The love of God, who can Fathom it?

(Deuteronomy 4:7) “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?”

The sun still sleeps but is soon to rise over the calm blue sea. The birds softly twitter and I hear their chips from every direction as I pensively sit on this fine expansive wooden balcony overlooking Hoby beach in Plettenburg Bay. It is overcast with the evidence of a wet evening as my toes pleasantly squish in the residue from last night’s rain. The ocean looks more like a lake than the sea; I have to go back many years to recall a similar sight. It looks and reminds me of Greece, something similar to the Mediterranean Sea. It is very pleasing to the eye but with that comes so troubling thoughts as I remember the folly of those day, yes I may not have known any better because sin had robbed me of God’s brilliance, O this “body of death” with wine, woman and song the order of the day.

However, no sooner has my mind been taken to a place filled with debauchery and passed off as acceptable to most, my mind now drifts into the realm of grace and God’s abundant mercy and I do not speak about His general grace but rather His specific grace; He sent His Son to die for me, praise His name! It boggles the mind to think that God as God, knowing what He knows, the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning. And yet He still chose to call me by name, If you have His Spirit then He has also called you by name, what a merciful act!

One day all I could ever do was the opposite of what I didn’t want to do, I would know that I had had enough to drink and yet I would have another, I would resolve to stop a certain habit to find I continued in it. And yet somehow amongst the chaos there came a flicker of light, a glimmer of hope, something similar to what I now witness, clouds all around me with a small opening as the sun now breaks through magnificently with its glory shimmering off the water’s surface and now it is gone. Isn’t life like that? We have these moments of shear brilliance and then we soon forget them. Nothing can ever compare to the eternal brilliance of what God has done for us in and through His Son. Why is it we so soon forget! This morning I will not forget but remember the cross and my beloved Saviour, won’t you do the same? Take a moment to remember His death and what it took for the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem us back unto His Father, our Father.

Praise you great name Lord Jesus and thank you Father God, great Jehovah for thinking of me a wretched sinner, who only gave thought to himself. I once was an enemy of the cross but now I am free, I am gifted to cry out to you and all because of Christ’s selfless sacrifice. Sure we may still struggle with many things, because of this “body of death” that still looks to blindside our advances, but now we have a hope that burns bright and clear. We know that if we hold onto Him, our hope, it will soon be over and worth it all. One day in the not too distant future we will sup with Him in the kingdom of heaven. Even so come quickly Lord Jesus!

“The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.”

- Gal_2:20

When the Lord in mercy passed by and saw us in our blood, he first of all said, “Live”; and this he did first, because life is one of the absolutely essential things in spiritual matters, and until it be bestowed we are incapable of partaking in the things of the kingdom. Now the life which grace confers upon the saints at the moment of their quickening is none other than the life of Christ, which, like the sap from the stem, runs into us, the branches, and establishes a living connection between our souls and Jesus. Faith is the grace which perceives this union, having proceeded from it as its firstfruit. It is the neck which joins the body of the Church to its all-glorious Head.

“Oh Faith! thou bond of union with the Lord,

Is not this office thine? and thy fit name,

In the economy of gospel types,

And symbols apposite-the Church’s neck;

Identifying her in will and work

With him ascended?”

Faith lays hold upon the Lord Jesus with a firm and determined grasp. She knows his excellence and worth, and no temptation can induce her to repose her trust elsewhere; and Christ Jesus is so delighted with this heavenly grace, that he never ceases to strengthen and sustain her by the loving embrace and all-sufficient support of his eternal arms. Here, then, is established a living, sensible, and delightful union which casts forth streams of love, confidence, sympathy, complacency, and joy, whereof both the bride and bridegroom love to drink. When the soul can evidently perceive this oneness between itself and Christ, the pulse may be felt as beating for both, and the one blood as flowing through the veins of each. Then is the heart as near heaven as it can be on earth, and is prepared for the enjoyment of the most sublime and spiritual kind of fellowship. (C.H.Spurgeon)

I wish to leave you with this thought; remember that we all have the same struggle, this “body of death”! We are all required to contend with it, our own as well as others, I believe we have been left to lug them around in that sense, they are a help as well as a hindrance. A help as they remind us of our hope and that one day we will receive a glorified body no different in type to our great Saviours resurrected body and an impediment as they look to keep us from walking in faith. When those around us do not act as we would like, lets us remember they too have a similar struggle. When they are sharp with their tongue, let us remember we too have been prickly with ours. Let us learn to die so that others may live!

Signing off

Tyrone

The Seasons!

(Habakkuk 3:17) “Though the fig tree should not blossom.”

It is now as I sit on the deck of a holiday house and look out over the sea with the sun rising from the east typing my blog on my notebook that I realize that once the sun breaks the sea it is an impossible task to compete with the sun. The glare so intense that I no longer am able to see the screen and to continue with any efficiency as I try to keep on typing, what started out as an easy exercise prior to the sun rising has now become an impossible task.

Just as the seasons have their season, so too must we have seasonal reasoning. Who has ever seen a gardener prune the leaves off a tree in autumn? That would be ridiculous! God has made away for them to shed as He commanded; there is a time and a place for trees to lose their leaves. Nothing can be done to prevent it. Why then do we as Christians always look to prune ourselves, why are we always so hard on ourselves? I do not mean that we should not be sober with our reasoning. Obviously we are called to judge ourselves so that we would not be judged with the world. It is our obligation and responsibility to examine whether we eat worthily. But I think sometimes we forget that our great God and Father is the potter and we are but the clay. We love to as the clay take charge and somehow try manipulating the potters hand as we see fit. A pointless exercise!

