. It is a mystery and the Lord Jesus explain this phenomenon like this; “the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." When the call goes out from heaven and your name is bellowed by the almighty One, God Himself, there is no place you can hide, my advice is don’t try but rather search out truth. The truth will set you free! I can recall trying to live a life of wine, woman and song but strange and unusual things would happen. Not mystical things like a voice from heaven or angels appearing, it was just small unusual occurrences that I could not let my mind overlook them. It was obvious somebody was at work in my life although I did not know what it was at the time. It was God calling me to repentance; Let me tell you how that all unfolded; It was probably late July 1987 and my older brother was about to be married. This upcoming event brought me home a little earlier than planned. On my return the bar and entertainment area, the room where I had celebrated my 21^st birthday was now a room where people gathered to hear the Gospel. It had become a church; my father an alcoholic had stop drinking and become a Christian, my mother was echoing his sentiments with her life. My whole family without exception was now serious about Christ’s sacrifice. After much annoying persistence from the entire family to attend a meeting I found myself seated in a chair listening to a man confidentially preach about the man Jesus Christ who died for my sin. It is hard to explain how his words captivated my attention, but they where riveting to my soul, it was as if he was only speaking to me. When he concluded with his sermon he appealed to any who wanted to respond to this message, the message of life in and through the Lord Jesus and I was compelled without thought to any ridicule of those looking on to respond and my arm almost mechanically shot into the air. I was not the only one who responded but I didn’t pay them much mind. The preacher man then prayed but surprisingly after he had finished praying, I was left confused by my decision. What had I just done? So I walked over to the barrel-chested man and looked him in the eye and said, “You have just confused me, what have you done.” He looked at me with surprise and said, “Just press on brother.” What was that suppose to mean, huh? I was confuse and anxious about my decision for days and I wrestled with it looking for answers. My family endeavoured to come to my aid and reassure me that I had been saved. Let know one tell you that you are a child of God; you must have the witness of the Spirit living inside you. In other words you must just know without a doubt that your eyes have been opened and that you can see. It must be your own experience and not someone else’s. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

When it is a true conversion and God come and breathes life into you, it will be unmistakably recognisable, you will not be left guessing, and if you are supposing then my advice to you is wrestle until you are sure.

I can vividly remember how it happened for me; two days had passed after my initial response to the preachers call. I was sitting alone in my mother lounge and reading the bible and I remember praying a prayer that went something like this, “God I am not quite sure what I have done, but I do believe you sent your Son to die for my sin.” the flood gates then opened I began to cry like a baby, tears of absolute joy resonated from my soul as I cried, “I can see, I can see!” How fabulous this day had turned out to be. It was if I was sitting in a room full of total darkness and all I could make out were some shapes that looked like furniture, but then the light switch came on and I could not be sure of their detail. Someone had walked into the room and flipped the light switch. Now the furniture’s detail was clearly seen, I no longer was left guessing. My immediate reaction was I needed to tell someone, so I ran into the study, picked up the phone and dialled Greg, my mate I had travelled abroad with. My conversation went something like this, “Greg I have found the answer to life, it is in the Lord Jesus..., he responded, “huh”, “can’t you see?” I asked. But sadly he could not and so my pursuit to tell my all friends began and I am happy to say that not all rejected the message of the Gospel, some even today proclaim the saving grace of the Lord Jesus.

Once this journey begins we war with our reasoning and so we make daily decisions; it has taken awhile for me to understand what this text means, “and unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”

But this is the key to walking a victorious Christian life; firstly we must fear God and His awesome brilliance and then after we have His Spirit we must depart from evil. It is through this process that our joy will overflow. Do not let people lie to you. Christ died for sin, how can we now justify living in it, if we hold to this perversion it is a lie from the devil.

I will leave you with John Pipers quote, “God is most satisfied in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Joy

(Hebrews 12:2) “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,”

Is a child who is but a babe not part of the family? Of course it is, when a mother brings life into this world through much pain and anguish as she detests every minute of the hurt. When she holds the child in her arms is not the pain forgotten as joy and glee overwhelms her heart. Yes it is soon forgotten.

My thoughts go out to my great Saviour as I contemplate the agony of Gethsemane and the afflictions of the cross. Did He not suffer pain in His body? Did he not sweet drops of blood from the intense anguish? Of course He did! But why was he willing to suffer? Yes we are able to deduce from other portions of scripture that because it was the will of God the Father that He drank the cup of suffering, He swallowed the entire cup, not just a portion of it, and He gulped down the content of the cup in its entirety. Why would He do such a thing? Maybe He was a lover pain, I think not! Actually history tells us that he was rather a weak physical individual. Despising the shame he was driven by one motivating factor, in this text it is clearly highlighted and no other point is mentioned and this is the point; “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.” It is clear to see that it was “the joy” which motivated our Saviour to endure the cross. How could the pain of suffering be joyful? How does a mother endure labour pains? Is it not the hope of a healthy newborn child, a new addition to the family that urges her on and through her labour pains? It sure is! It is the hope of new life that motivates and feeds her will to endure the pain.

The Lord Jesus also endured the cross and all its humiliation and soreness and drew strength from the hope that was to come. In fact His hope was so real that it resulted in an overwhelming joy, an emotion of happiness and this passion in turn resulted in such love that He was able to cry out unto His Father, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Try an imagine the scene at Calvary, all the pain, anguish and humiliation that the Lord Jesus was put through and this text tells us that He “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,” this great Saviour of mine excites me and ignites my hope as I look to His example. “How great is my God, how great and vast His wide domain, to begin to tell these lips can only start?” Praise His Glorious name! Yes all of you exalt the name of Jesus and sing praises unto Him for He alone is worthy.

