Finger of God

(Exodus 8:19) "This is the finger of God."

Do we actually realise the power our great God and Father wields in his finger. How much influence He has on all that happens around us, in our lives and for our benefit. It is always working for our advantage and nothing happens that will ultimately lead to regret. Do we truly believe this? Well if we examine the context of the account in Exodus we can clearly see that God always exalts His name above all. He always purposes His will before the will of others. The reason for this is He is God and there is no other true God beside Him and so He must exalt His strength an authority displaying His rule and dominion over all. He can never allow Himself to be lorded over as this would make him an idolater. He will and must always keep the reigns of life’s existence firmly in his grasp. There is so much chaos, life is so full of sin and if eternity was captured by sin, then all of life and its purpose would end up in pandemonium and not peace and serenity. There is a day coming when the lion will lay down with the lamb, there will be rest for the righteous but there will also be death and a wailing and gnashing of teeth for all the ungodly that rejects Christ sacrifice on Calvary. For all those who fail to acknowledge God as the great I AM and to those who will not fall on their faces and repent for their sin, will end up in Hell. Sin has blinded them from the truth as it once blinded me, has mercy Father and open the eyes of those who your children have on their hearts to reach with truth. Imagine if for one second God left the “Tree of Life” unguarded in the Garden of Eden after Adam had fallen in sin. What a disaster that would of resulted in! Sin would have captured the right to eternal existence in life and not death. Sin and all its captives will be around forever and ever not alive and living but contained by God in the Lake of Fire for eternity and constantly dying. Christ's accomplishment, a remarkable feat on a cruel Roman cross where he died and paid the price for sin so that sinner could go free. Yet not all sinners will go free but only those who repent and believe on the finished work of the cross. Those who in their own imaginations know better and they, like Frank Sinatra “do it my way” will reap God’s wrath. What a terrifying thought! God holds life in the one hand and death in the other, having the power and dominion over both. It has always been like that and will always be that way. Yet as God is righteous He must act within His character and will always be just, He is who He is and has neither beginning nor end, He is perfect in righteousness and therefore requires judgement for sin. He will and must always destroy anything that opposes life and light, sin being the greatest of enemies and it needed to be destroyed. “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” It is the brilliance of how God has chosen to attack and destroy sin that delights my soul. He could easily have decided to doom mankind after Adams sin and cast the lot of us into hell. Yet when we examine His plan as God the Holy Spirit mercifully opens our eyes to its truth I am captivated by brilliance. (Romans 8:3) “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” How great, brilliant, majestic, wise, all knowing and never caught off guard is this God who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who goes by the name Jehovah. Many will be ushered into heaven because of this brilliant plan when it appeared that all was lost and some of the angels in heaven began to exalt Satan, how our Saviour, the unselfish One silenced all the critics, praise His holy name.

(Revelation 7:9) “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”

Now that we have the right to be called the children of God let us remember to trust Him and believe in His mastery. He is ever knowing and forever wise, stop trying to make a plan, enough already, trust and obey and it will go well with you.

Both blessing and curses glorify God’s authority; He will bless his children and will even use the enemy to show the world His greatness; look at our text and how He hardened Pharaohs heart so that His people could see that their God was ever powerful and in total control. His name will forever outshine every other name and how that delights my soul. Your children are forever grateful for the power you finger wields and how you have chosen to love us by sending you Son to die in our place that we might go free. Words eludes me to express my gratitude, such a perfect act of your love demands my soul, my love and my all. Help me and all who confess your name before men to find grace so that we may lay down our lives exalting your name as it is lifted higher than any other.

Signing off

Tyrone

Pray Without Ceasing!

(Ephesians 6:18) “Praying at all times in the Spirit.”

Now that we are fully dressed and really for battle, considering that this is not a normal battle, but a spiritual one, we as soldiers do not have to run aggressively like hero’s into the frontlines wanting to take off the enemies head. His head has already been removed; the Lord Jesus our King has already defeated the enemy on Calvary’s cross. Whilst on the cross He cried out, “it is finished.” That is why we are not called to find justification in our own fighting abilities, we are clearly told to stand; “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” We must get to our feet on the back of Christ’s victory and by faith believe in His finished work. Come what may, faith will keep us on our feet, so that we may stand to His glory and may our God receive all the glory when we are made to stand. Yet while we stand our minds and our lips must contentedly be in prayer, which will help us stand. “Praying at all times in the Spirit.” Remembering the last item of armour we now wield in our hand, the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. Scriptures argument are the most powerful of weapons when repelling temptation, remember it was the word that Satan used to try and lure Jesus into sin but it was the word that Jesus used to repel sin and temptation. I will remind us to always view scripture in context, when we do not look to its context we can easily get mislead and believe it to mean something when in actual fact it has nothing to do with what we want it to say. This is one of the devils master weapons. How can I make such a bold statement? Remember in the Garden of Eden he twisted God’s words to get Eve to fall in sin. He tried the same tactic some four thousand years later with the Lord Jesus; you can read the account in Matthew chapter 4. Today I believe he uses this weapon at will and lures many into his trap of deceit. Let me use an example to illustrate this point, Matthew 6:33 is often quote like this; But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. In other words when we want goodies for ourselves, wealth and blessings can be ours because all these things are available to us, all we need to do is just believe. All that now does for our flesh is get us to believe a lie and we force blessing into our lives, I will even goes as far to say that we may even be blessed but from which source have we been blessed? Is it from God or has the devil lured us to mislead us into his trap of deception, it is often the latter. Let have a look at it in context; “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Do you see the difference? We must first seek God and His righteousness, in other words our lives must revolve around His righteousness and when that happens we can now believe his promise because we have contextually applied this verse to our lives. We have aligned our wills with His. It is no longer about what we want but about what He requires from us and that is to pursue His righteousness and when obedience is tried and proved we will reap the reward of his promise, and in this portion of scripture the reward is food and clothing. Therefore we must be “right” in understanding before we will be “right” in application. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” In other words if we want faith to rule our live we must pay careful attention to the word of God. We must learn to be skilled with this sword we now brandish in our hand. Now with that understood we can buckle all the rest of our armour with prayer. “We must join prayer with all these graces, for our defence against these spiritual enemies, imploring help and assistance of God, as the case requires: and we must pray always.” Not as though we should to do nothing else but pray, for there are many other duties of Christianity and of our respective stations in the world that are to be done in their place and season; “but we should keep up constant times of prayer, and be constant to them. We must pray upon all occasions, and as often as our own and others' necessities call us to it.” However even when we are busy with other Christian activities and even our secular lives, work and all its chores must still always be done with prayer as their driver. I believe there is a time and a season for all things, but prayer is not seasonal and must be a constant appendage to our daily lives regardless of the season. (1Thessolonians 5:17) “Pray without ceasing.”

