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

Affliction!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Signing off

Tyrone

My Friends

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Signing off

Tyrone

Grace, Sufficient

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Signing off

Tyrone

Another Spirit

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

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

Signing off

Tyrone

"War"

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

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

Signing off

Tyrone

Discipline of Obedience

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

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

Signing off

Tyrone

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

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

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

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

Signing Off

Tyrone