What can we learn from this text and Christ example, what is He teaching us? It is rather obvious. This is the lesson; our hope of heaven and eternal life and to be with God forever and ever must always resonate in our minds, but not somewhere hidden in a compartment tucked away. Our hope must be the last thought we have when we lay our head down to sleep and our first consideration when we rise. If Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and He captivates our soul, joy will well up within us and we will find an amazing strength within us to glorify God in and through the toughest times. This is exactly why the Lord Jesus endured the cross. Lets finish the verse because it clearly spell it out; “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

So I leave you with this thought, remember our High priest and what He endured on our behalf and also remember how He drew strength to endure what he had to tolerate. We have access to the same spiritual weapons the Lord Jesus drew on to find His joy in enduring the cross. Every believer that has His spirit both young and old, a babe in Christ or someone of mature age, all may find joy in remembering the hope that is waiting for us and just around the corner. I will leave you with this quote from John Piper, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Forgiveness

(Psalm 51:10) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

How will we react when our hearts have been exposed to sin? Will we retaliate and lash out in sin with an attitude of self justification or will humility and repentance be palpable for all to witness. Will we fall to our knees and seek out repentance will diligence?

The text from the Psalm is rich with repentance and when examined we are able to glean an abundance of fruit from the tree of truth, this verse in the Psalm’s give us insight into two amazing truth’s, both true repentance and the loving kindness of a God who is full of mercy and forgiveness.

Let us consider our lives and forgetting those things that are behind, let us consider today because today is the day is the day of salvation. We can do nothing for what has passed, it has already happened, but today we have the future in front of us to put anything that is out of kilter back in line. Let us reflect and let us use the mirror of truth which will help us to see those hidden chinks in our armour and then when we perceive them let us fall to our knees and repent. In so doing we will find live, we will bring glory to God, we will exalt His name and we will restore our joy. If we find true repentance today, I assure you and not as one who beats his chest in frustration but rather as one who himself has believe His God and called out to the only one who has the power to forgive and restore one’s joy, God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ, and when the call went out from these my lips, He was quick to respond and forgive. How great is my God, how majestic His wonderful name. I now declare with complete confidence His brilliance.

You may feel that you have spent all you have to give to the call to of righteousness, and I say no you have not. Life is filled with daily choices and how often we make the wrong ones. Nevertheless our God is able, a bruised reed He will not break, the smoking flax He will not quench. So fall to your knees cry out to Him for He will not turn one away. Your sin may be a heavy burden and so it should be, but repent and let Him, the only man who ever lived like we live, being tempted in all points just like we are tempted but yet without sin. He never broke one of God’s laws. Yes this is true he never broke a single command from God’s lips! He understands what we all go through here on earth with trials and the consequences we now need to live through because of so many bad choices in our lives.

You are not alone, let us consider king David the writer of this Psalm; he penned this Psalm after Nathan the prophet exposed sin in his life, and this was sin personified; let us unpack the events.

Israel was at war and had just ravaged the Ammonites but David was at home in his castle relaxing and not at war. His life was somewhat idle and we know that an idle mind is the playground of the devil.

(Proverbs 19:15) Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger (that hunger refers to both natural famine as well as spiritual starvation). So we are to “give no opportunity to the devil.” When we are unused or idle our natural tendency is find something to do and if we are not captivated with a godly purpose then we find ourselves in dangerous territory. This is where David now found himself.

Let us pickup the story; late one afternoon David got up from his afternoon nap and walked on his roof, possibly enjoying the sunset, his eyes move from the beauty of creation into a neighbours bathroom where his eyes beheld a beautiful woman bathing. Instead of resisting the temptation, he now invites it in and sends for her. Bystander’s witnesses the event and it surprised them as they recognised this woman as the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Nevertheless David still sent for her and he slept with her resulting in her falling pregnant. She then informs David that she is with child. Now panic was the order of the day for David and he began to scheme and plot a course to free himself from the mess he was now in. So he sends for Uriah, firstly befriending him and showing him favour. David gets Uriah drunk hoping that he will then go and sleep with his wife and hide his sin. This man Uriah was such a team player, a man of such integrity and valour that because his compatriots where fighting a war, he could not bring himself to any home comforts while his friends slugged it out with the enemy. So he did not go home to his wife.

This now is tragic, what David now does would be almost unforgivable. Here was a man fighting for his king, remembering his friends at war, denying himself the lap of luxury when they were available to him. But King David overlooks all of that and plots a plan to cover up his sin by planning Uriah’s death. He gets his general Joab to sent Uriah into the heat of the battle where death would be eminent. Uriah is killed. The woman Bathsheba mourned for her husband; this tells me that she loved him. What a terrible selfish story but let us not miss the point as it is huge, and if we do not get it, then we will overlook the hidden beauty in this account. Solomon was born to David and Bathsheba and from his lineage was born our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord.

David does not see his sin at first but when Nathan the profit confronts him and exposes it to him, how does he react, how will you react when God the Holy Spirit points out sin in your life? David falls to his knees and repents with tears and vehemently prays for the life of his soon to be born son. The child dies and David learns a lot through this saga.

This leaves David penning these words; “create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Even through this whole fiasco what must we understand about God, is our God is slow anger, He is long suffering, and full of love?