How I love the brilliance of God’s wisdom in and through his Word, our instructional manual for life, if only we would lean to use it as if our life on a daily basis depended upon it, which it does, how skilled we would be in declaring His righteousness to the world. How we would free our kin in Christ who have been mislead by the wiles of the wicked one, even the devil as they chase goodies that moth and rust will destroy, instead of His righteousness which will leave us with gold, silver and precious stones for all eternity where moth and rust cannot destroy.

Be merciful to us our great God the Holy Spirit admonish God’s children I pray, begin with me, may our great God and Father and His great Son our glorious Saviour be exalted on earth as it is in heaven and even beyond our wildest imaginations.

May we stand dressed smartly in our armour which God has equipped us with having it buckled with prayer throughout today remembering that we need only find grace for today and we are not called to worry about tomorrow as tomorrow will take care of itself. Remember you brothers in Christ today and prayer for someone you have never prayed for before, it is good to sometimes take our eyes of ourselves and be thoughtful of others, and there is always someone in greater need and under superior trial. May we find grace to love our brethren as we lay down our lives one for another.

Signing off

Tyrone

“The sword is the word of God”

“The sword is the word of God”

I am back in the suburbs of Randburg and it was good to get a night’s sleep in a familiar bed. It is at times like these that I just want to find a rock in some distant land and be like John alone and away from the world. But this is clearly not God’s intention for many of our lives, we must face our trial and the trial of our faith will in its season bring forth fruit. It is in periods like these when decisions need to be made that we must always turn to our Saviour and remember the battle and our armour. We must attend to its detail and dress consciously always reminding ourselves that the battle is the Lord’s and all we need do is stand. But on what must we stand? Well obviously we should understand by default that at salvation we had been given the gift of God’s spirit, who now lives within us and that we stand on our foundation, which is Jesus Christ. We must have a basic foundational understanding of repentance from dead works and faith toward God. Which simply means; we can do nothing to earn our salvation and we will trust our God no matter what may come. We must embrace those two introductory truths and make them our own. (Hebrews 6:1) “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.”

However when we consider the “Armour of God” we see that our sword in times of battle must be wielded. We must find direction from the Word of God. Council must be based on God’s Word. We must not look outside of God’s word for direction, absolutely out of the question if we are to stand against the wiles of the devil. Whatever it is we need to face and address it must be done with the bible open and all concerned gleaning from its instruction. I say this when believers need to address an issue amongst each other. When unbelievers are involved reference can and possibly should be made to the word, but with caution, and this is why I make this statement; (Proverbs 9:7) “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.”

The sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, has power. “The word of God is very necessary, and of great use to the Christian, in order to his maintaining the spiritual warfare and succeeding in it. It is called the sword of the Spirit, because it is of the Spirit's influence that He renders it efficacious and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword.” In fact it is so powerful that the writer of Hebrews has this to say, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” How comforting is that? All we as believers now need to do is take the word of God seriously and to start living by it and if that is already your testimony then we need dive deeper into its depths for great treasures have been stored there. Even when my thoughts and intents carry the wrong motivation, I am persuaded that by looking to God’s word with an earnest expectation I know that God will reveal the error of my way if need be and He will also vindicate when that is required. My eyes are upon you my great God, the only true God of the heavens and the earth. There is victory for me in the blood of Christ my Saviour, o yes there is victory for me! The world and our enemies may conjure great plans to destroy they may even call on Goliath’s sword with great swelling words. Intimidating to the natural eye, but when we look at it with spiritual understanding then we like David can say; “and David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you!" What I now find very interesting is how the world will try and get us to respond. Their advice is to fight fire with fire, but we are to fight fire with the word of God, which is the sword of the spirit. Watch how Saul displays his mindset; “Then Saul clothed David with his armour. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.” I love David’s response to all the manmade intuition; “and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field." Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” I love the reasoning David gives Goliath before he kills him; “and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand." David then takes the sword of his enemy and cut his enemies head off with his own sword. How great is our God, trust and abide only in His council as we know that He is righteous and will act in righteousness, all we need to do in trust and abide in Him.

May God the Holy Spirit mercifully reveal Christ in all His glory to us in and through this precious Word, the bible! May He continue to correct, admonish and teach us all thing pertaining to godliness.

Signing off

Tyrone

(Ephesians 6:17) “And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”