Our lives have been mapped out from before the foundation of the world, and there will be seasons no differently to the trees losing their leaves in autumn, at times, we too will feel bare and exposed. This however is only for a season! In fact this is the time we are more dependent upon the “Root” for nourishment as our “branches to life” are now exposed to all the elements the season has to throw at us.

I have seen a great danger come to the fore when we enter this barren season, we become so self-sufficient and forget that we are in greater need of the roots nourishment. We begin to eat from our own tree, the “body of death”, instead of the finished work of Calvary. We walk in the flesh instead of in the Spirit.

It is king Solomon that teachers us that as in the seasons we too must have times of sadness and then happiness, it is what helps to build us in character. But it is not up to the individual to look to build his own character; how often do we summons unnecessary hardships upon ourselves when there is no need for it? Far too often I would suggest! We forget that the wisest of all master-builders is at work. Why is it then that we ever feel that we are capable of competing with our great God? A Futile exercise!

We must learn to always be dependent upon our Lord and Saviour and even the more when our branches lie bare to life’s hard lessons. It is for a specific reason, even if we do not see it at the time. To question our maker is simple folly! If God is for us who can be against us, I ask you? If we have His Spirit we then belong to Him, no ifs and buts! Let us not be like the misguided priests from days gone by were they would sit flogging themselves to feel worthy, dead works of the highest order. In Christ alone, by grace alone and through faith alone do we stand. We cannot earn it, we cannot work for it, for if we could it would not be a gift from God but rather payment for our own efforts and this would then nullify the perfect work of Calvary. God forgive us forever entering into this type of reckoning, it is forgiveness we need and we reason like this far too often.

Let us learn not to try and force the seasons, but rather learn to recognize them for their own beauty and we too will then share the sentiments of the prophet and song writer; “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

It is in this place that we will learn to understand this verse with meaning; “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11) And it is in these barren times that we must learn to love one another as ourselves. This is the Apostles John’s lesson to us!

God give us the strength to be solely dependent upon His Son’s finished work and not our own make shift plans that can only ever amount to even more heartache.

Signing off

Tyrone

The Last Adam!

“And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:10-12) 

“That was imperfect and defective; if the first covenant had been faultless, there would no place have been sought for the second (Heb_8:7), and the law was but a shadow of good things, and could never, by those sacrifices, make the comers thereunto perfect, Heb_10:1. But all the defects of it are made up in the gospel of Christ, by the complete sacrifice for sin and revelation of the will of God. Which is the head of all principality and power. As the Old Testament priesthood had its perfection in Christ, so likewise had the kingdom of David, which was the eminent principality and power under the Old Testament, and which the Jews valued themselves so much upon. And he is the Lord and head of all the powers in heaven and earth, of angels and men. Angels, and authorities, and powers are subject to him, 1Pe_3:22.

2. We have communion with Christ in his whole undertaking (Col_2:12): Buried with him in baptism, wherein also you have risen with him. We are both buried and rise with him, and both are signified by our baptism; not that there is anything in the sign or ceremony of baptism which represents this burying and rising, any more than the crucifixion of Christ is represented by any visible resemblance in the Lord's supper: and he is speaking of the circumcision made without hands; and says it is through the faith of the operation of God. But the thing signified by our baptism is that we are buried with Christ, as baptism is the seal of the covenant and an obligation to our dying to sin; and that we are raised with Christ, as it is a seal and obligation to our living to righteousness, or newness of life. God in baptism engages to be to us a God, and we become engaged to be his people, and by his grace to die to sin and to live to righteousness, or put off the old man and put on the new.” (Matthew Henry)

“The last Adam.”

- 1Co_15:45

Jesus is the federal head of his elect. As in Adam, every heir of flesh and blood has a personal interest, because he is the covenant head and representative of the race as considered under the law of works; so under the law of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since he is the Second Adam, the Sponsor and Substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love. The apostle Paul declares that Levi was in the loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met him: it is a certain truth that the believer was in the loins of Jesus Christ, the Mediator, when in old eternity the covenant settlements of grace were decreed, ratified, and made sure for ever. Thus, whatever Christ hath done, he hath wrought for the whole body of his Church. We were crucified in him and buried with him (read Col_2:10-13), and to make it still more wonderful, we are risen with him and even ascended with him to the seats on high (Eph_2:6). It is thus that the Church has fulfilled the law, and is “accepted in the beloved.” It is thus that she is regarded with complacency by the just Jehovah, for he views her in Jesus, and does not look upon her as separate from her covenant head. As the Anointed Redeemer of Israel, Christ Jesus has nothing distinct from his Church, but all that he has he holds for her. Adam’s righteousness was ours so long as he maintained it, and his sin was ours the moment that he committed it; and in the same manner, all that the Second Adam is or does, is ours as well as his, seeing that he is our representative. Here is the foundation of the covenant of grace. This gracious system of representation and substitution, which moved Justin Martyr to cry out, “O blessed change, O sweet permutation!” this is the very groundwork of the gospel of our salvation, and is to be received with strong faith and rapturous joy. (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

A child is born!

(Isaiah 9:6)  “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;”

Once again there is no change to the habitual pattern of my morning, the birds are singing, the sun is rising and there is a peaceful serenity to my mood and surroundings. Yet, there is a difference for most compared to every other morning; last night was a night where children across the globe waited in anticipation for the night to end, so that the day would bring with it lots of pleasant surprises, gifts accompanied by lies and all under the name of Christ. We know that the bible is very clear with certain truths, it leaves no wiggle room for manipulation and yet because we carry with us these “bodies of death” we like to wiggle a lot.