Repent and call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved.

How does God view David’s sin? The child died and there were consequences that affected him later on in life with his family. Our sins may leave scars but remember that Jesus is greater that any stronghold they may have on our lives.

Let me leave you with this thought and what God had to say about David, “I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Love for Jesus

(1John 4:19) “We love because he first loved us.”

How mind blowing is the thought when I consider my love for Jesus. How can a man feel so much love and compassion for someone not seen? Some parents except children with imaginary friends as they play out their childhood fantasies. I have seen a child believe that their invented friend was real and I do not doubt for a second that they didn’t believe it themselves. Yet, it was rather obvious to all the observing bystanders that it was just fantasy.

Why then is it that millions of reasonable people throughout the world would appear to have an imaginary friend in Jesus. They pray, talk and read about Him. Millions of books have been written about His wonderful accomplishments and many autobiographies of how this person Jesus Christ their Lord rescued them from utter Destruction. I am one of those who has written a book about my life and how in spite of myself and my stubbornness the Lord has captivated my heart, where I am able with sincerity to extol His great name and declare that I honestly and in sincerity love Him. In fact He is so majestic and magnificent that He is able to save from the uttermost to the uttermost. All that means is wherever you may find yourself, and I mean wherever He is able to rescue you. He will pour in the oil and the wine where needed and before long you will be praising His glorious name. Do not wait, do not reason as a man without sight, do not say I have to see before I can believe, just come as you are without one plea, call upon the name of the Lord to save your soul and He will not turn a blind eye, He will be merciful and gently begin to restore your life back to its original call, and that is to glorify God. How sweet it is when we adore Him.

Imagine a parched and barren land with scorching sand visible in every direction and the unforgiving baking sun beating down and looking for moisture in every crook and cranny and yet with none to be found. Hope and despair the order of the day for the travelling pilgrim and just when hope is about to breathe it final breath he somehow is compelled to look to his left and he sees it. A pond without banks, water like crystal, at last a lifeline. It is one thing to read a story or to watch a biography of some interesting character but when the pilgrim spoken of is you, how that changes everything. You see I was the man on the brink of death, I had one foot on the edge of hell with demonic beings intending with absolute glee to see my demise. But GOD in his merciful character called out, “look left” and somehow on the brink of death I found strength to look left and there He stood with nail marks in His hands from that cruel Roman cross and they were clear for all to see. I am not completely sure all could see his scars, but I could. Can you see them? I have seen them so clearly, I have experience His saving Grace and that is why I say I love Him, He bleed and died for me. I love Him with all my heart. Here I was on the brink of death and even worse looking down into a bottomless pit of darkness with scorching flames beckoning my name as they searched out fuel to sustain their malice.

So you ask, surely this Jesus Tyrone speaks of is some figment of his imagination? I can assure you Jesus is as real as your eyes now read this text. He is my Saviour, He is the love of my life and no matter where you may find yourself; whether you have never relied on Him or found repentance in Him. Whether you have once relied on Him and now find yourself far from Him. Stop what you are doing, do not feed death and all its traps. Turn now unto Jesus, look to Him and find life.

The world speaks of “purpose” there is no other purpose of greater value than relying on the finished work of Calvary and on this risen Saviour, even Jesus Christ the Lord.

Call out to Him and you will find life.

Signing off

Tyrone

His own Image!

(Genesis 1:27) “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Why was a mirror ever invented? To reflect our glory, it is a tool we all use to help us improve our appearance. Teenagers use it intensely when applying gel to their hair. Most woman even carry a miniature mirror in there bag to help with their repeated application of makeup throughout the day. Woman dress with it, budding superstars use it to mimic their pop idols and adolescent kids squeeze pimples in it. Why? The answer is simple; to reflect their glory and to get them to look as good as they can with what they have been given. You never see someone stand in front of a mirror with intent going out of their way to make themselves look less attractive. “I” is in the forefront of their minds; it is about self and their own beauty. The mirror is used to remind and reflect one’s glory. We are self absorbed with self. The only problem with this truth and idea is we as the human race have fallen through sin and so when we admire our own beauty we esteem something that is flawed.

With that thought as a springboard for our consideration this morn I would like us to consider God and who He is and why He created male and female, was it not to reflect His glory. I think it is obviously one of, if not the main reason he created them. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” We see from our text that God created them in His own image. Why? For the exact reason to reflect His glory, let me explain. God in His magnificence is glorious, He is Righteous and perfect, and he cannot change. This is who He is, neither was He created. He is not an Idolater, He has no other gods before Himself, and nothing is of more importance to God than God Himself. It is important you get this point otherwise the probability of your son-ship stands in question. You probably have never truly been born again. But if know that it would be of great benefit to you, if you thought you were saved but realise you truly have not tasted of God’s grace and experienced salvation. Then you would see your need to repent and be saved; so call upon the name of the Lord, He will not turn one away, He never would. But you must call out to Him with every fibre in your body.

Let explore what it means to be an Idolater; somebody who shows excessive admiration or love for somebody or something. So when we value anything and I mean anything above God, we become idolaters. God cannot value anything higher than Himself, for He is the only true living God. You may say, does God not value His Son equally? You would be precise, but the Lord Jesus is God and so this proves that He glories within Himself. “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well please”, we are instructed to imitate Paul as he imitates Christ, because when we do that, we reflect the glory of God and show the world God’s image. Get the point, I hope you do! Think of the mirror and why we use it. Now think of why God created mankind, they are meant to be His mirror and those who have His spirit living within them, they are His mirror. God cannot be seen by mankind but we can and are seen by the world, therefore we are created in His likeness and mirror His image. This is why we have been commanded to; “you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “ So when God looks done upon one of His children and we walk in obedience and glorify Him our own reflection then glorifies Him. So Christianity is God-centred and can and never be man centred. The sooner we understand this the freer we will be to serve and glorify Him.