How I have grown to love the word of God, in fact I m so taken by it that I can honestly saythat my role in the universal body is to point people to this God saturated all inspiring beautiful life giving Word, which is Jesus Christ. Paul teaches us that there are many different local bodies (churches) and that each church is made up of many members, we need every part of our bodies even if some think they do not belong. “For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office:” So our finger are attached to our hands which are connected to our wrists and so on. Without our arms we would be without fingers. Without our legs we would have no feet. Without our hearts pumping blood to all our vital organs and limbs we would die. Kidneys are vital organs; they filter all impurities and keep out the garbage. They are needed even if we cannot visibly see them. Think of how much attention woman give to those parts of the body that are visible. Most women give their faces lots of consideration, unless of course it is veiled. How many women have you ever personally seen that does not put on make-up before she goes to work? Attention and care is given to their faces. Most of us liked to be groomed and therefore we all in one form or another pay attention and even spend money on what we think will help. I have a friend that spent a fortune on trying to stop his hair from falling out. It was important to him and so he was willing to pay money for a treatment that would keep his hair. Women pay a fortune on cosmetics hoping that they will age better when using them. However not many will spend the same amount of time and effort on the kidneys, yet without them we would die. They are needed and they will do what God designed them to do whether we like it or not. They do not need permission from our brains telling them to operate; they just function as God intended them to task. The body of Christ must and will eventually learn this lesson if we are to give God full glory and honour remembering that our Saviour the Lord Jesus is the head. “So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally member’s one of another.” WE NEED EACH OTHER, that is God’s design and the sooner we learn this the more fruitful we will be as Christians. Even those individuals that you always try and avoid, they are needful, in fact they are probably more needed than you could ever imagine. “And those parts of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness;” This is exactly what Paul teaches us in Corinthians. Is that not true of the kidneys; I think we would all agree. We at time want to treat the Word with the same hostility; if it does not coincide with our lifestyles then we think we are better off without it. Another lie and remember we lose when we do not heed the voice of our God.

Our sword will be of no use in battle if it remains in its sheath. We must draw it and learn to skillfully wield it. It has power that is even able to bring down strongholds of the mind. How great is our God, how I am learning to love His wisdom. I am so thankful that I am in His army. So remember we are our brothers keepers we need one another and there will be some among you that God has place as “kidneys” and their function should be to always point you to sound doctrine, the word of God. You need them even if at time you do not like what they have to say. As long as what they say is word based and not simply an opinionated opinion, then we must all be willing to receive them and more so what they bring to the body of Christ.

Tomorrow Lord willing we will look into this subject a little deeper.

Signing off from Hennops River in Pelindaba

Tyrone

Faith Tested

(1 Peter 1:7) “The trial of your faith.”

Let’s compare life to a race, a Grand Prix. There are rules all the competitors must adhere to in order to stay in the race, However if these criteria are not met then penalties or disqualification are eminent. They can tweak their engine and even shave our tyres for better grip, as longer as we stay within the confines of the race regulations. Motorized skill is required in setting up the vehicle so that the driver may have the best possibility of winning the race. The driver himself must feel comfortable with the cars race setup. Week end and week out this is the team’s objective. The courses change every fortnight and therefore the setup must change; the driver normally drive one of two machines but depending on the weather and the tracks shape and surface the mechanics and technicians will endeavour to give their driver the best possible chance of winning. Not everyone wins but everyone wants to at least finish the race. What is worse is if a driver leads the race and then just prior to the finish has engine failure and cannot finish. It leaves him and the entire team bitterly disappointed.

So what is my point you may ask? Life is challenging with dissimilar conditions on diverse days yet the rules remain the same, we cannot bend them when we think no-one is watching. There is no place we can hide. Our great God and Father sees all, there is no whole black enough to hide from Him. We cannot and should never want to hide from view, if and when we do it can only mean we are not open faced before Him and therefore have entered into sin in one form or another. We try and bend the rules to make it easier for ourselves yet we are in danger of disqualification if we do not heed our set of laws. I agree our regulation is covered by an all encompassing word that covers every action, Grace. We are not limited in our freedom to walk and serve our Saviour, we can do nothing to earn our salvation, and we are not saved by works. If we started claiming salvation by our own works then we would undermine the amazing work of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ and his victory on Calvary’s hill, called Golgotha. Yet we are instructed and called to walk worthily of our title, “sons of God” or “saints”. We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice which is expected of us. Our minds must be transformed by the renewing of the word on a daily basis. It is the trail of our faith that helps us understand what will please our God. There is no other method whereby we may be tried and honed into Christ’s image outside of our faith being tested by trail. Yes I always look to fight this in myself as do others, but that will never change the truth. I need to learn as we all do that in testing we are strengthened in character to lay down our lives so that our salt would not lose its flavour. For if salt is flavourless what use would it be in food, it would be rendered inadequate and disposed of. Remember the armour of God and how that will keep us resolute to think in this manner.

Today is another testing day I see on the horizon, I often ask myself and the Lord is this necessary and I always get the same answer, yes! Why then do I always look for another way? It is the way our fallen flesh responds, it always looks for the easy way out, which by the way is a lie in itself. We think it will be easier to possibly ignore an issue by skirting around it, but all it does is compounds it. I meet today with oversight to discuss the direction of my ongoing split in my marriage. Divorce is prominent, yet how I go about the finalisation of that will determine a lot of different possible outcomes. I will ask you all to remember me in prayer on this particular challenge I now face. I pray that the Lord Jesus would be glorified even in such a tragic disaster. Divorce is something God is not pleased with although some provision has been made for it. The rule nevertheless is to remain together as long as you both shall live. This is no longer possible so I prayer that my testimony would shine and bring glory to my Saviour.

I leave with another C.H.Spurgeon quote that resonates even now in my thoughts; “if a thing is right, though you lose by it, it must be done.”

Signing off

Tyrone

Everlasting Arms

(Deuteronomy 33:27) “Underneath are the everlasting arms.”

I believe it is helpful at times to glean from others. It facilitates in a way that keeps us from self absorption and helps us remain humble. The easiest way to have an opinion is to be an armchair advisor. I saw it with my colleges yesterday; we discussed the Springboks and their game against Ireland. Many were quick to blame the coach, whether they were justified in their accusations is not my point. The point I wish to make is when we stand on the outside without any accountability it has no actual bearing on what we say or do as we are just bystanders with a judgment. It will not affect the selector’s choice for the game against Wales. So to be Christians with an outlook unless we are willing to get on the field with the players and get our hands dirty then our inspection carry no heaviness. When we take a step back and look down on our lives as we inspect them, we are often left wanting. It is at times like these that others must step in and minister to us. Or we could be so focused on a particular topic that we get blindsided by it. Let’s say we harboured a grudge against another, it shouldn’t be but in reality it happens and every time we begin to have fellowship around God’s word something triggers that grudge and off we go like a steam train bearing down a mountain slope without brakes. We find we cannot let it go, why? It does not help us or others. But in reality we will encounter days in our lives where sin is victorious in one form or another or when our hope does not shine as brightly as it should and we may grow weary. What are we to do?