Today is the holiday known to the western world as Christmas, a holiday with origins hijacked from Pagan worship a long time ago? I will not go into this with much detail as I have in the past and most have already made their decision on where they stand concerning the celebration of Christmas. I once in my ignorance celebrated Christmas with great intend but now look to avoid it for the sake of the unbeliever. Or for the nominal Christian who believes what they do on the 25^th of December will score them points with God.

The Christmas celebration could be classed amongst the greatest of dead works.

It is not Christ’s birth that we are required to remember but that Christ came to “live to die” so that we could go free. In other words, birth speaks of new life, Christ birth spoke of trial after trial and anguish upon anguish, “foxes have holes and birds have nests but the Son of man had nowhere to lay His head.” We have been commanded to remember His death. Be that as it may, the arrival of the birth of the boy child Jesus was the beginning of new hope for lost sinners, as well as for all those in Abraham’s Bosom (Paradise- the holding cell prior to Christ’s victory on the cross). The angels in heaven were now paying very careful attention if it were possible that they had neglected their posts before. Satan and his band of demonic angels were also showing great interest and already from the outset plotting to have God’s plan stopped; a futile exercise, nevertheless King Herod search the Lord out to have him executed. He failed!

Why is it that God dealt so harshly with the men of old who would not break down the temples of the false God’s? Idolatry a serious sin in God’s economy, He is not willing to share His glory with another, as if He should ever entertain such a thought, God forbid we reason with such disrespect. But when we take this holiday and introduce lies to it all under the pretense that we remember a child being born, and then we have Santa Claus figurines and Father Christmas hats on our heads as we celebrate the day, we have now just crossed the line, Idolatry the order of the day!

Let me ask a question, can God lie? No He cannot! “…in which it is impossible for God to lie…” (Hebrews 6:18): - So then when people chose to tell their little children that it is Father Christmas that brings them their presents and also that it is the day the Lord Jesus was born, which one is it? One is the truth and the other a lie! In fact both are probably a lie as we have no proof the today was the day Christ was actually born. Can God lie? And yet we lie under the banner of acceptance and the title “fun”. Let us not run with the masses when they lie to their Children, let us be clear on what this perverse holiday speaks of, and let us be the salt of the earth. Today is an opportunity to preach the gospel with accuracy, use it with loved ones and family, take them to that junction in the road and force them to chose! Do not let them get away with thinking that nominal Christianity will keep them safe from God’s judgment.

“We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Saviour; and, consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Saviour's birth, although there is no possibility of discovering when it occurred. Fabricius gives a catalogue of 136 different learned opinions upon the matter; and various divines invent weighty arguments for advocating a date in every month in the year. It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the church celebrated the nativity of our Lord; and it was not till very long after the Western church had set the example, that the Eastern adopted it. Because the day is not known, therefore superstition has fixed it; while, since the day of the death of our Saviour might be determined with much certainty, therefore superstition shifts the date of its observance every year. Where is the method in the madness of the superstitious? Probably the fact is that the holy days were arranged to fit in with heathen festivals. We venture to assert, that if there be any day in the year, of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which the Saviour was born, it is the twenty-fifth of December. Nevertheless since, the current of men's thoughts is led this way just now, and I see no evil in the current itself, I shall launch the bark of our discourse upon that stream, and make use of the fact, which I shall neither justify nor condemn, by endeavoring to lead your thoughts in the same direction. Since it is lawful, and even laudable, to meditate upon the incarnation of the Lord upon any day in the year, it cannot be in the power of other men's superstitions to render such a meditation improper for to-day. Regarding not the day, let us, nevertheless, give God thanks for the gift of his dear son.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone     

Understanding!

Friends it is that time again to sit back and receive from another; we are not to receive from just anyone but when they have been tried and proved like our brother Charles Spurgeon we know we are in good hands and what he says will be fruitful manna from heaven. We are all the same in part as we all carry with us the “body of death”, therefore it is good to sometimes to be still and listen to others so that we do not get caught up with ourselves and our own pet subjects.

“Friend, go up higher.”

- Luk_14:10

“When first the life of grace begins in the soul, we do indeed draw near to God, but it is with great fear and trembling. The soul conscious of guilt, and humbled thereby, is overawed with the solemnity of its position; it is cast to the earth by a sense of the grandeur of Jehovah, in whose presence it stands. With unfeigned bashfulness it takes the lowest room.

But, in after life, as the Christian grows in grace, although he will never forget the solemnity of his position, and will never lose that holy awe which must encompass a gracious man when he is in the presence of the God who can create or can destroy; yet his fear has all its terror taken out of it; it becomes a holy reverence, and no more an overshadowing dread. He is called up higher, to greater access to God in Christ Jesus. Then the man of God, walking amid the splendours of Deity, and veiling his face like the glorious cherubim, with those twin wings, the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, will, reverent and bowed in spirit, approach the throne; and seeing there a God of love, of goodness, and of mercy, he will realize rather the covenant character of God than his absolute Deity. He will see in God rather his goodness than his greatness, and more of his love than of his majesty. Then will the soul, bowing still as humbly as aforetime, enjoy a more sacred liberty of intercession; for while prostrate before the glory of the Infinite God, it will be sustained by the refreshing consciousness of being in the presence of boundless mercy and infinite love, and by the realization of acceptance “in the Beloved.” Thus the believer is bidden to come up higher, and is enabled to exercise the privilege of rejoicing in God, and drawing near to him in holy confidence, saying, “Abba, Father.”” (C.H.Spurgeon)

How grateful I am for the way in which ones thoughts are confirmed, here we see reference made by our brother about the privilege we Christians have, we are encouraged to approach the throne room of grace, addressing this awesome God as our Father (ABBA FATHER). This thought blows my mind and yet this is exactly what Christ has achieve for us on Calvary, He has opened the door to His Father by His perfect sacrifice whereby we may also address Him as our Father, praise His name!