This is why the apostle Luke tells us that we must love our neighbour as well God;

(Luke 10:27) "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with your entire mind, and your neighbour as yourself."

When the world witnesses us loving our neighbour then God is most glorified and He is then most satisfied in us.

Signing off

Tyrone

Christ Crucified

(1Corinthians 2:2) “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

This morning it is with absolute glee that I consider this my blog, not because I am rich with words or filled to the brim with over-flowing knowledge. No, I am rather excited with the message I am about to pen, you see, this message is a springboard for eternal life and not eternal damnation.

I want you to ask yourself a question. If you were given the choice to write your own obituary what would it say? As Christians what message would we leave behind? Or if we were asked what is the most important topic one can explore in the Bible. Would we look to explore the intriguing topics like gifts or angels or even “The Rapture”? These would be topic well worth our time and an interesting study and a study every Christian would need to understand. Maybe God’s sovereignty would be high on our list. Or how about “The Attributes of God”, we could then unpack the truths of God and all His characteristics and study would have no end. Our God is so vast and so magnificent that if we devoted our entire lifetime this side of eternity to this study, we would barely scratch the surface. Alright, then maybe the study of the Word itself, this surely would be the greatest topic of all to study, and let’s be real, what a great topic it is. My skin begins to tingle as I am excited by the thought of the power and revelation I find when immersed in God glorious word. It screens unsearchable riches to most, but to the few it is a river filled with nuggets of gold. But, we must be in the river boots and all with our pan’s sifting through the sand and water looking for great treasures. This cache is available to all God’s children; however we must mine to find. What else besides the Word, surely there is nothing of more importance than the Word? After all the Word spoke creation into being; what a powerful sight the angles witnessed. It must have been breath taking. I am aware of this fact, that the heavens and earth as we know them will pass away, but the words of the Lord will endure forever. The Word holds the key to the discovery of eternal consequences and must be honoured and treated with great care. Surely we have finally found the greatest of all studies, the Word; we are now getting warmer but also only beginning to scratch the surface. The Word became flesh; this must be the greatest study, the birth of Christ. No! Still this is not the greatest possible study. Then what about the Lord’s test in the garden of Gethsemane it was so intense that He began to sweet blood. This arguably must have been the greatest examination in search of sin in Him that our Lord ever faced and yet without fault He came through victoriously. As great as it was, it still would not be the topic I would pen.

The answer is obvious; it will be “Christ and Him Crucified.” There is no other topic this side of eternity or even in eternity that will ever carry more weight in the eyes of our Heavenly Father than this amazing feat that His Son, our Saviour wrought on Calvary.

Let us remember the words of our Father; "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

If we ever wish to get the full attention of our Heavenly father and find favour with Him let us always remember to consider Christ and Him crucified. When we struggle with sin let us remember Christ and Him crucified. When we speak to unsaved family and friends and they present us with objection after objection, bring them back to Christ and Him crucified. The apostle Paul, the same man who was caught into the third heaven and declares to us that some of the things he saw are unlawful for him to even speak about. He tells us that when given the choice he would speak about nothing else except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Why?

This is why I love God, you see without Christ and Him crucified, we may still have worlds and galaxies, but there would be no eternal hope of life for you or me. We would exist in eternity, forever and ever, but yet, forever dying in constant torment where there will be a wailing and gnashing of teeth from pain, separated from God in total darkness and yet without it ever ending and all because of the sentence that sin would require. What a horrible thought, yet God who is rich in mercy sent His Son to die for me. I now can escape the wrath of God and forever be with Him, I will be like him and eventually receive a glorified body like His and it will be only on that side of eternity that life will truly begin and only because of “Christ and Him Crucified.”

Let us then conclude, of all the true riches to be found in God’s Word-the bible, a book that could never be exhausted. The greatest of all studies must be, Christ and Him crucified. God was well please with His sacrifice, let us also esteem our Saviours sacrifice as the priority to all our daily activities and all our casual conversations.

Whoever thought that scars in a glorified body would be commendable to God; we have a scar and plastic surgery is an option, but not with God and Christ crucified; It pleased the Lord to bruise Him, Let us always remember what is cost the lord to buy our salvation, let us remember Christ and Him crucified.

Signing off

Tyrone

Knowing Jesus

I must know Jesus, not by dreams of by visions, but the Word reveals Him and it is through His Word that I must know Him. I cannot know Jesus through another man’s revelation, sure I can be taught and I must be taught by other men, but only by those who correctly divide the truth of God’s word skilfully putting Him first. What does that mean? It simply means that the Word must always take preference in context to the text to what it says as opposed to what we would like it to say.

I must know His nature both human and divine; I must meditate on Him so I will with all the saints may know the height, breadth, and depths of His Love. I must feel what it was for Him to suffer shame for my sin. I must sympathize with Him as He was separated from His Father on Calvary, when he cried out, “my God my God why have you forsaken me.” I must understand what it meant when he said, “foxes have holes and birds have nests but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.” I must know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. That however does not mean it must be accomplished at the expense of sound doctrine, it is His doctrine that will teach me His love. Let me use an example, I will be faced with many different decisions throughout today and with those choices I will need to respond, it is how I react that will teach me the love of God. It is the beloved disciple John who teaches us this lesson.