“God-the eternal God-is himself our support at all times, and especially when we are sinking in deep trouble. There are seasons when the Christian sinks very low in humiliation. Under a deep sense of his great sinfulness, he is humbled before God till he scarcely knows how to pray, because he appears, in his own sight, so worthless. Well, child of God, remember that when thou art at thy worst and lowest, yet “underneath” thee “are everlasting arms.” Sin may drag thee ever so low, but Christ’s great atonement is still under all. You may have descended into the deeps, but you cannot have fallen so low as “the uttermost”; and to the uttermost he saves. Again, the Christian sometimes sinks very deeply in sore trial from without. Every earthly prop is cut away. What then? Still underneath him are “the everlasting arms.” He cannot fall so deep in distress and affliction but what the covenant grace of an ever-faithful God will still encircle him. The Christian may be sinking under trouble from within through fierce conflict, but even then he cannot be brought so low as to be beyond the reach of the “everlasting arms”-they are underneath him; and, while thus sustained, all Satan’s efforts to harm him avail nothing.

This assurance of support is a comfort to any weary but earnest worker in the service of God. It implies a promise of strength for each day, grace for each need, and power for each duty. And, further, when death comes, the promise shall still hold good. When we stand in the midst of Jordan, we shall be able to say with David, “I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” We shall descend into the grave, but we shall go no lower, for the eternal arms prevent our further fall. All through life, and at its close, we shall be upheld by the “everlasting arms”-arms that neither flag nor lose their strength, for “the everlasting God fainteth not, neither is weary.” C.H.Spurgeon

We must get our eyes off ourselves and onto others who have locked hands in the trenches in the depths of the battle zone. The skirmish rages on, but we must be reminded that we are not alone, there are also others with their eyes fixed on the Celestial City even if they are taken by the surrounding beauty at times. They will soon be reminded of the hope that is able to sustain and drive them onward like good soldiers. Remember to encourage one another, even the more as we see that day approaching.

May grace be our portion and may we love with a sincere heart and be taught to be genuine by the trails of our faith.

Signing off

Tyrone

The Helmet of Salvation

(Ephesians 6:17) “And take the helmet of salvation.”

So then faith is imperative for every believer as it helps to quench the fiery darts of temptation. Temptation will come as it must arrive for every believer. It endeavours to get us to sin and walk in unbelief or disobedience. With the shield of faith strapped to our arm in a ready position we need now to take our helmet, the helmet of salvation. The helmet that saves! The helmet secures the head and protects that which instructs the body to act, the mind. Think of it as a transistor full of probes sending electronic messages to the brain arming the body to act as a good soldier. Salvation must be the objective contemplation that infiltrates our minds. It is the “helmet of salvation.” This helmet will fill our minds with great considerations of hope and of our life to come in the New Jerusalem. It will be worth it all, whatever we must face, that is what our helmet will repeat over and over renewing our minds. Let us consider what it was that help the Lord endure the cross, are we not told? “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.” The joy of the nails been driven into His hands, O the pain He must of felt as he grasped for air as the only leverage he had was the nail through His feet which supported him to the tree and so he would of had to have pushed up on that supporting nail to get a lungful of air. Not once but over and over. I don’t see that as a joyful incident. Nevertheless we are told that He endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. So then joy is fuelled by the reality of the hope and the rewards promised by God. He must have seen the hope of His resurrected body, His right to be called a high priest, His name which has a higher honour attached to it than any other name and that His seat at the right hand of the Father awaited Him. I also believe with all my heart He saw the potential of a multitude of sons being ushered into heaven for His Father as He knew that He would as the last Adam become a live-giving spirit. He saw joy in the hope of what was to come so that his pain on the cross had little bearing on the overall outcome. How we need to be armed with the same mindset. This hope will purify our minds and keep our souls from being tarnished by Satan. We may even be tempted to despair but hope keeps us trusting in God and rejoicing in Him. We must also look to others that have been noticed and mentioned by God and draw strength from their example; “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-- of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised.” Think about all these great men and woman of God who by faith and with the helmet of salvation fixed resolutely to their craniums has yet not received that which was promised. They are in heaven but their bodies have not yet been clothed with incorruption, they wait for us and all those who by God’s grace will be escorted into His great Kingdom. “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” So if they wait patiently for us, surely we should run this race with joy for the hope that is set before us. Let us take our eye off all the distractions by fix our helmets strongly, bolt them in place if necessary, but at all costs may we look to the hope of our salvation and on a daily basis, never more than one day at a time. We will remain focused when we follow our instruction manual (the Bible) to the letter, so one day at a time no more no less.

Let me leave us with a though of what will be ours; (Rev 21:4-8) “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." and he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

“And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

When God purposes something it comes to pass, He cannot lie it is impossible for Him to lie. There is a day coming where there will be no more crying, no more pain, there will be new beginnings and don’t let me get started there as we will be here for a long time, but it will be magnificent and mind-blowing that I am sure of.

So let us remember to always position our helmets of salvation in such a way that they offer optimum protection to our understanding. They must always remind us of the good hope of salvation.

Be strong in the Lord’s victory, look to His example when drawing strength for today and do not concern yourself with tomorrow as tomorrow will take care of itself.

Signing off

Tyrone

Antonym

(Hebrews 3:19) "So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief."

Let us look at a few antonyms this morning; faith’s opposite is unbelief, obedience’s flip is disobedience, hot is dissimilar to cold and love is contrary to hate. If we were to put these on a graph they would be on opposite ends. However it is their root that concerns me. The root nourishes and supplies the body with supplements that a plant would need to survive. Faith’s root is full of nourishment and its root is good as it comes from God. Faith is a gift of the spirit and therefore is from God. In fact without it we cannot please God. Unbelief on the other hand is not from God but its root resonates with the enemy. Unbelief is a destroyer of faith and its fruit will cause a believer to walk in disobedience. Let us now look to scripture to prove that.