How unworthy I feel on a daily basis, but only when I forget why I are able to approach the throne room of grace with boldness does this fear grip my heart, it is not about me or any of us, it is all about the King of kings and the Lord of lords and no one else. How often we need to be reminded about this truth! How often we tend to look at our accomplishments instead of His, forgive me Father! “Change my heart O God, make it ever new, may I be like you.”

It was not that David was skilled with a slingshot, although he most certainly was; it was about His belief in His God’s ability to bring down the giant Goliath, the obstacle that stood in Israel’s path. In case you are not convinced about my reasoning let me then use another example; the walls of Jericho came tumbling down by men blowing a trumpet and a shout. Obviously the men used to blow the trumpet where trained buglers. We too need to be trained as Christians that do not put their trust in the flesh but those who have learnt to walk in and by the Spirit. That is all that is needed and God will give us the victory. “Faith the substance of things hoped for.” Which means we need to have faith in future grace! There is something within that tries to convince us that we are still alive to the old man and we find ourselves often living there. But in fact we have died and our new lives in Christ have begun, we need to believe and bleed this truth as we now look to grow in future grace.

Let us remember our Saviour…

“For your sakes he became poor.”

- 2Co_8:9

“The Lord Jesus Christ was eternally rich, glorious, and exalted; but “though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.” As the rich saint cannot be true in his communion with his poor brethren unless of his substance he ministers to their necessities, so (the same rule holding with the head as between the members), it is impossible that our Divine Lord could have had fellowship with us unless he had imparted to us of his own abounding wealth, and had become poor to make us rich. Had he remained upon his throne of glory, and had we continued in the ruins of the fall without receiving his salvation, communion would have been impossible on both sides. Our position by the fall, apart from the covenant of grace, made it as impossible for fallen man to communicate with God as it is for Belial to be in concord with Christ. In order, therefore, that communion might be compassed, it was necessary that the rich kinsman should bestow his estate upon his poor relatives, that the righteous Saviour should give to his sinning brethren of his own perfection, and that we, the poor and guilty, should receive of his fulness grace for grace; that thus in giving and receiving, the One might descend from the heights, and the other ascend from the depths, and so be able to embrace each other in true and hearty fellowship. Poverty must be enriched by him in whom are infinite treasures before it can venture to commune; and guilt must lose itself in imputed and imparted righteousness ere the soul can walk in fellowship with purity. Jesus must clothe his people in his own garments, or he cannot admit them into his palace of glory; and he must wash them in his own blood, or else they will be too defiled for the embrace of his fellowship.

O believer, herein is love! For your sake the Lord Jesus “became poor” that he might lift you up into communion with himself.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

What we have just read has been achieved for every true believer; we sing praise and shout acclamations unto our great redeeming King and we say we love Him. We will bow to know other is our instinctive cry and yet we understand our frailty; help us to live in obedience we pray.

Signing off

Tyrone

A Gentle Spirit!

(Titus 3:2) “To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”

The bible is full of instructions like these, gentleness and with meekness, especially from the Apostles. If anyone had the right to be harsh it could have been them, what great examples they have left us. And yet their instruction is often that of tenderness. Have the Christians of today forgotten how tender the Lord has been with us? Name one man amongst us that has not deserved death and hell, you will not find one! In Christ alone, through faith alone and by grace alone do we stand. Nothing we have ever done or could ever do in ourselves will ever change this truth! I am surrounded by a constant barrage of accusing or excusing and even I am amongst the number. Be merciful to us our great Father God, who do we think we are, forgive us I pray!

“You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your gentleness made me great.” (2Samuel 22:36): - If we were to examine the lives of those who have gone before us, anyone worth their salt in Christ and those who have left behind an imprint in the sand have always been gentle with the weak. Take C.H.Spurgeon writings and it will be clearly evident that he too had a gentle spirit when ministering to others. Obviously there are times when a harsh word is needed but as a rule he spoke with tenderness.

Our great Saviour was often meek and gentle; “I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ--I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!” (2Corinthians 10:1):- Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit, therefore my conclusion must then be if we neglect this teaching we do not walk not in the Spirit but in the flesh. Even if I am doctrinally correct in my theology and I lack gentleness I then walk in the flesh and this is why I believe the Apostle Paul teachers; “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge," (1Timothy 6:20) – And – “But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, (2Timothy 2:16) – And finally; “to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.” (Titus 3:2)     

“To speak evil of no man: mēdena blasphēmein, to revile, or curse, or blaspheme none: or (as our translation more generally) to speak evil of none, unjustly and falsely, or unnecessarily, without call, and when it may do hurt but no good to the person himself or any other. If no good can be spoken, rather than speak evil unnecessarily, say nothing. We must never take pleasure in speaking ill of others, nor make the worst of any thing, but the best we can. We must not go up and down as tale-bearers, carrying ill-natured stories, to the prejudice of our neighbour's good name and the destruction of brotherly love. Misrepresentations, or insinuations of bad intentions, or of hypocrisy in what is done, things out of our reach or cognizance, these come within the reach of this prohibition. As this evil is too common, so it is of great malignity. If any man seemeth to be religious and bridleth not his tongue, that man's religion is vain, Jam_1:26. Such loose uncharitable talk is displeasing to God, and hurtful among men. Pro_17:9, He that covereth a transgression seeketh love (that is, to himself by this tenderness and charity, or rather to the transgressor); but he that repeateth a matter (that blazes and tells the faults of another abroad) separateth very friends; he raises dissensions and alienates his friend from himself, and perhaps from others. This is among the sins to be put off (Eph_4:31); for, if indulged, it unfits for Christians communion here and the society of the blessed in heaven, 1Co_6:10. Remind them therefore to avoid this.” (Matthew Henry)