(1John 2:5) “But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:”

(1John 2:9) “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.”

(1John 5:3) “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

So, let say I am in a relationship outside of marriage and claim to be born again and have the spirit of God living within me, am I then an obedient child of God? Through my experience I have cried tears when praying and communing with my heavenly Father and yet I know it is wrong to be sleeping with someone outside of marriage, but we are in love, and God will understand. Or, I get on with most people in church but there is just that one person that I cannot bring myself to forgive, but I know God understands. Wrong! God cannot and will not bless outside of His word. Now this is where the beauty of God’s wisdoms lies. Confess, repent go and make right with whoever you need to make right with and then you will experience what it means to “be touched with the feeling of his infirmities” and begin to KNOW HIM. This is how it must happen; this is how I get to know the love of God that passes all knowledge. Remember an olive and the process it goes through to produce its oil, it was in time passed placed between two stones and then ground until it releases is precious oil useful and nourishing for all who would eventually digested it.

Did the Lord Jesus not cry to His father in the garden of Gethsemane, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."

There is a reason we need also to follow in Christ’s example, a very valid reason and something we always try and shun, but if we do avoid this truth, again it will be to our detriment. Peter has given us clear instruction;

“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.” (1Peter 4:1) 

Remember what kept us from God in the first place, was it not sin? It was Adam’s sin and Christ had to die for it. What then will teach us to put off sin, the answer is simple; we must suffer in the flesh. So go and make right, it will hurt, but it will liberate and teach us what it meant for Christ to die on a cruel Roman cross. The Lord Jesus is touched with the feelings of our infirmities that is why He is now our high priest. But, are we touch by His sacrifice, do we know what it meant for Him to suffer on our behalf. We must know! It is only once we are willing to lay our lives down for our brothers that we will be used as vessels of honour and not vessels of dishonour.

Let us sit at Jesus’ feet and today learn from Him.

Give us eyes to see and the will to seek out your grace heavenly Father and all we look for out is just enough for today, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

God's Armoury

(2Corinthians 10:4) “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;”

The truth of being carnally minded comes so naturally that we do it without thought. Surprisingly, Paul does not think we should and he strongly rebukes us for this. He asks questions like, “for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” So he equates the fruit of the flesh, all the characteristics of what God is not, to a carnal mind.

We are also able to glean from scripture that because of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden we were born as sinners and therefore sold and slaves unto sin. Our birthright we received was the fruit of a sinner. Nice birthright, No, terrible! What chance does man have? BUT GOD...There are endless opportunities with God, for nothing is impossible, well almost. “It is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18)

Other than that He is able to take smoking flax and cause it to reignite and illuminate where it was once intended to give us light. A bruised reed when in the hands of a man would be tossed and discarded, but not with our great Jehovah, “a bruised reed He will not break.” He will take that reed and shape it and I trust we will find many bruised reeds in the musical pipes of heaven.

“Yet to be carnally minded is to be against God.” That is quite an indictment.”

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this that your passions are at war within you?” (James 4:1) 

How often, when honest with ourselves do we pray and we do not receive. There is a very simple answer for this, we have covered it outside the will of God. We ask the wrong questions and for the wrong reason, we ask so that we may indulge our passions. When I ask for wealth and health, who will benefit? Well if I am vigorous and have want of nothing financially, then I benefit. However, when I pray for victory over sin to make me more Godlike, then my prayer is heard, it must and will be! You see, this is the heart God seeks out. He looks to all His children to learn the lesson of finding obedience for their lives. This is a process and it will take a lifetime. God is patient, kind and tolerant yet without compromise. The sooner we learn this, the quicker we can begin to appropriate God’s meaty truths to our lives.

We are naturally drawn to think of ourselves in our own worlds and whether we like it or not we always come first. That is not Christ’s example; that is not Pauls example; it may well be the example of many money preachers, but there is a day coming when many will come to the Lord Jesus saying, “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 He will say, “Not everyone so says Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

The above statement is a fact and not any figment of some mans imagination, it is true, many will come claiming to be Christians but the Lord Himself will reject them as never knowing them. This is very serious and we need to sit up and take note; could I be one? Make me more like my Saviour Father I pray and help me lay down my life for others, less of me and more for you!

The carnal mind will always pull us in the opposite direction to God’s Word. But we now have a weapon that is not carnal, it does not come from the fleshes armoury, it come directly from God’s munitions store. We may have many strongholds that war against the direction we need to go, with the call he has place on our lives. But if we have the Spirit of God living within us, we are then entitled to the use of the key for God’s armoury, where we can find an arsenal of weaponry to help combat our strongholds. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,” therefore we must be armed spiritually. But to be armed spiritually we must be trained in spiritual warfare. A good soldier does not entangle himself with the cares of this world but he rather dedicates himself to the task at hand. To be spiritually mind is his motto, may it also be ours!

Signing off

Tyrone

Eating Habits

(Psalm 119:15) “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.”

Often silence is wiser than speech. It would be a healthy virtue to spend more of our time meditating on God’s Word. There is so little peace in our daily activities, we are always doing and yet seldom accomplishing. However, when we stop and gather our thoughts and remember the work of Calvary and meditate on the Lord’s precepts, it’s like David says. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.” That still quite place is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Often when reflecting on the course of my life, I am left asking, why? The answer is always the same and it is the same for all who ask this question. Did I take counsel from the Word of God; do I believe that in the counsel of many my plans will succeed?

“Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22) 

Obviously as we have already established in psalm 1, that counsel must come from those who have the Spirit of Christ living within them. We must muse upon the Word of God for that is where we receive our nourishment. Truth is often like a cluster of grapes on the vine; if we are to have wine from it we must press, prod and bruise it; we must trample it hard with precision otherwise much of its juices will be wasted. Paul tells Timothy to “have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness.” For its benefits will be reaped in this life and the life to come.

Our body’s sustenance does not come from merely chewing and swallowing, the process that supplies nourishment to our muscles and sinew is digestion. In like manner it is not enough just to attend a church or read your bible; we must eat and then digest to reap the full benefit of the meal. We must press the cluster of grapes to get its full benefit. No, you do not just believe it because someone has said it, you must examine it for yourself; remember, “Let God be true and every man a liar.” Digesting our spiritual food helps us with our inner life. We must hear, read, mark, and learn, these all need digestion to complete their usefulness.

“The inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

We must wrestle with uncertain truths and with the many voices with differing conclusions. Remember the tenacity of Jacob, he would not let the angel go until he received a blessing, it was costly, he walked with a limp the rest of his days, but he received the blessing.

Now with this thought encapsulating my mind, how and when on consideration was my Christian walk on track or when had I vied off course and found myself on some dingy dark dangerous road. I always ended up in some dark boulevard when meditation was not high on my daily agenda. We must love the wheat but must also be prepared to grind it. We now walk in the stream of life, where the water flows with abundance, but we must remember to stoop down and drink from it. May our resolution for today be; “we will meditate on thy precepts.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Suffering for Hope

(Romans 8:17) “And if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

The more I surf the internet and the more I read the comments of believers the more concerned I become. Why? The scripture is clear on its warning that a day is coming, what day? Look at this verse in Timothy, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” All I hear is victory, blessing, wealth, no sickness and the like. It is not what the scripture teachers. I say again it is not! We need to suffer with Him (Christ) if we are to be glorified with Him. This may need some explanation, so before we wind up with any opinion, let the word teach us.

“And if children...” Firstly Paul qualifies the audience he is addressing, he says, “if children,” in other words, only those who have the Spirit of God living within them, they are God’s children. The scripture is very clear on this. You either Have God’s Spirit or not. If you do not have his spirit living within you then I would remind you that today is the day of salvation and if you “call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved”, you will then receive His Spirit and then you will be amongst the number Paul is addressing in this text. Repent and believe this is where it must start for everyone looking to Jesus Christ the only true Saviour for salvation; you can come no other way. If you do come another way, then it will only be a figment of your imagination, that you will believe in and not the risen Saviour.

Why is it that opinions carry so much weight when we reason amongst ourselves and others? Please think about this carefully, if I am opinionated on a topic and believe that my opinion should count but it has not factual evidence to warrant a hearing. Why do I then insist to be heard? If God said it, He has settled it, no matter what we say or do will change what He has said and settled. The only way I can now find favour with Him is to believe what He has said and seek out grace to appropriate it in my life. So, “children, then heirs...” For all who have His spirit are now heirs, this is quite an amazing fact and thought. Stop, ponder, process and believe. Wow, an heir that means I am entitled to what belongs to Him, “then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” Stop, I know what you are thinking, it does not mean; I am entitled to it now. The fruits of the Spirit will be a part of our lives here on earth, but our inheritance we will only receive when we get to heaven. Let me ask you a question, did the Lord Jesus come to earth, suffer and die for the sins of the world? Obviously the answer is yes! Where is He now? He is seated at the right hand of His Father. He has been glorified! What had to happen to Him before the Father glorified Him? He had to suffer! Why? Look at what Peter says about it;

“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) 

So the purpose and the need to suffer as children is to teach us to depend upon God our Father and not our human passions and wants. Simple to understand, but maybe not so readily accepted. Nevertheless it will not change the truth. Look at the text, “provided we suffer with him”, so suffer we must and suffer we will do exactly that if we are indeed children. But Paul does not leave us without hope, we as His children are never left without hope. Let me say that again, God’s children are never without hope. “Provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” So we must suffer, but after we have suffered we will be glorified with Him that is a promise from God. We will be entitled to all that belongs to God, just as children receive an inheritance from their parents, we too will receive our inheritance but not from a man but God Himself, the One who rules the entire universe. Yes, let your minds explore all the possibilities of what that means; the greatest reward I see is I will be with my Saviour forever and I will be like Him, what a hope I have. If we suffer for a while, it will in time be forgotten as a very small thing in comparison you our reward. So arm yourself with this mind for it will be worth it all.

I fear that this message will receive some resistance, but remember our opinions do not count if they oppose God’s will, how could they?

Please Father be merciful to all you children, that we may not believe a lie, teach us your way I pray, teach us to walk in obedience, open our eyes that we may see, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

Sons of God

(Galatians 3:26) “For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus.”