“So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” We are taught to look to the children of Israel in the wilderness as an example so that we can learn not to make the same mistakes. I know we often blunder, I know I do. But the point we must draw from there example is to learn not to slip-up. Or let me say to make less and less errors. We must walk in faith and not unbelief. As soon as we walk as they did we are in danger of not entering into the Promised Land. So let us look at what they did to keep them from God’s promise. (Hebrews 3:7-8) Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness.” We will be tested and this is only proved through familiarity, interestingly tested antonym is green. Green speaks of fruit that is not yet ripe. Green tells us that it is not suitable for consumption and is not yet ready for ones palate. I recall as a youngster eating a lot of green apricots from a tree in our back garden. They left me feeling terrible and sick with indigestion. We will and must be tested if we are to be of any benefit to others, testing will ripen our fruit so others may freely eat and be nurtured. However we must not always mutter against the trial. Their murmurings lead to unbelief and ultimately keep them out of the Promised Land.

(Hebrews 3:12) “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” You see it is evil unbelieving hearts that lead them to fall away from the living God. So what will help evade us from falling into the same trap? “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” We must resolve to encourage one another, pick up the phone and make the call, encourage someone even if you think they do not need it, we all need encouragement. Every day we must exhort one another that is our instruction. It will help us not to be hardened by sins deceitfulness. “And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?” So disobedience will keep us from entering His rest; this is an interesting point. The word rest implies a place of relaxation; I visualize myself on sofa with a book or sitting by a stream listening to nature echo songs of praise to an Almighty Creator. Whatever rest may mean to you it will be some form of respite. Let us call on our memories to highlight a point that I will now make. When we are walking in obedience and making melody in our hearts, I think it would be fair to say we are restful in our souls and others enjoy our company. Yet when we find that complaining is all we do, we are anxious and not restful and therefore we are disobedient and are tricked into believing lies which in turn cause unbelief and sin is then the fruit of our lives.

“So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” No matter what our trail may be we must look to our hope, we must look to the reward of the Lord Jesus and heaven. The children of Israel in the Wilderness got so lost in their journey that sin enters and unbelief robbed them of the hope that would be theirs. We must not be robbed by sin and unbelief we must look to our Saviour the author and finisher of our faith. He is coming again and He will come to reward all those who remain faithful unto the end. We will receive glorified bodies, and they will be like His resurrected glorified body. We will be called the son’s of God and God will be our God and Father. The enemy, the Devil will always try and get us to sin and at times will succeed, however we must not look to our failures, but rather to our hope and walk in faith which in turn will keep us from sin. This war will rage on from day today, but there is a day coming when we will enter into His rest. May our hope reverberate in our minds throughout today and well into tonight!

Signing off

Tyrone

Shield of Faith

(Hebrews 11:1) “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

This life we are now called to live by faith, let’s call it the “life of faith” it is the exact opposite of anything like merit. We accept it as one would receive a gift, we believe it because it is nourishment to our souls and it gives us life. “The earth drinks in rain when the heavens feed it, as the seas are fed by streams, as night accepts light from the stars and they all give nothing in return,” it is the Providence of God. He sustains life and it is all a free gift, it cannot be earned. We cannot earn faith, it is a gift, and in fact it is one of the nine gifts of the spirit. “To another faith by the same Spirit;” We are educated by scripture that declares, “for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.” So all of God’s saints have a measure of faith, without faith, it is impossible to please God.

(Hebrews 11:6) “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

There are two overshadowing point in the text above; we must have faith to please God, without faith he remains unimpressed with us; we must believe that our God is capable and will reward those who diligently seek him. So faith is a free gift, but once we have received it we must use it. However use it wisely!

Scripture often makes reference to the blind receiving sight, the lame made to walk again and it is always used in conjunction with a spiritual healing, foremost it speaks about salvation. Yet after salvation we are instructed to take up the shield of faith. Faith is part of our armour and it must be worn as the designer intended it to fit. We must not misuse or abuse this wonderful gift. What do I mean? Well firstly we need to understand what faith is and then what benefit it is to us. Faith is not; when I believe in something regardless of the evidence that does not mean I now walk by faith, it just implies that I have been beguiled into believing a lie. It is no good to have faith in faith, what purposes will that serve? I am HIV positive and now by faith I tell my mind that this virus is not welcome and it must be a lie as I will not accept that I have a virus living within me even though it has one intention and that is to kill me. Only a fool would conclude that HIV was not a virus. It is and I needed to live with. I have the HIV virus, but so what! My concern is not finding enough faith to somehow through trickery to try and will it away. NO, my faith is in the finished work of Calvary, praise the name of Jesus. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” My hope is not finding faith from some source that will help me denounce truth and believe a lie. Regardless of where you all may find yourselves, our faith must always take root in God’s promises. Let us look to some examples to illustrate this point. Hebrews 11, “by faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Look at Abraham’s application to faith, he did not know where he was going, but he packed up went anyway. Faith is more of a letting go of self than claiming self. Faith does not demand it does not act only when life is full of prosperity, in fact it is most glorified when it is under trial. “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.” She considered Him faithful, it was a promise from God to her and she believed God. Her faith was in His promise to her. She did not have faith in faith but faith in God. Do you see the difference? Let me use one more illustration that will drill home the point; “women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.” Faith had so gripped these woman that they did not rebuke their circumstance as if it was not welcome, but because of their faith in God’s promises (Heaven) they would not accept release while being tortured because they understood that God had promised to take them home and give them a glorified body that would not be subject to pain and they would live in these body forever. Faith ignites our hope and gives us the ability to believe God’s Word regardless of our stipulation. We must believe in the finished work of Calvary, no more and no less. We must trust Him and not be distracted by doctrine that has been watered down, remember, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Faith means we believe in God’s ability to get us home and not by our own merit.

As we are dealing with the armour of God and how the devil tries to find chinks in that armour; it is the shield of faith that is the most important of all our protective coverings, it must be used skilfully. For when this shield is expertly used it will keep out those fiery darts, the lies that try and beguile.