By nature we know that Paul was not a sensitive tender-hearted person. How do we know that? It is not that I can find scripture and verse per say to prove my thought, but we are able to deduce from the way he carried out his life from the scriptures that “he took no prisoners”. He was a man who served under the headship of the Jewish faith and he was instrumental in capturing Christians and arresting them to have them killed. He was relentless in his quest until he came face to face with the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Our character and nature in the natural man has nothing to do with whether or not we should be gentle or not. We must not mix the flesh and the Spirit into one pot, although we often do as we look for excuses why we shouldn’t instead of why we should. Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit and therefore all Christians who walk in the Spirit should pursue gentleness as the will of God for their lives.

Signing off

Tyrone

A raging war!

(Luke 12:5) “…Yes, I tell you, fear him!”

We have been warned to fear God for He is a consuming fire, and anybody who says they are not scared of fire is a liar. Who has ever seen anyone but a fool not show fire the respect it demands. And it was not the Caveman that invented fire, the early nomad may well have discovered it, but it was God who invented fire! If we by nature respect fire, how much more should we fear and respect the only true God? Man has a tendency, in fact it is a judgment from God to serve the creature rather than the creator; “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:21-23): - That which has been created may have the power to destroy the body, but it is only God who has the power to sentence a soul to eternal death, a never ending sentence in hell, where there will be a wailing and gnashing of teeth.

“"I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Luke 12:4-5)

With that said let us consider the pros and cons of sin in a believer’s life. I suppose it is both relief and heartache to understand that we as saints, children of God those who have been born of the Spirit understand that we have this evil tendency within us to be drawn away by sin. We carry with us this “body of death”! Even Paul made this statement; “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14): - Perfection speaks of Christ, sin speaks of imperfection and Paul acknowledges that he was still a work in progress.   

“But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” (Romans 7:23): - And it was our great Saviour the Lord Jesus that taught us; “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)   

It therefore is obvious that as Christians sin plays its part in our lives. What is a man to do? Well it is obvious a person must never become complacent with ones sin! We must always seek out God’s grace to put to death the sin of our bodies. I confess that I am particularly weak in this area and ask you to pray for me, so that I too can echo the words of Paul on a daily basis; “but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” I am a selfish individual who bears the scar of disobedience in my body. This is not a confession to excuse my sin but rather a plea to God and to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ as I ask for your help through prayer, so that my life would in turn begin to honour and glorify our God. We have been instructed by the Apostle James; “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16)

We must continue to fight against the sin in our lives, as we have been commanded to put off the old man, in other words to kill the sin that remains active in our lives. If this is not our resolution we may find ourselves standing before this awesome God as a consuming fire; “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13) - And – “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” (Colossians 3:5-6)

These instructions from our heavenly Father are not optional but we are at war and we must learn to act like good soldiers, we must learn to fight and to kill.

Signing off

Tyrone

Much of these thoughts and references were taken from John Pipers book “A Godward Life”.

  

Child-like Faith!

(Matthew 9:29) "According to your faith be it done to you."

I am learning, although rather slowly, but with absolute certainty to be grateful for God’s faithfulness in my life. When we ask with intent we most certainly receive! Just as we are taught by God’s Word. Assumptions must be classed as an enemy of the cross. What then is an assumption? Something that is believed to be true without proof and it carries with it a certain amount of guess work, “will I or wont I”? James is very specific with his teaching; it is the prayer of the faithful that we must follow and learn in like manner to imitate their example with even a greater zeal than the day before. God our Father has so established this truth for all of His children and He beckons all to come unto Him, in and through this wonderful Redeemer of ours, the one and only Lord Jesus Christ, praise His name and again I say Praise His glorious name!

Last night was a night of troublesome dreams; deception the theme, and therefore I woke with a heavy heart, feeling somewhat troubled. Instinctively I had a need to call out to God for help, and I could say “low and behold” but that statement would reflect doubt. No! Rather faithfully God poured out a measure of His grace to my troublesome heart as I cried out to Him, praise His name! I now sit with a peace upon my heart that surpasses all understanding. Why? I believed that I would be heard as I was heard and God in His mercy abundantly pour out a measure of grace as my initial mourning has now turned to joy, thank you Father God. Your love is never ending and for it I am ever thankful. Ask and we shall receive, is not a probability but rather a certainty. So long as what we ask for is fused with faith.

“…The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16)

It is not as if we in ourselves through our own merits could ever qualify us as a righteous person, we had been made righteous through the shed blood of the lamb, through our great Saviours accomplishments on Calvary and nothing else. He has sanctified us! It is when we learn to believe this truth that we begin to walk by faith. We may all say we believe, but if we have doubt then we are double minded and unstable in all our ways. We are volatile Christians tossed to and fro by ever wind of doctrine. Elijah believed God and so when he prayed that it would not rain it didn’t and when he prayed for it the rain came down. There was no supposition to his prayer! He asked in faith and He received by faith!

Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness sake. Even Rahab the harlot believed the report of who God was to be true and she was saved while those around her perished. The time for over-thinking must be placed on the back-burner and we must in simple child-like faith trust God’s Word, and call out to Him in simple faith.