Moses introduced the Law after his divine appointment on the top of a mountain where God gave him in person; explicate instructions on how his people were to live as he introduced the Ten Commandments. They laws were exact and if broken there would be consequences. Hasn’t life taught us all, that for every action there is a reaction! We have all without exception experienced this truth. Life has dealt most, if not all some hard blows, but more often than not it was a bad choice that resulted in the outcome. Moses had a divine appointment with God and when he returned his face shone. It shone with such brilliance that the people asked him to veil it. You see, when an encounter happens with God Almighty and with Jesus Christ His Son it is a life changing experience. How could it be anything else? The fruit of our meet must and will change the way we think and act, if it does not then it could not have been a real encounter. There is a way we can measure if this encounter at salvation was real or just an experience that we thought we needed to explore. Just as Moses face shone when he came off the mountain and all the people that saw him could not look upon him. Do your family and friends now shy away from you as you discuss our great Saviour, do they frown upon your new found zeal (enthusiasm). There is an easy way to test our apparent new commitment we now have with this merciful and gracious God, yes you got it, it is from the Word of God, the Bible has the answer and Paul is the one who teachers it. There was for a specific encounter that they as a church and believers within the congregation had to deal with a specific topic. It was how they dealt with it, why Paul commends them. I would like us to glean from this portion of scripture on a personal level. Which each of the members of that church would have to have done!

“For the sorrow which God gives is the cause of salvation through a change of heart, in which there is no reason for grief: but the sorrow of the world is a cause of death. For you see what care was produced in you by this very sorrow of yours before God, what clearing of yourselves, what wrath against sin, what fear, what desire, what serious purpose, what punishment. In everything you have made it clear that you are free from sin in this business.” (2Corinthians 7:10-11) 

It is an easy exercise that we can apply in self examination with no one else and their opinions, just you, the mirror and an almighty God.

Having looked at myself in my mirror, I conclude that I am not perfect in my application to the above examinations, but I am however applying it in some form or another to my life. What do I mean? Let’s look at them individually.

How have I cleared myself? Where I have offended, have asked for forgiveness and not only before my heavenly Father but from those whom I have offended. The lifestyle I once live and the places I frequented I no longer habitually visit. Why? Because, if I visit places that once caused me to sin, the potential of me sinning again is a real possibility and I do not want to sin against the One who died for me. I have a desire that drives me to seek out scripture that feeds my soul; it is wonderful when truth jumps out at you on a page. What now drives me? Is it the latest fad or Hollywood and one of their latest releases, is it cars or fashion? Sure, these have a part to play in my life, but they do not drive me. The unadulterated gospel and finding my place in the body of Christ is often the thought that occupies my mind. Of course there is room for improvement! I think there always will be, as long as we are alive in this world. It is the last point that I am found wanting; what punishment (revenge) have I taken on those things that kept me in the dark; they kept me from seeing the truth, all those decoys in my life which robbed me of my spiritual sight. Have I purposefully gone after them like a hunter after its prey, am I seeking revenge on that sin that kept me from my glorious Saviour? Do I feel so dirty and almost unable to find forgiveness for indulging in them? I stress the point almost! In some areas most definitely, but not all areas, it should not be this way! It must change and it will by God’s grace change. At salvation some 22 years ago it was such a radical event that by defaults it was a total change for me. But, as time marched on, little things creep back into my lives and I begin to accommodate things I once never did, we must examine ourselves daily! It will be for our good, never forget that our God is for us and not against us.

We must in childlike faith believe His word, follow His example and it will be well with our souls.

“For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus.”

All those who have repented and are truly born again, let us not be driven by feelings or our apparent emotions, we must all be gripped with faith and believe our God and His word remembering that all He has said has and will still come to pass. Believe it we must! Following His instruction is not negotiable. Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Believe it and walk in faith.

Signing off

Tyrone

Unequal Yoking

(2Corinthians 6:14) Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

This intriguing and amazing road we travel is filled with a two-sided coin. The one side resembles the path to heaven and speaks of safety, the other side looks a lot like snares and traps that are hidden along the journey and are just waiting to ensnare us. The road itself is safe and easy to travel, for it is the Lord Jesus Himself who mapped its course. However, there are some tricky parts to the expedition and to the naked eye, it would appear that in areas the Lord may have been mistaken, which is a ridiculous thought; He cannot and will not make mistakes. But when we reason with our intellect and our carnal minds persuade us to know a better way than our King, it will always be to our detriment. And I mean always. Yes every single time without exception. If the word tells us not to be unequally yoke with an unbeliever, why do you think it tells us that? Do you think it is just ink on paper to fill the page, obviously not; it is an instruction to believers to guard them against heartache and to keep them on a road filled with hope and not destruction. The road has been mapped and the Bible is the map book, we need look no where else, we need follow no other instructions, however if we do not heed the bible’s instruction there will be consequences. You may say life is not always a bed of roses; it isn’t always that easy, what do I know? Well it was never meant to be easy for the flesh and our lusts; they are the enemies of the cross and they kept us from this great relationship we now have with God Almighty. Yes we now have the spirit whereby we cry Abba Father. This is a wonderful privilege, not all have it, save those whose eyes have been open and to whom the spirit has been given. But because we now can see, we must, yes must heed the voice of our Father. We must follow the road our Saviour has already walked.

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

Do you see an eagle handing out with swallows, never, unless the eagle is on the hunt? Get the point! So too if we the “swallow” look to hang out with the eagles, what will be our demise. Need I say more!