(Ephesians 6:16) “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”

Remember that our God has promised to get us home, not because of us, but because of His glorious Son, our majestic Saviour. Unbelief which equates to sin is what the devil will try and use to get you to drop the shield of faith. Take your eyes off yourself and look to the One who has overcome, it is all about Him and not about us. We will always accuse or excuse ourselves and others but let us rather look to our God and His promises.

Praise the glorious name of Jesus the only true Saviour, may we always be reminded of His obedience to His Glorious Father and may His works provoke us to walk in faith trusting our God’s promises.

Signing off

Tyrone

Stand Firm With Your Feet Shod

“And having done all, to stand firm.”

With the “belt of truth” securely fasten and the “breastplate of righteousness” fitting snugly and contentedly in place with the factual understanding that it is Christ’s righteousness and not our own; we are now ready to put on our shoes. We all have different size feet, so firstly we must understand what shoes it is we need on our feet and secondly they must be the right size so that we are not hindered in our movements.

Our feet are to be shod with the preparation of the gospel. What goes through our minds when we put on our shoes? Do we not silently speak to them telling them that we are about to mission somewhere? I know that most of my day around the house I am normal barefoot, but when I get onto my bike, regardless of the temperature, I look for my bulky riding boots and on they go. It is a simple precaution and a wise one at that, so that I have some fortification against potential injury. In like manner we must not put on sandals when boots are needed. I recall some twenty three years ago as a young man I found myself in the South African Navy, in their Marine division. I was sent with a handful of others from Saldana to Infantry School which was inland and there we trained to become instructors or officers. About half way through our training we all had to face the dreaded “Vas-beit” (teeth gritting encounter) and if we did not complete it we were off course. The most important article of clothing was our boots. They needed to be well worn and moulded to the shape of our feet. It was not good for the soldiers that had recently exchanged old for new, for they soon would pay the price for their choice. Fortunately as I was one of the few that came from the navy and had black boots instead of brown ones, so the flat soles I had fitted to them a while back where overlooked. We marched for 5 days on tar roads through heavy mountainous terrain resting only at night. At night-time the same protocol happened as the Lieutenant bellowing over the loud hailer, “All with blisters on their feet see the medic tent.” Because of the intensity of the heavy equipment we were required to carry and the pounding our feet took, all the boots that had not already been shape to the foot resulted in blisters. It was really tough for those who got blisters on day one.

Their choice had not been a wise one! We all herd their screams! The medic tent was filled with instructors waiting for their entertainment and daily stress release therapy. What would happen was if you had a blister the medic would take a syringe and inject methylate into your blister to dry it out. The noise that came from that tent eventually even kept those with blisters from it. It was important to have good worn boots to tread the rough ways, surmount through difficulties, and hold out to the end.

We are clearly told to have our “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” What does that mean? We must choose the correct footwear and we must get them shaped to our feet. They must wear comfortably. Let us now consider what it actually means, “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” We must be ready always to tell others of what our Saviour accomplished on Calvary. When we step out boldly and tell others, it strengthens us as believers and we now no longer use our footwear as a fashion statement but proclaim a message of hope to a dying generation. Let us not look for reasons why we cannot proclaim the gospel of peace to others, but rather let us look for opportunity to minister potential hope into the lives of others. Shoes protect whose feet? Do they not care for the one who wears them? They certainly do! Remember the point of the armour of God; it is to help us to STAND. If we do not address all items with care we are vulnerable to the wiles of the devil. We must step out in faith; it is for our own benefit when we declare to others the gospel of peace. Look how our Apostle Paul puts it in Romans, “As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" It is a beautiful sight to look upon feet that have been shod with the preparation of the gospel. How welcome the gospel ought to be to those to whom it is preached, because it showed the way to salvation, do you not remember the efforts that someone at his own expense of time preached the gospel to you, I do! It is God the Holy Ghost that will work and to do according to His good pleasure, He will save who needs to be saved, He will convict of sin and of righteousness and of judgement. He will always do it right and far better than any of us. However we must preach Christ and Him crucified nothing more nothing less. There will be times when we are tempted to venture down a road of distraction on issues that may skirt around the gospel. Avoid them at all costs as they will lead to more ungodliness, CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED is all sufficient. Always ask someone what he has done with the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice on his behalf. Ask him does he believe that Christ alone is the only way a man can be saved. Speak of sin and what it cost the Lord to die for his sin. Speak about the upcoming judgement and how Christ is able to save him from it. Do not however compromise and water down His sacrifice for it cost our Saviour his life, praise His name. All hail King Jesus our Lord! It is a message of hope, bringing good news and peace into the hearts of all those that believe. So next time you are in two minds whether or not to share with someone, remember by sharing you will have “your feet shod with the gospel of peace” and you will be using the amour God has given you for your own benefit as it will help you to stand, “and having done all to stand.” There will also be the potential of the hearer benefitting and finding life as his eyes are opened and he finds true repentance. The devil will endeavour to silence us, but we must declare the gospel of peace to all and sundry. If you find yourself in an awkward situation and the people you are with do not know your stand when it comes to Christianity, then I implore you do not remain silent, if you do you will be lured into sin and then regret it. Some dirty joke or the like will put you on the spot and often you may roll with the crowd and laugh with them, not that you want to but you feel compelled to, it shouldn’t be that way. So when you are given an opportunity to declare Christ and Him crucified, do just that. Do not lose heart if it seems that our words fall on deaf ears, “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."

Tomorrow Lord willing we will look at the aspect of the shield of faith, this aspect of our armour really excites me.

May the God of peace give us a concord to quieten our minds and to find boldness to declare to others our hope that resonates deep within our hearts!

Signing off

Tyrone

All God's Amour

(Ephesians 6:11) “Put on the whole armour of God.”

Why must a soldier go into battle with all His armour? Well, the law of probabilities may test that, if he leaves off any item he may regret it; it may cost him his life. So any trained soldier will give careful attention to detail in that regard. In the spiritual realm, it is an obvious fact that if we leave off any piece of the armour God has given us, we will fall prey to the “roaring lion”, even Satan and all his wiles.