Remember the Roman centurion…

“When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."” (Matthew 8:5-12)

When the Lord Jesus teachers us as children to ask and with it makes a promise that we will receive, or if we seek we shall find and finally when we knock the door will be open to us, there are no if’s attached to what He says. We by now should understand that whatever we ask for must be in accordance with God’s will, for when it is we will most certainly receive that which we ask. God has declared it and it will come to pass! Will we believe the Lord’s teaching on the subject, believe it we must or our lives will be no different to the ostrich that continuously looks to place its head in the sand.

Simple child-like faith is my cry, please Father! Help all your children believe and increase the measure to our faith daily, Amen!

O Lord how I (we) need thee.

Signing off

Tyrone

Our Ever Conquering King!

(Psalm 73:24-26) “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

It is that time of the year again where I see many holiday goers reading books, but not many; in fact no one that I have notice has been reading the Bible, in public anyway.

When I consider the greatest of all Books, the Bible, I must conclude that although the book in itself is unadulterated and full of Godly wisdom, it is not the book that changes a person but paragraphs from it. Portions of text jump out at us and in its season, it is life changing. There is no greater book on the planet! And it is the Bible that we must look to devour with all our hearts. I would say read only the Bible, but then I would be speaking in contradictions as I pen a blog and hope people read it. However the purpose I have in writing is to point people to the Word of God and nothing else and hopefully a portion of what is penned, under the unction of the Holy Spirit jumps out and changes a life forever.

We all see through a glass darkly and only know in part, but my prayer would be that I end my days as a man that bleeds bible, a man that is always looking for direction from God’s Word and not from the opinions of men. I will accept the fact that I have often been very shallow in understanding when considering certain topics, but we all grow in knowledge and in faith, it is a process. The objective for life is to know the difference between man-centered moralizing and God-centered meanings behind the Word of God. It must help us understand our great Saviour with purpose. The Lord Jesus is the Word of God!

To be a man or woman that would leave a legacy behind as that of John Bunyan; C.H.Spurgeon had this to say about him; “prick him anywhere, and you will find that his blood is bibline.” If any Christian book does not bleed the bible it is of no value. The bible is a never-ending fountain of life, but it is the verse or paragraph that one is encapsulated by under the power of the greatest of teachers, God the Holy Spirit that changes lives as it takes us into a deeper meaningful relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, bless and praise His name now and forever more! All we need is a seed from it to germinate, take root and before long we are eating from the abundance of its fruit, not only do we feed ourselves but those we come into contact with also enjoy their palatable nourishments.

John Piper puts it like this, “God is most magnified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” There is nothing capable of robbing us from this truth, and it is a paragraph from the bible that teachers us this; “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39): - But until this these verses become our own, what help will they be to us if they fall on deaf ears? However if it becomes a reality in our lives, what could ever hinder our love for our great Lord and Master? As the text teachers nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Father God I pray that we would fall more in love with the darling of heaven, our great and merciful Saviour, open our eyes I pray that He would burn bright and clear and that the cares of this world would grow strangely dim. More of Christ, much more of Him! My pray then goes out to you my great Saviour as I know you would be saying much more of my Father, help us to embrace our God with open arms and to pay Him due benevolence, He is so worthy, Hallowed be His name and His will be done! “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:24-26)

Remember when we embrace the Word of God we embrace the Lord Jesus.  

Signing off

Tyrone

Our Seasons!

(Ecclesiastes 3:4) “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”

One if the hardest virtues to master would have to be self-control. We understand that it is impossible to master in the flesh as we are slaves to sin as a dead man. The flesh is a body of death and therefore if we continue to look to it for victory we will continue to fail. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit and must be exercise by and through the Spirit. We must embrace Christ if we are to achieve self-control with any consistency.

I am weak in this area of my life but then again there is room for vast improvement in many areas. To fall in love with Jesus so that my love for Him would be sweeter than the day before should be a given and yet we are emotional beings with so many pressing issues that look to deprive us of our entitlement, which is to love the Lord our God with all our minds, souls and strength.

We can measure our commitment to this truth and this is how we know where we stand in this regard; “But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, "Great is the LORD!" (Psalm 40:16): - Are we continually thankful for what we have received? Is there a smile on our face and a spring in our step? All the great men of God had their seasons when it came to the joy of the Lord, look at Jeremiah the prophet and how he felt abandoned, not that God would ever forsake one of His own; “I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; " (Lamentations 3:1-8): - He was a man full of depression and yet he realized that his hope was to be found in no one else, but the Lord; “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust-- there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve. Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: (Lamentations 3:22-41)

So much of our life and the sorrow of it is because of so many bad choices and yet our great saviour, the Lord Jesus is just a cry away. Call we must and we must now always learn to rest in His finished work. There is nothing or no one He hasn’t conquered! And yet we also understand that there is a time for all emotions to play their part in our lives; “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;” (Ecclesiastes 3:4): - Nevertheless through it all we must as John Piper says always looking for joy in the Lord, regardless of our current circumstance. God give us the insight to embrace His love with all we have regardless of our current emotional state.

Signing off

Tyrone

Abhor that which is Evil!

(Romans 12:9) “Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”

A question came up last night around a meal, what is sin? We all had much to say about what we thought sin was and from there specific sins were examined. Before we run off on some goose chase nitpicking, singling out the sins of others and excusing our own. We have now understood that as God’s children when we ask we most certainly receive; “Ask and we shall receive”, this is very apt when we sin as we ask for forgiveness and then receive it. This is a daily exercise or should be!