I have been told that I wear my heart on my sleeve, be that true or not I cannot say. However, my blog may seem full of instruction and what one should or shouldn’t do. It is, but I always speak either to myself, or from my experience. The experience must never supersede the word of God. If it does then it will lead us down a path of ruin. If any incident in our lives happen and we can use the word correctly and skilfully without a skewed interpretation that will get us to believe a lie, exactly like Eve believed the serpent in the garden of Eden. If we can glean from our experience and learn from it to be more obedient to God’s call then we can cry with Paul, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Yes even our bad, very bad choices will eventually work out for our good as they teach us not to be smarter than the word and to follow and obey will be good for us. One of the biggest lies that have trapped me on my journey is the hope of believing God will understand and maybe make an allowance for me outside of His word. NEVER, can that happen, God cannot and will not deny Himself. The sooner we learn this the better it will be for us.

For those of you who don’t know me personally and witness the many mistake I have made along this glorious road toward the Celestial City. Now may be the time to mention some of those mistakes to illustrate my point.

The word is full of warning to the believer. We see the warnings as our eyes can see, the unbeliever on the other hand may read the same warning but still not see. “Unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

I have been born again and I can see; I am HIV positive and have been for 17 years; I am married yet to an unbeliever and now she files for a divorce. You see the word gives instruction for our lives, why don’t we heed its counsel, alright let me not speak for you, why did I not heed its warning! I was deceived into believing a lie as simple as that.

Let me highlight the consequence to my decision on marrying an unbeliever. Let me make it quite clear so that there may be no confusion. She is not to be blamed she is blind and cannot see. Me on the other hand I can see, so I take full responsibility for my action and blame no one but myself. When I got married I had a job as a photo journalist with a pension and a medical aid. Once my divorce goes through I will be a white 45 year old white male without a job, without a pension and a man living with HIV without a medical aid. The consequence of my action! How prone we are to sin, how apt we are in choosing danger and how strong is our tendency to cast ourselves down. “The road is rough and we are weak, but in addition to this, enemies lurk in ambush, who rush out when we least expect them, and labour to trip us up, or hurl us down the nearest precipice.

Having said that, I am not without hope, it is only my hope that keeps me going. On day to ever be with my Saviour, to receive a body like His, to have no more pain or crying, and with sorrow no longer gripping my heart. Let us stand upon the word of God for it will be marrow for our bones, it will keep us safe when we listen and apply it to our lives we will find life in abundance. “Only an Almighty arm can preserve us from these unseen foes, who are seeking to destroy us. Such an arm is engaged for our defence. He is faithful that hath promised, and he is able to keep us from falling, so that with a deep sense of our utter weakness, we may cherish a firm belief in our perfect safety, and say, with joyful confidence,” yet while we hitherto breathe there is still hope, may we find obedience for our lives in glorifying our God and saviour, even Jesus Christ our Lord.

May God enable us to seek out his grace today to walk obediently?

Signing off

Tyrone

Responsibility

(1Corinthians 12:14) For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

Christianity is a call of the highest order. There can be no call greater, as the one who calls is the greatest of all. He is the creator of heaven and earth; He is the only true and living God; every creature that has ever lived and is still living was created by the spoken word of this great Jehovah. Life trickles from his very persona, He is life personified, He is light and in Him is no darkness. Man however was created from the dust of the earth and in the likeness of God. He was not created haphazardly, God never reason or acts without thought. But once He has settled something in His mind it is done. He is so far above mankind in every way that the Hubble telescope would be render useless when trying to explore Him. What He looks like, I cannot say other than he created man in His likeness, and so in one form or another, not flesh and blood, but a spirit being without any limitations, perfect in every way, and mankind resembles Him. However, of His character I can tell; He is love, is kind, is slow to anger, is patient, is gracious, is merciful, and is forgiving and so much more.

When God created Adam, it was not without a reason and a purpose, for God never does anything that He has not purposed.

(Gen 2:15-17) “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

So man was created a gardener, he named all the animals and he walked with God and talk with Him in the garden, he did not need to work as we know it, all his food was provided for.

"You may surely eat of every tree of the garden...” yet with instruction on what he could not do and should not do was clear if God’s voice was ignored it would come with server consequences. “...but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

We all know how that ended up, death and the curse was launched into existence, and both death and the curse found life and they now have only one purpose, and that is to destroy! Nevertheless, they both live yet without their sting. For every Christian who has the spirit of Christ living within them, the bible is very clear and this is what it says;

(1Corinthians 15:55) “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

Obviously, if you are not born again, then you are not covered by this victorious war-cry. Death still has it power over you, hell is still your eternal destiny. What is one to do, you may cry? The answer is a call away, repent and call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved.

However we as Christians often think all we need is the Lord. This is true all we need is His righteousness but will we follow His instruction. We, me included, often think it is far better to be alone at home reading our bibles and praying to our Lord without distraction. Other people just get in the way, they think differently they do not see things the way I see them and quite frankly when I am always competing to get my point across it can get rather trying at times. The thought I am tempted to settle with, is my Lord and I.

This is not enough, and it is not what we are taught from scripture. If you think otherwise you have been deceived. Let us look at our text; “for the body does not consist of one member but of many. “ We need each other, whether you think we do or not, we need to be found at a church, supplying our measure to one another. This God Himself has purposed, let us remember the consequence for Adam when He knew to do something and he did not do it. Let us step up to the plate and be counted. Find your place in the body of Christ (a local church) and sound doctrine must be high on its agenda because in the last days...

(2Timothy 4:3) “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;”

It is God’s design for all believers to get involved with other believers, provoking each other to good works. May the God and Father of our Saviour, our great King, even Jesus Christ our Lord be merciful and write these truths on all His children’s heart equipping us to be doers and not hearers only.

Signing off

Tyrone