Let us then examine why each piece is advantageous. Paul tells us that our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. He also tells us that the day is evil, forget yesterday as it has past, what is done is done. Today is full of warfare, evilness lurks around every corner and he has laid his snares. The devil will always attack the truth; he often if not always begins there. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say?” Or he will try use the truth to get you to test the Lord Jesus and His word by twisting it out of context. The Lord Jesus had fasted forty days and was hungry, he had a need, and His body required food. “The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." Do you see how important it is to have our waist girded with truth? If we are unsure of what truth is then we become double minded, should I do this or that or maybe it will be different this time around, it is all trickery and a lie, do not believe anything outside of God’s Word. For when our waist is bare and not protected by truth we are like water and get tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. We are easily enticed and before long we are in tears and looking for repentance. We must have a high regard for sound doctrine, it will do us well in this ongoing battle. Because when doubt presents itself and it will, we can look to God’s Word just as our Saviour did and respond in like manner. “But he answered, "It is written, “'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" And when the devil shifts gears in offering us wealth and prosperity, we must have no part in his offer. “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "‘you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'” The Lord did not say to Satan that he did not have access to the wealth of this world, but rather rebuked him and used scripture in context to prove to us that his waist had its armour on. I trust we see the benefit to standing on the truth of God’s word. “Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.”

The very first article of armour that needs careful attention when we dress is truth, and interestingly it covers our reproductive area. It was designed in such a way that without it in place no other amour could be fastened securely.

Will we be like men that sow their seed without much thought fathering illegitimate children as and when their need arises? We must not listen for what we think we want to hear, but rather what God has actually said. Once again I will with boldness declare that if we do not heed our God’s almighty voice we will be the ones who suffer loss. However, that will only happen if sound doctrine (correct contextual teaching of God’s Word) is not held in high regard.

Next we are told to put on the breastplate of righteousness, that which covers our hearts a vital organ, that which pumps blood and supplies the rest of the body with oxygen so that it can function fruitfully. Righteousness must be our breastplate.”The breastplate shelters the heart. The righteousness of Christ imputed to us is our breastplate against the arrows of celestial wrath. The righteousness of Christ implanted in us is our breastplate to fortify the heart against the attacks which Satan makes against us. The apostle Paul explains that by “putting on the breast-plate of faith and love.” Faith and love include all Christian graces; for by faith we are united to Christ and by love to our brethren. These will deduce a diligent adherence of our duty to God, and a righteous manner towards men, in all the offices of justice, truth, and charity.” Our hearts are protected by righteousness; sin opposes righteousness, so when sin is rife in our lives and we have been lured by it we have forgotten what was right in the sight of God’s eyes. We must always remember Christ’s example, it must be about God’s will and not ours, easier said than done at times but nevertheless this is the call for every believer. We are not justified by our own works but, we are called to be righteous. We are called to live in Christ’s finished work. We must guard against sin which robs our joy in the Lord and secondly we need best to understand that we are only righteous because of the righteousness of Christ, which being imputed by God, and received by faith, is a guard against, and repels the accusations and charges of Satan, and is a security from all wrath and condemnation. So even when we trip and fall, we are not saved because of our ability to stand, but remember when we stand the devil will flee from us, until the next time. If we fall let us remember to stand on the finished work of Calvary, confess our sin and find forgiveness from our every gracious and compassionate Father who will be just and faithful to forgive us. The breastplate of righteousness is the finished work of Calvary and therefore even when we are downcast and are low in spirit let us remember our great Saviour and remind ourselves that it is not about our achievements but His. So when the devil roars, let us remember it is only a roar and not a bite, because our Jesus has overcome.

We will look at the rest of the armour tomorrow, Lord willing.

May God help us to find grace to stand and having done all just to STAND!

Signing off

Tyrone

Our Great God

(Isaiah 54:7) “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.”

This day ought to be celebrated; all the saints shout with proclamation, “our God reigns!”

Great is thy faithfulness, and most worthy are you to be praised. There is no other God beside you, this is a fact, but even if there could be which there isn’t, we your children would never look to anyone else but you our great Jehovah. I love you and thank you for your mighty power, your tender love, your never changing righteousness, your unwavering faithfulness and for sending Jesus your Son, my Saviour to pay the price for my wickedness and tainting sin. How the words of the song writer, “who saved a wretch like me,” rings true. If I could which I can’t pay back this debt of unmerited favour that while I was yet an enemy, you set your Son to die for me. O what great love is this, my God? Who can fathom it, the depths of your love has no bounds; the riches of your wisdom could never be weighed and knowledge your wear as a garment never grows fainter. HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD, sing now all you birds of the air, sing out and praise this great Creator, our God reigns! Cry out to Him all you people for his mercies endure forever. He is worthy to be praised, so praise Him. Praise Him in creation, how grand is it’s exquisiteness to behold. Who could ever measure the depths, breath and height of this enormous God? His immensity is beyond measurement. And yet a day is coming when puny man, all those who have repented and believe on the finished work of Calvary, all those who have trusted by faith that which they have seen with the eyes of faith, all those who with their mouths have confess the Lord Jesus to others and in their hearts have believe that after He died on that cruel cross, on the third day that God the Father rose Him from the dead. For all of us with this confession a day is coming where grand words from this enormous God will proceed from His lips as He articulates, “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

How I long for that day, what a day that will be! I often wonder if there is a multitude of saints which John points out to us in the book of Revelation and declares that they could not be numbered. Yet they are from ever tribe, tongue and nation, where will I be in the masses, where will I be when this great God of ours proclaims these words? If there is to be an inheritance, which is clear from scripture and those who where most faithful are positioned near the front, then I would be somewhere to the rear, nevertheless wherever I may be, just so long as I am there and I hear those words, “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. “

When the truth of our God’s greatness begins to resonate in our mind by the renewing of the mind by the word of God our text become no longer just words, but reality reverberates, look at David’s example when He slew the bear and the lion, he understood that nothing could separate him from the love of God and from His protection.