Suppositions about this question needs to be shelved and we need to find answers from God’s Word the Bible, what and how does God view sin? It must also be the way we learn to view it; “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” (Romans 12:9)

Love can be measured on how we abhor that which is evil and how we hold fast to that which is good. Sin is everything that God is not! It is evil, as it looks to oppose God who is good. In fact it took an ultimate sacrifice from God through the death of His only begotten Son to allow God to once again accept sinful men and woman back into his holy presence. Sin caused separation between God and man! There is nothing that the Lord  detests more than sin. Sin has now been dealt a final blow; “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:12-14)   

Sin therefore has in God’s economy been dealt with once and for all, although it still plays its part in this world, as we see that which is evil often unjustly victorious, but this will only last for a time as sin and all that opposes God will eventually be made Christ’s footstool. The work of the cross has far reaching considerations that we have yet to discover. However, what I am persuaded about is that it is a complete and perfect work, nothing can be added to it and nothing can be taken from it, even though sin continues to nag away in the lives of believers, it does not and never will change the fact that Jesus Christ our Lord has defeated Satan, sin and the final enemy death. The work is finished! God the Father is well satisfied and proved it by the resurrection of His Son.

Now as Christians we need to Abhor what is evil and cling to what is good, and yet we have a tendency to want to cling to what is evil because of these bodies of death that persistently look to avoid that which is good. We know that it is impossible to please God in the flesh and it must be understood in order to battle away with any precision! Our minds are where the battle begins, it is where we process the information we receive; “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Romans 7:25)

Sin is everything that opposes God’s law! We can see the fruit of sin which is manifest as it plays out its part in actions. If we are carnal and walk as we once did prior to salvation, with no regard for the Spirit of God then the fruit to our lives will be obvious not only to ourselves but to those around us. On the other hand if we walk by and in the Spirit we will be those who cling to that which is good and abhor that which is evil. Why? Because God abhors that which is evil, we then would want to please Him, and therefore walk obediently before our Holy Father.

Finally can sin be measured? I suppose that would be true; the test to see how we fit into being obedient children would be measured by the fruit we produce.

With that said if we are led by the Spirit we are no longer under the law as they once were, praise the name of Jesus now and forever more! However the works of the flesh are easily seen; “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21): - these then are the fruits to all that which is evil and we must not only avoid them but abhor (detest, loathe and despise) them!

The only way we will every achieve this goal is if we walk by the Spirit; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-25): - And these are the fruits we must cling to because they are good!

Signing off

Tyrone

    

Come!

(Matthew 11:28) “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

This verse just blows my mind it has phenomenal depth to it. In this day and age we have received such a lifeline, as Christ beckons us to come. Stop and consider that for just a minute and then once it has resonated consider the walk of those under the law.

The cry to the Christian is a gentle word, “come” but the Jewish law harshly said “take care" and if they were to break their covenant they would surely perish. The law a hard task master driving them to obedience or else! But the gospel, the good news of our great Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ draws and pulls at the heartstrings with bands of love. As Spurgeon puts it the law repels but the Gospel attracts. The law shows the vast distance between God and man and yet the gospel is able to bridge that gap, praise the name of Jesus! He removed that chasm and brings the sinner across the gap. Something the law could never do!

“From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are ushered into glory, the language of Christ to you will be, “Come, come unto me.” As a mother puts out her finger to her little child and woos it to walk by saying, “Come,” even so does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you, bidding you follow him as the soldier follows his captain. He will always go before you to pave your way, and clear your path, and you shall hear his animating voice calling you after him all through life; while in the solemn hour of death, his sweet words with which he shall usher you into the heavenly world shall be-”Come, ye blessed of my Father.”

Nay, further, this is not only Christ’s cry to you, but, if you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ-”Come! come!” You will be longing for his second advent; you will be saying, “Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus.” You will be panting for nearer and closer communion with him. As his voice to you is “Come,” your response to him will be, “Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come, and occupy alone the throne of my heart; reign there without a rival, and consecrate me entirely to thy service.”” (Charles Spurgeon)

This once again confirms that when we ask we will receive and when we knock the door will be opened unto us. The more we begin to ask the more we recognize the faithfulness of our Saviour. Not that there could ever be any doubt to His faithfulness, but when we begin to hold His hand as it were our fellowship is even sweeter than the day before. As I sit on the beach and watch the couples pass by, those who walk hand in hand seem a little more energetic, there is a glint in their eye, it may well be that the relationship is fresh and new, but their joy is hard to miss. Come and walk with me, hand in hand beckons our Lord and Saviour, He will not turn one away, but we must come in faith believing God to be faithful to His Word. Have you ever lost someone in a crowd seeking them out with due benevolence, our eyes go from person to person scanning out the lost target. We must seek to find! With it comes a promise; if we seek out our Lord and Saviour, the darling of heaven, our darling, we will find Him, we will then ask of Him and we will receive. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, all good things belong to Him, He is capable and yet even more, He is willing to give to those who love Him, to those willing to submit to His final authority. He beckons us to come!

Christ delights to look on His church and on her beauty; He delights in giving the members His love, even so Come is His plea!

Father God help us to walk by faith and not by sight as we in the natural understand it, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone

To swim with the stream!

(John 14:27) “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

The Lord Jesus said to Saul; “it is hard to kick against the pricks”, in other words it is very hard to swim upstream when a torrent of water is flowing against the swimmer, it is near impossible. It is the same for us who have been called, when we try and find wiggle room we find life becoming very uncomfortable. The lesson is to obey and not to resist and yet because we carry with us these bodied of death there always seems to be some form of resistance. However when we realize our mistake we should like Saul, be diligent to change.

Here is his very first encounter with the Lord Jesus; “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him…” (Acts 9:1-5)

A couple of considerations to reflect on…

We found mention made of Saul two or three times in the story of Stephen. He was born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, a free city of the Romans, and himself a freeman of that city. His father and mother were both native Jews; therefore he calls himself a Hebrew of the Hebrews; he was of the tribe of Benjamin, which adhered to Judah. He really believed he was doing the work of God and yet in ignorance he was an enemy of the cross. How much of our lives are also enemies of the cross? We will have to all independently give an account for the way we live our lives and I suppose we will make our own decisions; no one can make them for us. Paul was living his own life and with such zeal that no one could stand in his way, until he met the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. It was like that for all of us somewhere in time passed. The day we came face to face with our Saviour, our lives changed dramatically, we were transported from death into the Spiritual realm of life. We were blind but now we see!

But my concern for my own life and the life of others that are close to me is somewhere along the way so many seem to lose their way. And yet, all our bad decisions send us into a tailspin, so many bad choices get us to kick against the pricks. At the end of the day all our kicking will be futile and amount to nothing but wood hay and stubble. O to be like Paul and to cry; “And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”  It seems to be a completely different response, to Lord, what can I get away with!

It is not about the dos and don’ts of life we are no longer under law but under grace, the law should no longer have its hold on us. It is about our obedience to our great God; to “present our bodies a living sacrifice”. We are new creatures in Christ! We have been called to a specific function no differently to a hand working as a hand in unity with one’s body. We have all been given a specific gift, not that we should now be obsessed with our gift but rather faithful to the Lord and the gift will make way for itself.

“Do not neglect the gift that God has given you” means; be faithful to God as we become more dependent upon him from day to day and not more self dependant. If it is a gift of teaching that one has received then that individual will study to be approved. He will spend time seeking out doctrinal truths. But if that is at the exclusion of seeking direction from God the Holy Spirit, how will that help him and others? It will be man-centered and not God-centered. There is away we need to function as new creatures in Christ and that is clearly seen in this portion of scripture; God first in every decision and with every thought before we act. Or at least acknowledging this to be the way we should respond to this wonderful gift of salvation. It was God who first loved us; it was never the other way round. We now are instructed to return the favour by laying down our lives which is proof that we love Him; “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

Why is it that I so often tend to be topical on this exact point? Because we carry with us bodies of death, which will by default always look to go in the opposite direction to the call that God has placed on our lives and so we need to be reminded about their persistent rebellion and often.

God help us to love you more as the days go by, we will be able to measure our love in that sense, and we will find you all the more often through sweet fellowship when we seek you out; “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” (Proverbs 8:17)

The sooner we realize to get on with what God has called us to do the happier will be in Him. Peace will be our banner!

Signing off

Tyrone     

Avoid death but preach Life!

(Titus 3:9) “But have nothing to do with foolish questionings, and lists of generations, and fights and arguments about the law; for they are of no profit and foolish.”

 

It is over this time of the year that we probably spend more time with loved one than any other time throughout the year. Many of them are not saved and yet we have been called to be the salt of the earth, to let our beacons shine bright and clear. It may well be the last time we see some of them, let us pray to God our Father to give us an urgency to point them in the direction of the cross, many may say they believe but if examined it is obvious they do not believe. We have a responsibility to carry our cross and to lay down our lives so that others may take note and that Christ may be glorified. There is something about family gatherings that brings the worst out of some people. But we are the salt of the earth; let us seek grace to be exactly that. Even though a prophet is without honour amongst his own; “And they were bitter against him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is nowhere without honour but in his country and among his family.” (Matthew 13:57): - It is for that exact reason that we need to spend more time on our knees before our Holy Father seeking out His grace to help in time of need.

We see our uncles and aunts and even grandparents, this may well be the last time they spend the holidays with us. They may soon pass from life to death, a scary but very real thought. We need an urgency to be stirred up within us; life may very well depend upon it. Not that we are able to save, but faith comes from hearing and hearing the Word of God, which gives us life and adds to our faith. We must proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and with accuracy. Address each straw man independently if one has to but never lose sight of the simplicity of the Gospel; Jesus cams from heaven, leaving behind His heavenly authority and from a boy grew up into a man. His objective to live a life on earth amongst sinners and yet never to be influence by sin, never once to fall prey to it! Remarkable but very true! Training up men to carry His legacy, to proclaim the good news to the ends of the world teaching all men to repent and believe on HIM. Believe what? That He died for sinners and that God the Father raised Him from the dead. He alone came to pay the price for our sin, these truths He will not share with any other and why should He, as it was Christ alone who died and suffered a cruel death on that Roman cross. He alone defeated the devil and his beguiling sin; it was not Mohammad, Buddha, the pope or even the Virgin Mary who achieve what He alone could achieve. This must be evident in what we preach and when we witness; Christ paid the price for sin, so what will the individual do with this? The questions we must always present is this; has Christ died for your sins and if so what will you do about it, make it personal and avoid general objections about others. Get people to realize and examine their own sin.

God chooses who will be saved, in fact that has long been established in his foreknowledge, but we are not God and have no idea how involved His plan actually is, let us therefore leave that domain to our great God and Father, we must preach to all as if it will be there last breath, for it may very well be and there will be no reruns to life.

God please place urgency upon us to be more zealous in preaching the gospel to others. We are the salt of the earth and if it loses its flavour, how then will we be of any use? We won’t be!

“Let your talk be with grace, mixed with salt, so that you may be able to give an answer to everyone.” (Colossians 4:6) 

That answer is the simplicity of the gospel; Christ and Him crucified! We must avoid vain and foolish arguments for all they will do is lead o more ungodliness; “But have nothing to do with foolish questionings, and lists of generations, and fights and arguments about the law; for they are of no profit and foolish.” (Titus 3:9) 

Signing off

Tyrone