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” Will we trust our God? Give us the will to align our will with your will, so that you may be praise and exalted above all else. For you are truly worthy. I love you Father, I love you great Saviour and I love you God the Spirit and thank you for enlightening to me my Great Rescuer, even Jesus Christ my Lord.

Signing off

Tyrone

Ps “Today is the anniversary of the landing of King William III, at Torbay, by which the hope of Popish ascendancy was quashed, and religious liberty was secured, 1688.” C.H.Spurgeon

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.”

AMEN

Weakness is Strength

“For my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

If God’s ways are far above our ways, when He acts He performs by His own rules and when we see those moving parts in action it’s breathe taking. “For my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

God will never share His glory with another, why would He? He alone is God and He shares the rule of His universe with no other. The scriptures are full of clues to His brilliance and the way He has chosen by wisdom to deal with mankind. In our text we see a rule and the principal of “strength made perfect in weakness.” Let us ponder and unpack what this actually means. We practice to get better, if I have been gifted as a ball player, then by training my gift is honed and I get better. That is a no brainer! If I go to gym and bring to bear my body when I do my first arm curl I find I am weak, but as time goes on I get stronger through training and the weight I use for the curl increases as I enlarge in strength. I therefore by strength training get stronger by strength; you could say my strength is made perfect in strength, the complete opposite to how God has chosen to work with us. The regime God uses is, “for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

We have looked at Jehoshaphat’s over the last couple of days, so let us stay with his example; we have a great illustration of God not sharing His glory with another, when God works there will be no mistake to whether His hand is in it or not. Listen to me carefully, when people claim healings, be warned, as there will be no confusion to whether or not someone has been healed. It will be miraculous, it will be mind blowing, and it will be evident to all that God has moved. Let us look at this account in 2 Chronicles 20; Judah was under the rule of King Jehoshaphat and a great multitude came against them, there were so many persons that Jehoshaphat fear for his life and the existence of his people. They were trapped and defeat would be ultimate. Now the scene was set for God to move and show His luminosity, “for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Here were a people in dyer straights with death looming but GOD was with them. How amazing the instruction Judah receives, they are told not to fight but to stand, huh! How can your muscles get stronger if they are not trained? Surely they thought that they needed to do something, well they did, but it was contrary to human intellect. “You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you." This is our lesson, give it to the Lord for the battle is His and not ours. Once you have given it to Him do not be quick to take it back, for when we do we walk in unbelief.

“A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God’s work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness. When God’s warrior marches forth to battle, strong in his own might, when he boasts, “I know that I shall conquer, my own right arm and my conquering sword shall get unto me the victory,” defeat is not far distant. God will not go forth with that man who marches in his own strength. He who reckoneth on victory thus has reckoned wrongly, for “it is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” They who go forth to fight, boasting of their prowess, shall return with their gay banners trailed in the dust, and their armour stained with disgrace. Those who serve God must serve him in his own way, and in his strength, or he will never accept their service. That which man doth, unaided by divine strength, God can never own.” C.H.Spurgeon

The apostle Paul puts it this way, “for the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” A lesson we naturally resist, but like anything we ignore in God’s word, it is always to our own detriment. May God give us strength to be weak and to remain humble so that He will receive all the glory? Who was praise when Judah defeated the enemy? God alone received the glory; there was no mistaking that fact.

Remember when the Red Sea parted what a glorious manifestation of God’s regal power, the news even spread to Jericho and Rahab the harlots was save because she acknowledge the work of God in that event. People still try even today to somehow explain that event away, what a joke! When God decides to work, there will be no mistaking His hand in it.

The Lord Jesus has paid the price for sin, “no man can come unto the Father but by Him.” God will and must always receive the glory.

Signing off

Tyrone

Look Heavenward

(2 Chronicles 20:12) “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."

Jehoshaphat may not have known what to do will a multitude of his enemies bearing down on him, he no doubt feared for his life, however what he did do was cast his eyes heavenward... “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."

There may be a horde of enemies that seem to be against us, be like Jehoshaphat and remember the great victories God’s people did experienced when their eyes where upon Him. Do you recall the children of Israel marching from Egypt through the wilderness towards the Promised Land? Firstly when God promises something it is sealed, no ifs and buts, and secondly they were tested on a daily basis as we also are. Never forget we travel the Kings highway and we stride toward the Celestial City, not all who cry Lord Lord will enter those great pearly gates, but only those who do the will of our Heavenly Father.

Sin had entered the camp and God was not pleased as He never is when His law is transgressed. Do you remember their sin? They moaned against God and Moses and complained about their food. Sin is not always fornication and adultery, those are easy to see, it is our hearts and the resentment we find there that can have severe consequences when it harbours umbrage. May God give us eye salve so that we may see; I trust you now recall the account I bring to mind, it was the account of the “fiery serpents.”

“Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.” Yet they were given an ultimatum, they could choose to not look at the snakes (the care of this life) but rather look at the bronze serpent that Moses had on a pole. If they had been bitten all they needed to do was look to the heavens. It no longer was a case of not knowing what to do as they had received instruction on what to do, they needed to look at the bronze serpent that Moses had on a pole and if they did they would live. And the LORD said to Moses, "make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." We know the significance of that example in our lives we too were dying and we looked and there we saw our bleeding Saviour hanging on a tree for us. Who would see Him? All those who would believe, and all those who did look would see Him. Praise the name of Jesus for He is truly worthy.

We now know what to do, and it is good to be reminded, “but our eyes are on you." Remember the encouragements we received yesterday, it read, “(Matthew 6:34) “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. So TODAY is the day of our salvation, let us look to the one who has already overcome. He has passes the Fathers test with an immaculate result, He does stick closer than a brother, remember to look to Him, remember to rely on Him and remember to trust Him even when your situation seems desperate, for He is able and He will get us Home, you best believe. I leave you with this thought; do not worry about tomorrow, “for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.”

May the God and Father of resting peace give you peace, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone